Hey everyone!

So, I really didn’t know how to handle posting this one for you guys. The closest I have as an analogue is Nascent King, where the massive pilot chapter was broken into four actual chapters for posting… but even that doesn’t really line up well.

For Nascent, I just broke up the chapter and did a few corrections. This one on the other hand had extensive rewriting that took me quite a bit to get through. Almost all of the dialogue that involved Izuku was redone, several scenes were rewritten, some scenes were even added…

In the end, this is what I decided on. I cut the massive chapter into three and this first one had the fewest changes from the original Yusuke!Izuku pilot. Therefore, I’m making it available to everyone. The rest will follow my standard for chapters since I’m like 95% certain this is the story that will be replacing EP even though I did write a second Incubus chapter too. I’m also going to be triple-posting tonight since, for all the new dialogue that was written and stuff, this is technically stuff you guys have seen before.

-]|[-

“GET AWWWWWAYYYYY!” A gigantic person with a strangely-shaped head roared as he batted a much smaller figure away.

“A villain appeared at the train station.” A salaryman was nervously talking into his phone. “I’m at the train station. No clue when I’ll get in. The villain is messing up the tracks-” His voice faded.

“What the heck happened? What did he do?” Someone watching in the distance asked.

“Snatched a purse and started rampaging when he got cornered.”

“What an idiot.” A young teenager with green hair and eyes laughed as he came to a stop near the chatting adults. “If he had just taken the fines and community service, he would have probably gotten away much better than now.” His name was Midoriya Izuku.

“You know your stuff, kid.” The man with what looked like star-shaped growths on his head laughed. “By using his Quirk, it’s an automatic villain ranking. He’ll probably get jail time now…”

The young man grinned, his diamond-shaped freckles stretching, “Looks like Kamui Woods is fighting him. He’s a popular rising star, isn’t he?” He whipped out a notebook and a pencil, starting to take some notes. His pencil was actually moving so quickly as he glanced back and forth between the fight and the notebook that smoke was rising.

“Illegal use of your Quirk during rush hour, as well as robbery and assault!” Kamui Woods yelled, “You’re pure evil!”

Izuku sweatdropped. “…I… don’t think that tracks.” He muttered, his pencil stopping for a moment before he continued writing and drawing. “Really? He’s going to use his Preemptive Binding-”

“Laquered Chain Prison!!!” The wood-themed Hero roared.

And then, surprising everyone, a gigantic woman even bigger than the villain in a purple-themed costume leapt over the entire railway, kicking the villain in the face. “Canyon Cannon!” Part of the bridge holding the tracks shattered as the villain fell over. She landed, posing with her ass stuck out.

The young man took out his phone and took a picture, “Money shot. Damn that ass.” He grinned, before starting to draw the woman as well. “You snooze, you lose, Kamui!” He laughed as the men behind him also started chanting ‘money shot’ and taking pictures.

“Today’s my debut!” She yelled out cheerfully. “I’m Mount Lady!”

“I’d sure like to mount that lady.” Izuku muttered, making sure to get the curves right in his drawing. “Not too sure about her Hero instincts though. That was a lot of collateral damage for one idiot. If she had kicked him up instead of back he might have missed some of the bridge.”

“Ooh, you have a point kid.” The star-head winced. “Hero pay is great, but not so great that she’ll be able to tank damages like that bridge every time she captures a villain.” The woman was still cheerfully waving and posing for the cameras.

“Plus, a gigantification Quirk might limit her use if she can’t control her size.” Izuku muttered.

“Well, you sure know your stuff, kid. Good notes will surely help if you want to be a Hero too! Good luck!”

Izuku turned and smirked at him, “You got it, old timer.” He looked at his watch, “Oh, going to be late. See ya!” He took off running.

-]|[-

“You guys only have one year of high school left! It’s time to start thinking seriously about your futures!” The teacher yelled at his students. “I would hand out these career forms, but…” The teens all started to use their Quirks in class. Quite illegally, it should be said. But everyone always got away with such things at Aldera. “I assume you all want to be Heroes!” He yelled, tossing the papers overhead. Only two didn’t. Midoriya Izuku, and the blonde, red-eyed Bakugō Katsuki. “Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks, but you know better than to use them in school.”

“Ha! Don’t lump me in with these losers! As if my Quirk is anything like their crappy Quirks.” Katsuki jeered, and the class erupted angrily.

The teacher chuckled, not bothering to reign in their star student. “Bakugō, you must be aiming for U.A., huh?”

The class all gasped, with some of them even starting to sweat. “The national school?! But they’re ultra-competitive! You can’t even register without at least a 79!”

Katsuki laughed and jumped on top of his desk, “The stupid chattering of extras! I aced the mock exam! I’m the only one here with the stuff for U.A.! I’ll even surpass All Might and become the best Hero out there! I’ll top the charts of the biggest taxpayers in the world!”

Izuku rolled his eyes. ‘Of course he wouldn’t just say ‘I’ll be one of the richest.’ No, he has to make it about a fucking leaderboard.’ He eyed the teacher, ‘And 3…2…1…’

“Oh, you’re also going for U.A., aren’t you Midoriya?” The teacher asked.

‘Fucking called it.’ Izuku sat back and waited for the fireworks.

“BWAHAHAHAHA!” The students all laughed and started to jeer at him. “A Quirkless going to U.A.?! Good grades alone can’t get you into the Hero program!”

“I don’t know what’s so funny.” Izuku said blandly, leaning his chair back onto just two legs. “As if not having a Quirk is any worse than being able to stretch your eyeballs two feet.” He snarked back at one of them. “What are you going to do? Wink the villains to prison?” He sneered, earning a flinch. “Maybe stretch your neck three feet in their direction to scare them?” He snarked at another. And then he put a foot on his desk and pushed it forward. Katsuki, who had jumped at him, crashed knee-first into the edge of his desk and pitched forward. He slammed chest-first onto it with an ‘oof.’ Izuku rocked back and landed with his feet on Katsuki’s back and uniform. “Grab them with those easily-breakable twigs you call fingers? Miss me with that shit.” Izuku continued as if nothing had happened.

He then rolled back, leaping wholly over the person sitting behind him as Katsuki roared, “DEKU!!!” And his hands started exploding.

“Don’t fucking call me Deku, Nitrogremlin.” Izuku shot back.

“ENOUGH!” The teacher roared. ‘Fucking Quirkless brat, making a fool of Bakugō.’ He bit his tongue. “Both of you take your seats at once!”

Izuku and Katsuki glared at one another before making their way to their seats. Izuku wiped the residue off his desk with a scoff and got ready for another boring class session.

…

‘Finally.’ Izuku sighed as he got up. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have read so far ahead…? I’m bored to tears here.’

“We’re not fucking done here, Deku!” Katsuki yelled at him.

“Oh, I think we’re pretty done.” Izuku shot back, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “How’s the jaw by the way? Looks like it healed up nice.” He jeered.

“You fucking Quirkless piece of shit.” Katsuki seethed, “The best Heroes out there showed signs of greatness even as students. I’m the only one from this shitty high school worthy of the honor of being our first U.A. student.”

“Ha!” Izuku shot back as he started walking away, “Greatness. Right. Because All Might totally spent middle and high school trying and failing to bully Quirkless kids. You don’t even know what a fucking Hero is.”

Katsuki’s hands started to crackle, the scent of caramel wafting off his explosions. “Ha, and you do?! You’re just a loser with delusions of grandeur! No Hero would take some worthless, Quirkless fuck even as an intern, much less a sidekick! You’ll never make it anywhere, Deku! But hey, if you really want to be a Hero that badly, you should just fast track it! Take a swan dive off the roof and maybe you’ll have a Quirk in the next life!” He yelled at Izuku’s back.

Izuku’s eyes widened. That… was farther than the bitch had ever gone before. He was silent for a moment as even Katsuki’s patsies paled and backed away from the blonde. After a long pause, he replied. “Take your own advice and maybe you’ll be a good person in yours.” His tone was dead even despite the sudden fury he felt.

“What did you say to me?!” Veins started to pulse on Katsuki’s forehead.

Izuku turned around and forced a nasty smirk at the ash-blonde. “I said your mom’s pussy was delicious last night, bitch.”

“DEKU!!!!” Katsuki both figuratively and literally exploded, rushing for Izuku.

Izuku dropped his bag, setting his feet and watching closely, unblinkingly. ‘Left jab.’ Preparing himself for some pain, he grabbed Katsuki’s wrist, wincing as some of the explosions seared his hand. But he ignored it. He always had, ever since the first time he’d fought his former best friend when he was five. When the blonde’s arrogance had started to rise and he began bullying others. Izuku had never been able to ignore it, not even when it was none of his business.

Izuku drove his head forward, slamming his forehead into Katsuki’s nose and stunning the blonde. A right hook to the jaw followed by a left spinning back kick to the liver had Katsuki flying into the desks and crashing to the floor. He smirked as he grabbed his bag off the floor and rose. “Ten out of ten, would eat again!” He called out as he exited the classroom.

That smirk lasted all the way until he was off school grounds and away from all the assholes within it. He let out a sigh, “Dumbass. What would you do if I was actually suicidal? You want to get charged?”

He really didn’t know what had happened to the boy. There was a limit to how delusional and arrogant someone could be. It had taken over a year before Izuku became good enough at fighting to actually grab a win off Katsuki. And since then, he had only grown better, taking self-defense martial arts, exercising, and beating the shit out of his punching bags at home.

You would think that the blonde would have gotten with the fucking program by now with all the times Izuku had kicked his ass. Today though? Today had been way beyond the pale. At this point, Izuku absolutely despised the blonde bomber. And the only thing he wanted more than to break Bakugō’s spirit was to be a Hero. Like All Might. The best Hero.

He walked under an underpass before he heard a strange burbling. “A medium-sized bodysuit… you’ll do.”

Izuku turned and looked at the liquid sludge surging from the holes on a manhole. And then he was engulfed. “BWUAH!” He started trying to pull the sludge off to no avail.

“Calm down kid.” The evil bastard laughed, “I’m only taking your body over. All it’ll take is about forty-five seconds and it’ll all be over.” Izuku struggled against the bastard and managed to free a hand. He grabbed onto three of the villain’s large teeth and ripped them out. “ARGH!” The villain roared and spasmed, freeing more of Izuku’s body as sludgy blood started to pour from the otherwise green mass.

“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” Izuku yelled as his fist landed squarely in the villain’s eye.

“FUCK!” The sludge rippled away again. “MY EYE! YOU LITTLE FUCK!”

“AHAHAHAHA! THAT’S WHAT YOU DESERVE, EVILDOER!” A third voice rang through the underpass and Izuku actually forgot to fight to free himself. A ludicrously muscular man punched the manhole cover away.

“NO! NOT AGAIN!” The sludge, still hurting from his missing teeth and very bruised eye, screamed in fear. “ALL MIGHT!”

“SMASH!” The blonde roared, and the shockwave of his punch was enough to strip every bit of sludge off of Izuku and splattered it all over the walls of the underpass.

Izuku swayed for a moment before grinning, “WHOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!” He yelled, clenching his fists with a massive smile on his face. “THAT WAS AWESOME!”

“AHAHAHA! WHAT A FUNNY KID!” All Might laughed. “Now…” He reached into his grocery bag with a bit of a wince of regret, before pouring out all of the cola. “Time to clean him up.” He started zipping around the underpass and scooping the villain into the empty bottles. A moment later, they were both in the sun again as All Might posed with the villain. “I apologize for getting you caught up in my villain hunt, young man! Mistakes like that aren’t my style, but I’m not familiar with this part of Japan.” He grinned at Izuku as he slipped the bottle into his large pocket so as to not get it confused with the actual bottle of cola he had remaining. “Still, you seemed like you had him right where you wanted him!”

Izuku laughed, “Hell yeah I did! Good thing you showed up to save him!” All Might bellowed in laughter. “Oh!” He started to dig through his back, “Can I get an autograph?!” He pulled out his notebook.

“OF COURSE!” The greatest Hero ever declared, taking the notebook and pen and signing with a flourish. “My, my, quite good analysis you have here!” He beamed at Izuku, “You’ll need some help to take it up to a professional standard, of course, but this is quite good, nonetheless. You have talent that usually needs to be trained, young man!”

‘Ooooh!’ Izuku swayed, ‘All Might just praised my notes!’

“I take it you want to be a Hero as well?” All Might grinned down at him.

Izuku grinned back, “Hell yeah!”

“Ahahaha! That’s the spirit!” All Might declared. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay and chat. I doubt these bottles will hold this guy forever!” He patted his pocket, jostling the bottle. “But worry not! With good notes like those and that strong Quirk of yours, you’ll be a Hero in no time!” He bent his knees and prepared to jump.

“Thanks!” Izuku said. And then just before All Might left the ground, he managed to yell, “But you’re wrong! I’m Quirkless!” He waved as All Might disappeared into the sky. “Holy shit, that was awesome!” He started walking cheerfully.

And in the sky, Yagi Toshinori was very glad that he was already in the air, because he most certainly would have missed a step and landed face-first on the pavement. ‘Quirkless?! He was Quirkless?!’ He looked back but had already left the area far behind. He wasn’t sure how far he had flown. He had just tried to get as far out of sight as possible, seeing as he was losing time fast.

He also didn’t notice the bottle slip from his pocket. It landed right in front of Katsuki and his two patsies, both of whom were giving the blonde a wide berth. It had been ages since Katsuki hadn’t managed to get even one hit in on Midoriya, and both were tempted to just leave the blonde to rage with how furious he was. Said blonde roared, “DAMN IIIIT!” As he kicked the bottle, rupturing it and waking the villain at the same time.

-]|[-

Izuku was flying high after his meeting with All Might. Not only did he get to check out that hottie Mt. Lady in person, but he also got to embarrass Katsuki and meet All Might in the same day! Things couldn’t possibly get any better!

“Oi, Midoriya!” A gruff voice called out.

Aaand there went his good day. Izuku rolled his eyes, immediately stashing his notebook and turning around, “Honda. Looks like that nose didn’t heal so good.” There were five of them in that thin alley.

The thug from Musutafu High School’s eye twitched, “Can’t you even remember my damn name, Midoriya?! You didn’t even get the letter right! It’s Tanabe Kazuo!”

Izuku shrugged his backpack off and tossed it to the side. “Sorry, side characters make me face blind.” He followed it up with his shirt, leaving him only in his compression top, showing off his muscular arms. “Five of you today, huh? You should have brought more.” He cracked his knuckles.

“You’re fucking DEAD, Midoriya!” Tanabe roared, charging forward. His arms bulged into gorilla arms, and he attempted to smash Izuku. Izuku stepped forward instead of backing away. His fist flashed and buried itself into Tanabe’s liver, making the bleached-blonde gag. Izuku’s fingers pointed, and he jabbed them into Tanabe’s armpits and disabled his arms from the pressure-point strikes. Then, a palm-strike upwards had the boy three feet in the air and landing flat on his back. He let out a pained wheeze as his arms morphed back to human.

“KAZUO! GET HIM!” The second asshole rushed forward, his legs longer than Izuku’s whole body. His short and squat upper body made him look hysterical. He lashed out with a kick, but again Izuku stepped into it. He caught the enlarged limb after taking the roundhouse to the side without even a grimace of pain. His smirk had the boy yelling, “Oh FUUUUUU-!” before Izuku grabbed his leg by the pants and yanked backwards. The boy sailed towards him before he started singing soprano as Izuku buried a crushing blow directly into his crotch.

“ARATA!” The blonde one yelled. “YOU DIRTY BASTARD!” His arms grew pipes and he started swinging at Izuku. The verdet dodged it a few times, catching one of the last two’s head morphing into… a… seahorse? Out of the corner of his eye.

Izuku blitzed forward, grabbing the thug’s wrists, and burying his knee into his sternum. He grabbed him by the face and moved him between Izuku and the seahorse Quirk guy. Black balls of ink blasted into his enemy’s back with loud TWACKS and splashing sounds. The guy howled in pain, muffled by Izuku’s hand and strong grip.

“Oh shit!” The seahorse cried out, in a very warbled voice. Izuku picked the guy (Awata or something) and charged the seahorse guy. “What the-?!” That was all he got out before Izuku and his improvised battering ram ran him over. He then punched down, tweaking the boy’s jaw before he grabbed the pipe and broke it with a knee drop and pull. He turned and hurled it at the final guy.

Said enemy turned into stone. He still stumbled back from the impact, but he growled out, “What now, Midoriya?! What is your Quirkless ass going to do now? I’m rock hard! Your puny, Quirkless fists won’t do shit agains-”

Izuku’s heel crashed into his nose and shattered it anyway. “Enjoy the concussion, asshat.” He said dryly as he started to grab his stuff.

Tanabe managed to get onto his side. “F-Fuck you, Midoriya!” He slurred. He had a bruised jaw, at minimum.

“Huh, you stayed awake this time.” Izuku smirked as he put his blazer back on, “Maybe you’ll make D-lister someday, Honda.”

“It’s TANABE!” He yelled, before grimacing in pain, “And you’re never going to be a Hero, you Quirkless fuck!” He managed to spit out.

“Just fucking watch me.” Izuku threw his bag over his shoulder, walking away with a careless wave at the five downed idiots behind him.

-]|[-

“Today was awesome even with those idiots. Time to go grab some grub.” Izuku was obviously buying pork cutlets. He smirked slightly, ‘Mom’s fault for leaving food up to me today.’ His thoughts were cut off by a loud explosion, “Huh?” His eyes narrowed. Those blasts sounded familiar. He took off running, “Just what is that idiot doing?” He rounded a building and saw a crowd. He didn’t notice a tall, lanky blonde man clenching his side with a look of despair on his face. “What’s going on?”

“A villain captured some kid!” One of the bystanders told him, making his eyes widen.

“Wasn’t All Might chasing this guy? Did he manage to dodge even All Might?!” Another asked.

Izuku’s eyes hardened, forcing his way past the mob, pushing, and shoving his way forward, ignoring their indignation. He got to the front and took stock, grinding his teeth when he noticed Katsuki engulfed with what looked like living sludge. ‘How the hell?’ He thought to himself. ‘Did All Might miss some of the sludge?’ His sharp eyes flit along the street, watching as Backdraft tried to put out the fires. Kamui Woods was keeping bystanders away and pulling people from rubble but was making no effort to get close. “Explosive fires are my weakness!” He groaned, “Someone else has to take this one!”

He was at least rescuing people, but Backdraft was right there. ‘Why aren’t they teaming up?’ Izuku’s fists started to tighten as he watched Backdraft put out fires that just lit right back up when Katsuki’s dumb ass blew more shit up.

He then saw Mt. Lady and smiled. She could reach right in and pull Bakugō out of the sludge. As much as he hated the bastard, he didn’t want him to die! Especially since it meant he wouldn’t be able to beat him to Number One himself! He almost relaxed to allow himself a bit of light perving, but it was no time to take in that sexy bod. Not when her first words were, “Oh no! This street isn’t wide enough! I can’t get close!” She had frozen above them, with the pervs looking up and drooling at the skintight Hero suit clinging to her body.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ Izuku snarled inside his mind. ‘Fucking hell, that’s a bad Gigantification Quirk! They don’t usually come in one-size only varieties!’

“He’s too slippery to get a hold of!” Death Arms snarled out, “We can’t do anything against him! At least his hostage is resisting!”

‘Are you-’ Izuku cut himself off. Katsuki was causing more problems by resisting, not less! They had been useful in getting attention but now they were actively impeding the Heroes! If he stopped then just that by itself would allow Kamui to get close and try to pull him out! Plus, he was just blasting around wildly and causing property damage everywhere!

“It’s no good! There’s no one here that can stop him!” Kamui cried out, “We have to wait for someone with the right Quirk! That boy just has to hold on a little longer!”

Izuku’s blood was pounding so hard in his ears, everything else was drowned out. Wait for the right Quirk? These morons already had everything they needed to save Katsuki! Izuku’s knuckles cracked and then he saw Katsuki’s face. The despair in them. The terror. The pleas written right in his eyes for help.

Izuku vaulted the barrier before he knew what he was doing, his bag and shirt falling to the pavement behind him. “NO KID!” Death Arms yelled, trying and failing to grab him.

Once he had, Izuku committed fully. He gazed all around the battlefield, taking in every detail he could. And the sludge let out a roar when he saw him. “YOU AGAIN?! I’LL KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING BRAT!” He sent out tendrils of sludge towards Izuku.

Izuku dodged to the right, jumped on top of a heavily damaged car, and then leapt over the sludge while flipping. His hands grabbed the villain’s undefended eyes. The sludge let out a hysterical roar of pain, his muddy body rippling as Izuku dragged his eyes back. He freed a bit of Katsuki’s body, allowing the blonde to take a big gasp of air. “DEKU?!” He coughed out as he began to struggle anew.

Izuku ignored him. “LET HIM GO OR I’LL FUCKING POP THEM!” Izuku yelled as the villain continued to scream and his body followed his eyes. Izuku had lined things up perfectly and the sludge was dragged over a fire hydrant. “BLAST IT, IDIOT!”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO FUCKING DO, DEKU!” Katsuki did as ordered anyway, knocking the hydrant off the pavement and sending a deluge of water into the muddy sludge above.

“ABLHNBJDFEGH!” The sludge villain roared as he started bulking up but losing consistency. The immense amount of water instantly diluted his body and started splattering him about. The man went unconscious in moments, running down the street.

Izuku and Katsuki panted before cheers erupted around them. And then was silenced as the ‘heroes’ arrived. “That was reckless!” Kamui yelled at Izuku, who sneered back.

Death Arms also rounded on Izuku, “What the hell were you thinking?! There was no need for you to put yourself in danger!”

Izuku immediately snapped. He hadn’t taken shit from anyone since he was five. He wasn’t about to take shit from a shit Hero, “Maybe if you morons knew how to do your damn jobs I wouldn’t have had to!” He bellowed back at the man, before snapping a finger at him, “I heard every word you lot said! ‘He’s too slippery!’ His eyes felt damn solid to me! Maybe aim for the obvious weak point next time!” Eyes practically glowing in rage as he turned his gaze to Backdraft, he continued sending them to the burn unit, “And you! If you hadn’t wasted time putting out fires that this idiot-” He pointed at a scowling Katsuki, “-just kept reigniting with every explosion, you could have COVERED KAMUI’S BRANCHES WITH WATER! Wet wood wouldn’t have burned as easily and Kamui could have yanked him right out! Not to mention you could have just done what WE did, and fucking drowned the bitch!”

The crowd was absolutely eating his words up, and both Kamui and Backdraft looked thunderstruck. “‘That boy just has to hold on a little longer?’ So that someone with the ‘right Quirk’ can show up?!” He spat on the ground, “No wonder All Might can never take a fucking break if you useless fucks are what pass for Heroes around here!”

Death Arms then made things worse as he saw his reputation being shredded before his eyes. “Maybe I should just take you in for vigilantism, you damn brat!”

“Good fucking luck, bitch! That law is only for Quirk usage, and I’m Quirkless!” And the crowd went silent as Izuku flipped him off. “And I’m already a better Hero than you’ll ever be! Maybe when I go pro I’ll make you my sidekick? Nah, you’re not worth even that!”

And as Izuku turned and stomped away, All Might stared at his back with a sweatdrop on his head. Had the vestiges inside his Quirk been fully awakened, he would have heard at least half of them howling with laughter.

-]|[-

Izuku was still seething when Katsuki finally caught up with him. “DEKU!”

“Oh for fucks sake!” All Izuku wanted was to go get his fucking pork cutlets so he could make some fucking katsudon. He turned, “What the fuck do you want?”

“I NEVER ASKED FOR ANY HELP!” Katsuki yelled, “I WOULD HAVE BEATEN HIM MYSELF!”

“Yeah, because you were doing such a stellar job of it.” Izuku snarked back. “Fuck off.” He turned and started walking away.

“Get in my way again and I’ll fucking kill you, nerd!” He kicked a rock and turned, walking away.

“Not the friendliest kid, is he?” Toshinori stepped out with a sweatdrop.

Izuku took him in and realized he was wearing a familiar outfit. He couldn’t quite figure out how that outfit was familiar though. After a moment, he recalled seeing the guy in the group of bystanders moments ago. ‘Huh, guess this geezer must be pretty quick. Or maybe we just walked the same way?’ He shrugged, “Nah, his personality is smellier sewage than that sludge asshole.”

Toshinori grinned slightly, “I thought you were friends when I saw you jump in, but you two sound like you hate each other. Why’d you do it?”

Izuku shrugged again. “He may be a cunt, but I wasn’t about to let him die.” He sighed, “And we were friends once, back before his Quirk came in and mine didn’t. He became just another asshole after that.”

“I see.” Toshinori said softly.

Izuku smirked, “Plus, it’ll be all the sweeter when I’m number one if he’s around for me to rub his nose in it.”

“Ahahaha!” Toshinori laughed, “And why do you want to be a Hero? Fame? Fortune?”

“Why the fuck else?” Izuku asked, looking offended, “So I can save people and put a smile back on their face. Just like All Might! He won’t be around forever and it’s more than clear the rest of these jackoffs won’t cut it.”

‘He’s the one.’ Toshinori’s grin widened. “That’s quite a dream, young man. Now, can you keep a secret?”

Izuku narrowed his eyes. “…Depends on what it is.”

Toshinori’s grin widened as he bulked up, “THAT I AM HERE!” He declared and watched Izuku spittake.

“Wh-What the fuck?!” He yelled, wide-eyed. “What the fuck was that?! How did you-?! Why didn’t-”

“I intervene?” Toshinori sighed as he bulked back down. “A fight that was never disclosed to the public from five years ago left me down a lung, most of my stomach, and large tracts of my intestines. I’m afraid you’re more right than you know that All Might won’t be around forever.” He sighed, “In fact, I’m now limited to just three hours a day as All Might.”

“H-Holy shit.” Izuku felt his knees weaken and he leaned against the fence. “Th-that’s bad.”

Toshinori chuckled, “Knack for understatement, my boy. Most days, I’m just Yagi Toshinori now. I’m growing weaker by the day.”

“But why are you telling me this?” Izuku asked, his eyes wide.

“Tell me, what do you think my Quirk is?” Toshinori asked, “I saw all that analysis of yours. It was quite good.”

“I don’t have a fucking clue.” Izuku deadpanned, getting a surprised cough of blood from All Might. “H-Holy shit! Why are you coughing blood?! It’s been five years!”

Toshinori wiped his mouth, shaking his head. “It’s all the pressure I put on it when I’m working. It jostles the wounds too much.”

“Holy shit All Might, take a day off!” Izuku exclaimed. “Or a week! Society won’t collapse if you take just a bit of time to heal!”

“Heh. You sound like Mirai and Dave.” Toshinori looked away, “A Symbol of Peace must never be daunted by evil.”

Izuku shook his head, “I can’t believe this. You didn’t have to disclose that you were injured, dumbass! You could have just had the powers that be make it known that you were taking a secret mission and then fucked off for a month! If you had healed properly maybe now you’d have six hours instead of three!” His mental image of All Might was being shattered. Shattered!

Toshinori stared at him and sweated. “You… might have a point.” His cheeks pinked in embarrassment. Izuku facepalmed so hard the back of his head hit the fence. Toshinori shook his head, “Regardless, you don’t have any idea about my Quirk?”

“Not one! You’re too strong for a strength Quirk, too fast for a speed Quirk, and clearly you’re not actually made of graphene!” Izuku groaned, “And you always make jokes about it on talk shows! Nothing fits! The only idea even remotely possible is that it’s a stockpile, but that makes no fucking sense because it takes decades to build those up and you were strong like that right out of High School! Not to mention that not a single confirmed stockpile Quirk has ever been even a tenth as strong as you are!”

Fun fact: All Might had been the primary proponent for raising the age restrictions for heroism to college age rather than high school age. When he first came out of U.A., it had been a high school rather than a university!

Toshinori let out a howl of laughter, “Oh, that’s good, kid! Very good!”

“But still wrong.” Izuku grumbled.

“And what if I told you that you were only missing one key bit of information to get the correct answer?” Toshinori asked.

Izuku’s eyes flashed, “Forbidden All Might lore?” He asked eagerly. “What is that bit of information?”

Toshinori grinned. He couldn’t wait to see Izuku’s face. “That I’m not the first person to hold this Quirk.” Izuku froze, “I’m the eighth.”

Pictured inside Izuku’s head was a toy monkey smashing a pair of cymbals together. “What?!” He managed to croak out after several seconds.

“My Quirk, young man, is a stockpiling Quirk.” Toshinori revealed, “Only it’s one that can be passed along like an Olympic torch.”

“…Holy fuck.” Izuku swore, staring at him in awe. “It’s fucking Baton Pass!”

Toshinori laughed again as he heard the Pokémon reference. He’d played far too many of those games lately. “And when I saw you, a Quirkless boy, jump into danger without a thought to save even a hated rival, I knew that you were the one I’d been searching for!” Toshinori declared. He held his hand out, “I think you’ll be a fantastic Hero, young one. But you can be better than just fantastic. You can be the best. So the only question remaining… is whether you’ll accept the baton. So young man… how would you like to be the next bearer of the legacy of One For All?”

“One For All…” Izuku breathed out. “Honestly…” He looked straight ahead, “Ever since I was four years old, I knew that not all men are created equal. I was bullied a lot when I was younger. Beaten up. Exploded. Mocked. Told I was less than dirt…” Toshinori clenched his jaw as Izuku spoke to him. “And I could have sat there and listened to it. Could have been a timid crybaby. Could have let everyone walk all over me. And if Bakugō hadn’t started bullying other kids as well when he got bored of me, it really might have happened.” He said, “Instead… I fought back. I got angry. Was as mean to them as they were to me. Protected others. And I got my ass kicked. Again and again. But I kept getting up. And kept getting a little better each and every day.” He looked over at Toshinori. “You might think I’m the perfect successor, but at least half of what gets me up in the morning is pure fucking spite. A desire to prove all of the assholes around me wrong. You really think that’s what your successor should be like?”

Toshinori laughed, “Kid, I chose the persona I did because when I was the Quirkless kid just a bit younger than you-” Izuku choked at the information, “I couldn’t walk a single block from my house without a baseball bat in hand. People avoided one another. People wouldn’t help others. They’d just ignore everyone who needed it, because maybe that time would be the time the helpless lamb had a big, bad wolf lying in wait. Crime was rampant and out of control.” He said grimly, “And I knew that people needed a symbol. Someone who would say ‘no more.’ Someone who would put fear in the hearts of villains and hope in the hearts of the innocent. That is why I became the Symbol of Peace.”

“All Might…” Izuku whispered, staring at his idol in awe.

“But I’ve clearly made mistakes. More of them than I ever knew.” Toshinori said heavily, “And it is clear to me that another simply stepping into my shoes and making the same mistakes I did will only delay the inevitable. What I saw today disgusted me, kid. While I stood there helpless, a group of Heroes stood there without daring to risk themselves to save a young life. I hate to speak ill of my colleagues, but you were right. Everyone around me simply became complacent.” He looked down at Izuku, “So maybe you’re not the same person I am. In my book, that’s a good thing. Maybe you’ll make fewer of my mistakes.”

Izuku leaned his head back against the wall. “…I should say no. I should stick to my guns. Become a Hero without a Quirk.” Toshinori almost choked, “But I’d be a fucking selfish idiot to pass this up. A Quirk is a tool. And if I don’t use every tool in my arsenal, if even one person I could have saved died because of my pride, then I’d be as worthless of a Hero as Bakugō.” Izuku stood and grinned confidently at All Might, holding out his hand. “So where do we fucking start?”

Toshinori’s grin split his face.

-]|[-

It was about two weeks later than Toshinori had wanted to start training his new apprentice, but Izuku had insisted. He hadn’t been idle during those two weeks. No, rather, he had spent that time taking exams so that he could graduate early from Aldera High. Now, without that distraction, he could dedicate his all to training, and the teen had insisted on starting right away.

“HA! I didn’t think you’d be able to do this even with those muscles of yours!” Toshinori called out as he sat on top of a huge double-door refrigerator. Said fridge was bobbing up and down slowly, as Izuku took step after exhausting step up the beach towards a commercial dump truck Toshinori had parked up on the road.

“It would be a lot easier without your fat ass on top of it too! You’re like two-hundred-and-seventy-four kilos alone!” Izuku gasped up, his face red as he took another wobbly step.

“Nah, I lost weight! I’m two-hundred-and-fifty-five now!” Toshinori laughed before he hopped off the fridge and slimmed down. Izuku immediately… well, he didn’t relax but his face was nowhere near as red. He let out a gasp of air as he steadied himself. “Still, I’m impressed kid. I honestly didn’t think you’d be up to this quite yet.”

“Heh. I’ve been Quirkless all this time. If I couldn’t haul a fucking fridge up a beach I would have given up long ago.” Izuku took a few heavy breaths. He continued to walk the fridge up to the steps and then up them. He put it down, panting, before setting his feet. “UP YOU GO!” He yelled before lifting with his knees and throwing the fridge over his head. He just barely made it over the edge of the truck and heard it land in the bed with a satisfying clunk. “Hooooly shit.” He wheezed.

“Well, I’ll be, kid.” Toshinori laughed and tossed him a water bottle. Izuku began drinking from it greedily. “Looks like I’ll probably need to revise my plans a bit.”

“What’s this even for, anyway? A workout?” Izuku asked as he rested against the truck.

“Oh yes.” Toshinori, “One For All is the combined strength of eight people. It is an avalanche of power. If your body can’t handle it, then it’ll explode when you try to use it.” Izuku grimaced at the mental image, “But it’s more than that. I could have trained you more efficiently at my home gym.” He turned and gazed out at the mountains of trash. “I did research on this beach, you know. It’s been like this for years.”

“Yeah.” Izuku grimaced, “Mom told me stories about this place. It was beautiful when she was a child, but when she was a teenager, people had stopped bothering to keep up with the junk flowing in from the ocean currents.”

“Mhm. And once people stopped cleaning it up, others started using it as a dump regardless of this sign.” Toshinori kicked the ‘no dumping’ sign, making it clang loudly. “Kids these days are all about the flash and pizazz. They’ve forgotten that at the end of the day, Heroes are public servants. But even if many have forgotten it, that is what we are at our roots and we must never stray from it!” He turned and grinned at Izuku. “You’ve got just shy of ten months to train to receive One For All-”

Izuku scoffed. “Ten months?” He looked all around the beach, his eyes taking in all the details he could see. He smirked, “I’ll do it in seven.”

“AHAHAHAHA!” Toshinori laughed, “That a promise?”

“You fucking bet.” Izuku slammed his right fist into his left palm, “I aint walking into no entrance exam without knowing how to use a fucking Quirk because I just got it.”

“Well then, young man… you better get going!” Toshinori yelled.

Izuku grinned back, “-and I have just the thing.” He walked over to his stuff and pulled out a… boombox? He set it up at the foot of the stairs and turned it on. It synced to his phone and then started blasting. Drums hit, and then the lyrics came.

My hero! Go and show me what I gotta do! Made up my mind, wanna be like you! We don't care what other people say!

Izuku grinned as All Might burst out laughing. He leapt at the trash with a bloodthirsty grin. He grabbed a whole set of steel mailboxes and hauled them up the stairs, tossing them into the dumpster. He then ran back and vaulted over the railing into the sands down below. He landed lightly and ran to a pile of fifty-five-gallon steel drums. Each was close to fifty pounds empty, and he tossed one over each shoulder before running up the stairs.

I know I’ll resurface you. You know I will! Stop anything, nothing will go wrong! Oh, I’ll keep trying, keep moving forward! I will believe what I’ve been working on! Can anybody tell me the way to make it?

The seasons turned. Izuku, looking significantly bulkier than he had two months ago, was flipping a gigantic tractor tire up the beach. He hit the stairs, turned it around, and started flipping it back to the trash. He picked a full fifty-five-gallon drum with a grunt of exertion and started hauling it back up the stairs.

I feel something happy from my heart. Something beating for sure. Either it’s somehow bad, I will see. What I've gotta be in the future! Strong will, amazing, ran away. You know a strong-willed ace, you’re great, alright?

Much of the piles of junk had been removed already. Izuku was in full swimwear and enjoying the refreshing coolness of the ocean. He was swimming laps up and down the beach while All Might watched. And then a bunch of girls showed up, and his mentor dutifully started posing for them. Izuku saw it as he was freestyling up the coast and almost drowned when he started laughing.

They were still there when he came back doing the breaststroke.

Everything I see, everything I feel… All the things that I have for it to at least break!

Izuku had found another fridge, only he felt like testing his strength against it. He punched and kicked at it, denting the heavy steel with each blow as All Might watched proudly.

Switch out an enemy, doesn’t go well. I will believe in what I’ve been working on! Do what you like, just give me one thing. I see the future, don’t miss out now!

Izuku wasn’t just pushing the small pickup truck through the sands. He was lifting the front end up and dragging it up the stairs. His shirtless body was packed with muscle now and he was glistening with sweat. Some of the watching girls weren’t even drooling at All Might as they stared. Several took pictures. Some even recorded videos.

Hero is in my heart; hero is in your heart!

The seasons had turned again. It was too cold to be shirtless with the chilly winds once again coming in. But Izuku just wore a light jumpsuit and some compression gear beneath it. He was sweating and heated up enough to still be comfortable. And the piles of trash were ever shrinking. More and more vanished into the bed of the second commercial pickup All Might had to rent.

I don’t care what other people say!

Izuku was doing squats with the massive tractor tire he had found. Honestly, he kind of wanted to keep the thing. He wished they had room for it at home.

I can be a Hero; you can be a Hero! If you wanna make it, just try hard! I know I’ll resurface you!

Toshinori let out a yawn as he made his way to the beach. Just over six-and-a-half months had passed since he had first met Midoriya Izuku, and he was eager to see how far his protégé had come. It had been about two weeks since he had last been able to find the time to come. He’d been on the other side of Japan for that time. But as he pulled in, he let out a gasp. He stopped the truck and got out.

“RAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Izuku stood shirtless atop a huge pile of trash on the last remaining pickup, roaring to the sky like a Dragon Ball Z character.

“Midoriya-shōnen!” Toshinori gaped as he ran out to look at the beach, “Y-You cleaned everything?! You even did outside of where I told you to! There’s not a speck left! Holy stinking SUPER CRAP!” He bulked up into All Might and roared the last words.

Izuku gasped for breath atop his tower, swaying for a moment. He then looked down at All Might and roared, “SEVEN MONTHS! FUCKING TOLD YOU!”

“Ahahahaha!” All Might roared with laughter, “SEVEN?! YOU DID IT IN SIX! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE ACCOMPLISHEMNT!”

Izuku leapt off the tower, allowing All Might to catch him. “Six-and-a-half” He laughed tiredly in the huge man’s arms. It certainly hadn’t been easy. But look at him now! Now standing at nearly six feet and packed with wiry muscle, he looked like a fucking Hero!

“Bah!” All Might scoffed playfully. “Excellent work! Truly! The path forward has never looked clearer! You’re a true-blue vessel now!” He put Izuku down and offered him a warm smile, “And now it’s time for the award ceremony.” He plucked a hair from his golden tufts, “You know what they say: there’s a big difference between being born with that silver spoon… and working your butt off to earn it!” Izuku grinned widely, “Take this to heart. You’ve earned this fair and square. Now… eat this.” He held the hair out.

“…Eh?” Izuku looked at him blankly.

All Might laughed, “You just have to take some of my DNA. I figured this was the least gross thing.”

Izuku grimaced, “Don’t suppose I can bleed you instead? I doubt I’d be able to eat that thing.”

“BAHAHAHA! You didn’t tell me you were a vampire!” All Might laughed, hiding a sweatdrop.

“Just put a few drops in some water or some shit! I’d probably barely taste it!” Izuku snarked, still looking grossed out.

…

They had, in fact, done just that. Izuku had still gagged but had gotten the whole bottle down for good measure. The two had then started to spar while Izuku digested the blood. And as the spar went on, Toshinori thought back to how he had first accessed the Quirk. It hadn’t been in a calm situation. No, his master Nana had G-Gran T-Torino do exactly as he was doing now with Izuku… just a lot harder. AND the not-yet-old man had been taunting him all the while!

He could certainly play up the hamminess but didn’t want to go that far unless necessary. So he picked up the pace, moving faster and hitting harder. Izuku was surprised but didn’t complain. And if Toshinori was one-hundred percent honest with himself, he was astonished at just how much Izuku could keep up with. His apprentice was one-hundred percent Quirkless, and yet he was keeping up with One For All at a very low percentage.

He knew that people got stronger each generation, but from what little research he’d done, he had believed that was just the Quirks themselves. Izuku was determined to prove to everyone that Quirkless did not mean useless, and he’d done a marvelous job of it thus far.

If Toshinori had been more of a scientist, he would probably have been musing that an ultra-rare ‘condition’ did not erase over three centuries of human evolution. These days, there were zero humans on the planet who had absolutely zero Quirk factors. Even the Quirkless had evolved past the normality of yesteryear.

But Toshinori was not a scientist, and so he just started punching harder. He caught his young protégé with a jab that knocked him back but not down, and he could feel it the moment One For All roared to life.

He quickly dodged out of the way as Izuku unleashed his first ever Quirked strike and was really glad he didn’t try to tank it. His jaw dropped as he saw the cloudy sky start to part all the way down the horizon. ‘Oh no.’ He thought to himself in dread and knew it was the right feeling when he heard Izuku scream.

Toshinori whirled around and saw Izuku fall to his knees, clutching at an arm that resembled roadkill more closely than healthy flesh. His right arm was completely red almost from his shoulder to his knuckles, as though every vein in the limb had burst all at once. His knuckles themselves had been completely shredded, the skin looking almost flayed off. He quickly raced to Izuku and picked him up, “I’ve got you, young man.” He said as he launched himself into the air at his fastest speed.

-]|[-

Nezu blinked when the alarm went off, every screen in his office abruptly changing to each and every camera on campus. He only caught the slightest flash of gold on one feed before his eyes snapped to another. This time, he saw All Might in full, and he frowned when he saw him carrying someone, “Toshinori?” He clicked a button that turned off the alarms and another to activate the intercom. “There is no alarm, students, teachers. Please resume your lessons without worry.” And with that, he turned the intercom off and jumped into the ceiling, making his way to Recovery Girl’s office.

…

When he got there, he saw Chiyo berating the not-so-big man. The young man Toshinori had been carrying was in a bed, and he noticed immediately that his sleeve was frayed and shredded. The arm which had looked like roadkill was back to normal, courtesy of Chiyo’s healing kiss. “Care to tell me why you decided to put my whole school into a panic, Toshinori?”

“Principal!” Toshinori winced and turned around. “Your coat is looking so luxurious today!” He deflected.

“The secret is keratin! Humans can’t get luster like this!” Nezu played along as he jumped onto the young man’s bed. “Now without the deflection, if you please.”

“This idiot finally passed it on!” Chiyo snarled, “WITHOUT ME THERE TO ENSURE THERE WERE NO COMPLICATIONS!”

“In my defense, you weren’t there when Nana passed it on either.” Toshinori cringed slightly as she turned and glared lasers at him.

“Ohohoho, this is quite exciting to hear!” Nezu looked more closely at the young man. He remembered him now. Midoriya Izuku. Eighteen years old. Taking the entrance exam in two and a half months as an independent early graduate of Aldera High. Quirkless. “I see you did not go with Mirai’s recommendation.”

Toshinori actually rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t have taken young Togata even if Mirai had introduced us prior to me meeting young Midoriya. Our Quirks are completely incompatible! One For All would have hurt Togata-shōnen more than it would have helped him!”

“It’s good that you saw that. I was planning to have a talk with you if you showed signs of taking Mirai’s advice.” Nezu smiled. “Not that Togata Mirio would be a bad successor. No, he’s one of the best students and best potential Heroes we’ve had in many years. I think you’d like him quite a bit, Toshinori.”

Toshinori let out a chuckle, “Indeed. Thank you, Principal.”

“Now, what happened that caused you to fly here in such a rush?” Nezu asked.

“Midoriya-shōnen and I were sparring as we waited for One For All to pass to him, and between one exchange and the next, he used One For All.” Toshinori explained, “And it was like nothing even I had ever seen! He parted the clouds all the way down to the horizon! Even I can’t do that!” Toshinori exclaimed as his two friends’ eyes widened. “And his arm basically exploded when he did it! I just don’t understand!” Toshinori got up and started pacing back and forth. “I planned out a ten-month workout program that he completed in six-and-a-half months! He’s strong even without a Quirk! He was more than ready and yet his arm practically turned into purée!”

“You’re certain?” Chiyo asked, looking again at Izuku.

“Oh yes,” Toshinori sat back down and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “He worked tirelessly, Chiyo. He even graduated early before starting so that he wouldn’t have to waste time at school going over material he had read ahead on. He cleared the entirety of Dagobah beach of trash! He cleaned even outside of where I told him to! At most he should have experienced torn muscles, maybe some sprains and internal bleeding to go along with them!”

“Then it is clear that even you no longer understand how powerful One For All has grown.” Nezu postulated. “You are injured, after all.”

“Shit.” Toshinori hissed in English.

“Perhaps it is time you give your old teacher a call.” Nezu said softly. Chiyo scoffed as Toshinori went stiff.

“No.” Toshinori shook his head, “…Frankly, that potential meeting terrifies me. Young Midoriya may be my chosen successor but he’s very different from me. I think if All For One were still alive he would run away crying for his mommy if I allowed those two to meet.” His lips quivered in amusement as the two shared a startled glance.

“Sir Nighteye then? He’s done an excellent job with young Togata Mirio.” Chiyo asked him.

Toshinori snorted, “He’d spend the entire time trying to get young Midoriya to pass it on to young Togata… and probably get turned into a pretzel for his trouble. Young Midoriya doesn’t take shit from anyone.” He said proudly.

“Ah.” Nezu let out a small chuckle, “So his response to bullying due to Quirklessness was to decide that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth?”

“And how.” Toshinori chuckled, “He completely wrecked Death Arms’s career after the sludge villain incident.”

Chiyo snorted as that finally jogged her memory. “Oh lord, now I remember where I had seen him before. He made all those Heroes look like complete clowns. The only reason Mt. Lady escaped unscathed was that he didn’t tear strips out of her hide too. You picked him? Why?”

“Because that boy he saved was one of his primary bullies before he started fighting back and the two mutually despise one another.” Toshinori said with obvious pride, “And young Midoriya didn’t even blink before throwing himself into danger to save him.”

“Awww, you’re going to make me blush.” Izuku mewled as he woke up. He grit his teeth as he sat up, “Anyone catch the plate off that semi?”

“Midoriya-shōnen!” Toshinori jumped to his feet. “How do you feel?”

“The fuck you think? Like I stuck my arm into an industrial crusher!” He deadpanned, stretching his arm out. He then looked at Nezu, “Principal Nezu?!” He looked left, “Recovery Girl?! Am I at U.A.?!” He blurted.

“You are, young man. Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear?” Nezu asked with his usual aplomb.

“…You look more like a marsupial to me, though I’m not sure which species specifically.” Izuku said as Nezu’s ears twitched. “And it doesn’t really matter since you’re the principal, of course.”

Nezu smiled. “You chose better than I ever could have imagined, Toshinori. I may have to fight you for him.” Izuku laughed as Chiyo and his mentor both went white. “And yes, Midoriya-san, Recovery Girl and I are two of the few people who know the truth about your new Quirk.”

“Gotcha.” Izuku replied. “Speaking of new Quirks.” He pointed to his arm, “What the fuck, All Might?”

Toshinori slumped, “I’ll be honest. I have zero idea. That first punch of yours was to my current punch what my current punch was to my strongest punch thirty years ago.”

Izuku took a second or three to parse that. “…One For All is far stronger than you thought it was, and so your estimation of when I’d be ready for it was way off.” Toshinori nodded. Izuku put a hand on his chin. “If that’s the case, then I can sort of understand it. You have very little reason to truly give it your all on most days. You’re not going to be United States of Smashing a purse thief, after all. You probably haven’t had to go all out since you faced the jackass six years ago. But as a Stockpiling Quirk, One For All would not have stopped growing stronger. If anything, its growth would have accelerated as you started using it lessandlessduetoyourinjury…”

Chiyo listened to the mumbling and felt nothing but dread. This boy wasn’t a meathead like she had expected Toshinori to choose. Oh no, it was quite clear from the sheer interest on Nezu’s face that he was probably frightfully intelligent. She almost felt bad for the villains of tomorrow.

She had put a stop to things to give Izuku a final check-up, and then they reconvened once Izuku had gotten dressed in a U.A. gym outfit. His clothes really were a bit too wrecked to go home in. As he did so behind the curtain, he asked the three of them what he could do now. And it was here that he got some of the most exciting news of his life.

THEY WERE GOING TO I-ISLAND!

-]|[-