Chapter Text
Izuku watched All Might fly off of the roof, leaving a plume of white steam behind him. A numbness had settled over him, consuming every emotion that threatened to overtake him. Anger, sadness, hate, self-loathing, all fell through the cracks, leaving him empty. His mind was clear.
He couldn’t be a hero. Without a quirk, he was a liability, someone who would only serve to get in the way of the other heroes. Someone who could be used as a five second distraction, thrown away in the heat of battle. Easy to kill. Useless. Vulnerable.
It’d be safer for him to just leave and find a different job. To aspire to be something else. Changing his dream would be the best decision he could make at this moment. Choosing to be a police officer, or to work in a hospital. As a quirkless person, he was less than worthless.
Even with extensive schooling and training, he’d never measure up to those who had quirks. Even the most mundane and seemingly useless quirks places those people above him. He was the lowest of the low, seen as something disabled.
He’d been cursed the day he was born. Cursed to feel worthless and useless. Cursed to be quirkless and hurt at every turn.
All Might was his last line, someone who would be able to turn the tide into something more favorable. He could change the course of his actions, if he had encouraged him. Especially after the sludge villain attack, he was already vulnerable and emotional.
Instead, he’d been discouraged and called useless by his childhood idol.
Izuku thought all of that was bullshit. He could be a hero, if he tried enough, surely? All it would take is a lot of support gear and he could emulate any quirk, right? He just needed to push himself, that’s all. He could still do this.
Easily pushing himself up from his previously sitting position, he brushed off his pants. Even if all of his dreams were dashed, and no one believed in him, he could still achieve his dreams. He’d just have to try harder and dedicate more of himself to his dream. He’d have to be the most dedicated in the room. The smartest.
He walked home that day and destroyed his room easily, ripping all of the All Might Merch from the walls and replacing it with Vigilantes and Villains. Later, on the news it said the sludge villain had gotten away, and had evaded police custody.
When had All Might dropped the bottle?
School would probably never get better, and it was proven time and time again. The muscle gain he’d gotten from cleaning a beach in their neighborhood didn’t do anything to add to his intimidation tactic. Everyone saw his progress as him being hero-obsessed, not someone who was dedicated to their dream.
He’d spent the last five months dismantling things on the beach, attempting to understand what was going on inside of everyday machines. If he knew how they worked, and how to dismantle and re-mantle them, he could build other things.
Going to the library in his free time allowed him to look at support equipment books and take pointers from them.
Izuku watched videos of different underground heroes and vigilantes, finding out their fighting styles and emulating them. Now, he was getting to the point where his body was filling out, height skyrocketing with his growth.
When he fought different makeshift dummies around the junkyard, he would destroy them with little to no effort. His steel toed boots made it easier for him. His training was paying off. Everything was looking up.
It was a month before the entrance exam, and he was doing his daily jog. Miles blurred together between the sweat rolling down his forehead and the music blaring in his ears. Faces flew by with little to no thought. The sun burned down on him, and he found himself feeling grateful towards the breeze cooling him off every minute or so.
He’d just turned a corner near a shopping district when an explosion rocked the ground he was standing on. Izuku found himself crouching low to keep himself upright, gloved hands digging into the ground to keep himself steady. He took a moment to rip out his earbuds and look at the scene in front of him.
There was a small crowd, but it was gaining numbers rapidly, people rounding the corner to see what interrupted their daily routine. Izuku found himself glaring at them and their naivety. Civilians shouldn’t rush headlong towards a battle they had no business with. The only reason Izuku was here was because his job had led him to this point somehow.
Turning back towards the source, he saw the crowd being held off by various heroes. Backdraft was there, utilizing his water to create a barrier for the civilians, hopefully keeping them out of the way. It’d be better if they were back another twenty feet or so, if the explosion from before was any indication. Instead of moving to help, Backdraft stood by the barrier.
Izuku had studied his quirk, and he didn’t need to be near the water to control it, so why was he standing there doing nothing? The hero wasn’t even assisting the protection of the crowd, Deatharms already had that covered, standing as a secondary barrier between them and the villain.
Other heroes, like Kaumi Woods, stood on top of the ambulance, hands in his pockets. Odd.
Meanwhile, in the center of it all, stood the sludge villain from nine months ago. He looked exactly the same, with the exception that he seemed to be even more unhinged than before. The crazed look in his eyes had been amplified, and he was cackling madly as Kaumi Woods shot towards him.
There was someone inside of the sludge, thrashing wildly. How long had they been in there?
The villain easily evaded the attack, the strips of wood just gliding through his gelantinis body easily. Maybe instead of doing straight shots, he should do a horizontal one that spanned the whole villain and utilized it to wrap around the child and pull him out.
Instead, Kaumi sighed and returned to the crowd, talking with Death Arms quietly.
“My quirk is useless, we need to wait for backup.” The two heroes nodded before turning towards the crowd, trying to calm them down.
Waiting for backup is a stupid decision. Most humans can only breathe underwater for an average of three minutes. Izuku had already been standing there for who knows how long. Suddenly, another explosion rocketed outwards, catching more things on fire. Backdraft could have taken authority and put them out to protect the civilians. But they didn’t. Anger was building in Izuku’s chest.
Why were the heroes being useless? Why weren’t they attempting to save the kid in the sludge. The kid that Izuku was pretty sure he knew. Following the blast, a hand shot out from the sludge. The hand was quickly followed by a head, poking out and heaving in a few breaths of air before being overtaken once more.
Blonde hair. Red eyes. Explosions.
It was Bakugou Katsuki. His childhood friend turned bully turned enemy. Wonderful.
Somewhere deep down, Izuku wanted to turn away and leave the boy to die. Izuku wanted to let the heroes make a huge mistake and allow a child to die. But that wasn’t the majority, and Izuku found himself running towards the barrier.
His backpack was still on, and he reached into a side pocket easily. Ripping the knife he had hidden there free, he spun it in his hand easily. His other hand pulled out the small length of rope he kept. It was only a handful of feet but it’d be enough.
Izuku easily vaulted over the barrier, tucking into a roll at the moment of impact. He could hear the heroes behind him begin to yell, telling him it was too dangerous and that he would get himself killed.
He ignored them and got to his feet, continuing his sprint. Another explosion ripped free, somehow heading straight towards him. Izuku had enough experience of dodging Bakugou's explosions, so he easily sidestepped it. Unraveling the rope, he quickly made a loop around the sludge, and he pulled. The rope sliced through the sludge material until it finally reached Bakugou’s body. It wrapped around him easily as Izuku pulled the rope again, digging his reinforce heels into the ground a few feet away.
The villain roared again, saying something about his hostage and meeting him eight months ago. Something about killing Izuku for sure this time. Pulling with all of his weight, a sick wet noise resounded through the area. Bakugou was free and flew a few feet out of the sludge, landing in a heap near Izuku’s feet.
He was knocked out cold, and Izuku took a moment to yank him once more, getting him a few feet closer. The villain was screeching as Izuku rolled Bakugou onto his side. Ensuring he was in fact breathing and his airway was open, Izuku stood up.
The villain was already advancing on him, and the heroes called out once more. Izuku didn’t waste any time and pulled back his empty fist, allowing the villain to gain on him. He was getting dangerously close, but in order for his plan to work he needed to get up close and personal.
Right before his body could get sucked into the sludge villain, Izuku let his punch fly directly into the villain’s teeth. It hurt like a bitch, but with the scream at the sound from the villain, he’d call it a success.
There was blood speckled on his fist, and the villain spat out some of his now broken teeth.
“Now you’ll get it!”
Izuku found that the villain had a slight lisp. Funny. The villain had been knocked down a couple feet, but Izuku took his opportunity and gripped his knife once more. Glancing into the villain’s vulnerable eyes, Izuku saw the moment realization crossed them.
There was unintelligible screaming as he lunged forward, knife gleaming in the light. Blood splattered on his face as he slashed the vulnerable orbs to hell and back. He slashed once, twice before embedding his knife into the eye socket to the hilt. Viciously, he ripped the knife free, more blood dripping down onto the pavement.
The crowd was silent, and the villain was lying on the ground. Hopefully he hadn’t killed him, and the man was just knocked out from the pain. Either way, it was done. Calmly, Izuku put his knife back into its holster. Turning back around, he saw many cameras trained on him and the scene he’d just created.
The heroes were in shock. Typical. Izuku threw his backpack onto the ground and pulled out a few water bottles. He doused the fires easily, each one only taking a small splash of water and a few well placed stomps. No one stopped him as he took control of the scene, keeping an eye on the villain as he got rid of the residual danger.
As soon as the fires were out, Izuku picked up the unconscious form of Bakugou and brought him to the EMTs. They took him without a word and began working to ensure the boy was breathing.
Job done, Izuku turned around to come face to face with Deatharms, Kaumi Woods and Backdraft. They looked angry, but they didn’t seem to notice the News Reporter training a camera on their interaction. A lazy smirk came to Izuku’s face.
“Why did you do that? You could have gotten hurt!”
“That was highly irresponsible, and if you had used your quirk that could count as vigilantism!”
“That was reckless!”
“That was the dumbest thing you could have done!”
“You should have just stayed behind the line and let us handle it.”
Izuku allowed them to continue to rant at him, explaining why it was highly inappropriate and dangerous for him to fly into a villain fight like that. Even if he happened to be prepared. Finally, there was a lull in the conversation and Izuku jumped on it.
“Well, I’m sure a certain tidbit of information will be very interesting to those watching at home, no?” The heroes paused, glancing to where the camera was. He could see nervousness creeping up on their carefully crafted expressions.
“I just happened to turn the corner during my jog and saw this scene. When I first arrived, I realized that Backdraft was holding back the crowd with water despite Deatharms being here to guard them against the villain already. Instead of moving to where you were more needed, you stood by. There were multiple fires you could have been putting out to minimize property damage as well as ensure the safety of those around you. Smoke inhalation can be just as bad as being in a fire yourself.
Secondly, Deatharms stood here protecting the crowd, but he had his back turned towards the villain. With the barrier set up, Backdraft should have left and Deatharms should have been keeping an eye on the villain. But instead, you chose to doubt Backdraft's abilities and chose to watch the civilians who were simply watching. Your first priority should be safety and fighting the villain as a last resort.
Thus, someone should have intercepted the villain and pulled the hostage free before detaining him. Yet you didn’t. Instead, Kaumi Woods over here attempted one single time to fight him, without a care about the hostage and got frustrated when nothing ended up working. You immediately abandoned the child trapped and instead chose to converse with others about unimportant things rather than attempt to use your quirk in a different way, or asking Deatharms to assist you. Instead of working as a team, you all worked separately.
It would have been easy for you to just use your quirk differently, maybe looping around the child because your wood just slides through the villain’s body? You could have done exactly what I did and ended the fight easily. But you didn’t.
You also didn’t think about his weaknesses. There’s a reason he’s redirecting those flames. They would probably burn his body. His eyes and teeth were also the only solid things on his body, why not attack them when he’s vulnerable?
Also, your crowd control was horrible because you allowed me to slip through without a fight. All you did was yell at me when you were too incompetent to do your own jobs.
You all were willing to let a child suffocate to death because your quirks weren’t a good fit for the job. Have you ever had an opportunity to learn how to fight without it? Were you never in a situation where your quirk wasn’t ideal? Yet you yell at me, who is Quirkless, that I’m in the wrong for doing something when you were too self-absorbed to save the child yourself.
Today, I’m the hero and you are the ones who failed. Think about that next time you see a situation you think is impossible. What do you think the media would have done if they saw you standing by doing nothing as someone died? Your careers would have been over, and I honestly think you should get your license revoked and forced to do remedial lessons without your quirks.
Maybe then you’ll prove yourselves to be heroes instead of bystanders.”
Two months later Izuku took the entrance exam for UA. He destroyed faux villains left and right, using his boots and handmade gloves. Delivering electric shocks to their bodies gave him an opening to knock their heads off. He destroyed the robots without mercy, dismantling robot after robot.
He saw a kid with purple hair destroy a robot that was unbalanced, and he ran in to save him. Another kid with jets on his calves got his foot stuck in another robot. Izuku jumped in and pulled him free.
Another kid flew off of a small building due to his own lazer quirk. Izuku easily caught him mid-air and redirected them so Izuku cradled him as they fell.
Another kid with a bird head he saved. A girl with a gravity quirk. Someone with wings. Someone buried under rubble.
In the last few minutes, a girl was trapped under a slab, and he recognized her as the person to save him before the entrance exam. He’d already saved her once during this whole exercise. He easily destroyed the rubble trapping her, allowing her to get free.
Having studied other robots, Izuku easily found an off switch on the foot of the robot, stopping it in its tracks. It couldn’t hurt anyone else. The final bell rang, signaling the end.
Two weeks later he got his letter. He’d passed the written test with a 98%, the highest in UA’s history. Additionally, he placed first in the entrance exam with 112 points, 80 of those being rescue points.
He placed first overall.
They wanted to put him in general studies and refused to allow him into the hero course based on the fact of him being quirkless. That night he trashed his room, the anger growing and growing. Everything he’d worked for up to that point was useless. He really was useless without a quirk. He was still seen lower than low despite his obvious talent.
No one saw it after the Sludge villain. No one saw the way he trained his mind and body. No one saw it when he destroyed the entrance exam. No one cared when his world had been shattered by society over and over again. No one cared, they were destroying him piece by piece.
The anger was all-consuming, and he knew what he had to do.
If he couldn’t become a hero, he’d do the next logical thing. If everything was too far out of reach, and he was being unreasonable and unrealistic, he’d change the status quo. He’d change the way they thought. There was only one thing left for him to do.
Become a villain.