Izuku was at the lowest point he'd ever been in his life, he had learned again and again that not all men were born equal but... did he have to be constantly reminded of the fact?

After having been saved by All Might from a villain attack, Izuku grabbed onto the symbol of peace's leg as he rocketed off to wherever he needed to be next. He wanted... needed to ask him the question he'd always been asking himself since his quirkless diagnosis ten years ago. Could he be a hero even if he doesn't have a quirk? Izuku didn't know what he was expecting from the number one hero, but he had hoped it wouldn't be the answer that was given to him. No, he couldn't be a hero without a quirk, no matter how hard he tried or how hard he wanted it. Izuku wanted to cry, to sob to himself on the now empty roof, but he couldn't bring himself to, his heart just felt dull. After being beaten down over and over, his idol saying no felt like the feather that broke the camel's back. Eventually, Izuku felt his body start marching on its own, or maybe he started walking himself but he didn't notice, he was so out of it that he couldn't care which it was. Izuku walked, his footsteps slow and seemingly wandering, toward the sound of explosions far away. He didn't know why he was going there, his dream was over, right? It was finally crushed, why did he feel himself having to go see another villain attack if analyzing their quirk would mean nothing? It made no sense.

During his walk, a peculiar man sitting on the sidewalk drinking and eating pie caught his eye. From the smell of it, he guessed the man was intoxicating himself with a bottle of potent booze, the smell almost made Izuku's nostrils sting and he gently brought his hand up to his nose to block it in a way that wouldn't garner the attention of the man Izuku guessed was homeless. The man had shoulder-length curly black hair covered by some tied cloth rag on his head, an unkempt 5 o'clock shadow stubble, an unbuttoned white shirt that Izuku guessed he couldn't button all the way because of how fat he was, large baggy green pants and black boots with cuffs on them to complete the ensemble. The brown-skinned man was, despite his raggedy appearance and his clearly overweight body, entirely imposing in stature. Izuku guessed that if he were to stand upright, he could have nearly 4 feet on allmight in his buff form. Izuku tried to quickly walk past him as he heard him loudly declare that the pies he was eating were some of the best cherry pies he had ever eaten, he didn't feel like getting into any trouble after his fiasco with his idol. Of course he couldn't catch a break, he thought to himself as he heard the large man call out to him once he passed by him.

''Hey, kid! Come over here for a second...''

Izuku didn't want to turn around and continued walking, but he felt compelled to do so after he saw the bottle of booze the man was previously drinking shattering next to him and splattering its contents all over the sidewalk. Looking around at the few people passing by, he unfortunately saw no one paying attention to him and the man, in fact they seemed to be walking away faster now to try to avoid the interaction he and the homeless man were about to have. Now setting his eyes on the dark-skinned man, he saw a huge grin plastered on his face, not hiding the fact that the man was missing quite a few teeth.

''Come on, I ain't gonna be violent. I have something I want to say. I'll even share a pie with you! Trust me, these are the best. Zehahaha!''

Not wanting to provoke the man, Izuku tentatively approached him until they were facing each other.

''I... I don't have any money I can give you, sir.''

The man's eyes widened for a second and then he burst out in laughter with a hearty ''ZEHAHAHAHA''.

''I don't want your money, kid!''

The man's laughter died down. As he wiped a tear from his eye, the man stayed good to his word, took a pie from the stack he was eating, laid it beside him and then patted the ground next to him.

''Sit with me, let's talk.''

The man reached on the other side of him, grabbed another bottle and removed a cork from it, downing the drink and nearly finishing it in one go.

''Man am I gonna miss this booze!''

The man turned to Izuku once more.

''Are you gonna sit down and eat or are you going to keep me waiting all day?''

Intimidated and feeling that the man would retaliate if he didn't comply, Izuku cautiously removed his backpack, threw it to the ground and then sat down cross-legged in front of the pie the man had offered him. With the man's eyes still on him as he sat there and did nothing, Izuku decided to slowly reach for his pie, pull a small piece from it and then start slowly eating it. The pie was indeed good, better than the pies his mom had made, at least. To his surprise, however, Izuku received a strong slap on the back as he slowly nibbled at his pie, making him nearly choke on his pie.

''Come on, what's up with that? Who are you trying to impress? You're eating with a random stranger on a sidewalk! Eat with heart, with guts, enjoy your life!''

The man grabbed another one of his pies with one hand and brought it to his mouth.

''Like this, watch.''

The man shoved nearly a quarter of the pie into his mouth and then closed his huge mouth on it. The man savored it and laughed in enjoyment with the pie still in his mouth. After being done with his presentation, the homeless man looked toward Izuku and nudged him to do the same.

Not wanting to get into trouble, Izuku swallowed the bits of pie that were already in his mouth and then grabbed the pie that was in front of him to do the same. Quickly shoving the pie into his face in fear of the man beside him, Izuku dirtied his mouth with the sugary filling of the pie. Unfortunately, that didn't please the homeless man and he grabbed Izuku by the arm, pulling him out of his pie before he could take a bite.

''What the heck are you doing, idiot? Now you're just trying to copy me and shoving pie into your face.''

The man brought his pie up to his mouth once again.

''You need to follow what YOU want. To hell with passersby who might sneer at you for eating messily, eat what you want to eat and in the amount you want to eat it. It's as simple as that.''

The man took a hearty bite and resumed laughing. Pulling his eyes away from the man and back to his pie, Izuku thought about it for a moment and tried to do what he was told. Slowly, Izuku brought the pie up to his mouth and took a big bite out of it, the dent he made in the pie was nowhere as near as large as the man beside him was making in his pie, but he had filled his mouth to his heart's content. With pie filling and pie crust dirtying the sides of his mouth, Izuku felt... strange. Not in a bad way, Izuku felt, satisfied, happy even. It felt good to... be piggish in his eating of the pie, he couldn't really explain it. Izuku took another big bite out of his pie, to the great joy of the homeless man.

''There ya go, now you got it!''

The man took another swig of his booze.

''I'd offer you some of what I'm drinking, but something tells me you're not of age to be drinking this yet.''

Izuku wasn't listening, he was entirely invested in devouring his delicious pie, which made the man laugh and made passersby look at him in slight disgust. As Izuku continued eating, the man stretched his arms out, laid his back on the brick wall behind them and with a big grin plastered on his face, spoke up once he closed his eyes.

''You CAN be a hero...''

Izuku stopped dead in his tracks.

''...''

''...''

''W-what?''

''I said you CAN be a hero. What, you got pie filling in your ears? ZEHAHAHA!''

Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who was this man?

''I saw you grab that guy's legs while he jumped into the sky, you know? We're cut from the same cloth, you and I, we both have the guts to do what we want to. At least when it matters in your case, that is!''

''...Did you hear my conversation with All Might?''

The man ignored Izuku.

''I don't know why you were disheartened by what he said, it just means that your dream will be easier to achieve. If he's given up on dreaming himself, it's gonna be dead easy!''

The man's hearty laugh echoed throughout the entire street, which made some onlookers passing by snicker at the display and start laughing at him. The man's eyes shot open and he threw his hands up in the air, spilling some booze on the ground as he gestured about.

''Dreams should be smaller, attainable, realistic? YEAH RIGHT, WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! ZEHAHAHAHA!''

More and more people were laughing now, some had even pulled out their phones and started recording his tirade. Finally, the man slammed his drink onto the concrete pavement and looked to his right toward Izuku with a confident look filled with fire.

''PEOPLES' DREAMS... NEVER END! AM I RIGHT?!''

Izuku dropped his pie and it splattered on the ground, a crowd was forming now, all laughing at the boisterous display of the homeless man.

''Let them laugh, let them all laugh, I say! Surpassing people ain't easy, so when you shoot for the stars, you're bound to have people that'll ridicule you. They aren't worth fighting.''

Hope began filling Izuku's heart once again for the first time in years, tears were starting to form at the edges of his eyelids.

''Chase it, chase your dream! Chase it with all you've got and then more! If you do that, there's no high you won't soar to!''

Izuku sat there, silent, for what seemed like ages.

''B-but I'm quirkle-''

The man in terrupted Izuku by jabbing his chest with his large finger.

''To hell with that! In this world, power is abundant, you don't have to be born with it to obtain it. You've already got the smarts, you just need to find that power.''

Before their conversation could continue, the two men and the small crowd that had formed heard an explosion a few blocks away. Quickly, the crowd began running toward the explosion to see what was going on and to hopefully see a hero in action.

''Hm, sorry. Looks like I interrupted you, didn't i?''

The man got up from his seat on the ground, patted himself off and then stretched, getting all the aches out of his back.

''I'll be going now, you better get going as well if you want to catch that villain attack, something tells me you want to be there. But before that, just one more thing.''

The now towering man reached into his shirt, pulled out a strange, purple fruit-looking thing with a spiral pattern adorning it and then shoved it into Izuku's hands.

''One final parting gift, from one big dreamer to another, hope you like it. Oh and by the way...''

Izuku looked at the large man with eyes brimming with hope. In response, the man's already present grin grew wider and he snickered with a quiet and breathy ''Zehaha...''.

''I hope you do become the number one hero...''

Izuku's entire world began to shatter but unlike with how it had been with All Might not more than a few minutes ago, it felt nice, great even. Izuku saw the world in brighter shades of color, his entire life felt like it had fundamentally changed from the homeless man's words. Before he knew it, tears started falling from his eyes and onto his lap as the man walked past him and into a nearby alleyway. Izuku tried to get up and chase after him, his gift still in hand, but as he turned the corner to where he had left, he saw nothing but a dead end and a dumpster. Hurrying into the alley, Izuku searched all around him but couldn't find the towering man who had given him new hope, he even searched in the dumpster but found nothing more than trash. Panting, Izuku finally relented, stopped looking, and stared down at the fruit that had been given to him. He had only owned the object for a few minutes yet Izuku felt like this thing in his hands, whatever it was, was more precious than anything he had ever owned, even his All Might merchandise. Izuku let out one final breath and he resumed breathing at a normal pace. With tears still streaming from his eyes, he spoke out to the air, hoping that the homeless man would hear him if he was still listening to him somehow.

''...Whoever you are, thank you.''

...

Izuku walked down the street at a fast pace as he heard more explosions in the distance, he now had a reason to analyze quirks again, so he didn't want to waste this opportunity. He didn't run at a full sprint, however, because he was still analyzing the fruit that he had been given by the strange homeless man. Yes, it was indeed a fruit, Izuku had come to that conclusion because of the smell and the feel of the object. Izuku didn't know what type of fruit it was but it was definitively foreign, it smelled kind of sweet but it didn't smell like any fruit Izuku had ever heard of so he guessed it must've been from overseas. Now that he thought about it, he grew a bit suspicious of the man and this fruit. Maybe he wasn't, but he sure seemed homeless and if he was, how had he acquired such an expensive-looking fruit? Furthermore, how had he obtained all the booze he was drinking and all the pie he and the man had eaten? Izuku started feeling bad, he had probably eaten a stolen pie and eaten with a thief now that he thought further about it. Yet, as he thought about the words the man spoke... they didn't at all feel like those of a thief let alone a villain. The man couldn't be all bad, Izuku thought, and so he shouldn't feel that bad about eating a stolen pie. Realistically, it was only a few bottles and a few pies... for a man that big it was likely just enough to fill his belly. The merchant could probably afford it, they weren't in a poor area, after all. Still, it felt wrong to have done what he did, even if it was in a morally gray area. Izuku decided that he'd look for any shops that might've been the victim of theft and see if he could repay the pies and booze the man had stolen, it was the least he could for the man that had rejuvenated his hope in his dream. Izuku would never lose hope again, he told himself, he'd do like the man said and chase his dream with all his might.

''Peoples' dreams... will never end...''

Izuku smiled as he recounted the words the man had said to him. With that, Izuku decided to take a bite out of the fruit, but before he did, he caught himself trying to take a conservative bite out of it, he was trying to be polite again. Thinking back to what the man had told him, Izuku furrowed his brows and dug in for a serious bite this time. Izuku filled his mouth with the fruit, eagerly eating nearly a quarter of it in one go. To his dismay, however, the fruit tasted horrendous. Izuku nearly puked as the foul taste spread on his tongue and he thought of spitting the fruit back out but before he would, he thought of the man again. He had tried to teach him lessons during their entire conversation, maybe this was something else he was trying to teach him? So, Izuku steeled his resolve and proceeded to eat the entire fruit, stem and core included until nothing was left. Even as he swallowed the final mouthful, Izuku greedily put his fingers in his mouth and licked them to not miss the fruit's juices. Izuku nearly hurled, but he kept it inside of him and continued speed walking. He waited to see if he would feel any different, but he didn't, he wondered what it was that the bearded man tried to teach him. Yet again, he might've just been overthinking things, Izuku thought, maybe the fruit indeed was just a gift. It looked expensive, maybe the man thought it was a good gift because of its price? If so, Izuku felt extra bad for having eaten it without thinking further about where the man might've possibly stolen it. Izuku stopped himself, he realized that he had started mumbling again, it wasn't good to overthink it. He had just had something really good happen in his life for once, he should appreciate it.

Another explosion rang out in the streets, this time Izuku had to cover his ears because of the sheer strength of the explosion. Then, after looking ahead for the first time in a while, Izuku saw a large crowd that had formed at a turn on the sidewalk. Joining the large group, the greenette finally saw the site of the villain attack. Around the villain that Izuku recognized as the very one that had attacked earlier before he met All Might were multiple heroes: Death Arms, Kamui Woods, Mt Lady, etc. Izuku was getting excited at the prospect of analyzing the quirks of so many heroes and of a villain's, but his excitement turned to worry as he saw that all the heroes were doing absolutely nothing. Izuku's breath quickened, why were they not helping? But, as he thought about it, Izuku realized that there was probably nothing they could do to help. Mt Lady couldn't come in and attack the villain because the street was too small and the rest of the heroes present probably did not have the power or the quirk necessary to be able to defeat the sludge villain, it took a punch from All Might to put the villain out of commission, after all. Izuku sighed in frustration, they still could run in there and try to help, somehow! Izuku had heard the chatter amongst the crowd and knew that inside the villain was a kid being held hostage, he felt bad for whoever it was, he knew how it felt to be attacked by the villain, how it felt to have all of your senses be invaded by that... sludge.

Izuku advanced further into the crowd, trying to get to the front to see who it was but at the halfway point, he no longer needed to be up close to know who was being held hostage. Izuku's childhood friend/bully, Katsuki Bakugou, scram out in anger at the villain, ordering him to free him from his gooey binds. But, before he could scream and yell out any other demands, the villain quickly shut him up by covering his mouth with his own, blocking the blonde's airways and making him choke on the villain's viscous substance. Katsuki's and Izuku's eyes met at that moment, he could see the pleading in them, the fear. Before he knew it, Izuku pushed right through the crowd, ran past Death Arms and then began running full speed toward the sludge villain. For some odd reason, even though the fire around him was reasonably far away from him, enough so that he shouldn't be hurt by it, Izuku felt an unbearable amount of heat around him, it felt like his skin was melting off of his muscle tissue. Despite that, however, Izuku pushed through and tried to weave his way away from the flames so they wouldn't hurt so badly. He didn't know what was going on, why he was feeling more pain than he thought he'd be supposed to, but he ignored that thought for now in favor of saving Kaachan. Finally, as he got within a few meters, Izuku remembered the contents of one of his older notebooks, grabbed the straps of his backpack and threw it at the villain's eyes, his school materials flying out of it as it flew at him. Luckily, Izuku hit his mark and the villain flinched at the sudden rough contact with his eye, causing his sludge to momentarily remove itself from Katsuki's face. Seizing the opportunity, Izuku began clawing at the sludge with mad fervor. Coughing out and desperately trying to get air into his lungs again, Katsuki looked toward his savior and noticed it was his childhood friend turned victim. In sheer shock and confusion, the teenager yelled out at him.

''What the hell are you doing here, you idiot?!''

As he continued clawing, Izuku took in Katsuki's question and began questioning himself. Why WAS he there? At first thought, Izuku believed that he had run in because he couldn't just watch his childhood friend die but... no. it was part of it, sure but... Izuku felt that it ran further than just that, there was a reason why he was doing what he was doing and it wasn't just selflessly wanting to save his friend. Deep down, Izuku realized that this is where he wanted to be, not for Katsuki, not for the crowd around them, not for the media, not for the heros, but for himself. Izuku started to smile, he was chasing his dream like the homeless man had said he should. He was giving it his all, despite the pain he felt because of the fire around him and despite the fact he might die at the hands of the villain. The two boys' eyes met again and Izuku spoke with a new fire in his eyes despite the tears that were beginning to stream down his face.

''I'm... I'm here because of me, Kaachan!''

Katsuki was confused at what the greenette had said, what was he talking about?

''I want to be the next number 1 hero! I want to inspire people just by them looking at me just like All Might does! I want to save people like he does! THAT is my dream, Kaachan, and I'm never going to let anyone hold me back from chasing it ever again, you hear me?! EVER AGAIN! I'M HERE TO CHASE MY DREAM!''

His words were laced with fury and determination, they would've shaken Katsuki to his core if he wasn't currently in a near-death situation because of the villain holding him hostage. As the two continued looking at each other and as Izuku continued trying to pry the sludge away from his friend, Katsuki began to notice something strange happening to Izuku. Slowly, a thin layer of... some strange substance began to be produced from Izuku's skin, something dark and gaseous-like. Izuku followed his friend's eyes and looked at where he was looking, causing him to halt his clawing for a brief moment. A thin layer became a thick miasma covering his arms and, as Katsuki followed the spreading of the black substance, he saw that the entirety of Izuku's back was being invaded by a large cloud of darkness. Their shock at Izuku's condition was short-lived, however, because before any of them could comment on the strange substance being produced by Izuku, the young student was smashed into the ground by the sludge villain's giant slimy arm.

''Damn brat! You're not going to mess things up for me!''

...

From far away, All Might, who had been watching the whole ordeal and had desired to jump in but couldn't because of his lack of time left in gis buff form, gasped in horror at what had just happened. Without thinking, the hero transformed back into his buff form despite the pain that it caused him and decided he'd jump in to save the two young boys being held hostage by the sludge villain. Yet as he prepared himself to jump in and save the day, he was halted by a most strange sight; the villain who had previously been dark swamp-greenish in color, was now composed of completely void-black sludge. The Villain didn't seem to notice this fact at first and was more perturbed by the sight of All Might amongst the shocked crowd, but eventually one of his appendages caught his eye, and he stared at them in shock.

''W-what?! What the hell?!''

Then, slowly, the miasma that had been seen on Izuku began to rise from the villain's sludge and into a massive plume of smoke rising into the sky, which seemed to turn even the clouds a darker sheen of grey. The villain tried to move, to shake the dark substance off of him, but he failed. For some reason, he was completely unable to move from his spot, stuck to the ground as if some invisible force was pulling him down and anchoring him to the ground. Trying to look at his base to see what was going on, he was met with the dark miasma once again, except this time it was creeping and spreading to the ground in a circle radius around him. The circle began to get bigger and bigger and, eventually, it reached some nearby rubble and... consumed it. As the darkness finally reached the nearby buildings, everybody in the crowd felt as the structures shook and began to be pulled into it. All Might's heart dropped, whatever was going on was not good... not good at all. All Might jumped to the forefront of the crowd, where the darkness was approaching further, and began to yell.

''Heroes! Evacuate all surrounding citizens. NOW!''

All of the heroes around the area listened to the symbol of peace's order and proceeded to start the evacuation of the crowds that had formed. The crowds, who were already scared of the creeping dark substance approaching them, did not hesitate to follow the order. After a while and despite the general panic that the populace was in, almost every citizen who had a view of the street had all run out of sight. Those who were being saved from the destruction of the nearby buildings had already started being carried to safety by Backdraft and other heroes long before the darkness had appeared, so the sudden appearance of the cloud of darkness had only sped up the process. All Might now stood wearily in front of a petrified villain and a growing plague of darkness steadily coming even closer to him, he hadn't any great ideas as to what he should do. He couldn't come anywhere close, touching the darkness would mean getting absorbed and his ranged attacks were far too powerful, they'd likely injure the hostage and damage the body of the unfortunate teenager who had recklessly tried to run in and save the day. Testing out an idea, the hero reared back a punch and threw it at the darkness... only for it to have no effect. It seemed that the miasma had even absorbed the shock of his punch, All Might began to seriously worry. Looking at the source of the darkness, the hero tried to find a way to solve this dilemma, only to see something even stranger. In place of the scared villain and the two hostages, the hero now saw a large naked rotund man being grabbed by the throat and shoved to the ground by a person who was covered head to toe in the darkness that was spreading around the area and who's clothes and back seemed to even be transforming into it. Next to him, the symbol of peace also witnessed that the first hostage that had been taken was lying on the miasma, free of harm, and being held by the darkness-clad being by the forearm. Looking closer, All Might was shocked to see that... the person grabbing the fat man by the throat was the child who had run in to save the first hostage! The darkness made it extremely hard to see, but it was indeed him, the dark school uniform with the dark gold buttons, the unkempt greenish hair, the red shoes. All Might had recognized those characteristics when he had seen him jump into danger.

''M-MY QUIRK! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY QUIRK, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!''

The green-haired boy holding him didn't respond. Instead, he stood there dumbfounded at what was going on. Of course, All Might guessed that the cause of what was happening was Izuku; the darkness seemed to seep from him and into his surroundings. The hero tried to find a way to approach, but each time he attempted to take a step toward the scene, he felt something pull at his body, pulling him into the darkness, so he always backed off. He would have to bide his time and retreat each time it got close... for now.

...

Izuku began hyperventilating, he didn't know what was going on and was starting to get scared. What was this dark stuff covering him? Did he finally manifest his quirk? What had happened to the villain's sludge?

Seeing an opening caused by Izuku's confusion, the fat man who Izuku was grabbing reared his fist back and hit him directly in his jaw, causing Izuku to stumble back, release his hold on both him and Katsuki and to scream out bloody murder. He couldn't describe the pain he was going through, why was it hurting so much?

Even if the villain who had inexplicably lost the use of his quirk was a fully grown man, his punch shouldn't have hurt nearly as much as it did. To Izuku, it felt like the man had punched his jaw clean off. Backing away from Izuku and somehow not being absorbed by the darkness on the ground, the man started to regain control of his quirk and began turning into sludge again, to his great relief. The man's voice slowly started to sound more gurgly as he talked and reverted back to his sludge form.

''I don't know what the hell that was, you damn pipsqueak, but...''

The villain launched his whole body at Izuku.

''I AIN'T LETTING IT HAPPEN AGAIN.''

As the villain threw himself at a darkness engulfed Izuku, who was rubbing his sore jaw after the strike he had received, the young boy looked up at him, a shadow covering his eyes. Izuku found himself feeling... different, as if something had taken control of his senses. Izuku felt intense anger and hate, like all of the dark feelings he had ever felt were just now coming to light and demanding he do something to appease them. Even toward the worst of his bullies, Izuku had not felt this kind of anger and dislike but now... he truly felt like he wanted to harm the villain. He wanted him to hurt worse than he was hurting right now.

With those dark feelings coursing through his mind body and soul, Izuku jumped toward the villain while reering back a darkness-covered fist. Once the two men were a meter away from each other, Izuku's fist suddenly began to do something strange. What could only be described as a vortex appeared on and around Izuku's fist, causing a spiral of darkness to be produced from his hand which seemed to pull the villain toward it. At a blinding speed, the villain's trajectory changed and he was pulled right into the trajectory of Izuku's punch, increasing the damage caused by it because of the increase in kinetic force caused by the increase in velocity. As he felt himself being pulled irresistibly toward Izuku's fist, the sludge villain arrogantly assumed that he wouldn't feel a thing because of his quirk, but he was proven wrong by his face materializing as Izuku's fist intercepted him. Then, the darkness on the ground below began doing the same thing Izuku's fist did, causing another vortex to appear. The villain was roughly pulled to the ground, causing the ground itself to crack under the impact of his body and causing the air to be completely expelled from his lungs. Gasping for air, the villain lay there, slowly turning back into his sludge form again and looking at Izuku standing over him with eyes that pleaded for mercy. Without thinking and despite the pain that radiated from his now broken fist, Izuku began approaching the villain with an angry scowl on his face. Once he was right next to the villain lying on the ground, Izuku brought his foot up to his chest, another vortex appearing on his sole, and then slammed it down on the villain's own, forcing him back into his solid form. The villain gasped in pain as Izuku trampled him underfoot. At a low volume, low enough so that only Katsuki and the villain could hear it, Izuku laughed at the villain he had rendered under his heel and then sighed in what seemed like relief. It was a different laugh than his usual jovial and innocent one, it was deeper and throatier. It felt unnatural for it to be coming out of the usually kind greenette.

Izuku smirked slightly. At that moment, Izuku felt a true sense of satisfaction. He didn't know why, but what he was doing felt right... good, even. To Izuku, having the villain he only held contempt for under his shoe felt... oddly pleasurable. These feelings, although they felt nice to him, confused Izuku. This wasn't who he was, this was far from anything he'd ever thought he'd do yet... he was doing this without even thinking about it, like it was completely natural. Why was he doing this? Had he... always wanted to do these kinds of things, deep down?

But, his enjoyment was cut short as the villain grabbed Izuku's foot in anger and squeezed it with all the might he had left. Izuku howled out in pain, his new extra-sensitive pain receptors rearing their ugly faces once again. Izuku's eyes shot open with ferocity and anger overtaking his instincts, he was about to raise his foot and smash him back into the ground but instead of that, something strange happened. The cloud of darkness on Izuku's back suddenly enlarged and out of it shot tendril-like plumes of darkness that quickly enveloped the villain. Before Izuku could even understand what had happened, the tendrils retreated back and... the villain was gone. No trace of him was left at all. Izuku snapped back to reality, stammered for a second and looked around to try to figure out what had happened and where the villain had gone. It was then that Izuku truly took notice of the destruction of everything around him. He had been so preoccupied with his strange new feelings and quirk and with the villain attacking him that he had blocked out all of the damage being caused around him. Even now, he saw buildings being sucked into his still-growing circle of darkness. Izuku Began panicking, he hadn't realized that his power had been doing all of this, had anyone been hurt? Had anyone... else died? More importantly, however, how the hell could he turn this thing off?

''YOUNG MAN!''

Izuku jerked his head toward the source of the booming voice, it was All Might.

''PLEASE, TURN YOUR QUIRK OFF, YOU ARE PUTTING PEOPLE IN DANGER!''

Izuku frantically looked at his hands and then back to All Might.

''I-I DON'T KNOW HOW!''

The hero stood there, befuddled. How had someone of his age not learned how to use his quirk yet? All Might turned his head to another building crumbling nearby. He'd have to teach the boy how to take control of his quirk... and fast. Bringing up his hands to his mouth in hopes of making his voice louder so Izuku could hear him over the chaos surrounding them, the hero yelled again.

''THINK OF IT LIKE A MUSCLE! YOU NEED TO LET GO... TO RELAX IT! VISUALIZE YOUR QUIRK AND MAKE IT UNFLEX ITSELF!''

Izuku looked at the hero with worry, the instructions that were given to him weren't the clearest. He'd have to give it a go, however, or else something horrible he didn't even want to think about might happen. Closing his eyes, Izuku tried to imagine his quirk as something tangible, as something he could understand. In his mind, Izuku pictured his quirk as a simple ball of darkness pulling in objects around it. Now with a clear picture in his head, Izuku began taking in deep breaths and then slowly breathing out while imagining the ball in his head becoming smaller and ceasing its absorption of everything around it. With his mind and body now calm, Izuku slowly and tentatively opened his eyes to see if it had worked.

Luckily, it had. The spread of the darkness stopped dead in its tracks before it could do any more damage and began to quickly creep back into its point of origin. When Izuku absorbed the last of the darkness that had spread to the ground, his body began to revert to normal too. The darkness enveloping his body began to evaporate into thin air and the cloud on his back too disappeared. Checking his entire body to make sure nothing had been missed and that his quirk truly had been turned off, Izuku sighed in relief. All of the darkness was finally gone.

Looking around, however, Izuku's heart dropped as he saw the extent of the damage. In a large circle around him, everything had been erased, eradicated. The small street they were previously in was now completely gone, burst and ripped apart pipes stook straight out of the dirt and foundations and sprayed water all around where the shops and building once stood. Wires sparked while hanging out of holes where pole lights previously were erected. Even beyond the alleyway, the darkness had crept into neighboring streets and had absorbed parts of some buildings. Where the miasma had stopped, buildings it had begun consuming but hadn't had the time to completely devour now stood half-destroyed with bits of rebar, concrete and bricks falling now and then onto the floor below. All that was left now was the street he stood on. Hearing something moving beside him, Izuku turned his head toward Katsuki standing up a few meters away from him. The two stared at each other silently for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say. Izuku swallowed uncomfortably, then opened his mouth to say something to the blonde but was interrupted as large thumping footsteps approached the duo. All Might stood in front of them, his figure shadowed because of the fact he was standing in front of their view of the sun. Izuku looked nervously toward the hero, he wore his usual heroic smile, but something was off about it, like it hid something else. Izuku noticed that his eyes revealed what he must've been feeling; they were serious and held a great deal of concern and reprimand to them.

...

From All Might's point of view, he was hit with a sudden wave of confusion. Now that he had a clear view of the face of the source of the darkness that had destroyed the street that had previously existed, he recognized him as the very child who had, little less than an hour ago, seen him in his small form. He recalled the question he had asked him; if he could become a hero even if he was quirkless. He had answered him no, of course. The job of a hero is a dangerous one, it would've been irresponsible for him to say that he could. Without a quirk, he could easily get himself hurt or even worse, killed.

As he looked around, however, it was made apparent to him that the reality of things was the other way around. The hero now questioned the point of the question he had asked him if he already seemed to have a more than adequately potent quirk. The greenette truly did not seem to have even the most basic handle on his quirk, however, so maybe there was something else at play. It was technically possible for him to be a late bloomer, though he would be a completely unprecedented example of the affliction. No limit to the age up to which someone can achieve before manifesting one's quirk had ever been officially documented, so although it was unbelievably rare, it was feasible for him to have just that day have manifested his quirk in his moment of crisis.

Even if that were the case, it would be of no help to the boy's case. Damage resulted from a lack of control of one's quirk could be pardoned if one had just manifested it for the first time in their life, but the boy's actions were a different story. All Might had seen what he had done to the villain, the way he fought him. His actions, his attacks against the villain, they were purely done out of anger and spite against the pile of sludge. His aim was not to save the hostage, it wasn't to help in defending him further and it wasn't to protect the people around either. Instead, it was to harm the villain who had tried to kill him. Pure retaliation, no heroic instinct whatsoever. At first, it did seem that his body had moved before he had time to think the same way the ones of true heroes do, but once he manifested his quirk... it was like something changed. The boy stamped on the villain to further worsen the injury he had given him and to make himself feel superior to him. Not only that but the moment the greenette met the slightest bit of resistance from his already subjugated foe... he simply decided to kill him. That could not be excused or ignored, someone had died because of his reckless actions. The hero had an obligation to make the severity of his actions known to him.

''Young man,'' the hero began, in a grave and solemn tone, ''we need to talk.''

Izuku stayed silent, waiting with bated breath for what the hero had to say. In his heart, he hoped to be praised, he hoped that All Might would change the answer he had given him before. He knew his saving of Katsuki wasn't... ideal, but at least he had been saved. He hoped that would be enough for the hero.

''What you did today... was unacceptable.''

Izuku's heart dropped.

''...What?''

''look around you, have you any idea of the damage you've caused? Of the businesses and families you've harmed because of your recklessness?''

''recklessness?! I saved someone's life! Kaachan could've died if I hadn't done something, the heroes weren't even doing anything to help him!''

''They were biding their time to find a way to rescue him safely, their quirks could not allow that. They were doing the right thing.''

Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing.

''He could've died... and you say it was good for them to be doing nothing? They could've helped, they could've done anything but stand there and watch!''

''And there, that is my next point, your attitude too cannot be excused. The way you were acting out there... it was completely unheroic. You said your dream is to become a hero, yet you act more like the villain you executed. The way you attacked that villain, the way you killed him... heroes are supposed to protect people, not harm them.''

''I... I understand that what happened to the villain is horrible but I've never had a quirk before, I didn't mean t-''

All Might closed his eyes in irritation and raised his hand to halt the greenette.

''Please, save me the excuses. I need you to understand what your irresponsibility has done. You killed someone today, there are consequences to that. There is no good reason for you to have done what you did and for you to have acted the way you did.''

Izuku didn't respond. He balled his hands into tight fists until his knuckles turned white and he pitched his head down, causing a shadow to cover his eyes. All Might sighed sadly and turned to look behind him. With the spreading of the darkness stopped, the crowds were beginning to return alongside the police and heroes. A group comprised of policemen and a few heroes were approaching them and a handful of reporters followed behind them. All Might turned back to Izuku, who still had his fist balled tightly. Izuku gritted his teeth together, he was trying not to cry but was failing to do so, tears began streaming down his face and to the ground.

''...You will be taken into the custody of the Musutafu police department. Indeed, you couldn't be expected to completely control your quirk if you've just manifested it today and self-defence could be argued for your killing of the villain so you are unlikely to face any legal repercussions. But maybe some time with them will give you some time to think about what you've done today and get you to change.''

All Might stepped closer to Izuku and placed a hand on his shoulder.

''Listen, you might have a quirk but that doesn't mean you instantly can become a hero. With your attitude and your lack of control over your quirk and emotions, you are unlikely to ever be able to. I suggest you follow my advice and think of another career path.''

''Get. Your hand. OFF of me!'' Izuku retorted sharply, causing All Might to reluctantly remove his hand from the greenette.

Izuku stepped back from the symbol of peace and wiped his eyes of his tears. Rearing his head up to stare at the hero, it could be seen that his eyes had changed. Their intensity, for the smallest of moments, actually gave All Might a feeling of dread. They now held something different within them. Throughout his few interactions with the boy, All Might had seen hope, fear, worry, and happiness in his eyes but now, he saw that they held a dark amount of resentment to them.

''...All my life, I waited for someone to believe in me, to tell me that I could achieve my dream. YOU were supposed to be that person! You are the symbol of peace, the man I've looked up to since my earliest childhood! I wasn't strong enough before, but I have my quirk now... and yet you still don't believe in me!''

Izuku snickered sadly.

''It's funny, a homeless man believed in me today, he gave me hope... and you, number one hero that you are,'' Izuku sneered, ''are incapable of that. I wouldn't have believed myself capable of it until today... but from this day on, I hate you.''

Izuku stepped closer to All Might and looked up at him, defying him by staring dead into his eyes.

''I don't need you anymore, I don't need anyone's belief anymore. Keep looking down at me, keep telling me that my dream is crap, I don't care anymore. You're not worth my effort.''

A small bit of darkness began rising from Izuku's body as his anger and resentment grew.

''I am going to be the next number one hero, and there's nothing you could say or do that'll stop me. I will surpass you, you bastard. You know why?''

Izuku squeezed his fists together even tighter.

''BECAUSE MY DREAM WILL NEVER END, UNDERSTAND!? NEVER!''

The darkness rising from Izuku increased, causing All Might to worry. Izuku saw this and calmly closed his eyes to calm down and turned the darkness off. His quirk now inactive once again, Izuku didn't spare another word to the symbol of peace and simply shoved his way past and away from him before he could utter a word. All Might turned around to see where he was going, only to see him ignoring and walking past other heroes who were berating him for his actions while photos were being taken of him by journalists.

Arriving in front of a few police officers preparing to take him into custody, two approached to grab him by the shoulders, wanting to guide him toward a police van where he'd be restrained by quirk-dampening cuffs. Before they could start walking, however, Izuku shook them off of him, declaring that he was able to walk on his own. The officers, not wanting him to activate his quirk again and being slightly scared of the dark aura he exuded, complied and simply walked with him past the parted crowd toward the police van.

All Might, having seen enough, turned around to look at the still-shaken hostage who was being tended to by Mt. Lady. It appeared that he too had been looking at Izuku walking away, except his eyes had stayed on the greenette. After being done with him, the heroine turned her head to All Might and approached him.

''All Might, sir! No casualties have been reported, everyone seemed to have got out in time.''

''...That's good, but not everyone survived.''

''Huh? What do you- oh...''

Mt. Lady looked around.

''Right, I can't see the villain anywhere, what happened to him? Did he... get absorbed?''

''Unfortunately, yes. The child being taken away had him under his foot, the villain grabbed his leg and then... that dark substance enveloped and devoured him.''

''My god... so all of this was that kid over there's quirk?''

''Yes.''

''Good lord, that's ridiculous... that kid's got one hell of a strong quirk.''

''...Yes, he has.''

Mt. Lady tilted her head and looked at the hero with worry.

''I'm sorry if I'm overstepping boundaries, sir, but are you alright? You look perturbed.''

''Hm? Oh... I'm sorry.''

All Might sighed.

''I scolded him once he turned off his quirk and I was able to approach, we didn't end on a good note, as I'm sure you heard.''

''Yeah, he was screaming about his ''dream'' or something, right?''

''Yes,'' All Might said as he turned and looked toward a restrained Izuku hopping into a police van, ''and I'm worried I started something I shouldn't have.''

''What do you mean?''

All Might turned back to Mt. Lady.

''I don't know, I've just got this weird gut feeling. That child's got a villainous quirk, a dark temperament and he wants to become a hero. Because of what he demonstrated today, I thought it wise to suggest he give up, but that might've just motivated him more.''

''...well, if I might interject, sir. Isn't it good that he wants to be a hero? Better a hero than a villain, no?''

All Might hummed.

''...Maybe, I'm not sure. Now he seems more like a danger to others than anything else.''

''Hm, well let's hope he'll learn something from today and come out of it better, no?''

''...Yes, let's hope.''

All Might stumbled, he was taxing himself and he was running out of time.

''I'm sorry, I need to leave now, thank you for your help. You have a great career ahead of you.''

Mt. Lady thanked All Might for his compliment, but it never reached the hero's ears, who jumped away from the scene too fast for him to have heard it. Landing on top of some empty roof and falling to his knees, All Might finally reverted to his small form, to his great relief. Rolling onto his backside and sitting with his back toward a wall, All Might sighed.

He hoped that the new hero, Mt. Lady, was right. Maybe that boy could learn from his bad experience and come out of it a better person and someone who could be a hero despite his dangerous quirk.

Somehow, though, All Might doubted that that would be the case. That child's aura was oddly dark, like that of a villain's, especially toward the end of their exchange. He felt that, if unchecked, that boy could become something... dark and fearsome.