Chapter Text
"No, you cannot be a hero without a quirk."
These words, from his favourite hero, had Midoriya Izuku crushed. They replayed in his head, over and over, like his brain was trying to remember those soul-crushing words differently.
After following All Might to a roof (which, in hindsight, wasn't a very good idea), Izuku asked those eight words. Eight words that caused his dreams to be ground into dust under his idol's heel.
"Can I be a hero without a quirk?" he had asked the now-skeletal man sitting in front of him.
After that reply, All Might had left him on the roof of one of Musutafu's tallest skyscrapers, the same day as Kacchan has told him to kill himself.
Although - in the hero's defence, he didn't know that the greenette's best friend had suicide-baited him - it was a terrible idea to leave a child whose dreams you shattered on the edge of a very tall building.
He had honestly considered jumping, how could his day, his life, improve after those brutal words, but no. He had to prove the man wrong. He would apply to U.A, and All Might would see just the kind of hero Midoriya Izuku could be, quirk or no quirk.
Three months later, it was 10 months until the U.A entrance exam, and Izuku was worried. How could
he get in, he probably wouldn't even pass the written portion of the exam, let alone the physical one!
As he was walking home from a day of Kacchan's explosions, a distant scream could be heard, followed by the unmistakable crackle of fire.
Izuku was running, why he was running, he didn't know, but he was. Why his legs were taking him towards the sounds, he also didn't know. Before too long, he had arrived at the scene, and what a scene it was.
Fire, blue fire, was rapidly spreading across a terrace of houses, and the screaming coming from inside told anyone with ears that there were people inside.
Calling 119, he ran through details, where he was (Central Musutafu), what services he needed (Police and fire), are there people in danger (Yes, trapped in the buildings)? Once assured fire engines were on their way, he let go of the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.
Okay, think Izuku, what now? He could run in and try and help? No, that would be stupid. He could-
His thought trains were interrupted by being swept up in somebody's unfamiliar grasp. Scarred hands alerted him that this was not somebody he knew.
A raspy voice laughed above him, sinister and cold, in contrast to the heat sparking from the man's palms.
"If you want the kid to live, you'd better listen to what I say." the voice demanded, "First, you let me leave; second, farewell!" With that, the freckled teen was being pulled into the air, the scarred man jumping across rooftops, until stopping on one that he seemed satisfied with the distance from the police that had arrived when Izuku was thinking.
"Wh- why are you kidnapping me-" the terrified greenette was cut off by that same raspy voice.
"Chill, kid. We have a proposition for you. Join us. We saw what happened with All Might, three months ago, was it? Must be pretty mad, huh?"
" W-WHAT?! " Izuku gaped, "You want me to... to join you? And who's 'we'?"
"Hold your horses. Yeah, we want you to join us, don't you want revenge against those who have wronged you? Consider it, m'kay? We'll find you." Just as he finished his sentence, a weird purple mist erupted from behind him.
" See you, squirt! " and with that, he disappeared into the purple haze and it too, blinked out of existence like it was never there. What a weird Tuesday. What did the scarred man even mean by 'we'll find you'; it was much too cryptic for the teen's liking.
Although, joining them wouldn't be too bad an idea. He could work as a mole, gather information on the presumed gang of villains and report it to the police. Hell, maybe he could improve his quirkless fighting. He was going to need that for the entrance exam. Hm, maybe he'd consider it.