What It Takes To Be A Hero

All Might dashed to the crime scene, rushing to see what was currently happening. There was a fire. People were trying to run away from the burning element or the sludge villain, the cause of the fire. Other heroes were hurrying to take care of the villain theirselves.

"A child was taken hostage?!" The pro hero, Death Arms, exclaimed. "Bastard!"

Death Arms was pulled his arm back for a punch. His hand was submerged into the slime. He tried scooping away the slime, attempting to pull his hand out.

"Huh? I can't grab hold!"

The sludge villain whipped Death Arms away, slamming him into a wall.

"Death Arms?!" Other pros called out.

The villain smacked the pros away. "Don't come near me!"

The teenager that was held hostage was none other than Katsuki Bakugo. He was thrashing around, trying to break free of the villain's grasp.

"I won't let sewage like you swallow me!" Bakugo yelled.

Bakugo started trying to explode the villain. The more he exploded, the worse the fire would get.

"What an amazing quirk!" The villain thought. "With this body, I can get revenge on that guy!"

Citizens started trying to get a better look of the incident. They yelled and shoved each other.

"Hey, look," someone yelled. "It's the new hero!"

The newest hero, Mt. Lady. She had recently taken care of the last villain, which was a robbery.

Pro Hero: Mt. Lady

Quirk: Gigantification

She can grow up to about 70 feet tall

"Huh?" She exclaimed. "I need at least two lanes to run through. I can't help with this one."

The pro hero, Kamui Woods, was also trying to help with the crime scene. He had people wrapped up in his wood, protecting them from the fire.

Pro Hero: Kamui Woods

Quirk: Arbor

His quirk allows him to control the wood on his body

"I'm not good with explosion. I'll leave it to the other heroes." He said as he set the now safe citizens away from the fire and explosions.

By this time, Bakugo was already almost consumed by the sludge villain. The heroes tried once more to get him out of the slime before being whipped again by the sludge.

"It's no use," a water hero exclaimed. "All we can do is reduce the damage and wait for someone with a more suitable quirk!"

"Don't worry," Kamui Woods comforted. "I'm sure someone will come help!"

"I feel bad for that child," Death Arms thought. "But he'll just have to bear it a little longer. Damn it! If only I had the power to just blow that villain away!"

All Might finally arrived at the scene. He put his hand on a pole and caught his breath.

"I knew it," he thought. "It was back then when that young man was holding my leg. I was too distracted by my time limit. I can't believe I made a mistake like this after admonishing that fan! Pathetic…..pathetic!"

As Deku and Evie swung through the city, Deku couldn't help but rethink those words that had been said to him over the years.

"Even a top pro hero said it." He thought. "Don't cry! You knew, didn't you? The reality. That's why you were trying so desperately. You were averting your eyes, not looking at reality."

Evie flicked Izuku's forehead. "Hey, we're here. Better put those sad thoughts in your head away."

Evie and Deku walked closer to get a better view, pushing through the crowd. When they saw who the villain was, they stopped in their tracks.

"Wait, it's that guy?!" Deku questioned.

"I thought he was with All Might!" Evie yelled.

Deku watched the villain, terrified. What if it was his fault?

"Did All Might drop it?" He thought. "If he did…" Deku recalled the time when he was holding his leg, flying through the air. "…then it's my fault…"

The crowd started questioning heroes again, unsure of what to do or think. "Why aren't the heroes doing anything?"

"They can't. Apparently, a junior high schooler was caught by the villain. They've been like that quite a while."

Deku had overheard the conversation. His face turned from terrified to petrified. How could the heroes let a junior high school student just stay like that?

"Caught…?" He continued thinking. "It's been like this for a while? How can they bear the suffocation? I thought I would die after a few seconds."

People started asking where All Might was. They knew this villain was the one he was chasing. They couldn't help but wonder what he was doing.

Deku thought terrible things about himself, reliving the past. Things his mother had told him, his bullies, even All Might. All Might was just nearby, having thoughts that would make him pathetic.

When Deku saw who the poor high schooler hostage was, he dropped everything. It was Kacchan, he realized. He was moving without thinking. Evie tried grabbing his backpack but it slipped from her hands. She followed after him.

"Hey, kids!" The pros called out. "Come back!"

Huhhh?" The sludge villain exclaimed.

"Why did I run out?" Deku thought. "What am I doing? Why? Why did I run out?! What do I do in a time like this?!"

"Izuku!" Evie called, jolting Deku back to reality. "Page twenty-five! Remember?!"

"Of course!" Deku took his backpack off and threw it at the villain. The books started falling out, and hit the villain in the face, or worse, the eyes. The sludge had fallen apart from the pain, causing Bakugo to have some air to breath and room to move just a bit.

"What are YOU doing here?" Bakugo demanded.

"Oh, shut up and be grateful, Kacchan!" Evie commanded.

Evie grabbed Bakugo with her ropes and started pulling. Deku pulled with her.

"My legs just moved, Kacchan!" Deku mentioned. "And…you looked like you needed saving!"

All Might jolted to the sound of that. "Pathetic…" he thought, once again. "Pathetic!"

All Might's muscle form started to come back to him. "Just a little longer!"

The villain was about to smash Evie and Deku to pieces. There was a huge dust cloud. By the time the dirt cleared, everyone saw All Might. He was standing next to a blue ball. Evie had used her ropes to create a shield around her and Deku.

"A- All Might!" Deku yelled.

All Might was standing there, his arm absorbed by the slime, that's what the citizens thought.

All Might ripped the slime off his body. He was ready to beat this villain, once and for all.

"Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice!" He grabbed Bakugo's arm and pulled him out. "Heroes are always risking their lives!"

"All Might!"

The sludge villain was about ready to consume All Might. He wouldn't be able to do so easily, for the top pro hero knew what to do. All Might pulled his arm back and yelled these two words. "Detroit Smash!"

The slime was blown away by the sudden wind of All Might's punch. A sort of tornado formed from the wind swirling around. As soon as the sludge was gone, the tornado disappeared.

There was a silence after everything had calmed down. City folk stood staring at what they had witnessed. It started to rain at that moment.

"Rain?" One person questioned.

"Don't tell me it was just from the wind pressure just now?" Another asked. "An updraft developed and…"

"He made clouds…!"

Everyone watched in awe, as All Might fixed his posture. Amazed at the sight, they all cheered.

"Hey, hey, hey! He changed the weather with just his right fist!"

"That's awesome!"

"That's the No. 1 Hero!"

All Might slowly raised his fist, as a sign of victory. He looked behind him to see the three unconscious junior high school students all laying on the ground. They had passed out from the sudden wind pressure.

After everything that happened, the heroes picked up the scattered sludge and returned him to the police.

"There's a limit to how thoughtless you can be!" A pro yelled at Deku and Evie. "There was a absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger like that!"

Deku and Evie had gotten scolded by the heroes, but Bakugo was praised.

"That's was amazing! You beared it till the end. Once you're a pro, please drop by my agency! You'll be an amazing sidekick!"

After the incident, people continued their day, pushing past what they had seen. They all witnessed something astonishing. They wouldn't ever forget that day. Especially Bakugo, Deku and Evie.

Deku and Evie walked home, side by side, together. Evie whistled a tune as they walked, watching Deku with his sad look.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop it," Evie said.

"Huh?" Deku flinched. "Oh, sorry. I just wanted to apologize to All Might but he was still being interviewed. Maybe I'll just send him a message on his website when I get home or something."

"Deku!"

A voice behind them yelled. Delu turned around and saw Kacchan running toward him.

"Kacchan…?" Deku said, confused.

Bakugo caught his breath before scolding Deku. He had a very angry look on his face.

"I never asked you for help!" Bakugo yelled. "And you didn't help me! Got it?! I was fine by myself. Don't you look down on me! You're just a quirkless failure I came contact with! Don't make it row where I owe you anything! Don't look down on me! Damn nerd!"

Bakugo put his hands in his pockets and turned around, stomping back home with an attitude.

Evie laughed at Bakugo, holding her stomach. Deku sighed.

"Kacchan's right," he thought to himself. "It's not like I accomplished or changed anything. But I'm still glad. I can now think of a realistic future."

Before Evie and Deku could continue walking home, another voice yelled, "I am here!" All Might appeared from a street corner.

"A- All Might!" Deku exclaimed.

"Oh, great. More scolding, I bet." Evie huffed.

"How did you get away from the reporters?" Deku continued.

"Aha," All Might chuckled. "Getting away was a piece of cake. Why? Because I am All Migh-"

All Might was about to flex when he suddenly spat out blood and turned into his skinny form.

"Young man," All Might wiped the blood away. "I came with a thanks, a correction and a suggestion. If you hadn't told me about yourself, your life, well…I'd have turned into a man in a bodysuit who was all bark and no bite."

"That can't be…!" Deku denied. "It was my fault in the first place. I got in the way of your work. I said all those impertinent things even though I'm quirkless."

"That's it." All Might corrected. "It's because it was none other than the quirkless YOU at the scene that I was able to act."

Evie listened in, stepping down from the wall she was currently on. She opened a sucker and put it in her mouth.

"Top heroes have their stories from school, and most of them have one thing in common: their bodies moved without them thinking, before they even had a chance to think."

At that moment, Deku had suddenly remembered his mom's words. "I'm so sorry, Izuku!" Is what she had said to him after finding out he was quirkless.

That wasn't what he wanted to hear. No, she didn't want her to feel sorry for him, apologizing to him for being born quirkless. What he wanted to hear, what he wanted her to say was, "You can become a hero."

Delu bent down on his knees, crying. He couldn't control his emotions in that moment. Evie kneeled down next to him, rubbing his back as comfort, whether he was happy or sad.

Dreams can become reality.

This is a story of how these two, best friends, became the greatest heroes.