"Midoriya, we need to talk," said Shantae.
Midoriya sat on Shantae's bed with a nervous expression. Did he do something wrong? Was Shantae angry at him? Was he in trouble?
Shantae placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it. As he looked in her, he saw comfort and concern.
"It's okay," said Shantae gently. "I just want to learn more about you. More specifically, I want to know about these."
She delicately touched his scarred hand and arm to show what she meant. Midoriya saw what she meant and felt that it was time that he told her everything.
"Well, I guess I can tell you everything," he said. "You've been a great friend. So I trust you to keep this a secret."
Shantae nodded and gestured for the green-haired boy to continue.
"First," said Midoriya, "I should tell you about my quirk. The name of my Quirk is One For All."
"One For All?" Asked Shantae curiously.
Midoriya nodded and continued. "One For All is different from other quirks. While most quirks are genetic, One For All is passed down from one person to the next. As it's passed down, it becomes stronger and stronger. I'm the ninth user of this quirk."
Shantae was smiling with excitement. "Wow," she exclaimed while bouncing excitedly. "No wonder you're so strong! Who gave it to you?"
"It was my mentor, All Might," said Midoriya. "He was the Number 1 Pro Hero at the time. At first, he didn't think I could be a hero without a quirk of my own. But then, he saw me try to rescue a friend of mine without hesitation and told me I was worthy of his power. So, he trained me for ten months to get strong enough to wield One For All. At first, I didn't know how to use it. Eventually, with help from my friends, I learned how to use it without hurting myself."
"Huh?" Asked Shantae with a curious stare. "Without hurting yourself? What do you mean by that?"
Midoriya closed his eyes and said, "When I first used One For All, I ended up hurting my limbs. This is what happened."
Flashback...
Midoriya stood in the center of a city-like arena, trying to find robot villains to destroy. He had enrolled for UA, a school dedicated to training the next generation of heroes to protect humanity. The goal of the entrance exam was simple: Destroy as many robot villains as possible and earn points. Unfortunately, he was unable to destroy any robots.
Suddenly, he felt the ground shake. He looked around and saw a huge robot! It was bigger than any of the robot villains! He recalled that this was the Zero Point robot. Everypne had to avoid it at all costs.
'Isn't this a little extreme?' He thought while trembling.
The robot raised its giant arm and punched the ground, creating a shockwave. Everyone began to run away.
"This is a disaster," he said while trying to crawl away desperately. "I gotta run and find some smaller villains. Crap, crap, crap! I'm still at zero points!"
"Less than two minutes remaining," yelled the announcer, Present Mic.
"What? Two minutes?!" Cried Midoriya while panicking.
'Everthing All Might did for me,' he thought. 'All that training. IT'LL BE WASTED!'
"Ow," someone cried.
Midoriya stopped and looked behind him. His heart nearly stopped at what he saw: There was a brown-haired girl pinned under a chunk of rubble. He instantly recognized her as the girl who had stopped him from falling and greeted him cheerfully.
As the robot got closer, Midoriya jumped to his feet and ran to where the girl was. He crouched down and felt power surging through his legs! He jumped and was launched high into the air! He clenched his right fist as his arm glowed with power.
He remembered the words of All Might: "Clench your buttocks, kid. And yell this from the depths of your heart!"
"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!"
Midoriya's fist collided with the robot's face. The giant machine toppled and started to crash as small explosions covered it! Everyone was speechless at the awesome sight, even Midoriya!
Suddenly, he began to fall! He looked at his arm and legs and gasped with horror as they claimed uselessly in the air. They were broken!
Present time...
Shantae stared at her friend with wide eyes and her jaw slightly ajar.
"Wow," she said. "You punched a giant robot to save that girl?" After Midoriya nodded in response, she then squealed excitedly. "Wow! That's so cool!"
Midoriya blushed and rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Well, I still broke some of my limbs when I did that."
"So, how did you survive that fall?" Asked Shantae.
"The girl who was in danger, Ochako Uraraka, saved me," he explained.
"Oh," said Shantae with a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! Is that how you got the scars on your hand and arm?"
Midoriya shook his head. "No," he answered. "They came from a fight with a villain named Muscular."
Shantae tilted her head curiously. "Muscular? Why was he called Muscular?"
Midoriya shuddered as he recalled the evil villain. He then looked up at his lovely friend and began to explain one of the biggest battles he had ever been in.
FLASHBACK. . .
Midoriya found himself face-to-face with a scary villain. He was very large with light blonde hair and an artificial eye. But the scariest part of him was the look in his eye that said, "I want to kill!"
Behind him was a small boy with a red hat. This was Kota, a boy who hated quirks ever since his parents (who were heroes) were killed. The poor boy was terrified.
Midoriya couldn't blame him though. The villain in front of him looked like a monster. What could Midoriya do? He had no way to contact the Pro Heroes for backup. Could he save Kota?
He quickly shook away the negative thoughts. No! He couldn't think about whether or not he could! He KNEW that he had to save Kota. So, he called upon the power of One For All, his body covered with green electricity.
"It's okay, Kota," he said reassuringly. "I will save you!"
The villain whose name was Muscular scoffed. "You'll definitely save him, huh?" He said while laughing. "That sounds just like something someone who wants to be a hero would say. Your kind show up everywhere, talking about justice."
Midoriya took a fighting stance as his body glowed.
Muscular continued speaking: "You're the one called Midoriya, right? This is perfect. We were told to take the initiative and kill you." He took off his cloak and revealed powerful muscles bulging through his skin. "I'll make sure to torment you thoroughly, so show me your blood!"
Suddenly, Muscular jumped at Midoriya. Midoriya raised his arm up to block the attack. But as Muscular's attack hit, Midoriya felt pain coursing through his arm as he heard a sickening crunch. He felt himself being flung into a rock wall. His arm was broken!
"Let's play," said Muscular sadistically before giving Midoriya a powerful kick to the stomach.
Midoriya crashed once more and hit the ground. He felt blood trickling down his forehead as he heard Muscular laugh.
"Blood," said the villain. "This is what I wanted to see! This is fun! What'd you say earlier? That you'd definitely save him? Why are you running away?" He started to walk over to Midoriya, who struggled to get up. "You're so weird!"
'That muscle quirk is so fast,' thought Midoriya as he slowly got up. 'So strong! I need to focus on the enemy.'
He quickly charged at his opponent with his fist raised.
"SMASH...!!!"
Unfortunately, his attack was blocked by Muscular's arm.
"What?" Scoffed Muscular. "That's your Quirk? You're pretty fast, but not nearly strong enough!"
He then shoved the green-haired boy aside as he continued: "My Quirk lets me power-up my muscles! I increase my speed and strength by increasing the amount of muscle fibers so much they can't be contained by my skin! What am I saying? I'm bragging! In other words, you are a completely inferior version of me!"
He attacked again! Midoriya jumped back to avoid the attack. But it was so powerful that rocks were sent flying as one crashed into him!
"Do you understand how I feel?" Asked Muscular as he was next to him in the air. "I can't help but laugh!"
He slammed his fist into the boy's face, causing him to crash.
"You'll definitely save him?" Scoffed Muscular. "How will you do that? Don't just spout up lip service you can't actually pull off! Be honest with yourself!"
He was about to slam his fist on the injured boy when a small rock hit the back of his head. He turned around and saw that Kota had thrown the rock at him with tears in his eyes."
"Water Hose," Kota said tearfully. "Papa... Mama... Did you torment them, too, before you killed them?"
Midoriya glanced at Kota with a shocked expression.
"Huh?" Asked Muscular. "Seriously? Your parents were heroes too? This must be fate! Water Hose... It's thanks to them that my left eye is an artificial eye now."
"It's your fault," cried Kota with angry tears. "It's because of guys like you... that it always, always turns out like this!"
"Kids are always shifting blame like that," said Muscular, causing Kota to glance up in surprise. "That's no good. It's not like I have a grudge about this eye or anything, you know. I just wanted to kill. And those two wanted to stop me. It was the result of all of us doing what we wanted. What's wrong is wanting to do something you are unable to do. Just like your parents!"
He raised his arm up with a murderous look in his eyes, ready to kill Kota. Without hesitation, Midoriya jumped at the villain, ready to save Kota.
Muscular glanced behind him and turned around to face the hero. "Which means you're coming now, aren't you, you piece of trash!"
Midoriya charged at the villain with an angry expression. "You're the one who's wrong!" He shouted as he stuck his broken arm in between Muscular's muscle fibers. "I got you! Now it doesn't matter how fast you are!"
"And then what?" Asked Muscular challengingly. You gonna punch me with that weak arm of yours?"
"It's not a matter of whether or not I can do it!" Midoriya yelled as he raised his arm up. "A hero's job is to risk his life to make the lip service a reality!"
"One For All 100%! Smash....!"
He punched the monster villain so hard that debris flew all around them! Unfortunately, Kota was flung back by the blast. Luckily, Midoriya was quick enough to grab the boy by the shirt with his teeth.
"Sorry for blowing you away too," he said. He then pulled him onto the ledge.
As Midoriya stood up, Kota turned around to thank him. But then he gasped at the sight of the hero who risked his life. Midoriya's left arm was dangling, broken. His right arm looked like it came out of an oven with a scar on his hand. And half of his shirt was torn up.
"Let's get back to camp," said Midoriya. "It's not far from here..."
He was cut off by the sound of rumbling. He turned around and felt his heart sink at dreadful sight: Muscular was covered in muscle fibers and getting back up!
'No way,' he thought. 'It can't be. I was at 100%! It was the same as All Night's power!'
"That punch was too obvious," said Muscular. "But that wasn't bad, Midoriya!"
"G-get back," said Midoriya.
"Naw, I feel like attacking now, all of a sudden," replied Muscular as he walked towards them.
'It's no good,' thought Midoriya. 'What should I do? Think! I need time to think!'
"What are you trying to do?" He asked, trying to buy some time to think. "What's the League if Villains after?"
"How should I know?" Answered Muscular. "I just want to fight! As long as I can stretch my wings and unleash my Quirk, I don't care."
He started to bulge his muscles as he got closer! "Do you remember? Up until just now, we were just playing. I said so, didn't I? 'Let's play'? Right? I said! But I'm done. Playtime's over! 'Cause you're pretty strong. Now I'm gonna take you seriously!"
He replaced his fake eye with another one and attacked.
"Kota, grab on, quickly!" Cried Midoriya.
Kota jumped onto Midoriya's back. Midoriya jumped out of the way just in time!
'It doesn't even compare to earlier,' Midoriya thought. 'His speed and his power... He was just playing! He was really just toying with me as he tried to kill me!'
Muscular jumped into the and tried to hit them. Luckily, Midoriya dodged out of the way and caused the villain's arm to get stuck!
"Awe, I got too excited," said Muscular as he tried to free himself.
Midoriya and Kota crash landed. As he struggled to get up, he began to have an inner conflict. Could he really beat this monster who was thirsty for blood? He decided that he had no choice but to fight.
'Remember where you came from,' he thought. 'Focus on saving Kota.'
He stood straight up as he spoke to Kota. "Stay back, Kota," he said. "Then, when it hits, run as fast as you can back to camp."
"'When it hits'?" Asked Kota with disbelief. "Don't tell me you're... It won't work! Let's run! Your attack didn't work earlier! Besides, both of your arms are broken!"
"It's okay," said Midoriya as he called upon the power of One For All once again, focusing the power into his right arm.
"One For All, 100%"
Muscular rushed towards the hero shouting one word: "Midoriya!"
"Detroit... Smash!"
Midoriya's powered up arm collided with moving muscle fibers. He stood his ground and pushed as hard as he could, refusing to let the blood-thirsty monster get past him!
"Ow," said Muscular. "What's wrong? That was weaker than before!"
Midoriya felt tears form in his eyes and blood coming out of his arm as scars started to form, but he pushed on. "It's fine... it's fine!" He yelled. "I will not let him past me! So run! RUN!!!"
Muscular had a sadistic look in his eye. "This kid," he yelled in excitement. "Oh, man! You're the best!"
He pushed Midoriya down into the ground a little. Midoriya held his ground and kept pushing despite the pain he was in.
"SHUT UP.....!" He yelled.
Kota watched with tears in his eyes, not understanding why this boy was trying to protect him.
Muscular now bulged his leg muscles and pushed even harder! "Show me YOUR BLOOD!"
Midoriya was now pinned to the ground, struggling as hard as he could. He was losing the fight! Even All Might's words didn't do any good for him!
I'm sorry, mom,' he thought tearfully. 'I'm so sorry All Might!'
"I'M GONNA CRUSH YOU!!!" Yelled Muscular as he pinned the green-haired hero down.
Midoriya slowly started to slip into unconsciousness as the energy around him vanished.
SPLASH!
A splash of water hit Muscular, causing him to stop.
"What the? Is that water?" He asked in disbelief.
Midoriya slowly opened his eyes as he heard Kota's voice shouting at the villain: "STOP IT!!!!"
The hero felt his energy returning.
"Hold on there, 'kay?" Said Muscular. "I'll kill you after I'm done with..."
He was cut off by Midoriya pushing his fist against. Harder and harder, Midoriya pushed against the villain.
"I won't let you hurt Kota!" He shouted.
"WHAT? HOW ARE YOU GETTING STRONGER?!" Yelled Muscular.
"YOU WON'T LAY A HAND ON HIM!!!" Midoriya yelled boldly as One For All coursed through his body.
"ONE FOR ALL! 1,000,000%! DELAWARE... DETROIT... SMAAAAAAAAASH!!!!"
Midoriya delivered one final punch! It was so powerful that it tore through all the muscle fibers and didn't stop until it hit the villain in the face! Muscular crashed into the rock wall and stopped moving.
It was finally over! Despite all the pain he felt, Midoriya let out a triumphant scream! He had done it! He won!!!
*****
Shantae was speechless as she listened to the battle. Her mouth was wide open and her eyes were filled with amazement.
She felt happy that her friend won. At the same time, however, she felt like crying as she realized that he had nearly died trying to save someone. She felt her heart beat faster as she felt herself loving him more and more! She gently held Midoriya's arm and delicately stroked the scars.
"Do they... still hurt?" She asked.
"No," answered Midoriya as he blushed a little. "But I won't forget about them. It's a reminder that I need to get stronger in order to become a better hero."
Without warning, Shantae pulled her friend into a warm embrace. She squeezed him tightly as tears slid down her cheeks.
Midoriya was stunned at first. Then he slowly hugged back.
"Midoriya," said Shantae quietly. "Please, try not to do that again. I can't bear the thought of losing you ever."
Midoriya nodded. "I will try my hardest," he answered.
Shantae squeezed him tighter, refusing to let go. She vowed that if her friend were ever in danger, she would save him!
Whew! This is a long one! Feel free to watch the videos to get an idea of what happens if your new to My Hero Academia.
Shantae belongs to Wayforward.
My Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Hirokoshi l.