u/Legitimate-Mix-5395

Aldera Elementary High.

Officially, it was an elementary school. In reality, it was more like a prison. The law of the fittest reigned supreme. Whoever had the coolest and most powerful quirk was the school's King.

The current King was a boy with blond hair sticking up like a Saiyan and bloodshot eyes, Katsuki Bakugo, currently nine years old, who was drowning the newly-come-of-age janitor, a large man with spiky blond hair, in a toilet.

"Don't you ever dare get in my way again, you stupid extra!" Katsuki yelled as he drowned the janitor.

Izuku, also nine, approached Katsuki, trying to calm him down "Kacchan, I know our school assistant bumped into you (by accident), but this doesn't seem very... heroic." Izuku said, trying to reason with his childhood friend.

So, Katsuki whirled around and hit him in the shoulder, activating his quirk Explosion, which created a small but painful explosion that knocked Izuku to the floor "SHUT UP, FUCKING DEKU! STOP TRYING TO BRING ME TO YOUR LEVEL!" Katsuki shouted, creating more explosions with his hands, then stepped over the other boy and left the bathroom.

After making sure Katsuki was far enough away, Izuku got up from the ground and ran to pull the janitor's head out of the toilet, all the while clutching his aching shoulder.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That janitor was Goto Imasuji, who a few months later would discover he possessed the quirk Muscle Augmentation and begin his new career as the villain Muscular, one of the most brutal and bloody assassins of our time, single-handedly destroying a gym with 26 Pro Heroes inside.

Oddly enough, he never sought revenge against the boy who drowned him in a public school bathroom.

...why am I writing notes in my journal about the flashback that happened in my mind?! Oh, well, never mind.

Ever since I was four years old, I understood that all men are not created equal.

And it was also the moment I decided to stop suffering.

I always wanted to be a hero. But... that dream died when I was four. Because that's when I discovered I was quirkless.

And you can't be a hero without a quirk. It's simply impossible. It's the harsh reality.

But just because I can't be a hero, doesn't mean I can't help others.

...I like helping others. That's why I wanted to be a hero. Saving people, making them smile... It's always been my dream.

But since I'm quirkless, that's not a viable option. Too many risks, and no one would agree with a superhero who doesn't have a quirk.

At first, I had no idea what to do after all my dreams were shattered, but... My stepmother helped me see other possibilities.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A box full of old comics fell in front of five-year-old Izuku, who stared at the box curiously.

"What are these?" asked little Izuku, looking up at the person who had brought him the box: a smiling woman with blue hair, blue eyes, and cream-colored skin, wearing red glasses, a gray sweater, and pink slippers.

"They're superhero comics. They're from the pre-Quirk era." replied the woman, Nemuri Kayama, aka Izuku's stepmother. "I took inspiration from some of those to create my Pro Hero image. Who knows, maybe you could find some inspiration too." then she lay down next to the boy.

Izuku decided to indulge his stepmother and, curious to know how superheroes were viewed before Quirks, took a comic from the box.

On the cover was a man in a red costume buried under a large piece of scrap metal, with water flooding the floor. The title was written in yellow, reading "If This Be My Destiny...!" and the subtitles "Contains The Amazing Spider-Man #31-33" and "The FINAL CHAPTER!" in a more subdued giallo.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

All my life, I've admired heroes, but, sometimes, real-life heroes didn't seem so... Super.

Sure, heroes save people and defeat criminals, but virtually none had the charisma of All Might, and only a few besides him engage in other socially useful activities, such as Gang Orca offering community service to criminals or Uwabami's racism awareness campaigns.

It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally got there: for every great superhero, there's a great supervillain.

In addition to my stepmother's comics, I came to this conclusion by searching hero forums. There were certain stories circulating about a bogeyman, a bogeyman, capable of stealing every quirk EXCEPT All Might quirk's, and that was why the bogeyman was obsessed with defeating All Might.

Of course, the story seemed absurd at first, but my stepmother's boss is a super-intelligent chimera, so I decided not to take anything for granted.

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense: All Might had basically been forced to become a better superhero because he had a nemesis on his neck, forcing him to grow and improve more and more, until all the other villains were nothing compared to him and the bogeyman.

That was the moment I understood.

Superman has Lex Luthor, Batman has Joker, Spider-Man has Green Goblin, Sleepwalker has 8-Ball. All Might has the Quirk Thief (NOTE: Find a better name for All Might's nemesis).

Every great superhero has a great supervillain opposing him, forcing him to improve. Without supervillains, heroes can't be super.

Every great hero needs a great villain. To become great, to truly go PLUS ULTRA, heroes need a villain who forces them to improve.

For every great superhero, there is a great supervillain.

And I knew the perfect aspiring hero I could help improve.

Ever since I was four years old, I understood that all men are not created equal.

And it was also the moment I decided to stop suffering.

I always wanted to be a hero. But... that dream died when I was four. Because that's when I discovered I was quirkless.

And you can't be a hero without a quirk. It's simply impossible. It's the harsh reality.

But just because I can't be a hero, doesn't mean I can't help others.

...I like helping others. That's why I wanted to be a hero. Saving people, making them smile... It's always been my dream.

But since I'm quirkless, that's not a viable option. Too many risks, and no one would agree with a superhero who doesn't have a quirk.

At first, I had no idea what to do after all my dreams were shattered, but... My stepmother helped me see other possibilities.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A box full of old comics fell in front of five-year-old Izuku, who stared at the box curiously.

"What are these?" asked little Izuku, looking up at the person who had brought him the box: a smiling woman with blue hair, blue eyes, and cream-colored skin, wearing red glasses, a gray sweater, and pink slippers.

"They're superhero comics. They're from the pre-Quirk era." replied the woman, Nemuri Kayama, aka Izuku's stepmother. "I took inspiration from some of those to create my Pro Hero image. Who knows, maybe you could find some inspiration too." then she lay down next to the boy.

Izuku decided to indulge his stepmother and, curious to know how superheroes were viewed before Quirks, took a comic from the box.

On the cover was a man in a red costume buried under a large piece of scrap metal, with water flooding the floor. The title was written in yellow, reading "If This Be My Destiny...!" and the subtitles "Contains The Amazing Spider-Man #31-33" and "The FINAL CHAPTER!" in a more subdued giallo.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

All my life, I've admired heroes, but, sometimes, real-life heroes didn't seem so... Super.

Sure, heroes save people and defeat criminals, but virtually none had the charisma of All Might, and only a few besides him engage in other socially useful activities, such as Gang Orca offering community service to criminals or Uwabami's racism awareness campaigns.

It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally got there: for every great superhero, there's a great supervillain.

In addition to my stepmother's comics, I came to this conclusion by searching hero forums. There were certain stories circulating about a bogeyman, a bogeyman, capable of stealing every quirk EXCEPT All Might quirk's, and that was why the bogeyman was obsessed with defeating All Might.

Of course, the story seemed absurd at first, but my stepmother's boss is a super-intelligent chimera, so I decided not to take anything for granted.

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense: All Might had basically been forced to become a better superhero because he had a nemesis on his neck, forcing him to grow and improve more and more, until all the other villains were nothing compared to him and the bogeyman.

That was the moment I understood.

Superman has Lex Luthor, Batman has Joker, Spider-Man has Green Goblin, Sleepwalker has 8-Ball. All Might has the Quirk Thief (NOTE: Find a better name for All Might's nemesis).

Every great superhero has a great supervillain opposing him, forcing him to improve. Without supervillains, heroes can't be super.

Every great hero needs a great villain. To become great, to truly go PLUS ULTRA, heroes need a villain who forces them to improve.

For every great superhero, there is a great supervillain.

And I knew the perfect aspiring hero I could help improve.

Inspired by Villain Notebook For The Future

Katsuki Bakugo was pissed off.

But not because he'd been attacked by a villain. Oh, no, absolutely not. He could have faced that weakling any time of day if he'd wanted, but that coward had attacked him from behind.

He was almost free, to show those feeble excuses for heroes what real heroes do, when another villain had to ruin everything and save him.

His body was still shaking, his throat was burning, and the smell of the slime lingered like an insult.

He could hear the crowd murmuring around him, but he wasn't listening. He heard nothing, only the blood, fire, and indignation roaring in his ears.

Be saved?! Him?! Does he even realize who he was dealing with?! He wasn't weak! He didn't need saving!

Even though...

His breath was still shaking, even though he tried to hide it.

He didn't want to admit it, but he remembered perfectly the feeling of that slime entering his lungs. The air that was no longer coming in. His vision darkening.

For a moment... he thought he was going to die.

Tsk.

How disgusting. Even the thought of something like that made him want to break something.

And yet none of those "heroes" had lifted a finger. No one. He didn't care why, they had let him die.

And he had had to be saved by a villain. Not only were those heroes letting him die, they had also tarnished the profession that All Might (and, in the future, he) had held so gloriously.

And for Bakugo Katsuki, this was almost worse than death.

"I won't forget this, asshole." Katsuki whispered, seething with rage. He would take revenge. On these false heroes. And, moreover, on Mastermind.

Then Katsuki felt a hand gently placed on his shoulder "Kacchan? Are you okay? I only saw the end, but it looked very painful..."

"Stay away from me, Deku!" Katsuki growled, knocking Deku's hand away with an explosive bang, causing the boy to withdraw his offered hand "I don't need your fucking mercy!" he wanted nothing more than to charge at the little nerd, but he didn't have much strength left.

He'd never unleashed so many explosions, nor so loud. His arms and lungs felt like they were on fire, and he felt slightly dizzy. Honestly, he felt like shit, if not the Shit.

But he would never let Midoriya Izuku find out he was weak. He would never let that happen.

Izuku took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. He couldn't make Bakugo any angrier, but he also had to make sure he wasn't seriously injured. For now, he simply stepped back, lowering his hands in surrender.

"Mastermind, huh? What a stupid name…" Katsuki muttered irritably, even though the more honest part of his brain whispered that there was something in that gesture... the calm, the control... that had struck him.

And that infuriated him even more.

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on the manhole where Mastermind had escaped, like a rat in a sewer.

Then, he promised the world and especially himself "When we meet again... I'll show you what a true hero is."

Izuku heard him. Despite everything that had happened that day... He couldn't help but feel excited by his friend and nemesis's vote. He couldn't help but secretly lick his lips.

Author's Notes:

Writing Bakugo is fucking hard. It's like writing some kind of alien, who operates with his own logic, and I struggle to avoid making him a caricature. And in a way, I'm really sorry, because I think his character could be very interesting, but I'm having a really hard time writing him. I can't wait for him to get some character development.

Toshinori had made a mistake.

He'd managed to get to the robbed bank first, so he'd remained on a rooftop opposite it to assess the situation. Apparently, there were no hostages, as one might expect from a bank robbery, but you never knew, so he'd stayed outside waiting for something to happen that would give him a better understanding of the situation, until a wall exploded.

He'd immediately headed to eliminate this new villain, but the problem was, he wasn't sure how long he should hold back to avoid killing him instantly.

Not wanting to risk injuring a simple robber excessively, he'd simply decided to restrain his hands to prevent him from escaping.

This turned out to be a truly stupid mistake, because it had allowed the villain to launch a kick in desperation or panic, which wouldn't have been a problem had it not hit the exact spot where All For One's scar.

The pain and shock, compounded by his nearing expiration, had forced him to revert to his normal form and vomit a torrent of blood, right into the villain's face, no less.

So now he was bent over in pain in his normal form, struggling not to slip from the wall to the floor, helpless as the villain frantically wiped the blood from his visor with his cape.

He had to do something. He had to recover before the villain finished cleaning himself. If he pushed himself, he could transform back for a little longer and defeat him quickly...

"ARE YOU SORRY?!" the villain shouted, completely blocking Toshinori's thoughts.

"What?" Toshinori asked, his voice flat but incredibly confused, spitting up a bit of blood.

"I meant... Are you okay? ...You're spitting up blood, of course you're not okay! Don't die! I can't kill All Might on my first day, that would be ridiculous!" the villain snapped, hitting his helmet, then rummaged through his hoodie pockets and pulled out a bag of tissues, which he handed to Toshinori "Here, here. To clean yourself up. Of course, sorry. Do you need medical attention?"

"I... What?" Toshinori continued, utterly confused by the villain's frantic words.

Before Toshinori could process, the villain lunged toward him, to begin checking him out "Do you need medical attention? You're not dying, are you? Please, don't die. I don't want you on my conscience." the villain said frantically, jerking the confused hero's shirt up and flinching when he saw his giant purple scar on his stomach, as if he were the one who had been hit "Damn, I hit you right where you're hurt... That looks really bad..."

"...what? What are you doing?" Toshinori knew he could force himself and access One For All to defeat this villain. But, once again, his words confused him so much that he couldn't concentrate. He was proving to be more difficult than the enemies who were actually trying to kill him, how ironic.

"Why are you so confused? Is it a side effect of the scar? Or the pain? I mean, what did you expect me to do..." the villain asked, a little confused, then paused for a moment, as if remembering something. "Oh, right, I'm being a super villain. I was panicking. Panic!" and with that, he pulled a grenade from his red belt and snapped his fingers, causing the grenade to explode in a flash of light, blinding Toshinori.

A few moments later, when Toshinori could see again, the Villain had disappeared without a trace. With the knowledge of his secret.

Shit.

Ochaco: You've already done so much

So many lives you've changed

So many souls you've touched

Izuku and Ochaco: There's something that I've been dying to say

More than anything, more than anything

Need you to know I love you more than anything

More than anything