Chapter Text
It began on another sunny day, a fourteen year old Izuku Midoriya now leaving a comic book shop. He glanced down at the issue he had just bought, a slight yawn trying to come out of his mouth. "Man...All Might is so cool. I wish I could meet him." He whispered, only for his phone to vibrate. Taking it out of his pocket, he saw it was his own invention, the Midoriya hero app. The program switched to show a certain news headline Izuku always loved to see: All Might.
ALL MIGHT DEFEATS SLUDGE VILLAIN! ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE SYMBOL OF PEACE!
"Wow...wish I could have seen that in person. But that's not in the cards for a Deku like me." Izuku commented as he tapped the phone, "App, give me all the details. I want to record them in my notebook tonight."
"Understood." the phone replied back, Izuku putting it away a second later.
To say Izuku Midoriya was a genius was an understatement. The app he just used was his newest invention, something he found he was born for. He found early on that he had the knack for inventing, finding he could easily take anything apart and rebuild it. He started with the television at his house when he was five and kept going for years, trying to make all sorts of support items for the future.
But despite all that, his love was for heroics. He adored heroes since he was small, even before that faithful day when he was four. There, he was told he was quirkless, a judgement that along with the doctor that day, many others also told him that he could not be a hero. And it was something he lived with every day now. For after that day, he had spent over a decade of constant torment and bullying.
"Guess that's that." Izuku then looked back at the comic in his other hand, "Well, at least I have this. Though what's a brain like mine good for if I can't be a hero?"
It wasn't long till the day ended, Izuku going home. As he walked inside, he found his mother, Inko Midoriya, already in the kitchen. The woman had a slight frown on his face, Izuku knowing she probably wanted to do another 'talk' on how he shouldn't try to be a hero, and just go into support. Despite this, he saw she was making katsudon, the teen taking it with a small frown. But as he began to eat, he was halfway done before just tapping the food with his chopsticks. The sight made Inko sigh, the woman slowly speaking up, "Izuku...what are you working on now? I know you wanted to make that support portfolio thing for UA."
"Yeah..." Izuku sighed as he took another bite. "I just...I wish I could do more."
"Izuku..." She put her hand on his shoulder, the boy slowly looking up at her. "I know you don't want to hear this, but...I think this will be better for you. You have a brilliant mind. Why, I remember when you were five...you took apart the television to see how it worked. Remember that?"
She let out a small giggle at this, only for Izuku to slowly get up. "I'm...gonna go to bed."
"Izuku-"
"Sorry mom." He interrupted, "I'm just...not feeling it today."
He then shoved the plate over the table and walked away, the sight making Inko sigh. "Oh Izuku...I just want you to be safe."
The teen soon closed the door to his room, his eyes slowly drifting up as he saw his room. Around the bed where piles of metal, gadgets and gizmos he had created. Along with that was a stack on notebooks, all filled with analyses over heroes he had made over the years, his other passion. But they weren't what he was proud of. It was the sights on the walls, posters of All Might, shelves of action figures of every hero he knew, and piles of comic books to the side of his bed that he loved. This sight would always make him smile, a big goofy grin on his face as he would read a few comics or play with his action figures. But not today. Instead, he just slugged over to his bed and flopped down, a small stream of tears appearing from his eyes.
"Why couldn't I've been born with a quirk? I'd give up this brain if I could just have a quirk..." He put his face into his pillow as tears started to stain the cloth, "I wanna be a hero..."
"You'll never be a hero!"
That was the roar of Katsuki Bakugo the next day as he used his quirk on Izuku's stomach. The teen cried out at this, only for the teen to slam a fist into Izuku's face. "Augh!" Izuku yelped as he hit the floor, tears pouring out of his eyes as two other boys started kicking the downed student.
"Yeah! You heard Bakugo, you useless Deku!"
"Loser! Loser!"
Katsuki leaned down in front of Izuku's face, growling at the teen, "You hear that, you quirkless loser? I told you to not apply to UA! You're looking down on me, aren't you?!"
"I never looked down on you Kacchan, I-"
"Shut up! You'll never be a hero! You're just a worthless pebble!" Katsuki then kicked Izuku in the stomach, making the teen squirm, only to reach down and grab a certain notebook that Izuku was clinging onto.
"Hey! Give that-blaugh!" Izuku cried as Katsuki kicked him in the face.
"Shut up loser." He spat before opening it up, "What's this? Blueprints for...heroics?!" He quickly closed the book and glared at Izuku, "Seriously?! I just told you that you can't be a hero, you useless Deku!"
"I'm not...gonna be...a hero...Kacchan." Izuku wheezed out, "I'm gonna...go into...support."
"Yeah right, you quirkless loser! No one is going to UA in this dump except me!" Katsuki growled before lighting his quirk up, the book instantly exploding.
"NO!" Izuku screamed, only for Katsuki to kick him in the face again.
"I said, shut up!" Katsuki roared before opening a nearby window and throwing the notebook's charred remains out of it. He then leaned down and grabbed Izuku's collar, a huge grin on his face, "Listen here loser, if you really wanna be a hero..." His grin grew wider as he said these next words, "Go take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a quirk in the next life."
"You...Kacchan..." Izuku squirmed out, only for Katsuki to punch him in the face, "Blaugh!"
"Don't you dare call me that, Deku!" Katsuki spat as Izuku laid out on the floor, squirming as tears poured out of his eyes, "See?! You're just a worthless wimp. You'll never be a hero, so give up already and stay out of my origin story!"
With that, Katsuki spun around and left, the two boys that were always with him taking a second to kick Izuku again before running after the teen. And as Izuku laid out on the floor, he let out a wheeze of pain before a pair of shoes appeared in his line of sight. Looking up, he saw it was his homeroom teacher, a snarl on his face.
"Izuku...how many times do I have to tell you to stop laying on the hallway floor?! Get to class already!"
"Yes...sir..." Izuku coughed out, slowly getting up as the teacher walked away. He let out a sniff at this, another batch of tears going down his face, "Why...why me?"
The rest of the day was the usual for the boy, nothing but pain and misery. Even though he had the best grades in the class, the teachers always tried to go against him, all because he was quirkless. It was like this every day, every moment, especially since it had been announced the previous day he was applying to UA. Katsuki had run a fit at this, telling the class they were all beneath him, then giving Izuku yet another beating. This was followed by today, where Katsuki was extra mad, though Izuku couldn't really tell when Katsuki wasn't mad.
Despite this, the school day soon ended, and Izuku found himself having to purchase a new notebook. And as he walked out of the convenience store, he began to write in the book as he got on the train. 'Well, at least I remember most of what I wrote down. I do have nine months for the support department portfolio, and I've already written out a few blueprints.' He rubbed his face as he began to do a sketch, 'Hmmm...should I make a weapon? I know UA support prefers costume support, but maybe I could make something more logistical? What about a type of tracker or...'
His thoughts drifted as he wrote down a bunch of different things just as the train came to a stop. And as he walked out and back to his house, he couldn't help but think how pointless it was in the end. Despite everything he wanted, he was just settling for what he considered to be 'second best' with support.
'Eh, I'll figure something out. I got nine months after all.'
Nine months later, just 2 days till UA entrance exam starts...
Izuku was now staring at his desk in his room, four new fully written notebooks in front of him as he scanned over everything he had written out over the past nine months. Wads of papers were all over the floor, most in a small trashcan as he found himself going back and forth at the notebooks, staring at a few weapon blueprints he had made, only to shake his head. "No..." He whispered before looking down at his phone.
'The best invention I've made is on this thing, and I know that's not gonna be enough. All these portfolios are good, but this is UA! I'm running out of time! I just need a better idea. What if I-'
"Izuku!"
He was taken out of his thoughts at his mother's voice, the teen turning and yelling back, "Yes?"
"Could you take out the trash?"
"In a minute!" Izuku replied, only to glance back down at his desk. The sight made him flinch, only to sigh a second later. 'Why me?! Why can't I figure this out?! Kacchan's right...I'm just a failure.'
A few moments later, the teen got up and gathered the paper in the floor, soon taking his wastebasket to the trashbag, only to walk out a minute later with it. And as he walked over to the dumpster by the apartment, the teen found himself in a haze as he walked. His mouth began to mumble as he tried to think about what he was missing.
"Maybe I should do a type of all-in-one gauntlet like my earlier design. Though that might be too much, though maybe I could make a type of phone with the gauntlet. I mean, it could connect to a hero's mask, and then I could use a type of protective fiber over it that makes sure the hero...the hero..."
His muttering stopped as he let out a long sigh. "Oh, who am I kidding? Even after all this, I still can't do it. I just want to be a hero. Maybe Kacchan is right. Maybe I should just take a swan dive-YEOW!"
He let out a scream as he felt a surge of pain from his wrist, soon slapping it with a single strike. And as he looked down at his hand, he gasped when he saw a now dead spider in his palm. He quickly shook it off, squirming for a second, only to blink as he saw the spider hit the pavement, its corpse bouncing till it showed its back. Izuku blinked at the sight, soon leaning down as he saw the numbers 42 on it.
"What the heck?!" He whispered as he slowly picked up the bug, squinting as he spun it around on his fingers, "42? Why does a spider have a...wha..." Izuku's words began to slur as he felt his legs feel like they were about to turn to jelly, the teen almost dropping the bug as his other hand grabbed his knee. "Whoa..."
He felt a bit of nausea in his throat, his vision blurring as the pavement below multiplied and spun around for a second. Izuku closed his eyes at this, his legs still shaking as he started taking deep breaths. 'What...is...happening? Head...feels...funny. Did I...just get...poisoned?'
And after what felt like hours, the world stopped spinning on Izuku. He opened his eyes and saw that everything was fine. Rapidly blinking at this, he put the dead spider in his pocket, grabbed the trashbag and threw it into the dumpster, and quickly ran back into his room. His mother called out to him, but it fell on deaf ears as Izuku put the spider on his desk and then pulled up his laptop. 'Gotta find out what this spider is. I don't wanna die to a spider bite of all-'
"AUGH!" Izuku yelped as he clutched his head, "What now?!"
A burning sensation slammed into his head, the teen now rubbing the sides of his cranium. He semi-closed his eyes before glancing over at the spider, only for his head to hit the keyboard, his hand smacking the desk before pushing the spider under some paper as his eyes closed.
"Wha..." was all he could mutter out before he felt himself shut down, sleep taking over as he tried to move.
A long yawn escaped Izuku's breath as he felt his hands lift out of his bed's covers. His eyes slowly opening, he found himself staring at the ceiling, the sight feeling slightly zoomed in for him. But this was ignored as he felt a certain stiffness in his shoulders. 'When did I fall asleep?' he thought, 'What was I-'
"Izuku?" a voice called out as the door to his room opened. He glanced over to it and saw his mother walk in. "Oh, thank goodness."
"Huh? Mom? What's wrong?"
Inko just shook her head at this, "I found you passed out on your desk and your face was burning. I thought for sure you had a fever."
"A fever?" Izuku repeated as he put a hand to his forehead, only to feel semi-warm skin.
"You don't have one now." Inko commented as she walked up to him. "You just...well, you were burning for a bit, and I couldn't wake you up. So, I put you in bed." She sat down on the bed and put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay? Did you overwork yourself with the UA stuff?"
"No...I mean, I don't think I did." He said as he blinked at her, "I guess...I don't know. I think I'm fine now."
"Okay. Well, I want you to stay at home for today. I already called the school, especially since you slept in like that today."
"I slept in?" Izuku responded before turning to his room's clock, only to go wide-eyed as he saw it was almost noon. Inko giggled at the sight before patting his head.
"Just rest. There's some frozen dinners I picked up two days ago in the fridge. Just have that for lunch. I'm gonna go to my part-time job at the hospital, okay?"
"Okay..." Izuku slowly replied as his mom left the room, the boy shrinking back into his covers. And as she closed the door, he thought aloud, "What was that? What happened to...the spider!"
He quickly hopped out of the bed and over to his desk, quickly rustling through the papers until finding the dead bug under one of them. His eyes squinted at the sight as he picked it up again. "So...you didn't poison me, but you did something, didn't you? Alright, I'll examine you in a second."
He put the insect back onto his desk before getting up, walking into his bathroom. He was about to use the toilet, feeling the urge, only to stop in front of the mirror. He slowly turned to the reflective surface, only to see his arms...and they were muscular. "What the-" He looked down at his sleeves, seeing they were now constricted and tight, the teen quickly taking off his shirt. And the sight made him go wide-eyed.
Izuku was never an athletic child. He never really had muscles or much strength. However, now it looked like he had gone to the gym all his life. "I have...a six-pack?!" He yelped as he glanced back up at the mirror, now seeing the reflection of what he had just looked at. His eyes continued to grow as he felt down and patted the pecs, feeling every touch. "Whoa..."
He flexed his arms next, seeing the raw muscle now in them. He clenched his fist at this, feeling a surge of strength just in that one motion. It felt like he could do anything, as if he was now a one man army. "What happened to me?"
He then sat down on the toilet, doing his business as he began to think, 'How did this happen? Why do I have a six pack now? Why do I feel better than ever? What is going on?!' He got up a few moments later and began to wash his hands, but as he grabbed the handle and turned it...he found couldn't take his hand off it. "What the-" He began to pull at the handle, growling as he felt his hand stay stuck. "Stupid hand! Let go of-whoa!"
The teen let out a yelp as he let go, falling back as his hand suddenly stopped sticking to the sink handle. Izuku fumbled back before straightening up, growling as he stared at his hand, "What was that?!" He then went back to the sink and washed his hands, soon drying them and began to walk over to open the bathroom door...only to twist the handle, and the whole door broke off as he opened it. "WHOA!"
Izuku slowly looked down at the door handle, now seeing his hand was stuck to it before backing up at the now broken door. "What is..." his words drowned out as he felt his hand release from the door, Izuku quickly grabbing the door's sides and placing the door on the wall. And as he walked back into his room, his eyes instantly went back to the bug on his desk. "The spider..." He leaned down and poked the dead creature, the teen's eyes going wide as his brain finally caught up to everything that had happened this morning. "Did you...give me a quirk?!"
The next few hours were the busiest in Izuku's life. Ecstatic at what had just happened to him, he quickly began to figure out all he could do. For starters, he found he had immense strength, able to lift up the house's washer and dryer with one hand. He found he was quicker, and his hands and feet would now stick to things as he tried to climb up his room's wall...only to slightly tear off a bit of the ceiling with his fingers. This was followed by him looking up what spiders could do, which was followed by him taking out some old support equipment he had made, as he knew he had to examine every bit of what the spider was, and what it did to him.
"Glad I made this." he mumbled to himself as he pulled out a small folding microscope/scanner. He had made it for crime scenes, trying to make a portable medical scanner of sorts, which was supposed to connect to police computers, though he never really got to test it. Now, he took a small needle and pricked himself, putting the blood on a small piece of glass. But as he did this, he saw the little prick he did instantly heal up, the blood not even dripping off his finger. He blinked at this, only to tell himself that was another thing to look into before staring down the scope, his eyes quickly going wide.
The blood in the sample looked as if he had evolved, its structure no longer fluid, but in a state of constant flux. The sight baffled him before he plugged up the scope to his computer, soon examining the blood on a full screen. He then put the spider in the microscope, trying to find anything on it.
But the spider had nothing. It was if the spider had given Izuku everything and was now an empty husk. Seeing this, he took out a small bottle and put the spider in it, sighing as he put a lid on the container. This was followed by Izuku doing a scan of his own blood, soon going over what data his little machine could give him.
"Hmmm...so it looks like I have enhanced strength, I can stick to other surfaces, and I seem to have some kind of healing factor. Though, this sample is so strange. According to this, it should have also affected my nerves and brain-" He stopped as he then felt a tingle in his head, his ears ringing as he heard a small buzzing noise. His arm suddenly jerked at this, only to feel something now between his fingers. Squinting at it, he saw he had perfectly grabbed a fly's wings, the bug still alive. "Whoa..."
He let go of the fly, the bug flying off as he sat back down. He stared at his hand, flexing the fingers for a bit. 'Guess that answers that. I guess I have some kind of...radar sense? Still, how did this spider do this to me?' He then looked back at his computer, only to see something more to the data onscreen. 'It also says I have something with my skin, along with a type of...energy inside me? What is that?!'
He glanced back at the bug, slowly whispering, "What are you?" He then looked back at his hands, feeling the tense power inside them now, "Then again...I just got what I always wanted. A quirk." He glanced up at the screen, "Multiple quirks...or is it a mutation quirk? Might be that."
He slowly got off his chair, staring back down at the bottle containing the spider. "Thank you." He whispered before a grin shined on his face, "I have a quirk...I HAVE A QUIRK!" He exclaimed, thrusting his arms into the air. And as he said this, he then looked back down at all his notebooks, stars in his eyes. "I gotta tell mom! I gotta try the hero exam!"
And as he said those words, only one thought went through his head.
'I can be a hero!'