The Conduit Hero: Paragon
A young Izuku Midoriya is told he is quirkless at the ripe age of 4 years old. A result of not enough tests from the doctor he went to but it's not like he knew that. After a heroic moment on Deku's part, he gains access to his quirk or maybe he does? Not understanding how it works, he follows his new teacher as he follows his dreams of becoming a hero.
For those of you who can't tell based off of the name of the fic or the name of the first chapter but this is going to be including elements of Infamous Second Son. This will be a fic on Izuku having Delson Rowe's power of being a conduit of powers/quirks. There will be limits and such but if there are any concerns, I will absolutely look at them and try to take them into account. While this is technically my second fic, I definitely plan on regularly updating and working on this on quite a lot. Thank you for using up your time if you end up reading it and any criticisms are welcome. R&R my dudes.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"All MIGHT MUSCLE FORM!"
"All MIGHT MUSCLE FORM THOUGHTS!"
Chapter 1: A Child of Smoke
As one child knew from the very young and incredibly tender age of four years old, all men were indeed NOT created equal. Some were born to be the top of the pack just by the circumstances of their birth, while others were stuck at the bottom of the food chain, only to beg for scraps and attention. This budding individual was one Izuku Midoriya, resident quirkless and aspiring hero that would do absolutely anything in order for his chance to stand side by side with his hero, All Might. That's what led himself and his mother to the doctors office for a full scan and quirk evaluation to determine what made this boy stand out in a crowd and what would give him his chance to shine! It was no more than twenty minutes into the medical exam that our young hero to be was told that his dreams could never come to fruition and that he was a part of the small 20% of the population that was born quirkless in this new generation of super humans. Quite an unlucky pick for someone whose only purpose in life was to become a hero and protect the innocent in any way possible. This young boy who had logged more than half a million views on single video of his favorite hero saving hundreds of people in some freak accident. Before he even knew what it meant to be a hero, he knew that the only thing that he could do with his life was protect people and have a smile on his face that would inspire strength in the most frightened of people and break the spirits of the villains that may try to continue and fight.
The doctor spoke with one of the most seemingly boring and monotonous voices in the world as if it meant nothing to just rip the kid apart without using many words at all. "Sorry kid, It's not gonna happen." Those words. Those seemingly insignificant words that had no real meaning to a bystander that may have just heard them but to young Midoriya, there was no greater sword to pierce his ever kind heart.
It wasn't much after that he was at home, adding even views to the video he loved so much as he sobbed and rocked back and forth on the desk chair as his loving and doting mother had her arms slung around the small boys neck as she wept with him, just repeating the words 'I'm sorry' over and over as he shivered and cried himself to sleep. The words that kept little Deku's mind swimming even in his deepest moments of sleep.
A few years had passed since this conversation with his doctor had went through but the thought of being a hero had never left. A ten year old Izuku was found scribbling in his notebook as he walked home from school that day, filling it with notes on the heroes that were in the news that very day. He was walking along the sidewalk, completely oblivious to his surroundings as he walked along.
It was quite the stroke of luck that his instincts kicked in and he looked up before quickly jumped away as a car crashed and rolled onto where he was just standing. The book that the surprised teen was scribbling in was quickly discarded into his backpack before he sprinted to the upturned armoured vehicle that was on it's side, windows smashed and the metal door wide open with it's hinges broken.
The green haired hero to be looked inside and pulled on the doors, obviously suspicious of the fact that the vehicle was armoured but he stood by the idea that nobody deserved to die. He got the drivers out, dragging them off to the side before going back in and pull the latches back opening the door to reveal three individuals. One of which was slightly conscious while the other two were out cold. He pulled out the two sleepers before coming back for the one that could think for himself. He grabbed the hand before pulling him but almost immediately after touching the man's hand, his brain was assaulted with a series of memories of a quirk that wasn't his and seemingly how it works before he was returned to his own reality.
The first thing he noticed was the smouldering ashes that came from his body but they were quickly quelled while the man stared up at Izuku in surprise and shock. "What the hell was that kid? What kind of memory quirk was that?" He spoke while the cogs in his mind worked before the green haired stutter machine spoke up "I-I don't a-actually have a q-quirk… I'm quirkless…"
The unnamed man huffed and turned into a burst of smoke before shooting out the door but didn't get more than the door before his quirk was cancelled by the cuffs on his wrists and restraints on his ankles that helped stop his quirk because they made it so he couldn't maintain his smoke form for more than a moment. Unfortunately for him, a pro-hero had already made his way to the scene after he saw the smoke swirling up from the destroyed engine and went to investigate. Upon arriving he saw the highschooler drag someone out before going back in. By the time he got close enough to be of use, he saw the smoke man attempt to escape but was thwarted by the shackles binding him.
"Halt!" The hero ran forward and restrained the presumed villain with his body folding quirk and reformed his head as he looked at Izuku. "Are you okay citizen? You look unharmed." Izuku breathed deeply as he stares at the man in front of him as he was one of the heroes that the hero otaku had written about in his hero notes for the future. Edgeshot was in book number 7. "Yes sir! The car crashed in front of me and I got everyone out before anything happened that could hurt them.
"You've done well and you didn't have to use your quirk. I am very impressed with you. I'll be sure to tell the heroes about you. But could you stay here so the police can hear what you have to say?" He questioned but it was more of a statement that he was telling Izuku to stay so that the police could get an accurate retelling of the events.
It was only a couple of years after these events that had helped our green haired hero to refuse to give up on the idea of being a hero. Quirk or no quirk, he would become a hero that all people could look up to no matter where you came from or what your background was, he would always be your hero.
The crybaby had kept his head down as he fought through middle school. He was often picked on by the other students for being quirkless and yet that loneliness seemed to be the least of his worries. His so called 'best friend' had been almost non stop in the amount of teasing he did to the smaller boy. This relentless behaviour slowly became a sort of recurring incident because of its frequency and so Izuku slowly developed a sort of resistance to it and was able to just kind of deflect what one Katsuki Bakugo would say to him because of how he knew it would. Today was one of the rougher days, it started out fine and dandy but it had progressed and school had nearly ended but as his luck would have it, the teacher practically singled him out when he began speaking about the career aptitude tests which were promptly ignored as the students began causing a ruckus about all wanting to become heroes. The shouting and cries began to dissipate as the one nicknamed 'Kacchan' spoke up.
"Listen up, Deku! Youre even worse than the rest of these damn rejects! You quirkless wannabe! YOU REALLY THINK THEY'D LET SOMEONE IN WHEN THEY CAN HAVE SOMEONE LIKE ME!" The loudmouth demolition expert shouted as a cluster of explosions rocked from his clenched fists.
The one identified as 'Deku' stumbled backwards out of his chair and onto the floor and from there it seemed to calm down as the class resettled itself. He just tried to ride the wave and not stand out and he let himself hide away until the end of class where he began to pack his bag and stopped at a notebook labeled 'Hero Analysis for the Future NO.13' then giving it a stare before it was pulled from his hands and burned in an explosive clap from boy standing over Izuku's desk.
This was followed by Deku putting his hands on the desk and standing with an arched back before giving a nervous and fake chuckle "Ha ha, really funny guys. Can you please give it back?" The question came out as meek and quiet which was also subsequently ignored in favour of throwing the now crisp book out the window and unknowingly into a small koi pool.
Once the deed was done, the destructive blonde strut his stuff and walked to the door then looked over his shoulder with the very same wicked grin that you would see on a wild animal that had just tracked his prey into a trap. "You know if you want to be a hero, there might be another way. Just pray you'll have an awesome quirk in the next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building."
On our young hero's way home, he retrieved his book and began his walk back to his home. It was along this path that he lost himself in thought which was his reason for being caught off guard when a grotesque ball of slime and/or sludge grew from the tiny holes in the sewer grate before locking onto the boy just in front of him. It only took an instant before the liquid villain wrapped itself around the boy while he fought to keep the slime from his mouth and yet it was of no use as the liquid forced itself into the throat of the child underneath him.
Following these events the grate that was previous unmoved by the villain was rocketed off and sent ricocheting off of the walls of the small tunnel that the three of the beings were in. In an instant a man rose from out of the smokescreen a thunderous laugh before a booming voice echoed in the ears of the surrounding individuals "Have no fear you are safe! Now that I am here that is!"
Knowing that the man with the liquid quirk had already found a new victim by the way he wasn't running away, he cocked back his fist and flexed all his muscles in a way that seemed to make the hero encompass even more of the tunnel than he already had been. Following the movement, time seemed to slow as he spoke with conviction that demanded the full attention of the others.
"TEXAS SMAAAASH!" With a resounding explosion of wind, the sludge villain was unable to hold himself together and flew in different directions as globs of disgusting, vomit green splashes went all over the place.
As the boy was released from the villains grasp, he flew back and his vision faded to black while the last thought that floated through the boys mind was of his savior 'All Might?'
The child with the unkempt hair slowly blinked his eyes open and stared up to his hero before sliding himself back against a wall as he stared up to the tower of a man in front of him.
"Ah! My notebook! An autogra- He already did it!" The neon eyed teen spoke up, excited as he started bowing excessively, looking as though he was slamming his head against the concrete pathway. "Thank you so much! What a treasure! It'll be a family heirloom!"
Although this statement was almost completely unheard from the number one hero as he began his stretches to prepare for his launch. "A pro battles not only enemies but time as well!" A gust shot out against the surrounding buildings as a All Might was sent flying up from the surface of the earth. "Thank you for your continued support!"
After some time had passed and the masculine hero had calmed himself, he was quickly made aware of the new mass that had stuck itself to his leg. The young rescuee had just attached himself to the hero's leg; he was screaming and flailing while All Might began pushing on him.
"Release me! Such enthusiasm is a bit much!" The hero continued to push until the boy spoke up, screaming against the wind that rushed into his lungs "If I let go from this height then I'm going to die!"
The one with an unidentified quirk spoke up and nodded "Close your eyes and your mouth." Izuku's head tucked into the large man's leg just in time to not see the glob of blood slip from his lips.
Following this encounter, they landed on a nearby roof where Midoriya slid down with a pale face and felt sick, but his thoughts continued to swirl through his head; questions still left unanswered as his favorite hero walked away from him. Without a thought and without a moment's hesitation, he shouted out at the weakened hero. "Can someone without a quirk… Become a hero like you!"
Not many words, barely even a full sentence had stopped All Might in his tracks when he had reached the fencing around the roof of the building before turning back to the timid boy that couldn't even look him in the eye. With Deku's eyes glued to the ground, he didn't notice the steam shooting from his body; when a massive plume of smoke and revealed a much smaller and frailer looking man, Midoriya looked up and saw the man that was supposed to be the 'hero of heroes' and the 'symbol of peace' but there in front of him was a weak looking shrivelled man with blood rocketing from his mouth like a waterfall.
"Y-You're all shriveled up! Were you a fake!? An imposter!?" Midoriya shouted at the man as he looked on, both confused and angry. This 'All Might' spoke up after a few moments, once our young protagonist had begun to calm himself. "You know those guys at the pool who hold in their gut just to look good? It's like that."
Their conversation continued and went on about the reasons why he couldn't maintain his hero form and the injury that caused it. This led back to knife the Izuku knew would be stabbed through his gentle heart. The words of his hero as the conversation came to a close. "Without power, can one become a hero? No, I should think not?" With that statement, he walked to the door that led to the buildings set of stairs to the ground floor while Midoriya's world fell apart around him and he receded into a depression of sorts. Thinking deeply, our young protagonist fell into himself as he began to think over what he was just told. His brain had stopped registering his surroundings in favour of putting more brain power into his thoughts and so he didn't notice as All Might's form left the roof and receded into the stairwell, leaving Midoriya to his own business. When a loud explosion rang out and shook the surrounding buildings, drawing the attention of both individuals. Different thoughts running through their heads as one raced to the scene and the other took a step only to stop before the other left the ground. Stopping in his tracks before refocusing and leaving the building while being lost in his thoughts.
It took some time, but Izuku arrived at the scene of the massive explosion that had previously rocked the city. An unconscious decision he assumed because of his near obsession with collections information on his favourite Pro-Heroes. He approached the scene and snuck through the crowd that had gathered between the towering buildings before seeing the mutant quirk user that had attacked him before he was saved by All Might. His eyes homed in a moving outline as another set of explosions rocked the area and the shadow inside was pushed outside of the mutant for just a moment. As his level of stress increased, there was a stream of smoke that was coming from the burning building and into the fearful teenager filled him with an unknown energy. All of this happened in the span of a second or so for Izuku and it took him even less time to react and run? He had no idea what was happening, his body was just flying towards the pile of slime before he reformed about ten feet from the being, still running.
The surrounding Pros reacted as soon as their minds realised the situation and they immediately tried to catch up to him but it was of no use, he was too far and he couldn't be stopped by any of the Heroes present. "Get back here you fool!" It was death arms that screamed out to the young hero to be as he made his way to the villain with haste. Time for him felt as though it began to slow while the man of slime went to strike the boy in front of him but recoiled as Izuku span around and slipped his backpack off in one quick and smooth transition. Following the release of his bag was a cloud of bright orange and grey smoke and In a dumb stroke of luck, his bag broke open and his hero notebook flew out and luckily poked the pile of sludge in one of it's eyes.
Following this, the boy lunged at the ashen haired blonde that lay trapped inside the black body baddie, curling his fingers as he began to dig at the slime so he could help his childhood friend breathe if even for a moment so that he could continue and struggle against the liquid body that he was trapped inside of. This process however helped one man make his own decision and now he was standing between the mutant type quirk user and the vulnerable adolescent that had just done his very best to save his oldest friend, the larger man's fist drawn back before speaking in a booming voice that reached the ears of every single person in the vicinity.
"A hero should always be ready to risk his life!" His fist drew back and while the other pulled both boys from the sludge like villain "The lesson I left you with… I should practice what I preach!" With a mighty swing of his fist, we screamed out to the heavens as his fist neared the bad guy "Detroit! SMASH!" His fist impacted the disgraceful quirk user and sent shock-waves through every single alley way and street before rising up into the clouds, changing the weather with it's force.
They wanna be hero was set down and recieved a scolding from the pro heros while the childhood friend known as 'Kacchan' was praised for his quirk and resilience toward the villain the he had just faced. This didn't go on for long until the boys were released and sent on their way home with a warning and a slap on their wrists.
On his way home, the green headed mop thought of his encounters throughout the day and back to his talk with All Might, but as luck would have it, that very man slid into view from around the upcoming corner and yelled out to Midoriya in an effort to draw his attention "I AM HERE!" This was followed by a sudden puff of smoke and blood spewing in front of him from out of the hero's mouth.
"Kid, I've come to talk to you about what I said earlier. Had I not heard your story, I'd have been nothing but fake muscles and insecurities back there," He was interrupted by the boys mumbling.
"N-no… I just got i-in your way… I-if I hadn't-" It was the boy's turn to be interrupted and as such he was. "Of all the people at the scene… It was you, a timid and quirkless boy who acted! You spurred me into action! There's a bit of a saying that goes around amongst the top heroes. Most of the pros show signs of greatness early on in their life, even as children. Many of them claim that their legs started moving before their minds could even begin to react to the situation. Their bodies simply moved before they could think! That's what happened to you, yes?!"
The timid boy, now hunched over, tears pouring from his eyes in a failed attempt to hide how he was feeling by suddenly being shouted out at by the man in front of him. The only way he could respond to the question was with a should of his own, one full of conviction "Yes!"
Satisfied with his response, All Might smile with pride as he spoke in a much more powerful tone, telling Izuku exactly what he had wanted to hear since he was only four years old.
"You too can become a hero!"