Well, after reading through many stories here, I finally felt like writing my own.

For those of you wondering about pairings, the story will have them, but I don't want to outright say who's going to get together, since I feel that kind of defeats the purpose or writing a story.

Chapter 1

The sun was setting as a dejected green haired boy walked alone in the empty streets leading to his home. Today had been probably the worst day of his life.

He had known for years that he was one of the very few people to have been born with no Quirk. He had known for years that he could not become a hero. Yet, to hear those words directly from the lips of the idol that had given him that dream…

Izuku Midoriya wiped away a couple of tears.

All Might. The number one hero, had told him to face reality, the reality that he could not become a hero.

Ever since he was a kid, he had wanted to become one, or at the very east be told he could become one; but had he ever done anything to make that a reality? What did he think would happen if he just wished for it to happen? That he would miraculously develop a Quirk out of think air?

No. Life didn't work like that. It was pathetic of him to think that way.

All Might had told him to face reality, and he would do just that.

Instead of just wishing for it, he would make it happen no matter what. He would work as hard as he could to prove the entire world wrong and become a hero!

Izuku looked up at the sky with a renewed sense of meaning. Starting today, he would stop wishing, and start doing.

Six Months Later

With weighted wrist bands and ankle weights, Izuku jogged through a park at a steady pace. It was getting much easier to finish his workouts, looks like he needed to add more weight again.

He wasn't the same scrawny boy from before, he had built up some muscle in the past months. But he knew that in order to become a hero, he didn't need to just become stronger, which is why on top of working out, he had started to study different fighting styles in his computer. Nothing beat hands on experience, he knew that, but it was the best he could do since he didn't want to bother his mom with paying for someone to teach him.

But he was making steady progress. While the jog at the end of his workout had been hellish before, he was currently making great time and not having a lot of trouble keeping up. Before, by the time he was done running it would get dark, but now the sun had just started to set.

"You really run through here every day."

Izuku was broken out of his thoughts, and looked to his side to see a girl sitting on a bench, looking at him.

"Do you need something? He asked, puzzled as to why a girl dressed a bit strangely (baggy brown overall pants, white t-shit, and strange googles) was talking to him.

"My name is Mei Hatsume," she introduced herself with a grin.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"Midoriya! You're the perfect candidate for the chance of a lifetime."

Was she trying to sell him something?

"I'm going to give you the chance to test out my super cute babies!"

"Um… I don't really get wha- Eh?!" Midoriya squeaked when Mei leaned in close towards his face.

"Don't worry about it! You're going to be a lot of help," she assured, giving him a pat in the back. "I'm aiming to invent the best support items for heroes! Clearly, you're not a hero, but I'm developing something that I can't test myself since I'm not the right build… Speaking of which."

"Eh!" Izuku yelped again when she grabbed one of his arms and started to squeeze his bicep.

"Wow, you're much firmer than you look. You're just perfect!" She let him go and walked to the bench where she had been sitting.

He noticed that she had a large suitcase that she opened to reveal a bunch of weird gadgets and all sorts of tools.

"Well then," she began with an excited smile, "Let me introduce you to my babies!"

One Month Later

It was already dark by the time Izuku was heading home after visiting Mei to test out new gadgets at an old warehouse.

'For safety.' She had said with her usual big smile.

He had to admit that he had been excited about helping her out at first. It's not every day that you get an offer to test out potential support items for heroes, and maybe she had something that could help him on his dream to become a hero.

But this past month had been anything but encouraging. A lot of her inventions required strength he didn't have, and the ones he could test out ended up failing or hurting him most of the time.

That's why today he was heading home with a giant white gauntlet, because the thing had gotten stuck and she told him to keep it while she found a way to get it off. It had been a part of a power suit that was sturdy and could fire its fists long distances and retract them back into place. It was one full set, not meant to fall apart after a few minutes of use, which is why the thing was stuck.

Not for the first time, Izuku wondered if all this training was for nothing. He was stronger, sure, but he could never match someone with a Quirk. Even if he trained his body for years, the gap was just too big to fill.

"Help!"

Izuku heard a woman's voice scream, just before the smell of smoke hit his nostrils.

A fire?

He jogged towards the source, turning a corner at the end of the street, to see a two story house on fire.

"Please!" The woman screamed as two people held her back, stopping her from running into the burning home. "My son's inside! Please! I have go get him!"

The pleading in her tone cause everyone to flinch, but they didn't let her through.

"Just wait. The heroes will be here soon!"

"No! Please! Someone..."

Izuku could only watch the scene through wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

"Help me!"

Before he even had time to think, he was already running into the home.

"Don't go in there!"

He ignored the voice and broke through the brittle front door with a kick. A wave of heat hit him almost instantly, causing him to grit his teeth and push through.

'Darn it, almost the whole first floor is on fire… How am I supposed to find a kid here?'

His eyes scanned the area, taking in as much as he could even through the smoke, until they finally caught something. A bedroom door with a colorful sign hanging from it, similar to the All Might one he used to have when younger.

He went for the stairs, but a piece of the roof broke off and fell on it, lighting them in a manner of seconds.

Izuku froze for a second, before looking at the gauntlet on his right hand, and aiming it at a wall on the second floor. He opened his palm, the mechanical hand mimicking his movement, and shot it, breaking through the wall, before he closed his hand into a fist. Having some grip, he then retracted the fist, pulling him towards the fist, instead of the other way around.

It somehow worked like a charm and he landed safely on the second floor.

"Anybody in here!" He shouted after stepping into the room.

"I'm here!" A panicked small voice came from underneath the covers of a bed.

A small boy, not even four years old, emerged from the covered with tears on his face.

"Don't worry, I got you," Izuku assured with a gentle smile.

He picked up the boy on his left arm and tried to backtrack out of the house, but the front door was covered in flames.

'Door's gone… Stairs are gone… There has to be something… There!'

A large window near the ceiling above the front door.

"Hang on okay," he instructed before he aimed the gauntlet and shot, breaking through the window and gripping the house across the narrow street.

Onlookers and the men holding the mother back, could only watch as flames began to engulf the entire house, their hearts breaking for the mother.

And that's when it happened.

The large window on the front wall of the house, suddenly broke, and then a figure emerged, sailing through the air before landing on the street with a small boy in his arms.

The other broke free of the grasp, as the men were too awestruck do to much else, and ran to the side of her son, taking him from the stranger and hugging him as tight as she could.

Izuku coughed but felt relieved to see the mother hugging her child and crying out in relief.

"Thank you," she sobbed while holding her son to her chest. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"

Those gathered at the streets began to cheer loudly once they processed what had happened.

"That was incredible!"

"So brave!"

"That's a hero for you!"

Izuku felt his eyes sting, and turned his back to the crowd, before using the gauntlet to climb onto a nearby roof and disappearing into the darkness as sirens began to wail nearby.

He continued to run for minutes using the gauntlet to jump from house to house, until he finally came down and fell to his knees at a lone street.

His lips quivered and a few tears fell from his eyes.

'I...saved someone.'

Hero… They called him a hero.

Izuku gripped his chest as years of rejecting surfaced all at once, hitting him with such an overwhelming surge of emotions that he could only sob.

Two Months Later

Something had recently changed for a small market district in Musutafu, Japan in the past month.

Suddenly, a vigilante started to appear at night, resolving all sorts of small crimes. Unlike before where they could only rely on the police or were lucky enough to have a hero somewhere nearby, this vigilante was almost always patrolling the streets, unseen.

Heroes were usually more preoccupied with villains or harsher crime, so they didn't waste too much time on crimes on a smaller scale unless they were physically there when they happened.

That's how Izuku came to the conclusion that helping out in such a small scale would not only help him get valuable experience, but also help out the community.

After being able to save a kid from a burning building, Izuku decided that he couldn't just stand aside and let bad things happen. He would sometimes accompany his mom grocery shopping and would often overhear how someone's shop was burglarized or occasionally how someone had been robbed.

Izuku didn't start out seeking to fight crime, but when he witnessed it happening one day when he was walking home after his workout, he decided to step in.

in any case, the sun was still out, and he was on his way to meet Mei to test out another of her gadgets.

After seeing what the gauntlet could do and getting it removed, thankfully, Izuku had asked her if she could make another one that worked in the same way, and explained what he had used it for. Mei had beamed the brightest smile he had seen yet, and told him what a great idea it was.

Now, instead of a giant gauntlet, she had invented a pair of much slimmer gauntlets with claws to dig in to surfaces much easier. Surprisingly, they worked perfectly without a single drawback, she had been so pleased that she even let him keep them.

He kept them on a backpack he always carried now. Also inside were a black long-sleeve shirt, black slacks, and a dark green bandanna that he used to cover the top half of his face. Other than holes he had cut out for the eyes shifting around all the time, it helped keep his identity hidden, which was a plus.

Approaching the old warehouse, he was not surprise to hear an explosion. He instead sighed and jogged into the building, finding Mei laughing on the ground as a suit of armor smoked.

"Did you try to add electric currents to it again?"

Mei grinned, "One day I'll have that working." She got up and dusted her pants, "I've been waiting for you! The thing you asked for is ready."

Izuku smiled as his eyes sparkled with excitement, "Really?"

She nodded and pointed at a table.

"It was a very interesting request, but pretty good practice for when I make a full suit," she said with her hands on her hips, a sign of pride.

They moved to the table where two long gloves with the tops cut off sat.

"Incorporating the exoskeleton of my prototype suits was harder than I thought, but this baby came out perfect! They can even absorb the force of a car crash," she explained before rubbing her chin in thought, "What do you want these for anyway?"

"I'm too slow," Izuku explained as he marveled at the long gloves. "Some criminals have Quirks that increase their speed and they always get away, so I thought of a new way of using the gauntlets, but since I don't have a Quirk, the force would probably rip my arms off."

Mei's eyes widened as a bright smile spread across her face, "You want to use the gauntlets to swing faster!"

He nodded, "That way I can leave the scenes faster too."

"This has a lot of potential! Yes, yes, I approve," she gave him a thumbs up.

Wearing a green hoodie, a black t-shit, black pants, along with the gauntlets and new gloves; Midoriya stood at the edge of a five story building. He swore the ground below was moving as a spell of dizziness befell him when the wind seemed to push against him.

Was he really about to try this?

His firsts tests with trees had been successful and he was very familiar with the gauntlets, but this was something completely different. He didn't have a Quirk, he could actually get badly hurt if something went wrong.

'I'm sorry Izuku. I'm so sorry!'

'You're a Quirkless loser!'

'You have to face reality, someone like you cannot become a hero.'

He took a step back, his doubts resurfacing once again.

Doing what he was about to was something only people with Quirks could do, but he didn't have one. He was way in over his head. He was no-

'Thank you. Thank you so much!'

'That's a hero for you!'

Without hesitation, Izuku kicked off the ledge and jumped towards the ground below.

The feeling was immediate. The weightlessness, the wind rushing against his body as the lights in the streets turned to streaks of unfocused light. His mind and body screamed danger at him, but he managed to aim his right hand at the building across the street and let the gauntlet fly.

Almost in slow motion, he watched as the chain shot through the air and gripped the side of the building.

Then, as the street grew closer and closer, his body was jerked upwards, as he was swung forward at a great speed.

He released the gauntlet and was left hovering in the air for a brief moment before he used the one on his left and aimed at another building.

From the momentum, his speed was easily doubled as he swung through the air at a great speed.

As he approached a tall building right in front of him, he easily shot at another direction, and was instantly pulled the other way seamlessly.

"WOOOOOOOO!" Izuku screamed in pure joy as he sped through the city at a speed he never thought possible.

The smile never leaving his face, he pulled himself up to a ten story building and landed on the roof without problem.

"This is amazing," he muttered to himself, marveling at the devices on his arms.

One Month Later

Eggs, rice, and milk.

Eggs, rice, and milk.

Izuku went over and over in his head over the things his mom had asked him to get from a store, sicne he forgot about it last time. He did get distracted often, but it was not an acceptable excuse.

"You said there would be no heroes!" A man wearing a ski mask exclaims to another two men wearing ski masks.

This time he hadn't planned on finding crime tonight, but here it was, on his way to a convenience store he had run into three robbers that had broken into a jewelry store.

Izuku crossed his arms with a frown, he had changed as quickly as he could after spotting them running off. His clothes had seen some revisions over the past few weeks.

Now he wore a dark green hoodie over, a bandanna still, but with goggles to help him see better at night, a light metal plate on his chest, loose black pants, and long black boots that were actually like his long gloves, in that they were able to absorb a lot of force.

"Look at him, he's not a hero," another masked man said with a growl. "He's the vigilante from the news. The one that keeps on bothering everyone."

"Damn you," the last burglar snarled.

Izuku pointed at himself and cocked his head to the side, "Wait a minute, you guys don't get to act offended here. You're stealing."

"Shut up!"

One of the three burglars ran at him, but the boy ducked under a wide swing, and used the man's momentum to easily flip him over his head.

The experience he had gotten in the last few months had really helped develop his fighting style. Fighting mostly low level criminals had really helped him grow and get over his initial apprehension of them. He had even begun to respond to their angry outbursts.

One of the other men took out a knife, and held it up in front of him, his intentions clear.

At first he had been afraid of knives, but after getting used to them, and seeing them more and more often, he had prepared.

Reaching for his back, he took the metal baton stuck to the back by a magnet from the metal plate. The baton was made of a durable but light material, though at first Mei had wanted to have it double as a helicopter but he managed to talk her down to just making it easy to use.

With the baton's superior reach, Izuku easily disarmed the man, and struck him on the head, knocking him out. Seeing this, the last two burglars raised their hands in a who of surrender.

"See, we didn't have to fight at all," Izuku smiled.

Using a thin but strong string, Mei had made for another invention, Izuku tied the burglars together, gathered the stuff they stole in backpacks, and walked back to the jewelry store.

The police was already there and, since he was bad at dealing with them since what he was doing wasn't legal, he pulled himself up to the roof of the store, and stood at the edge, earning the attention of a couple of officers.

"Bad guys are tied up over there," he said, pointing at the alleyway he came from, before throwing them the backpacks. "Here's what they stole."

"Wait right there!"

Izuku ignored the command, and instead swung away further into the city, before he swung to the roof of a building and snapped his fingers.

"That's right, I can't forget the milk and eggs!"

Izuku sat cross legged on the floor of the warehouse where Mei tested out her inventions, while she welded a part into a pair of boots she was making.

"So what did you call me here for?" Izuku wondered out loud. Not disliking her company, but finding it odd to have her call him and not shove an invention into his face as soon as he stepped into the warehouse.

She stopped her welding, and took of her mask to show a grimace on her face.

"We're not going to be able to meet as much anymore."

Izuku cocked his head to the side, "Well, I kind of expected it, you're aiming for U.A. right?"

She nodded, "I'm grateful for your help with my babies, but once I start at U.A. they'll be able to track any new invention I make back to you..."

Now he understood why she had called him. Mei was always direct and to the point, so for her to be so cautious in telling him that she could not be linked to a vigilante, it hurt but it made him glad at the same time. Had this happened months ago, she would have told him to leave without skipping a beat.

"Don't worry about it, I get it," he nodded with a gentle smile, "You don't have to risk your future for my sake. Besides, I'm not going to be a vigilante forever."

She smiled back, before going back to welding, "Well, you can keep on testing out my babies until I'm enrolled in U.A."

What followed the meeting with Mei, was a pretty normal day for crime fighting.

Nothing too bad, just a few burglars here and there, and helping an old lady find her way to her son's house.

Now he sat at the edge of a nine story building while munching on a bean bun he had bought. Tonight was pretty quiet so he might as well go home early for once. His mom worried about him staying out late sometimes, but he managed to assure her that he was just hanging out with new friends he met.

"Well," he muttered to himself once he finished his snack. "Might as well go home."

He jumped off the building and began to swing his way home peacefully, quite accustomed to swinging now.

A strange noise caught his attention though, like the sound of a loud engine going off-

Something hit Izuku's side so hard that it knocked the wind out of him. He looked to his side in bewilderment and his blood ran cold when he noticed an armored hero flipping through the air, hitting the side of a building, and shooting at him as the roar of an engine went off.

Izuku's eyes widened but he managed to swing to his right just enough to avoid another tackle. He let himself be pulled towards the wall of a building and studied the situation carefully.

The armor. The sound of an engine. It was obviously Ingenium, the turbo hero.

Ingenium landed on a telephone pole with the engines on his elbows still roaring.

"You must the vigilante everyone is talking about. I didn't expect to run into you today."

Izuku frowned, "I didn't expect to run into a hero either… Are you going to arrest me?"

Ingenium crossed his arms, "I-"

An explosion suddenly rocked the area, making both turn towards the source.

A large muscular man wearing a white mask, and a black spandex sleeveless suit, emerged from a bank, holding a large bag filled to the brim with cash, as injured civilians cowered on the floor.

Ingenium looked at the villain before glancing back at the vigilante, only to see him shoot towards the scene at a fast speed.

Izuku narrowed his eyes on the man, as he flipped in the air, and delivered a kick powered by the momentum of his speed. The muscular man let out a surprised yelp, before being thrown against a wall, though not falling over.

"Those of you who can walk, take those who can't out of here, I'll hold him off," Izuku said without turning around, keeping his eyes on the masked man who was already walking towards him.

"Didn't notice you earlier pipsqueak," the villain said in a gruff voice.

The villain lowered into a hunch before charging in at him at an incredible speed. Were it not for the reflexes he had developed after painfully crashing against trees and buildings during his training, he would not have been able to pull himself upwards just in time to avoid a head on collision.

As the villain came to a stop, Ingenium appeared in front of him and delivered a punch to his face, causing the muscular man to take a couple of steps back.

Ingenium landed next to Izuku, looking at him briefly, before turning towards the villain in a ready stance. Izuku grinned and took on a defensive stance as well.

"So it's a couple of pipsqueaks, huh? Doesn't matter, I'm going to pave the pavement with your brains!"

"Hey, we just want you arrested, not at all equivalent with that."

"Shut up!" The villain roared before he punched at the ground, causing it to shake and split.

Izuku and Ingenium jumped away, with the vigilante clinging to the side of the wall with a grin that betrayed the fear inside. This wasn't your everyday burglar, this was an actual villain, a villain with a Quirk no less; one that could probably turn his bones into dust.

Still, at least he had a Hero on his side. Though the rational part of his brain told him that neither he nor Ingenium had anything strong enough to defeat the villain. They had to put their heads together and figure something out, or at least stall until a more suited hero showed up.

"Hey Ingenium, any ideas?"

The hero shook his head, "Just keep him occupied so he doesn't attack civilians."

He had been thinking the same, but there had to be a way to take him out, right?

'Come on think. He has a strength Quirk, and is nearly unaffected by our attacks…'

Izuku was broken out of his thoughts when the villain ripped a car door off its hinges and threw it at him. The boy dodged by dropping down to the street, but the man appeared to be expecting this as he charged in at him again.

With not enough time to swing away, Izuku planted his feet firmly on the ground, and met the man's charge with his hands, nearly tearing off the gloves Mei had made to withstand crazy force. The villain let out a surprised grunt, before a foot collided with his face, and knocked him back a couple of steps.

Izuku pulled himself against the side of a building again with a relieved sigh. "Thanks for that," he said to the hero.

Ingenium nodded and took a ready stance once more, easily dodging in and out of the giant man's swings. Izuku helplessly watched, not knowing what to do except stay out of the way. He murmured under his breath quickly, organizing his thoughts and ideas, until something came to him.

"Ingenium! Try to keep him still!"

The hero glanced back at him in confusion, as the vigilante began to scale one of the tall buildings on the street.

Ingenium knew better than to trust a random vigilante, but this was a special case. He had studied this particular one. Stopped dozens of small scale crimes, and constantly helped people even with the most mundane tasks.

The hero ran circles around the villain, keeping him as still as possible by attacking when there were openings, and not giving up any ground by moving around the villain too fast.

Growing angry over being held back for so long, the villain roared and once again punched at the ground, causing Ingenium to jump away to avoid getting caught up in the attack as debris exploded everywhere.

Ingenium panted, about to move once again, when he noticed the vigilante falling towards the villain at an incredible speed.

"Take this!" Izuku screamed as he thrust his baton downwards, hitting the villain square in the head.

The impact was so strong that the baton bent in half, and the top of his hoodie and bandanna were blown off, revealing his bushy hair.

An audible scream escaped the villain's mouth from the impact, actually affected by the attack.

'Thank you Mei!' The boy smirked as he switched on a new function to his gauntlets, creating a powerful torrent of electricity that struck the villain until he finally fell over unconscious.

Izuku smiled weakly as he landed on the ground, his baton bent almost to the point of breaking. "We did it," he smiled, turning to Ingenium, who shared his smile.

"Looks like my hunch was right after all," Ingenium said. "I knew someone who helped people carry their groceries couldn't be too bad."

"Hey, don't underestimate how much weight grocery bags can carry."

Ingenium chuckled as sirens began to approach. Izuku looked at him with an unreadable expression, and the hero turned away, "Oh no, looks like I only brought one pair of handcuffs. Darn, looks like you're free to go."

The surprise must have shown on his face, because Ingenium began to laugh.

"Don't worry about it kid. You helped me out today. It's normal I return the favor. Now go, before we're seen."

Izuku bowed before swinging away before the police showed up.

One Week Later

Izuku sat at the edge of a building, drumming his fingers absentmindedly. Today was the U.A. entrance exam and he was wondering how Mei was doing. It would be great if she made it in.

For his part, he decided not to try for a hero course just yet. Fighting a villain with a Quirk had made it very obvious that it was way too soon for him to think he could stand up against them. The only reason he had won was because a hero had been there, and all because of the support items Mei had made.

Anyone else could have done the same thing he had.

No, for now, he would continue training and helping out those he could.

Mei had very graciously left behind the tools she'd used in the warehouse, leaving a note behind explaining that they were outdated and she would be getting better ones at U.A.

While he was no Mei, he had learned a bit from her, though just enough to maintain the stuff that he had.

The sound of an alarm going off broke him out of his thoughts. He jumped off the ledge, it looked like there was still stuff to do.

All Might tried not to show the recognition and utter amazement at what he was seeing.

During a discussion on students using their Quirks in public, the subject of a vigilante came up, along with a video from a security camera, showing Ingenium fighting a villain with the help of a vigilante.

All Might had been watching curiously, thinking that the vigilante's Quirk of stretching his hands out was strange, until the vigilante's bushy dark green hair was revealed.

He recognized it instantly. Of course he remembered the boy from back then, he had reminded him so much of himself when he was younger that it had left an impact on him. That Quirkless scrawny boy had actually fought alongside a hero and taken down a villain.

The video ended and the teachers were dismissed.

All Might immediately left the school's grounds.

He had found a successor.