Chapter Text
Metropolis, the famed "City of Tomorrow", the Big Apricot, the Monarch City, New Troy......How many names does this city have? Well most notably, Metropolis is known to be the home of Superman, Superman's City if you will. Who is Superman? If you don't he's one of many superpowered heroes who populate the Earth. But this story isn't about him, far from it.
No, this story is about this young green haired Japanese male, who looks like he really needs some sleep. This young man is getting ready to leave his apartment, thankfully being within a reasonable walking distance for him.
"Izuku, are you sure you're ready?" Asks the boy's mother, Inko Midoriya. A woman with similar green hair and is a bit short and chubby but is honestly really adorable. Don't judge me.
"Don't worry about me, mom." The boy says plainly, not trying to disrespect his loving mother who has been the only source of stability in his life since his father abandoned him.
The less mentioned about that man the better.
"It's your third school since we moved. Gotham, then the one that shut down."
"I was defending myself." Izuku explained as he grabbed his bag and a metal baseball bat, giving his mother a hug before he left out the door.
"Big brother?" Came a tiny voice, from none other than Eri Midoriya. A sweet snowball child with snow white hair, red eyes, and a cute little horn that made her look like a unicorn.
"Please don't get in trouble."
"I won't, Snowball." Izuku gave a soft smile as he hugged his adopted little sister. The child nuzzled into the embrace, seemingly not wanting to let go. "I love you, be safe." He placed a kiss on her horn and moved to leave.
"Izuku..." His mother called out, pausing him just before he left out the door. "Promise me you'll make some friends." Inko pleaded with sadness in her eyes.
Friends. The word left a sour taste in his mouth. He remembered "friends" who vanished, leaving him behind without so much as a word of where they went. The last time he had a "friend" he got put into a hospital with second degree burns. The scars never did stop hurting when he looked at them.
Izuku wanted nothing more than to leave right there, but he looked into the eyes of his mother and sister. Both holding sadness at the idea that Izuku might end up being alone again. He swallowed his breath and spoke in the most heartfelt way he could muster right now.
"I'll try," he said, even though the word scraped its way out. And with that he made his way out the door.
~Later~
Metropolis High, the second high school he's been to while living in Metropolis, third living in the US. Izuku looked at the hustling of the students eager to start off the new school year. Needless to say Izuku wanted to turn around and go back home, but he knew if he didn't give this school a try then he'd break his mother and sister's hearts.
He trudged his way forward and tried to mentally prepare for the day. The worst thing for him right now is that people make him mad and he needs to blow off steam at the batting cages. Again. For the fifth time in the last two months. He wasn't proud of it. But cheaper than therapy, right?
"I'm just saying, I don't know why I'm being punished for something I didn't do."
Izuku turned and saw a tall girl with short blonde hair wearing a navy blue motorcycle jacket with a blue t-shirt under it, red ripped jeans with a Superman belt buckle, and a pair of darker red biker boots.
"And we're hearing you say you "didn't do it", Kara. Let's reframe our thinking." The woman sitting in the passenger side, and her husband in the driver's seat, were speaking to the blond.
He turned to leave but then he heard the sound of crunching metal. His eyes widened and instincts kicked in as he grabbed his bat. Izuku quickly returned his gaze and saw the blond walking away from the car, which now had a bent door and cracked window.
"Have a great first day!" The woman said to Kara as she walked away.
"Or don't! Whatever feels right for you!" The husband called out in turn.
Next thing he knew a school bus pulled up near him, the doors opened and students started flowing out. As he was about to follow, someone bumped into him and fell beside him. Turning his attention to a short black girl with her brown hair pulled up into two big buns. She had on a long, puffy sweater that was black and yellow and covered nearly her whole body. Underneath the sweater, she wore a skirt over leggings and a pair of big brown boots.
The girl seemed frantic as she attempted to clean up the spilled contents of her bag, Izuku silently began helping her. Handing her a bunch of what he could only assume to be some sort of science project with how the different mechanical pieces seemed to look.
"Thanks." She muttered. "I'm Karen, bye." She said quickly out before running away. He sighed, grateful he didn't have to talk to anybody.
Just as he was about to get into the building he was distracted by the sight of a limo parking nearby. The door opened and out walked a gorgeous young woman with purple hair waved goodbye. She had on a white shirt under a black waistcoat, a burgundy skirt, long knee socks, and black short heels.
"Bye Daddy!" The girl said as she started skipping away.
"Zee, you forgot your backpack!" A man standing out of the sunroof of the limo called out, holding said backpack in his hands.
"Thanks, Daddy! Toodles!" The moment Izuku turned his attention back to the girl she had her backpack in her hand.
'I guess here in the States people are allowed to use their quirks however and whenever they like' He thought to himself, letting out a small growl as he rubbed the side of his abdomen. Japan had taught him what people did when no one stopped them.
"That was weird, huh?" A new girl's voice said to him. She was shorter than him by a couple of inches, athletic, and a redheaded girl wearing a purple hoodie with bat ears, black shorts, yellow, white, and purple striped knee socks, and yellow sneakers.
The girl's eyes seemed to widen in recognition when their locked eyes, just as she was about to say something, Izuku race walked to the doors. Not wanting to socialize right now. All he wanted to do was get through today and plan how he was gonna avoid people as much as possible.
After grabbing his schedule, Izuku went searching for his locker. Weaving through the crowd of students while his hand clutched the handle of his bat. He took a deep breath as he finally found the area where his locker should be.
"I told you, Hal. I don't believe in the Lantern Corps. Their methods are too extreme." Izuku saw a Hispanic girl arguing with a young man about a green ring. That matched the one Hal was wearing.
This girl had gorgeous mocha skin and long, flowing brown hair that reached past her waist. She wore a green beanie, hoop earrings, and a dark green shirt paired with a long skirt. Her body was mostly slender, but she had curves around her hips that were impossible to miss.
"I don't make the rules, Jess." The young man Izuku guessed was "Hal" said to the girl. "The ring chose you, there's nothing you can do about it now." He said, making Jess groan in annoyance.
Unfortunately for Izuku, his locker was located right between the two. So either he goes between them to drop off his stuff or he stands there waiting for them to leave and they address him as a creep. Not the worst thing he's been called in his life but he decided he needed to bite the bullet.
"Excuse me." He squeezed between them, praying they wouldn't talk to him.
"Get lost dude we were talking." Hal groaned in annoyance, Izuku glared at him for a second but finished putting his stuff away.
"And I need to get to my locker, jackass." Izuku growled back, clearly not in the mood. "Word of advice? Whatever this 'corps' thing is, maybe don't broadcast it in a hallway full of strangers." Izuku slammed his locker shut and walked away, nearly missing Jess smacking Hal upside the head.
'First day and I already regret coming here.' He took a few breaths, remembering the promise he made to his mother. 'Third time's a charm, right? Let's hope today goes well.'
He definitely jinxed himself there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours passed, a couple of classes went by, and now it was time for lunch. He found a secluded table in the cafeteria and he cracked open his bento. Opening it the first thing he saw was the sauce writing "Good Luck" along with a small drawing that looked like a rabbit. Izuku smiled lightly knowing that Eri had helped their mom make their lunches.
Just as he was about to dig in he started hearing people yelling.
"Leave her alone you big bully!" Jess yelled out, holding a tray and defending the short girl that Izuku bumped into earlier.
"My hair..." Said the girl, "Zee" if he heard correctly, as she stood up with her hair stained with ketchup and mustard. "My! HAIR!"
"FOOD FIGHT!" He saw that girl with the purple hoodie yell out. And all the students in the cafeteria except Izuku joined in.
'I realized god hated me years ago but at this point he might as well strike me with lightning at this point.' Izuku narrowly dodged food trying to get out of the cafeteria and save his bento.
At least that was the plan before he got tackled and thrown into the center of the shitstorm. Of course he landed in the middle of the only five lunatics he'd met this morning. Luckily he was still able to save his lunch. Unfortunately, during his struggle the principal happened to be passing by and saw the food fight.
"Enough!" The principal yelled, getting very few reactions to it. "I said ENOUGH!" That finally got the students to stop, except for the muscular blond, Kara, who decided to smack a piece of pie in Izuku's face.
"They started it!" Everyone points at the group in the center. If Izuku wasn't gonna commit murder before the mess he certainly was now.
"You six! Detention! Now!" The principal yelled, pointing to the door behind them.
Izuku followed behind, used to not having his side of the story taken so he figured he'd just sit quietly and leave when he could. Izuku still clutched his bento box as he was the last one to enter the room for detention, hopefully he'd finally be able to eat.
"No food in detention." The principal said, reaching to grab the box before Izuku grabbed their wrist and shot a glare at them.
"Touch my lunch and you lose the hand." Izuku growled angrily before tossing the principal's hand aside. Taking a seat at the far corner of the room, he tore open his bento and started eating. Not caring for the looks the girls were giving him.
The principal, holding their wrist, quickly exited the room and closed the door behind them. Izuku finally got to enjoy some quiet as he ate his lunch in peace, despite the girls staring at him.
"If you have something to say to me then say it." Izuku scowled as he finished his lunch.
"I hope you all have good lawyers, this is real high quality silk!" Zee said as she attempted to fix her makeup.
"What? You're gonna sue me for having better aim than you?" Kara replied sarcastically, giving the purple haired girl a dirty look.
"I knew you threw those potatoes!"
"Stop! Fighting never solved anything!" Jess came between the two trying to calm things down.
'Spoken like someone who hasn't seen the world outside their own bubble.' Izuku rolled his eyes at the Hispanic girl's comment.
"You threw more nuggets than anybody!"
"I only retaliated to defend Karen from a bully like you!"
"U-um....If I offended anyone....I just wanna say I'm sorry..." Karen squeaked out, trying not to be noticed.
"You're fine. You didn't offend anyone. Karen, right?" Izuku questioned, getting a nod from the smaller girl. "Frankly, out of everyone here you seem the most tolerable."
"Don't even get me started with you!" Kara stared pointedly at Izuku, who deadpanned at the blonde. "You nearly broke the principal's hand! Over what? Your lunch?"
"I've been stabbed for breathing too loud. This was mild." Izuku said plainly, getting some shocked looks from them.
"Y-you're kidding, right?" Jess stuttered out, to which Izuku simply lifted his shirt and showed off his scar.
"Go on. Ask me again." He glared, causing the green clad girl to shrink. Awkward silence closing in despite the redhead's apparent enthusiasm at the situation.
Cutting through the tension, the principal walked in followed by a truant officer leading an individual wearing a cloak. Causing all eyes to go towards the recent arrival. Someone stepped inside, tall and silent under a heavy cloak. Izuku felt the air shift. Trouble. Heavy trouble.
"We found her wandering around town." The officer said, somehow coming to the conclusion that this person was skipping class instead of simply just being new in town or lost and also goes to this very school when there are others because Metropolis refuses to make sense on any given Tuesday.
"Get in there with the rest of the delinquents while I try and figure out where your homeroom is." The principal ordered, the cloaked girl following said orders and pulling off her cloak and taking a seat.
Showing off a woman of surpassing beauty. She had long ebony hair and beautiful sun-kissed skin. She had muscles on her muscles and a figure that any other girl would kill to have. It was like she was an ancient statue carved from fine marble. She wore some slightly revealing armor with a blue skirt with stars, a red chest plate with a golden 'W' on her chest, just below her generous cleavage, golden shoulder pads, and silver bracelets. She had red armored boots and a golden tiara on her head and star earrings.
The girls were amazed by the sight while Izuku was somewhat curious but looked away not wanting to be a part of the drama.
"That's...she's..." Karen began but was left breathless by the woman's appearance.
"Gorgeous." Zee finished for her equally amazed.
"Is that...?" Jess questioned, possibly having an idea of who this newcomer is.
"The Wonder Woman." The red haired girl in the back gasped with stars in her eyes.
"HA! That's no wonder woman!" Kara laughed heartily, catching all their attention. "That's just some cosplay girl."
"I am no girl!" Wonder Woman announced with a dutiful tone. "I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons.I alone survived the 21 tests of the tournament of Athena and Aphrodite. By right, I am not a girl, but a woman." She declared with pride.
"Ha, trust me princess. You do not want to start a fight with me," said Kara, showing that she's no push over.
Izuku stared at the interaction between the two girls with mild irritation. He could tell something was about to go wrong any moment now. He just wished he had his bat with him, though out of the corner of his eye he saw a wooden baseball bat. And so the plot thickens a bit more.
"Is this a challenge?" asked Diana as Kara got up from her seat and walked up to her, her face and stature showing her confidence.
"Sure. Bring it on, princess," She said, putting a mocking emphasis on "princess".
"Very well, you may have the first strike," said Diana, standing proud like a true warrior.
Confused by this for a moment, Kara decided to take her offer before taking a bit of a boxing stance before throwing a punch, which Diana easily dodged with a sidestep. Kara was a bit surprised at this as she looked at Diana, who was now to her left.
"Again," Diana said, retaking her position.
Kara tried to punch Diana once more, but Diana merely blocked it with her forearm. She then kicked Kara in the stomach, sending her back only a few inches. Diana looked slightly surprised by this. Kara blew her hair out of her face and got ready to fight once more. She then began to throw a series of sloppy punches that Diana was easily able to block or dodge. Diana leapt from the floor and launched herself from the wall behind her to land behind Kara. Kara then began to punch rapidly over and over, but the princess of the Amazons stepped side-to-side to avoid them.
"Why won't you stay still?!" Kara yelled, flinging her fist with all her strength. Diana raised her arms to block but the force sent her right through a wall.
Everyone gasps seeing this, thinking that they just saw someone getting killed. Izuku grabbed hold of the bat, ready to move in and strike. Kara goes over to the hole she made to hopefully see Diana being alright.
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!" Kara asked frantically, and Diana answered by leaping from the hole and tackling Kara to the ground. Her previous concern washed away as she once again fought the Amazon princess.
Diana grabs hold of a bookshelf and throws it at Kara who punches it, shattering it on impact. The two rush at one another, ready to fight. Izuku dashed forward with the wooden bat, getting in between the now surprised girls as he swung the bat. Not hitting them directly but redirecting their fists. The momentum thrusting the girls to the ground. Kara looks very much annoyed while Diana looks astonished, all the while Izuku sees that the bat is now broken.
"Can you two stop trying to recreate Ragnarok in a classroom?" Izuku snapped with a scowl, clearly not wanting anything to do with this.
"He's right!" Jess calls out, her ring glowing a bright green as some sort of construct moves the three away from one another. "Fighting is never the answer!"
"Yeah!" Karen yelled out getting their attention as she was now dressed in a homemade suit that was literally held together with duct tape. "The answer is running away!" She shrunk down and tried flying out a window. Which was closed and she flew right into the glass, almost knocking her out.
"The teacher's coming." Zee called out, fixing her make up. Somehow completely unbothered by all the chaos that was happening in front of her.
The girls quickly tried to clean everything up while Izuku simply moved back to his seat. Meanwhile, Jess used her ring to make a bunch of bags to carry whatever scraps and books she could. Kara for her part tried to do her best but ended up making an even bigger mess. Karen sat silently panicking and the still unnamed red head was still happily vibrating. Leaving Zee, who was filing her nails at her desk, to take out a magician's wand.
"Tup siht os ssalc egnarts niaga!" Zee chanted and the room was enveloped in a bright glow.
The principal walked back into the classroom at that very moment. Not seeing any sort of evidence of a scuffle, just the group of students he sent there all sitting at their desks. All of them except Izuku and Zee were smiling awkwardly as the principal scanned the room.
"Everything alright in here?"
"Never better." Zee said, as she didn't even look at the principal as she was still focused on her personal care.
"Alright, good." The principal said plainly as they reached for a hook by the door. "I forgot my keys, all of you behave." And with that they were gone again and the girls all visibly relaxed.
At that moment, the redhead jumped up from her desk in excitement.
"I KNEW IT!" She squealed, "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I knew you guys were super! I knew there was something going on when I saw you dent that car door because no ordinary person could possibly slam a door that hard!" She exclaimed, pointing at Kara and, "I knew because nobody's that strong. Then I saw all that weird tech in your bag," She said, pointing to Karen, "And when I saw you suddenly have your bag, I thought 'Wow, that was weird'," she continued, pointing to the violet-haired girl, "and when I saw you talking with that hot guy about some ring thingy or whatever, I knew there was something up!" She said, pointing to the Hispanic girl. "And you!" She said pointing at Izuku, "I had no idea you'd be transferring to the same school as me after all the gangsters you sent to the hospital back in Gotham but I'm glad to see you here!"
"That's why I started that food fight in the cafeteria! So we could all meet up together in one place! You," She continued, getting in Wonder Woman's face, "I wasn't counting on you, but you just made this a heck of a lot better! Now we can form a hero team and fight crime together because you're all super like me, Barbara Gordon, the incredible Batgirl!" She finished, jumping onto the teacher's desk and pretending her hoodie was a cape.
After everyone heard Batgirl's crazy explanation, Izuku decided to speak his mind.
"That is the dumbest shit I have heard all day."
"Now hold on!" Kara yelled out before slamming her hands onto the desk in front of Izuku. "How the hell did you send me flying with a wooden bat?"
"Steady yourself, sister." Diana cut in, her voice calming as she looked at Izuku with an amazed smile. "This man is clearly a true warrior in the world of man. To control the fist of an Amazon is a feat to be respected. Please, allow me to know your name."
Izuku paused, looking up at the Amazonian young woman with an unreadable expression. Unsure how to go about this situation. He couldn't feel any animosity in her tone, just pure respect and intrigue. His instincts weren't able to gauge what was going on.
"Izuku Midoriya." He sighed, he wasn't even sure why he even answered her.
"Noble Izuku, I seek your advice." She bowed, knee to the ground and looking up at him in some sort of reverence he could not explain. "My mission is to save the world of man and protect it from evil. How should I go about my quest?"
Okay, now Izuku really had no clue what to do. One part of him wants to laugh, to tell her to give up and go home. Say that mankind isn't worth the effort and that she should forget ever leaving her island. But as he looked in her eyes, he saw something. Something that he once held and thought died long ago.
"Just....Don't lose hope." Izuku finally squeezed out softly, his eyes shifting uncomfortably. Unable to look her in the eyes.
"A SUPERHERO TEAM! We could form a superhero team!" Barbara suddenly exclaimed with stars in her eyes.
"Haza! At last, a sister in arms! I never dreamed of meeting another who had the spirit of an Amazon in the World of Man," said Diana wrapping her left arm around Barbara, who was over the moon about the situation. "For you see, it is my quest, my destiny to bring about the way of life of the Amazons to this world. The gods have bestowed this honor upon me. I feared that I would have to shoulder this burden alone. But now I rejoice in knowing that I have a sister and a mighty champion by my side." Hugging both Barbara and Izuku in a bone-crushing hug.
"Let go of me." He wheezed lightly, luckily Diana did as requested so he could breathe.
"No, no, no. You have five sisters and a brother," said Barbara, breaking off the hug and then pointing to the girls.
However, the reaction from the rest of the room's inhabitants was not what Barbara or Diana expected.
"No way. Every time I use my powers, I end up in trouble," said Kara with a deadpan tone.
"I hate to say no, but I don't believe in violence," said the Hispanic girl with sadness in her voice.
"Crime fighting? I'm an artiste, not a police officer," said the violet-haired girl, clearly not interested.
"I'm, um, not really sure that I'm very good. Sorry," said the short girl, fidgeting with a marker shyly.
Diana slammed her palms on the desk, causing the short girl to jump in fear.
"Cowards!" snapped Diana, getting everyone's attention. "You all have gifts that have been bestowed upon you by fate itself. Therefore you have a responsibility to use those gifts to aid the world."
"Yeah guys, what's better than crime fighting, world saving, tights and secret identities?" asked Barbara hoping to get a rise out of the girls.
"A second lesson I suppose," Izuku began with a glare, getting their attention as he unconsciously rubbed his side. "Most people don't do good unless it pays them. You'll learn quickly that most people here are only in it for themselves."
"Trust me, I love a moody, angsty, cutie with green hair as much as the next girl," Zee began, having already packed her things into her bag. "To fit as a hero, you gotta pass as a normal human being." She explained, gesturing to Diana wearing her armor.
This in turn made Barbara have an idea. One so crazy and far off that it might just work.
"Tell you guys what: You give the superhero thing a try and in exchange you can give Diana a makeover. Sound good?" asked Barbara to the girls.
The girls began thinking about it. Izuku was about to use this to his advantage and leave but as his luck would have it the girls decided pretty quickly.
"Alright, I can't say no to a good makeover," Zee stated, walking up to the group.
"I guess, I can give it a try. It could be fun," Karen muttered nervously rubbing her arm.
"While I do not condone fighting or violence, I will join this team for Karen's sake," Jessica said, stepping up to the group and placing a reassuring hand on Karen's shoulder.
All that was left of the girls was Kara and she didn't look like she was all that convinced. The group all stared at her for a few moments as she sat with her arms crossed.
"Sure, whatever gets me out of here early," said Kara as she looked away even though she was eating up the expression.
"And that leaves mister moody, over there." Babs said, glancing over to Izuku who was almost out the door.
"No." He spoke plainly as he tried leaving the room, only for a strong hand to grab him by his shirt.
"Oh, no. If I gotta do this crap, so do you." Kara started to drag him back to the group, which he actively fought against.
"Yeah, and what was it you said? That some people are only out for themselves." Zee said in a teasing manner, though the glare Izuku shot her sent a chill down her spine.
"There are only three people in the world I care about, none of whom are in this room." Izuku continued to fight against the blonde's unnatural strength.
The sound of fabric tearing caught them off guard as Izuku's shirt was ripped off his torso. Gasps were heard from the group as they looked upon him with worry and concern. Izuku's upper body was covered in scars. Stab wounds like the one he showed Jessica earlier. Bullets, slash marks. And most concerning, a massive burn scar on his side, covering a part of his back.
"Stop staring." He growled as he turned a hateful glare to the stunned blonde.
"Xif sih trihs!" Zee quickly chanted and Izuku's shirt reformed around his torso.
With that he left the classroom, leaving the girls in a stunned silence as he made his way out of the school. His mood now soured and a faint feeling of remorse started to burn inside him. He'd said he'd try. He hadn't said he'd succeed. And now he's just walked away from a group who may have been his first in a long time.
He shook off the feeling and continued on his way. It was too late now.
~To Be Continued~