My Hero Academia: From The Ground Up

Chapter 23: Too Early

All Might watched Izuku lift, push, and carry trash of every shape and size all day. Izuku groaned and gasped as he worked effortlessly.

Any mentioned affects of One For All haven't come up yet. No additional strength or speed. And thankfully no bones broken. However, this extended workout was really wearing him out.

When the sun began to set, he returned to the beach from his latest junkyard trip. From one day of work, he cleared a significant amount of the sand. Several meters across.

Now there he stood with his hero, in a form he still wasn't used to yet. He rested his hands on his knees and panted.

"Well done, young Midoriya." He gave a toothy smile.

"Thanks...." Izuku exhaled.

"How are you feeling?" All Might asked, resting his hand gently on the boy's shoulder.

"Tired..." He admitted.

"Hmm." The skinny hero stood in thought.

What have they gotten themselves into? Who knows what they're about to face.

"Oh shit." He hissed. "Midoriya I need you to get out of here. Turn and run and don't come back to this beach until I find you."

"Wait no! I can still fight! I can help you!" Izuku protested.

"What was I thinking?!" All Might asked himself out loud. "You're far from ready to use your powers! Especially for a fight!" He grabbed Izuku's arm and tugged him to the sidewalk.

"No! A-All Might-sensei, please!" He continued to protest and shift in the hero's grasp.

"Densist and Naga were dangerous enough. Surely, they'll have worse now."

"Which is why I need to be here." Izuku said.

"NO! If anything happens to you, One For All, the Symbol of Peace, the very future of heroes could be at stake!" He explained. "End of discussion."

"Hey Izuku! Hi All Might!"

Both pairs of eyes quickly turned to the girl quickly approaching them. It was Mariko, now standing innocently with a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come before. Family drama..."

"Wh-What happened to tomorrow morning?" Izuku asked.

"Izuku... Run." All Might whispered.

"I thought I'd come a little early... to prepare... for tomorrow morning..." She said. As she spoke, her speech grew slurred and slow.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble beneath them.

All Might shot up to his large, muscular hero form. Izuku stood beside him. All while Mariko began to giggle.

Naga burst from the sand behind them.

But All Might's reaction time allowed him to swing around and kick the snake villain back further on to the beach.

Out of the hole he dug. Densist ran out carrying something small in his arms.

Izuku quickly looked back at his friend. She seemed to stand idly as if in a trance, letting out light giggles here and there.

Densist dropped the load in his arms and quickly raised his arms, flexing his fingers and activating his Quirk. The objects on the ground resembled a miniature elderly man in a wheelchair and another very muscular man with abnormally large pecks for his size, albeit he was the size of a squirrel. And with them was a woman with bandages covering every inch of her skin. Even her hair resembled the bandages to a degree, woven together into dreadlocks.

But due to Densist's Quirk, all three grew from the ground up to their regular sizes.

The muscular man with large pecks smirked at All Might while the bandage lady eyed Izuku. Naga recovered from the kick and stood next to Densist, happy with the outcome they had.

"I'd say the odds are about even now." Densist chuckled.

The elderly man in his wheelchair looked up at All Might. "Remember me, Toshinori?"

"...Oh fuck." All Might cursed in his deep voice.

Before Izuku and All Might could do more than raise their arms defensively, they were assaulted from the front by the four villains as the disabled man watched.

All Might blocked Izuku's body with his own as he was barraged with punches and slashes from the muscle man and Naga.

"Mumi, seize the boy." The elderly man ordered.

All Might couldn't hold every villain back. "Midoriya! Run!"

But before he could, the bandage villainess circled the towering hero and tackled Izuku.

The bandages covering her body began to unravel on their own and wrap around his own limbs. Seeing this, Izuku noticed that underneath the bandages...were more bandages. As if her entire body was composed of just medical bandages. She snickered, as if she could read his mind upon this terrifying realization that she could cocoon him entirely with ease.

Soon all three male villains tag-teamed on All Might. They took turns as they circled him, swinging punches and slashes toward him while the other two distracted him.

Naga smirked as he could now wrap the hero in his coils, which is exactly what he did next.

As All Might groaned and struggled, Densist threw another enlarged tire on to his upper body and compressed it.

The muscle villain stretched his arms up high above the hero's head, also revealing his elasticity Quirk. The arms came down in fists and slammed into All Might's face.

Now Izuku and All Might were restrained. Unable to move in the slightest. Meanwhile the big elastic villain continued to beat down on the hero, further bruising his face.

For the first time in months, really in years, he felt like crying. He didn't feel it, it came regardless.

"L-Leave him alone! Mariko! Help!" He cried out.

"Aww. My boy. Mariko can't help you now. You're at my mercy." The elderly man spoke out.

As his voice hissed out, he seemed to drown out all other sounds.

Izuku turned his head toward the man. In fact, everything else appeared to freeze in time. Not even the man's mouth moved.

"Izuku Midoriya... The Ninth Holder of One For All..."

"Y-You know about that?..." He asked timidly. His own voice had an echo to it as if they stood in a cave.

"I can know everything you do... With just a look in your eyes..." He sighed.

Izuku felt at his mercy indeed. Not just because his hench-woman held his body completely wrapped up besides his head. Not because his hero and only chance out was getting the life beaten out of him. Not because his friend stood to the side as a puppet.

This man seemed to hold him in a mental cage.

All he could hear and perceive...was this man. And for a moment, he could hear multiple.

"Now now boy."

"ANY MINUTE NOW!"

"Listen to my words...very carefully."

"Very. Carefully..."

"SUCK A DICK!"

"Wait what?" The elderly man turned his head to see Katsuki Bakugou lunge toward him and unleash a gigantic explosion on the scene.