A Heroes Gateway

Chapter 6: Future Heroes First Steps

Izuku's POV

"All Might?!" I blurted out in shock as my two friends turned to look and inspect the man before their eyes widened like mine as their mouths gaped open. What happened?! How did the once buffed and all-mighty All Might become like this skeletal man who looked like he could be blown away by a small torrent of win?!

"No way," Mei said, covering her mouth with her hands before she shakily pointed at the skeletal. "Are you All Might?!" She asked with disbelief in her voice as she looked like she couldn't believe it. I mean, who would blame her, honestly? The man capable of changing weather or even shaping mountains is now this skeletal figure who looks like he can barely lift a rock.

"Yes, it is I, All Might." All Might said with a disgruntled voice while looking down at the floor; he looked ashamed for us to see him like this. But the question is, how did he become like this?

The dark alleyway was quiet since not one of us dared to speak. The silence was deafening, and the atmosphere seemed so off, like it was filled with dread and sorrow. The disbelief the three of us had left us speechless while All Might continued to pity himself from the cold and sad expression on himself. The deafening silence was broken when Kacchan decided to speak.

"How did you become like this?" He said with his voice breaking in the end as he clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth. "You're All Might, the strongest above everyone else, so how did you become like this!" He shouted at his idol as his eyes showed a mix of rage, confusion, and disbelief.

"May I ask for your names first?" All Might asked as all three of us told our names to him as he nodded his head in confirmation. "Well, then, Young Midoriya, Young Bakugo, and Young Hatsume. What I will be showing you will be kept amongst yourselves."

All Might sighed as he took a few steps forward until he was right in front of us. We gasped when he suddenly pulled his shirt up to reveal a nasty scar covering his body's side. It looked horrible, an understatement since it looked so bad, making me beg to question to whom has done this to him?

"Five years ago, I got this scar from an enemy attack that destroyed one of my lungs and completely obliterated my stomach." All Might said as we all widened our eyes to the extent of his scar. I started shaking, feeling uneasy; seeing that scar made me realize that there are more strong villains out there, strong enough to have left the number one hero in this such state.

"After multiple surgeries, trying to salvage what was left made me haggard." All Might continued, "This has limited me to do hero work for only 3 hours a day."

"It can't be; five years ago was when you fought against Toxic Chainsaw. Was it him? Did he do that to you?" I questioned as All Might chuckled and dismissed my thoughts.

"You know your stuff well, but even if he was fairly powerful, he wasn't the one that was able to reduce me to this such a state." All Might answered.

Silence came about once again as all four of us didn't speak. The atmosphere was getting heavier and heavier with this sudden information that All Might had just told us. I looked to see the conflicted eyes that Kacchan had with his clenched fist and gritting teeth. Mei was slightly shaking and hugged herself in comfort as her eyes showed how nervous she was. To no one's surprise, I was the same.

"This is not known to the public, so I would greatly appreciate it if you all kept this to yourselves and did not talk about this in public or online. I had asked everyone that had known about my injury to keep it unannounced since that might result in the public to panic." All Might asked us as we nodded, thoroughly understanding the weight of such a secret. "I will continue to save people with a smile. The symbol of peace cannot be defeated by evil." All Might ended as he clenched his fists in the air.