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Chapter 6 - A different path (MHA)

Izuku Midoriya sat alone in the dimly lit room, his fingers trembling as he gripped the worn notebook in front of him. The pages, filled with years of observations, calculations, and plans, were all that he had left. All that he had ever worked for. But now—now, the words of his idol, All Might, echoed in his head, crushing everything he had ever believed.

"You can't become a hero, Midoriya. Not without a Quirk."

The words had struck like a blade, severing everything he had worked for. All Might, the hero who had once inspired him to believe in the impossible, had just told him the harsh truth. His dream, his future, was nothing more than a fantasy. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't special enough. He was Quirkless.

But as the darkness of the room seemed to close in around him, something inside Midoriya snapped.

Why am I trying so hard to be a hero?

The thought lingered like an uncomfortable itch, scratching away at the core of everything he had believed in. Why? What had All Might done for him? Sure, he had given him advice, a smile, and a few words of encouragement—but in the end, it was nothing more than a cruel reminder of his inadequacies. He wasn't good enough.

Maybe I don't have to be a hero at all.

A strange calm washed over Midoriya, the anger twisting into something darker, something far more dangerous. Nobody had ever told him that he couldn't be a villain. Nobody had ever said he couldn't be something else entirely.

In that moment, he realized something.

All Might had built a pedestal for himself, but Midoriya wasn't going to try to climb it anymore. He would build his own path—one that didn't require a Quirk. One that didn't require validation from anyone.

If the world isn't ready for me to be a hero, then maybe I'll make them ready for a villain.

The days that followed were a blur. Midoriya locked himself away, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts and strategies. His notebooks, once filled with designs for hero analysis and ways to improve himself, now became the blueprint for something far darker.

He began to study. Not just the heroes, but their weaknesses. He memorized their moves, their tactics, and their vulnerabilities. Every hero had one, he realized. Some were obvious, others hidden beneath their carefully curated facades, but they all had cracks. Weak points that could be exploited.

He wasn't going to let his lack of a Quirk hold him back. No, he had something far more powerful: his mind.

The first piece of his plan was simple: gadgets. Equipment that would level the playing field. And he had no shortage of materials—scrap metal, parts from broken electronics, and discarded gear were enough to get him started.

The first prototype he crafted was a wrist-mounted device designed to launch various projectiles—disabling shots, smoke grenades, stun darts. He tested it with meticulous care, making sure it worked perfectly. With a few quick modifications, it could be deadly. And it wasn't just a simple weapon; it was a tool, versatile and efficient, a symbol of his intellect, his cunning.

The next step was armor. A light, flexible material that could withstand blows, absorb impacts, and protect him in a fight. It wasn't invincible, but it was enough to survive. He could handle himself. He had to.

But Midoriya knew that to truly bring down heroes, he would need to take it further.

He turned to his next project: a series of devices designed to exploit the weaknesses of specific heroes. Heroes like Ingenium, with his speed and powerful legs, had a hidden vulnerability—his reliance on his legs for mobility. A series of grappling hooks and snares, combined with a set of disabling devices, could render his mobility useless.

But he wasn't done yet. He thought of Eraserhead—a man who could nullify anyone's Quirk with a single glance. But Midoriya had a solution. He knew the hero needed to blink, so he made a gass that stimulates the eyes to blink, his genius frightend himself sometimes he tought as he laughed like a maniac.

Finally, he turned his attention to the mightiest of them all: All Might. His idol, the man who had once been the symbol of peace and hope. It was ironic, really—All Might had once been the epitome of what Midoriya had strived to become, but now he was the ultimate target.

He knew All Might's biggest weakness—his secret. The former Symbol of Peace was no longer invincible. The years of constant battle had taken their toll on him, leaving him with a frail body that could barely withstand the strain of his hero duties. Midoriya had learned the signs, the way All Might seemed to stumble at times, the occasional falter in his movements.

All Might's true form, weak and vulnerable, was the key.

Midoriya spent weeks, no, months, refining the plans in his mind. His gadgets, his weapons, his armor—all of it would be useless without careful precision. He would need to time everything perfectly, use everything at his disposal to bring down the heroes.

But he wasn't in a rush. He wasn't going to be reckless. Midoriya was far too smart for that. His plan was a slow burn, one that would draw the heroes in, one by one. A trap, built on their arrogance, their complacency.

It didn't take long before the world began to notice. Heroes started to disappear, slowly at first, then more frequently. Villains who had once been imprisoned or contained began to vanish without a trace. The public became uneasy. Reports of strange attacks, of gadgets and weapons that left no trace of the person responsible, began to spread.

And all the while, Midoriya watched from the shadows, his face hidden behind a mask, his fingers wrapped around the controls of his machines. He didn't need recognition. He didn't need fame. He had one goal in mind: to show the world that a Quirkless boy could rise to power.

To show that he didn't need to be a hero to change the world.

He would become the villain they never expected.

And when the time was right, he would bring down All Might. And then, he would bring down the entire hero system.

They never saw me coming.

As Midoriya watched from the darkened corner of his hideout, the city buzzing with the panic he had set in motion, he knew this was just the beginning. The heroes had underestimated him, just as they always had. But now, they would learn.

No one was invincible. Not even them.

Not even All Might.