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It was an ordinary day for the people of the small neighborhood of Cait. People walked through the quiet streets, going about their daily routines. A woman grabbed something to drink from a tea stand. Parents held their kids’ hands as they walked them to school. A man withdrew money from an ATM outside of a bank. A group of people climbed onto a bus to go to work. It was poised to be a very simple day.
But out of nowhere, a loud boom echoed in the street. The doors off of the bank’s door flew open, shattering on the sidewalks, smoke billowing out from inside. Citizens fleed, running around the streets wildly in panic and distress. Then, a duo of villains strutted onto he sidewalk victorious, carrying bags of money over their shoulders. They both dressed in black and red, their faces covered with masks.
“That was too easy,” the shorter one hissed. He more resembled a snake than a man, with dark brown scales and thin, vertical pupils. A long tail stuck out behind his back with a rattle that shook as he walked. “To think those guards even tried to fight back! They don’t stand a chance against my paralyzing bite!”
The taller of the two flipped his hair over one shoulder. “You wouldn’t have been able to use them, if my nails hadn’t held them down. I don’t know how we didn’t get the idea to team up, now.” He gestured his hand outwards, his nails growing longer in a split second, before shrinking down to size.
“Better late than never! How’s about we get our haul back to our place?”
“Wonderful,” he said with a smirk.
As the chaos unfurled around them, they continued to walk down the street casually. Anytime someone looked at them funny, the man with the paralyzing bite would flash his fangs at them, making them run with their tails between their legs – sometimes literally.
“Stop right there, villains!”
They stopped walking. When they looked over their shoulders, there was a young boy dressed casually, wearing what looked like a bedsheet tied over his shoulders. The villains looked at each other, both of them using all of their energy not to burst out laughing.
The snake villain turned around. “Look, kiddo,” he said, an amuse smile on his face, “This is cute and all, but this ain’t your fight. You’re not that guy.” He looked at his partner and chuckled, before they continued walking down the street.
“Oh really,” the boy yelled. “We’ll see about that!”
He lifted his hand into the air. With it, a large rock came up from the ground without him touching it. Then, he threw it towards the villains. He hit the nail villain in the back of the head, and he cried out, dropping the money on the ground and holding his hair with both hands.
When he looked over his shoulder at him, a death glare on his face, his teeth barred and his lips curled into a snarl, the boy froze in fear.
“You brat,” he said, behind his teeth. “You’re gonna pay for that!” He threw his hand to the side, lengthening his claws by several centimeters with sharpened points.
The snake villain’s eyes widened, as he ran up to grab his shoulder. “Hey, man, take it easy! He’s just a kid!”
He turned around and slapped his hand away. “You stay out of it! I’m gonna give that brat a piece of my mind!”
He ran up to him, raising his hand to strike the child where he stood.
But before he could make contact, he was thrown to the side, skidding across the street, crashing into a cluster of bushes before he could.
The boy was huddled into himself, bracing for an impact that never came. When he looked up, a large shadow was cast over him. And when he saw full, fanning fire burning above him, his eyes lit up and he grinned.
Standing proudly, fires burning across his face and shoulders, arms crossed over his chest with a stone-hard glare in his eyes, was none other than Japan’s #1 hero – Endeavor.
“Get out of the way, kid,” the flame hero ordered. “If you need help looking for your family, the authorities should be here soon.” The kid nodded, quickly jumping back to his feet and running to hide somewhere safe.
The second he was gone, his attention quickly returned to the villains.
The snake villain jumped back, dropping his bad of money on the ground. He shook like a leaf, as he saw his new opponent standing in front of him. “Oh shit! We’re in for it now!”
The nail villain stood back up, shaking leaves and twigs out of his hair. The moment he saw Endeavor, his entire body seized up in itself. However, the flame hero didn’t pay him any mind – he was just focused on the villain right in front of him.
As he approached the snake villain, he took a step back. “Stay back,” he tried to warn, his tail rattling threateningly. “My bite is able to paralyze any man! One nick from them, and you won’t be able to fight anymore, Endeavor! You hear me?!”
Endeavor continued to pursue him, his arms lowering to his sides as he strode forward, not reacting in the slightest to his threats. Then, he threw his hand forward, chucking a ball of fire towards the villain. He screamed as he jumped into the air, landing perched on top of a light pole. But before he could be relieved of getting away, he screamed as it came flying back like a boomerang, hitting him in the back, sending him falling down to the ground.
The villain’s body shook, as he writhed on the ground in pain. When he looked up, Endeavor’s flaming boots stood right next to his head. His jaw dropped and he gasped as he looked up at the hero, who looked down on him with nothing but the upmost contempt.
The nail villain watched from the sidelines, digging his hands into his hair as he wondered what he should be doing. Then, he snarled and crouched down, as he broke into a sprint. His nails on both hands extended outwards, reading to ensnare themselves around the flame hero. Endeavor looked up in time to see them coming, with only a millisecond to react.
“TEXAAAS SMAAASH!”
Before the nail villain could make contact with the flame hero, he was flung across the street once more, crashing into a parked car, setting off a car alarm in the process.
Endeavor looked at the fallen villain in shock, before his eyes settled on his attacker. He snarled.
Standing next to him was a muscular man, dressed in a raggedy black and red suit from head to toe with scuffed up white boots. His long blond hair was slicked back with two long strands of hair pointed straight into the air almost like a rabbit’s ears. His eyebrows were pointed downwards over his bright blue eyes. And he landed on his feet, his hands on his hips with a huge smile on his face.
It was none other than the single biggest thorn in the flame hero’s side – the vigilante All Might.
“What the hell are you doing here,” Endeavor snapped. “I told you to stay away!”
All Might laughed boisterously. “Come now, Endeavor! I saved your life and this is the thanks I get from you?”
He rolled his eyes. That bombastic, heroic tone would be ridiculous on a regular pro-hero, but somehow it was even more hokey on a vigilante. “I had it perfectly under control before you showed up. And you’d be wise not to underestimate my skills.”
He walked up to him and put his hand on his arm. “Who said anything about underestimation? You’re #1 for a reason, after all! But even the best need help every now and again, wouldn’t you agree?”
“If you don’t take your hands off me right now, you’ll be the one in need of help, All Might.”
He dramatically raised his hand to his chest, a look of offense on his face. “Is that a threat? That’s certainly unbecoming of a hero of your calliber.”
It was like he knew just the right words to say to piss him off. Endeavor’s flames fanned out for a moment, before he regained control of them. “And what do you know about what’s unbecoming of a hero, vigilante? You’re the one always getting in the way of my work, and you don’t even have the sense to be a legal hero. Big mistake.”
All Might waved his hand in the air, laughing to himself. “Oh, you always say that, but you never do anything about it.”
The second that sentence left his mouth, he looked him dead in the eyes, a mischievous glint in them. He knew what exactly he was doing – he was goading him into a chase. Against himself, Endeavor felt his heart leap in his chest, excitement taking hold of his body. Whether that excitement was from the possibility of beating this shithead into a pulp or from finally having a worthy opponent, he wouldn’t say.
“Hey, um, sir,” the snake villain said below him, “if you’re doing that, does that mean I can go home?”
“If you move a muscle from this spot before authorities arrive, you’ll be going to jail worse off than you are now,” the flame hero threatened with his scariest glare.
The snake villain quickly ducked his head back down, hands clasped above his head. “Okay! Okay! I’m sorry!”
Endeavor quickly turned his attention back onto All Might. Somehow, the smile on his face got even bigger. His own lips turned up into a determined smirk. They crouched down slightly at the same time, staring at each other and waiting for one of them to make the first move.
Then, as sirens from a police car began to wail in the distance, All Might turned on his heel and took off, jumping into the skies. Using his hellfires, Endeavor propelled himself into the sky, following him closely behind, his smirk morphing into a grin. This was always the best part of their little encounters. Each one made him feel more invigorated than he had been in years.
Since he clawed his way to the #1 spot, Enji Todoroki discovered how lonely being at the top truly was. He’d fought his way to the top of the hero rankings, working hard and pushing himself past his limits, and found nothing at the peak. No heroes could match him. No villains could match him either. He was completely alone without any peers, leaving him feeling completely numb.
Until just a few months ago when this no-name, anonymous vigilante burst onto the scene. He disliked vigilantes on principle alone, but if they stayed out of his way and didn’t cause any harm, he usually let them be. However, All Might kept trying to steal his thunder and victories, all under the condescending guise of ‘helping him’. He angered him far more than any villain ever had, but he’d also reinvigorated him. He was the first person in years to match him in strength. Now, he had a reason to keep fighting besides obligations to his career.
As All Might catapulted himself off of buildings, Endeavor stayed low to the ground, knowing he’d have to come back down eventually. When he jumped to one side, he quickly ran to catch up. Each time he tried to hide, he’d sneak to catch him where he stood. Endeavor’s heart raced with every step, as adrenaline poured through his veins. Occassionally, All Might would stop, smile, and wave at him, only infuriating him more and pushing him towards his goal.
This would be the last time.
He was not going to let him slip from his grasp again.
Endeavor chased him to the edge of the district, where the apartment buildings leveled off and the skyscrapers were impossible to jump towards. When All Might reached the last rows of apartments, he stopped his forward movement, nearly face-planting off of a four-story roof. Endeavor waited in a shadowy alley to see his next move. Would he turn around and try to run back the way he came? Would he use some obscure finishing move to propel him up to the top of the skyscraper? He held his breath, waiting with anticipation to see what his next move was.
Instead, he just hopped off of the roof, landing on his feet gracefully. Endeavor’s brows furrowed in confusion. What trick was he trying to pull now? Trying to get him to lower his guard so he could attack him and escape? Was he going to try and talk his way out of the inevitable? Even after countless encounters, the vigilante seemingly always found a new way to catch him off-guard.
“You can come out,” he shouted at him. “I’m not going to try and attack.”
If this were any other villain, he’d call bullshit. However, while there were many things he could call All Might, he was, at the very least, honest. If he told him he wouldn’t do something, he meant it. Making him slightly more respectable than the usual crooks he fought.
Endeavor stepped out of the alley, arms crossed over his chest.
All Might laughed – not his usual, boisterous laugh, but one more subdued. He walked towards him. “I guess you outsmarted me again, Endeavor. But you know I’m still not going to let you capture me, right?”
Endeavor rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand why you don’t just get a damn license,” he groaned. “You’d save both of us a lot of trouble if you just did.”
“But there’d be no sport in it. Saving people, stopping villains, then slinking back into the shadows before anyone could catch you – it’s fun! Plus, and I mean no offense, I wouldn’t want to upstage you by going pro.”
Anger flared up inside Endeavor. He grabbed All Might by the collar of his suit and slammed his back up against a brick wall, glowering up at the man. “So you think you’re better than me?!”
The vigilante hadn’t even flinched. “No, of course not. Your work is unparalleled. I don’t think it’ll ever be matched in our lifetimes. But you have your pride, and I wouldn’t dream of stepping on it. I’m happy with how things are now, between us.”
The flame hero breathed out harshly through his nose. If he didn’t want to ‘step on his pride’, then why did he keep joining his fights? Was it really just because he liked getting pursued? It made far too much sense, if that was the case. Good grief, this man was infuriating.
Then, from the distance, Endeavor could hear more chaos brewing. Civilians screaming. Alarms going off. Explosions. His grip on All Might’s suit tightened for a moment, as his jaw clenched tightly. Then, he groaned, shoving him against a wall as he let go, running back the way he came.
When he didn’t hear him following, he glared at him over his shoulder. “If you’re gonna come with me, you’d better stay out of my way,” he yelled.
Immediately, All Might stood up straight, puffing out his chest with a giant grin on his face. “Of course,” he shouted, his boisterous tone back in full force. “We’ll go into battle together!” In one stride of his legs, he caught up with him.
Endeavor rolled his eyes, as they sprinted down the street together. One day, he’d catch this vigilante and put a stop to this nonsense.
But until then, maybe there wasn’t any harm in keeping him around.