The story of how I became the greatest Hero, Wizard and Bender [HWB]

This world has three different categories of powers. Nearly everyone falls into one of the three. There are the wizards, whose power comes from their bloodline. The benders, whose power comes from their soul. And those with quirks whose power comes from a mutation in their genes.

As near as anyone can tell, the benders or the wizards have been around for the longest but no one can say for certain. In the late 1400s, most of Europe waged a genocide in the Americas in search of gold. In the 1930s and 40s, another genocide occurred. The holocaust erased so many records. It’s hard to say who was really around for longer because of all the genocides and destruction of records. After the second World War, a lot of things that had been kept secret for hundreds of years became public knowledge.

Wizards secretly ran everything. They admitted a rogue group was behind the holocaust and the genocides of the Native Americans. They attempted to completely eradicate the Benders. After the genocide in the Americas, some moved to Europe to live right under the wizards’ noses. It worked for several hundred years until the wizards found them in their home country of Germany. The wizards officially denounced the group of radicals but none of them seemed to fancy benders of any variety.

In the aftermath of World War II, mutations began appearing in random people. The public began calling the abilities associated with these mutations “Quirks”. There are some conspiracy theorists that believe that the emergence of Quirks was nature’s way of dealing with the wizards’ oppression.

Over 95% of the world falls into one of the three categories. With that being said, it is incredibly rare to not have any powers whatsoever. Guess who doesn’t have any powers? Yep! Me!

Vito’s father is a water bender and his mother is a witch. Needless to say, his mother’s family was none too thrilled that she decided to marry a water bender. Despite their insistence otherwise, they still have the whole “Pure Blood/Master Race” mentality. His father’s family, on the other hand, lives peacefully in Alaska and cares for nothing outside of their city. As such, Vito never met them. His mother’s family is from Italy and is from one of the oldest wizarding families in Europe. They blamed Vito’s father for his powerlessness and never hid their disappointment.

Despite Vito’s powerlessness, he studied every power he could. If he couldn’t use powers himself, he decided he would at least elevate his mind and learn all the weaknesses he could. Although he tried to be humble, he couldn’t help but admit he became rather smart and learned quite a bit about the various powers.

Wizards’ main weakness revolves around their wand. There are some schools that focus on wandless magic, particularly the ones in Africa, but it’s unfocused and somewhat unpredictable. Beyond that, most of the time, wizards require wand movements and verbal components to cast their spells. Unfortunately, their potential is truly limitless.

The benders have few weaknesses which is likely what the wizards feared in the first place. They require their respective element to be present, yes, but that is hardly a handicap. All the fire and air benders require is oxygen and as such, are impossible to stop from bending. The water and earth benders are also pretty difficult to stop.

Those with quirks are the true wild cards. A person could inherit one or both of their parents’ quirks, or they could have a completely random quirk. They can try to categorize quirks, but in reality, it’s nearly impossible. Quirks range from gills to super strength to transformation. There are even quirks that emulate bending abilities or make them resistant to magic.

The wizards with their powers and influence tend to be higher ups in government and corporate businesses. The benders tend to exist anywhere they can but due to how their powers work, tend to be closely tied to religions. Those with quirks exist anywhere. Those with quirks have been born into bender and wizard families alike. But several people with quirks banded together and formed hero agencies to defend the common folk from those who abuse their powers.

Since quirks are random, the world’s governments all passed laws that require them to register their powers. This made it easy for Vito to research heroes, villains, and their powers.

The greatest hero of them all was All Might. As a child, Vito idolized him, like so many other kids with quirks. Who would have guessed Vito would actually have the chance to meet him?

It was January 3rd, two years ago. A villain and his water bender cohort just robbed a bank next to the cafe where Vito was enjoying a mid winter hot chocolate, overlooking the frigid canal.

“We got away scot free! I’m so glad you spent all those afternoons memorizing the heroes’ patrol patterns!” The man who spoke was wearing a ski mask and black hoodie but small spikes protruded through the fabric.

His friend shook snow from his coat. “It wasn’t easy. I think I deserve a bigger cut.”

“It’ll be 50/50 like we talked about. It was my toxin that took out the guards!” His skin expanded a little and the spikes grew longer.

“Freeze!” Vito turned and saw a trio of police officers.

The water bender pulled water from the canal and froze a wall between them and the police.

They turned to run the other way but two more police officers blocked off their escape.

“The canal! We can get away that way!” The water bender pointed towards the canal just as one of the three dove into the canal and froze it.

“Not gonna happen!”

“In there!” The spikey one shouted, pointing towards the cafe. The two of them ran into the cafe. Tables, cups and chairs crashed as Vito, along with the others in the cafe, retreated away from them. The two criminals ran towards the kitchen.

A server came from the kitchen to see what the commotion was. As soon as she saw the masked criminals, she screamed and the spiked one grabbed her. He put his palm near her neck as the police entered. “Don’t come any closer! My quills inject a powerful neurotoxin more potent than pufferfish! One step closer and she dies before the medics can get here!”

The police held up their hands and backed up but only to the doorway. “Alright. Just take it easy. No one needs to die.”

“That’s right! Just leave and we’ll be on our way!” The water bender called.

The police and criminals went back and forth like this but Vito decided he couldn’t sit idly by. It looked like the woman was going to die! He sneaked his way behind the counter and grabbed a thick rubber mat.

“Oh-ho! A challenge!” Came a voice from where the rest of the cafe patrons were hiding. Vito turned and saw a large, muscular man with an ear-to-ear grin.

It seems everyone in the cafe recognized him at the same time. The shock was written plainly across everyone’s faces. Even the criminal’s body language suggested they knew their goose was cooked.

“All Might!”

“We’ll be safe!”

“All Might?”

“What’s he doing in Italy?”

“I guess even heroes take vacations.”

“Fear not, dear citizens! For, I am here!”

“D-don’t move!” the puffer fish man shouted. “I can still kill her!”

In the same instant All Might moved to grab the woman, Vito wrapped the rubber mat around the pufferfish criminal and shoved him to the ground. The police took the opportunity to rush the waterbender and arrest him.

“Thank you, All Might!” The server said just before she screamed. With a loud thud, All Might collapsed to the floor.

Vito rushed over to All Might and he put a hand on Vito’s shoulder. “You are a true hero, young man!” His breathing became shallow and ragged. “I don’t have much time…”

Vito noticed a cut on his palm. “You got stabbed didn’t you? Don’t push yourself.” I turned over my shoulder and called for a medic.

“There’s no time for that, young man…” All Might coughed “You don’t have any powers do you?” I shook my head. “I thought so. And yet you rushed in without hesitation. What’s your name?

“Locus. Vito Locus.”

“I have a gift for you, Locus. Open your mind.”

Vito wasn’t sure what he meant by that but without delay he heard his voice clear as day. “I’m dying. There’s nothing I can do about it.” All Might coughed. “I don’t have time to transfer all my powers to you. I can only give you the important one.”

“The important one?” There was no response. “All Might? All Might!”

The other cafe patrons gasped and began to cry. Someone pulled Vito away by his shoulder. He didn’t know how long they tried to bring him back but it seemed like they gave up way too soon. All Vito could remember was feeling in shock. He had trouble processing what just happened.

“All Might is gone? How could this happen? If only I was faster! Is it my fault?” These questions bounced around in Vito;s head the remainder of the day, then the week, then the month.