Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome to this, my first solo MHA fanfic featuring Villain! Deku! Now, before we get things started, let's go over a few of the nuances of this AU that I'm developing.

First off, U.A. is a university rather than a high school, so everyone here is all grown up, which means I can, if I so choose, get a little bit more spicy with the romance scenes if I wish. Also, in this AU, the Sludge Villain incident, or at least the part involving Bakugou, never happened, hence why this happened instead.

Additionally, I want to reiterate that even though Izuku, as Prometheus, is gonna be a vicious, brutal, sadistic, and borderline psychotic supervillain, he's still Izuku in the end, and deeply cares about the League of Villains, seeing them as the friends and family he always wanted, and they see him in much the same way. As a result, the League of Villains will seem less like an evil cabal of supervillains and more like a big family who loves being evil.

Well, I think that covers everything I wanted to go over, so let's get this party started!

Prologue

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Katsuki Bakugou spat out a mouthful of blood as he felt the pain of the crowbar slamming into his flesh, followed swiftly by agony, both physical and emotional, coursing through him. He was bound to a chair by a pair of cuffs that completely covered his hands, ensuring that he wouldn't be able to use his Quirk without destroying his own hands in the process. Similarly, his feet were cuffed to the chair as well, rendering him completely immobile.

In the darkness of the small room, a dark shadow chuckled, their voice disguised by a modulator, the only part of them that could be seen being the red lenses of their mask. "You know, Kaachan, this really takes me back… back then, it was you looking down at my bloodied and battered body, struggling to breathe, while no one was coming to help me and stop you from killing me if you wanted to. My oh my, how the tables have turned…"

"D-Deku… w-we can find another way to settle this-" choked Katsuki, only for the shadow to lash out at him with the crowbar, filling the room with his cries of pain.

"What… did I tell you… about calling me that?" the shadow said, exhausted from the furious beating he just delivered. "But, you're right, we can find another way to settle things between us… so, how about this: I beat the ever-loving shit out of you, leave you begging for death to save you, I tuck my daughter Eri in and read her a bedtime story, then me and Himiko get it on until the break of dawn. How's that sound?" the shadow said with a sadistic amusement in his voice.

"Now then, what shall I treat you to next? Perhaps another little dose of flame?" the dark figure said as a small flame appeared in his hand before running that flame across Bakugou's body, causing him to scream in agony again. "There we are… perhaps that'll serve to remind you that Izuku Midoriya is dead and buried. Doomed to suffer eternal disappointment and a living hell on a daily basis, he decided to take the advice of his former childhood friend, but unable to access the Aldera Junior High School rooftop, he decided to settle for the next best thing, and took a swan dive off the side of a bridge. Shame, too… I knew little Izuku well. All he ever wanted was to become a hero, saving and protecting the innocent with a smile… until the people he looked up to most took his hopes and dreams and crushed them into dust. As for me, I exist to carry out Izuku's vengeance, and to seize the power of the gods who serve as judge, jury, and executioner, your precious Pro Heroes of Japan."

The shadow then crouched down in front of the bloodied body of the man who had once been his childhood friend to look him dead in the eye.

"I am… Prometheus."

Five Years Earlier…

As the sun began to set on the city of Mustufu, a lone figure walked the streets in the direction of a nearby bridge. That figure was a fourteen year old boy with messy green hair wearing a black school uniform. However, upon closer examination, one could immediately figure out that there was something very wrong with this boy. His eyes, once a bright and vibrant green, were now dull and empty, as though someone or something had used a Quirk and siphoned his soul right out of his body, and his movements as he made his way towards the bridge seemed almost just as lifeless, as though he were nothing more than a puppet on a string.

Ever since he was four years old, Izuku Midoriya had always wanted to be a hero, saving people with a smile, and the first step on that journey was going to a hero academia. However, there was only one small problem with that dream: in order to have even the slightest hope of being a hero, one needed a Quirk that was well suited for the job. And Izuku didn't have such a Quirk, or for that matter, a Quirk at all. And because of that, it was impossible for him to realistically become a hero.

However, that didn't stop him from trying. And so he took to analyzing Quirks with nothing more than a stockpile of notebooks and his trusty pen. For ten years, Izuku had been enduring the beatings and torture he received from his former best friend and his cronies, on top of the faculty of Aldera Junior High School being of no help at all, if not actively encouraging the students with Quirks to use him as their personal training dummy.

Although he had continued to fake a smile and act like everything was okay, cracks had started to form in his psyche and his will to keep going from the constant abuse, and earlier that day, towards the end of class, he had finally reached his breaking point when Bakugou had used his explosion Quirk on his life's work, burning it but thankfully it was still salvageable.

Oh, but then it got worse. Much, much, worse. For it was as he was watching his notebooks burn that Bakugou gave Izuku a piece of advice.

"You know, if you really want to be a hero that badly there might actually be another way: just pray you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life… and take a swan dive off the roof of the building!"

After that, Izuku felt as though his soul had left him entirely. Part of him wished All Might hadn't saved him from that Sludge Villain. He would have preferred that compared to his idol putting the final nail in his coffin.

"Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So, can you be a hero? Not without a Quirk. If you wanna help people, there are plenty of other ways to do it. You could become a police officer. They get crap because the heroes catch all the villains, but. It's not bad to have a dream, just make sure they're attainable, realistic."

Izuku didn't know how long he had been standing there, but by the time he could finally move again, his mind was blank, and he was making his way towards this very bridge.

Izuku climbed over the railing and looked down at the water below. Yeah… this high up should do it, and finally put himself out of everyone else's misery. Turning around, Izuku Midoriya gave one last look at the world and spread his arms.

Then, he leaned back, and let himself fall. Looking up at the sky, Izuku felt some form of peace for the first time in his life.

Then he collided with the water, and his whole world went black forever.

Some Time Later…

A dark shadow sat on the beach a few miles away from Mustafu City. The dark shadow may be the Symbol of Evil and striving to become the Demon Lord of the world, but even he could appreciate the truly beautiful things in life, such as the water at sundown.

The shadow frowned as something caught his attention washing up on the shore. It looked like a person…

With a sigh, the shadow approached the person that had washed ashore, and upon reaching it, he was mildly surprised to find that it was a boy of around fourteen with green hair, wearing a school uniform and a tan backpack. Calling upon one of his many Quirks, the shadow was surprised to learn that not only was this boy somehow still alive, even if only just barely, and that he was Quirkless. Taken together, it painted a picture in the shadow's mind that, if he were honest, made him feel a small measure of pity for the boy. Curiosity getting the better of him, the shadow opened the boy's backpack and examined the contents inside.

Needless to say, the journal labeled "Hero Analysis For the Future" was certainly interesting, to say the least. The meticulous detail it went into for a variety of different Quirks and heroes, the applications, strengths, and weaknesses of those Quirks and heroes... it honestly reminded the shadow of a much younger version of himself.

More importantly, however, it gave the shadow an idea...

You truly wanted power more than anything, didn't you, young one? Fret not, child, for once I have nursed you back to health, I have just the Quirk for you, provided you serve me, of course, the shadow thought as he bent down and carefully picked up the boy in his arms, and carried him away.

Today, the shadow had found a new weapon to add to his arsenal... it was a shame he had already selected Shigaraki as his successor, otherwise he had a feeling that this boy would have been an excellent candidate.

Still, a Demon Lord needed his servants... and this boy would be molded into the greatest out of all his servants... barring Tomura, of course.

And that's a bingo! If you liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and join as next time as we begin the assault on the USJ! See you then!