A/N: Wow, this is my 200th fanfic, and my 21st My Hero Academia fanfic! As KagamiPINKAgreste would say, "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS, I'M FOREVER ON FANFIC FIRE!"

Anyways, when I first learned about the show The Boys, I thought the concept sounded interesting enough that I decided to write a My Hero Academia fic inspired by it. Fast-forward to when I actually watch the first episode, and it turns out that the show is quite different from what this fic will ultimately be. Nevertheless, if it weren't for that show, you wouldn't have this fic. Enjoy! Just be warned: if you're triggered by rape, then please turn away from this fic. Otherwise, read on for an MHA fic like no other!

IZUKO: We live in a superhuman society, with about 80% of the population possessing some sort of uncanny ability, known as a "Quirk". In the early days of Quirks, cities looked like scenes outta comic books, swirling with chaos and confusion. Then, a new profession emerged from this maelstrom of decay: that of pro heroes. I used to be Quirkless, but then, one fateful day, I received a power like no other. However, this isn't the story of how I became the world's greatest hero. Rather, it's a dark yet uplifting tale of how I made people believe in heroes again.

It was another ordinary summer day in New York City…well, as about as ordinary as it could get in the Big Apple. Pro heroes of all stripes were working hard to make sure that civilians could go about their daily business without being hurt by villains, and perhaps no heroes were working harder than those working to stop a robbery at Apple Bank, more precisely the branch on East 42nd Street in Manhattan's Murray Hill neighborhood. They'd managed to hold the villains back for now, but it was clear that the heroes were losing, and the villains made sure to rub this in their face:

"Give up, heroes!" said a villain who was using his Quirk to shoot asphalt at the heroes and police. "Another minute or two and we're outta here!"

Even the heroes were acknowledging that the situation was pretty shaky:

"I don't know how much longer I can hold them back!" said Fumihito Matsumura, better known as "Mr. Brave".

"We have to try!" said Ken Takagi, better known as "Rock Lock". We've been huntin' these guys for too long to give up now!"

"I'm doing my best!" said Chiyo "Uwabami" Akai. (Still, I wish there was a stronger hero on our side…)

Fortunately for Uwabami, she and her fellow pros would get their wish when…

"Have no fear! I AM HERE!"

Everyone got quite the shock when the Pro of All Pros showed up, none other than Izuko Midoriya, better known as the Symbol of Peace…"Deko". As was trademark for her, she'd shown up to save the day with a smile on her face, much to the villains' chagrin:

"NO! It can't be!"

"Come on, guys, let's give up while we still can!"

"Forget you! I'm gettin' outta here one way or another!"

A villain who could materialize steel I-beams attempted to smash his way out of the situation. However…

"DETROIT SMASH!"

Deko landed a decisive blow on the villain's chest after dodging an attack. The asphalt villain and the third villain – who could shoot lava – also attempted to get a piece of Deko, but she followed up with a Delaware Smash and then a St. Louis Smash, putting the villains out of commission. She then restrained them with Blackwhip as her fellow heroes and the NYPD cheered for her.

"We love you, Deko!" said Uwabami.

"You're the best!" said an NYPD officer.

"Thanks a million!" said Mr. Brave.

Deko waved at everyone, while specially-equipped members of the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit closed in to secure the villains for transport.

"You're all very welcome!" said Deko. "It's always an honor!"

No sooner had Deko done her job than members of the press had swarmed her:

"Deko, do you have anything to say about this?" said a reporter for ABC7 New York.

"What was it like facing off against some of the most dangerous villains?" said a reporter for PIX11.

"How do you keep up with this wave of crime?" said a reporter for The New York Times.

Deko made a downwards pushing motion while sweating and smiling nervously. "Hey, one at a time, please! All I have to say about this is that I'm grateful that I could assist my fellow heroes and the members of the NYPD, and I'll do my best to keep making sure that all of you can walk the streets with smiles on your faces!"

Just like that, Deko used Blackwhip to swing out of there in a manner reminiscent of Spider-Man, relieved that she'd managed to escape the media feeding frenzy.

Having escaped the press, Deko went to her favorite hangout, Variety Coffee Roasters, a coffee shop in the Upper East Side. Part of a local chain of eight coffee shops that began with a location in Williamsburg in 2008, Variety Coffee Roasters was known for its nutty, chocolatey roasts, something that greatly appealed to Deko's palate. However, the coffee wasn't the primary reason why this was her favorite hangout, nor was the fact that this particular coffee shop just a couple of blocks away from Central Park. Rather, there was someone in particular she looked forward to seeing…

"Good afternoon, young Midoriya."

"ALL MIGHT!"

Deko ran over to Toshinori Yagi – aka "All Might", the former Symbol of Peace and consequently the former #1 Hero – and gave him a big hug, which he gladly returned. She owed a lot to this man, for not only was he the one who passed One For All down to her, but in addition to training her to handle the immense power, he was the father figure she never had in her life. Overall, he gave her something to look forward to when hero work got rough. Soon enough, she let go, but not without a smile on her face.

"How are you doing today?" said All Might.

"Not too bad! I mean, when you can save the world with a smile on your face, then that's all that matters, right? Anyways, how are you doing?"

"Things could be better, but then again, things could be way worse. I'm just happy to see you."

"Likewise! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go get my usual…"

No sooner had Deko approached the counter than the bariste – a short Black woman of average build – had given the green bean her usual: a coffee with the usual amount of cream and extra sugar.

"Thank you very much, Kendra!" Deko used her phone to pay for her coffee.

"You're welcome, Deko!"

Deko returned to where All Might was sitting.

"So, anything exciting today?" asked All Might.

"Aside from rescuing four children from a burning building in New Rochelle, stopping a fuel tanker explosion in Yonkers and foiling a bank robbery in Murray Hill, not too much has happened today." Deko took a sip of her coffee. "Though I will admit, the constant media attention has been tiring. I don't know how you ever put up with it."

All Might put down his coffee. "I know it's not easy being the center of everyone's attention, but you're doing a great job! What worked for me was just being as friendly as possible. Of course, it also helped that I had the type of personality that thrived on attention."

"That might have worked for you, but you know me; I'm different. I just want to have a safe place where I can go at the end of the day and unwind from the constant stress of being the world's greatest hero." Deko took another sip of her coffee.

All Might put a hand on Deko's shoulder. "I understand. However, you do realize that as the world's greatest hero, you'll have to expect the unexpected, right? It's highly likely that a villain could find out where you live, destroy your home and force you to live elsewhere."

Deko gently slammed her cup on the table. "Then that's a risk I'm willing to take if it means keeping some of my sanity in this world!"

All Might nodded and smiled. "I see there's no changing your mind. Well, I'm fine with your decision, and I'll still be here if you need to talk. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to use the bathroom…"

All Might got up from his seat and headed for the bathroom. To kill some time, Deko pulled out her phone and surfed the World Heroes' Forum, a forum that was not only meant for pro heroes to share intelligence, tips and tricks, but for the general public to interact with and discuss their favorite heroes. Thus far, most of the threads she'd encountered were the usual ones about recent villain sightings or people geeking out over their favorite heroes, but then a thread titled "How could a pro do this?" caught her eye, so she opened it. In this particular thread, a user named RotKreuz84 claimed that a hero known as Firepower had been abusing his powers by roughing up civilians thought to be in league with a villain known as Jugulator. Naturally, the thread sparked a real flame war, with various people defending or criticizing Firepower. After going through a bunch of the natter, she found one post by a user named xXxHeroLuvrxXx, who had a link to a YouTube video claiming to document some of Firepower's abuses. Curious, Deko opened the link, and sure enough, it showed Firepower roughly interrogating somebody. The green bean didn't want to believe that such a thing was happening, but the footage was as clear as day, and her observant eye showed no incorrect details in the costume, so no doubt it was Firepower.

After backing out of that thread feeling a bit sick in her stomach, things only got worse when Deko found more such threads, with titles such as "I used to believe in heroes", "SHOCKING VIDEO OF HERO PUNCHING CASHIER" and "This guy should be a villain". Deko shook her head in disbelief. All her life, she'd been taught that heroes were good people, willing to lay their lives on the line to defend the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. While this wasn't her first time hearing about a hero who'd gone bad, it seemed to her like she was just now hearing about this in greater numbers, and it was way too difficult for her to process. Not helping was a young couple in one corner discussing how a hero named Spiker had allegedly been receiving payments from a corrupt alderman in Chicago to overlook a drug distribution ring.

"Hey Midoriya…"

Deko didn't even respond when All Might got back.

"Midoriya, are you OK?"

Deko shook her head a bit and blinked. "Oh…y-yeah; I'm fine! I just spaced out there for a second!"

All Might smiled. "Well, have some more coffee; it'll keep you sharp!"

Deko did her best to put a smile on her face.

After stopping a gorilla villain from destroying the Empire State Building and engaging in an autograph signing with some adoring fans, Deko headed home. In contrast to how people would envision the #1 hero living, her residence was a modest apartment on 238th Street in the Kingsbridge neighborhood, in the northern part of The Bronx. She could pick it out from at least a mile away because she saw her car parked there, a Green Gold 1973 Chevy Caprice sedan with black vinyl roof. Much to her good fortune, Deko's apartment was on the top floor of the building. Even though it was modest in size, it was quite heavily decorated with all manner of All Might merchandise, including a one-off poster from after the Vinegar River Incident.

For supper, Deko cooked her favorite: katsudon, that is, a Japanese-style fried pork cutlet over a bed of rice. To wash it down, she had a can of Coke. After supper, Deko crashed on her leather couch, pulled out her phone and recorded one of her daily audio logs:

"Tuesday, July 23, 2024: It was hot in New York. Today was pretty much like any other day that I go through as a pro hero: I stopped a bank robbery, stopped a villain from destroying the Empire State Building, rescued people from a burning apartment and engaged in an autograph signing with some adoring fans. Now, I didn't become a hero for the fame, but it makes me happy that people are happy because of me. What made me really happy, though, was getting to see All Might again. He'll always be my favorite person ever. The only thing that really brought down the experience was when I uncovered rumors of other pro heroes abusing their powers. I don't wanna believe it, but at the same time, if these rumors are true, I can't stand idly by and let innocent people suffer. Still, I won't let those rumors trouble me. They are rumors after all…right?"

After recording her log, Deko turned on her TV, fired up her PS5 and put on Brutal Doom, more precisely the first Doom. While she'd beaten all the Doom games several times over, they never got any older no matter how many times she played them. However, while playing the game, she kept having recurring thoughts about all that stuff she'd read and heard about heroes abusing their powers. Surely, there couldn't be an entire legion of heroes using their status as an excuse to violate people's rights…could there? Eventually, after playing the game for so long, Deko shut it off and also turned off her TV. She decided that getting out of the house was in order.

Deko's choice of "getting out" was a bar/restaurant in Soho on Prince Street called Milady's. An establishment by that name had allegedly been operating since the 1940s and closed down in 2014, only to reopen with somewhat more upscale offerings. For this occasion, she had dressed up in a Vanson Villainess leather jacket over a black tank top, tight blue jeans and knee-high high-heel leather boots. Fortunately for her, there was an open seat at the bar. Immediately, one of the bartenders – a skinny brunette of average height – approached her.

"Hi, what'll it be?" asked the bartender.

"Just a Coke, please."

The bartender grabbed a glass, put some ice in it and poured some Coke in it using one of the nozzles. Deko reached for her purse in an attempt to pay for the drink, but another guy was quicker on the draw with some cash. She turned to see who'd been kind enough to pay for her beverage: a tall guy with short, curly black hair.

"Oh, thank you!" said Deko.

"You're welcome!"

Deko then dropped her jaw and froze when she came to the realization about who this guy was…

"Hey, I know you! You're…"

"Tommy Waters, better known to the general public as 'Captain Famous'! You look quite familiar yourself!"

"I'm Izuko Midoriya, but the whole world knows me as 'Deko'."

Captain Famous smiled. "YOU'RE the Symbol of Peace!? God, it's so nice to meet ya, I…I dunno what to say!"

Deko smiled. "The pleasure is all mine!"

Deko and Captain Famous shook hands with each other.

"So Deko, what brought ya here tonight?"

"Oh, I just needed to relax after a long day of hero work. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but the constant media attention and never-ending stream of incidents gets tiring, if you understand."

"Oh, I understand! Hell, the media wants a piece of me on a regular basis!" Captain Famous took a sip of his beer.

Deko put down her Coke. "Well, with a name like 'Captain Famous', I suppose it's to be expected."

Captain Famous laughed. "Ya got me there! By the way, have I ever told ya how much I admire your famous smile?"

"Really?"

"I dunno how ya do it, but seein' ya out there fightin' crime, savin' people and doin' it all with a smile on your face…it gives me hope for the future of this world, ya know?"

Deko smiled. "Well I'm glad I can help uplift a fellow hero! It's not always easy to smile in the face of extreme adversity, but if I can make even just one person happy because of my actions, then I feel that I've done my job."

Captain Famous nodded. "Interesting way of looking at it."

"Enough about me, now. What made you want to become a hero?"

"I remember when I was a kid, I saw All Might on TV and said that I wanted to be just like him. I collected every single piece of All Might merchandise I could get my hands on, studied really hard in school and pushed myself to my absolute limits in training exercises. I'll probably never be as good as he was, but I'm happy with what I got so far."

Deko put a hand on Captain Famous' shoulder. "You don't have to be as good as All Might to be a great hero. As long as you have a noble spirit and are always willing to do the right thing, then you can be one of the world's greatest heroes!"

Captain Famous smiled. "Deko, I may have just met ya, but I like ya! You're a really good person, ya know that?"

Deko giggled. "I try to be!"

Deko and Captain Famous sat there, looking deeply into each other's eyes. Even if Deko had just met the guy, she already felt quite the connection with him. While dating wasn't a huge priority for her as a hero, she felt as though she had enough in common with Captain Famous that there just might be something between the two.

After a couple more drinks, Deko and Captain Famous exited the bar together.

"Hey Deko, mind walkin' back to my place with me?"

Deko raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

"Relax! All we're doin is walkin' there! Ya don't have to come inside with me!"

"OK."

Deko and Captain Famous took a walk down Prince Street. As they walked into the poorly-lit street, Deko's instincts were telling her that something was off and that this was a very bad idea. Knowing that this could possibly lead nowhere good, she spoke up:

"Captain Famous, will you excuse me? I just remembered that a friend wanted to meet me later tonight…"

"Relax, we got all night! Now come on, let's keep walkin'!"

"I really can't, I'm sorry. Good night, Captain Famous."

Deko attempted to walk away, but Captain Famous grabbed her by the neck and shoved her against the wall.

TOMMY "CAPTAIN FAMOUS" WATERS:
QUIRK: Fame. Gets more powerful the more famous he becomes.

Deko attempted to pry herself free of Captain Famous' grip, but he was far too strong even for her.

"What are you doing!?" cried Deko.

"Shut up! Just shut up and take it!"

"Wait…NO!"

Captain Famous forcefully kissed Deko, who attempted to push him away, but again, it was no use. She slapped him in the face and bit his lip, which caused him to pull away, if only for a brief moment:

"You're a real fighter, huh? What an animal!"

Deko was forming tears in her eyes. "Please, let me go!"

"Baby, it's in your nature! Just let me liberate ya!"

"NO! I won't!"

"Come on, I know ya want it! You're a good girl! Can't let it get past me!"

Captain Famous knelt down before Deko and started undoing her belt. Deko tried her best to do something, but she had frozen up, and with every passing second, it seemed as though she was doomed.

"NO! Anything but that! Don't…just…DON'T!"

Unconsciously, Deko activated Blackwhip and grabbed Captain Famous, whose power couldn't even match this. The dark energy tendril turned him upside down and repeatedly slammed him head-first into the pavement, while the green bean could only watch with shock. After what seemed like an eternity, Blackwhip let go of Captain Famous, who dropped to the street with a sickening thud. After being frozen with horror for just a moment more, Deko closed her pants back up, rushed over to Captain Famous and put her index and middle fingers on his neck. Doing so revealed that he had no pulse.

"I…I killed him!"

Not wanting to get caught, Deko ran away and used Blackwhip to help her get back home.

Back home, Deko curled up on her bed and cried as she hugged her pillow. In that moment, many thoughts were racing through her head: wondering if there was anything she should've done differently, wondering why she wasn't strong enough to overpower Captain Famous without the use of Blackwhip and just generally feeling as though the whole thing was her fault. Here she was, the world's greatest hero, and yet she felt as though she had no one to play hero to her when she needed somebody. While it had been said that crying helped people feel better afterwards, all this was doing was making her feel even more messed up. This was the worst she'd ever felt in her life, and she wondered how she could even get over this, if at all. Deko did stop crying eventually, though, and the thoughts of sadness and worthlessness were replaced by those of anger and determination.

(No more! I'm NOT gonna be a victim anymore, and neither are any other innocent people in this world! I HAVE to do something! In fact, I'm gonna get my own heroes together and put an end to this!)

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.