Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome to my latest My Hero Academia creation, and a more traditional Vigilante Deku project! I thought it would be a fun idea to try a project where Izuku's dreams were broken, Mamadoriya was dead, and poor little Izuku was forced to live on the street as no orphanage or foster home wanted him because he's Quirkless, and as a result of a chance encounter, meets Knuckleduster, and becomes a vigilante who uses custom-made gear and his brilliant mind to get the job done... and also loots the wallets and takes the valuables of the criminals, villains, and corrupt heroes he defeats as an "Asshole Tax." Hey, he has nothing and no one, he's gotta get money somehow!

As for why I chose Payback for Izuku's vigilante alias, well, Karma has been done to death for Vigilante Deku, and I thought Payback had a nice ring to it.

Additionally, I decided to shake things up a bit and pair up Izuku with Kyouka Jirou, who, like Izuku, is an orphan and a vigilante. I'm thinking something along the lines of Feedback for her vigilante alias. Why did I ship Izuku with Kyouka? Well, I think she meshes really well with my vision of what this story's version of Izuku is, simply put.

Now then, let us begin!

Chapter One

Homecoming

Mustafu-Train Station

As the doors opened on one of the trains that had just pulled up to the station, releasing the people inside, among those people was a young man of almost fifteen, tall, lanky, yet surprisingly well built, clad in a black leather jacket with a gray hoodie underneath with the hood pulled up over his head with a tuft of bushy green hair just barely visible underneath blue jeans with a black leather belt, black and white sneakers, and a large duffle bag hefted over his shoulder.

After months of physical conditioning and training under the tutelage of the vigilante known as Knuckleduster, Izuku Midoriya had at last returned to his home town of Mustafu, eager to begin his own career as a vigilante. After all, according to the man he once looked up to, All Might, it was impossible for someone without a Quirk to become a Pro Hero, even if they somehow managed to pass the entrance exam, something that, if what he heard was true, was daunting enough, even for people who had Quirks. That being the case, what hope did he have of becoming a hero?

Izuku sighed and shook his head. Well... I guess I'd better go and say hi to Mom, the green-haired boy thought before he left the station and made his way into the city proper, but not before looking up at the All Might billboard on a rooftop across the street and giving it a withering glare. To think, he'd once looked up to the man who was well known for saying that anybody could become a hero, only to be told to give up his dreams of becoming a hero, even without a Quirk. Just goes to show that you should never meet your heroes.

As he made his way through the city, Izuku began to think back on the events that had led him to where he was now. After All Might saved him from that Sludge Villain and promptly crushed his dreams into ashes, he had returned home, and promptly tore down all of his All Might posters, tossed away his All Might merchandise, before he promptly stared at the ceiling, stopping only to have dinner with his mom, before returning to his room and resuming his staring.

School the following day was mostly the same, save for the fact that he didn't write in his Hero Notebook or mumble about heroes. Not that that stopped Katsuki Bakugou from beating the shit out of him with both his fists and his Quirk. Thankfully, what Kaachan hadn't realized was that his repeated beatings were helping to build up his pain tolerance and endurance, so there was that benefit. Still was excruciatingly painful though.

On and on it went for the next week or so. And then, one night...

Izuku shook his head and pulled himself out of his thoughts as he arrived at his destination: the local cemetery. Making his way through the gate, Izuku made his way through the rows and rows of graves, until, finally, he arrived at the one he was looking for.

Here Lies Inko Midoriya

Loving Mother and Dear Friend to Many

Survived By Her Son, Izuku Midoriya

Izuku blinked a couple times as he looked at the grave in front of him, which was covered in flowers and cards, some of which were from Kaachan. Izuku was admittedly surprised, he didn't think that Kaachan cared for anything but himself. The green haired boy knelt before his mother's grave, and pulled back his hood, a small, sad smile on his face. "Hey, Mom... I'm home. Sorry, I haven't been visiting, but... well, let's just say that I was in a... bad place, emotionally. But, someone helped me find my way out of it. They helped give me the skills I need to find out who did this to you, and get justice for what they did. I swear it on your grave," said Izuku, a hint of anger in his voice as he spoke.

He remembered that night all too well. A fight had broken out in his neighborhood between a hero and a villain, it was pitch black, so he couldn't be certain which hero or villain. His mother had been killed in the chaotic struggle, having used her body to shield him from harm, and his apartment building had been destroyed.

If anything could have broken Izuku, it was losing his mother. To make matters worse, once the smoke cleared and his mother had been interred, no one wanted to take Izuku into their care, not even the local orphanage, something that Izuku suspected was the result of his being Quirkless. For days, he had to wander the streets with nothing more than the clothes on his back, doing everything and anything he could to survive. More than once he had wanted to take the advice that Kaachan had once given him and take a swan dive off the roof of a building. And yet, despite this, Izuku still carried on, his own stubborn will refusing to allow him to take his own life. And so, for almost a month, Izuku's new, miserable existence continued.

However, everything changed when he stumbled across Knuckleduster doing vigilante work one night. He hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from the spectacle. Once the fight was over, Knuckleduster caught sight of Izuku, and offered to take him out to eat. Desperate for a decent meal, Izuku agreed.

As they ate, Izuku told the Knuckleduster his story. Once he had finished, the vigilante had offered to take Izuku under his wing and train him as a vigilante, no questions asked, an offer to which Izuku agreed.

During his training, Izuku came to realize that heroes had a tendency to only answer the calls of those who cried out for a savior when the media was around, or when the crime was massive enough. Some crimes seemed just too small for Pro Heroes to be worth bothering with. Izuku couldn't believe it. He had actually wanted to be one of these media-grabbing glory seekers, thinking as so many others did that heroes helped people regardless of circumstance. How blinding the rose tinted glasses were.

Which was why Izuku vowed that whenever anyone, and he meant anyone, cried out for a savior, and the so-called heroes were too busy showboating to pay those people any mind, he would answer their cries.

Izuku sighed, shaking himself out of his memories. "Well, I gotta go, Mom. I have a lot of things I need to take care of before I can start my search. I gotta find a place to set up shop and lay my head down. Thankfully, I have a place in mind that should work out nicely for a hideout. I'll come back and visit again soon, I promise," he said as he got up off his knees and made his way out of the graveyard.

Now then... which way is Raxus Scrapyard from here? I remember there being a foundry nearby that should work for a base of operations for my vigilantism, Izuku thought to himself as he made his way into the city.

Abandoned Raxus Ironworks Foundry-A Short Time Later...

As the sun began to set, Izuku found himself standing in front of an abandoned steel mill and foundry, looking at it with a discerning eye.

Yes... yes, I like this place, thought Izuku as he ventured deeper into the foundry grounds, passing through a rusting metal gate through a gap in the side as he continued looking around the foundry and made his way into the building where the faculty offices were located. Yes, this will work splendidly for a base of operations. Plus, the Raxus Scrapyard is right across the road, so I can get any additional materials that I need from there. Now then... Izuku thought before setting the duffle bag on the ground and opening it, revealing what looked like protective gear, a pair of iron rods, a variety of chemicals, and a grapple claw of some kind.

Let's get started.

...

As the sun disappeared and the moon rose up to take its place, Izuku had used the chemicals he had brought with him to craft an adhesive substance designed to at least temporarily bind and restrain enemy combatants, that he then proceeded to pour into small capsules that went off at the push of the button, silently thanking his foresight to craft the capsules before returning to Mustafu from Naruhata, same for the shuriken he had brought with him as well. However, the fact remained that he would have to sort out his electricity problem as soon as possible if he wanted to keep his supplies stocked up.

Once his glue grenades were ready, Izuku, now topless with his toned physique on full display, grabbed ahold of his two metal rods and began practicing combat with them, sometimes even combining them together to form a bo-staff.

Finally, as midnight drew near, sweat pouring down his body, Izuku closed his eyes and took deep breathes to control his heartbeat and cool down. The time had come at last. It was finally time to begin his first patrol as Mustafu's newest (and as far as he knew, only) vigilante.

Payback.

And thus concludes the opening chapter! If you liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and join us next time as Payback begins his first patrol of the city! See you then!