[Exemplary] A Promise of "All Might"

[All Might]

"We have a room available if you need it, uh, sir, but are you sure you don't want to go someplace more expensive? I mean, you're a Prime, aren't you? You could probably stay at a fancy Tier-Two hotel with nothing but what you make by breathing."

"It's more than sufficient for my purposes!" All Might said happily.

"Don't you think you're overpaying me?" the manager of the place, practically human, but for the orange skin and bright red hair, asked.

"Nonsense man, I'm just trying to give back to the community!" All Might left the man behind, heading into his new apartment. Letting out a sigh, the perpetual grin slid off his face as he relaxed, and he let himself fall into a massive bean-bag chair. It felt good to have a place to call his own in the city. It was in the heart of the red light district of his particular quarter of Tier five. Gang presence was visible and had a potency everywhere he looked. There were very few shops that weren't marked were the ones in the worst shape. Broken windows, scratched doors, and the signs of recent repairs of things even worse. 

It would stop, All Might decided. He would make it stop. 

Getting up out of his bean bag chair, the superhero walked over to his window, looking out over the street below. He took in the smells, the sounds, of a living, breathing, city. A city choked by fear, by poverty, by crime. When those of Tier Five thought about who was in charge, they didn't think of Emperor Palpatine sitting amongst gleaming steel spires and surrounded by space marines and storm troopers. Although it was hardly better- at least it was stable. These people, when they thought about the people in charge, they thought about the gangs.

The Westside Coalition. The Gentlemen Jacks. The Gastropoda. The Lotus. The board of directors. And dozens of no-name and small-time groups of punks who have decided to resort to violence to either get their bread on the table, or for kicks. The group he had demolished yesterday was one such nameless pack of scavengers. 

It reminded him far too much of the Japan of his youth. While the Yakuza were still around- and the Villain Alliance. In his youth it had been so much worse. Sensei's coalition of supervillains, teenagers with nasty quirks giving into the temptation of running free and unchecked. While it seemed most people in this world were Quirkless, the Omniverse had a way of leveling the scales more-or-less. 

He had received a paper cut, in his muscle form. It wasn't harmful in any way- but he was practically invulnerable before. It took an opponent with a very rare degree of super strength to even break his skin in his prime. Crashing into buildings, being hit by knives, bullets, or having incredibly heavy objects dropped onto him- in his prime, he had nothing to fear for any of them. 

Not so in the Omniverse. He wasn't invulnerable, nor indestructible... but he was unkillable, according to Omni. That papercut had been a significant moment for him, something that put everything into perspective. 

He was a shadow of what All Might had been. 

He was strong- but there were stronger. He was fast- and there might be faster. He was tough- but there were certainly tougher.

"All Might" he said to himself, quietly. The name itself was more than just something catchy to be called. It was a promise. A promise that he would always succeed. That the public could put their trust in him, and that he would not let them down.

But as he was now... he couldn't keep that promise. At best, he could fight until he died, and then come back a week later and try and scavenge things. He wouldn't give up, he knew himself better than that. Until he learned of a place worse-off than Coruscant's lower Tiers, where he actually felt he could help, he knew he'd be there. He had determination, and his showing from the last night proved to himself that he could handle the lesser gangs without too much of an issue. 

But until he was all powerful, strong enough to be the Symbol of Peace for the city, for the Omniverse, he didn't deserve the title. 

With a deep sigh of regret, he peeled his costume off his body, and summoned a locked box to keep it in. 


He set the box down, and walked naked into his bathroom, staring at his chest, and trying to think of what kind of Symbol to display. If he was being honest with himself, he had been trying to be Superman. He was red, gold, and a lot of blue. He had a belt, it was skin-tight. But it worked. It fit. It was exactly what a country onset with supervillains needed in order to find hope again. 

But he couldn't be that man any more. Not until he was stronger, far stronger than he was now. Not until anything that tried to threaten the city found itself beaten back with overwhelming force. Only then would he be All Might. 

Right now, all he could offer the city was a Batman... but considering that there were storm troopers running around and his hotel's manager looked Tamaranean, there might very well already be a Batman in this city. But all the same!

Now, let's see... what shouts "Batman"? 

The first thought to pass his mind made him smile. He didn't approve of Vigilantes in modern Japan, as a matter of principle. But he acknowledged that they were a necessity, in a world before official Heroes. They were Heroes when no one else was. In the Omniverse, vigilantes like them would be just the right ticket. 

Besides, the man he was thinking of, he knew would approve. 

Yes, as a temporary costume, this would do fine. Simplistic- but to the point. The mask he would do without. (His hair would just make it look weird.) And the dark blue-green of the jacket reminded him of Izuku. 

For his name... Might. He would promote himself back to his full name when he was able to meet the promise of "All Might", but until then, the Hero Might will bring justice back to the lower Tiers, one punch at a time!