[Exemplary] A Promise of "All Might"

[All Might]

The group advanced on a bar that was known to be frequented by the Ork Waryorrz, Skullcleaner in particular had been sighted here semi-regularly, at least according to Murasaki's sources. 

"So, what's the plan San Yi?" Might asked, looking over the gathered men. Many were going in with just their fists, while others carried blunt weapons, or swords. Not any guns, that he could see. He approved. 

"We'll give them the chance to apologize, and make it up to us. They promise to leave the neighborhood around Mantis Karate alone, and to not go picking any more fights with us. We believe them, and we go. We don't believe them, or they don't even try... we start a fight."

"Inside the bar?" Might asked, "Do they own it?"

"They might as well. Their symbol is on it." San Yi said, but he tensed, "...We'll offer to take it outside, but I don't think they'll give us the chance."

"Hm." Might looked to Gynoid, "Go around the other end, to the back, wait-" he looked to San Yi, "-for my signal, then start getting the staff out."

The Gynoid nodded, Krid and Panda, whoever was piloting her on the other side, should be able to hear everything the robot hears. She darted off, disappearing behind the bar. 

"Let's go." San Yi ordered. "Wu, Murasaki, Might, I want you behind me."

"Of course Boss." Ding Wu said, falling into step, the ninja did so silently, and Might smiled nervously, before awkwardly standing between the two of them. 

"Okay." San Yi said, breathing in deeply, before letting out the breath, "SKULLCLEANER!" he roared, barging in. Might waited for Ding Wu and Murasaki to go in first.

The voices in the bar began to roil up as the customers, mostly large orcs in biker gear, all bearing a yellow bandanna somewhere on their bodies, began to mutter to each other. 

One orc, a truly massive one, with yellowed tusks, bright yellow eyes, and mostly green skin, except for a single yellow stripe that seemed to cut the ork in half, starting beneath his short black hair, and running down his forehead, his nose, all the way down his chest, was absolutely silent. 

As Might bent down so as to not hit the door frame- a door built for orcs, the rest of the bar became just as silent. 

San Yi walked forwards, narrowing his eyes, "Which one of you is Yellowband Skullcleaner?" San Yi asked, his voice gruff. He made a show of looking around, ignoring the clear leader of the group. 

The massive orc, Skullcleaner, stood up, dragging with him a huge gun. The gun wasn't a work of art by any means, at its center was a large Crackler, an electric blue globe of mana, barely contained within a scorched-black metal frame with a trigger attached to it. It was a gun that told whoever was looking at it that whoever was holding it likely had never heard the word 'restraint'. 

"Thaht'd be me, hyuman." Skullcleaner grunted, "What'd you want?" 

"Not too long ago, you burnt down a martial arts school because they wouldn't pay your protection racket."

"Meh, I burn down a lot of things. Lot of people too." Skullcleaner smiled, his tusks making the grin even wider than Might's, "What is it to you?"

"That dojo wasn't in your territory, orc." San Yi growled, "Every Martial Arts dojo on Tier Five is under our protection!"

"And who you?"

"We're the Floating Lotus Posse." San Yi said proudly, turning halfway and gesturing to his back, "And we demand recompense."

"Recompense?"

"You'll fund the rebuilding of Mantis Karate." San Yi ordered, "Your men will leave the neighborhood alone, and you'll steer far away from any building bearing our mark. You do that, this can be the end of it."

"I don't listen to no Flower Pussies." Skullcleaner said, to a few chuckles among his gang, "What if I don't want it to be the end of it?"

"Then we'll have a problem. You killed a friend of mine, and struck at something we promised to protect. There... will be consequences."

"Heh, you want to hear about consequences, hyuman? Okay, I can do that. There is a consequence for interruptin' our evenin'. There is a consequence for talkin' down to me. There is consequences, for trying to order us around, and consequence for bein' in our neighborhood, and my bar." Skullcleaner raised his gun, "Get out, now."

"No."

"Fine." he fired. The Burner erupted with blue-hot energy, spewing forth in a ball towards the four men. 

"HWWWAAAA A A  A    A     C      H     A         A           A!!!" Ding Wu screamed, leaping into the air to kick away the ball, causing both himself and the crackling sphere of death to slow nearly to a stand-still. Might, San, and Murasaki quickly got out of the way, as time resumed upon impact, Ding Wu's kick sending the fireball launching straight up, into the rafters of the orc bar. 

The kung fu practioner hissed with pain as he clutched at his scorched ankle, before raising his hands towards two other orcs. 

Murasaki was there one moment, and gone the next. The purple-clad ninja held his fists together, two fingers raised toward his face, before vanishing in a puff of smoke. 

A moment later, he was behind an orc who had been reaching for his own gun. A hypo-shiv was brought down into the orc's shoulder, and the green giant slumped to the ground in short order. The ninja spun around, tossing more hypo-shivs out to other orcs getting up. 

San Yi growled, before throwing himself towards Skullcleaner, fists raised. He dodged another Burner shot, jumping to the side before Skullcleaner touched the trigger, letting the fireball explode behind him. He launched into the air, spinning as he did so, and unleashed a jump-kick into the face of the orc.

Skullcleaner took a step back, blinking furiously, and firing his Burner twice on instinct. San Yi could get out of the way easily enough, his foresight keeping him out of the way. 

"GYNOID! GET THEM OUT!" Might shouted, before rearing back his fist. More and more orcs were jumping from their seats, and he had seen enough from their leader to erase any feelings of guilt in bringing the place down. One of the orcs had almost reached him, readying a knife, when Might's smile turned sharp, "Detroit Smash!" his fist shot forward in a blink, his fist burying itself in the orc's huge chest, before rippling out in a shockwave. 

The orc was flung backwards at high speed, crashing into two of his fellows before slamming into the wall, an angry red and violet welt covering his chest, where the imprint of a fist was marked. The shockwave had shoved five more of his opponents down as well, and Might stepped forward. He shook one hand to get the pins-and-needles feeling out of it, before reaching over and grabbing one of his downed opponents. Taking the orc by the ankles, he began to swing the lughead around, before letting go and sending him crashing into two more orcs. 

San Yi kicked the Burner in Skullcleaner's hands, but the orc had a strong grip, however, being forced to duck meant that he didn't see Ding Wu coming. The kung fu artist only slightly slowed the three of them as his fists rang out, slamming into Skullcleaner's back over and over. The orc let go of his gun with one hand, swinging the crackling metal monstrosity at Ding Wu. The martial artist leaped into the air, trying to get over it in time, and San Yi helped out by grabbing the orc's free hand, and yanking him to the side. 

Skullcleaner roared with rage as his swing missed, embedding his gun into the bartender's counter, the Burner ripping through the wood and getting stuck. San Yi hung onto his hand, and dragged it back behind the orc, and began to push, trying to pin down the giant. 

But it would take more than that. 

Skullcleaner with a grunt of effort pulled his hand forward, slamming San Yi into the hard floor of the bar, before attempting to kick Ding Wu away. The kung fu master stepped back out of range, but watched nervously as the orc turned his attention on his boss. The orc reached back to his gun, and pulled the trigger. Blue fire erupted around the embedded gun. He pulled it again, another wave of heat. Soon, enough of the wooden counter was immolated for the orc to pull the weapon free.

He pulled the steel contraption from the charcoal he had made of the counter, and aimed it towards San Yi's head. "See you in hell, hyuman." Skullcleaner growled, shoving the edge of the 'barrel' of his gun against San Yi's forehead. The martial artist hissed as the red-hot metal met skin, and struggled to get away. 

"Not so fast." Murasaki whispered behind Skullcleaner. The hyposhiv found itself in the orc's neck, and out of instinct, the orc kicked directly behind him. Murasaki folded around the orc's foot, and was sent flying into the wall, only for Akane to appear from nowhere, catching her teacher before he could hit the wall. More martial artists began streaming into the bar, hearing the sounds of fighting. Men jump-kicked their way through open windows and onto shocked orcs.

Might frowned as chaos took the bar, men and orcs were just about everywhere. Guns began going off, fireballs flinging themselves this way and that across the open bar, erupting on tables, walls, windows, and people. Might watched a kung fu practioner launch himself over an orc and collide feet-first with another, while that orc's buddy stabbed a ninja, who had only become visible once the knife was buried in his chest. 

Doing a simple regular punch, he knocked an orc out, before throwing him out a window. 

"Might!" San Yi hissed, in pain, and the superhero focused on the gang boss and the biker leader, and the gun up against his head. 

He grit his teeth, and slapped his foot against the floor hard enough to leave an imprint, before pushing himself through the chaos. He simply started running, crossing his arms in front of him, orcs and martial artists alike were bashed to the side as he shot across the bar, his arms began to crackle with power. 

One for All!

"Carolina Smash!!!"

He crashed into the massive orc- a being even larger than he was! -and brought his cross-chop down across the creature's chest. The edged shockwave that erupted from his hands as they passed in an 'X' shape across the orc's chest left a deep, bloody groove. 

Skullcleaner roared with rage as he backed up, clutching his new wound, and dragging his gun away from San Yi and towards Might. He fired, but Might used Burst Movement to dodge to the side, before reaching towards the orc and grabbing the weapon with his bare hands. 

"Let go!" Skullcleaner yelled, furious, only to drop his own weapon in fear as he heard the horrible metallic crunch. Might squeezed the Burner, ignoring the heat, ignoring the furious buzzing of the Crackler Mana orb inside the gun. 

He crushed it. 

And it exploded. 

Laughing with triumph, Might was sent careening backwards, bowling over several brawlers of both races as he went. San Yi, who had been trapped on the floor, groaned in pain as he got up, his short spiky hair and mustache standing at end, live with energy. 

And Skullcleaner... well, he wouldn't have to worry about closing the cuts Might had given him. They had been cauterized properly, now. The orc was in a great deal of pain. 

Now, there were many kinds of orcs in the Omniverse. Some were monstrous creatures barely more intelligent than a bonobo, who would fly into a barbarous rage at the slightest insult. Some were basically a human, but with greener skin and sharper teeth. Most fell somewhere in the middle. 

Skullcleaner was one of the rare few firmly set on the 'barbarian rage' end of the scale. 

Pulling himself free of the wall, he screamed pure hatred, barreling forwards towards Might, fists raised. One of his underlings smiled, shoving Might forward with one hand, and tossing a wicked looking blade to his boss. Even in the midst of his rage, Skullcleaner reached out and grabbed it, his expression of fury replaced, for an instant, with sadistic glee. The blade was what happened when a medical saw decided it would rather be a scimitar. 

Skullcleaner roared as he brought the sword down on Might's shoulder, and dragged it downwards. Might grit his teeth and bore through the pain, before reaching up and clutching the orc's head. He yanked his arm back, nearly tripping the orc, before jerking it forward again. The orc took a few steps back, gagging and dizzy, and Might leaped back into the fight, giving a sharp punch to the biker's gut. 

San Yi got up from where he had been lying on the floor, and seeing what was happening, he grinned wide. He began to charge towards the orc's exposed back, before taking a flying leap. "Floating Lotus Taekwondo!" he screamed, before crashing into the orc's back at full strength, all of his weight directed into the blow. 

At the same moment, Might delivered an uppercut to the orc's jaw. 

Yellowband Skullcleaner's eyes rolled up into his head, and he fell to the ground, still. The fire raged around them, but the rest of the fighting slowed to a crawl at the impact of the orc hitting the floor. 

"Everyone!" Gynoid shouted from outside a window, "Out of the building! It's going to collapse!" the female robot stepped through, grabbing two unconscious karate students, and carrying them back out. 

"You heard the lady!" San Yi growled, coughing a bit, "Out! Out! Everyone out! If you can walk, grab someone who can't!"

Orcs and humans began to spill out the shattered windows and the broken-open doors. Might bent down to grab Skullcleaner, but the orc groaned, and slapped away the hand. "Hyuman! I... I'll get out on my own. I'm fine. You bastards dint' do a dam thing."

Might narrowed his eyes, "Your back-"

San Yi sighed, grabbing the orc under his shoulder, and pushing him to his feet. "See?" San Yi said, "He's fine." he let go, and the orc remained standing, looking defiantly down on both gang boss and superhero. He even took a proud step towards Might, as if daring him to push back and see how he could stand on his own. 

Might looked between them suspiciously, "...Fine." he said, sighing, before he kicked off the floor, escaping through an open window. 

San Yi turned towards the orc, his eyes full of hate, "...I hope you know, that wasn't for you. That was for Mantis."

"Why you care 'bout the bug guy anyway? He wasn't hyuman."

"No. But he was a Martial Artist." San Yi growled, "And you killed him." Akane appeared, no longer invisible, as she let go of the orc, who began to swing his arms, trying to keep his balance without her invisible support. San Yi punched him in the chest, sending the orc toppling over, hitting the floor.  

"Can't move my legs anymore." the orc sighed, "S'good you're letting me die. The other Waryorrz... I don' want them to look at me sad. I can't stand that, looking at orcs who can't fight no more. You're a good one, for that, hyuman."

"Like I said, I didn't do it for you. If that guy rescued you, Mantis wouldn't get his revenge."

"Either way. Thanks. Tell my boys I decided to stay in, 'kay?"

"...Sure. Might could respect that, I think. Come on, Akane. Thank you for that, though. Quick thinking." The kunoichi nodded, and then promptly vanished once more, sinking into San Yi's own shadow. 

With that, San Yi turned his back, and punched his way through one of the walls. The bar collapsed into flames behind him. 

Might was standing there, watching him. "Where's Skullcleaner?"

"I tried to get him to come out, but he said he wanted to stay there. As recognition of our victory. He died... like a warrior. It was a better death than he gave Master Mantis!" he said this loudly, for them all to hear. "And it's the Lotus way, to allow a warrior to die a warrior's death." 

Might looked at the flames. 

"Either way... it's too late for him now. It's what he wanted, Might." San Yi clapped his hand on the hero's back, before turning towards the rest of the gathered brawlers, injured or otherwise. "How many wounded, Akane?"

"Nearly everyone's got something. I have two ninja in critical condition, and another from the Tigerhead Gym might die."

San Yi nodded, "And the orcs?"

The orcs were, mostly, either trying to sneak off, or were watching their bar burn down with a look of anger. One of the orcs, a woman with larger-than-normal tusks and an eyepatch, turned towards San Yi. "...We've all got injured. Five nearly dead." she looked to the bar, before glaring back at the boss of the Posse, "...One really dead."

"You killed our Master Mantis first." San Yi said. "...We're even. We have recompense."

"We won't forget this, you know." she growled, "Yellowband was respected, he was friends with a few other of the Ork Waryorrz and-"

"Then you can tell them that I allowed him a warrior's death."

"I will come after you, then." she growled. 

"And who are you?"

"Igon Skullcleaner." she hissed, "And I will see you dead, flower man."

"Hm. Well, that's all right." San Yi turned his back, and began walking off. "If you ever want to fight, Floating Lotus Taekwondo is in the center of the city. If you come alone, I will too. I'll honor every challenge made against me."

"Fine!" Igon hissed, before turning to go. She walked over to one of the motorcycles, before thinking better of it. She pushed over the bike, and instead went to the largest of the bikes, one painted bright yellow, while most of the other orcs only had a stripe. She climbed on, and started it. "Come on!" she growled at the others, "Let's get these bastards somewhere they can heal!"

Might watched the orcs go, before turning to glare at San Yi. "You let that man die."

"He wanted to."

"His spine- it was broken. You broke it... no, we broke it. How did he stand?"

San Yi didn't glance down at his shadow, where the female ninja was still hidden. He simply looked Might in the eye, "Manly determination, probably."

Might sighed, "Come on! Let's get your people to the nearest hospital."

As the group began returning to their vehicles, Might helped the Gynoid into her seat. "...So, boys, about your terms of service."

"We only saved about six people." Gynoid said. He couldn't tell whether it was Panda, or Krid, who said it. "The cooks, you know."

"No. You saved more than that. If you hadn't warned us, a lot of us would have been in there when it came down. Consider yourselves both free men, if you want."

Gynoid's expression didn't change, but Might waited all the same, sensing. His smile became more than just a show for the first time that night, if he was guessing right- 

"Would it... be alright if we kept doing what we've been doing? You know, helping people? Maybe we could use Gynoid to help people- she's tougher than us at least, so-"

Might nodded, "I would love that. Krid, Panda, my boys! You're well on your way to being superheroes! Tonight... wasn't a good night, but we shall see if the orcs learn the reality of 'consequences' that the Lotus were trying to teach. I don't think San Yi is an evil man, despite what happened tonight." Might smiled, "I think we can change the Lotus into something heroic. I'd very much like the both of you to help me to that end!"

"Of course." Gynoid said. 

---

In the days that followed, Might recovered from his wounds, and considered what he wanted to do. Krid and Panda were really getting into the idea of being a superhero. Almost every night, Gynoid would go out running with him, sometimes seeking out and stopping crimes herself, with the guidance of his two sidekicks from the safety of their lab. He had even made arrangements at a local dojo for the two of them to begin learning karate, so that they could someday go out heroing under their own power. But for now, they were still saving lives with Gynoid. 

However, when the question of 'what to do' in the future came up, Might was at a loss. He had helped shut down a division of a major gang... but only with the help of San Yi. He needed other heroes, to make a real difference. He knew he had gotten stronger during the time he had spent in the city, but it was slow-going. He wasn't sure he would ever reach his old levels of strength. 

But where to look for other heroes? If they were on Tier Five, he would have heard of them, wouldn't he? The answer came in the form of a Dataverse alert. He had simply been browsing online, when he came across a name that made him pause. 

The longer he had gone without contact with the fountain, the less memories he had of... specific things. He knew that he had felt suspicious of the stormtroopers because of a movie he had seen in his old world- but now it seemed that he couldn't remember anything from it. A lot of the memories from his old life had faded, slightly. 

And when he saw the symbol, he had felt it. That same foggy feeling of something the Omniverse... was trying to hide from him. But it couldn't hide all of it. It was too important to him. 

When he saw that symbol, he thought of something else. He was reminded of blue and red and white around a star. Of the idea of 'Hero', of the symbol of peace he wished to become as a child, and the basis of why he had made it reality. 

He couldn't remember much of his favorite comic books as a kid, since coming to the Omniverse. No spoilers, he supposed.  

But he remembered that they existed.

And when he saw that symbol...

He felt he could trust it implicitly. It was, like he used to be... 

A symbol of Peace.

All Might knew what he wanted to do next... but how to get out of Coruscant? And when he did find the Avengers, how would he bring them back to help deal with the gangs?

Hm. Either way, they were goals for the future. For now, he would continue his patrols, and fight the crime of the city bit by bit. 

He looked up from his dataverse device, when he heard a scream from outside the window. He was needed once more. As he leaped outside, he made a promise. A promise that, should he leave, he would someday return, as a true hero. That when he left, the next time he appeared, he would be All Might, and he would bring other heroes with him, and together, they would fix this city, end the gangs, bring peace.

It was his second promise of "All Might".