[Exemplary] A Promise of "All Might"

[All Might]

The police officer looked at the Toydarian held securely in the massive man's hands, and the pile of very clearly illegal weapon pieces in the other.

Any sane man's first instinct, in this situation, would be to open fire? Or at least threaten a bit, shout to "Stay back!" that sort of thing. 

But Might made any situation strange. 

He was seven foot three inches of pure muscle. He was wearing a bright blue-green. He had bright blonde hair, and a disarming, constantly overjoyed smile. He had asked quite politely at the front desk to be let in, that he'd like to report a crime and hand over a criminal, and not knowing what else to do in this situation, she had simply sent him along the way. 

"..." the officer stared up at him.

"Ah! I recognize you, the robbery a night ago, correct? Thank you for being so understanding!"

"...You're All Might, aren't you?"

The hero flinched, "Err... I go by just "Might" now, actually." 

"...You know you're a wanted man, right? Wanted Dead or Banished. As an officer of the law, I should be bringing you in right now. Just because you changed your name and put on some different clothes doesn't make you a new man... and even if it did, I saw your bit of vigilanteism... sure, you got the hostages out alright, but you got yourself shot, and you took justice into your own hands. What did you do with the other two perps?"

"I've put them to better use."

"What, did you eat them or something?"

"What?! NO! Of course not, is that... just something that happens in the Omniverse?"

The officer shrugged, "Primes." he said with word with more than a little disgust, "You really never know what you're going to get. That Omni's a sadistic little bastard, you know? Unleashing monster after fucking monster into the world with godlike power and watching how things play out." the officer glared at All Might, "I've investigated vampire serial killers. There are orks with plasma cannons shooting up neighborhoods. If I go down towards the Westside you'll see kids with toy weapons- that can summon fucking lightnin'bolts."

Might stood there, his smile seeming less overjoyed and more trying to push through the awkwardness. 

"Unfortunately... because I've seen all these things, I can tell, despite what you're doing... you're probably one of the good ones, aren't you?" the officer sighed, "For every... I don't know, three monsters from the pits of hell, there's one or two goody-two-shoes saints or just plain weirdos that pop out from the fountain. You're one of those."

"I... well, if that's the alternative, I'd much rather be called a weirdo than a monster." Might admitted. 

The officer shook his head, "When dealing with Primes, you gotta work around them. I know, and you know, that if I tried arresting you, we'd be dealing with some dead bodies at worst, and some extreme property damage at best, with you long-gone. So... as long as you stay on the side of angels, we can keep this... thing... going. Ain't going to help you when bounty hunters start going after you though."

"Thank you for your understanding." Might said gratefully. 

"This is all fun and great and everything, but I'm tired of this dumb jock's sweaty hands holding my head in a cage." the toydarian muttered, "Now, are you going to let me go or what?"

The officer looked drily at him, "What did he do, supposedly?"

"He's a smuggler, and a black market arms seller. He gets stolen components from... someone, on Tier Six, and then builds his own weapons and sells them for five times what the components were worth."

"It's a living." the toydarian said with a shrug, "On the other hand, this jerk blew up my house. Where am I gonna live, eh? I make guns, yeah, so? Who doesn't? It's not my fault people want to buy illegal things! I don't make em'. You can't get addicted to guns can you?" the toydarian harrumphed, glaring at the both of them, "You want overboard? Just think about what this guy did to my freaking house! That's gotta be worse than selling guns, right?"

"Did you pay taxes on that house? Was it registered with the Imperial code?" the officer asked. 

"Ehhhh, not as such, no."

"Then you can't do much about it. Assault, maybe, vigilanteism, sure. Handling illegal components is something I could hit both of you with." the officer said, sitting back in the chair, "Except I've already made it clear that not much will stick to this one... I have a feeling I can keep you in a cell just fine." the officer said, pointing a finger at the toydarian. 

"I'll leave him in your capable hands then." Might said, before turning off to go, "Ah! The address to his house-" Might reached into his jacket, pulling free a business card. The opposite side was blank, however, and he wrote down the address on it. He handed it to the officer, and was out of the station in a flash. 

Lieutenant Mangas Oakes sighed to himself, before looking at the small, bugwinged alien. "...Well, come on then. Let's show you to your new room, hm?"

"...Fine. I heard the grub at the prison wasn't too bad anyway." 

Oakes turned the card over, and raised an eyebrow at the Communicator Number. 

---

NEED HELP? 

DO YOU NEED TO BE REMOVED FROM A BAD SITUATION?

ARE YOU AWARE OF A CRIME TOO DANGEROUS FOR THE POLICE?

MIGHT! SUPERHERO AGENCY 

IS JUST A CALL AWAY. GUARANTEE 24/7 CALL ACCEPTANCE. ABSOLUTELY FREE

HELP ME HELP YOU

A FIST FOR THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO FIGHT ON THEIR OWN

###-####-####

---

Panda was on the computer when Might returned to the apartment he had bought. "I found the weapons dealer." Might announced, the young man looked up from the screen, before sighing and turning back towards it. 

"...I can see you're not very enthusiastic about our new set up." Might said. 

"No shit, man." Panda growled, looking up at Might, "Save nine people's lives- how? You want us to be your secretaries, right? Guide you around town, tell you stuff, answer the calls in case anyone reads those stupid cards."

"...I figured I'd train you two from the bottom up as sidekicks-"


"Oh god."

"What?"

"A sidekick? That's so lame!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nobody wants to be a sidekick!"

"Fine, fine, how about... apprentice hero? Young Justice!"

"I... that sounds a little better I guess." Might slapped him lightly on the back. 

"See! Now, you'll start off doing the secretary stuff, sure, and if you do something via the telephone or find some important piece of information that saves someone's life, well, that counts! It won't be too hard, honestly!" Might said, pointing towards him, and then shifting his hand into a thumbs-up, "And just think about what it means. At least nine people, who would have died if not for something you did. Being a real hero! And for as long as you're with the Might Agency, I'll be taking care of all your expenses! I'm not sure about you, but that sounds like an okay deal to me!"

"I... I guess."

"So, where's your friend, Krid?"

"He's off looking for trouble."

"Mm." Might pulled out his Communicator, flipping it open and calling the third member of his newborn agency. 

<Who is this?>

"This is Might!" he declared, "Anything of interest?"

<...Maybe. Depends how serious you want to get.>

"Oh?"

<The orc mafia are planning something serious, or, at the very least, they've been really active, and absolutely everywhere. Something kicked the hornets nest.>

"I'll have to keep an eye out."

<Another thing- the Westside Coalition, do you know them?>

"Only vaguely, I'll admit." Might said, "Why?"

<Word is that a new gang has taken up residence in Little New York. Called Gentleman Jacks, apparently they destroyed most of the Metalheads and have been taking over their turf. People are already making noise about them. The Westside is already the biggest allied group for miles around, and they're in contact.>

"Hm..."

<I haven't seen much of anything else- no, like, robberies in progress or anything. Just rumors mainly. People are getting worried.>

"Good work, Krid. Keep your ear to the ground. Don't be afraid to call me the moment you see anything!"

<Got it.>

He hung up the Communicator, clacking it shut, "What do you think Panda? The Westside, the Jacks, or the Orcs?"

"Can't you... stick to street crime? Like me and Krid? Why go after the gangs? I mean, you're tough, sure, but there are other Primes in the gangs."

"I can't abide by organized crime." Might said coldly, "It goes against everything I stand for. People like you and Krid, that girl that I saved from the police... you're kids. And even if you weren't, you were still just people making a bad decision. A really bad decision. One that hurt people... but still just one bad decision. You aren't irredeemable by any means. I believe everyone makes mistakes... but organized crime?" Might looked out the window, "It's not a random decision. It's not applied by pressure, or disease... if you're part of a gang, you're supporting it. Gangsters aren't being pressured by society into having to resort to crime, they're people who looked at society, scoff at its rules, and decide to abuse them." Might curled his fist, "People realizing they can use violence against their fellow men to get what they want, with the full understanding of what they're doing. It's poisonous. It's toxic." Might said, "And I'm going to rid this city of it, somehow."

---

"Well?"

"Shootup by the Ork Warryorrz."

"Argh!" San Yi smashed his fist against the desk, "DAMN IT." 

"I can get together maybe eighteen guys, within an hour or two." Murasaki said quietly to his boss, "We can go right over there, and pay em' back twofold."

"The Orcs have been building strength lately." San Yi muttered. "The Orcs, the Westside, these new guys who think they're in the thirties or something... If we throw our hat into the ring right now, it might just make things worse. We don't have the manpower to keep watch over every single one of our territories. If we pay em' back, bloody their noses, they'll come right back and mess up even more of our neighborhoods. These people expect protection from us, what do we tell them once we drag a whole war on their heads?"

"If we're harsh enough-"

"Orcs don't understand 'harsh enough'." San Yi growled, "They fight until they die, and they don't die until they've ruined everything around them."

"We can't just let them get away with it." Ding hissed, grabbing the newspaper and pulling it open, glaring at the image. The building was in bad shape, the walls had been scorched black, the ceiling had holes burned through it, smoke appearing from the building.

Mantis Karate. 

It wasn't one of their main bases. But it was still theirs. San Yi had visited in person. He had personally bested the top three students of the school, and when the chief instructor, an anthropomorphic mantis, still refused him, San Yi had fought him. It had been a fun afternoon, and a profitable one. More than one of his regular recruits had been pulled from Mantis.

Fucking kids went to the school. It was Lotus- so it did its part, they hid a few drugs, they had a space in their basement in case anyone bearing the flower showed up needing to lay low.

The Lotus had a reputation to uphold...

But he wasn't sure if he could handle things on his own. He trusted his men, sure. He probably had the best fighters in the city under his banner, in hand-to-hand at least. Unfortunately, that didn't count much against sheer numbers with firearms to back them up. And the fact of the matter was- the Floating Lotus Posse were picky. They were particular. The men who saw San Yi and decided to follow him just tended to be the type who would scoff when handed a gun. Some of his members wouldn't even carry weapons at all. They were a bunch of prideful martial artists, and San Yi wouldn't have loved them as much if they weren't. The Omniverse being what it was made things a little better. 

On San Yi's original world, people... just tended not to carry guns. His was a world where problems were solved with fists- all kinds of problems by all kinds of people. He had seen middle school girls scoff as guns were pulled on them, and deflect bullets with fists. It was just that kind of shonen-genre world. 

But he knew from just talking with others that most worlds weren't like that. Guns killed fast, and there wasn't much a human could do in the face of one. If a group of skilled martial artists challenged a group of thugs with rifles, on most worlds, you'd have to be an idiot to even consider that the guys showing up to a gunfight empty-handed would possibly win. 

The Omniverse was somewhere in the middle. 

What all this meant, in simplicity however, was that if the Floating Lotus tried to get the orcs back for Mantis Karate, there was a good chance he'd lose a lot of decent people... It wasn't as if the orcs had even directly challenged them. It had been an impersonal, accidental act of destruction. The orcs technically encompassed the territory around Mantis Karate, and had torched it simply because the Chief Instructor refused to pay protection money to both the orcs and the Lotus. 

The Instructor, likely, thought this would mean the Orkz would go to look for the Lotus, and San Yi would gather his men in a show of strength, show the orcs the place really wasn't worth the trouble. 

Instead, they put a flaming blue projectile through his exoskeleton, and did the same to the entire building. Right there. In front of the man's damn students.

San Yi was livid. 

"Maybe not all-out war, San." Murasaki said quietly, "I can take Akane, and a few of my quieter students, and we'll have a dozen orcs dead by tomorrow morning, no one seeing a thing."

"No! Well... no. That can't be all. We need to step up- make a show! How else will those we're protecting keep confidence in us? We need to attack the orcs, we must avenge Mantis Karate, or the other gangs will think they can mess around in Lotus neighborhoods without a second thought!"

"...I'm behind you boss." Ding said, "Master Mantis was a creepy son of a bitch, but he was a funny guy. He didn't deserve that. Not in front of his students. We show them whose boss, and I can get three dozen kids willing to risk their lives relying on their fists."

"...I need to give a show. That harming those under the protection of the Lotus Posse will have consequences... but I want that to be the end of it. We do not need a war with the Orkz."

"Do we know who did it in particular? If we killed the guy who actually did it, I heard some orc bosses are willing to let thing slide if their subordinates were 'asking for it.'" Murasaki answered.

"No. It could have been any of them." Ding said.

"..." the leader of the Floating Lotus stood up, pacing as his fists clenched and unclenched, "... Have the Orkz been... targetting kids?"

"I... don't think so. I haven't heard anything in particular at least."

"Women, the elderly? Aliens?'

"Well they hate the elves, but the elves fuck with them right back. Nobody wants to get involved in that." Ding said, "Why boss?"

"Might and I-"

Murasaki rolled his eyes, while Ding grinned, "Boss, you're really infatuated with this guy, huh? I mean, I guess it's not every day you meet a seven-foot-tall blonde with bigger muscles than you, so I get the why of it."

"..." San reached up and flicked Ding in the forehead, sending the man flying back. 

"Wh o o  o    a     a       a      h       !" Ding cried as he began to fall in slow motion. 

"Might and I dismantled that Hutt slave show utterly. And the slugs have flat-out left that neighborhood alone. We shut it down. And that was the end of that. The two of us, together, was terrifying to the slimy bastards. Might's whole show with the girls too. I mean, it was annoying at the time, I wanted those girls to be our girls, in our bars and on our streets... but we've been taking a whole different look since he helped them." San Yi shook his head, "I've had a girl stop me on the street to thank me for finding her sister. I felt... guilty. I was going to put her sister into one of our bars, probably, or throw her on the street and tell her to make sure to always give us a cut of her work, or else... and instead I got thanked, by a crying girl.

"That superhero shit, it looks good. It makes sure the bastards remember. It's something primal in them. If a guy destroys your operation, you get mad and send guys with guns to get rid of him and rebuild... but a superhero destroys your operations, they stay destroyed. If a superhero is after you, you know you're the villain. And you know, that if this were a story, that means you're already doomed." San Yi said, almost reverently.

"Do... you want us to be superheroes, boss?" Murasaki asked. Murasaki was loyal, San Yi knew. Murasaki would throw himself onto a bomb, for San Yi. Already had, actually. If the ninja was ordered to wear spandex, however, San Yi knew he would probably wake up with a note of resignation jabbed into the pillow an inch to the left of his ear... if San Yi ordered Akane to wear Spandex, that would be a different story for the ninja... but all the same.

"No. Course not." San Yi said, to the relief of Murasaki, "We push drugs, we run prostitutes, we take protection money, we smuggle. It's what we do. But we do it with honor, which I doubt anybody else in this fucking city can say. No. But if we're already in a superhero story, I want to use that." San Yi said with a grin, "The Hutts know to leave well enough alone after me and Might wrecked their shop. Maybe the Orkz will know not touch a house marked with the Flower if they know that if they do, it means a goddamned superhero will 'save the day' and help us kick their asses."

San Yi turned his head as he heard the 'thud' of Ding, finally, hitting the floor. "Ding Wu, find me Might. I want you to let him know that... there are villains, who need to be dealt some real 'justice', eh?"