And We're Back Again! Thank you guys so much for the fave's and Follows. I'm very happy theat I've been able to stick with this story and I will keep forging ahead. I also wanna thank those of you who have left reviews. I hope everyone is safe, happy, and healthy in these trying times. I will say once more just to cover my behind that all properties here in do not belong to me, except my OC and the story as it is being told with its extras. I would like to apologize as I was told that the style of one of my chapters was hard to follow. I hope that I have improved since this stories Inception, and I will continue to try and do so. I am still very new to the whole publishing thing on here and will be trying something new this chapter. Please tell me if you found it effective or not. And with that lets jump on in!

Chapter 7

GOTHAM CITY—GRANTS GYM

MARCH 5th 0730 EST

A loud clang sounded out loudly throughout the apartment as Jack placed the Olympic bar down on the ground after having just clean and pressed it, the plates showing that the total weight on top of the 45 pound bar was 110 pounds equaling out to 155 pounds total.

Sweat poured down him soaking his black work out gear clinging it to his skin showing off his bulkier yet still cut physique as he breathed in and out at a steady pace. All in all his physical work was clearly showing off on him now, and he had to say that he was very happy with the results.

The more important aspect being that he wasn't currently using 'One for All', and had achieved said result.

Over the past six months Ted had drilled Jack and drilled him thoroughly, breaking him down and then building him back up again. All the lifting, running, and calisthenics drills had pushed him harder than he had ever been pushed but he was grateful for it. Now he could clearly say that he was in the best shape he had ever been in, and all it did was make him want to push harder so that he could improve more.

He had a few minor accidents along the way a broken finger here, a broken toe there, he'd even broken his nose for the second time, but all in all he'd been doing exceedingly well if Ted was to be believed.

Jack had also pushed himself and developed his progress with 'One for All' as best as he could though if he was being honest, while he was happy for the progress he had made it still felt too slow going to him and often left him feeling frustrated.

The time had arrived and he had found that he could use 5%, and once he had reached the limit of being able to use 5% of 'One for All' where he wasn't causing himself any discomfort he also realized that he would have to train away from any prying eyes so he could preserve his future secret identity. The green telltale sparks of the quirk being a dead giveaway as to who he really was.

As time went on Jack had pressed himself and pressed himself and was actually quite glad that Ted had gone out of his way to modify the basement under the gym to be a training facility just for the two of them when Jack wanted to train his quirk. It gave him the ability to cut loose and really push his physical limits.

'I didn't even think this place had a basement.' Jack had thought when Ted had brought up the fact of needing a better place to train Jack's abilities and then showing him the open concrete floored basement.

It had taken a week to water proof the flooring and walls, and another week itself to get some new equipment shipped, but afterward the basement gym was actually better tailored to Jacks needs and would help maximize his talents. The new machines having ways to actually output resistance on top of their weight, being able to give Jack a whole new way to train. Even the treadmill could do the same and soon enough Jack was pushing to find his maximum range.

Jack would be lying if he said he wasn't proud of his progress because last month he had actually reached being able to use 8% of 'One for All', and once he had Ted himself had even expressed his amazement at the increase in Jack's overall physicality while using the quirk. It once again left them both asking what would it be like when Jack could use 100% all the time.

The thought was quite exhilarating. And yet Terrifying. Jack knew that once he reached that peak fine control would be everything.

The days had bled into weeks and the weeks to months, and though he knew he had definitely surpassed where Izuku had been in the beginning after receiving the quirk he knew that he would need his full potential sooner rather than later.

This universe was vastly different than the My Hero verse, and there were threats here that if they came Jack would need every ounce of strength he could muster to help face said threats down.

The past six months had flown by for Jack and he felt that he had spent the time very productively. It had been a great deal of repetition for Jack but yet there had been plenty of diversions and side projects as well, things that had given Jack other opportunities to grow as a person and as a potential hero.

Though it was also true that said months had been rather trying for him as well and if Jack was being honest with himself they had left him feeling melancholic, though he did everything in his power to keep himself busy so as to divert those feelings.

October had come and Halloween had been a rather boring affair as he had opted to not go trick or treating. Jack had gone every year since he had been able to, even as an adult he would dress up and go with his own son to enjoy said holiday. Ted had actually adamantly bothered him about the concept of him going out for said holiday saying that he should do it and continue his mapping exercise, though Jack knew it was actually to get him to interact with others his own age. But Jack had politely declined that avenue and proposed a Horror movie night. Ted had taken to the idea and they had even invited Helena and Richard to come. The event had surprisingly gone off without a hitch, even though Richard himself barely reacted to any of the movies they watched while the other three wound up treating it like they were watching comedies, poking fun at even the simplest of plot holes.

November came and went and Thanksgiving had been a more open affair (though Richard had been unable to attend having been dealing with a small problem in Manhattan which he explicitly stated he would bring Jack and Ted up to speed on when next he saw them) where Jack and Ted cleared out a section of the Gym floor and invited anyone from the crew from the gym itself. Surprisingly half of the staff that worked with them came siting that any family most of them had were out of state, most not being able to afford to leave the city at that time. Helena of course too had come and had even helped Ted and Jack cook for the large event…though she wound up being mitigated to runner as she had almost set the apartment on fire trying to help with one of the turkey's.

This holiday had been harder for Jack. He had taken some time that night when everyone seemed occupied and went up to the roof of the building, and offered up a toast to his family and friends back home. He found himself hoping and yet not that they missed him as much as he missed them. Ted had found him sipping on his drink and had simply sat with him and placed his hand on his right shoulder as he sat with him, both men knowing that no words were needed.

December had by far been the hardest for Jack. The constant thoughts of gifts bringing him immediately to thoughts of his family and what they may want, or what they were doing. 2019 had been a rough year on it's own as Jack's brother had passed on his son's birthday of all days, and his mother had passed shortly after Christmas. This year was proving even more trying and he had thought it would be hard to top.

He did his best to get himself together and had gotten minor gifts for Ted, Richard and Helena. The little group once again got together for Christmas, and Ted had wound up berating Jack slightly saying that he hadn't had to have gotten him or Richard anything. He simply stated that he wanted to try and be normal on this holiday and the man apologized and took the gift with a smile, realizing that pushing it any further would just make the day harder for Jack.

Jack had been saving a great deal of his payments from working at the gym and had combined what he had with what was left of the bankroll Richard had left him and had opened a savings account and wound up only having to spend about $500 for the three gifts he bought. He had gotten Ted a new Stylized helmet for when he would ride his motorcycle, he had gotten Richard a brand new trench coat to replace the one he had as it seemed too worn and looked dingy, and he had gotten Helena a silver charm bracelet with an arrow and target charm for the opposite ends of it.

They had a small dinner that night and all in all had a nice time. Jack went to bed that night his head spinning as that had been the day that Richard had told them about what had happened in Manhattan, and that by lucky coincidence Richard had run into an old friend…Wesley Dodd's a.k.a The Sandman. One of the many gifts Jack had received that night was Mr. Dodd's phone number, and his personal Journal.

When planning to become a hero for this earth Jack had spoken with Richard extensively about what gear he wanted to utilize and why he felt it would be necessary. Richard had immediately said that Dodd's would be on the top of the list for a great deal of, if not all of the gear that Jack was looking for. After handing the card with Dodd's number and his Journal over to Jack, Richard told him that Wesley would be expecting a phone call from him the following morning.

Jack had immediately called him the next day and was thrilled to hear that Sandman was putting together not only the gear he asked for, but his hero costume. Wesley Dodd's was known as a genius, a brilliant inventor, and an outstanding chemist. He had built all of his own gear for when he had been active as The Sandman during his time with the JSA, and as a vigilante.

The man went on to tell Jack that he had sent him the journal because while he was happy to put together his gear for him this time, he was getting too old. His hands were not the steadiest anymore, and you needed that to be as accurate as possible while making the variety of capsules that Jack had asked for to aid in his Hero Career. He had passed on to Jack his compendium with an organized list and step by step instructions for how to make tons of different things for what would be his own utility belt and pack.

Glue capsules, Blasting capsules, Anesthetic Gas capsules, Shock capsules, and a myriad of others that would hopefully aid him in his endeavors. But most importantly Mr. Dodd's was kind enough to offer to video tutor Jack to further help him with any types of developments he would need.

The New Year came and went and between the coming months Jack had gotten Ted to help him clear a space for a workshop in the basement where he did the majority of his training now, making a back section for a workbench and a chemistry table. They were nowhere near crazy impressive, in fact they were extremely amateurish but the fact of the matter was that between these two tables and the computer next to them Jack was now spending about an hour every day learning at the feet of one of the greatest mystery men of The JSA.

Jack by the vast majority spent his time in the basement gym, either working on his chemistry or working out. But when he wasn't he was pushing his mind in ways that he had never thought too studying criminology from Wesley's Journal. Studying pretty much anything with Mr. Dodd's had actually become one of his favorite past times, as it gave him something intricate to focus his mind on…and that kept him from slipping into depression.

While Ted agreed that he needed to be in good shape and was happy he was developing his mind even though he wasn't attending a conventional school, Ted also worried about Jacks social skills. He spent the vast majority of his time around adults or even alone, and to some that may appear as odd. But Jack didn't really care.

Ted would constantly heckle Jack about the fact that the only person his own age that he interacted with was Helena…who for obvious reasons had a level of baggage much like Jack, and it showed as though they seemed comfortable enough with one another even their own interactions seemed stunted in a way if one was paying attention.

Though Jack knew why. And the truth was that while some of it could be laid at Helena's feet the majority of the issue was with him.

Jack didn't have the heart to tell Ted that it was simply because he was holding out hope that he actually wouldn't be here that long. He was having a hard enough time with the growing attachment he had for Ted himself or even Richard, he didn't wanna add Helena to the list if he could avoid it. He was extremely thankful for all that everyone had done and been doing since he had arrived here, and if he was being honest he didn't understand it.

He had even said as much to Ted, and he had received a chuckle and a very simple answer as to why in return.

"Kid…You may be choosing to uphold your promise and that's great. But even if you weren't… just by virtue of you being here the way that you got here, you're in 'The Life'. Like it or not your one of us. And we take care of our own." Ted had said as he patted Jack on the back and walked into his office.

Jack wanted to keep his promise to Toshinori, he really did. Jack wanted to pay back all the kindness that everyone had shown him since he had arrived here, he really did. But the fact of the matter was that part of him was back in his home world, and it was taking a great deal of fortitude on his part to not be a complete mess about the whole thing.

Most of his nights were restless and he would wake a least once and break down. He would stare at the ceiling in his room and try to focus his breathing and would just send up a small prayer to anyone who was listening, just to let him know that his family was safe…to let them know that he hadn't chosen to leave.

Jack was in the midst of picking up the bar and lifting it again for another press when Ted walked into the apartment carrying a pretty massive box, with Richard walking beside him.

Jack finished his set and turned to pick up his towel and bottle of water that he had standing by on the rest at the treadmill next to him, and then proceeded to walk over to the two men as he wiped off his face and popped open the bottle.

Jack took a deep swig of the water and then reapplied the cap and looked at his two main benefactors.

"What's up guys?" Jack asked as he observed Ted and Richard giving each other a side long glance as if they were having a conversation without him.(Which Jack wouldn't put past them honestly because Richard could in fact talk to someone with telepathy. Rude.)

Both Men quickly focused on Jack and though it was slow both began to smile, and it was Ted who broke the mild silence between the three of them.

"Well Rich is gonna shut and lock the door, and then your gonna open up the box…because Today's the Day!" Ted said with a smile as he pushed the large box across the currently empty table to Jack.

Jack had to literally take a second to let his brain process what Ted had said but then his own face quickly broke out into a solid smile as he realized why they were here, and he then took a letter opener off the coffee table behind him and cracked the seams to open up the box and show what was waiting inside.

Jack's right hand shook lightly with the anticipation that had been building since he had had his first conversation with Mr. Dodd's as he reached inside the box. The retired hero of 89 had explained that though he had retired from the hero gig, working in his workshop at home was something he would never give up and that he was quite glad to help develop gear for a future hero.

Ted and Richard had actually had to retake Jack's measurements last month so that the suit could be retailored because of his increase in mass over the months, but Mr. Dodd's had explicitly stated that it would be a non-issue and that reworking the suit wouldn't be a problem. It was clear that he had elivered on his promise.

The first piece that Jack removed from the box was the helmet. The coloring a perfect match for Captain America's strike suit from the Winter soldier movie, having the deep Navy Blue Coloring with only the small indented wings and the large 'A' on the center of the helm being a slightly dulled out off-white. The thick dark brown leather straps hanging from the bottom.

The Ballistic Jacket was removed next and had the same Dark Navy Blue Coloring as well as the dark brown strap around the shoulders and chest, linking too the back showing the magna plate that would hold his shield when he wasn't using it in hand. The off-white Central star and the stripes on its side being used as a symbol to rally behind, and also having pulled a page from The Batman's book as while the whole suit was heavily knife and ballistic resistant the center would be doubly so.

One major difference of Jack's suit being the section around the elbows, as Jack had taken inspiration from Izuku's Hero costume and had added in a thick pair of elbow protectors. After speaking to Wesley extensively, they came up with the idea that it would be ballistic like the rest of the suit but the upgrade would lie in the gel layer inside of the pads themselves. The gel would react to displacement and impact and at the point would cause the entire thing to harden to close to that of the level of a diamond, making so that a majority of the force of impact would simply be as nothing more than a bump to Jack. After a few seconds the pads would be able to relax themselves again making sure that Jack's movements would not be impeded.

The next part to the suit that came out of the box being the pants. The Navy Blue once again matching the rest of the suit, though once under Jack's touch he could see why they were perfect for his protection. Plates placed at certain sections would have the same gel layer as his elbows, as well as having the general ballistic protection the rest of the suit had. The special feature on the pants being the new knee guards, matching the same exact specification as the elbow pads right down to their dark gun-metal gray coloring.

The following unveiling was the true homage though, and something Jack knew he would be counting on just as much as his shield if not more so. The glove and boot combo were removed and placed and upon being unveiled when both sets were set upon the table the dull thunk noise they let out alerted the two men as to what they would be used for.

The boots were of a tactical military style much like the one's Jack had always worn while in uniform for the service, though the big difference here being that they were plated in the style that Izuku had his shoes made for when he began to use the 'Shoot style' for combat. The boots even had the same function that they could compact and retract by the springs that were loaded into them towards the front, allowing for greater force to be applied to not only the hits that Jack would throw but that when he put enough output they would displace force and air at an opponent.

Jacks gloves sat next to the boots on the table, and he had asked Wesley to make them specifically so that they would give a minor edge in fisticuffs. The finger material was made a light weight but insulated material that was tear resistant, and would bond to the very shape of the ends of his fingers to hide his fingerprints but allow him dexterous movement with the ends of his hands. Between his finger knuckles and his main knuckles there were small solid plates of steel that would add an oomph to all of his strikes, as well as the padding for his main knuckles which was made out of the same material as the gel layer in his knee guards and elbow guards.

Jack's close quarters combat was his bread and butter and he was very happy to know that on top of his quirk and shield he'd be able to throw some decent hands without having to worry about killing his opponents from a simple punch or back-fist, if he wasn't using 'One for All'.

Jack looked back into the box and saw the final parts of his suit that would give him an even bigger edge than he already had, and he was glad for it.

The belt was the only part of the outfit that stuck out a bit as far as the costume went but that was only due to the small pack that would hang right above his back side.

The entire thing being comprised of the heavy duty metal casings that would hold the capsules he'd carry into the field, while the pack on the back would carry some minor supplies like field aid medicine and his small rebreather it would also be a housing for his field phone should it come down to him needing it. The pack itself was made out of the same ballistic fiber material the rest of the suit was made of and the belt and pack were the same Dark Navy Blue as the rest of the suit while the casings were gun metal grey.

The very front of the belt near the buckle also held one other thing he had been hoping for and was glad Wesley was able to come through on, his line launcher. It was nothing as crazy as Wes's own Wire gun, or Batman's grapple gun but it would do in a pinch when he found himself in need of having to repel for any reason as the tensile wire could hold up to 600 pounds. The pack had two spare spiked compressed wires as well as two spare CO2 cylinders to use said launcher, and the whole ensemble left Jack feeling confident about his chances of facing the many threats that Gotham had at its disposal now that he was equipped to be mobile, agile, and hostile if need be.

Jack had also procured four small concealed sheathes and had four small throwing knives two to be concealed under his back bag, and one for each boot just in case things needed a long range response until he could use 20% of 'One for All' allowing him to use the wind pressure attacks that Izuku used.

Richard had shown Wesley Jack's memory of Izuku's gloves and had said that he would do his best to recreate them, but that it would take a while as he had been so busy putting the other supplies together.

Jack quickly popped open the tops of each of the five compartments on his belt to see that they each already had been filled with the capsules he had asked for, giving him quite a few options when it came to combat because each capsule was 3 inches long and almost two inches wide leaving each compartment room for six capsules. Jack closed the tops and then inspected the fronts seeing the quick release buttons so that one would drop out of the bottom of a compartment when pushed and smiled. Mr. Dodd's had thought of everything.

Jack then reached back into the large box and removed a small pack, which he knew Wes had filled with the recon package he had asked for and opened it to inspect that everything was there.

He had asked Wes to see if he could get a hold of easy to use equipment like listening devices and receivers/transmitters so that he would be able to spy on unwary opponents and subjects.

Once thing that Jack had felt they had slightly hyped up yet not lived up too in My Hero verse was Deku's intelligence. He had clearly shown that he had a relatively tactical mind and was obviously good at processing information and was smart, and yet had shown a severe lack of creativity in the beginning when understanding his own quirk use and how to approach certain situations.

Jack was hoping to avoid any of those similar mistakes, and so was doing his damn sight best to prepare for the possibilities. Though he knew that there was always a margin for error, he was confident enough.

Jack quickly bundled his gear back into the box and then turned and went and placed the box on top of his bed in his room and then walked back out surprising the two men.

"What?" Jack asked as he began to finish off his water.

As Jack asked, Richard sat down at the table with a cup of coffee he had made while Ted stood looking at Jack with his arms crossed.

"What? That's all you got ta say? I'll tell ya what I was expecting you to go change and come back out here so we can see ya for the first time in the whole outfit that's what!" said as he gestured at Jack and back to his room obviously pointing to the new Hero suit that had yet to grace it's owners body.

There was a small silence before Richard quickly ended that line of thought.

"Ted…Perhaps you'd like to let our young man Shower before he decides to put his brand new suit on, hmmmm?" Richard asked as he looked at Ted while raising one of his eyebrows.

Jack was first very grateful that Richard understood his thought process, and then began to chuckle for a moment because he actually got to see Ted slightly embarrassed and that had not happened since he had moved in with the man…not once. So he decided he'd enjoy it for a second.

Then a few stray thoughts crossed Jack's mind and then it really settled in for him.

'Omg…I can't believe the old man's embarrassed.'

'Wait a sec…Did Rich just read my mind?' Que side long glance at said man.

And then finally…

'Wait. WAIT! What day is it?!'

Jack quickly walked over to the fridge past the two men to look at the calendar and realized exactly what he had missed even though he shouldn't have.

Today wasn't just the day his suit had finally arrived. Today he could patrol. Today he could finally debut as a Hero if he wanted too.

'So that's what he meant.' Jack thought as he sat staring at the calendar.

The two men sat observing the young man as he stared at the calendar, and as the minutes began to tick by both of them got slightly worried as Jack wasn't usually prone to being quiet this long unless he was working on something.

The young man suddenly turned and speed walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Both men started to smile thinking that he was going to shower and then change so that they could see him in his Hero attire for the first time.

…..

"BLUERGH!"

…..

Both men found themselves staring at the door now, quite concerned because of the wretching noise that was now emanating from the bathroom.

After a few moments the sound stopped, and both men were tempted to get up and knock to check to see if Jack was alright. Both of them however relaxed a bit when they heard the toilet flush, shower turn on, and then heard the shower door slide open and then close again.

After a few moments Ted walked over to his kitchen sink and ducked below and pulled out his police bandwidth scanner, and set it on the kitchen island top. He then made his own cup of coffee and went and sat opposite of Richard.

"….I don't know Rich. Maybe this isn't such a good idea. He is still just a kid, and yeah he's been through some stuff but maybe we should talk him out of it yeah?" Ted said after he took a sip of his own coffee.

Richard was looking right at Ted and the way he was staring at him was beginning to make him wanna slap the man to see if he had spaced out but then he spoke.

"He'll be fine. Have faith in him. It's just the nerves of it all. The fact is that him saying he wants to be a Hero is much different than him actually being one. Imagine training for something, thinking about it with everything you have, and then you wake up and realize that it begins today. But I know...I know he's going to be fine, so keep a strong face on for him. He'll need our support in this…you know that." Richard said as he then polished off his own coffee and then sat with his hands folded waiting for things to progress.

Sometimes when the man spoke all Ted wanted to do was just grab him by the lapels of his stupid coat and head-butt him. His manner was a little too blunt at times and this was one of them for Ted. If Ted were being honest about all of it…he wanted to throw up too. Maybe almost as badly as Jack had.

The past couple of months had been great for Ted. He had never gotten the chance to be a Father… and having spent as much time with the kid as he had, he'd be a liar if he said that he didn't feel like one to the kid. He knew that he wasn't his Dad but that didn't stop him from feeling protective of this kid who up and came into his life and turned it upside down.

Ted had spent a lot of time with Helena, but with her it was different. She wanted training and hadn't really opened up to Ted in the way of him being any kind of confidant to her. But with Jack it was different. They trained together, they cooked for one another, they laughed at the same movies and jokes together, and though he himself would probably never admit it Ted had in fact held Jack and even cried with him.(Though Jack himself didn't know that Ted had cried.)

The kid was good at being brave, and had a resolve that he had seen in only a few other people before. But everyone has a breaking point, and the fact of the matter stood that the kid was afraid. His fears weren't crippling him and they sure weren't dominating his life…but they were there and they were valid.

"Ted what if I'm not cut out for this?"

"Ted what if I'm not strong enough, or fast enough?"

"Ted…What if I never see them again?"

These were the questions Jack had asked him as he had held him two days after Christmas when it was just the two of them. Ted had been able to tell that he was holding it together but just barely, and he honestly had to applaud the kid for having made it that long without breaking down in front of anybody. All he'd done was ask him if he was okay and just like that the flood gates had opened. He may be a grown man in a kids body, but overall to Ted he was just a scared kid. It wasn't fair what had happened, but he didn't have to let the kid suffer alone. So here they were.

After it had happened he had reprimanded Jack and made him promise to never hold that kind of stuff in again, and more importantly to not give up hope. He told him that the second he gives up all the doubts would crush him, and then he wouldn't be able to save anybody and that was a fact. Ted himself had had his own bouts of problems in the past and knew that Jack probably knew about them but hadn't opened up to him about yet. Did that make him a bit of a hypocrite…maybe?

But he had spent enough time with Jack, and he may not be his blood but he saw him as his kid. And he was gonna do his damn best to protect him…even from himself and his own doubts.

The shower had stopped running while Ted and Richard sat both locked in their own musings, and then the door opened and Jack walked out with a towel wrapped around himself as he walked to his room and where he shut and locked the door behind himself.

Both men were now looking at the door and waited with baited breathe as the minutes now seemed to drag by like they were weighed down. It was now already 0845 in the morning meaning they had been here for a little over an hour now.

..

…

...

The minutes were continuing to tick by and it was now almost 0855 when they heard the click, and saw the door open back inward to Jacks room.

As he stepped out both men took a small breathe in as he passed back into the living room now is his full Hero attire sans his helm as he had it under his left arm as he walked to the table.

Jack reached behind his back and unclasped his shield and leaned it against a leg of the table, then he set his helm next to it and walked into the kitchen and made himself an English muffin and a cup of coffee.

He came back to the table and sat with the men in relative silence as he ate his minor breakfast.

Once finished Jack stood up and placed his plate and coffee mug into the sink. He then turned around and turned on the police scanner, and then proceeded to walk back over to the table where he picked up his helm and put it on.

The final touch was him picking up the shield and putting it on his back.

"….Well. Whadaya think?" Jack asked as he tried to relax his stance as he set himself at parade rest, his arms tucked and clasped underneath his shield.

Both men had small smiles on their faces and Ted went to say what had been on his mind since he had come out but it wasn't meant to be.

Beep Bzzzt

"All Units be advised we have a 10-35 in Progress. I repeat 10-35 being perpetrated on Easton Street South Side at Gotham National Bank. It is reported that there are Four Perpetrators."

The radio broke in static for a moment and then an older voice came on the radio.

"This is Commissioner Gordon. All Units be Advised Batman is on the North side apprehending Waylon Jones. Local units use caution when passing nearby Wayne Enterprises via North Exit 15A over."

It took only one second but Jack's visage shifted from jovial to serious and both men after having seen the transition had no more doubts as they watched the young man take a breath and then fix them with a solid stare.

"I'm Going. Wish me Luck." Jack said as he quickly pulled an about face and moved to the ladder-well that would lead to the fire escape so he could either go to the roof or to the back of the gym where Ted's personal garage was set up.

As the door shut behind him both men stared for a moment before Ted went to the intercom next to the front door that had an opposite one down at the front desk.

"JENNY! I'm heading out I gotta run some Errands! Hold down the fort will Ya?!" Ted almost yelled into the intercom.

The speaker quickly buzzed back and Jenny gave an affirmative.

Ted Quickly turned and went to walk to his room but was stopped in his stride by Richard calling out to him.

"Ted Stop...We have to let him do this. He's going to be on his own. I know that you're worried... I am too, but we can't allow our personal feelings to cloud our judgement here. If you go after him now and try to help or even just stand on the side lines waiting you'll alienate him. He wanted to do this to prove that he could do it on his own...you have to let him try. He needs you to trust him, and he needs to do this on his own. He needs to prove to Himself that he can do this." Richard said as he stood up from his seat at the coffee table.

Ted was two feet from the door to his own room, and all he wanted was to tell Richard to go to hell. He was afraid. He didn't care that the kid had the suit, or the fancy shield, or even the powers. He was still human, and he could still die. He was terrified that on the kids first outing he'd get snuffed out…and it would be all his fault.

But as if by magic (and it most probably was magic) Richard knew what he was thinking.

"I know that this is frightening. As I said I'm worried too. But he can do this. You know he can. You've trained him, watched him grow, can you honestly turn and look me in the eye and say that you don't think he's good enough to do this?"

That question raised Ted's ire and he immediately turned around and crossed the space between them in 3 strides, and in fact grabbed Richard by the lapels of his jacket like he had thought too earlier and brought him eye to eye with himself.

"Let Me Tell You something Rich! Yes! Yes I believe in the kid! He scary fast, he's scary smart, and he's scary tough! I've put his ass through the ringer since he's been here…and all he does is say let's go again. I've clocked his speed, I've seen his strength…with and without the quirk. But that doesn't mean I can't wanna be there! It's his first time for Pete's sake! ….I just…of course I believe in him. It's the scum that's out there that I'm worried about." Ted said with great ferocity that seemed to taper out as he went quieter and let go of Richard as he came toward the end.

Richard calmly put a hand on Teds left shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

"He's going to be fine old friend. You'll see." Richard said as he guided Ted to the couch and turned on the local news.

Jack would never get tired of this feeling. He was jumping from rooftop to rooftop clearing them with ease using 5% as he vaulted here and there bouncing off of the floor making his way to the bank.

In his mind it could almost be called divine intervention considering the bank these morons were stealing from was the bank that he actually just started doing business at. Too bad for them really.

He landed in a roll on the rooftop of an apartment building directly across the street from the bank, and hit the small button on the right side of his helm that would drop his lenses so that he could use the camera function he'd asked Wesley to build into it for any type of recon he'd have to do.

Fortunately this bank had that terribly modern set up and the main entrance was in fact a glass door surrounded by tons of glass windows giving an unobstructed view inside the bank. Jack was able to see inside and see that in fact there were four perpetrators inside moving around a pack of hostages on the center floor, but what the two police cruisers down below clearly didn't know was that down the alley beside the bank there was a black van and it was running. They must have missed it from the angle that they had pulled up on.

Someone had put this together and they were planning on it being a smash and grab. Well Jack was more than happy to burst there bubble.

Jack moved to the alley next to the apartment building he was aloft on and proceeded to wall hop down and quickly landed at the bottom using his shield like a cushion causing some small cracks to be made in the concrete.

Jack quickly made a decision and amped himself up to 8% and aligned himself with the front of the van, holding his shield in his right hand as he braced to bring it up while he checked for traffic.

'This is either really brilliant, or really mad. LET'S GET IT!' Jack said to himself as he shield charged seeing that the cars that were coming would be nowhere close to him as jetted across the four lanes that made up the street.

It had taken time but he had gotten used to moving at the accelerated speeds that his quirk now gave him, and with that he was able to see the look of shock on the masked drivers face as he booked it across the street in a green blur of electricity and slammed into the front of the van bringing his shield down on where the engine block was.

The entire van had rattled and pushed back a couple of feet from the impact while also raising up, and the jostle had actually thrown the driver through the wind shield shattering it and almost sent him bodily into Jack.

Jack had quickly ducked the flying goon and then removed his shield from the now dying engine of the van.

As he turned around he saw the would be thief trying to turn over on his side and heard him as he moaned in pain as his attempts seemed to just be exacerbating the injuries he'd obviously gotten from the whole ordeal.

"Sir! You've just been in a car accident." Jack said as he made two quick steps and snatched the handgun from the driver that he had been attempting to pull from his inner shirt pocket.

The thief now lying on his back staring at Jack seemed completely out of it, but then proved Jack wrong as he spoke while Jack pressed one of the buttons on his belt.

"Di…Did you just..." The thief said as Jack dropped one of his glue capsules on the thief's chest, and backed away to watch it open and cover the perp up to mid neck covering his arms and down past his groin securing him in place.

"It's not complicated man. Now do me a favor yeah? Go to sleep." Jack said as he leaned down and socked the thief right across the jaw sending him into la la land.

Jack looked to his right and saw the door that would take him into the bank and now found himself in a bit of a quandary. On one hand he could go into the bank, but that would possibly put any hostages in danger. The second option was to wait, and hope that the rest of the perps weren't trigger happy nut jobs and came out without a hostage so he could take them down.

Weighing his options Jack took what he felt was the safest bet, but also decided to plan ahead a bit.

Everything about this damn job felt wrong, plain wrong.

He had never met any of the guys picked for this, and if he was being honest he shouldn't have been picked either...that's one strike right there.

They had come in fast and detained everyone and gotten all the tellers away from their counters, so far so good right?

But unfortunately their door guy screwed up and someone had gotten out of the building, that's strike two.

Black Mask had said that this would be an easy job and that there was a cool five mil waiting at the end of it so long as their lock guy got in and got the two lock boxes that he wanted.

Five guys for the job 1 mil a piece and everybody goes home happy right? Wrong.

Now there were two police cruisers outside and it was only gonna get worse if they didn't move.

The one good thing being that the getaway driver was out back and ready to roll, and the pigs didn't seem to see that the alley was there so they might have a chance.

Turk Barret was tired of this crap, he just wanted to settle down open up his smoke shop and be done with it.

But 'The Life' had a way of finding you, and when 'The Mask' tells you jump you can either get jumping or get dead, and Turk was happy livin.

He had always been small time. Never really got involved with all the gang bullshit outside of given em' guns, and where's the harm in that right…man's gotta eat. But doing anything in Gotham was an absolute nightmare with the Bat freak and his Little Boy Bird running around with em'.

Most people would sit and talk about the odds of runnin into em' like that changes anything at all, but Turk had no reservations about calling it as it was. He was scared. He was not lookin to be involved with anything like this, because when you do shit like this somehow, someway, The God Damn Batman shows up and then you find yourself in the hospital for eight weeks eatin through tubes.

He'd seen the news and the Bat freak went against people that he knew of by rep only, and he was throwin hands on em', most of em' being way scarier lookin than even he was when you really paid attention.

No. This was a shit show and they had to get while the getting was good.

Door boy was takin stuff from people outta there bags and shit, and while Turk and the other guy from East End were cleaning out registers to add to it he knew that getting caught for this may not be worth that pay day after all.

But according to Black Mask they were gonna have a break. Batman was gonna be busy elsewhere which meant even with the screw up this should be a simple sweep and clear.

Lock man came out the Security deposit room and pistol whipped the manager to leave him behind, and now they were making their way to the side door after popping off the smoke cans Black Mask gave em'.

Maybe he had been buggin over nothing…

Maybe they were home free…

Their crew cleared the side door and when the four of them got a look at their ride being as smashed in as it was and their driver being on the ground covered in what looked like a massive wad of red chewing gum, Turk knew that it was strike three and that they were outta there.

The second the door burst open Jack knew what he had to do. He put his lenses in the down position again, and then primed a flash capsule and dropped it right in the middle of the four goons. The lenses would save his own eyes from the blast, and the micro buds that Wesley had made to go along with them would protect his hearing from the loud noise.

Wesley had made these especially for Jack when he had asked if it was possible to make a capsule flash bang.

Jack was still a little shoddy on the details because this was a last minute add on and it obviously wasn't in the journal that Sandman had given him to learn the formulas himself for the capsules from.

But that being said once the capsule lit off two of the goons that had been holding shotguns accidently misfired and both hit the adjacent wall.

Jack quickly dislodged his shield from the wall and fell in between the perps. He knew he'd half to work quick now because they were already starting to panic.

The one on the far left caught a swing to the skull from the shield and it put him on the ground, down for the count.

The next one was spinning wildly trying to get his pistol from inside his jacket since he'd dropped his shotgun, but caught a kick to the nuts and a left backhand that sent him three feet off and to the pavement.

The third was actually looking at him but seemed to be in a daze because he wasn't moving. Jack simply walked a step forward and Spartan kicked him to his back and then laid him out with a right hook after changing shield hands.

Still having the buds in muted the sound, but the pressure was what brought his senses back to him.

The adrenaline was pumping and he'd been trying to slow it all down and be fast at the same time, but he wasn't fast enough. The first shot had caught him in the right side in the middle of his ribs, the second shot had hit his right arm. Now by that point however he'd brought his shield to bear and now all there was, was the loud ringing as the last perp emptied his magazine hoping to take him down.

When the vibrations ceased signaling the shots stopped Jack peaked over his shield and saw the perp stumbling to get to the front of the alley and away from him holding his head trying to stay on his feat.

'He's probably afraid. Good.' Jack thought as he took a steadying breathe to calm his rising temper and check himself over.

He was definitely gonna bruise, but he had broken ribs before and nothing felt broken right now, and the plus side is that he wasn't on the floor bleeding. He wanted to berate himself he'd been stupid and careless but he didn't have the time and decided that he'd deal with those thoughts later.

He turned to face the front of the alley and could see that the commotion had caught the attention of the present police force, and what looked like a small crowd of people.

'Great. Just what I need. I wasn't looking for an audience this early on.' Jack thought as he lamented over that he'd now probably be the topic of the local news at some point today.

He quickly shook himself internally and noticed that the perp now seemed to be getting his faculties back and was getting ready to make a decision about what to do next.

Jack took the decision out of his hands.

Jack winded back with his right hand and tossed his shield with a mighty grunt of effort while the sparks of 'One for All' danced around him and watched as it sailed and smacked the perp right in the back and sent him flying a good 10-12 feet out of the alley and into the blocked off street.

Jack quickly pushed the other perps in the alley onto the driver and checked them for weapons before dropping another glue capsule.

The police had yet to advance on the last suspect but had him in sight and had there guns trained on him. Jack had just summoned his shield back to his right hand before he slipped it over his back and set it on the magna plate, and focused forward.

Walking up Jack could see that the perp had one hand already inside his jacket as he was trying to readjust from the knockdown so Jack lifted the lenses in his helm and then dashed up and kicked the perp right between the legs as he lay prone.

The gasp he let out was followed by a small rattle sound as Jack saw that he had dropped the pistol he had planned to pull out.

What the guy had been planning he had no idea, but it didn't matter anymore.

Jack reached down and turned the Black skull wearing perp up so that he could face him and hear him wheezing a bit from the blow he struck.

"You…pant…You ain't the Bat." The man said as he looked into Jack's face.

"No. He's not here. But I Am." Jack said as he wound back and quickly hit the perp with a right jab cracking his mask as it then made his head bounce of the pavement breaking the mask entirely from the force Jack had clocked him with.

As Jack stood back upright he noticed that the police were advancing but rather slowly and that they still had their weapons drawn. A moment after that though the small crowd that had started to gather began to clap and cheer, causing the police to put their weapons away as they made their way up to Jack and the downed thief.

"Officers! There are four more in the alley, as well as what would have been their getaway vehicle but it's disabled. You'll need to call a tow in to get it out of here, and the glue that's holding the perps down should break down in about an hour, obviously you'll wanna remove them as quickly as you can so with the proper application of force you can make room to cut around the adhesive though. I'm sorry for any inconvenience." Jack stated as he popped off a quick salute to the two officers.

Both of them looked completely flabbergasted and neither one of them had said anything since moving within what was shouting distance.

Jack was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with the silence between him and the two professional officers but did his best to keep a smile on his face.

As he went to say a goodbye to the officers he picked up on the telltale signs of heels hitting the pavement and made a slight turn to his left and saw a strawberry blonde woman approaching him followed by a camera man.

The woman was wearing a black pea coat, a blood red top, dark looking pants, black high heeled shoes, and had a light looking red scarf wrapped around her neck. She had on a very slight amount of make-up accentuating her light green eyes and glossy pink lips. Her hair was cut in a bob that hung evenly around her head with light bangs hanging across her forehead.

The woman stopped at about 2 feet from Jack and turned sidelong so she could address the cameraman and Jack at the same time.

"This is Vicky Vale Reporting Live outside Gotham Nation Bank! Where a group of thieves have been apprehended by what looks to be none other than a New Hero of Gotham! Sir! Who are you? Where did you come from? And why are you here?"

Jack kept the slight smile on his face as best he could to fight the inner turmoil he was feeling. The one thing they hadn't covered while training was that in making his debut he may need to present himself to the public like this, and Jack wasn't a big crowd kinda guy. Another thing to berate himself for later.

But he knew one answer he could give for one of the questions that 'Vicky freakin Vale' of all people had asked.

Clearing his throat Jack did his best to smile a little deeper and changed the tone of his voice to sound just a little deeper and answered.

"My Name Ms. Vale… is All Might!"

Alright! That's a wrap for this one people! Please let me know what you thought of the chapter, the new format that I'm gonna try and stick too, and just any general questions though I know there really isn't probably that many. I want to say that I know when I'll update next but I have a full time career with the service, and of course life so we will see how that goes. Once again thanks for being here with me for this Journey! I hope to see you in the next one!