"Remind me again, my friend, what are we doing here?"
"The President specifically requested our presence on this mission; given our track record, it was a long time coming."
"I know that. It's just that this isn't exactly my area of expertise, and I don't think it is yours either."
"Well, that's why we happen to be in the presence of experts. Don't worry, your presence is more for morale than anything else, and should the worst happen I'm sure you'll manage it. Besides, this country provides ideal conditions for stress-testing some of my equipment, so we'll knock out two birds with one stone."
"'Should the worst happen?' I see now; that is why I am here."
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Bare rocky ridges, like the bleached bones of some colossal animal, absorbed the sun's glaring heat. The breeze was stiff and dry, providing no relief, and it would only get worse at night when the ridges would radiate all the absorbed heat. A young girl and her younger brother made their way across these ridges, picking their way down the valley, where a shallow stream flowed from the mouth of a cave. With them was a herd of thirty goats; small-headed and tough-necked creatures clad in shaggy black woolen coats with white necks. Rugged and hardy beasts, the oldest among them sported tough and ridged horns long enough to reach their necks. Occasionally a kid would wander a bit far from the flock, prompting the children to give chase and bring the errant animal back into the fold-it would only take a second for any opportunistic predator to strike, and then the children would have to answer to their parent's shoes back home. Fortunately for them the trip down was uneventful-they had made this journey countless times before-as they navigated the treacherous slopes with the grace and footwork of their animals till they finally reached the stream. Bleating in relief, the herd splashed in, bathing and drinking to their heart's content while the children lounged in the shade provided by the cave. Despite having come here many times before, neither of them had really explored the cave. Its dark, wet maw gave off a foreboding aura which deterred even the boldest goats. Moreover, they would have to divert their attention from the flock, for the little girl would not let her brother explore the interior alone, and that could lead to all sorts of trouble.
"What do you want to do after this?" The little boy asked his sister, giggling at how his voice echoed. "We'll have some time before father puts us to work again."
"We can go to the border post, see if Uncle Ashraf is on duty. I'm sure he'll have something for us."
"And if he isn't there?"
"Well, there's also Uncle Faridoon-" A sudden chittering erupted from the dark recesses behind her, sending chills down both children's spines. They scrambled away from the entrance, hearts pounding, as a massive roar filled the air above them. A large dark shadow-too dense to be a cloud-spread across the rocks and sandy soil and blotted out the sun briefly. Terrified, the siblings looked to the sky and quivered. An ungainly large metal beast steadily beat its way across the blue sky. The goats bleated and scattered, terrified by the noise, which was so loud that the children did not notice the four figures emerging from the cave till they stood right in front of them. They wore long tunics, baggy trousers and white high top sneakers-ragged and dusty from the environment-over which they sported black vests resplendent with ammunition pouches. All of them wore black shemaghs with red headbands bearing Arabic font in white letters. One held a light machine gun-a bandolier of dull gold bullets crossing his chest-while the other two had assault rifles, and the last one unslung a large green tube and aimed it at the beast in the sky.
"Get back." Obeying the curt instruction, the children scrambled away and hid behind a rock, holding tight to each other. The little boy couldn't help staring at the livestock scattering, bleating in confusion and fear, and felt his eyes water. Already half-deaf by the metal monster's roar, the scream of the green tube and the resulting detonation completed the other half. The beast was now on fire, rotating rapidly as it descended in the direction of the border, leaving behind a thick black trail of smoke till it disappeared over the horizon.
The fighter tossed his green tube aside and pulled out a pistol, its bluish-grey metal glinting in the sun's glare. Holding it above his head he fired a few bullets, and as if on cue, the children saw several more similarly dressed and armed men emerge from the cave. A few more arrived across the crest of the hill, and they all marched through the herd of livestock, their eyes fixed on the dark trail wafting over the hills.
But the last one emergence shocked them to the core, for its manner of appearance was just that-the very face of the cliff began to shift. Fine particles of dirt, the tiniest grains of rock, scraps of vegetation coagulated around a certain point above the cave till a large golem stood, citrine quartz glowing where its eyes should have been. One of the men climbed onto it and began to tie various banners onto its body, all in a language the children knew how to pronounce but not to understand.
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"Pilots are dead, Lieutenant!" Staff Sergeant Ybarra shouted as he dragged a private out of the burning interior and to the pile of bloodied infantrymen being treated by the two surviving medics. The air was rife with the smell of burning oil and scorched flesh; the screams of the injured bore into Ybarra's skull.
"Damnit, they said the LZ was clear! Score one for military intelligence!" 2nd Lieutenant Foley cursed. "Ybarra, get your squad to unload the ammunition before the flames spread! We can't stay here."
"Already done, sir. What's the status on evac?" Ybarra noted slight relief on his commanding officer's dark, stony face, before it hardened again.
"They say closest evac's coming all the way from Bagram. We need to hold out till then; our priority should be stabilizing the wounded and getting them to safety. Get anyone who can still fight and have them establish a perimeter around the crash. Whatever took us down will come for us-"
Sharp cracks interrupted the platoon leader, who immediately dove for cover. Ybarra ducked and crouched as low as he could behind a pile of rocks, signaling the nearest infantrymen to lay low. His chest rig painfully pressed into his ribcage, and he became keenly aware of his heartbeat. Slowly swiveling his head, he fought against the tunnel-vision clouding his view and tried to see where they were taking fire from. More bullets whizzed overhead and pinged off the hull of the crashed Chinook, and Ybarra saw multiple fighters appear on the horizon, not more than a hundred meters away. 2nd Lt. Foley and the other grunts had also spotted them and began to move into position. Aiming down his ACOG sight he targeted the one in the very center of the group and pulled the trigger.
A large earthen wall rose right in front of his target. In disbelief the technical sergeant watched tracers ping off the rock, and that disbelief only steepened when he saw the 'face' of the rock blink. It began to move, shaking loose the accumulated earth and dust; the 5.56mm x 4mm NATO rounds only served to chip bits and pieces of the rock off. As it came closer, he noticed that a thick clump of dirty green moss hung from the craggy chin of the massive rock, and it was festooned with white-and-green banners. He immediately loaded in a 40mm HE into the breech of his M203 underslung grenade launcher, flipped up the sights and took aim. With a pop his round landed dead-center, knocking off massive chunks of rock and causing it to stagger. Unfortunately for him, instead of looking wherever it was looking before, it was now looking right at him. Planting itself firmly on the ground, the cratered rock shifted and grinded, repositioning the rocks making up its body till it presented a smooth boulder in its chest area while its companions provided covering fire. It then reached for its left 'arm' and tore it off-to Ybarra's shock and horror-and threw it directly at him.
"Contact left side!" Someone cried, but the Staff Sergeant was deaf to all of it, instead watching the massive object hurtle towards him-
The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, staring up at the sky. Coughing, he got up and patted himself to make sure nothing was missing and found himself in a pile of pebbles. Bewildered, he looked around and noticed that everyone in his section had stopped firing and was staring right ahead, except for the medics who tirelessly continued their work staunching wounds, pressing in cold compresses, and providing shots of morphine. As the dust settled, Ybarra saw something incredibly bizarre.
A large, impossibly muscled man, wearing an incredibly skintight spandex costume-blue, white, red, and yellow-stood on a pile of rocks. The companions of said rock were all on their asses, equally bewildered by the sight. The man flexed a pair of guns that would make any artillery regiment Captain green with envy and turned slightly as he did so to face the men and women of the 75th Ranger Regiment. With a smile that could split the heavens, an intense blue glare, a perfectly chiseled face and two floppy tufts sticking out of his flowing golden locks, the new arrival stuck out like a gangrene ridden thumb.
"It is fine now. Why? Because I am here!" His voice boomed, somehow instilling a sense of confidence in Ybarra, while simultaneously instilling fear in the insurgents. Then again, that could be because a large man dressed in the spandex equivalent of the American flag dropped in and pulverized their own miracle man. They turned tail and fled; Ybarra saw other insurgents further up rise from their firing positions and attempt to counterattack but to no avail; the new arrival moved with speed and agility that belied his size. In a few seconds they had all been laid out cold; when Ybarra moved up with his section, he was surprised to notice that the enemy combatants were still alive. Extremely confused about what just happened in the last five seconds he looked back at 2nd Lt. Foley, who was just as bamboozled as he was.
"Sir…was that just…no fucking way could it be…."
"A Quirk user, and not just any run of the mill Quirk user. It's him."
No-one saw a spindly pile of pebbles crawl away from the pile of shattered rocks and tattered banners.
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"Alright, let's go, let's go!" Agent Kharpusht ordered, racking his pistol. As soon as the news of the downed US Chinook reached their bunker he mobilized the two squads-a mixture of 7th Infantry of the Frontier Force Regiment and Khyber Rifles of the Frontier Constabulary-and waited for the order to advance from base. Unfortunately, the processing of the order and its journey up and down the chain of command took a while, and in those few minutes Agent Kharpusht had no choice but to grit his teeth, sweat, and sharpen his quills.
"Advance with caution, Agent." His earpiece crackled as he got into the back of the second Otokar Cobra with his men, and it took off. A technical officer gingerly tapped his shoulder and passed him a PDA.
"Sir, those sensors you had us install in the cave systems are picking up movement."
"Alright, let's head to the nearest one first-"
"Contacts, right ahead!" The driver shouted and slammed the brakes. Kharpusht ducked his head and moved up to the cabin, where he saw insurgent fighters running like hell from a dark smoke on the horizon. Some had ditched their guns, while others were trying to strip off their armor. Confused, he reached forward and opened the passenger door, signaling his men to follow.
"What's got them scared? They run to the border without a second thought!" He pulled out his pistol, his men fanning out by his sides, and shouted at the insurgents fleeing right towards them in Pashto. They kept running and screaming, so Kharpusht fired a few rounds at their feet, his men following suit. One of the insurgents leapt and grabbed his toe and hopped around while the others threw themselves to the ground. Advancing quickly, he slammed the maimed insurgent to the ground and brought out the cuffs. A medic quickly rushed over to stem the bleeding. The first Otokar, meanwhile, had swerved off to apprehend the other fleeing insurgents.
"Team two, advance to sector Echo-Four, Keypad Five-Five." He spoke into his earpiece as he quickly cuffed the injured enemy combatant and scanned his surroundings for whatever had sent the insurgents running. He didn't have to look long; something was approaching from the distance, kicking up a massive dust trail. As it came closer, he felt a slight shock pass through his system, and instinctively he felt the comforting heft of his SIG Sauer P226 as his back muscles tensed up, making his quills stand on end. The mightiest Quirk user jogged up to the Agent and his men and waved cheerily, as if all of what happened was just a morning stroll for him. Smiling widely, he posed confidently, massive fists on his hips.
"Well, I see that you have done a good job of apprehending the villains!" He announced in lightly accented English, though his smile lessened slightly when he noticed that they had their guns trained on him, except for the short stocky man with yellow quills extruding all the way from his head to the undersides of his arms and his back. "What's wrong, don't you recognize me?"
"Toshinori? Is something wrong? The tracker on your suit says you're close to the Durand Line; don't stay too close to the border, we're not allowed to operate there."
"It's alright, Dave." The foreigner replied as he thought of a way to defuse the situation. Maybe they didn't speak English, which left him with his native tongue of Japanese…and he was pretty sure they didn't speak that either in this part of the world. Still, it couldn't hurt to try. Once again, he spoke loud and clear.
"It is I, the World's Symbol of Peace and Justice!"
The resulting silence made All Might deflate slightly. He considered calling his friend to help him translate, but then the quilled man spoke.
"What are you doing here?" He asked coldly, in unaccented English. "Operating on the behalf of the world's policeman?"
"As the Symbol, I must root out evil everywhere I go." All Might responded, not losing the warm tone in his voice at all, which irritated Kharpusht to no end.
"What could you possibly know of evil?" The hedgehog thought to himself, his fists tightening. "Does he really think he can solve this region's problems with his fists?"
"I see." Kharpusht took a deep breath and decided to change track. "Well, you've done a good job of chasing them into our hands. I will see to it that they face justice. As you surely know, this happens to be our zone of control and so these men are subject to our laws."
"Is that so?" All Might stroked his chin, noticing the terrified looks in the eyes of the prisoners. "How would you treat them?"
"They committed a massive infraction against the interests of world justice and security, did they not? We will give them their just desserts."
A massive rumbling shook the ground, and the men under Kharpusht's command backed away as they saw a massive rock body rise from the soil. The two Quirk users stepped to the front, assessing their new opponent; All Might noted that it no longer had the decorative beard or banners, and black stones took the place of where its quartz eyes used to be. The hedgehog exhaled loudly and put his pistol away; it wouldn't do much good.
"There you are you son of a bitch." Kharpusht tensed up as the rock golem's looming shadow darkened the sky. "HQ, we've found Pathar."
"Are you familiar with it?" All Might ask, adopting a fighting stance. He cast a glance back and saw the insurgents being bundled into the armored vehicle by the hedgehog's men, before looking back at the enemy.
"A wanted terrorist. We've been trying to track him for a long time but as you can see, he can blend in with the environment." Kharpusht cast an arm over the rocky terrain. "We've identified those 'eyes' of his as weak spots, and if you can punch through all that stone, we can get at the little maggot inside."
Pathar sized them both up, feeling a great deal more confident in his greater mass. With a mighty groan he brought his fists down on the two, kicking up a great deal of dust. Feeling smug, the villain raised his rocky arms, but was alarmed when he saw no trace of his enemies. Whipping his head around-or more accurately, as fast as he could given his mass-he saw All Might's fist soaring right into his face.
"VIRGINIA SMAAAAAASH!" The sheer impact shattered one of the eyes and knocked Pathar to his side, low enough for Kharpusht to come darting in with a swift back kick, dislodging the other one from its socket. Panicked, the villain rolled and flailed in the sand, but its lack of agility made it easy for the Agent and the Symbol to dodge. With all the grace of a drunk, the villain got to his feet, and in desperation dislodged both arms and sent them soaring-just by blind rotten luck-right at Otokars.
"NO!" Kharpusht cried out, reaching his hand out, praying desperately that the armor would hold against such a colossal impact. Just then, both rocks shattered into harmless little splinters which rained down on the metal exterior of the Otokars, and All Might landed in front of the vehicles, beaming widely.
"So fast, and so powerful!" Kharpusht thought with alarm, before looking back at Pathar, rage filling his chest. He plucked out two of his quills and charged right at the rock, leaping up as it raised its foot to stomp him into the dirt, and dug the sharp quills right in. It tried to shake him loose, but he steadily scrambled up to the chest-an easy task, now that it had no arms with to swat him off-and with his feet tucked into rock crevices and one hand on his improvised climbing tool, planted a sizeable charge of C4 before leaping off and pressing the trigger. Pathar stumbled, his craggy face trying to make a surprised expression, before crumbling into a massive pile of rocks.
"Did you just-"
"Nah, he's tough, he definitely would've survived that. Help me shift this rock."
With All Might's help, the obstruction was cleared very quickly, revealing an unconscious naked man with slimy greyish-white skin dotted with blobs of mud. Kharpusht brought out his second pair of cuffs before marching the terrorist to the waiting Otokar and throwing him inside.
"Well, Symbol, you've proven that you're not one to be trifled with." The Agent said, shutting the door.
"You're quite agile and quick-thinking yourself, Hero." All Might said, grinning broadly. "But I must get going."
"Wait." Kharpusht said. He had been briefed on what do to if he encountered the Symbol of Peace, but in this moment, standing before him, all of it flew out of the window. "You could have just cleaned up the mess at the Chinook and not have pursued the enemy further. And you didn't have to launch yourself at the rock like that; the Otokar probably would have held up to the impact. Why did you do all this?"
"When human life is threatened-even if it happens to be a villain's life-it would be an injustice to see it terminated prematurely. As the Symbol of Peace, I cannot allow that to happen."
"Even if said criminal was a real scumbag type? I've always been curious as to how you outsiders deal with the rotten ones." Kharpusht raised an eyebrow, his eyes scanning every inch of the Japanese hero. "So, he really believes in his role. What with Japan being such a close ally of the USA, I'm not too surprised."
"I am not a judge, Hero, though I do my best to see justice is done. My priority will always be to use the right amount of force to defuse a dangerous situation; after that I leave the villains in the hands of the system, though I do try my best to make sure that there is no abuse. A broken system only creates more villains."
"What's your ideal system, then?"
"I believe for most cases it is possible for anyone to reform, though obviously there are exceptions." At this Kharpusht couldn't help but laugh a little, prompting All Might to grunt in confusion. "Why, don't you believe that is the case?"
"I don't think most cases deserve the time or resources required for a reformation program with tenuous results." The hedgehog declared. "You're too soft, Symbol, not what I expected at all."
"Do not be so quick to dismiss compassion, Hero. It can make all the difference; a bit of kindness can brighten someone's day, inspire someone to push themselves to greater heights, provoke remorse in the most hardened villain's heart." All Might stated, unflinchingly holding the hedgehog's gaze. "Perhaps you should try it sometime."
"People here only respect one thing-a show of force." Kharpusht shook his head. "No, these terrorists will answer for their crimes our way."
"And what way would that be?"
"If anyone slays an innocent person, it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people." Kharpusht recited. "These terrorist's hands are stained with the blood of innocents, and they will be made to answer for every drop."
"I noticed while fighting them that some of them were quite young. Surely you would agree that their punishment should not be so heavy. I may know little about this land, but I do know very few wake up with the intent to actively harm others. I feel that cutting off a young-albeit misguided-life would be an injustice." All Might argued, spreading his arms. The sun was dawning, throwing his silhouette into sharp contrast with the mountains. Kharpusht pursed his lips, thinking about what the Hero said.
"I can see why they call you the Symbol of Peace and Justice; you really are an optimist." The Agent smiled slightly. "Again, not what I expected. But never fear, All Might, for I, Agent Kharpusht-" The Hedgehog struck his chest with his fist, "-will ensure justice will be done. You have my word for it."
The Symbol said nothing and kept gazing at the Agent for what seemed an eternity. Meeting the muscular hero's gaze, Kharpusht spoke evenly and calmly.
"To break my word would be to stain my honor forever. I would die first before that happened."
"Very well then, Hero Kharpusht. I shall put my trust in you, that you will ensure justice is carried out. Until we meet again." With that, All Might turned and walked some distance away before breaking into a full sprint. Kharpusht watched him go, before activating his earpiece.
"HQ, five suspects plus one Quirk user detained. I have also made contact with the American Agent, or 'Hero' in the region. The Symbol, to be precise." He got into the Otokar and looked at the quivering prisoners in the back, held at gunpoint. "Yes, Sir. Justice shall be carried out."
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Steam wafted from the edges of the heavy clothes iron, the white fumes drifting towards the green-tinted window next to the ironing board. Kharpusht pressed down on the heel of the iron, slowly but steadily moving it across his khaki dress shirt. Behind him, the kettle sang merrily; the Agent put aside his kettle and quickly turned the oven heat low but not off. Outside he could hear children chatter and the light thunk of a cricket bat hitting a tennis ball followed by the eager cries of onlookers-the clang of a ball hitting metal and the ensuing anguished cries intermixed with cheers confirmed that the batsman had not completed his run successfully. Whistling, Kharpusht returned to ironing his dress shirt, and when he was done, he set the red-hot iron aside and turned on the television just in time for Hamid Mir of Geo News to give his report.
"It has been confirmed that a US Chinook helicopter was shot down twelve kilometers from the Durand Line by Taliban insurgents; moreover, six US soldiers were killed in the crash. Further casualties were prevented by the deployment of the new US superweapon referred to as 'All Might', and survivors have been apprehended trying to flee across the border." The reporter stated, his stiff moustache furiously jumping up and down as he spoke. "The US president stated that the low casualty numbers are emblematic of the new approach, and we are closer to establishing freedom in the region." It cut to the president standing beneath a stars-and-stripes banner declaring 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED', grinning ear-to-ear and flanked by All Might and his ally David Shield. "The apprehended insurgents have been quickly sentenced." The reporter spoke over the new image; twenty hooded bodies swayed in the breeze, dangling from a wide wooden scaffold.
"Mission accomplished." Kharpusht snorted, turning off the television and picking up the iron. It was glowing red-hot and had been so for the last five minutes, which was just perfect for his needs. "Yet another toy to try and subjugate a region-I wonder what they'll deploy next. What do you think, Pathar?" He looked at the rock-based Quirk user who was bound to a steel chair and gagged, his bloodshot eyes flickering nervously around the room. Kharpusht unplugged the iron and walked towards his captive, whistling in tune with the kettle.
"If the system works, why fix it?"