18/07/2023

What if All Might was given the bounty for the vigilantes?

The Emperor's Dragon: Dragon Thanks All Might

The underworld was, by any definition, an odd mix of chaos and discipline. Those who knew when to obey, and when they could run wild, generally did well. Those who thought the underworld was their personal playground eventually ran into someone who they couldn't charm, bribe or outfight and learned the hard way that the underworld ran to a certain set of rules.

There were those for whom the underworld was their personal playground, and they were the people who made the rules.

All of which meant not a lot when you were dealing with those who knew what the rules were. Brokers were those who did understand the underworld. Brokers formed an essential service and were one of the reasons the underworld ran so smoothly and part of the reason for that is that Brokers talked. Not to the authorities, of course, but to everyone else, including each other.

To facilitate that, the Tokyo brokers tended to get together once a month or so just to chew the fat, shoot the breeze, as it were and combine business with a very nice dinner and just catch up.

With what had happened this month, Giran was very much looking forward to catching up with his fellow brokers. He could find out what really went down with Tsuku's lot and what Awara had done, though he had a feeling there'd be a lot of focus on him, given the circumstances.

He slipped into the bar quietly, and took a seat in the lounge as he waited for the others to arrive. Just because this was a bar, didn't mean the food was bad, and Giran knew they had a private room booked up stairs and would receive most of the chef's attention tonight.

A drink appeared beside him and he gave the server a nod before picking it up.

Before he could take a sip, Giran heard Makioka.

"What the fuck, you mean you don't know?"

Yeah, the voice was definitely Makioka's and whoever he was talking to responded softly. It was probably Awara. Giran didn't hear the response. He didn't need to.

"God! Giran has got a story and a half for us this month!. Dragon's cojones are fucking titanium!"

At that, Giran chuckled. Izuku had been rather bold and that was one of the reasons he was looking forward to this month's catch up. He knew what had happened, but he was really interested in hearing what spin the underworld had put on the details they knew.

"So what happened?" That was definitely Awara asking, and before there was a response, the two brokers came around the corner and proceeded straight to the bar.

Giran took a sip of his drink and grinned. The fact that they hadn't seen him was a bonus! Now he could hear the story as well. If they'd seen him, Awara would have wanted the version he knew, which would be rather pragmatic compared to the version Makioka knew.

"All right, all right, all right. You know that filly that got expelled from UA?" Makioka asked.

"Ochaco Uraraka?" Awara made the name a question.

"Yeah, her! There were a bunch of fucking morons who decided to go after her for being a villain lover. Ain't no one I know who ever spoke to her, or even knew she had anything to do with our world, so they were obviously high on some crap," Makioka declared.

Awara nodded. "I'm given to understand she's in a coma," he said.

"Yeah, but that's not the real killer here. The real kicker is that she had one of Dragon's tokens."

"What?" Awara almost spat his drink. "You are shit'n me?"

Makioka grinned. It was somewhat maniacal but it said enough. And Giran knew the truth. Ochaco did have one of Dragon's tokens. She might even have had the first token. He didn't know. "I wanna check something with Giran today," he said, instead of giving a proper answer.

Awara just waved one hand. "Well?" he asked. He knew for Makioka to be spruiking it, there had to be more.

"I'm getting there," the other broker laughed as the bartender bought them drinks. "Anyway, Giran put the bounty out for the morons and you know the heroes found them right?"

"I figured someone had," Awara replied. The man mostly dealt with Trigger dealers, so Giran wasn't overly surprised that Awara didn't know the details.

"Yeah… All Might's agency took them in. Put them in some fancy holding cells they have for those who haven't been charged."

"Interesting," Awara said. "I didn't know they had them."

"That's not the story," Makioka roared his laughter.

At that Awara visibly sighed. "What is the story?"

"It's what happened next. Never mind steel, Dragon has cojones of titanium! He broke into All Might's agency and grabbed the morons."

"What?" Awara was visibly surprised. Giran couldn't blame him. It was pretty audacious. All Might may have officially retired and may therefore, technically not be the Number One Hero, but no villain really wanted to come up against him. All Might still had it.

"Yeah," Makioka nodded. "He grabbed them. Waltzed right in there and took 'em. And got to talk to All Might about it too."

Awara simply cocked his head to demand the additional explanation.

Makioka laughed. "Dragon paid All Might the bounty. Left it in the rooms as he took each of the morons. And when All Might went to confront him, Dragon simply shrugs it off and told him it was only fair since the hero had identified them."

"And he got away from All Might?" Awara was sceptical.

"Of course he did!" Makioka said as if it should have been obvious. It really should have since the underworld hadn't heard anything to the contrary and Giran knew Izuku had Kurogiri with him so getting in and out was pretty simple. "But Dragon also promised All Might that favour. Said if he ever took on that All For One guy again, just to give him a call and he'd help out," Makioka roared with laughter.

That had definitely not happened. But Giran could see the amusement in thinking it had. As he understood it, given that he had asked Dragon himself, Izuku had offered All Might his favour. Technically, it had been promised for delivery of the morons but Izuku having to pick them up from All Might's agency was a small variation. Izuku had offered All Might his favour, telling the former Number One Hero to add the scale to his collection and to call in that favour later. He had mentioned All For One but not in the way Makioka thought. It was more 'If Dad gets his hands on you, you are gonna want my mercy.'

Given the way the kid loved his Dad, mercy was a highly flexible commodity.

"So Dragon's staking his claim to the throne," Awara murmured.

"Seems so," Makioka agreed before he shrugged. "He'll be better than that Shigaraki punk anyway," he added.

Giran laughed. He couldn't help it. True, Izuku hadn't advertised what he'd done to Tomura but it was funny to see the underworld ranking the two… even funnier when they really didn't quite get that Dragon was Izuku. That particular revelation was going to be fun.

"Giran!" Makioka yelled his greeting. "You sly dog! How long you been listening?"

"Oh, long enough," Giran replied, gesturing with his glass to the spare seats.

"So how much is true?" Awara demanded, not needing to specify it was Makioka's story he was interested in.

Giran grinned and took a sip from his drink. "Most of it," he assured Awara.

"And how dead are the morons?" Makioka chuckled.

"By way of correction to your story," Giran told him, "and answer to your question," he continued. "Dragon was trained by All For One."

It took a moment for that little factlet to sink in and Giran was pleased to see understanding dawning on his fellow broker's features. They may not have had a close working relationship with All For One but they knew the man and respected him. The entire underworld did. Those who thrived did, anyway.

Makioka began to laugh. It started small but eventually he was roaring with mirth. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed.

"That is an interesting point," Awara said softly.

"Isn't it?" Giran agreed.

They didn't know what the future held but with the knowledge that Dragon was trained by All For One, it was clear to them all that Dragon wasn't staking a claim to the throne, not in the way they thought. Dragon was due the throne.

And the rest of the underworld would either acknowledge that and bow…

Or find out, like the heroes were, that you couldn't fight the Dragon.

-ted-

All Might deserves the bounty. It's only right for Dragon to say thanks to the man who brought together the bad guys for him.

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!