A Business Venture.

It was a quiet Thursday, early in the afternoon. Children were just exiting school, and most of the adults were currently in the middle of working their daily duties. One young adult in particular was doing his best to do absolutely nothing for the betterment of society society, and succeeding spectacularly. This young man, wore a dark black hoodie, over a brown thermal, and black jeans, with dark grey combat boots. His hair was dark black clean cut under the hood, and the look on his face was one of joy as he bit into his burger.

Walking down the street, Jerome Marquis stepped with a bit of a bounce. No one had bothered him today, and he was eating Burger King. Life was great.

Sheng Wu on the other hand, was decidedly not happy.

His nervous eyes darted from left to right as he walked down the sidewalk. With measured steps, he observed every single passerby. Any glint, any flash in their palms could be a weapon meant to spell his doom. And the Mǎngshé was never one to be caught unawares.

Now, the narrative is going to immediately contradict that statement as Sheng is caught unawares, bumping into the aforementioned man with Burger King in his belly and a smile on his lips.

The two impacted suddenly, with Sheng grunting in pain. Nothing was broken on his end, but it still hurt like a bitch. His eyes widened as he realized he was certainly close to upsetting this other man. As his doctrine of self-preservation demanded, he had to make this right.

"Ah, forgive me, my good man! I, being the great fool that I am, was not watching where I was going." That was a lie. Sheng always was watching his step, the whole reason he even bumped into this man was because he was watching his step in the wrong place.

His eyes scanned the ground, as he spotted flecks of fries and condiments. A groan formed in his throat, but Sheng kept it under the surface and faked a smile.

"Allow me to reimburse you. Please, it would only be right."

Of course, life couldn’t just let Jerome be happy. No...life had to literally smack the joy out of his hands. The impact with the tall man hadn’t hurt him physically...but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever emotionally recover. Getting on his knees, he would mourn the loss of his perfect good Whopper, before grief gave way to unbridled rage. “You,” he began turning sputtering with anger, and standing up straight. Curling both of his fists, Jerome continued his nonsensical tirade. “With the hat, and the...AGH!” Drawing back his curled fist, he was about to deck the man in the face, when something interesting happened.

An unfamiliar sensation settled over Jerome’s spine, as if those sayings of someone stepping on your grave were true. As the chill hastened, Jerome deflected his attention drifted to the street to his right. Making her way across, was a young girl, about seven years old. Dark skinned with little brown pigtails, and a youthful grin filled her face, unaware of the taxi that was speeding toward her.

Time slowed for Panzer, as he put the tall man out of his mind and dashed toward the girl, his hood fell down, revealing his face.. Barely making it in time, he wrapped his arms around her. His back was exposed to the cab as the yellow vehicle slammed into him, being stopped by an unseen weight. As he felt the cab come to a full halt, he unwrapped himself from the little girl, who’s eyes were wide fear. Looking around, as many passersby looked at him in shock, he would put his hood back up, and jog away from the scene. Unfortunately for him, someone had their video phone out and had recorded the entire spectacle.

Sheng could only blink in total disbelief.

It was by virtue of his luck alone the man's anger had been averted--and he had been given a nonlethal demonstration of his powers. He had powers, far different from Sheng's. These were more...generally applicable.

Excellent.

Silently stalking after Panzer, the tall Asian man caught up with him in due time, waiting for him to take a moment to notice his presence.

"Hello. I am the man from before--the one who so foolishly bumped into you. I...couldn't help but notice your...display. I must say I'm quite impressed. Please, allow me to beg your forgiveness over a meal, and we can chat about where we can go from here, eh?"

Sheng rolled up the sleeve of his qipao, revealing a black-gloved hand. He extended it in offer of gratitude.

"Sheng Wu. A pleasure--truly a pleasure, to have met you."

Panzer strolled away from the scene, hands in his pockets and oil dripping off of the back of his hoodie. The sounds of an angry cabby, and general chatter of the shocked masses filled his ears as he strolled down an alleyway away from all the attention. As he moved further and further away from the noise, a new sound filled his ears. The sound of very faint, but close foot steps.

Turning his head, his heart skipped a beat as he took in the tall frame of the man who had taken away his joy. “You!” Panzer said, before the man began his introduction, and exposition of the events, and eventual offer. “Meal, huh?...Would you pay?” Panzer asked as he squinted his eyes. He was suspicious of the tall man, but the missed opportunity of food still existed in his mind.

"Why, of course. You must allow me to repay you as best I can for my terrible transgression."

Sheng pats his back gently, and leads him down the street corner to a similar burger joint. Once they're inside, he ushers Panzer to pick out a booth.

"What will you be having? And please--don't be conservative. I'm interested in treating you."

Jerome hesitantly sat down at the booth. This was an unknown burger joint to him, which bugged him out as he made it a point to eat food like this all the time. The unnerving cordiality of the tall man was not setting his mind at ease, either. Still. Free food. Panzer ordered at least a dozen of their most well known burger. As he but into it, he relished from the good taste. He wolfed down three of them before something drew his attention.

The man sitting across from him wasn’t having a crumb of food, and just...staring at him. Pausing mid bite of his fourth burger he would eye the man and ask,”Uh...Aren’t you gonna have a bite, dawg?”

"It would be improper of me. This meal is for your consideration, after all."

Sheng noticed a detestable ketchup stain on the table. Making a face, he grabbed a napkin and wiped in a circle, getting rid of the blight in his vision. Much better.

"I noticed your little display of powers, and I'd like to recommend you ally with me and some of my other associates. Alone, we are just a few fighters--together, however, we are able to combine our talents and strengths for so much more. No man could turn down an offer so good, no?"

Jerome listened with polite respect, before he rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. So that was this man’s pull.  He must’ve been one of those recruiters for some team of heroes. This wasn’t the first time someone approached Panzer about this, but he wished it would be the last. “Listen, man,” Jerome began, his right cheek filled with burger, “Thanks for the food and shit, but I’m not interested in joining some team thing. I work better alone, and I ain’t no superhero.”

The truth of the matter, was that Jerome wasn’t much of a people person, preferring to do things his own way.

"Ha...no. I am no hero. I'm a survivalist. Now, you can thank me for the food and walk away, or you can make something of yourself. We could grip power from beneath the feet of those who don't even realize we exist. You're a smart man--certainly one who can see the benefit of all this."

Sheng extended his arm out and removed his glove, displaying his sharpened nails.

"From these digits comes a poison no one has ever seen before. My body naturally produces it. One strike is negligible--you might feel sick for the rest of the day. Let's say, five...hallucination. Thirty is death within the hour without treatment."

"I've never needed to go beyond thirty."

Sheng slipped the glove back on.

"Do not take that as a threat. I do not mean any sort of animosity between us. Only that you may understand I am no paragon of justice. I am a man who wants what has been taken from me--a life with security and fortune. Don't you want that for yourself too?"

Upon the mention of poison, Jerome very noticeably became uncomfortable. Placing his eighth burger down, he looked at the man, mulling his words over in his head. The man had said that he wasn’t trying to threaten him, but still. People lied. All the time. Looking at the man under a new light, Jerome became a bit more irked with himself that he left his mask at home. Knocking on his own chest, Jerome grinned and said “I got all the security I need right here, but the fortune...that’s interesting.”

Jerome thought through his options for a full five minutes, wordlessly thinking of all the things that could go wrong, before looking back up to the man and adopting a serious look.

“Three rules,” Jerome said propping his right hand up onto the table, and holding his fist out. “First,” he said putting out his index finger, “I work my way. I’ll do what you ask, but I am not your lackey. Second,” his middle finger followed the index, “I don’t want the spotlight. At all. I don’t want people talking about me. And finally,” his thumb stuck out “do not, and I repeat, NOT ask me about my personal life. I won’t bother you about that shit either. Our private affairs are private.”

Jerome payed even more attention to the man's response to his proposal. This would reveal his intent hopefully.

"All three of your rules are understandable. I wouldn't think you were a smart man unless you had standards for yourself. I'll address all your concerns in turn, I swear to you."

Sheng coughed, mirroring Jerome's actions by raising a finger at a time.

"One, I shall never force you into anything you do not want. This is indeed a partnership, and while it may expand, it will never shift. We will always be equal partners of equal say. The moment that changes is the moment you have every right to walk away."

"Two, neither of us will be in the public eye. We will be the hands working in the shadows for our benefit. Sure, it may trickle, and ripple, but no one will know we were the one to drop the stone in the metaphorical pond. I understand a want for privacy."

Sheng smiled greatly at this.

"A wish for discreetness and privacy is the easiest thing you could ask for. If you become truly curious, ask if you want--but I have no interest in your past. What I care about is you now, and you in the future. What does the 'you' of the now have to say about all this, then?"

Jerome smiled at the man’s response, some loose lettuce between his teeth. He took one big bite of his ninth burger, before placing the sandwich down, and holding out a hand to the man. “Then, dawg. You got yourself a deal.”

The handshake he received surprised him a bit. It was very firm, for a very unassuming man, though Jerome was quickly realizing that this man was full of surprises. His own grip was very lax, not even bothering to squeeze the man’s gloved palm. He wasn’t used to shaking hands, though he did like the feel of doing it. It felt right to him.

“You can call me Panzer. It’s not self given, I assure you.” Truth was, Jerome hated his codename. He thought it was too flashy, and he wasn’t entirely sure what it meant. " As you saw, I can take a punch... or a speeding car. I’m also...uh..well never mind that.” Jerome continued to grin, not wanting to divulge too much information. This man was friendly and offering a lot, but Jerome had been cheated out of being happy before, and was hesitant for it to happen again. Better to just not invest in a kinship, and leave without a trace.

"Sheng. Sheng Wu. In some circles I am the Mǎngshé. But, please, let's not be formal. My name is enough."

Sheng walked back up to the counter of the restaurant, handing over the exact amount needed to pay for the meal in cash. He never wanted to leave a trace, and therefore credit cards were only used when absolutely necessary. It was ridiculous to be this paranoid, and yet he was.

Returning to the table, Sheng slid back to his seat.

"Well, if we can exchange numbers, then we can be on our ways for the day. I'll be contacting you alongside a few others I've found. Don't worry--they will know your conditions for working with you. My number is 555-XXX-XXXX. I'll contact you in three days. Thank you for your service, and I will be seeing you soon."

Sheng bowed slightly, with an unnatural length to how much he bent down. With that, he exited the store.

Panzer looked down at the number, reminding himself to rob a bank, and buy a cell phone and plan. Getting up, he would head out and do just that. One uneventful escape from the cops, and a trip to the Samsung  store later, and Panzer was now the proud owner of a (insert cell phone type) here.  He then made his way home, and spent most of his day wrecking noobs in Call of Duty, then he made some dinner for himself, and moved on with his life.

It was a very nice Thursday. He sipped a coke, and placed down his controller. It was time for bed, and he was strangely excited for a new opportunity. Who knew what kind of people he would meet, and places he would see. His usual bleak outlook, brightened a tad. A grin came over his face as he dreamed of all the money he would make. It looks like life was coming up Jerome.

THE END.