Coiled Dragon

part 1

1

Everyone knew that the city of Yokohama was not like any place else in Japan.

Unlike the rest of the world, where heroes were on the rise and everyone was starstruck by the fame and glory of those shining pillars of society, Yokohama was known as the city run by criminals. It had a long history tainted by blood and war, violence and famine were common in the streets. Even though years had passed since the worst periods, this place was still under the influence of gangsters, mafia, and other villainous organizations.

It was a rotten place that no hero wanted to touch. All Might tried once. The No.1 hero inevitably had to retreat as the evil was simply too great. It wasn’t that he was weak. But the unholy wickedness of this city was deeply rooted in all of its citizens’ hearts. Poverty and the horrid after effects of war turned this place into a living hell, where people have been conditioned into a constant state of mistrust and hopelessness. Even decades after the war, they were still xenophobic towards outsiders.

There wasn’t a singular villain whom if he defeated then peace and prosperity would shine upon these lands. No, the villain wasn’t one single evil man like All For One. The evil was something abstract, a type of darkness that seeped through everyone’s flesh and rooted deep into their souls like chains.

The fear cannot be shattered with a dashing smile and a hearty “I am here”.

All Might was just one man. He could not save Yokohama.

Yokohama was a chaotic city of sins that operated by its own rules and logic. It wasn’t a place where the usual villains and heroes could set foot in easily. They would get torn up by its people and the multiple different powers controlling this city.

Besides the government, which was still trying to enforce the law of modern society, there were multiple other organizations pulling the strings behind the scene. The most powerful of the criminals, a crime syndicate called Port Mafia, took hold of the night and the government owned the day. Meanwhile, the Armed Detective Agency navigated in the in between.

Together, their existences created peace.

The normal citizens of Yokohama had no clear concept of what a villain should be. Their billboards weren’t filled with images of smiling heroes saving the day. But its streets were quiet, missing the usual cries for help or chaos caused by villains on the rampage. This was all due to Port Mafia and the government’s tight control over how crime operated and laws were enforced in this city. If there was one thing they agreed on, it was that they didn’t need pointless violence or innocent civilians spilling their blood.

It was a careful balance, one that worked but was fragile like a sheet of paper-thin glass. Of course, things weren’t perfect. There were still neighbourhoods stricken with heinous crimes, drugs circulated around the streets, and poverty still engrained itself into certain parts of the city.

The government and Port Mafia also don’t see eye to eye. Although they would bend together in the face of an outside threat against their beloved city, the norm was for them to be at each other’s throats. In this city, perhaps it was due to all the chaos and destruction that had happened in the past, there were very few people with quirks. It had been isolated from the rest of the world a few times too due to the war. One could even say that it was a place that had been subjected to a different kind of evolutionary pressure. As a result, there weren’t many with quirks around.

However, there were people with “abilities”—powers that were like quirks but weren’t bound by the host’s physical limitation. It wasn’t genetic either. A parent with an ability was more likely to give birth to a normal child than one who inherited their powers.