Larry shrugged, raising his hand as he said, “I won’t try to. If he’s green and can’t handle it, it’s not my fault.”

Joe leaned forward, “I know, but you can make it harder or you can make it easier. So, make it work. Besides, everything I’ve heard about him is good. He’s just new.”

“I wasn’t saying I wouldn’t work with him. So, what's the plan?”

“Well,” Joe frowned for a moment, “they’re not telling us everything—“

Larry laughed, and said, “As usual.”

“But,” Joe continued, “here’s what I know. Metafight Games owns an island. It’s just outside US territorial waters near Florida, so technically the Feds don’t have any jurisdiction. On the other hand, no country claims it, and the owners of Metafight Games are US citizens, so I’m sure the Feds think they can get away with more than usual.”

Joe smiled and said, “This whole mission exists because of the confusing jurisdiction issues and because of what Metafight Games is—“

“Supers fighting supers,” Larry said. “Heard about them.”

“Right. Part of what the government’s worried about is Armory selling his stuff to anybody who wants it, but they’re also worried about the Soviets. I know they’ve been showing the fights on cable, but rich and connected people see the fights in person. The administration’s worried that they might be recruiting or blackmailing people.”

Larry shook his head. “Sex, greed, and gambling debts?”

Joe grinned briefly. “The usual.”

“Damn, man. The KGB? I see why they’re pulling in the Feds, but why me?”

“Well, they wanted me, but I managed to persuade them that you’d be great for this.”

“Okay, why’d they want you? I mean, beyond you being a living legend and all.”

Joe raised his eyebrow at the words “living legend,” and leaned back into the couch. “We police our own. They know we both worked with Armory. Officially, you’ll be going down there to tell him to stop selling copies of his armor. Unofficially, they’re hoping you’ll take out the whole operation.”

“Where’d they get that idea?”

Joe grinned. “Remember that Outfit hitter? Deadeye? You took out his whole base.”

“It was packed with explosives. That was mostly his fault.”

“What about that guy with the powersuit? The one that controlled fire? You took him out, his lab, and the field around it.”

“Immolator? I cornered him. Can’t think of any other way it could have gone.”

“Pacifier?”

“OK, that was my fault. I never would have expected a guy with a baby themed costume would have that much nitroglycerine.”

“Mount Saint Helens?”

Larry cocked his head, and thought about it. “Look, I don’t know how you found out about the earth spirit fight, but I doubt the volcano erupted any earlier because of me. Besides, it was attacking a bus full of kids.”

Joe blinked. “Larry, I was joking about Mount Saint Helens. When did you even have time to fight anything? We were barely out of each other’s sight.”

“Remember when you went to that meeting after breakfast on the second day?”

Joe looked down toward the couch’s armrest, and then looked back up. “I do now. I'd always wondered how you got so dirty… Anyway, all they’re really hoping is that you might bring a few of the leaders back to the US where they can be questioned and prosecuted, but a couple Feds were joking that if you only left a crater behind they’d be okay with that.”

* * *

Two days later, Larry found himself flying south in a DC-3. They picked up Agent Lim in Tampa, Florida.

Lim turned out to be around Larry’s age—mid-twenties with short, black hair, and wearing a black suit. When Larry stood up, he found that he was about six inches taller—which meant Lim was a little under six feet. Larry wasn’t sure which of them had the worse deal. Lim had to wear a suit in seventy degree weather, and he had to wear a full body, grey "flightsuit" (even though his armor didn't fly) and a mask so that no one recognized him when he was out of armor.

Lim held out his hand. “Agent Isaac Lim, FBI. Nice to meet you.”

Larry decided that he definitely had the worse part of the deal. Lim probably liked wearing a suit.

Larry said, “Hey, good to meet you, I’m Larry.”

Lim looked him up and down, and said, “I don’t suppose you’ve got two brothers named Darryl, do you?”

Not managing even a fake laugh, Larry said, “I still haven’t seen that show, but I’m looking forward to whenever it goes off the air.”

Lim said, “Newhart’s pretty funny. You should take a look once. Anyhow, let's get down to business. You won’t be able to talk to Armory unless you’re a contestant, so we’re entering you in the games. I’ve got the $50,000 entrance fee in my briefcase. Let’s go over a few things before we land.”