AN: This is my first story.
Please review.
Chapter 1
"Just put the gun down and we can talk this out." I must have done something terrible in a past life to have something like this happen to me. A ridiculous amount of bad luck culminating for this one moment. All I can do now is try to diffuse the situation by remaining as calm as possible.
"Stay away!" He doesn't put the gun down and continues to shake with his finger on the trigger. Can you not perform proper trigger discipline? I put my hands up to show that I mean no harm.
"Listen, I'm not going to do anything, alright? Let's just calm down and talk." He seems to consider my proposition for a moment. Trying to look back to how this started only makes me feel depressed. To mimic a certain unlucky student: such misfortune. It all started when my already loose glasses fell off my face and I stepped on them.
/'/'/
"Did that really just happen…" I don't know where my backup pair is either. This day is already starting out great. I guess I have to go out without them.
I walked to the grocery store and picked up some stuff I needed to fill my fridge. Have to skate by on with my poor-ass college self. On my way back, it starts storming even though the forecast said it would most likely not rain today. Sucks that I'm not the only one experiencing this bad luck. Then the plastic bags start ripping.
"Ah." Wonderful! The cheap-ass plastic bags tore under the weight of the groceries. This is great. I love wasting money! I let out a deep sigh to show my despondence. "What am I going to do now…" Might as well pick up everything and try to carry it all back.
I scavenge everything off the ground and stomp my way back to the frankly tall apartment complex. I nearly trip and fall into a puddle. Unfortunately, my shoes are completely waterlogged and I feel like shit. At least I made it back with shit vision and shit groceries.
Time to put everything in the fridge. At least nothing broke when the groceries fell through the bags, but it made carrying them back a large pain in the ass. I'm kind of annoyed right now.
Holy hell, I need a smoke from this lunacy that just happened. The only place where I can smoke is on the roof. Modern America isn't accommodating to smokers at all, for good reasons. I should really quit, but I need something to keep my mind off of the stress. At least I don't do it that often. When I go to the elevators I notice that both of them are out of service.
"Did I do something terrible in a past life?" This downfall of disasters one after the other is actually starting to worry me. If it keeps getting worse, then I might actually die at the end of the tunnel. It's like when a person sees a light at the end of a tunnel, except it's a fucking train.
Alright Wil, don't think Evangelion! Think Gurren Lagann! If I keep drilling my way to the future, then I'll definitely reach the light. With that motivational speech I made to myself I turn towards the stairs. "Oh…It's a fourteen-story building. Wonderful." I dolefully climb the stairs of tribulation.
My luck is bound to turn around, right? I think such thoughts to myself as a scale the long climb. Eventually I make it to the top and I open the door to salvation. When I light the cig and prepare to take a long drag, I notice someone standing beyond the edge of the railing. The surprise makes me drop the cig out of my mouth and I run over there.
"It's not worth it!" That was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I can't believe that. Usually I would say something along the lines of, dude, what are you doing, but I guess the stress has gotten to me. The suicidal idiot then turns to me with a gun in his hand and he points it to me in shock.
The rational thing to do would to remove the gun from the head of person trying to save your life. Too bad he isn't being rational and puts his finger on the trigger. Is this it? My final trial in this conga line of misfortune?! This calamity won't stop me from relaxing.
"W-who are you!"
I could have said many things that would have been normal.
"Your hero."
It's truly unfortunate that I'm not the patron saint of normality when I went and said something like that. His mouth dropped in shock and he almost lost his grip on the gun, then he grips it once more with extra fervor pointing it at me with both hands with anger in his eyes.
"Are you mocking me too?!" Oh, I think I can piece together his reason for suicide. Something along the lines of bullying and his parents most likely not believing him or helping him out about it. He looks to be around the age of a high school student as well.
"Just put the gun down and we can talk this out." I've been bullied before, so I can probably use my experience to help him out through this. Anything will do, as long as I can stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life.
"Stay away!" Or he can get even more aggravated and nearly back of the edge. Wait, what was your game plan for suicide? You have a gun in one hand, but you look like you're about to jump off the roof as your method of suicide. Are you an idiot?!
"Listen, I'm not going to do anything, alright? Let's just calm down and talk." He seems to consider my proposition for a moment. "I'm sure your parents are very worried, so please don't do this." Then his gun once again raises itself at me with anger in his eyes. What did I do this time? Explain to me how the hell I fucked this up?
"My parents are dead!" I didn't want you to actually explain it to me?! Gotta think of something quick to take his mind off his dead parents. Uh…
"If you think long and hard, then I'm sure you'll have something worth living for." That sounded so half-assed, that even I'm depressed. Wait! I'll just steal a line that I know that will help him. Don't fail me now brain.
"If you have time to think of a beautiful end, then why not use that time to live beautifully until the end? You might think you'll be happy when you die, but I guarantee that you'll be even happier once you see the missed opportunities of life." I think that got through to him. He puts the gun down and starts thinking to himself.
"Y-yeah…maybe you're right." That's good. I make my way over to him to give him a hand over the railing. Thankfully, he accepts my help.
"Come on, kid. Don't do something so stupid like suicide again. There are definitely people in the world that care about you, and if you think there aren't, then you're not looking hard enough." A lesson that I learned before it was too late. In all honesty this string of bad luck, wasn't all that bad now that I look back on it. Even though my own day was pretty shitty, I managed to save someone's life. Just that is enough to put a smile on my face.
He looks to me with tears running down his eyes. Don't do this to me, I'm not good with emotional moments.
"Thank you." Stop crying. If people start crying around me, t-then I'll cry. He looks at my face right before I start sobbing.
"Why are you crying?!" I try to rub the tears out of my face, but it's all useless. I've always had this problem of crying, when others start crying around me. It's why I never go to funerals.
"I'm not crying! Anyways, go home kid. Go talk to your loved ones and tell them what happened. Then, you will see proof of the love around you. Go forth and seek happiness young one!" I try to put on airs of a wise man, but my dignity is dashed through the tears marring my face. The kid looks like he wants to laugh.
That's good. Someone who can laugh after desiring the death of themselves should be in a better headspace. He waves goodbye to me after thanking me one last time. There! That's my one good deed for the day. Now will this plague of bad luck stop infesting me?
Oh, I never asked why he wanted to commit suicide. Guess it doesn't matter anymore. I finally open the box of nirvana and grab the stick of divinity. I light it and inhale the fumes of toxicity that isn't of my city. I feel so much better now, but I really need to lay off these terrible cancer lures for good.
Looking over at the edge of the railing makes me realize how messed up that kid's body would have been if he chose to go through with suicide. Heh. I defeated my bad luck mostly unscathed! Show me my reward world. I turn around begin walking back, but then I slip.
"Wha—" I'm falling…? I can't believe that this shit is happening. I'm definitely going to die, but a part of me really doesn't want to accept this. I don't want to die. Ah well.
…
"Your desire has been granted."
"Guess I'm dead!" I say that with a shaky grin on my face as gravity takes hold of me. I lose consciousness before I hit the ground.
"Uh…?" I start opening my eyes. What just happened? I got groceries then I ran into a suicidal kid, and then…! My eyes open wide in shock. Didn't I die?
I'm pretty sure I died. My control over my motor movements start coming back, but my body feels a bit weird. I try to stand up with difficulty due to dizziness and confusion. My gray eyes analyze everything around me.
"Am I in an alleyway?" How did I end up here? Alright, first things first. I need to get out of this alleyway and find out exactly where am I. After that, I need to head home and get some proper rest. I leave the alleyway with a purpose and then confusion takes hold of my thoughts.
I am definitely not in Kansas anymore. I duck back in the alleyway with that thought and start thinking furiously. In order to find some sense of balance I sit down next to a wall. I pinch myself to ascertain if this is a dream or not.
"That's not normal." On the outside my face is serene like the Buddha, but on the inside, I'm panicking like a headless chicken. The reason? My fucking cheek just stretched like rubber! I know I didn't eat a devil fruit, so why am I stretching! This has to be some weird fever dream or a detailed hallucination.
"It's definitely not…" I let out a deep sigh and leave the alleyway. At least I still have my deep red hoodie unscathed.
"Am I in Asia?" I mutter that to myself as I look at the chicken scratch on buildings. What's even more disorienting is that when I read it, it translates itself to me in English. It feels extremely odd and off-putting.
This isn't a logical outcome, so let's think irrationally. I either got warped to the other side of the world, or into another world. Both results suck, but one is definitely worse than the other. Might as well see if I can understand a person vocally and talk to them.
"Hey, do you know where I am?" He looks at me, but not in confusion, so that's a plus. He gives me a neutral stare and responds.
"Oh, you're in Q-City." He walks off and leaves while in ignorance of my thoughts spiraling into lunacy. Really? You're just going to tell me I'm in the world of One Punch Man and just leave me?!
Let's walk and think for a second. Q-City from what I remember, has a very high rate of monster attacks, but Watchdog Man is guarding is extremely well. So, there shouldn't be anything to worry about? Except there is!
Where the hell am I going to sleep or get something to eat?!
"Such misfortune…" I really didn't want to say it, but it really describes my situation right now. I'm up shit's creek without a paddle, the boat's on fire, I'm on fire, and the creek is frozen. I can work with this.
With a newfound determination to find a nice cozy place I head back into the alleyway, just to find a stickman. I shit you not, it's a fucking stickman. It turns around and looks at me.
"Do you also make fun of people with no talent? I tried so hard to be a Manga Artist, but all I could draw were stick figures. People don't know the allure of stick figures. I'll destroy Shonen Jump!" This…thing starts ranting and raving. Do I hate stick figures?
"How dare you think such a thing! Stick figures gave me life when I was a child. I always saw those stick animations and were amazed by how cool they were." That was the majority of my childhood back then. Flash animations on Newgrounds and Stick animation. Ah...the memories.
I go all out by overwhelming him with my passion of stick animation. Then it starts crying.
"Y-you do understand. Stick animation brings joy and life to all kids who start out with no talent." I nod my head. Yes. I understand all too well the struggle of not being able to draw well. I also start crying with him.
"There's nothing wrong with stick figures!" I declare with fortitude.
But! Those who perfect that single art of stick animation deserved to be admired.
"So, why do you want to destroy Shonen Jump anyways?"
"They won't accept my manuscript of stick figures! It's monstrous!" The only monster I see here is you. A monster of idiocy that is!
"Of course they won't accept it. Stick figures aren't an applicable style of drawing for Mangas. How long have you been trying to improve to a different style of art?" I don't want to aggravate the monster.
"One week!" He says such a stupid statement with pride. Never mind, I never should have sympathized with a monster. They're either idiots or sociopaths.
"A week is not enough to improve, you know? Don't blame it on talent either. You have to try extremely hard to improve and once you devote your passion into something you truly love, then your hard work will pay off."
"R-really? Even though my art's amazing enough, they still won't accept it?!" Where did you get that idea?
"Your art isn't that amazing. Even a child could do a stick figure. It's only stick animation that takes skill. What you're doing is extremely mediocre, so you have to practice until you become an expert artist." I say this as a way to offer counsel but he doesn't hear me.
"You're just like everyone else! I-I'll kill you!" Excuse me?
"Die!" He aims his left stick arm at me in a punching motion. He doesn't have a fist, but a nub. I was just too shocked that he just started attacking me to move out of the way.
He punches my head and my vision starts getting farther and farther. And farther and farther and…what's going on?!
"W-what are you?!" My sight comes flying back to normal. That was actually my head flying back like a rubber band and coming back to slam the stick figure in the head. He was completely knocked back into a wall. The force of the impact left an indent of the body in it.
"Ha. Hahaha…" I start giggling, then I devolve into full-blown laughter. When I stretched my cheek back then, that's what it was? I guess there is a light at the end of the tunnel after all. If I leave this guy alone, he will definitely start killing innocents.
I stop laughing and focus my grey eyes on the monster.
"What am I? I'm a rubberman." I punctuate the end by throwing my arm back and praying it works how Luffy did it. My prayers paid off and I call the name of the attack. The stickman is still wobbly from the earlier blow.
"Gum-Gum: Pistol!" The fist I threw back to the exit of the alleyway comes flying back and nails the stick man in the center. The force of the punch blows a hole through him and the wall behind him. He then dissipates into nothing but shadows. I nearly threw myself forward from the force as well, which causes me to sober up and realize what I just did.
"I'm… a rubberman. I'm in the world of One Punch Man, and I killed something." I don't feel bad at all for killing even a person that used to be human. That was a monster now that just wanted to just kill.
I look up into the sky and proclaim my despair.
"Such misfortune!"
After meandering about in the alleyway for around ten, I finally find the resolve to exit this grimy place and explore the city. I try to compare this city and the cities back home.
"This place really is amazing." I say with a wonderous tone. It's amazing and in more ways than one. It feels so clean! The weather is pretty nice as well. No wait, don't think that! If I think that, then I'll start wanting to stay here.
There are a lot of genius scientists in this world. I wonder if any of them know the field of dimensional travel. As I absentmindedly brainstorm ways of going back home, I wander over to Watchdog Plaza.
"Woah." Really all I can say at the moment. When all you can see is a man dressed in a fursuit sitting on top of a mountain of monster corpses, there's really nothing else to say. I recall this guy being one of the stronger S-Class Heroes of the Association, but seeing it in person shows it.
I turn to see another monster charge at him, but the hero moves in a blur of speed and the monster is sliced and diced into pieces. That guy just got blitzed.
Now I understand how Garou was toyed with by this guy. He's just too fast.
"Isn't Watchdog Man just the coolest!" What?
"You talking to me?" I point to myself in confusion.
"Yeah, I know you're new to the city. You just have that feel." Really? I wonder if anyone else noticed. That doesn't seem like something a random person should pick up on.
"He's pretty awesome. He's probably the best protector of all S-Class." Most of the people in that class have some issues, but Watchdog Man looks super zen. The other guy just nods in agreement. There are a lot of people taking pictures of him sitting on the mountain of corpses. Guess he has a lot of popularity. Time to walk back to my temporary home.
This alleyway is pretty nice. It's dark, cozy, and most of all warm. People even dump their unfinished food here. The best part is when the wrapper protects it from the rest of the garbage.
While I gorge myself on a half-eaten burger I begin thinking of where I should go.
"There's always Z-City. Saitama should be chilling there." Did canon even start already? The only way to check is to go to Z-City. I have no money to catch a ride so…
"Time to walk!" I say to myself with a large bag on my back. I'm going to walk from here to Z-City with a bunch of good in the bag. This should be good training to survive in this crazy world as well. I always liked walking and hiking. It's a nice way to relax. Taking in a deep breath and looking at the wonderful sky. Who couldn't enjoy such a wonderful thing!
Now I like walking as much as the next guy, but walking for around three days and ending up at S-City was not on my list. I did do some proper exercise on the way, enough to actually tire me out sometimes, so it wasn't all bad. What I actually forgot to get though was a map. Now I'm out of food and I need a shower.
I look around the new city to find a new alleyway.
"Ah. There's one." When I walk into the alleyway and drop my bag, I see a monster looking at me. This ugly thing looks like a rhino mated with a microwave.
"Holy shit!" As if it could sense my thoughts it immediately charged at me without even speaking. I grab it by the horn with both hands and try to push it back. "Lighter than I thought…" I let one hand free and stretch it back. Time to try a different move.
"Gum-Gum: Bullet!" The strike breaks its horn and send it back. "Wasn't enough huh? Then…how about this!" Being a rubberman is cooler than I thought. I think that as I stretch both arms back for one of my favorite moves.
"Gum-Gum: Bazooka!" The impact shatters the rhino-microwave hybrid's skull to pieces. I look at the bloody monster's remains desecrating my new temporary shelter. All i can do is let out a sigh of irritation.
"Is this going to be a habit?" Seriously. I walk into one alleyway, a stickman. I walk into a second alleyway, a rhino.
/'/'/
The days being in this world almost feels like a dream. Then I feel hunger pangs every now and then and realize that this has become my new reality. What has kept me upbeat is the fact that this world is modern like my own and that I have the strength to protect myself.
Instead of going straight to Z-City after finding a map, I decided to stay here and train my abilities. I'm not about to use Gear Second or Third and screw up my body because it can't handle it yet. Instead of doing fitness and exercise, I should probably just wander around and get into more fights.
I wonder if I have the potential to use Haki? That's going on the mental list. I look up and stretch my arms to reach the top of the building. I pull myself up and shoot up higher than expected.
"Oh shit!" Luckily, I don't take fall damage. At least not as much as other people do. From what I remember, the Gum-Gum fruit didn't completely nullify blunt damage, only offered high resistance. I look around the city for anything to do or monsters to fight.
"Maybe I should go into the park instead of standing up here..." With that thought, I see a figure glowing green blazing across the sky at ridiculous speeds. Who the hell was that!
"Definitely going down to the park." Jumping down from here allows me to feel the winds on my face. It feels so nice that i almost close my eyes and forget that I'm free falling. I manage to catch myself and land on all fours like a cat. "That was close...can't afford to be reckless like that."
The manga did this place justice for sure. This park is extremely huge. The Elder Centipede was pretty big, but if this park can hold a creature like that, then who knows what else could be hiding in here.
"But still, there are a lot of couples here." I wish them happiness, but i also want to wish them misery. I can feel the duality of man consuming me...
Enough of that. Time to find some Mysterious Beings and beat them into submission. I go deeper into the park while whistling.
Wonder what I'll find.