Chapter 7

Ugh, where am I, and can I get the number on the train that hit me? I rub my face with both of my hands in exhaustion from the past two months. It's quite aggravating that I got myself pushed to the very limit by only a Dragon-level threat. At least I think it was based on it's speed and power. Of course, it had to be Saitama who saved me.

It bothers me. The fact that I'm not even close to his level of power bothers me a lot. I guess the only way I can go is up. I need to get even stronger. I need to master Gear Fourth and use everything I have to put up a fight against Saitama. People get stronger when they face adversities, right? I think I'm going to challenge Saitama everyday until the end of this month. Gotta go meet up with Shimi again soon.

Wait…wasn't I supposed to call her every day? Shit. I look over to Saitama who's just staring at me with those soulless eyes.

"Oh, you're up?" He asks like he wasn't staring at me throughout my entire sleep. Goddamn that was creepy. Never do I want to see that again.

"Can you not stare at me like that? It's kind of weird." He blinks both of his eyes. He just looks so unnatural in this world. So…untextured. I do feel bad that he lost his hair though. Maybe he can get himself some hair growth formula? I pull out my phone and see a lot of missed calls and unread messages. I grimace when I open the last one.

I'm scared to call her back. I feel like I'll lose my soul if I do so, but I probably should face my fears and just do it. But not now. I need to sound like I was busy and tired and I just remembered to call her. How can I fake exhaustion when my body has already recovered…? I got it!

I turn and look at Saitama so quickly that I would have snapped my neck if it wasn't made of rubber. "Fight me!" I challenge him to a battle. He seems a bit surprised at it.

"Why should I?" That's right…why should he. I'm nowhere close to his strength, so I have to use him to get stronger. It'll be like facing the CPU on level nine in Smash Bros. I'll keep getting closer to his level and then I will finally give him an amazing battle worthy of igniting his passion once more!

"I want to get stronger and you're the only person I can ask to help me with that." I said it in less than twenty words, so it should be substantial. He rolls his head around a bit as if he's thinking extremely hard.

"Fine, we'll spar then. I know a good spot." Alright! I'm actually getting really excited. I'm feeling so good that my injuries are already gone. My clothes are messed up, but that's no reason to miss the perfect chance to fight the world's strongest. Too bad I don't know where King is, so I'll have to settle for second best. Definitely going to keep up that running joke for as long as possible.

"So, where are we going?" We exited his house, and Saitama dressed in that superhero outfit. Caped Baldy extraordinaire. He just points forward, like he thinks I have the eyesight of an eagle. I pull out my phone and check the time. It's only eight in the morning, so I got a lot of daylight and energy to spare. I'll burn it all in this battle. Just you wait Saitama, I'll hit you yet!


"Why can't I hit you?!" He's so fast. I can't even see him move when he dodges my attacks, and he's not even taking me seriously. I feel like Genos right now. Ever since fighting Supernova, it feels like that I'm getting made into a joke. Is this what it feels like to be made into a jobber? Unacceptable. I refuse to be a Gilgamesh.

"That's it!" I'm using this chance to get stronger, so I'll hit him with everything I got. I bite into my blackened arm and blow air into my muscles. I'll activate Gear Fourth in the regular state.

"Boundman!" He seems to be surprised by the form my body took. It does look weird. To be honest, I don't like using Gear Fourth because of how much it changes my body. Is it wrong for me to dislike a transformation because it makes me look weird? It doesn't matter right now. I bounce one more time and I charge straight at him with surprising speed.

He can probably dodge it easy, but for some reason he wants to take this attack head on. I pull my fist back for a strong punch…

"Gum-Gum: Kong Gun!" And I hit him right in the center. He didn't even attempt to block it. I blow him through multiple hills and then he finally stops on the sixth one. He jumps back to where I am with no injury to show for it.

"Hey, that was a pretty good punch. You look weird, but it's strong." Those compliments only hurt my soul, you know.

"Hey Saitama. I want you to hit me with a punch. I need to know how far I am away from you." I want to know if my rubber body can take a punch. He obliges me and punches me with speed that I couldn't even see it coming. He most likely held back, but I couldn't think of such things because I was being blown through the air. I stopped in midair and bounce to him feet first.

The only reason why I hit him was because he was actually surprised that I took a punch like that. I'm surprised to, but I guess my rubber body nulled most of the damage. He'll have to hit a lot harder than that to take me down.

"Gum-Gum: Rhino Schneider!" I blast my feet in his face and he doesn't move at all. Last time he let himself be swept up by the blow, but this time he locked himself on the ground. I was so surprised that my jaw nearly dropped. So, this is his strength. He's absolutely invincible.

The problem with this fight, is that I can take damage, but I can't dish it out all that well. Saitama is just too durable to even hurt, and if he wants to, he can just dodge everything I throw at him.

Hey Saitama." He looks at me with a contemplating look on his face. "I'm going to hit you with the strongest attack I have. So, I want you to hit me a little harder than that." I don't give him a chance to respond as I bounce into the air and charge up another Kong Gun. Except this time, I blow air into it.

"Gum-Gum…" I bounce downward with lightning speed and put my fist out. He punches directly at the center of my fist. "King Kong Gun!" The impact between the two fists breaks the ground and shatters the mountains around us. More steam comes out of my body from the sheer strain I'm putting on it. I keep shooting myself through the air to keep the momentum going.

Of course, I couldn't win at all because he blew me back fist and all. He sent my ass flying through the clouds with a shocked look on his face. I eventually come falling down, but I grasp my arm once I hit the ground back-first. He punched me out of Gear Fourth...

"I didn't mean to send you flying like that! Um…my bad?" I wave my hands to assuage any worries and concern from him. I hurt my arm with that maneuver a bit. It's not enough to completely put me out of the fight, but that's not enough. I need to make myself so tired and exhausted, that Shimi will have no choice but to accept my excuses!

I glare at Saitama with renewed vigor that he just takes in stride. I'm going to put my life on the line for the sake of this battle. I can already feel the adrenaline pumping, and I'm not going to let this feeling go easily.

"Saitama! If you seriously face me seriously, then I'll seriously give you ten thousand yen, for serious!" The lure of money made his eyes shine. All of a sudden, the posture in his body changed. He straightened up, his eyes narrowed and sharpened and his muscles could be seen through the suit. That's what I like to see.

"I can take your punches so don't worry about killing me. Maybe you can even give me a serious punch?" I immediately activate Gear Second and dodge the punch that I saw coming somehow. It's not Observation Haki, but something else I used to dodge that attack. It's not the first time that's happened either. Saitama eyes widened just the tiniest bit, then he immediately appeared in front of me.

"Consecutive Normal Punches." Those words fill me with dread and excited anticipation.

I was attacked by a tornado, no, a hurricane of fists pelting my body with the weight of mountains. My rubber body can take these punches, but that doesn't mean I'm completely invulnerable to blunt attacks. He attacked so fast, that it was like stopped time.

Once he finished, I was knocked back, but then I lean forward and dig my hands into the ground to stop myself from crashing. I grit my teeth so hard it felt like they would break. I definitely felt those punches good. That's amazing! Really good!

"Gum-Gum: Jet Pistol!" I Shave behind him and only punch through empty air. I then notice a shadow behind me, which I cartwheeled to the side to get away from. My efforts helped me dodge a lax punch he sent through with little effort. Again, I see his eyes widen just the smallest bit.

I think he's going to start putting my effort into hitting me.

I notice him in front of me, but I don't have the speed to dodge it…! He nailed me right in the stomach and blasted me towards a mountain peak. The peak toppled and fell down the mountain. I need more speed, so I'll risk everything.

"Gear Second: Overdrive." This is something that I thought up. Luffy only needs to pump his legs at most twice to get the blood flowing fast enough for Gear Second. So, then I thought, why don't I pump my legs more than that. Say, about ten times. What I got for my actions was a heart beating so fast that it feels like it's going to explode and hearing the sound of my blood flowing like a raging river through my body.

I'm in a state of hypertension and hyper-focus right now. I strain my eyes as much as possible to catch of glimpse of a white and yellow shadow. I tilt my head to the side with as much force as possible to dodge a fist coming behind me out of nowhere. I slam my elbow into Saitama's chest with blinding speed and knock him off of the flat mountain peak. Like this I can keep up with him, but only for one minute.

Let's see what happens when I go over that one-minute mark!


I went over the one-minute mark, and Saitama is carrying me over his shoulder right now. I only managed to hit him three times in that state, but now I'm just too exhausted to even twitch my fingers right now.

"You're pretty fast." Was the compliment he gave to me before he knocked me straight through the ground with enough force to cause a 1-mile long fissure. Even with this rubber body, I felt the force of that blow. Still not a serious punch, but maybe a bit more than a normal punch hopefully. This is just the first day though.

I'm going to be doing it every day until the end of this month. Even he gets annoyed with me, he cannot deny the taste of money. He'll finally be able to afford foods without depending on bargain sales. That kind of lure is enough of a motive for Saitama to fight me. I'll use the danger of battle to force my body beyond its limits and defeat him eventually!

More importantly, that fight was really fun. I could just let loose without worrying about anything. I just entrusted my body to the flow of battle and actually managed to dodge some of Saitama's attacks. The only other person who was able to do that was Garou when he fully awakened as a Monster.

I tap Saitama's back to let him know that I'm good enough to walk again. He drops me and I land on my feet a bit wobbily. I hand him ten thousand yen and his eyes light up with excitement. This was a pretty good day so far. I fought an extremely fun battle and pushed my limits to the max.

All of a sudden, my phone rings. I pull it out with shaky hands and look at the caller ID. I lick my suddenly dry lips in fear and I hesitantly pick up. Well, this was a good day so far.

"Y-yo." The other side is void of noise. It feels like the bell of death will toll for me if I don't say something else.

"I was fighting for my life ever since the last time I called you. I barely lived, but I got stronger!" My exhausted voice manages to have some cheer forced into it at the end. I hope she'll take that as an excuse. Saitama looked to me for a second, pocketed the money, and carried on as I followed him back to his apartment.

"Am I bad person…?" Ooookay? Way to open up with something random like that. Just how am I supposed to answer it? With honesty? It didn't even sound like that question was meant for me.

"Nah, you're not a bad person at all. If you can put up with me, then you're definitely not a bad person." She lets out a breath she was holding in.

"We'll talk about proper protocol when we meet up in ten days." I really don't like the sound of that. "For worrying me, you have to be the one to call me for the next ten days every day. If you slip up again…" She leaves the last words for me to fill in mentally. I worried her? I must've misheard. What type of person would care about someone like me?

"Yeah yeah, I promise to follow through on our deal this time. Bye." This time I hang up. I don't know why she even took me in as her subordinate. All she's going to get for her troubles is a nice heaping of misfortune.

"You done with your friend?" he says emotionlessly.

"Yeah. By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I know of you, but you don't know me at all. I'll start with my name, which is Wil. I'm a guy who looks for fun fights and saves people if I can." We continue walking as we make small talk.

"I'm Saitama. A hero for fun." A hero for fun….

"Are you really having fun?" I blurted out that one question, which stopped him in his tracks completely. He continued walking, and didn't respond to my question. Shit, did I mess up somewhere?

"I'm going to get some groceries. Open the apartment for me." He throws me the keys, which I catch. We split up here. It's a good thing that a remember where his place is even though I was barely conscious walking over there. Let's see…it's should be on the left side of the ghost town and a little close to the residential district.

I jump on a building and spot the huge apartment building in question. What's the number to his place again…? Might as well try every single door if I don't know. Wait, maybe there are nameplates…there are none! This is gonna suck….


"Ah. What are you doing outside here?" Saitama met me the moment I finally found the place. It was literally the last door I checked, and he has the nerve to ask me what am I doing outside here? I turn around and look at him with deadened eyes.

"You didn't tell me which room was yours…" I say that with a mournful tone. My spirit is broken and my day is ruined because of this. I had to manually check every single door, and I was contemplating smashing the entire apartment to pieces.

"Oh, my bad." I hand him the key with a sigh and he opens the door. Giving this room a second look over really tells me how small it is. It's probably extremely cheap as well. I see Saitama come out of one of the rooms with empty bags. I guess he's put the groceries away. Ah, that's right.

"Hey Saitama, give me your number." He looks at me and tells me the number as I put it in. I named him Hero of Baldness in my contacts. That's the second person there. My goal is to put at least ten people in my contacts list. Back home, I didn't even have five people in there. What a sad life I lived.

"I'm surprised you gave me your number like that." He answers my unspoken question with something surprising.

"Well, you're not a bad person, and I barely use my phone to begin with. You even gave me money." I bet that's the biggest reason. What a stingy guy. He doesn't even pay for this room because the apartment is abandoned. Meanwhile, I have to stay on the streets and bum at people's places because I don't have the proper papers to actually buy a place to live.

Is there a way to increase someone's luck?

"Saitama…you're really lucky." My words are almost as dead as my soul. Empty and devoid of hope to be free of bad luck. I will always suffer the plague of misfortune even till my next life and the life after that. I am cursed to wander the planes of existence, suffering bad luck for all of eternity.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Even he's a little creeped out by my subdued posture. I guess I'll tell your fortune for you.

"Saitama, do you want me to tell your fortune? It'll be for free." Just mention anything free and he'll perk up instantly.

"Will I fight anyone strong?" Oh yes, this is an easy one. I got you right here easy.

"You will. There are some enemies that you'll defeat in one punch, but there are two very exceptional enemies that you will face in the future. The first one will survive multiple punches from you and make you get a little serious." His eyes light up at this.

"Now the second one…oh boy. This monster guy will actually dodge your attacks multiple times like I barely did. He'll make you a little serious as well. He even survives the fight with you!" I know that gave him hope, but he'll only find disappointment. Just like my soul.

"Do you know when I'll fight those two?" He's still taking it with a grain of salt, but people like to have hope. Even Saitama likes to dream of fighting people who can make him bleed and ignite his burning passion for a adrenaline-filled battle once more.

"Hmmm…in about 10 months from now. Yeah, around that, you'll fight the first guy and the second guy will come a little bit later after that. They're both monsters though, so don't go staring at random people and begging them for a fight. You'll get charged for sexual harassment."

"Just want kind of person do you think I am?" A man with a battle boner. Except that boner is suffering from performance issues. One who needs to find a really hot battle to ignite his flames of passions once more.

"Fan the flames of youth, Saitama!" I shot those words randomly out of my mouth out of randomness. I just felt like I had to say those things. Saitama is now a little put off by me.

I always screw up with people. I'm just no good with socializing or making friends. Even if I somehow make a friend, my bad luck distorts it. The only person I can maybe consider a friend is Bad. Shimi's a bit weird…okay a lot weird and I only just met Saitama the other day. Actually, now that I'm feeling better…

"Hey Saitama, you up for a little sparring match? I've only gotten better from the last one."

"But it's only been an hour?" Okay, and? I want nothing more than to fight fight fight forever! The only thing holding me back is the human body having the ability to become tired. "Plus, I need to go beat up monsters. I'm gonna do that now."

He immediately leaves in his hero outfit, while I just chill here despondently with nothing to do. "You could have at least taken me with you…" I murmur with grief. I'm so damn bored and there's nothing to do. That's why I have to find something to do on my own!

I'm revived with a burst of passion coming out of nowhere. I'm going to capitalize on my rejuvenation and hunt down monsters as well! The moment I jump through the doorway and onto the ground, a signpost falls on me, which I immediately evade.

"Are you kidding me." Is this a warning, or a prelude to the despair waiting for me? It doesn't matter what awaits me, I'll face it head on like I always do. There's nothing that can scare me now.


"I'M SCARED!" I regret my arrogant words earlier. Right now, I'm being chased by a green phallic shape monster with tentacles coming out of it. It has a mouth right below the…you know and it's chilling in a wheelbarrow rolling after me. It's spitting acidic white globs of…unknown substances and it can go intangible whenever I try to hit it.

I know that I can hit it at the moment it tries to attack, but that requires me being touched by it. I wanted to go out and fight epic battles for the fate of the world. Not run into literally Mara from Shin Megami Tensei rolling after my ass. Do I take the initial L to secure the W, or do I continue running away?

I know! I'll call Saitama. Whatever he decides I should do, I'll listen with no regrets.

He picks up on the fourth ring. "Yeah? Who is it?"

"Don't act like you don't know it's me. You probably don't have anyone else other than me on your list of contacts. I can tell what a loner looks like after spending my whole life of being one." I unintentionally insult his social life.

"I'm hanging up." Oh shit, he's mad!

"Wait! I need you help. I'm being chased by a penis monster and I want to know if I should touch it or not." I left out a lot of details, but that should be substantial enough for him to know the proper course of action.

He hung up!

I'll definitely remember that Saitama! I don't have a memory like the characters made by Telltale Games, but I'll definitely remember that!

I slide to a stop and turn around readying an Armament fist when I see the thing launch itself out of its wheelbarrow headfirst. I let loose a battle cry of anguish as I slam my fist into the tip. This is true pain…my misfortune. It's running at maximum power today.

I continue hunting monsters for two hours just to get that memory out of my head, but the feeling and the sounds won't go away. I can see the moment it was seared into my eyes. That will stay with me forever. The squishing...the spurting. I just want to run into a wall and knock myself out, but if I do that, then I'll wake up with vomit all over me.

I finally made it back to the apartment. Saitama...

My eyes turn bloodshot, and my breathing gets heavier.

"Saitama! You abandoned me when I needed you most!" I open the door and yell at the lazy baldy laying on his side on the floor watching TV. He turns to me with disdain in his eyes. You thought I was joking about the surprise cockfight? I pull out my phone and show him a picture of that God-level threat.

"Oh…" He covers his mouth and goes green in the face. He looks to me as if to ask what happened to it. I close my eyes and clench my teeth as I remember how I finished it off. I blew through the front…entrance and left a hole in the back, emptying out it's insides with one punch.

Saitama closes his eyes and grieves for my lost innocence. Both of us promise to do our best to forget that incident.

"So, did you fight anything strong?" I ask even though I already know the answer. I would feel bad, but he abandoned me to potential sodomy.

"Everything ended in one punch again." The despair I feel even from here is immense. Or is it just all-encompassing boredom?

"I really feel for you. You can never feel the passion of going all out in a battle, breaking bones and bleeding all over the place. Never again surpassing your limits and grinning in the face of death, facing against a certain loss, but somehow coming through." I attempt to "empathize" with him, which only made him look at me with envy. I grin at his jealousy and revel in it!

Saitama's kind of fun to mess with once you get some of his tells down. He likes being a cheapskate and lazing around. He gets annoyed when I hog the television and eat all his food. I do pay him back for the food, so all he can do is meaninglessly grumble at me while taking my precious yen that I have in spades.

"Hey, Saitama…what type of women do you like? There's a rumor going around that you like the loli tsundere type." The moment I whimsically say that, he sits up and looks at me. Sorry bud, but I gotta press you on this. I need to know if you're a man of justice or a man of culture.

"I look at their personality." Oh-ho! I didn't expect you to be such an expert bullshitter. It's a shame that you're looking at the master of the art right now. I can see through your façade!

"Don't lie. Let me know where your passions lie. If you say something stupid like the eyes, then I'll gouge out every single woman's eyes." Hold on a second. "It can't be…that you like men, right?" I actually take a moment to seriously consider this. Let's see...he hangs around King, Genos, Sonic, Bang, Charanko, i think he befriended Garou or at least came to an understanding with him...?

My eyes widen in shock as I make exaggerated movements fleeing towards the door while i cover my ass with both hands.

"Let me stop you right there!" He grabs onto my shoulder preventing me from moving any further. "I won't let you spread anything dangerous." But you're still not going to tell me your preferences?

We sit back down around the table watching TV. I start laying on my back reading some manga. It's Shonen Jump, and Hiatus x Hiatus is actually finished! This is the greatest timeline. I don't think I want to go back to my world now. I gotta check if Berserk is done now.

"There's a serial killer out?" Saitama questions blandly. I sit up and look at the TV. Well, this was unexpected. Apparently, they're wandering across multiple cities and it's unknown if it's a human or a monster. I wonder if he'll try to catch that guy, or if he only focuses on monsters. He turns to me with curiosity in his eyes.

"What about your preferences?" Curious about my types, are we? Don't worry Caped Baldy, you're not on there.

"I really don't have any types." I click my tongue in annoyance. If I run across that murderer, I'll give them a piece of my mind and shatter their will to kill people.

"I've never been attracted to anyone, man or woman in my life. I just never had that spark, you know? I'm a super virgin who's never been in a relationship except for the one with my right hand. Except we're in a long-distance relationship at the moment. I scratch my cheek with a mock-embarrassed look on my face.

"Too much information." He does a t-pose with hands signaling me to stop. Aw man, I was even gonna talk about the best kind of porn! My fetishes are of the depraved kind. I start grinning with a menacing smile on my face. "You stop that right now." My body immediately stop, but my mind continues working.

"My relationship status is brethren fore wenches." I say proudly. I catch the pitying look Saitama sends to me. "Hey, what's that look for?" He shakes his head.

"I don't like what you're thinking."

"It's just…so sad." I'm starting to get a little irritated. You're definitely making fun of me, aren't ya?

"The only thing sad is your hairline, oh wait, you don't have one." I see him twitch.

"Hey chrome dome, you wanna boil some eggs for me?" I ask him with pure innocence in my voice. He's getting closer to snapping.

"Your superhero name will be…Caped Baldy!" That got him.

"Shut up!" I start busting a gut because he's super sensitive about his hair loss. He's only twenty-four at this point, but he looks like he's in his forties because of his baldness. Something so pitiful shouldn't be so hilarious. It's like laughing at someone who stepped on a Lego.

Wait that might be a little too far.

"Hey, Saitama." He makes some strange noise to let me know he's listening. "You went a bit easy on me during our fight. I want you to treat me like a monster the next time we fight. I need to get stronger. Strong enough to actually beat you." I hope my countenance is enough to convey how serious I'm being. All he does is nod his head.

I can't be treated like a normal human being. Not with this cursed body. I haven't even tested the effects of seawater on me. What'll it take for Saitama to hit me with a serious series punch? Maybe I can bribe him with more money, but he'll still hold back. As long as I'm human…

The only thing inhuman about me is my own luck. I swear I was born under a star of misfortune.

"I'm gonna step outside." I call out to him before leaving the room. I feel like my potential is going to hit a ceiling soon. It's already evening…

"Maybe I should go hunt down some extra monsters, but that won't really do anything for me. I need to go after some dragons." I mumble to myself. But it's not like I can randomly find a dragon threat randomly lying around, now can I?

Wait…aren't there some Monster Association goons chilling at that power level?

I know I said that I didn't want to tussle with them yet, but there's no other choice. I'm going to throw myself at them, then I'll throw myself at Saitama tomorrow. I just gotta find that hidden sewer entrance.


Wow, I actually found it that quickly. I'm a person devoid of luck, so this boss rush is definitely going to hurt me badly. What's the saying again…no pain no gain, right? I jump down the hole and into a tunnel. I guess I gotta walk along here and there'll eventually be some monsters to face me.

I hear the sound of growling and I immediately turn around to see Overgrown Rover staring me down. So, this is why I found the secret entrance so quickly. It's because I'm misfortunate enough to drop right in front of the most durable monster they have. He's fast as well. I guess I'll take him on and destroy this entire place while I'm at it.

He's supposed to only attack once he's been attacked, but for some reason he's in an enraged state. He's already baring his teeth and buckling his legs. I stare at him with a gleam in my eyes and a grin on my face. When people face monsters, they usually feel fear when they are weaker, or contempt when they are stronger. All I feel is excitement and the pure desire to fight until I can't anymore.

I always face every monster like it's my last because I don't care if that battle will be my last. All I need is the fight itself, not the victory or the loss. That's why I can face every monster, even the Dragon-level threats with no will, only a push that leads me into more and more battles. Whether it's my misfortune guiding me from conflict to conflict is of no concern to me. All I have to do is face the conflict head on.

Results...are unnecessary.

"Gear Fourth: Snakeman."


B-City

A person covered in blood is struggling to walk in the alleyways. She's holding on to the side of the wall just to keep her balance. She looks at her hands to find them shaking. "Hahaha…I'm so fucked up." She bitterly laughs to herself in derision. Her eyes then light up.

"But I'm not a bad person." She says with joy to herself.

Behind her is a destroyed road and underneath that road was a laboratory. The scientists researching whatever were torn apart like an animal went through them and chewed them up. The gore plastered itself on the walls and broken computer screens are strewn about everywhere. There was a large glass container where something broke free.

"Only…one more left, then world domination." She tries to smile to herself in hope, but there's nothing in it. Just an empty gray smile. She never considered recruiting help, but she met a person and did it on a whim. "Just what am I doing?" she lets out an exhausted sigh.

"Might as well get some rest here." She puts her back against a wall and drops down. She tries to stabilize her bleeding with some bandages, but it keeps leaking out. She grasps her hair tightly and tries to rip it out in agony, but then she reaches for her phone with dirty hands and stares at it.

"Tomorrow, right?" She knows that she's unsalvageable, but she just can't help it. Shimi believes that Wil will understand. He's her loyal subordinate…right?

Someone who's been all alone for a long time cannot comprehend friendship.

From the moment she met Wil, she knew that he didn't care about his life at all. She still can't pinpoint if he's suicidal or not, but his mindset was the only reason that they can form even a semblance of a bond. If Wil is a person who's suicidal, then Shimi is a person who's omnicidal.

Even if Wil managed to detect the sheer malice hidden within her, would he even stay by her side? These thoughts provoked her to force them to exchange contact every day.

"But…he messed up." He didn't call or even message her for an extended period of time. It was then that the lonely silence set in once more. This time, it was very undesirable. She was used to solitude for so long, but after having a taste of the forbidden fruit of friendship, she can't go back.

So, she called and messaged him every day with a multitude of emotions surging through her. Rage. Sadness. Hope. Despair. Fear. Disgust. And once he did eventually pick up…

She will stain the world in blood and dominate over its corpse. There's nothing left remaining in this world for her, so what does she even need from it? The Hero Association will be her main obstacle, so she's regaining all of her lost power scattered across the cities. She was broken apart and sifted like a lab rat, and only now is she coming back together whole.

She will destroy the Hero Association, the hope of this world. Then she will destroy the world and kill every last bit of life in it. Maybe she can leave Wil alive. She can't stand being alone anymore. She smiles to herself at her thoughts.


Z-City

"Gum-Gum: Jet Culverin!" Wil sent out both of his fists at rapid speeds to the dog that blasted through all the tunnels. There are many monsters watching the onslaught of man versus monster. Many of them have never seen Rover go berserk like this, firing off balls of pure energy everywhere.

They've entered an open cylindrical area, where Rover is running on the walls and shattering everything with the blasts of energy.

"Go Python!" His fist bounces off the walls multiple times and hits the monstrous mutt at ridiculous speeds. He was knocked off the walls into another fist stretching after him. The dog bites down on the arm, which gave Wil a slight wince.

He pulls the dog closer to him, while it's trying chew his arm off. The initial Python comes swerving behind him and knocks the dock even further to him at higher speeds. Wil stretches his head back and slams it on Rover's head, which makes him open his mouth and free his arm.

Will backs up and jumps off a wall. "Gum-Gum: Black Mamba!" A myriad of fists rain down on the dog as it gets pushed hard into the ground. The dog tries to force itself to stand from the pressure and charges up an even larger ball of energy in its mouth.

Rover keeps tanking the blows as it bounces off of him and gains even greater speed to hit him harder. Rover rushes at him through the punches with a glowing ball in his mouth and releases it at point-blank range.

"Shit!" Wil recalls both of his arms and blocks the explosive energy ball, sending him flying through walls into an open area. He sees a disgusting one-eyed monster. It's Gyoro Gyoro. They look at each other, the monster with intrigue, and Wil with irritation.

"Hot damn, you're one disgusting thing! You're ugly as sin! Why do you even exist in the first place?" Wil immediately spews toxic words, which only makes the monster chuckle ominously. He ignores it and turns towards the mutt bolting towards him. He jumps right over the claws and slams his fists downward on its head with all the force he can muster.

"Sit boy!" The attack smashes the ground beneath them both, then they both start falling downward.

Once they stop falling and land on the new ground, Rover stops attacking and just looks behind him. Wil has a good guess at what's behind him. He maintains his Gear Fourth and turns around to see Orochi, the self-proclaimed Monster King. He believes that the only Orochi that deserves to exist is an eight-headed dragon. Not some abomination with learning capabilities.

"So, you're my next opponent. I actually didn't expect fighting you at all this early, but I might as well make it easier on the Hero Association by blowing you away." Wil rubs his cheek and wipes the blood off of his forehead. Orochi's horn lengthens and attempts to pierce the human standing before him.

Wil grabs the horn and snaps it off, which enrages Orochi. Multiple snakes start spewing out of him as he takes a battle stance. He finally looks like the monster he's supposed to be and not some gigantic humanoid being. Wil is the one who makes the first move.

"Gum-Gum: Jet Culverin!"