Chapter 7

Elsewhere.

Snek was slithering through the woods near the house. His mind has been plagued with different thoughts and situations as of late. In mere weeks he went from being okay with himself to doubting his abilities once more. He knows what happened between him and the exterminator was a difficult fight, he agrees he should have died after the second blast but didn't. It took time to heal and yet, he wasn't happy with himself. "I should have avoided that blast, instead I walked right into it." He muttered.

He paused, only to stare down at his own two hands. He let out a deep sigh. "What's the point?" he said to himself. "Why should I bother to stay like this if I can't even fend off one asshole with a weapon? What's the point in being human if I can't do half the things I can like this? What the hell am I going to do?" In his anger, he turned and struck the closest thing to him, a massive rock. One strike and he was able to shatter it! Snek was startled by his own strength, before he was luck to chip away at it, even split it if he was that determined. Now, he can shatter it?

He froze at the sight before looking down at his fist. "Am I that much stronger?"

Shaking his head to it all, he continued on, trying to think things through. He still wants to be normal again. He wants to be human. Hell he misses the sensation of his own two feet on solid ground, and being able to kick a bad guy! Yet, in this form, he is capable of many things despite the lack of legs. "Snek?"

He paused and then felt gentle footsteps approaching him. "Alley?"

Alley came out of the thick of the woods, Snek paused when he felt sudden vibrations in the ground, but they were echoed from the trees. "Are you following me Suiryu!" he demanded as he shouted up into the trees.

Suiryu dropped down and landed before Snek, he smiled but became serious when Alley joined them. "Snek, I was wondering if you and the others would come by the lab tomorrow? I want to do a check up on you three to ensure everything is going well."

He sneered to the idea. "I'm fine!" he snapped. "I know I have grown, I gained weight, but I'm fine!"

"She wants to ensure her cure is still having its affect on us. You know how sometimes stuff can break down over the years…" Suiryu said offhandedly.

He didn't believe it for a moment. Snek turned to Alley and glared. "What's really going on?" he demanded of her.

Alley sighed. "I want to see how much you three have improved over the last year. I never got a chance to properly gage your strengths and abilities. I have a little bit of data to compare it too, but I want to be certain that your strength increase is natural and not monster. You have grown stronger in the past year, like my dad you appear to be absorbing the strength of the creatures you eat. I want to be certain that's the case."

Snek hissed at the notion. "That explains it," he muttered to himself. Suiryu peered behind him and saw the shattered bolder.

"Did… you break that?" asked Suiryu.

"Yeah, what of it?"

Even Alley appeared impressed. "Tomorrow, you two and Max are going to come with me. Let's see what has improved in the three of you."

Snek was reluctant to, but since it was Alley who asked him, he agreed. She never forced him to do anything he didn't want, and she was genuinely worried about him. With that, she decided to leave for the lab and prepare everything for tomorrow. Which left Snek with Suiryu.

Suiryu looked Snek over oddly. "You have gotten a lot stronger." He said offhandedly.

He blew off the comment. "Coming from the guy who called me a wimp."

"Hey, that was in the past…"

"Yeah well, you were right. That was in the past, same with me being human. Question is, what the hell am I now?"

Suiryu froze as Snek began to slink closer to him. "I'm still a wimp, aren't I? Compared to you, I can't jump, I can't launch myself off the walls and land a kick against an opponent. I don't have half my strength that I use to since it call came from my legs. What do I have?" he questioned.

"Whoa, where's this coming from? I never called you a wimp after that day. You tired to save my life, I have a whole new respect for heroes after that incident with Gouketsu, you and Max… I wanted to become a hero after you two and Saitama saved me that day." Suiryu tried to place a hand on Snek's shoulder, but he refused to allow it. "Snek. What's really wrong? Why won't you say anything?"

"It's not for me to tell anyone, not to mention it's what I have to do for me. None of you can help in the matter." he snapped back. "Besides, you guys are a lot better heroes than I am. If there were a rank for this class, I would be at the bottom of it too."

"You choke out monsters! I can't do that!" Suiryu protested. "You do so with ease, it can take you what? 10 minutes if that to take down a demon level threat? I still have to bash it until it stops moving. Max as to keep moving and shocking it until it's dead. You don't have to use so much force and energy to take something down, that's power Snek, power I will never possess."

"Just leave me alone."

Suiryu didn't say another word. When Snek looked again, he was gone. He continued on through the woods, trying to think and process his own thoughts…