Chapter 8 – flipping the script.
In the weeks that followed, Melee's courage returned. She began to confront dangers as fearless as before. Yet, it anyone got too close to Garou, a whole different side of her emerged. It happened just three weeks after childbirth. Melee was confronting a level demon threat in City J. A demonic looking beast with tentacles and odd lashing tongues that came out of different mouths it possessed. She was able to hold her own, yet, when this monster took a shot at Garou. She snapped. It smashed its tentacle arm right at him. Missing him by a foot, but still, it went after Garou! Melee turned and became enraged! Her Brawler battle cry became a lot more haunting, it echoed oddly making it sound more like a roar than anything! She wasted no time in dispatching the monster. Despite the fact she carried only her shurikens, somehow she was able to slice and dice the beast up without difficulty. When it lay in chunks on the streets, she turned to Garou. "Eat up."
He didn't hesitate. Garou rushed towards the sliced up monster and ate every scrap of it. She waited for him to finish, but once he did, he turned to her, shaking his head. "Still not enough. That's the second one today."
"It's not like I am eating for myself anymore!"
She smirked. "True, let's check the other cities." Taking out her phone, Melee did a quick scan. "Ooo, City Q just finished up. Want to head there?"
Garou sneered. "Watchdog man's turf."
"I'm sure he'll let you nosh on what he took down. I doubt he's going to eat it. Oh, that reminds me!" Melee approached Garou, oddly enough she lifted him off his feet. "This time I got you." With Flash Flash's speed, she ran all the way to city Q in minutes! Once they arrived, she let him go. Garou was stunned.
"Why…"
"Because you burn more calories when you fly, and you need them all right now!" she scolded. It was true though. When they arrived, there was Watchdog man, sitting on a pile of monster bodies he just took down. Level wolf at best, but still good enough for a feast for Garou. Melee approached with caution as the admiring public was offering their praise to Watchdog man. Once they saw her, their cheers turned to jeers.
"We didn't ask you to come!"
"Beat it, this town is protected well enough as it is!"
"Get lost you freak!"
But she ignored them; she approached the pile before calling up to the S class hero. "Watchdog… may we have those please?" she said pointing to the pile of monster bodies.
He peered down. "Why?"
But then noticed Garou waiting from a distance. "Please, we really do need those to feed him."
Watchdog gave but a nod. He jumped off the pile and gave a nudge to Garou to come over. He made his way through the crowd who turned their jeers to him. "Wait, that's here!"
"What is it doing in Watchdog's territory?"
"Get rid of it Watchdog!"
"Shut the hell up!" snapped Melee. "Garou, eat." She made certain to place herself between Garou and the crowd who continued to yell at them to leave… until they saw him eating. Garou began to shove in body after body of the fallen monsters until the pile was gone. With the last one swallowed, he gave a pause for a moment, turned to Melee and shook his head again.
"Still not enough…"
"I shouldn't be asking this, but… what's not enough?" asked Watchdog.
Melee sighed. "I haven't been able to keep Garou full. He's been hungry and I need to keep him fed. It's a difficult job to say the least. Level demon and wolf monsters don't quite satisfy him."
"Is this unusual?"
"Regarding the circumstances… no," said Melee. "Have there been any other reports of monster attacks? I don't care if they have been defeated or not. If they have, great, if not, we'll take care of it."
Watchdog man didn't know, he stays in city Q and doesn't venture out of it unless absolutely necessary. With a sigh, Melee checked her phone again and found a few more in near by cities that got taken out already. "Ooo, one was a level dragon. City S!" Once more her speed was second to none, she picked up Garou and ran him to city S just as the clean up crew arrived. It was a giant mutant like fish of all things! Melee was quick to stop the crew from breaking it apart. "Whoa, let's save you some work here!"
She didn't have to tell him, he was already eating it! The giant fish monster was over two stories tall, and God knows how many pounds. When he finished, he finally appeared content. "You good?" she asked.
He burped aloud. "Yeah, he's good."
The clean up crew were speechless. "He… ate the whole thing?"
"Oh please, don't act so surprised," said Melee. She turned to Garou once more, she was going to ask if he was ready to go home, when he was holding his sides oddly. "Garou?"
He didn't say anything, instead he raised his hand asking for a moment. Melee saw his sides pulse and push out, he filled out a bit more when it all came to a stop. "I'm good, I'm good" he said.
"Let's get you home then."
This time Melee used Tatsumaki's power and flew them home. When they arrived, Garou was flushed with red. "I should be the one to carry you home!" he protested.
"Not in your condition!" she snapped back. "How are you feeling anyway?"
Garou felt his sides. "Odd," he said. "I mean, I got nothing to compare this too! Not to mention I don't really want to know how I am eating for four!"
"Yeah… that's a bit of a mystery," said Melee. "I wonder though, how long they are going to stay with you?"
Neither one knew, but Garou hoped it wouldn't be for much longer.
