"Alphys!" Undyne burst into Alphys' room causing the doctor to jump in shock.
"Ah! W, what is it?!"
"Turn on the tv!" Alphys reached for the remote but found it hard to hold onto as it slipped like butter in her sweaty claws. Eventually she hit the power button, the screen lighting up in response.
"-no confirmation on what incapacitated the heroes, but we will report once we have the details." The reporter on the tv was talking while videos of people on stretchers were being loaded into ambulances.
"Ah!" Alphys exclaimed as one wearing a smashed helmet appeared onscreen. "Mumen Rider?!"
"I know right?! And you'll never guess who they said did it! It was-"
"Garou." Genos finished Undyne's sentence, much to her anger.
"Where did you come from? Haven't you heard of knocking?"
"Master Saitama already saw the report. He is planning to visit after he picks up groceries."
"Alright! Then we'll do the same! Come on, Alphys! Let's see if we can't beat him there!"
"We?!" Before Alphys could object, Undyne had already scooped her up and dashed down the hallway intent on winning her challenge.
"How long is this gonna take?!" Undyne complained while sitting in a waiting area.
"Calm down," Alphys tried to talk her girlfriend down. "I'm sure visiting hours will be here soon. You just gotta be patient. Do you want to use my phone? I just got this new app that puts cool stuff on your picture. My favorite are the cat ears!"
"Thanks, Alphys, but I'll pass." Undyne tried to take a kinder tone than her words might suggest.
"Excuse me," a familiar voice attracted their attention to the front desk. "Can you tell me where Mumen Rider's room is?" It was Saitama standing with a plastic bag and his normal blank expression.
"It's room B-32," the nurse answered. "You'll have to wait, though. It's not visiting hours yet."
"Okay," the hero turned towards the chairs. "Oh, hey, I didn't see you guys." Saitama took a seat in front of the monsters. "What're you doing here?"
"We came to see Mumen Rider, like you," Alphys spoke up.
"Cool," Saitama reached into his bag and pulled a cluster of yellow fruit. "Banana?" As if on cue, Undyne's stomach made an audible growl. "Oh, I guess in all of the excitement I forgot breakfast."
"No worries, catch." Undyne caught Saitama's toss and peeled the banana. As she took the first bite, the intercom buzzed to life. "Attention, visiting hours have begun. Visitors are now free to enter and exit as they please."
"Alright! It's about time!" Undyne grinned.
It wasn't long before the trio located Mumen Rider's room. They found a young brown-haired man with glasses in bed along with someone familiar but unexpected. "sans?!" Undyne remarked incredulously. "How the hell did you get here so fast?!"
"i went in the back. was i not supposed to?"
"Whatever," Undyne let the issue go quickly. "Anyway, how you feeling?"
"I'm fine." Despite his condition, Mumen Rider had a smile. "I'm glad you all came to see me."
"Banana?" Saitama offered.
"Uh, no thanks."
"Okay," Saitama instead took one and helped himself.
"So what happened?" Alphys asked. "Was it a monster?"
"No, well not exactly. It was the Hero Hunter: Garou."
A silence fell over the room leaving Saitama's chewing as the only noise.
"So, what's his deal?" Saitama asked. "Is he really a monster?"
"No, he's definitely human but he's strong. But it's a kind of strength that's hard for me to describe, it's..."
"It's technique." The voice came from behind the curtain next to Mumen Rider. It then flapped open to reveal a large muscular man. His right arm was in a sling and his leg was in a cast. "oh, yeah. i forgot, this guy's here." sans pointed out nonchalantly.
"Who are you?" Saitama asked.
"That's the S-class hero, Tank Top Master," Mumen Rider answered.
"Wait, you're S-class, too?" Undyne's eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, I'm guessing you're that new monster S-class, Sushi Lancer?"
"I never agreed to that name!" Undyne growled.
"Regardless," the hero put out his good hand. "Nice to meet you." Undyne took it and smiled when he shook it.
"Glad to see you're not a jerk like that Amai Mask guy."
"E, excuse me." Alphys raised her hand. "What did you mean by 'technique'?"
"Ah, that. In my experience, monsters rely on brute strength when attacking. The difference is that since Garou is a martial artist, he uses techniques focused on the opponent's weak spots and counters attacks. There's another thing, too. Even though I beat him so hard he could barely stand, he powered through it, defeating me and the rest of the Tank Top gang. It was as if the more he fought, the stronger he got."
"really...?" sans muttered.
"It's quite the demon Silver Fang raised," Tank Top Master noted.
"I can't believe this!" Undyne cried, arms crossed. "First this guy gets me and Charanko expelled, now he's beating up my fellow heroes! Well I'm not letting him get away with it!" She put her foot on top of a nearby stool. "It's time to hunt the Hero Hunter!"
"Do you have any idea where he could be?" Saitama pointed out.
"...dammit!" The frustrated monster nearly broke through the floor as she stamped down.
"Hold on, you said 'Charanko,' right?" Mumen Rider asked. "Because there was another guy by that name who got shipped here."
"Charanko's here, too? What room?"
"I don't know."
"Well let's find out!" Undyne dashed out of the room, leaving the rest to guess where she was heading.
"Charanko! How are ya holding up?"
"How do you think I'm holding up?!" Undyne had entered the room where a bandaged-from-head-to-toe Charanko laid with a raised leg. The man struggled to remove the bandages from his face as the rest of Undyne's friends entered. "Oh, hey, you're okay," Saitama blandly pointed out. "Banana?"
"No, I, uf, don't want a banana." Charanko eventually managed to rip the cloth from his face. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"W, we came to check on Mumen Rider," Alphys explained. "We never thought that we'd see you here too? Why, um, are you here, exactly?"
"Ah! I tried going after Garou and look what happened!"
"I thought you guys agreed to let Bang handle it," Saitama pointed out.
"I know, but I thought if I took him down, Bang Sensei would go back to being his usual self." A look of realization crept onto Charanko's face. "Oh, crap! Now I can't compete!"
"Compete in what?" Undyne cocked an eyebrow.
"The Super Fight martial arts tournament! Here, look." He reached into a wallet next to him and pulled out a ticket. "I was all set too."
"You're seriously gonna forfeit?" Saitama asked.
"I got no choice. And it's not like there's a replacement."
"What am I?! Chopped liver?!" Undyne growled. "Have you forgotten I've also been training under Bang Sensei?! I'll take your place and bring honor to the school of the Water Flowing Rock Smashing Fist!"
"You know," a small smile came to Charanko's face. "That could work! Since we're in the same school, you could take my place if they know I'm incapacitated! Yeah! I'll call them!"
"Alright!" Undyne pumped her fist.
"Wait," everyone turned to Saitama. "Are you sure that I can't, like, say I'm you so I can fight?"
"No way!" Undyne shouted. "Besides, why would you want to fight in the tournament? You're already super strong."
"Well, after hearing about Garou, I'm thinking it'd be interesting to fight an experienced martial artist. Plus I could use the prize money..."
"Not a chance!"
"Oh, come on. You won the costume contest," Saitama whined.
"It's not about the money!" As Undyne debated Saitama, Alphys noticed sans stepping out into the hall. "You're not staying?" She asked.
"nah. i got stuff needs doing. just... be careful where you go. oh, and ask why that master guy isn't in the military."
"Why?"
"'cause he's got a tank top."
In a darkened room, a brown-haired boy sat in front of the only source of illumination: a computer screen. He was looking back and forth between the screen and keyboard, occasionally taking spoonfuls from the parfait that sat on the table next to him. Seemingly from nowhere, a short figure stepped into view. "yo. you doin' all right?"
"Ah!" The boy exclaimed at the intrusion. "You know, if you want me working on your stuff, you should give me a heads-up when you're gonna visit me."
"sure, just give me a phone or something."
"Alright." From the backpack the boy was wearing, a metal appendage sprouted, stopping in front of the boy's visitor. In its grip was a flip phone. "That communicator has a direct link to me. Please use it."
"thanks." a bony hand pocketed the device. "so how goes it?"
"Honestly, I can barely wrap my head around it. So much of it crosses into theoretical territory that I have a hard time believing it's possible."
"well believe it, pal. it's how me and my buds ended up here in the first place."
"I just wish I had more help with it. If Metal Knight would just take his big nose out of whatever's caught his eye, he'd obsess over this like no tomorrow. That reminds me, I keep running into something called 'determination' being mentioned over and over again. Any ideas what it is?"
"just ignore it. it worked without the stuff the first time, it should work again."
Bwa! Bwa!
An alarm started blaring as a red exclamation point appeared on the screen. "what is it?"
"One of my drones just found something of interest." The boy tapped on the keyboard and on the monitor appeared a grinning man standing next to another lying on the ground, beaten. "Garou!"
"looks that way."
"Dammit, if Silver Fang had a phone I could contact him but-"
"no worries." sans turned around."i'd like to have a chat with him. just do me a favor and turn off the camera."
"But what are you going to-" As the boy turned around, any trace of his visitor vanished. "That guy gives me the creeps..."
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Garou looked up towards the shadowed end of the alley where the slow applause came from. "The hell?" He muttered to himself.
"you have been busy." Stepping out from the darkness was a short, grinning skeleton in a blue hoodie. "guess you're really serious about this little 'hero hunt' ain't cha?"
"Who are you supposed to be? Another hero?"
"ha. naw. i'm just a concerned citizen here to check out the commotion."
"If you're not a hero, then leave. I don't have time to talk to trash."
sans winked. "well, i usually would, but today's kinda special. i need to tell you something." His eyes faded to black. "Stay away from my friends."
Garou cocked his eyebrow. "Your friends?"
"shining android, otaku lizard, sushi lancer and the great papyrus. they're off limits."
"You mean those monsters-turned-heroes." A sinister grin came to his face. "Oh, yeah. I had planned on seeing them, especially the B-class one. I wonder what would happen if I broke his bones considering there's nothing else."
sans closed his sockets. "well, that's just not gonna work out."
"And what are you gonna do about it?"
sans didn't speak, allowing a foreboding silence to cover them.
Shing!
All of a sudden, his eyes opened revealing a blue glowing one in his left socket. It was then that a giant dragon skull appeared right behind Garou. Opening its mouth, a beam of energy escaped the weapon, Garou barely having time to jump over it. Just as he was in the air, sans reached out with his hand, his opponent now emitting a blue glow. "What?!" Before he reached the apex of his jump, sans moved his arm to the left, Garou following it and slamming into the wall. Like an orchestral conductor, sans waved his hand down, up and to the sides, flinging Garou like a rag doll. Before he could get his bearings, the skeleton made one last movement downward. When the hero hunter landed, a bed of bones quickly rose, scratching his body all over. The bones retracted into the earth, leaving a huddled Garou in the alley. Quickly, he stood up and gazed at the restauranteur. A grin adorned his face. "Is that all you've got?!" He laughed. "'Cause if it is, you're gonna-" The man doubled over, coughing violently into his hands. After a few seconds of hacking, he opened his eyes to see a few drops of blood in his palm. "W-what-?"
"let me ask you something," sans strolled to the confused predator. "do you believe in karma?"
"K-karma?"
"yeah, you know, what goes around, comes around?"
"Who cares about superstitious bull shit?!" Garou hissed.
"well, you should, for one. every person you've hurt or killed, innocent or guilty, that aaalll adds up. and with someone like you who gets stronger every time you do this... well..."
"What the hell do you mean?!"
sans shrugged, "you are slow. in layman's terms, it doesn't matter how strong you are. i'm always gonna be able to kill you."
The skeleton snapped his bony fingers. Six skulls like before appeared around Garou. Their jaws opened, ready to blast him to oblivion. "If you're gonna kill me, you son of a bitch, then do it!"
"mmm, naw." With another snap, they vanished. He turned around. "of course, that depends on if you stay away from those guys." He began to walk away. "besides, old man bang seems to have a beef with you. after all he's done for undyne, it'd be rude to get in the middle of that."
In a second, a barreling Garou closed the gap between them, his hand in a knife strike. "Don't you ever say that bastard's name to me!" His hand pierced the concrete forming a deep crack. Next to it was a nonchalant sans. Garou was speechless. "well, guess i hit a nerve there." Instead of turning, sans merely continued walking. "oh, yeah," he stopped before becoming shadowed. "here's a tip: there's this hero, caped baldy. he doesn't look like much, but if you managed to beat him, i doubt anyone could stop you."
"What?"
"yep. see ya in the funny papers."
"Get back here!" Before Garou could catch up, the skeleton vanished into the darkness. "Caped Baldy, huh?" Garou looked up at the black skies and pondered his next move.
