Saitama was confused. He was not sure about Levi's question. Getting people to talk? What was that supposed to mean? Who needed to talk? Was it Eren? Or Mikasa? He did not know, but he didn't care either. His lunch with Petra was pretty neat, and the food wasn't all that bad either. The talk with her parents was a little weird. He didn't know much about woman, nor of marriage… or anything along the lines of that.
"Hey, baldy, you listening?" came the voice of Levi, shaking Saitama out of his thoughts. "When we arrive at the prison you'll have to do some things you'd rather not to." Levi continued, not averting his eyes off Saitama. "But we need Annie to talk. We need to know whose she's working for."
"Okay, but why did you not just ask her to talk?" Saitama replied, raising an eyebrow. "I mean what have you guys been doing ever since we came back from the expedition? Not that I've been doing anything productive other than filling my belly with food." He finished with a yawn at the end. "Whoa, looks like my body is telling me to take a nap."
"Then your body is wrong," Levi retorted. "No naps."
"Would anyone care to remind me how this guy became humanity's savior?" Saitama deadpanned. Instead of getting a verbal reply, he instead felt a hot breath on his bald head. Raising an eyebrow in confusion; Saitama turned his head and was met with the face of squad leader Mike, who was… sniffing him. He was sniffing him. Why was he sniffing him?
"Uh, mind telling what you're doing?" Saitama asked, raising an eyebrow at the tall leader. "I know I don't smell that that good but don't you think this is a bit overkill?" he continued.
Mike shrugged before taking his attention away from Saitama. He then kept his face forward, not paying attention to anyone but the road in front of him.
Saitama did not say anything. Instead he listened to what Levi was telling him… which was a rarity.
"Listen, baldy, we have to find out why Annie did what she did. She killed troops, troops I watched grow into soldiers. She killed them in cold blood. She betrayed all of us. Do you understand what I'm getting at?" Levi said, closing the space between him and Saitama. "I've tried everything I could… well, at least what Erwin wanted me to do. Now it's up to you. Use whatever methods you see fit. Just get her to spill the beans."
This time it was Petra who replied. "I don't think that Saitama is a guy to do those kinds of things." She whispered into Levi's ear. "I mean he seems like a pretty relaxed guy whenever he's facing off against Titans. But having him torture someone? I don't think he'd like that." She added, taking a quick glance at Saitama before returning her attention to Levi again. "Why don't you just try again?"
"I have already tried too much," Levi whispered back. "I mean I would have nearly killed her had Erwin not come in. I was losing my fucking patience, Petra."
"You were losing your patience? Who are you and what have you done to Captain Levi?" Petra whispered back in a joking manner, although Levi's serious expression quickly dismissed that hint of humor. "Apologies, Captain I—I just forgot about the situation. I'm sorry."
"No need for apologies, Petra," Levi replied, shaking his head as he quickened his pace, not wanting to waste any time. "I feel that these last couple of days have been tiresome for all of us. Even Erwin is getting a little sick and tired from all this vague information. The goal is Eren's basement, and whatever we'll find in there that might help us end the Titan threat." He took a quick glance at Saitama. "And that guy will be the one leading us into victory."
"You think so?" Petra asked, raising an eyebrow at her Captain. "I'm surprised you're all taking this so well, Captain. I mean everyone always thought so highly of you before Saitama arrived. They all thought you would be the one to lead us into victory... and I did too." She admitted solemnly.
"You did?" Levi asked.
"Yes, but after I've seen what Saitama can do I'm not sure who's going to lead us into victory." Petra replied.
"Does it even matter?"
Both Levi and Petra turned to Mike, who had suddenly decided to chime in on their conversation. They both looked at Mike with a hint of curiosity planted on their faces.
"What do you mean, Mike?" Petra asked.
"As long as we're being led o victory, I couldn't care less. I will always follow Captain Levi," he said, turning to Levi to emphasize on his comment. "But I will also follow Saitama. He has proven himself to me. Instead of thinking about who is better, why not think about what kind of team they could make?" he suggested.
"And why not shorten your conversation?" Saitama called out to them in a sarcastic manner. "I'm just going to continue walking, if you don't mind. Boy, the sun sure looks pretty today."
The three soldiers all shook their heads before following the Caped Baldy.
'He's strong. Stronger than any of us.' Levi commented to himself, eyeing Saitama curiously. 'It's not common I show so much appreciation. And even though eh acts like he doesn't care he's still a member of my squad. And I do not regret my decision. With the right amount of training he can become an expert with the 3DMG, and along with his power we can finally free humanity from its tormentors. Levi continued to stare at Saitama. 'Considering the fact he defeat Annie in her Titan form is an accomplishment on its own. This man… he will become the new Humanity's strongest.'
Levi softly chuckled to himself. 'And it looks like defending my title is a lost cause as well. Ah well, not that I care anyways. I mean a title it just a title after all.'
Petra too had her own thoughts on Saitama, but decided not to pay too much attention to them. They had other issues that needed to be attend to. Starting with Annie.
That girl needed to pay… one way or another.
Annie stared at squad leader Hanji with newfound anger and hatred. She had done some pretty gruesome things to her. Levi's torture was bad, but hers was even worse. Cutting off finger nails and pulling them out was something that nearly made her burst out into tears. Then came the cutting. She cut her entire body up to the point where she would have almost bleed out. But this woman was smart, and knew enough about human anatomy that prevented her from dealing a killing blow to her body. And after the cutting came the cauterizations. Her skin was as black as charcoal, and were it not for her Titan healing, she would have died on the spot.
But she was strong. She was chosen to be a Titan shifter. She was stronger than anyone else.
"You're not, by the way." Hanji mused humorously. "And before you ask: Yes, you did say that out loud." She gave a soft chuckle, staring intensely at the Titan shifter seconds later. "I mean how could you even think you'd get close to matching Saitama's strength. The man is a walking God. He can defeat every single Titan in this world. You are nothing compared to him. And even so, should Saitama fail—which I highly doubt he would, Captain Levi would be happy to take his place. He'd cut you up into tiny pieces. You'd be dead before you know it."
Annie said nothing. This psychological bullying and torture was not going to get to her.
"And I heard he's coming here, you know." Hanji added.
"What?!" Annie exclaimed in shock, not expecting Hanji to tell her this information.
"Got ya!" Hanji laughed. "And it looks like I just found out the thing you fear the most. That being Saitama." She shook her head, calming herself down. "But no, Saitama isn't coming. I mean if he did you'd probably shit your pants."
"Once I get out of here," Annie sneered, glaring at Hanji intensely. "I'm killing you first."
"Low threats from a caged bird. A bird who will never have the ability to spread her wings ever again." Hanji retorted, spinning a scalpel between her fingers. "Now let's try this again, shall we?" she asked, stabbing the scalpel into Annie's collar bone. "Who are you working for? What is he or she trying to accomplish?" she asked, slowly twisting the scalpel, breaking off small piece of bone in the process. "Why did you betray your fellow humans?"
Annie said nothing as she simply stared at Hanji.
The scalpel was pulled out and brought back into her bone. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll make the pain stop." Hanji said slowly, hoping this would get Annie to finally break out of her shell. "If not then I'll begin stabbing into some more private areas." She said, motioning to Annie's "lower area".
"Go ahead," Annie smirked. "Levi already did that."
"Ooh, I like where this is going." Hanji smirked, taking out the scalpel. "Well if you're sure about then I don't see why I can't-."
"Squad leader Hanji."
Hanji turned her head only to be met by one of the guards that were guarding the entrance to Annie's cell. "Yes?" she asked, curiosity present in her voice. "How can I help you? I'm clearly busy."
"Your shift ends now." One of the guard stated, coming through the door to let two persons enter. "He will be taking over from here on out. You're dismissed, squad leader."
"WHAT?! Hanji exclaimed in anger, balling her hands up into fist. "I'll kick his ass for this! Who is it? Let me through that door so I can punch that son of a bitch!" she continued, running past the guard and bringing her arm back for a full-blown punch to whoever was interrupting her in her experiments. She felt her fist collide with flesh. She smirked. That would teach him.
"Don't tell me you're on your period too. I already had to deal with Mikasa, and now you?" came the monotone voice of someone Hanji knew all too well.
"S-S-Saitama." Hanji stuttered, backing up. "I, uhm, I was just testing to see how good your reflexes were. Shame on you, by the way, not seeing my punch coming." She nervously scolded him, hoping he'd forget about this whole thing faster than she could run away from him should he not. "So what brings you here?"
"Him," Saitama replied, pointing a backwards thumb to Captain Levi, who stood inside the doorframe tapping his foot impatiently on the wooden floor, sending the echoes of said tapping through Hanji's ears. Everyone could feel the tension rising. Levi was not happy with Hanji's actions.
"But I was sent here to talk to her," Saitama added, looking at Annie while walking past Hanji. "Hi, Annie." He greeted her.
"Get away from me!" Annie demanded, stomping her foot down on the floor. "Get away from me you freak!"
"Okay." Saitama replied, turning around and taking his exit, only to be stopped by Levi. "What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the Captain. "She said no."
"And in girl standards "no" means "yes"." Levi retorted, spinning Saitama around to get him to face Annie again. "Go get her… or something along the lines of that. I swear the new recruits have a way with their words."
"They sure do," Hanji replied, causally walking past Saitama. "And by the way, "no" still means "no". Unless you want a foot shoved up your-."
"Not a word, Hanji." Levi cut her off, turning to Saitama one last time. "You can kick her ass later, by the way. Just get that brat to talk."
Saitama watched as they took their leave, along with the guards that were with them. He sighed, not really wanting to talk to anyone. He turned to Annie and saw… a broken girl. She was exhausted, like she had been running all day with no pauses. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying. Her arms, legs, and back were all chained to this uncomfortable looking wooden chair. Her clothing was torn, and there was drops of blood everywhere. What had they been doing to her?
"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Saitama asked, taking a wooden chair and taking a seat opposite of Annie. "You really don't look so good. Have you even eaten anything?"
Annie said nothing, even going as far as to avert her gaze from him. This guy again. Great. Like her day wasn't bad from the get-go.
"Here."
Annie looked up to see Saitama holding what appeared to be a brown rectangular shaped bar. She stared at the strange item he was holding. "Crunchy chocolate" it read. What the heck was that supposed to mean? She knew what chocolate was. It was one of the most expensive and exquisite treats within the Walls. And only those living in Wall Sina had ever gotten the opportunity to taste it. She stared at the item again, and then dared to take a quick glance at Saitama. His gaze was unlike that of Levi or Hanji. It was… neutral. Even nice, in a way. She quickly forced herself to look away from the bar, however, knowing exactly what he was getting at.
"Trying to buy me over isn't going to work. Why not try the scalpels? I mean everyone else tried, so why don't you?" she asked sarcastically.
"Oh," Saitama said, picking up a blood-stained scalpel from a nearby wooden table. "I'm not a fan of knives." He said, crushing the scalpel in his palm until it was nothing more than a small iron ball. He twirled it between his gloved fingers before dropping it to the floor. "I'm not here to hurt you, you know. I just want to talk."
"Talk about what?" Annie asked.
"Still figuring that one out."
Annie deadpanned. So this guy didn't even know why he was here? Or was this another one of his weird mind-tricks or something. When she was in her Titan form and he asked her oh so innocently to come out of it she almost complied… almost. This had to be another one of his tricks.
"Aren't you hungry?" Saitama asked.
"Even if I was hungry, how the hell will I be able to eat the damn thing?" Annie retorted. "I can't eat, I'm chained to this chair. Can't you see that?"
As a reply Saitama brought the bar closer to her face, making her look at him in confusion. She didn't know what he was trying to do, but she didn't like it one bit. It was when the bar touched her lips that she savored the taste that she quickly opened her mouth and took a huge chunk out of the bar. She chewed and almost sighed in delight at the taste. This tasted amazing. She took another bite, and another one until she suddenly munched down on Saitama's fingers. She widened her eyes and quickly retracted he head.
"I'm so sorry!" Annie blurted out, a shade of red forming on her cheeks. Wait… did she just say she was sorry? Why did she say that?
"That's okay," Saitama said, staring at the tiny bite marks on his red glove. "Things like that happen when you're hungry. I almost bit off my mom's fingers when she was feeding me as a baby. So no hard feelings." He added.
Annie stared at Saitama again with newfound curiosity. She had just been fed by the same man who defeated her with little effort just one day ago. First he just walked into her cell like it was a normal visit, then he crushed a freaking scalpel with his bare hand, and then he gave her one of the most expensive treats out there like it was normal bread. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Was he really that desperate to get information out her? Or… was he actually being nice with her.
"Well… did you like it?" Saitama asked.
Annie slowly nodded her head. She decided, knowing she'd never get out of this mess, she might as well ask Saitama the question that had been roaming through her mind for the last couple of hours.
"How did you become as strong as you are now, Saitama?" Annie asked with genuine curiosity in her voice.
Saitama pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking up. "Well you're not the first one to ask me this. But promise me you won't lash out, okay?" he asked, looking at her with a serious expression. "I hate it when people do that."
Annie slowly nodded her head.
"Let me tell you a little something about a hero I once read in a book. A book my mother used to read to me" Saitama said, getting her full attention.
"There was once a boy named. Toto was a totally normal boy, and was paddling in the sea one day when a sea urchin stung him. At that precise moment, when he was rubbing his foot, he was simultaneously attacked by an octopus, a mosquito and a parrotfish, while being whipped by the tail of a platypus and having a seagull poop on his head... From such an unlikely confluence of events there could only emerge a new superhero, with impressive superpowers:
Superpower Ultra Man!
Such were his powers that he immediately thought he should not waste them on little things, and Superpower Ultra Man began hunting danger and threats to the world, so he could save us from the worst of the worst."
Saitama caught his breath for a second. He was not used to this kind of storytelling. He looked at Annie, who was simply staring at him, her face filled with curiosity. So he decided to continue.
"But the more he searched with his super-sight, the more he travelled the world with his hyper-velocity, and listened to the skies with his multi-frequency digital hearing, he found no one trying to conquer the galaxy or attempting to blow up the planet. He couldn't even find some villain planning to drain the seas or plunder a mountain. It seemed as though everyone, the good and the bad, were busy with much more mundane things, and they only had normal problems. So Superpower Ultra Man spent his days bored, exploring the skies in search of missions impossible that were deserving of a superhero of his caliber.
He got so very bored that when they offered him a television program to do, to demonstrate his abilities, he accepted, though he would only get the chance to rescue a few dozen people.
And when, finally, his moment of glory arrived, about which every superhero dreams, his demonstration turned into a complete disaster. Superpower Ultra Man was so used to thinking of things on a grand scale that he didn't know how to grab and rescue a single person.
He did everything to the max, without controlling his strength or his speed, so the whole thing ended up as a painful mix of blows, bruises, scratches, shouts, broken bones and torn clothing. Hurt and half naked, the "saved" ended up calling the superhero everything under the sun, amid the loud laughter of the public and journalists...
It's possible that no superhero had ever been so embarrassed. And ever since that day, any time someone refuses to do something because they consider it to be beneath themselves, everyone remembers the case of Superpower Ultra Man and says:
"Don't be such a Superpower Ultra Man; if you never learn how to do the little things, you'll never know greatness."
After he had finished the story, a story written by the talented Pedro Pablo Sacristán he looked at Annie again. He face was filled with a mix of confusion and awe. Saitama was surprised a bed-time story meant for little children could engulf someone so quickly. He decided to let Annie talk first, hoping this would get her to open up a bit.
"What does this have to do with you?" Annie asked.
"Well… like Superpower Ultra Man… I don't have anything to do. Having overwhelming power is pretty boring. And I realized that a long time ago. I trained so hard that I simply defeated all of my enemies with one punch. And in all honesty I don't feel any kind of emotion while battling. No fear, joy, anger, nothing. Just nothing." Saitama replied.
"Then… you felt no fear when we were fighting?" Annie asked.
"Nope," Saitama replied. "Not at all."
"Then how did you become so strong? You still didn't answer my question." Annie remarked. "I want to know."
Saitama took a deep breath before speaking up to tell her the truth. "All I did was one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit ups, one hundred squats and a ten kilometer run every day for three years. Then I got this strong."
Annie's jaw almost hit the ground when she heard him say that. This guy had to be messing with her. He had to! No way he could have become this strong by just doing that! In her fit of rage Annie began to hyperventilate. Her face turned red, and she felt like she was about to explode. Saitama, seeing this as a life-threatening situation, broke the chains around her chair.
"Breathe, Annie, breathe." He said, patting her back.
"I… I need fresh air, please." Annie wheezed.
"Okay." Saitama replied. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and ran out of the prison cell, leaving a trail of dust and two very confused prison guards behind him. Within seconds the duo reached the outside world. Saitama placed Annie down, patting her back reassuringly.
"Okay, now take some deep breaths and-."
Saitama was cut off when Annie brought her finger to her mouth and chomped down on it. In a blinding fit of anger Annie stared at Saitama. Mission accomplished. He had played right into her hands. His sympathies with her would be his downfall. A bright flash of lightning struck Annie, and within seconds she transformed into her Titan form. She looked down at Saitama and raised her foot.
"Uh, Annie, I think that's against the rules." Saitama said, before Annie's foot slammed down upon him...
A/N
Okay, I cannot apologize enough for the long wait. Life got in the way again, and school. But I am back. By the way, the story Saitama was telling Annie is a tribute to one of my favorite bed-time stories as a little kid.
Also, I have two more things to say. First is a Skype group me and another used called "BuffaloSoldia115" created where we talk about stories and other things. So if you're ever impatient about an update and want to know what's going on in our lives, feel free to join our group. Just send a friend request to "solidarc5542" on Skype and I'll add you to the group!
Also, talking about BuffaloSoldia115… he has a story out here in that deserves a lot more attention than it has. It is a crossover between Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and Star Wars Rebels, and it is written excellently. If you guys want to—and it would mean a lot to me—could you perhaps check out his story? I know I'm asking a lot, but this would really help Buffalo out as well. The story is called: Rebels 4 Man. If you can, please check it out.
Well that's everything I have to say for now. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please R&R!