Chapter 23

Amai just finished up in the studio.

It's had been a long day and he as looking forward to going back to his apartment to rest up. Yet as he walked out, his manager confronted him. "Is there something you ought to tell me?" he asked.

Sweet Mask paused to his tone. "What are you insinuating?" His tone was calm, however the venom within pierced his manager who was suddenly turning white.

"Have you not seen this… this was uploaded four hours ago… monster attack in City Z."

"What of it? No doubt Garou and his family took care of it."

"They didn't… six other did… but, Amai… look at the video." He passed the phone over to him, he sighed aloud and watched the video. A bit blurry at first but then, the monster burst into gore as he saw hints of blue within the video.

The image suddenly cleared, then, it focused on one of the heroes who took down the monster. He was a rather big man, yet, his hair was much like Garou's.

But the veins on his arms… were much like Amai Mask himself has.

He nearly dropped the phone in shock.

It couldn't be, could it?

"How is that possible?" he whispered to himself.

"Sweet, you okay? You look like you have seen a ghost or something!"

He shook his head and passed the phone back over to his manager. "I will personally look into this, is there any more details about those so call heroes?" he asked.

"No, but people are calling them the sweet six for some reason. They think they look a lot like you! Come to think of it…" he looked over the video once more and was rather stunned. "Actually they do!"

"I will look into this myself, for now, I have no comment to make about these heroes. More than likely they are using my image to establish themselves among the populist."

He was quick to take his leave.

Amai went to his car but sat within for a few minutes yet. His mind was racing now. "All this time, they could have been…" he thought, but he shook it from his mind, he will get answers the moment he has time to collect his thoughts about it all.

#

"They aren't going away!"

"Dad… I'm scared!"

The six were worried, the veins continued to creep up their arms and across their bodies. Garou was at a loss for them since he doesn't deal with veins. However Goliath was home and was able to walk them through it. "You are all too tense right now, adrenaline is going through your bodies rather quickly, you need to take deep breaths and calm yourselves down." He said gently.

They did, deep breaths in and out, eventually, the veins receded and they looked normal once more. "Dad… what was that?" asked Yuki.

Garou tried to find the right words, but there was no point in tip toeing about them. "That's your father's power." He stated. "Amai Mask summons those veins when he needs incredible strength. You are all capable of doing that, for it is where your strength comes from."

They froze. "Our… no… no dad, that's not our strength… that's HIS strength!" protested Yuuma.

"And you are his son… like it or not."

"So… we have no power of our own?" asked Titan.

"I never said that"

Suddenly the six were all ears as they stared at him. "What dad is saying is this, due to the emergency, you summoned HIS power to fight. After all, this is your first day being human. You are not aware of your own capabilities yet, we have yet to tap into that potential." Goliath stated. "So, if we are to do this, we need to see where you all stand with your own abilities and not use his. It can take time to grow your own talent, but in the end, it would be worth it now, wouldn't it?"

"Goliath is telling the truth, however that won't be easy for any of you. It's a lot of hard work and dedication. BUT, if you are insisting you do not want to use Amai's strength, then you need to build and create your own. Remember… you're also Brawlers… and you're mine!"

They smiled to the last part, they all looked to each other and nodded in agreement. "Can… we start another time… I want to turn back and calm down for a bit…" asked Rimuru. "I want to find a nice tree to rest in and read a manga."

"Me too… but I don't fit in trees anymore…" said Tempest.

"That explains what happened to that big evergreen…" muttered Garou. "Change back and take it easy for now okay?"

They all nodded, with a strike of the bands, they were quick to turn serpent once more and slink off to their rooms to relax. Garou took a deep breath and sighed aloud. "We got some work ahead of us…" he said to Goliath.

He nodded in agreement. "But knowing them, it won't take them long to figure out how to find their own strength. After all, they are stubborn and won't want to use Amai's abilities as their own."

Garou nodded, he already began to think of plans for the six and how to train them properly. For now, he will let them unwind and relax…

#

"Wait, you want us to what?!"

It was a day later.

The kids wanted to get to work on finding their own strength, so Garou figured he would set up a few tests to see where they stand and how strong they are on their own. But he needed help. Today would be weight lifting and he turned to the best meatheads for the job. The Tank Top Army and Tank Top Master.

Tank Top Master was silent as he looked to the six kids that appeared a lot like Amai Mask, he said nothing as Garou was trying to convince the Tank Tops to lend them the gym and help spot the kids. "But this is OUR work out time!" protested Black. "Come on Garou, come back later!"

"That's not how we work," Master said in a gentle tone. He looked to the kids again and nodded. "Come on in, let's see what you can do."

Each of them had a turn on a bench press, bicep curl and leg press machine. Garou watched from afar and found it strange. On their own merit, the kids were not that strong. They could each bicep curl 40 pounds. Bench Press, 200, Titan and Tempest were an exception to the rule being Brawlers and all. Leg press, they could do 220 pound respectively.

However, they were not happy with the results. "DAMN IT!" Yuuma shouted. "We're terrible!"

"Hey, this is your first time working out, take it easy." Garou said gently.

"Dad… we're pathetic!" he protested. "Without… HIS abilities, we're nothing in this state!"

"You have a baseline." Tank Top Master explained. "You are aware of what you can do, now you improve upon it. That takes time and effort, if you are willing to put it in. Did you think I got strong over night? What about… your dad here?" Tank Top Master was reluctant to bring Garou into the conversation.

But he smirked. "I didn't get strong overnight. I trained since I was a kid and worked hard at it. Nothing is ever given for free, now. You want to work at it, or are you just going to accept that you have to rely on Amai's abilities over improving your own?" Garou questioned.

Tempest looked determined. "We're going to work at it!" he said with vigor. "Tell us what to do."

"First of all, we got to get you guys in a tank top…"

"ENOUGH WITH THAT DAMN TANK TOP!" Garou shouted. "Damn it, you think a tank top is everything… IT'S A DAMN PIECE OF CLOTHING!"

The Tank Top army froze to his tone. Garou sighed aloud. "Kids, let's leave for a moment, I got some training you can do in the mean time. If we need their help, we will ask for it. Follow me."