Hello there, readers! Before starting, i want to say that i am happy that most of you took well what i did with Phoenix Man. Not gonna lie, i believed that doing something like that wouldn't have sit well with anyone, but (fortunately) i was wrong. That aside, we're actually starting the second part of the story! *confetti shooting in the background while happy music is playing*
With that done, it's time for the response!
To Exodus12345:i actually liked the webcomic, but i can understand your gripes about the art style. Also there will be other characters joining from time to time (some will be directly connected to Shinko, but others could be perceived as "random monsters" since the Wastelanders are still supposed to be a group of monsters trying to survive). And, yes, finally Caroline and Gloria get some protection, but will it be enough for what's going to come?
Now, we can actually get to the chapter
Hulkaber could not believe that it was actually free from Boros' grasp.
One week and a half passed since the invasion of the Dark Matter Thieves and Hulkaber was making the most of those days:he had studied a lot of books about the new planet he was inhabiting (curtesy of Shinko and some of the Wastelanders) and now he had a rather good grasp of the politics and economics of human society.
He would have started studies regarding biology, the subject he was most interested in, but Monoculor had another idea.
"So...why do i have to enter your group again?" Hulkaber asked for the second time.
"Because your skills, telepathy and the like, will be very useful to us. Besides, by living with us, you will have to contribute in some manner and gathering resources would be a good start" Monoculor answered seriously.
These two, along with the rest of the Wastelanders, were in the unused complex they used as base ever since they came to the ghost town.
"Well, if you put it like that...i accept, but can i ask where Shinko is at the moment?" Hulkaber asked courteously.
"Shinko trains twice every day:he trains first in the town and then trains at Bang's dojo in the afternoon" Monoculor said "He also meets up with Mizuki, training or simply staying together"
"Interesting" Hulkaber muttered.
"Good, now that we sorted this out it's time to head near the border of the ghost town. Two new recruits are waiting for us" Monoculir said as he headed to the road.
The others followed him by walking, flying, floating or slithering.
Eventually they arrived at an alleyway, this one having a hole in the centre and blood splattered on its right side.
"D-did something happen here? Are we too late?" Hulkaber asked worriedly.
"No, this is normal around here...oh here they come" Monoculor said as he gazed in the hole, while Hulkaber shivered at the thought that any of this was considered 'normal' around here.
Anyway, from the hole emerged two monsters:the first one was a dark orange dog-like monster with purple spots and floppy ears (the size of a normal dog), while the second one was a mix between a turtle and a dragon, with yellow scales and a black shell decorated with red outlines (he was taller than even Ariol and also quite bulky).
"Lamia, Sandscale Dragon, it's a pleasure to see you" said Monoculor as he extended a hand.
Lamia shook the hand while Sandscale said "Yes, it was finally time i joined your group. I have also brought back this one too, if you want"
"Ah yes, Shinko will be pleased to see that Lamia's fine. However, how did you bring her here? I thought some monsters said that the Hero Association captured her..." Monoculor asked as Lamia went to meet Nark and Hulkaber.
"They were right, but ever since my fight with Shinko i vastly improved my skills. I was on my way to Z city when i heard that she , a precious friend of him, was captured to be questioned about the 'Fighter on the outskirts'. I found the facility, swooped in and saved her. It was not that hard, but fun nonetheless" Sandscale Dragon said as Nark snuggled with Lamia, while Hulkaber watched both exchanges.
"You know that because of your little stunt, the Hero Association will be not only on your ass but on all of our asses?" Ariol said as glared into the dragon's eyes.
Sandscale did not break under his gaze (like other did) and instead laughed, powering Ariol's glare even further "Don't worry, i know how to cancel my traces. Otherwise the Hero Association would have got me already" Sandscale said.
Ariol kept his glare, then sighed angrily while closing his eyes "No matter then, but to test your skills, i challenge you at a spar this evening at this location!" Ariol said as he pointed a finger at Sandscale, who cracked a terrifying grin "Of course. I always wanted to measure myself aganist the strongest Wastelander"
With that, the two demon levels broke away from each other, Ariol being nudged by Gaia a little.
Meanwhile Nark and Lamia were talking about more calm subjects.
"So, how do you find yourself among the Wastelanders?" Lamia asked smiling to Nark.
"Pretty well, i enjoy their company and each of them isss to be trusssted" Nark hissed happily "Even SSShinko who isss a human, he'sss really nice"
"Of course he is! If you had remained with me two years ago, you would have met him sooner!" Lamia said to Nark.
'SSSo he could be trusssted from the get go...' Nark thought to himself. Even with Lamia's help and the Wastelanders', it seemed that his trust issues were still present.
Not that it mattered now anyway, since after all this months Nark could finally trust him. But it wasn't time to think of that, all he cared about at the moment was that Lamia was safe with him.
Of course, when he had the time, he would find the ones responsible for her capture and kill them all.
Bathing their bodies in his stomach acid would be a good first step.
"Anyway, what did the Hero Assssssociation did to you? Isss everything okay?" Nark asked with concern in his voice.
"Oh don't worry, everything was nearly fine there. They just questioned me about Shinko:they asked me several times to give a description of the 'Fighter of the outskirts'. In order to not put Shinko's family in trouble i told them that it was a monster. After that they asked me if i knew anything about the outbreak of a powerful monster captured in the outskirts, i said that i didn't know anything about that, then they asked me that whole bunch of questions again with a weird machine on my head. After that they simply put me in a cell. Of course, you know how i got out" Lamia said as she took a breath and Nark nodded.
"Well, i'm glad you're fine" he said.
As they were talking, Gaia looked up to see someone spying on them. She could not clearly see the being's characteristics because, upon realizing it had been spotted, it flew away.
X X X
Almost nobody knew of the gigantic underground castle under Z city.
This building was originally inhabited by the Earthlings, but after Saitama killed their king a civil war broke out, resulting in them killing each other. But the Earthlings' misfortune was the monsters' blessing, as they now use their city as their base of operation.
'Truly a shame, they would have made for such good allies...' a monster thought in a huge hall.
It was a green, fat sack with a circular head, one eye being in its center, and a moltitude of arms. This monster was called Gyoro Gyoro, the strategist of the Monster Association and its de-facto leader.
This nefarious association was formed by hundreds of monsters, nearly all of them with the intent of crushing the Hero Association and bring havoc into the world human.
Gyoro Gyoro currently sat on a huge purple cushion with four monsters in front of it.
The first one was Phoenix Man.
The second one was a bug-like monster with a rather built body, he was Bug God.
The third one was a crazy man bandaged from head to toe with blades for arms, he was Royal Ripper.
Lastly, the fourth one was just a fat, ugly man, but he was much more powerful than the other three monsters put together.
"Fuher Ugly, how was your trip to N city?" Gyoro Gyoro asked to the fourth monster.
"Marvelous, i tell you! I could recruit 50 more ugmons in our ranks! Especially a demon level called 'Milotanus', i know you'll like him!" Fuher Ugly said excited.
"Good, i already heard Bug God's report about the nature tribe and i will skip Royal Ripper's" Gyoro Gyoro said as it glared at the latter, who in turn scoffed and glared back. Royal Ripper definitely messed up his assignment along the way...staining it with blood and a few vital organs.
"Phoenix Man, how did your trip in E city go exactly? Have you gathered information on the 'Fighter of the outskirts'?" Gyoro Gyoro asked to the costume monster.
"No, Gyoro Gyoro:not only is said individual very elusive, but most monsters refused to speak about him, only saying that he is very powerful and unbeaten" Phoenix Man lied without skipping a beat. After all he wouldn't let the Monster Association hurt neither Caroline nor Gloria, since they were the only ones who showed him appreciation.
Gyoro Gyoro sighed (how did it sigh without a mouth, do not ask me) and said "No matter, at least we still have some of the antlions we summoned months ago" Gyoro Gyoro said, also wondering why would Black Sperm remain in their former nest for an entire month.
She then gazed at Phoenix Man.
"As for you, i'm not very pleased with your current lack of progress, so you better step it up or i will start to think that you're not as useful to our cause as you think you are" Gyoro Gyoro said menacingly and dismissed them all.
Just as he was 50m away from the mastermind, Phoenix Man thought bitterly 'Wathever, i'm not interested of this little association anymore nor of the so-called "cause", you green sack of trash. For now i'll play along, but the second i find a good chance to leave you won't be seeing me anytime soon'
Thinking back to Caroline and Gloria, Phoenix Man felt that he should at least notify Shinko of all of this (along with the Wastelanders, for good measure).
That was a good idea, but the real challenge was finding the time to do so.
X X X
"Order for table 10 is ready!" Slugerous said from behind the kitchen counter.
Frog man then came to him and took the plate with the food, hurrying to serve the delicacy to the customers.
The former doctor Genus smiled from behind the cash machine:after the defeat at the hands of Shinko and the others, Genus and his minions established a takoyaki shop in D city. At first their business wasn't exactly popular since they just started, but then it gained a lot of popularity thanks to Armored Gorilla's cooking and Frog Man's ability with the customers. Slugerous and Ground Dragon worked as waiters and The Beast King...he was more of a mascot. Besides, he worked the most in the night as a vigilante, stopping various robberies and killing eventual monsters looking for a chance to bring trouble.
Also, integrating the others into human society was quite easy...he just told everyone that they were humans in costumes! Genus didn't know how everyone could believe that, but he wouldn't really complain or even care.
With that said, their newfound integration into civilization was a success in all fronts!
The day went like this for the rest of the morning, then it became a little chaotic in the afternoon, but in the end everything went alright.
It was 8pm when Genus closed the shop for the day, then went past the counter and opened the door on its right. He entered in the kitchen (which was nothing special, except for its size since Armored Gorilla had to move around) and went to open a brown door. It lead to a steel staircase leading downwards to a room with an octopus in a container (their primary source of food AND revenue) and a few sets of knives. Genus went past it and opened an elevator, seemingly hidden in a wall.
Genus took the elevator and, after a minute, it stopped at their "apartment":it was a large underground with wooden walls, ceiling and floor. It also had a couch in the centre, a TV in front of it and a simple dining room right beside the stairs. On the other side there were 5 doors which led to the bedrooms of Armored Gorilla, Slugerous, Frog Man, Ground Dragon and his own (the Beast King slept in a room under this area to accommodate his large size).
"Ah! Hello Genus, we were just preparing dinner with the leftover takoyaki" the Beast King said as he was preparing the table, while Slugerous and Frog Man made some side-dishes with carrots and salad and Ground Dragon was starting to prepare a dessert. Armored Gorilla was instead on the couch in one of his rare instances of laziness.
Eventually dinner was ready and everyone got the table.
"So" Genus began "thanks to our efforts and will, we finally got our place in the world. For that, i wanted to thank you all for your wonderful collaboration"
At that Slugerous and Frog Man clapped their hands, Ground Dragon smiled contently, while the Beast King said "Yes, abandoning your worldviews was the best option. Who knew what would have happened otherwise-" he was then interrupted by Armored Gorilla, who placed a hand on his shoulder and said "Who cares about that? We're alive and well now, that's all that matters. I call for a celebration instead of this talk!"
Genus was a bit taken aback by Armored Gorilla's outburst, but then saw his rosy cheeks and concluded that he was drunk. Nevertheless, Slugerous went and took some bottles of sake, while Ground Dragon kept grumbling about the cyborg's behavior.
If he was drunk, then everyone could also be drunk that night.
X X X
Mizuki was exhausted after a long day of non stop battling and training.
She was in her hero outfit with her weights sporting few cracks and her entire body was aching from the bruises and the sweating.
Almost dragging herself on her feet, she entered her apartment in Z city, which was nothing special:it was a small house with a living room, a kitchen and a small bathroom.
She used the sofa as a bed and between the two rooms was her training spot with some training equipment such as two 45kg dumbbells and a training mat.
She took some deep breaths and started doing her evening training:100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and 60 lifts with each arm.
Two hours passed and Mizuki removed her weights, then went to the kitchen to get dinner, her body begging for some rest.
After eating a steak with salad, she went for a refreshing shower. As the water raced on her muscular, aching body, Mizuki couldn't help but think of Shinko, who on occasions trained with her and even tried to teach her Bang's technique.
Of course, he failed miserably at the latter, but Mizuki giggled at him anyway.
In this week they got closer as they trained with each other and a part of Mizuki wanted to get even closer (she was sure that Shinko was thinking the same).
All this thinking of Shinko, as she put on her light green pajama, made her remember who she was supposed to call about an hour ago.
So she sprinted to the telephone, reminding her how much her speed improved, and digited the number.
"Mizuki, is that you, dear?" said a kind voice from the other end.
"Yep, hi Gloria! Sorry i haven't been able to call you in these two weeks, but there was really a lot going on" Mizuki said cheerfully.
"Oh, don't worry about it! But is Shinko ok? A lot can happen in two weeks, you know?" Shinko's mother said to Mizuki.
"Don't worry ma'am, Shinko's fine:he fought an alien who called himself 'Dominator of the universe' and won with few injuries, after that he got a little depressed, but i could raise his morale" Mizuki explained to Gloria.
The middle aged woman sighed in relief before saying "I'm so glad he's fine:even if he's as strong as you say, i'm always worried that something is going to break him, you understand?"
"I do, but i wouldn't worry so much, Shinko's getting tougher on that front" Mizuki said confidently.
"Oh really? Has he made any moves yet?" Gloria asked in a cheeky tone.
Mizuki stopped herself from yelping and said "W-well...i don't know how to answer that...wait, i didn't mean any of that!" she then shouted as her entire body flustered.
"Oh, that answers well enough for me...Mizuki, if Shinko's starting to express his feelings for you, then you ought to do the same" Gloria said, before adding "While taking some time, of course"
Mizuki sighed and didn't know what to say, so she settled on "I understand, i'll call you back in a few weeks, okay?"
"Fine, i can already feel how tired you are now. Don't give up on your training!" Gloria said confidently before hanging up.
Mizuki put the phone down and began to make way to her couch, her body silently loving the idea of resting.
But then her laptop, which she left on after checking her newest rise in rank this afternoon, made a beep. Mizuki, sighing in desperation, went to check it. To her surprise, she got a new email, and the username was called "Malware"
Mizuki didn't know if this was a prank or an actual malware, but since this laptop was getting old she decided to check it anyway.
The written message definitely woke her up.
"Mizuki, today Gaia told us that she saw some kind of monster on a roof. We may be watched, but we're still figuring out that monster's motives. For now, await further information before notifying the S class heroes" was the message.
Mizuki couldn't believe that they actually sent her an email.
'Well, i guess Monoculor may be right after all' Mizuki thought as she went to sleep.
Not exactly the most action-packed chapter (quite the opposite), but i like to think that this one was a good introductory one. Also about the last bit, i added Mizuki actually receiving the email very late because i forgot that part of the story actually existed. But now it should be fine.
Another thing i wanted to add is that i'm making progress with the new chapter and actually found a way to work around the Tournament arc, also i want to add a piece about Monica's situation (don't worry, the bean is fine) in the later chapters, but i'll have to decide which one i should add that piece in.
This is also very sudden, but i've updated this chapter because i forgot to put Ground Dragon. I really don't know how did that happen, but it should be okay now.
Well...i don't have anything else to say so...see you in the chapter!