Good morning, my readers, and i'm sorry for the delayed chapter. Let's just say that i'm really busy right now with mainly school, but the good news is that i'm making progress with that new chapter, but it's huge and will take some more time.

Now let's get to the response for Exodus12345:what you're saying is technically right, but that chapter was the hardest one to write because i didn't want Shinko, Muzuki and the Wastelanders to find the hideout so easily. Secret doors already sounded like a good idea, and i thought that Z City's structural integrity wasn't really good (upon thinking about it, i found myself wrong). The only thing i can do now is to follow that idea.

With that out of the way, we can (about time) start with the chapter

Two days later, it was not a nice day in M city.

Sure, the sun was shining and all, but it didn't really matter to one particular C class hero.

He was a middle aged man with short black hair and a short black beard. He also wore dark green pants, a dark green jacket and glasses.

He was also being knocked back by a monster twice his size in the middle of the road, with some concerned passerbies to boot.

That punch made the air leave the hero's lungs and plummet his mind into the realm of unconsciousness, making him skid to a stop just before an old couple, who were frozen in fear.

The monster smiled evilly as he came near the fallen hero, while another monster nearby entertained himself with the other passerbies.

He punched the fallen hero but, as the final hit was near its victim, a blur came out of an alleyway and collided with it instead. At the same time, the monster's body exploded with a booming sound.

This prompted his partner to look in the sound's direction.

As the dead monster's lower body fell, the figure of a shirtless Shinko was revealed, while a broken shirt fell behind the old couple to add more dramatic effect.

"Stop right there! Your rampage will come to an end by my hand!" Shinko shouted to the mysterious being.

"Oh really? And who are you?" the monster said tauntingly.

"I am the B class hero, Fluffy Boy!" Shinko said before realizing what he had actually said.

The monster, hearing this, exploded in howls of laughter.

Shinko, now understanding what was so funny, froze immediately:he had spent an entire day thinking about what to say before starting his battles as a hero, and now he screwed up all his work this hard!?

The fluffy boy sighed.

"So, are you okay?" Shinko calmly asked to the couple, but they were silent. Actually, most of the passerbies (six people basically, including the couple) was speechless, but Shinko swore he heard a girl referring to him as "handsome".

Well, some of them were snickering before, when Shinko said his hero name. Those same people, however, fell quiet when he obliterated the remaining monster with just a punch, which did not even reach said monster.

"W-we're fine, but that hero over there..." the old man said, pointing at the middle aged guy.

Shinko gasped, since he actually forgot about him. So he grabbed the fallen hero and said "I'll bring him to the hospital, you stay safe in your homes until the Hero Association says otherwise"

He then proppelled himself foward by sliding the tip of his bare foot on the road.

With that action alone, Shinko lauched himself with a small blast, covering a lot of distance and repeating the process everytime he had to change direction. After all, he was pretty far away from the nearest hospital, so he wanted to help this guy to help as quickly as possible.

During this short time Shinko thought about his progress:sure, his shirt was always blown off him in fights, but he could at least talk with people without freezing immediately, all to shorten the conversations and get a spare shirt.

As he finished thinking about it, after the tenth launch, Shinko realized he was cracking small portions of the road.

This prompted him to stop and walk normally, but this wasn't an issue because Shinko was now nearing the hospital.

It was also at that time that the hero awoke.

"Where am i? Have the monsters been defeated?" he asked.

"Well yes, but nobody seems to have found the Crow King yet" Shinko asked.

Indeed, that was their mission:a demon level called 'Crow King' and his army of monsters attacked M city to feast on the humans.

Shinko and heroes of various classes (mainly C and B class, but also some A classes) were tasked with the mission to kill this monster along with his army.

So far, Shinko had killed probably 20 monsters, but there were no signs of their boss.

"I can't believe how nobody has found a city-block sized crow flying around..." the hero said in disbelief, then raised an eyebrow and asked "By the way, who are you exactly?"

"I'm Shinko, a B class hero!" Shinko happily said.

"Ah, you must be the rank 4 B class, although i didn't remember your hero name..." the C class said, then continued "I'm Yuko, by the way" the newly identified Yuko said, but didn't stop there.

"But i wanted to verify something, you see?" Yuko told Shinko, then said "There are rumors going on about you, and they say that you can defeat every opponent you meet with just one attack, is that true?"

"Yes" Shinko answered meekly, not sure where this conversation was going.

"Then i ask you something...what is your hero name?" Yuko said.

Shinko groaned and, begrudgingly, answered "Fluffy Boy"

"I see, then...i shall tell you my name as well-" Yuko was saying, but then were approached by a small group of kids, who were on the left side of the road.

One of the kids, presumably their leader, said to his friends "Hey look! It's Doctor Grumpy Pervert!" and they collapsed in laughter.

Shinko's eyes widened and Yuko head fell on Shinko's left shoulder, while his arms gripped Shinko's side to sustain himself.

"I guess you know it now, but let me get to the point:there are a lot other heroes who get horrible names like these and cannot retaliate, thus forced to endure abuse from those they protect. Therefore, in retaliation, we have created the 'Hero Name Victim Association' (its existence is still nearly unknown though) and with someone as strong as you by our side, we can finally reveal ourselves and the higher-ups will finally listen to our demands!" Yuko said excitedly, then doubled over.

"Are you okay!? God, where's the hospital!?" Shinko said frantically. It also seemed that all their talking made them pass the hospital.

Shinko looked back and realized this, so the jumped back, landing just in front its entrance.

It opened, revealing several nurses, who looked quite tired.

"Thank for the help! And remember about what i told you!" Yuko said as Shinko handed him to the nurses.

Then he returned to his way, searching for this damn monster. For a good second Shinko wished he brought Ariol with him to facilitate the search, but he soon dropped the thought.

What he picked up instead was the cry of a woman about to be assaulted by another monster.

So Shinko inspired and sprinted to the monster.

X X X

After defeating it and running around the city for another good twenty minutes, Shinko was definitely losing his patience.

But he was soon snapped from his thoughts as he heard the noises of what sounded like a messy fight, which came from a nearby alley.

As Shinko came closer he could hear the sound of bodies getting smashed, concrete cracking and the roars of a girl he knew quite well.

As two bloody chunks of monsters flew out of the alley, the noises stopped. Then, the figure of Mizuki emerged from it.

She sported various injuries, ranging from mild scratches to bruises, but she looked like she were handling them just fine.

Shinko also noticed two changes.

The first one was her outfit:it was like her older one, but it was black with bright yellow outlines, there were also the yellow letters 'MZ' on the lower part.

The second one was the presence of five weights:two were on her arms, two on her legs and one encircled her stomach.

"Hey, Mizuki! I see you changed your outfit!" Shinko greeted her happily.

"Hi Shinko! Do you like it?" Muzuki asked cheerfully.

"Yep, but what about the weights?" Shinko asked, pointing at them.

"Ah, these? Well, yesterday Darkshine called me to congratulate my growth in strength and gave me these new weights!" Mizuki explained "The ones around my arms and legs weight 65 kilos, while the one on my stomach weights 45 kilos"

Shinko's eyes widened a little at the information "Woah, that's some weight on you...how are you managing?" he then asked with some awe in his voice.

Mizuki let out a huff "Yeah, they're pretty heavy alright, but with an upped training regimen and will, i can fight just fine!" Mizuki shouted proudly as Shinko smiled warmly at her.

Regarding her new training regimen (modified with Darkshine's help), she had to do 150 push-ups, 150 sit-ups, 150 squats and lifting two 60 kilos dumbbells 75 times every morning, afternoon and evening. All of this with her weights on.

Sure, this kind of intense training DID put a considerable strain on her body, but Mizuki could handle it.

"By the way, did you hear about what happened in D city?" she asked to Shinko. The latter shook his head.

"Well, in a base of the HA, there was a seminary to let the criminals into the ranks of the association to bolster their forces, i'm sure of that" Mizuki explained, while Shinko started to panic and said "Don't tell me the criminals beat up the staff?!" Mizuki put a hand on his shoulder, which calmed Shinko down, and continued "No, there was this guy called 'Garou' who not only beat up all the villains, but the present heroes as well!"

"Really? Does anyone know where did he go after that?" Shinko asked seriously, as if he was ready to hunt down this dangerous criminals.

"Nope, nobody knows where he went, but he did leave an ominous message behind" Mizuki told him.

Shinko would have remained on this issue, but he was snapped back into reality by a loud caw.

He and Mizuki looked up to see the Crow King, the monster they had to kill, soar in the skies and colliding with a particularly tall skyscraper.

Shinko was almost ready to bounce like a spring and tear apart the colossal bird when, with a shockwave coming from within the skyscraper, the monster's face was obliterated and his body thrown into the buildings below.

"That's some damage right there" Shinko said, wincing at the destruction happening.

"Yeah, but at least it seems that King handled it" Mizuki said relieved.

"Huh? Who's King?" Shinko asked in disbelief.

"King is the S class rank 7 hero and is said to be 'The strongest man on earth'" Mizuki said with a longing look in her eyes.

Shinko blinked at that and took it the wrong way:Mizuki wasn't in love with King, she was only interested in his fighting style! So he put his arms behind his neck and said "Well...i'm obviously a lot stronger than him" while flexing all of his muscles.

Mizuki was a bit taken aback by Shinko's reaction and her eyes were fixed on his bulging abs and pectorals.

But then he saw the look on her eyes and decided that he took it a bit too far. Things didn't get better when their eyes crossed paths.

They both took a step back and Shinko stopped showing his muscles like that. Mizuki then started to giggle, having picked up the reason behind Shinko's odd behavior.

So she ruffled his hair and said, between more giggles "I didn't mean it like that! I was only interested in his fighting style, since almost nobody saw him fighting"

Shinko blushed, having been caught red-handed, but he couldn't say anything due to Mizuki's hand still rummaging through his white mop of hair.

X X X

"Well, with that detour...i hope i outrunned whoever's after me" Showerhead muttered as he sighed in the damp sewers, now used by him as a temporary shelter.

After being separated from Ariol and Gaia, he run and run through the darkness of that complex like a madman and, somehow, he escaped Bug God's wrath. From there, he moved from town to town, trying to stay as little as possible in each of them to not get the attention of heroes and monsters. He didn't know if the Monster Association's goons were out to find him or not, he might even be running away from a danger that wasn't even there. But, as they say, better safe than sorry.

After a while of tranquility Showerhead, for what felt the 10th time in his life, began regretting his life choices:before he became a monster he was just a random peddler, knocking at each door and asking if they wanted to buy a brand new bathroom accessory.

But nobody ever accepted his offers.

Despite being a little annoying in his manners, his life was harder than it looked:he had lost his job and his parents wouldn't bail him out of that situation, not even as he was living on the streets. But then a 'miracle' happened.

Near the alley where he lived, a robbery took place in a store. He went up to see what happened and found hinself in front of a gruesomely mutilated body...and a mountain of bathroom accessories.

That's how he became a peddler, but selling 'his' products was harder than expected and storing them all soon became a problem.

After a month, the little money he had were no more and, in exasperation, he became Showerhead.

After some small-time loitering to get food and fighting a hero, a powerful monster by the name of Homeless Emperor pitied him and gave him the opportunity to join the Monster Association.

At first he considered himself lucky to have a roof on his head for once...but the things he had seen in that wretched place...horrified him. So much senseless violence and gore, which sickened him to the core.

In that time, he also found out that becoming a monster was the worst mistake he could have ever made. That thought didn't help his depression one bit.

So, after he heard of the Wastelanders, he thought he could become a member by using Gyoro Gyoro's plan to his advantage.

What came after was history.

After a while, he felt something fluffy brushing his left arm, so he then turned and the liquids in his body ran cold.

Phoenix Man was right beside him, his position hunched as in deep thought.

Showerhead shrieked and jumped back, preparing an acid powerful enough to at least stall him. 'How the hell did he sneak on me like that?! And why didn't he attack me yet?' he thought in a state of pure panic.

Phoenix Man raised a wing in front of Showerhead and said "Don't worry, i'm not here on behalf of the Monster Association. If anything, i'm through with them too"

This sent a wave of confusion towards Showerhead 'What? Did i really hear that or it's me going bonkers?' he thought, but then internally shrugged and decided to roll with it.

"Really? Then why did you leave them?" Showerhead said with a bit of suspicion.

"I have come to that decision because...becoming a monster may have been a mistake, plus i have...some people i want to protect from the Monster Association" Phoenix Man said with a sigh.

Showerhead huffed "If that's case, ok then...so why are you here?" he asked the costume monster.

"Because, from what i heard within the organization, you deserted after contacting the Wastelanders" Phoenix Man answered.

"So you're still in the association or what? Didn't you say that you left?" Showerhead asked him with suspicion.

"I want to leave, but i can't do that now. Not only i don't have an actual plan for that eventuality, but i also want to help the Wastelanders by stealing as much information as possible from the Monster Association" Phoenix Man answered honestly "Besides they would still try to hunt me down:you only got followed by a few tigers because of your meager strength, but a demon like me will have more trouble between the heroes and some of the strongest monsters in the association"

Showerhead seemed satisfied, but now wanted to know something "Ok, but now what will we do?" he asked.

"Simple:you'll stay as far as you can from Z city and try not to get too much attention, while i will keep playing the part in Gyoro Gyoro's eyes, do her stupid errands and try to find time to inform Shinko of the Monster Association" Phoenix Man explained "We both survive in the end. How about it?" he then asked.

"Sure, but who is-" Showerhead was asking another question, but then realized that Phoenix Man was completely gone.

Showerhead sighed and decided to follow this plan.

X X X

"So, have you ever thought about the point of this organization?" Flake Mage asked Sharp Stripe as they sat on a recently-stolen couch.

"Honestly? Not really. I just thought that here there would be a lot of new monsters to fight and joined because of that" She explained from her end of the couch.

"That's what i was thinking about:of course the main objective would be the destruction of the Hero Association, but what about the other monsters?" Flake Mage was explaining, but Sharp Stripe interrupted him "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I was just getting to that" deadpanned Flake Mage with half-closed eyes "What i mean is that i'm afraid of the fate of the weaker monsters:Gyoro Gyoro says that it's doing this to make monsterkind finally thrive, but then she uses the monsters' own egos against them and doesn't bat her eye when a stronger monster eats or kills the weaker ones" Flake Mage's eyes glowed as he finished explaining.

"So you think that trash bag only cares about the strong? Because i fully agree" Sharp Stripe confidently said with a grin, but then her face showed confusion "Even though it was never that much of a secret in the first place. I'm sure a lot of other wolf levels would tell you the same. But now that we have this 'revelation', how are we gonna act on it?" she asked.

"We're going to desert the Association" Flake Mage said decisively. "Ok, but not even i would be crazy enough to try that without a plan, and by a plan, i mean a REALLY good one" Sharp Stripe said, trying not to let her fear slip out.

"Don't worry Sharp, i already thought of something" Flake Mage replied.

But before the ice monster could go more in depth with that, Sharp Stripe interrupted him "By the way, now it's time for the next phase of our training! I've stolen much better equipment now, so we'll get even stronger!" she shouted happily as she remembered, while pumping a fist in the air.

Flake Mage just collapsed on the couch, even if he agreed with her that he WAS getting stronger thanks to the training.

X X X

Belphomet was excited, Caroline could easily tell that from his wagging tail.

The months following Shinko's disappearance were calm:sure, Caroline and mom were really worried about big brother when he ran away, but Mizuki offered to look around to find him. Now she sends calls to mom about big brother every few weeks.

But that wasn't why Belphomet was excited.

"Why are so happy?" Caroline asked him casually, but curiously, once she exited school.

They were currently in a secluded area of the park, in front of the lake where they first met.

"I received a letter from my older brother, Monoculor! Finally i get to hear from him" Belphomet told her happily.

"You have a big brother too?" Caroline asked as her curiosity rose further.

"Yes, he's smart and caring. A good leader, i would say" Belphomet explained briefly to her, then his wings drooped.

"But...this means goodbye, Carol" he said to the child, who tilted her head in confusion.

"It's been a few years since we saw each other, so i can let this opportunity slide, you know?" Belphomet told Caroline.

She looked sad, maybe even about to cry, but tried to put on a tough act (an action she picked up quite recently, ever since she found out that Shinko became a hero).

" Ok, but tell him that i say hi" Caroline said, a little sad, then remembered the time "Oh, now i have to go. Mommy's preparing lunch"

"Ok, i'll tell him you said hi" Belphomet said as he waved his tail to Caroline's retreating figure, then slithered to the nearest sewer entrance.

"I'm coming after all this time, brother" he muttered as he slid in the city underground.

X X X

After the whole situation with the aliens, Monica was brought to a centre housing the survivors of A City, who were 20 people or so.

There, Monica was still sad about the loss of her parents, but at least she got to see the S class heroes, who came to see the situation. She met Child Emperor who, despite the fact of being nice and caring, didn't interest her much.

But then Monica saw Darkshine and her mouth lowered in awe:he was so big and he looked way stronger than Fluffy Boy! Though despite his size, he was very friendly and Monica even got to ride on him.

Now she was on a small bed as an adult gave her a baggage with new clothes and other things. They told her that she was going to have a new family.

But she didn't care too much about it. Because now she knew what she wanted to do when she was older.

She was going to become a strong hero, just like Darkshine and Fluffy Boy!

And that's it for this chapter! We get to see what Showerhead's up to, Caroline and Belphomet finally make a debut in the actual story and we even hear about Monica (this piece has been a "recent" addition).

As for Shinko and Mizuki, there's a romantic moment and her future buff (pun definitely not intended) has been set up because Mizuki's gonna fight some tough fights and has to get stronger if she doesn't want to end up in an hospital for some days.

With that i'm finished, see you in the next two weeks!