Hello there, my readers and happy (extremely late) new year!
Before starting, I wanna say that the next chapters will require more work (because they're not finished), but the next one is ready to go!
I also want to say that after the next chapter...the updates are going to be random because I don't know if I can keep a semblance of an uploading schedule...With that said, we can get to the chapter!
"Hey, Shinko! Come here for a sec!" Charanko called him from a bench near the forest.
After Bang accepted the two back into the dojo, Charanko looked and Shinko with respect, rather than envy or annoyance. Today's training was also harsher and longer, so by the time Shinko and Charanko finished, it was late afternoon.
"What is it, Charanko?" Shinko asked as he sat next to him.
"Well, you see...you're much better than me at martial arts, and i still have a long way to go" Charanko said with a sigh "So, i want you to have this!" he then shouted as he slammed a piece of paper in Shinko's face, the latter freezing for the sudden action.
The fluffy boy then took the piece and read it "Invitation ticket for the martial arts tournament in M city"
Then there was Charanko's name, the Water Flowing Rock Smashing Fist as his technique, the location of this event and the price money being 10000 yen.
"Initially i wanted to participate in order to prove myself to Bang, but after seeing you shredding Garou like that..." Charanko said, while he looked down in sadness (and making Shinko feel a bit bad) "I feel like this is your chance to give the dojo more recognition!" said excitedly said as he rose from the bench.
"Then i'll win for the both of you!" Shinko said as he too rose from the bench.
"Wait a minute though" Charanko told him with a hopeful, yet greedy, light in his eyes "Of course we're going to share the price money, right?"
Shinko put a hand under his chin and then asked "Fifty-Fifty?" Charanko nodded and Shinko said "Ok, we have a deal!"
He then took a running start, but then he was called by Charanko, who told him "Where are you going?!"
"I'm going home" Shinko simply answered "Well, you can't" Charanko said firmly, then went to explain "Not only M city is very far from Z city, but the tournament begins very early and you will never make it in time!"
Shinko was going to say that he would definitely make it in time, but instead said "Then what do you propose?"
"Let's stay at an inn for the time being!" Charanko said excitedly, maybe too excitedly, then saw Shinko's face and asked him "You never really took a train, didn't you?"
"Nope" Shinko answered truthfully. Before becoming this strong he never really had a reason to use one, and after that...running was just so exhilarating and it was a way to use up adrenaline and let steam off.
"Well, today will be your first day" Charanko calmly said "To the train station!" he then shouted as he ran of, leaving Shinko to hurriedly catch up to him.
X X X
Travelling in a train wasn't exactly an activity Shinko was enjoying. Sure, it was relaxing and the conditioned air was a welcomed addition, but it wasn't the same as running:no wind crashing on your face and body and no feeling of all your muscles exerting themselves to their limits (quite ironic since he's talking about himself).
Shinko decided that, while this travelling method wasn't all that bad, he would stick to running and jumping.
Still, Charanko was enjoying himself quite a lot between ordering at the bar and flirting with almost any passing girl.
So the fluffy boy decided to turn his eyes on the window, looking at the sceneries coming and going very fast, not making a valuable impact on most people.
'Well, this is something in common with running, i guess' Shinko thought with half droopy eyes.
This state of mind also left him to wonder about Saitama:that guy always seemed to remain the same person no matter what happened. That trait of his also reminded Shinko of how little he changed as well, even thought now he's more careful with his opponents and more extrovert towards most people...especially with Mizuki.
It wasn't a bad thing, but now that particular seemed to change, since Saitama felt more...troubled than usual? Shinko had knack for understanding how people around him were feeling and Saitama seemed to have...a conflict within himself. Maybe about his strength, since in the last months he was always complaining about how he couldn't find a strong enough opponent...
...and then a feminine voice communicated that the train reached M city, successfully cutting Shinko from his train of thoughts.
"Don't get asleep now! We need to find an inn!" Charanko told him as they got down from the train.
As they exited the station, the sound of cars and trucks going their way drowned any other sound in Shinko's mind.
X X X
In the Monster Association headquarters, four monsters were discussing their plan to desert Gyoro Gyoro. Two of them were Sharp Stripe and Flake Mage, while the other two were a bit peculiar:the first one looked just like a pretty japanese woman in a traditional dress named Maiko plasma (or simply Maiko), while the other was a blue bipedal catfish-like creature with steel-plated frontal middle-body named Electric Catfish Man, but simply called "Catfish" because his full name was honestly a mouthful.
"Flake Mage, you know i appreciate your wit, but please understand that i am worried about your initiative" Maiko said worriedly as she clutched Catfish's arm and the latter said "I don't like Gyoro Gyoro and Orochi either, but betraying them is too dangerous and i don't want to put my belived in danger"
"Flakey's plans are always top notch, so you don't have to worry about anything! Besides, you didn't even hear it!" Sharp Stripe came in to defend Flake Mage and ice monster was thankful for that, but he steeled his eyes nonetheless. It was time to tell them.
He coughed once to preaore himself and draw the three's attention to him and started talking "The plan is really simple. You and Maiko will have to do your normal task, i think it was making an appearance in B City? Yeah, that, but simply have to hide and wait for the attack to end. Also, don't cause too much trouble or your faces might get on a wanted poster" he said to the electric couple.
He then turned to Sharp Stripe and said "You are part of the group that has to attack the Wastelanders here in Z City, right? All you have to do is betray them and aid the Wastelanders! That way you can gain their trust and provide information on the layout of the underground base"
"Got that, but what will YOU do? Won't you join me?" Sharp Stripe said with a small hint of sadness.
"Don't worry, Sharp. I'll just do the task Gyoro Gyoro assigned me. Basically, i have to polish Building Popper and G5!" Flake Mage said, then continued "With this plan we can all avoid Gyoro Gyoro's suspicion and save our behinds!"
"Sounds like a good plan alright" Catfish said as he and Maiko nodded along.
"Great!" Sharp Stripe said as she grabbed his arm and said "Since tomorrow is the big day, then we'll have to give it our all! Come with me!"
As the two went their way, Maiko thought about Sharp Stripe's behavior. She was always fixated on battles, training and (and the goat monster put it) look cool. Honestly, Maiko didn't really see that appeal in muscles, but maybe she thought it that way because she was a "traditional" woman.
Before becoming a monster, Maiko was a maiden at a noblemen's house. She always put so much effort in her work and appearance to the point where she was considered a maniac and ostracized from the rest of the staff. Yet she didn't care.
It was one faithful day when she was working on the electronics that several circuits malfunctioned and she was fried to death, but her fixation on appearances and work caused her to become a monster.
Of course, she was fired and abandoned immediately, but then she met Electric Catfish Man who had a similar experience and, as some like to put it, it was love at first sight.
"Come on, honey. Let's go to sleep, tomorrow will be a busy day" Catfish told her softly.
"Certainly, my dear" Maiko sweetly said and kissed his forehead as they made their way. Thinking again of Sharp Stripe, maybe she should have some lady-talk with her, so that Flake Mage won't have a meltdown every week.
X X X
Still in the underground of Z city, even deeper than the Monster Association's headquarters, a diabolic genius was giving the finishing touches to her battle plan. Psykos truly thought this invasion masterfully, assigning to every monster the hero that they have less trouble defeating.
Then she moved from her desk to her couch, drinking a glass of wine for a little, early celebration.
After drinking the alcoholic beverage, however, she felt a strange sensation and heard the sound of something slimy moving on her other desk. So she moved on to the far wall and found bottle of...cocke? It also had a piece of paper reading "For Garou"
'What the hell? Is this some kind of sick joke?' Psykos thought to herself. How could someone know both her laboratory's location AND her plan with Garou?!
But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw some black liquid quickly swirling away in a crack on the wall and her mind began spinning.
"Petrolic Wraith" Psykos uttered in disbelief. No monster (not even the cadres) knew about her laboratory, but Petrolic Wraith was smart, subtle, slimy and loved to start 'side projects' to get information he wasn't supposed to have. Or to do something almost loosely related to the cause.
Sure, he wasn't as sadistic as Royal Ripper or annoying as Black Sperm and she could technically take him out easily (despite him being a mid-high demon), but she knew better than to underestimate his cunning and versatility. She didn't want to leave this development to mere chance.
Especially since the monster uprising, one of the most important events of the association, was scheduled tomorrow morning.
"Well, i'll confront him about this after the attack" she finally decided.
'However...' she started to think 'Could this be the 'gift' he wanted to give me?'
He DID say that he wanted to give her a 'gift' as thanks for her assistance in the creation of his second army. Maybe he wanted to thank her personally and that would be it, but that left her biggest question unanswered. How the hell did he find her secret laboratory?
'Ugh' Psykos thought as she brought a hand to her forehead 'All this thinking is getting me nowhere, i'll confront him about this after the invasion'
With that, she took the bottle, placed it in her drawer and returned to her desk to see if the battle plan could use some work.
But she wouldn't work for too long. After all, it was getting late in the evening and the latest shenanigans of the cadres (along with the demons') made the idea of a "beauty sleep" all the more alluring.
X X X
Meanwhile, in a laboratory in J city, two high ranked heroes reached the end of their investigation and were discussing of what to do next.
"Are you sure this is it, Zombieman?" Child Emperor asked from behind his monitor. It showed the data regarding the B class rank 4 Fluffy Boy and its battle statistics...which were insane:no matter the opponent he would face, that hero would defeat it with only one hit. Another fact, seemingly unrelated, was that the wolf level monsters (and those of higher levels) of E city, weirdly calm and nearly harmless, were stopping monster attacks all over that city. It seemed something completely out of the ordinary, but this behavior had been shown for two years, now that he thought about it. "For the Fighter of the outskirts!" was their most used battle cry.
"Yes, now we know that the data about Shinko is neither wrong or faked, but the circumstances of the Fighter still remain unknown, just like Shinko's before becoming a hero..." Zombieman said confidently.
"So you think that the hero 'Fluffy Boy' is indeed the 'Fighter of the outskirts'..." Child Emperor said, looking Zombieman in the eyes "...but, in order to validate this hipothesis, we have to speak with someone close to him, such as his family"
"Yes, they're the only ones who i haven't interrogated yet, since that monster's confession threw us away from the truth" Zombieman said as he sat on a chair and drank some coffee, then looked at Child Emperor "However you'll have to speak with them, since i will be busy for a while"
The young hero, who was going to eat some cream, stopped mid-bite and looked him back. "Well, i have nothing to do tomorrow morning, taken Metal Knight doesn't call, so i'll get it done" Child Emperor said after swallowing the sweet bite he took earlier "But what is this business you're referring to? The House of evolution is no more" he then asked.
"Just because that is the case, it doesn't mean that Genus has been brought to justice" Zombieman said to Child Emperor, then stood up "Anyway, it's getting late, so i'll take my leave. See you soon and good sleep"
Thus the young hero was left alone as he thought 'Hopefully Metal Knight doesn't have new assignments for me tomorrow, this situation in E City must be cleared as soon as possible'
X X X
As the evening sun tinged the sky in a calm, orange hue, Phoenix Man was flying to E City in a hurry.
Finally, after grueling recruiting assignments, cleaning duty, sorting the Association's inventory and filing the spies' reports, he could finally go to Shinko (or the Wastelanders) and warn them about the Monster Association's uprising.
But just when he found Shinko's apartment...he wasn't home. Aside from getting frustrated, Phoenix Man decided to ask the other person living right beside him. He was a bald man named Saitama and he told Phoenix Man that Shinko was in M City to attend a martial arts tournament. That city was always bustling with people, so Phoenix Man couldn't go and warn Shinko.
Still, Phoenix Man thanked him for the information and flew to E City to enact his plan B, which was a two step plan.
Now he landed softly on the road, in front of Gloria's house. He when to the door and pressed the buzzer beside the door. A minute passed before the entrance opened, revealing Gloria.
"Oh, Birdbrain! What a surprise to see you here!" the middle-aged woman said "I was just about to go shopping for groceries. What are you up to?" Gloria then asked him.
"Oh, nothing special. Just patrolling the streets...despite the fact that quite the number of monsters already does that" Phoenix Man answered. It actually baffled him that, because of Shinko's influence, some monsters would take it upon themselves to make sure the streets were safe. Wether that was a good or a bad thing for the Associations, that remained to be seen.
But now he couldn't afford to be sidetracked by all the small talk.
"Anyway, i came here to give you an advice:among monsters there's a rumor which tells about a huge group of monsters living in Z City. They're called 'Monster Association' and seem to have very ominous plans for humanity. I think you also saw that the monsters living here are becoming targets of other monsters more frequently" Phoenix Man started and waited for Gloria's reaction. "I think i'm following you" she said and Phoenix Man continued "Call me crazy, but i think that we're going to see more of this 'Monster Association' and it's not going to be through rumors"
At that point Gloria frowned and Phoenix Man took it as a step in the right way, prompting him to finish his reasoning "I think it would be best for you and Caroline to leave your home as little as possible. For example, tomorrow Caroline may not go to school at all-" Phoenix Man's talking was interrupted by Gloria, who said "I understand what you mean, but i think that's a bit too extreme just for some rumors" with a worried tone.
"I know that right now it doesn't look like much of a threat" Phoenix Man started with a tender voice "But trust me, when Mysterious Beings are involved, rumors become reality more often than not and these situations are seldom good. So, please, trust me for this once. I promise i'll make it up to you" he finished and Gloria sighed, finally saying "Ok, i trust you on this, but at least can you help me out with the house and the groceries?"
"Sure. After this, i'll always available for any kind of assistance" Phoenix Man cheerfully said.
Now he was about to go enacting the second part of his plan, but a sound of running through stairs stopped him. "Birdbrain!" Caroline shouted and launched herself at the costume monster, who in turn hugged her back. "Were you just leaving? Can you stay a little longer? Please?" she pleaded to him with her big eyes.
Phoenix Man sighed said "Sure, i can stay for a while longer" as Gloria offered him some coffee. The second part of the plan could wait a little longer, he decided.
After exactly an hour Phoenix Man really had to go, so he bid farewell to both Gloria and Caroline, while also retelling them on what they made a deal on. Caroline (of course) was relieved of not going to school, but Phoenix Man hoped that her relief didn't stem for yet another case of bullying.
With that aside, he flew over to a very remote part of E city's outskirts. That place was just a near infinite view of light green grass and large patches of woods. On the center of a particularly large patch of trees was the only sign of (former) human civilization.
A huge abandoned building which, if his data was right, was once the residence of a billionaire, but the project never saw completion. Now it was the near-full-time residence of the so-called 'Monster Lords', extremely powerful tiger level monsters (one could even call them low demons) who control and disciple the monster population of E city. Despite how ominous that sounded, their rule was actually much more bearable than Gyoro Gyoro's (if what the local monsters say is anything to go by). From what he heard, some of those monsters used to be fierce towards anyone daring to step near them, but once they witnessed Shinko's strength and kindness, they adopted (most of) his ideals and ruled over the monster population. Of course, those who didn't agree with their rules would cause trouble in the city and be killed by heroes, monsters or Shinko himself.
Phoenix Man landed just outside the two-faced oak door, where two monsters were standing guard. Upon seeing him, their stances started to lean on the hostile, but the costume monster raised a wing and said "Please, don't attack me. I merely seek an audience with the Monster Lords" the two guards narrowed their eyes at him, so Phoenix Man added "I have valuable information about the Monster Association"
At that, the two guards almost fell over and one of them said "Ok then, you can pass. But be quick about it, since they're having an important meeting right now"
They then opened up the door and Phoenix Man made his way in. The place was abandoned, so the walls and floor were bare, but there were couches, drawers, beds, lamps and TVs scattered on the floors. There were also dozens of monsters of different shapes and sizes, talking about the most different topics (such as hero presence in E city, complaints about curfews, turns of bathroom cleaning and the places with the best food, to name a few).
Phoenix Man wondered how this place could have running electricity and clean water, but he showed those thoughts back in his mind when he was at the last floor, standing in front of another door, much larger than the one on ground floor. It also had to small torches on its sides and a (probably broken) clock on the right wall.
Phoenix Man grabbed the doorknob and opened the large door, revealing an open space with large windows, giving off a very good view of the forest, and a table where four monsters sat.
The one on the right was a dark purple humanoid, scrawny demon with long and sharp fingers, a surprisingly muscled chest, six yellow pupiless eyes, sharp teeth, a tail and two large leathery wings.
The one on the right-center was a large, pale green slime with four eyes and long tentacles coming from his sides.
On the left-center was a large and beefy brown cyclop with a knight-like armor and greatsword strapped to his back.
The one on the left was a monster which resempled a puffin, but was almost as big as Phoenix Man.
Whatever discussion they might have had was interrupted the moment the puffin-like monster glanced in his direction.
The reactions were different:the bird monster backpedaled a little with a startled look, the cyclop unseated the sword immediately, the slime was trying to stop him and the demon merely acknowledged his presence.
"Wait! My name is Phoenix Man and i come to warn you about the Monster Association" he said to the four.
"Oh really? Because some monsters told me that you were FROM this Association. What about that?" the demon mockingly said, while the slime nervously added "We already rejected their proposal to become allies and i think made that clear enough!"
Phoenix Man sighed and continued, ignoring the murderous look the cyclop was giving him "I know, but i plan to leave the Monster Association for good, but first i need to throw some wrenches at their plans"
"I-i think we should listen to him, Markedus, he seems honest enough" the puffin said to the now-identified demon and turned to the cyclop "Also, Butin, can you put the sword away? It's not helping with the tension"
The cyclop, named Butin, scoffed loudly and seated the sword back, while Markedus said "Ok then, we're listening to you. What kind of 'information' do you have for us? And make sure to be clear as you tell them"
Phoenix Man inspired, the situation going in the right direction, and said "The Monster Association is going to attack you exactly tomorrow morning and i came here to warn you about that. They plan to attack all cities at the same time and crush this community along the way"
Markedus sat back in his chair, Butin fiercely glared at Phoenix Man, the puffin gasped and the slime shouted "See?! I told you i was right about that horde of savages coming for our heads!!! But you never listened to me!"
"Mocus, calm down this istant" Markedus calmly commanded the slime, then turned to the puffin, saying "Same goes for you too, Laile" and then turned to Phoenix Man asked him the crucial question "Now that you revealed this threat to us, what are you gonna do? Abandon the ship and wish us good luck?"
"Absolutely not, i will help you overcome this" Phoenix Man replied honestly "I know their plans in regards of this little operation, the number of monsters they're going to send and which monsters will be there"
"Interesting, care to expand on that?" Markedus asked him.
"Sure, the precise number of monsters will be 250 to make sure that you stay dead. There will mostly be wolf levels, with a lot of tigers and a demon level, which, despite not being strong among his peers..." Phoenix said. "...is still not to be underestimated" Mucos finished, then said "Oh god"
"The attack plan...is very simple, really:they're just going to send their troops into the heart of E city" Phoenix Man further explained.
"Ok then" Markedus finally said "We will discuss our battle plan together" then turned to Laile and said "You'll go calling all of the monsters under our command. Tell them to gather here as stealthily as possible"
After nodding, Laile flew towards the city, while the other monsters huddled around the table and began discussing the details of the counter-plan.
X X X
It was 11pm in the hotel where Charanko and Shinko chose to stay for the night. They found this hotel after three hours of asking the locals, all because Charanko forgot to bring a map and Shinko's sense of direction was notoriously bad.
But finally, about an hour and a half ago, they found this hotel, which wasn't anything special, but still better than nothing.
"Well, it's now or never" Shinko said as he raised the phone he borrowed from Charanko and dialed the number. Then he pressed the 'call' button and waited...for about a minute.
"Shinko! It's so long since you have called!" his mother's voice from the other end made Shinko's heart melt in both happiness and regret.
Well...now he could make up for that.
"Yeah, there was a lot going on these months and...i just kind of forgot" Shinko started with a sheepish tone, then it got bitter (towards himself).
"I know, Mizuki told me that much. I never guessed that you would end up as an estimated hero's disciple. Good job on that!" Gloria cheerfully said and Shinko swore she made a little jump, like when he was little and felt down. He always felt encouraged by her antics.
"Don't worry thought. After i reach A class i'll return to you so we can spend the weekends together" Shinko then said happily.
"Oh, that would be good!" Gloria said and was going to continue, but Shinko cut her off and asked "Anyway, i know it's late and all, but how is Caroline?"
"Don't worry, Shinko, Caroline's fine. Things calmed down at school and she's way less bullied than before, Birdbrain is also helping me with the house and with her as well!" Gloria cheerfully said, but then her tone became sad as she said "But...she does miss you"
At first Shinko sighed in relief since his little sister was fine (Shinko thought he should also thank Birdbrain for the help). Honestly, Shinko was interested himself in that vigilante too. The other heroes talked about him (and the monsters of E City) with disrespect simply because "they stole their catches", but Shinko saw him in a good light.
The fact that he also helped his family without any sort of reward made the fluffy boy want to meet the vigilante even more.
But then his mom said that Caroline missed him and that sent a pang of hurt through him, so he knew what to say next.
"Don't worry, then. Tomorrow afternoon I'll come home and stay for the rest of the day" Shinko tenderly said.
"That's a good idea! Then we'll see each other tomorrow! Good night, son!" Gloria said.
"Good night, mom" Shinko gently said, then they both hung up.
Shinko placed the phone on the drawer right next to a sleeping Charanko and let off a massive yawn, which made the wall in front of him shook.
Then he went to his bed with a smile, knowing that tomorrow will be a very good day.
Ah, this chapter ended with a sweet tone~
But you know what's going to happen next chapter, so let's all cross fingers and hope Phoenix Man's plan works!
Now some things before ending here:
-the Monster Lords are a "recent" concept, but I will be sure to contextualize them in the story a bit more.
-Shinko also "knows" Birdbrain through rumors. That is another thing I added as I was writing this chapter to avoid some continuity errors.
With that, see you next chapter!