"Well, this is the place," A clown-looking hero cringed, looking at the dilapidated buildings with broken windows. "We've finally arrived..." Stripes adorned his entire outfit, buttons in the middle, and looked like your typical medieval jester hooked on some sort of steroids. His hair had been styled into pigtails, with groups of three dice surrounding each piece.
"City Z," Amai Mask nodded, opening the gate, "and its infamous ghost town. Humanity's abandoned it..."
Saitama grumbled, "If you guys didn't destroy my home, it wouldn't be fully abandoned, now would it?"
Tornado rolled her eyes, slightly amused, "To be fair...it was a really crappy home."
"I had a picture or two in there," Saitama defended.
"Of you with hair; something I'll likely never see again."
The heroes looked at Saitama's shiny head, including the support team, trying to imagine what it would be like with hair.
Of course, Superalloy Darkshine had a similarly bald head, but ironically enough, Saitama's head had much more of a shine to it than his, as if it had come fresh from a waxing. Plus, they'd seen Darkshine with hair before in pictures he'd shown to the Association. He claimed that opening himself up to the Association would allow him to work better with them as a team.
Zombieman lightly chuckled, before steeling himself, "Well, today, Saitama, we can at least take the place back for you."
Child Emperor hummed, nodding before realizing, "Wait, where's King? I thought he was supposed to come with us!"
Another man wearing a cyclops-like mask answered, "Oh, he said he'd be going ahead to take care of a few monsters, taking another surprise attack path like Bald Cape and Miss Tornado." He'd been dressed in what looked like a school uniform, though his hair was spiky all over the place.
He remembered the scarred hero's words, Oh, don't mind me. Just make sure everybody attacks according to plan, mmkay?
"He acts fast," a sniper muttered, resting his advanced-looking gun on his shoulder with a sigh. "But he is what he is..." Wearing a typical vest with a cybernetic enhancement attached to his right eye, he casually played with the handle of his gun while looking around him.
A girl in track attire pouted, "Aw, that sucks! I was hoping that I was going to get to see some of his moves today!" She was incredibly fit and muscular, with thighs to crush something dense enough to the point of it becoming a black hole as she sported a messy ponytail and a bandage on her left cheek.
A man seemingly covered in plant-related gear rolled his eyes and pursed his lips, "He's always had his own way of doing things." His eyes were dull, and his face seemed depraved.
Most of the other heroes nodded in agreement, while a rough-looking guy gruffly coughed, "Yeah, even on his own, he'll fight like a boss."
Zombieman deeply exhaled as he casually took out his cigarette, "Oy, you guys might wanna take a look ahead."
Very faintly and slowly approaching was a mob of silhouettes, yet the odd arrangement of weirdly colored bright eyes and subtle shuffling told them all they needed to know.
"They brought out the welcome wagon," Puri Puri Prisoner grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes at the sheer number of them. "Well, I suppose this was to be expected of the Monster Association..."
Monsters slithering out of manholes, crawling out of buildings, moving away from shady alleyways that could literally not be shady from the lack of anything in the entire city. There was pretty much an entire army in front of them.
Yet, they stood both casually and as on guard as can be.
"Wow, there's quite a lot of them!" Superalloy Darkshine whistled, impressed as he put a hand over his eyes to stop the glare from the sun.
"Master," Iaian narrowed his eyes. "I sense them behind us too."
"That's not all, Iaian. I feel their presence all around. We're practically surrounded."
"It'd take a fool to not notice that at this point," Flashy Flash stated, scoffing as he looked in his peripherals, hand slowly crawling towards his blade.
Saitama sniffed, "Okay, seriously, what are you all talking about? Sensing them? You have eyes, y'know. Use 'em."
"Baldy," Tornado sighed, crossing her arms. "Are you gonna help them or not?"
"Fine, fine. Don't forget our bet, though."
"It's not a bet," she smirked smugly. "It's an investment for me, 'cause you're definitely not winning it."
"You two made a bet?" Flashy Flash deadpanned. "This is kind of serious, if neither of you noticed."
Saitama shrugged casually, yawning a little bit, "Meh. It's just whoever kills more monsters treats the others out to breakfast tomorrow. That's it."
For a moment, the S-Class turned silent, before gaining a glint in their eyes.
"I want in," Flashy Flash declared. "We pretty much all make enough money to afford it."
"Screw it, me too," Atomic Samurai smirked. "A free breakfast? Count me in."
"You act like you'd get more kills than me," Amai Mask scoffed. "I'll show you all how it's done."
"This is a rescue mission," Sekingal sighed.
"So, how's it gonna work?" Tornado sniffed, scanning over all the monsters. "Whoever gets the least kills pays for everyone?"
The heroes who were suddenly in on the bet agreed. It was much more likely, after all, to not get the least kills rather than get the most over everyone else. However, the main condition would be that the order of most to least kills would pay a lesser amount. For example, whoever got first paid the least, no matter how expensive the meal, second paid a little more than them, all the way to last, who'd been burdened with the harsh charge of 50% of the bill.
"God, I can't wait to order something super expensive just to make Amai Mask pay," Atomic Samurai smirked, his stomach already grumbling.
"Again...it's not like I'd be outdone by every single one of you," Amai Mask narrowed his eyes.
Tornado snorted, "You were clearly outdone by Saitama."
Flashy Flash remembered the incident, and despite his normal cold demeanor, let out a little 'hmph' of amusement.
However, their casual discussion was interrupted by an old, withered rag forcefully landing on the ground, bringing a light breeze with it.
Tornado quirked an eyebrow as it seemed to sprout arms, lighting a finger on two hands while its arms' skin opened up little by little.
A few thuds were heard, followed by loud creaking that was sure to trigger somebody's tinnitus.
As they crashed onto the ground, the horde was released, unleashing a plethora of monsters, signaling the ones that were already visible to jump onto the pile as well.
"Sekingal! Get back!" The track lady urged, pushing him out of the way as she jumped headfirst into the monsters.
"Gyoro Gyoro promised a fair fight!" He panicked, his serious expression withering away quickly to reveal a terrified man. "But this is clearly a trap!"
Oh, really? What gave you the hint? Both humans and monsters alike had a similar thought in their heads while hearing such a useless statement.
A new hero, who looked like what you would expect of the Goth version of the Cyberpunk version of the Metalhead version of Genos without his cybernetics would look like, known as Feather in the Hero Association, grumbled, "It doesn't matter. We just have to take them all on."
He flexed his fingers like a cat, revealing Wolverine-like claws, before his voice became much louder, "So we just gotta make this the climax!"
The cyclops mask-wearing schoolboy gulped, his voice quivering, "Why are you guys all so eager to fight?! We haven't even entered the hideout!"
A...rather wide, stout lad panicked, pulling donuts and croissants from places that the other heroes didn't really want to investigate the source of, " My nerves are making my layers wither! But I mustn't lose weight!"
Tornado watched the other heroes engage in combat, before turning back to the rag.
They wouldn't just use it as a starting signal, and it's definitely strong enough to bring those train cars here, she deduced quickly. It's an actual monster that's going to fight, isn't it?
"How pitiful," it hissed, sticking out a lanky finger with an incredibly dirty nail as it confirmed Tatsumaki's suspicions. "I expected the Hero Association to send its full strength...and...this is...it?"
A few of the monsters that hadn't gotten to the battle yet malevolently snickered, "This ain't nearly enough! The cadres won't even have to lift a finger!"
Child Emperor gasped as he pulled out his scanner, surveying the surroundings, "The heat signature count is only rising...it's already surpassed 100!"
Tornado rolled her eyes, boredom clear in her eyes, "Don't worry about how many there are. It's not worth counting in the first place."
Meanwhile, Puri Puri Prisoner, shielded another member of the support team, declaring, "If any of you need protection, stay behind me!"
The old rag had fully risen, legs going along with its arms, and the small openings in the limbs had turned into sentient eyes, shaking and looking all around, "Correct...the only thing worth counting here...is your sins..."
"Okay, Gerard Way, don't need to tell me what's sinful and not. You literally call yourself a monster, don't you?" She quirked an eyebrow, watching him lethargically lift his fingers.
"It matters not. I acknowledge my flaws, yet you are in a fantasy..." The rag hissed again, its voice creaky in a sense, yet antipathy and uncontrollable resentment seeped through, not unlike a bleeding wall in a haunted house.
"And unfortunately, reality is often...disappointing," he finished, the eyes vacillating frantically as large cracks started appearing in large bursts, followed by a few nearby buildings lifted out in a flash, infrastructure at all.
The debris that wasn't lifted alongside the building crashed on the ground with a thunderous crumbling, causing most of the heroes to stumble or lose their balance. As they all took defensive stances, a sudden panic sparkled in their eyes.
"It's using psychic powers?" Sekingal squawked, his eyes widening to the point where they could've fallen out had he not been careful.
Saitama whistled, "Man, imagine if my home had been in one of those things..."
Tornado scoffed, bored, "Like I'd ever even let you live in that much of a trash heap. Even you have to have standards, right?"
"Meh."
Tornado sent him a quick glare in disapproval before looking back at the buildings and light poles hovering in the air.
"These eyes that you see..." The rag hissed once more, its face still unseen. "They once belonged to monsters that you killed."
"Oh, that musta been me," Saitama clicked his tongue, recognizing an eye or two from monsters he'd killed while he lived here.
At least, he thought that he recognized a few of the eyes. He had no idea, but it felt right to think he did.
"Well, I suppose...I can give you a thank you present...Gyoro Gyoro implanted these within me...and their...residual, cumulative, overwhelming hate...flows through me...
"Can you feel their animosity? The thickness in the air? The misery? The enmity?" The rag continued. "This was...your doing...and the cycle of life...continues..."
"For at their moment of death, their limit, the harbinger of destruction that you were to them...they cry...right at you!"
The fragile hissing suddenly transformed into a demonic, distorted howl, as cries of helps screeched as the buildings came flying down quickly, the powerful psychic grip released just as quickly as it was initiated.
"You irk me," Tornado sighed. "All this talk, yet nothing more..."
Without even lifting a finger, the buildings crashed against an invisible surface, sliding off the spherical barrier formed in an instant.
The cowardly panicking of the heroes turned to sighs and cries of relief, "S-She saved us! We're safe!"
Saitama sent a light glance towards Tornado, and saw the annoyance and minor discomfort in her eyes as the heroes began to worship her once more.
He nodded towards her, and she took a moment to contemplate her options.
"God, you're so fucking lucky that he's here," she muttered under her breath, swiping most of the rubble away without it landing on the other heroes.
Most of it.
It can't hurt, she decided, letting one of the buildings loose 'accidentally.'
She sent an eye roll towards Saitama, who shrugged, knowing that it was the best he was going to get in the first place.
Sekingal sputtered, protecting the nape of his neck, "Pr-protect us to the end, Tornado?"
Tornado glared at him, furrowing her eyebrows, "And why should I spend my time protecting everyone else?"
A loose section had fallen ahead of its companions, though before it could reach Narcissistoic, Puri Puri Prisoner appeared in a flash, deflecting all of the rubble while crying out, "Angel Fwip-Fwap!"
Superalloy Darkshine, on the other hand, decided to calmly take the situation by grabbing two heroes and tossing them out of the way, "I got this; get to safety."
He yawned as the building fell on him, though quickly wiped the concrete powder on his shoulder off.
"How can you just say that during battle?!" Sekingal reprimanded.
Tatsumaki rolled her eyes, "If you seriously can't even do the tiniest thing for yourself, then why are you even here? You're seriously just holding us back."
Sweet Mask nodded as he lifted another large piece of rubble and tossed it behind him with one hand, "I agree. A team is supposed to bring each other up, not hold each other back. Besides, I thought you all knew what you were getting into when you signed up for this sort of stuff." He shook his head in disappointment, muttering "tsk, tsk, tsk," over and over again.
"If you're all heroes," the rag howled again, interrupting the conversation. "Then show us that it's not just Tornado!"
"You wanna take this one, Tats?"
"Sure," she nodded to her boyfriend before turning to the rag.
She scanned it over for just a moment, scoffing at what she saw. It was a minor irrational phobia of hers to have so many...eyes on her at one time, especially because she was most likely one of the most famous people on the planet.
She just didn't like being looked at so intensely.
"So you just...powered up by combining some weaklings? You're never going to get strong like that," she complained. "And here I was, thinking that you might be stronger than some of these other idiots..."
The rag chuckled in a manner that'd definitely make the ordinary person uncomfortable from its intonation, "I believe that your sister is a psychic as well...so I have some idea..."
It made a sound that could only be described as inhuman, feral instinctual growling, "What an interesting experiment! I can't wait for the moment that Gyoro Gyoro implants both of your eyes into my arms!"
Saitama cringed, Yeah, she wouldn't even let me take the kill now...I'll just do some other stuff right now.
Lo and behold, the bored, casual expression that had befallen Tornado had vanished, her eyes covered by emerald tufts of hair as there was a ferocious scowl on her face, which slowly transformed into a bloodthirsty smirk.
The normal bright green barrier had been replaced with a darker, more ominous shade that was most reminiscent of an endless labyrinth, an inescapable swamp, murky and swirling with murderous intent.
"For a trash bag...you talk too much. You waste too much air, too much space, too much...everything..." Tornado seethed, lifting her head a little to reveal a focused eye, completely honed on the other psychic present. "Try to lay a finger on us...and this is what'll happen!"
"Oy, Baldy, d'you wanna try calming her down here?" Atomic Samurai urged, seeing the malevolence in her eyes.
"Not like I have too much a choice," he sniffed, crossing his arms as he sighed lightly. "You know how she can get whenever Fubuki's brought into it."
That was good enough of an answer for the samurai.
As the heroes were enamored by the mystical sight of the two psychics flying up in the air to fight, their spectating was interrupted by the hissing and growling of monsters, "Let's get 'em!"
"Don't underestimate us." That was a command, not a request, one that came from the clown himself as an orb seemed to vanish into oblivion after piercing through the skull of the shouting monster. "We're more than enough to take care of you scoundrels."
"'Nice kill, Twintails," the sniper complimented from a hidden point.
"Many thanks," he grunted as he juggled three pins around in a certain rhythm, causing thumping to occur as the bodies of a few more monsters started to convulse before multiple cracks came from their bodies.
He took a prideful stance as the bodies fell to the ground, smirking, "I juggle dark artifacts to defeat my enemies, whether it be pins or a roll of the dice...yet, however the wheel spins, the result is always...death."
The Hero Association's got some real nutjobs, Saitama cringed. The whole circus, maybe? Did they just stroll into town, or am I missing something here?
"That was...too easy," Flashy Flash narrows his eyes. "It's like they were made of less than paper."
I nod in agreement. While everyone else was dealing with the monsters, it was as if...well, it was just the same as always. One punch, they splat, all that stuff. Most of the heroes didn't pay it any mind, which is nice. They talked to themselves, mostly, but they're not half bad.
"There're more!" A...power ranger? Man, I haven't watched that show in forever.
Anyways, he points in the direction of more monsters. That's pretty much enough to describe what he said, right?
I crack my back as one of them stomps forward, grunting, "I'll take them on. I got this."
I thought rhinos were almost extinct? And that they were animals and not monsters?
Well, whatever. Can't always choose what you fight, I guess.
One of the guys, the thug from earlier, steps up to the plate and swings his mace at him.
"Thirty points!"
A point system? Is this a video game now? What's going on?
More of the heroes eagerly pile on, before all being knocked away. The girl with the baton hit his horn, but it didn't help. The sniper tried that too, but the bullet just flied off.
It stomps into the ground before charging forward, only to be stopped by the sword swing of...Ian? Eyean? Iaian? Something like that. His sword swing.
"60 points!" It gruffly shouts, a smug smirk on its face.
"I guess I should take care of this, shouldn't I?" I mumble, walking up to the rhino as it shakes off the blows once again.
"You want your try, Baldy?" It guffaws.
"Uh...sure," I nod. I throw my fist forward.
It falls onto the ground, and I notice that its abdomen just sort of...faded away. I kick its corpse, annoyed.
"You gonna give me a point value yet or nah?" I complain, kicking its corpse again lightly, before feeling a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see Tats. She's unscathed. Of course she is.
Of course, she doesn't seem to be in a good mood now, especially since that rag insulted Fubuki. And look how that turned out.
"Oy, Saitama," she rolls her eyes as she taps my shoulder again to stop me from leisurely kicking the rhino's carcass. "Are we gonna take care of the monsters, or nah? I'm pretty sure the kid's still down there."
I shrug, "Sure, but the bet's still on, got it?"
"Duh."
As the two of us walk together towards the manhole in front of where my home used to be, I notice that her shoulders are tense, and that her grip on my hand is tighter than usual.
"Need to rant?" I prompt. This'd happened a few times before, but not too often. I wait a few seconds, and just as before, she lets out a deep breath that she didn't even know she had.
"He was just an asshole. You know, the usual," she explains...almost. It's not a full explanation, and I can tell.
Contrary to popular belief, I can actually think if I want to. And when it comes to Tats, it's almost automatic to not be a total dumbass all the time. And she's got this tell. Most people have obvious tells, maybe it's scratching their ear or saying 'the usual' to brush it off, or maybe it's looking to the side and not making eye contact.
Oddly enough, Tats' tell when she's lying is when she uses "just" to make something seem obvious. It's a little bit weird. When she uses the word, she's not always lying. But when she's always lying, she always uses it. Does that make sense?
It's probably more confusing.
Meh, not like I can explain it better. I just took some stuff that I remembered from Geometry and boom. Not like I was any good at math.
Regardless, I can somehow tell when she's upset at something specifically.
And usually, that something always has to do with either me, Fubuki, or surprisingly, Genos.
"What he said about Fubuki?" I prompt again, letting her talk. It's easier for her to just...spill her emotions whenever I just let her talk, I think. Or maybe I should keep the conversation going regularly. I don't know, honestly. Never tried the second part.
"I can't let her get hurt, dummy," she explains, knowing that I already understand how obvious it is. "I...I just don't know how to convince her to join the A-Class so that she can work with people who'll be there to protect her."
"You think she's going to get herself hurt while we're here or something?"
"She's probably here as we speak," Tats sighs as we get to the manhole in front of my old home. "At least we're here already."
"Mm...she was super obsessed with being in first place, right?" I bring up, putting a thumb on my bottom lip. "Maybe Genos could convince her?"
"I..." she starts, a harsh tone underlying her words, before her voice dies down a little bit as her eyes widen a little bit. "I...I cannot believe I didn't think of that. Saitama, you're a genius!"
I let out a quietly strangled cry at the sound I just heard. I'd heard her raise her voice before, but those were for different reasons.
I'd heard Tats raise her voice for many reasons. Because she was angry, because she was frustrated, even because she was sad. I'd heard her raise her voice when she was laughing or just really amused...
Not because she was super elated or something. In fact...I hadn't heard her compliment me outright before. At least, I don't remember her complimenting me like that, right? Maybe I forgot, but I don't think I would forget something like that. Especially when it comes to somebody like Tats.
I smile.
A little stupidly, if I'm being realistic.
"H-Hey, what are you smiling for?" She pouts, realizing that she just smiled pretty freely in front of me.
"D-Don't blame me for being happy for my sister!"
I chuckle lightly, squeezing her hand a bit, "Chill out a little. You haven't even brought it up to Genos."
She smacks my arm, her previous hostility returning full force, "You know damn well he'd do anything for Fubuki to be protected in a situation that's out of his control."
I click my tongue, lifting off the manhole, "Can't really argue with that."
She blushes a little bit, "Stop smiling..." There's a bashful smile on her face, one that I raise my eyebrow to point out, and she smacks my arm...again.
"This is a monster hunt, not a date, Tats," I joke around a little, and she smirks a little bit.
"Fine, but don't complain to me when you lose. You gotta stop smiling then, deal?"
"Deal."
Sorta important author's note:
So, you know how I decided that the Monster Association Arc will be the last arc that I cover?
Yeah, that's still true. The reason for this author note is right after the arc.
This whole raid thing will probably span a bunch of chapters, and here is one important part:
I won't be adhering completely to the canon. Obviously. This whole story doesn't fully line up with canon, but the way that the entire raid actually goes will have a different journey and pathway. It'll end up in a same sort of situation, most likely similar to the webcomic if the manga doesn't get to the end of the arc at the point of where I need to write it for its release, you know?
Here's the other important part:
After the arc ends, I'll have two or three chapters to wrap the entire thing up, right? This fic's going to be over 50 chapters, and I've just...it feels wrong to try to wrap all of it up in a single chapter. It sort of feels like a disservice to both the story and you guys.
I'll be real...I didn't think that I'd ever get to this point where I'm thinking of truly ending the story. I'd thought that I'd be keeping this story up to where the webcomic is today, or thinking that I'd be giving up long before this. But I'm glad to say that I'm not going to be giving up on this story, and that I'll be writing it to its very end.
TL;DR:
This raid won't stick to the canon like glue, but it'll end most likely similar to the webcomic's ending. Also, after this arc, it'll enter the "End Arc," which'll be 2-3 chapters wrapping everything up.