Author's Note

This is the revised first chapter, my dear readers. I hope you like it. :-)

I do not own One Punch Man

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| 1. First Encounter |

After his failed attempt to vanquish the Heroes Association, Garou flew away. He ran and took shelter in any possible place he could find. He worked any available work like bounty hunting to survive. He worked because actually he despised the act of thievery, like what he did before his awakening. He did that dicreetly to avoid any trouble.

This time, his run finally led him to a foreign place. Located in an island offshore from L City, the place was a natural sanctuary. Far from disturbances and the reach of Heroes Association and its new couterpart, the mountainous area offered Garou a place to rest. Moreover, the environment was still pristine, filled with exotic faunas that of course, some of them could serve as food. Seeing the place around made his memory about Bang and his dojo rose again.

"I wonder what that geezer is doing right now," muttered Garou as he jumped to a nearby tree. Thinking about it somehow made his stomach churn. The punishment he got last time after his bout with Saitama still angered him. It showed how weak and helpless he was after his defeat.

For the time being, the former Hero Hunter was searching a place for shelter. After some minutes of running and jumping through the woods and rock hills, the silver-haired man found a clearing in the wood. What he saw made his eyes widen. Some trees in the vicinity collapsed and there was a giant hole on the ground. It was around 30 meters deep.

Garou decided to discover more. Walking slowly nearing the hole, he found something more shocking. On the base of the pit, a massive structure of some sort of gate could be seen. Some weird relief and unknown letters adorned its facade. Ancient, is the only word that could describe the structure. The gate was open and what could be seen behind it was darkness. That really piqued his interest. Perhaps, he could find some strong monsters inside that place. Although his curiosity was really strong, his instinct didn't let him go any further. He stood around the edge of the hole for some minutes while thinking the next action.

His brain suggested that the best course of action was leave the place and come back when ready. He would never know what loomed behind the door. Furthermore, some supplies must be brought along because, he didn't know about how long he would explore it. After some contemplation, he left said place for later investigation.

After gathering things he needed, Garou came back in the afternoon to investigate the mysterious structure. When he arrived at his destination, the sun was nearing its setting place. He glanced around the vicinity to make sure there was nothing off. Seeing everything seemed okay, he jumped into the pit and landed in front of the gate quietly. His golden eyes scanned around before he proceeded into the supposed darkness.

As he walked inside the massive structure, he heightened his senses. The complete darkness actually didn't bother him, but because he was curious about the surrounding, he grabbed his flashlight from his bag. He kept his pace while he pointed his flashlight around the massive corridor. So far, he didn't sense any living form nearby. The corridor itself was made of giant stone slabs, filled with reliefs. The reliefs were intact and Garou could discern some of the stories they depicted. Most of them were stories about heroes.

Although the former Hero Hunter still held grudge against the concept of heroism, he found that the concept the story was acceptable for him in some ways. The stories were about rebels who fought corrupt regimes or something that represented absolute power. The basic idea in the stories had concurrence with his action. Somewhat, he felt that whoever wrote the stories gave him justification for his action. Seeing that, his lips curled up.

Looking onto his wristwatch, he realized that his walk had taken a good 40 minutes from the entrance. Now, he saw the path was going down. The descending path finally led him to a rectangular grand hall. Unlike the path he walked through, the massive chamber was slightly illuminated by purple and green crystal chunks that stuck out from the ceiling. There were four paths in the room. The one on his back that lead back to the long corridor, one on each of his side and one in front of him. And there were also some human bones, scattered on the floor, to add horror for a common adventurer. Seeing that, he just shrugged his shoulders while walking casually.

When he reached the center of the hall, he just realized that a tile his foot had stepped on slightly went down. 'Damn,' he cursed. 'I let my guard down. It's a trap.' Seconds later, his body tensed up. His instinct screamed an incoming danger. Soon enough, he heard several thumping noise from nearly every direction. He had readied himself for anything he would face.

After slaying monsters from the crystal hall, Garou entered one of the doors. While running, the walls started to open, revealing various dungeon traps. Booby traps, poisonous darts, axe pendulums, flamethrowers, insect monsters, and so on were provided to welcome any guest. But all of them were traversed easily by the martial artist as if it was a breeze. He went ahead through the intricate network of mazes and sometimes punched walls to make shortcut. Along the way, he also found some skulls of unlucky adventurers. 'Huh? Grave-robbers,' as he frowned. 'How pathetic… but they deserve it.'

As he arrived at some kind of another grand hall, he looked at his watch. 'Damn,' as he thought. 'Five hours already. This is… ugh… whatever. Anyway, I'm hungry.' Feeling that the place was save, he plopped down on the floor and opened his bag to take his ration.

While he munched some jerked meat, he looked around the grand hall. All of the wall were made of metals, unlike the hall he saw earlier. The bright white light illuminating the hall came from rifts on it. Everything looked bizarre. As he stood up while slinging his bag onto its usual place, his eyes caught a weird pattern on the end of the hall.

When he stepped close enough, he could make out what he saw. It was an ornament with some sort of mechanism. It has some reliefs with dragon's head on its center, surrounded by five disc with a knob on each of them. Garou tried to turn the discs one by one. Nothing happened.

"Seems that this thing will only work if they turned simultaneously," as he was still turning the discs in clockwise. "Should I use Bomb's move to do this?"

He stepped back some meters to make an attacking stance. As he adjusted his legs, his arms were moved to flow the air mass around. He closed his moves by lashing out his opened palms toward the lock mechanism, sending a whirlwind. The strong circular air flow was enough to turn the discs at the same time. The next moment, the eyes of the dragon opened and glowed red. The lights in the room also turned red, following the opening of the eyes.

"And now, what?" said the former Hero Hunter. "Another monster? Common, don't make laugh."

As if he got an answer, a new being came into conversation.

"THE ONE WHO HAS COME THIS FAR," a deep robotic voice filled the room. "MUST BE A HERO!"

"Hero?" as he scowled. "The hell are they!? They are just bunch of trash who pose as the defender of justice!" he responded with anger.

"EVERYBODY WHO HAS REACHED THIS LEVEL IS A HERO. MAN WITHOUT STRONG WILL NEVER REACH THIS PLACE!" The voice said with finality.

"Then, what are you gonna do?!" he shouted. "Show yourself!"

"APPLY THE TRANSFER PROTOCOL."

The metal floor and the ceiling opened, revealing some apparatus like glowing poles. In the center of the chamber, another tool which looked like a big bell emerged from the floor. Before Garou could react, the light on the poles glowed neon blue and formed laser barricades. He was trapped inside. The activation of laser barricade then followed by the bell. Whirring sound came out from it as its rotating part was spinning while purple liquid flowed through its transparent pipes.

"OPEN THE PORTAL!" said the robotic voice.

The bell produced small thunder sparks. The sparks coursed through the laser poles, making it like a spectacular light show. A white ball which occurred above the bell then turned into a blinding light, filling the room. The former Hero Hunter could only curse the unexpected outcome of his journey.

"Daaaaaamn it…!" as the martial artist closed his eyes with his arm.

"GOOD LUCK, HERO!" said the robotic voice as the light consumed the very body of the former Hero Hunter.

21:15 … AQUA TOWER, TOKYO

"Soichiro, have you heard the news about CCG's last investigation in 6th ward?" asked a man in a uniform to his fellow guard.

"Hmm, yeah. If I'm not mistaken, they lost two investigators," replied Soichiro plainly.

"So, what do you think? Our office is there and we often go to that place at night. Man… we are doomed."

"Common, Izumi..." replied Soichiro as he looked around a big aquarium. "CCG is not that bad. I bet they will finish the job in no time. They just need some moment to gather more information about the culprit."

"Hehe..." Izumi let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. Maybe I'm just too scared."

As they continued their patrol, they heard a scream of a man.

"AAAGH… please, anyone… HELP ME!"

Izumi and Soichiro took a glace at each other and then ran toward the source of the voice.

"Requesting aid," said Izumi, holding his walkie-talkie while still running. "Possible encounter with ghoul."

Nearing an opening which led to the tower's deck, they found a gruesome sight. A man with suit, probably an office worker of the Aqua Tower was laying on his stomach. He got some severe wounds on his legs. Blood trails could be seen from the corridor, made it clear that he dragged himself to the finding place. The guards then came quickly to aid the man.

"Sir…" said Soichiro while holding the man's shoulder. An expression of shock was present on his face.

"P-please..." the man stuttered. "H-help me… a g-ghoul."

Izumi then helped Soichiro to lift the man. While the man was piggybacked by Soichiro, Izumi prepared his handgun. They tried to find the fastest way to evacuate the man. Along the way, the man whined due to his pain. Before they reached the closest elevator, they heard another screams and gunshots.

"WHAAA…"

"RUUUN!"

It appeared that these running men were the two guards Izumi had requested earlier. They ran toward Soichiro and Izumi.

"Run… she is too strong," said one of the guard between his breaths.

"And…" said the other one. "We must contact CCG!"

The red light from the aquarium finally revealed a slim figure of a lady. Her long violet hair was draping. Her gleaming crimson eyes was an omen of their doom. She walked slowly and by the time she found her preys, her tongue stuck out, wetting her lips.

"Oh~…" as she started conversation before began her feast. "Good evening, gentlemen~."

The female ghoul was just playing around before she enjoyed her dinner. The men were pushed back to the tower's deck. By the time they were on the lookout deck, the four guards had some cuts and bruises due to lashings. The worker was already fainted due to blood loss and pain he endured. The purple haired lady approached the men casually while four red tendrils were dancing behind her back.

The men huddled near a steel pole. Nothing could they do except looked into the sky and prayed to God. Either to give them a painless death or to bring them a savior. As the doom-bringer before them jumped toward them, their prayer was answered. Or so they thought.

Although there were no sign of raining, suddenly the cloud above them glowed a bright light. Soon after the light ceased, a black dot came out from the cloud. The dot seemed to get bigger and revealed a figure of a falling man. Their eyes widen as this falling man soon got closer to their place. A very loud thud could be heard as the man's body made contact with the metal floor of the deck. The sound made the female ghoul turned her head toward it. What made their jaws dropped was the fact that the off-looking man was not killed nor injured despite his unholy crash-landing onto a metal surface, no less.

"DAMN THAT MACHINE!" the newly arrived being shouted as he tried to rise up. "WHAT DO IT THINK I AM?!"

Both the preys and the predator could not grasp any logic of the occurrence before them. As they still gawked at him, he stood and moved his body parts to make sure there were no damage on him. Then, his piercing gaze met their eyes. The men gasped while the red-eyed woman took some steps backward, out of reflex. His face made a grimace when a new reality struck him. The circumstances around made his exhaustion from the teleportation grew even more.

"JUST NOW A MACHINE," he roared once again. "AND NOW… WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

Pushing all of his courage, one of the men tried to contact the stranger. It was a desperate attempt, based on his believe that the stranger was god-sent, since he fell from heaven and showed no sign of injury.

"S-s-sir," as he stuttered. "I-I know you are strong. P-please… help us."

"We beg you, s-sir," as Izumi's palms met each other as a sign for begging. "Please… save us."

The man with V shaped hairstyle at first was just staring at the huddled men. He saw there were trails of blood along the way to the pole. His eyes then met with figure of the red-eyed carnivore. Instead of a monster with animalistic features, he found a full human with slight differences. Only her glowing red eyes, black sclera and the red tentacles which suggested that she is a monster. For him, it was so surreal. Something totally different from the monster he had ever seen.

After assessing the situation, the former Hero Hunter then started his move. He took off his bag and dropped it near the place where he stood. His frown was still present as his golden eyes scanned the monster. He didn't like the fact that perhaps, he must give some beating to a lady. But he could not let some injured people who were threatened by the monster probably killed. During his bout against heroes, he never involved any civilian. And even he saved an unknown child from the clutch of monsters. Unbeknownst to him, this principle of heroism was in his mind and now drove him to give a hand.

"What are you!" asked Garou with low tone. "Are you a Tiger-level threat monster?"

Hearing weird blabbering of the former Hero Hunter, the female ghoul smirked. Her red tendrils then pointed forward, ready to lash out the menacing figure in front of them. She found that he could be an appetizing meal since his tight black t-shirt revealed perfectly built muscles. To top it off, his aroma was so tempting, something smelled more delicious than normal human flesh. She licked her lips and bit her index finger in a seductive manner.

"Hoh… Old man, that was so rude~. Did your parents teach you some manner, isekai hero? And..." as she continued. "We even haven't exchanged our names."

Exchanging names before a fight was something didn't match the Hunter's style. Usually, he will give his name after he beat his opponent into pulp.

"Heh… should I?" as he scoffed. "I thought a monster like you doesn't have decency in speaking. If you really want to know my name then… fine" as he shrugged his shoulders. "The name is Garou. And don't call me old man, I'm still 18."

The ghoul frowned. She was a little bit surprised to hear that Garou was around her age. 'Looks can be deceiving, huh?' she mused. Before she focused her full attention toward the menacing man, her peripheral vision caught the expressions of the wounded men who let their jaws opened. They were shocked to hear what had just said by the silver haired man.

"I see…" as she flexed her red tentacles. "Nice to meet you, Garou-kun. My name is Rize. Rize Kamishiro," she introduced herself as she bowed.

The martial artist's body tensed up out of reflex. He knew that her introduction was her tactic before she pulled out a surprise attack. He could detect it through her breath pattern. His arms raised while his hands formed karate chop in response, making a cross line in front of his chest. As expected, the ghoul launched herself toward him seconds after the pleasantry, marking the start of a clash.

As Rize closed the range, the martial artist braced himself. This unconventional enemy perhaps could give him some surprises regarding her humanly form and the unknown property of the appendages. His mind raced to find a strategy for the worst scenario. Judging her launch earlier, his eyes telling him that she was rather speedy than most monster. And there was also other possibility that her tentacles were as hard as Orochi's horns. These speculations whirled in his brain, but finally, he chose the most primitive yet effective option to overcome them: deal with it head-on.

After all, he had faced something worse than this. He fought, he struggled, he got wounded and he lost. But he pulverized most of his foe, and he also learned many things. 'Nothing better than trying,' as he mused.

The ghoul landed in front of the former Hero Hunter and lashed out her tendrils. She was shocked to see that her target deflected her attack. She tried to lash out her weapon consecutively yet the man could redirected her whips. Her eyes could not catch his arms movement. It was as if his arms turned into a blur. She then ran around him and lashed him all her way. And the result was the same. Even she saw the man dodged her attack without seeing it. All her attacks gone futile.

Out of Garou's expectation, the creature was weak. Weak because he found that she had very potent weapon but could not wield it properly. The tendril felt as hard as steel but she couldn't swing it harder, rendering her attack dull. 'Either she never fight or she just uses them for eating,' as he lowered his guard.

"Huh… drained already?" a smug smirk formed on his face, seeing Rize panting heavily. "I haven't even started. Are those tentacles are just for decoration? I know they pack a punch but it seems you don't know how to use it."

"You…" she growled in a deep voice as she bowed like a runner. "I'll kill you!"

"Just try!"

She lashed her tendrils to push her body forward. As she got closer, her hand balled into a fist while her tendrils acted as tails. Her fist then met Garou's opened palm, only to be grabbed and squeezed. Her eyes widen when excruciating pain coursed through her right arm as she saw it had been twisted like a wet laundry. Before she could scream, she got a jab to her stomach, sending her flying to a nearby wall. She coughed blood. Her twisted right arm gone numb as her body shuddered. She could do nothing while she was at her current state. Her tendrils dissipated into some gas as she leaned onto the wall.

The wounded men were only staring with wide eyes and opened jaws. The feats displayed by their savior seemed to surprise them to no end. The moves of the former Hero Hunter defied their logic. Human will never be able to have such kind of ability, no matter how hard they train. It would just strengthen their belief that he is an angel, or even more.

While still leaning on the wall, Rize's broken arm soon reformed back to its normal state. This sight surprised Garou. It seemed that he forgot to count the healing factor of a monster. As he walked closer to inspect her, his mind flew back to the moment after he was ganged by A class heroes, beaten by Bang and Bomb, slashed by Royal Reaper, and finally to be burned and impaled by Orochi. 'Could it be that she is just like me? Is she also a result of evolution? Or… never mind,' as he shrugged his thoughts.

Rize's violet eyes met with the Hunter's golden eyes. She knew that she was doomed. She still could feel his killing intent flared toward her as he stepped closer. She had underestimated him and now, it's her downfall.

"Tell me, Rize-san," as he grabbed her neck with one hand and raised her above the ground. "What are you?"

"Urk…" she couldn't mutter a word due to his tight grip.

"Is my grip too tight?" he loosened his grab a bit while her legs flailing.

"Ugghhoo…" she still couldn't speak while her hands grabbed his arm.

"Pardon me? Would you like to speak more clearly," his scowl was deepening.

While he was still holding Rize's neck, the martial artist felt a presence of a new being. Soon after, the said being came out to greet them. The first thing which came into view was a white mask and suit with matching color. The figure who appeared was a man with a giant stature. He walked to the deck while clapping his hands, slowly.

"Wonderful," said the hulking figure. "Whoever you are, I should thank you for catching that pest."

"Are you her client?" as he turned his head toward the giant and glared at him.

"You've got a nerve, kid," as he cracked his index finger. "Seems that you don't know who I am. I'll make sure that you will learn it the hard way."

"Then, so be it. Show what you are made of, masked-man!" he looked back toward Rize. "Sorry Rize-san, we will talk later."

As the masked-man ran closer toward him, Garou tossed Rize to the nearest railing like a rag doll. Her limped body wobbled after she hit cold metal pipes. While she was gasping for air, her vision directed toward Garou who tried to engage the giant masked-man, known as Yakumo Oomori. Her mind told her that fleeing was the best choice, considering they would focus in their bout. She had been given a chance to escape a terrible fate but her curiosity didn't let her go. She also didn't want to miss the incoming battle between the monsters. 'Maybe I should see this for a little while. I wonder if this guy can beat Yamori.'

When the giant was close enough to send his fist, Garou who didn't budge an inch just sighed. He knew that this monster was just like Rize. The moment a fist sent to his face, the former Hero Hunter dodged it by lowering his head. Punch after punch was sent to him but all miss their mark. That really pissed Yamori off.

"Kid… you smell like human but I know… you are a ghoul just like us," he said while catching his breath. "And fight me seriously!"

"Hoh? So, Rize and you are called ghoul? I see." bland expression plastered on his face. "And.. you only gave me 27 punches, yet it looks like you've been chased by a demon. Seriously, you should retire, old man."

"You never feel how to be roughed up, kid," he cracked his middle finger. "I'll be happy to give you one."

"I've been through something worse than your beating," he exclaimed with bored expression. "Don't make me disappointed, old man."

Yamori's sclerae turned black, marking his kakugan activation as RC cells filling his veins. Colorful tendrils came out from his back. This time, the tendrils looked thorny and bigger compared to Rize's. As he hunched his back to let out his tendrils, the wounded men kept their attention toward the arena. Inside their hearts, they prayed for the victory of their savior.

Yamori lashed out his tendril. What he didn't expected was this time, instead of being evaded, the martial artist caught it with one hand. Before he could lash out his other tendril, Garou showed an ability that shocked everyone to their core. Garou cut Yamori's tendril using Bomb's technique. The condensed air mass sliced through the RC cell thread with ease. As Yamori's mind still processing what had just happened, Garou sent consecutive punches to Yamori's body using Water Flowing Rock Smashing Fist. Blood coloring his suit while the pain coursed through his nerves. His tattered cloths revealed his caved in chest caused by the beating.

"AARRRGGH," he screamed with muffled voice as he fell down, writhing in anguish. His tendril dissipated as his body touched the floor.

"Didn't I tell you, old man…" as Garou crouched close to Yamori, still with his bland expression. "You should retire."

"I-impossible… h-how c-can you…"

Before Yamori could finish his sentence, the former Hero Hunter stood up and crushed his right arm by stepping on it. Yamori screamed. As if didn't want to let him draw any breath, Garou continued the torture by slashing the ghoul's legs using Whirlwind Iron Cutting. Another scream followed.

The wounded men cringed when seeing the morbid act displayed by the god-sent hero. A new dread crept down their souls. Turned out, their savior is a psychopath. The possibility that they would also become his next victim filled their heads. The guy also seemed to get pissed off easily, making their minds pointed toward the conclusion that they would likely go out from the place in body bags. It seemed that eaten by ghoul was much better than brutalized by their supposed savior.

Seeing the ensuing nasty outcome, Rize who was still lying near the railing tried to act fast. She knew that this was the right time for escape. With her remaining strength, she dragged herself to the edge of deck. Before she fell down, she pulled out her tendrils to help her swing between steel beams so that she could find a safe landing. When the former Hero Hunter looked at her previous place, she had just descended.

Garou only turned his head while he grabbed and pulled up Yamori's head.

Suffice to say that Yamori's state was worse than Rize's. He had rapid regeneration ability but it wouldn't help since the damage was too great. It seemed that the martial artist's punches had obliterated his internal organs. Moreover, the madman could make strong blades out of thin air. Escape chance was nearly zero. This man could slit his neck at any moment. He was dead for sure. He gritted his teeth as the psycho's piercing gaze filled his vision.

"Old, man… what's your name?" he said slowly and clearly while pressing his fingers deeper into Yamori's scalp.

Yamori's mind was spinning. Judging by the act toward Rize and himself, he thought that the madman could become a threat to his men and Aogiri, or even to entire ghoul population in Tokyo. Moreover, there was possibility that the silver-haired man could be a very powerful CCG agent. Telling his name would be a dead flag for ghouls. He chose to kept silent.

"Oi," the torturer shook Yamori's head. "Are you still conscious?"

Getting no response, Garou decided to take out Yamori's white mask. The face behind the mask surprised him a little bit. The distance between the man's eyes abnormally wide. He still gritted his teeth due to the pain he suffered. The fact that the eyes only gave Garou a bizarre hateful glare made the former Hero Hunter sneered.

"Don't want to speak?!" said the Hunter with anger in his tone. "Then begone!"

With WIC generated by his other arm, the Hunter then severed all of his victim's limbs, leaving merely a torso with a head. He raised Yamori's limbless body and kicked his chest, sending him flying out from the deck. As Yamori fell, he picked Yamori's mask.

The spectators only grimaced at the display of the unimaginable brutality. In their mind, only a devil who could commit such kind of gruesomeness. As their supposed savior came closer to them, a feeling of intense dread filled their battered bodies. They huddled closer. Their lips were trembling while tears flowing down their cheeks. They never knew what kind of sin they had committed so that they deserve this divine punishment. When the torturer stood a feet away in front of them, either they close their eyes or they stare with terrified look. Then, only one of them who dared to make plea to the savior.

"I-I… beg you… " Soichiro stuttered as his tears flowing like rivers. "Please don't kill us!"

Garou responded with a sigh. He crouched in front of Soichiro and placed his hand on Soichiro's shoulder. His gaze softened and a small smile formed on his face.

"Take it easy, sir," he patted Soichiro's shoulder. "I didn't intend to kill you. And now, please tell me! Where am I?"

Hearing the question, the other men took a glance at each other.

"Eh?" Soichiro's mouth hung a bit while snot coming out from his nostril.

Author's Note

Well… dear readers, this is my first fanfiction. I know that this is still very crude.

Comment, reviews and constructive ideas are needed. But please, don't incinerate me or lash me out with your kagune :-D.

Thanks for reading and for all your supports.

See you in the next one.