I don't own One Punch Man, nor do I own My Hero Academia. Each Franchise is owned by their respective owner..
ENJOY!
Mustafu...
Smoke reigned above the air of the city, obscuring the sunlight slightly. Many civilians ran from their plight, unfortunately, to each of their own failures.
Heroes after heroes were brutally murdered due to their insignificant numbers.
The mysterious beings advanced to the heart of the city, tearing their way through these fragile, weak humans.
A news reporter was recording in front of the camera, "Where are the heroes?!" She said, "Their little event caused these mysterious beings to appear out of nowhere! Aren't they concerned about our well-beings?! No wonder people are starting to lose their trust!"
The news reporter was being stubborn, refusing to listen to her cameramen to just promptly run.
She's relentless, saying what's on her mind, slandering the heroes.
But as she goes on, a dragon monster appeared behind her, roaring to her face, covering her skin with saliva and bodily liquid matter.
She shrieked, and for the first time ever today, she felt fear.
But then...
A blur went through the heart of the monster, causing him to fall limply into the ground, his life force leaving him.
She reluctantly turned her head to the mysterious newcomer, before noticing the ice-blonde hair slipping through his shoulder, wielding the blade with his right arm.
"T- the number one her-?!"
She was promptly interrupted, "If you're done slandering the heroes, you can get yourself to safety." Flashy Flash said passively.
The news reported nodded hastily, before running away with her camera crews.
A purple scarfed feminine like man landed besides him, holding the head of what looked like a gorilla monster.
"You were right, these fuckers are everywhere destroying the city while those incompetent simple-minded heroes are sitting on the audience seat enjoying a fucking gladiator match." Sonic spat in disgust.
"I don't understand how they don't take precautions to this," Flashy Flash said, "It's simple to predict. This is like moving a pawn two steps away from a targeted queen in a game of chess, leaving it completely unguarded. An utterly, completely foolish move."
"Good thing I didn't come to their event. Honestly, I only came here to see you." Sonic said as he casually decapitated a monster from his behind with a fast swing of his blade.
As Flashy Flash landed on the stomach of a monster, driving his blade through it, disemboweling it swiftly, he said, "Do you think that the Hero Commission is hiding something?"
"Why do you ask that?" Sonic asked, while simultaneously slicing a mysterious being in half.
"Call it a hunch, but I feel like they're hiding something." Flashy Flash replied, "Come to think of it, thirty years ago, what thought to be a mass abduction event spiraled multiple events to happen, like the emergence of the mysterious beings."
Flashy Flash continued, "The Hero Commission also has a habit of hiding important things, the prime example being the fact that they only told us of the existence of that Miriko kid."
"That does make sense." Sonic slashed a monster upwards, before kicking the carcass away, "Feel like investigating it?"
Flashy Flash gave the idea a shot for a moment, before saying, "...maybe."
Sonic then picked his phone from his pockets, "I'm calling for backup. We can't be everywhere on the city."
"Good thinking." Flashy Flash replied.
...earlier
Yagi stared at the mirror, relishing at the sight of his new costume, which consisted of a yellow one-piece jumpsuit with a short zipper at the collar and a black belt with a round golden buckle at its center.
He then puts on the red gloves on his hands, while also putting on the elongated red boots on his foot.
"Wait, come to think of it...this costume fits me better." Yagi said to himself, readjusting his red gloves, "I mean, yellow hair, yellow costume...it all fits. Man, that taylor is really nice." He smiled.
He then exited the changing room with his new costume, before heading back straight to the seating. As he entered the seating, many students looked at him with bewilderment at the new costume.
"Of course they think it's lame.." Yagi sighed to himself as he put his bag besides his seat, before sitting next to Garou.
Garou shifted his eyes to the blond haired boy, "You brought a backup costume. And here I thought you were going to spend the rest of the tournament half naked."
"Like hell I'd do that, that's too embarrassing!" Yagi yelled, "I feel bad, though. Todoroki seemed very enthusiastic about the whole thing."
"You call sending death threats 'enthusiastic'?" Garou quirked an eyebrow.
"Maybe not that, just the way he was so into the match, like he was so sure that he'd beat me." Yagi sighed, "Aaaand he's coming over."
The sight of Enji Todoroki walking across the seating made Yagi cringe.
Todoroki turned his head to the side, locking his eyes to Yagi's, before going back to his seat.
"That was...intense." Yagi remarked.
"Are you scared of that guy or something?"
"He was more than willing to use the full force of his quirk to burn the entire body of that poor student in the previous half of the tournament." Yagi cringed, "I mean, I get it, he has a powerful quirk, but still..that was so wrong in so many levels."
"Guy's still nothing but all bark." Garou replied, his voice leeching with slight hatred.
Deciding to drop the topic, they returned their attention to the current match.
"Looks like your girlfriend is battling that King guy from before. Honestly, is he that strong?" Garou asked curiously.
"He is. He just doesn't know how to utilise his quirk properly. I'll probably help him out in the next match." Yagi replied, "If Tats is merciful enough to let him win, that is.."
"Given her attitude, she wouldn't." Garou remarked, crossing his arms and his legs, relaxing into the seat.
Oh, how wrong they were.
"Wait a minute.." Yagi squinted his eyes, leaning forward to take a closer look, "Is she..holding back?"
"She is."
"It looked like they were speaking, but I don't have any idea what they're talking about in the slightest." Yagi said.
"Toying around with the weak is a common trait for arrogant people. She's doing that from what I'm seeing." Garou explained, "Or maybe I'm wrong, I dunno."
Yagi felt like he was struck by his words. But then again, if he used the full force of his power, he would've turned someone into a human pretzel.
As for his reasoning for 'toying around' with his opponents: He only wanted to give them a chance to shine before he can send them off the arena.
Well, the exception being the guy that tried to kill him in the first match. It was a mistake.
Am I really arrogant for thinking about these things?
Yagi brushed off the thoughts, before observing the match more.
But then, what surprised them was the fact that Tatsumaki immediately forfeited the match at the end.
Both Yagi and Garou were flabbergasted.
"Did she just...forfeit the match?" Garou asked.
Yagi was silent for a few moment, before coming to his conclusion, "She was helping him out."
"Helping him out?" Garou bemused.
Yagi's lips tugged upward, forming a sincere smile, "Yep..she really have changed."
As the girl in question entered the seating, Yagi leaped out of his seat, before enveloping the girl in a tight hug, causing all the students to look at him, amused by the sight.
"U- um..Toshinori?" Tatsumaki muttered, confused.
"Tats..." Yagi removed himself out of her embrace, "I'm proud of you."
Tatsumaki was silent for a while, before flashing a smile, "I'm doing the best I can to try better.."
And then, they went back to their seating.
Garou laughed a little, Not gonna lie, that was kind of adorable.
Then, his name was mentioned by the announcer. Guess I'll wrap this up.
Later on...
Nana was at peace with her protégé when two of her adopted kids decided to barge in and demands to sit besides her.
"What brings you two here? Shouldn't you be with your classmates?" Nana asked.
"Fuck them." Mezo simply said.
Nana stared at him for a while, "...why though?"
"They're nothing more than Toshi's dick suckers."
"Hey, hey, I told you to cool it off with the vulgar language, didn't I?" Nana scolded, "Did you try to bully him again?"
"He's annoying." Mezo simply stated his 'valid' reason for bullying Yagi.
Nana shook her head incredulously, "You do know that you're biting off more than you can chew, right? Yagi is stronger than you two, and even if he's weaker..I thought we talked about this already."
"What? Your scoldings? Fuck that. I don't want to listen to hags like you." Mezo harshly said.
Masashi simply eyed him a simple gaze of warning.
Mirko looked uncomfortable with the sight of his mentor being disrespected by these...delinquents.
"Yeah, right, keep acting like that and you won't earn yourself a place in the hero society." Nana harshly replied. But before they can even think of a witty reply, she shot them a glare, "Just sit down. I don't want to hear it. Besides, you're making my protégé uncomfortable."
Both the brothers sat down, doing as what their guardian said.
Nana's phone suddenly rung. She cursed herself, before opening her phone, only to see multiple unread messages from...
Redundant
Nana narrowed her eyes, reading the text that the pro-hero sent.
Damn, what does this guy want this time?
"Wait..." Nana then realised, "Oh.."
She promptly stood up, shifting her eyes to the kids, "Miriko, Masashi, Mezo, you three stay here, okay?"
"Where the fuck are you going this time?" Mezo asked harshly, causing Masashi to gently bump his shoulder.
"Hero work. Just stay here, I'll be back soon. And you two, don't try anything funny with my protégé, got it?" Nana said with a last warning, before exiting the seating area promptly.
-- BATTLE 3! --
Subsequently, the loud sound of the mic rung across the stadium, before the voice of the announcer came along,
We're back on track, my dear audience! Garou is back to kick some ass! Or maybe he will get his ass kicked instead?!
Garou grimaced at the statement. His hands balled into a fist, a confident expression was plastered all over his facial structure, "Ha! As if."
Now, for the next combatant! We welcome, HITOSHI BAAAAAD!
A pompadour-haired boy came out of the other end, his metal bat hung over his shoulder, smiling slyly as he walked.
With the quirk to increase his battle prowess the more hurt he is, he might be able to overcome his opponent if he's not taken out immediately from the battlefield! He is not someone to be underestimated!
"Haaaaa, didn't they just reveal my quirk last match? So unnecessary..." Bad lamented to himself.
And judging by his confident expression, I'd say that he's ready to kick Garou's ass! The fist of the water stream, versus, the unbreakable force of the metal bat!
"Water stream?" Bad bemused as he walked into the arena, "Are you Silverfang's secret love child?"
Garou was caught off guard by this outlandish statement, "...I was starting to like you, but that ridiculous assumption tempts me to change my mind."
"I was just asking. If anything, the way you move, the way you fight, it's very identical to Bang sensei's fighting style." Bad exclaimed, "It's either that, or you're his stalker."
"I'M NOT A STALKER EITHER!" Garou yelled.
Garou took a deep breath, before replying, "Let's just get this over with, assumptions aside."
"Yeah, sure." Bad said casually, as he placed his bat forward as an invitation to come at him, "Whenever you're ready, bud. I got a sister to impress back home."
I will not lose. The unpopular and the hated, they always lose. I will change that scenario. I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT!
ARE YOU READY?!
{ One Punch Man Season 2 Ost - I'm a monster - }
A stream of blue substance followed the gentle movement of the silver haired boy's arms, flowing like a calm stream of a river.
Garou prepared a fighting stance, as the ground below him began to form a whirling energy circulating the area where Garou stood.
This is a more powerful variation of the quirk Garou has.
FIGHT!
Garou was on the defensive, walking slowly with his bended knees, while Bad was still wary of the movements and techniques Garou might pull out.
Bad leaped forward from the ground he stood on, preparing his bat to strike the silver haired boy with all his might.
Garou simply moved his right arm to intercept the attack, causing a shockwave to be produced by the clash.
Bad roared, before repeatedly slamming his bat downwards, all of which were blocked and intercepted by Garou's swift and precise movements.
After deflecting all of the attacks away from him, Garou thwacked his opponent at each side of his forehead, causing him to yell in pain, before going dizzy, his vision went blurry.
Garou leaped forward, doing a double kick to his chest, sending him sliding against the ground, before finally reaching the edge of the arena-
Bad spun around, using his bat to create a small shockwave that propelled him away from being sent out of bounds.
Using the momentum, he ran forward, before leaping from the ground.
He let out an ear piercing warcry, preparing to slam his bat into the ground where Garou stood.
The silver haired boy evaded the attack, bewildered on how the boy did what he just did.
"Did you just...use your bat to propel yourself away?" Garou asked, both amazed and baffled.
"Fuck reasons," Bad gritted his teeth, sweat drenching his cheeks, "IT'S FIGHTIN' SPIRIT!"
Garou's bemused expression turned into that of an excitement. His heart were racing, his veins pumped up, adrenaline flowing through his brain.
He stomped on the ground, clenching his fists, as his opponent charged at him blindly, relying on pure instinct to fight.
Garou knows that the key to victory is calmness, not acting out of the impulse to beat the shit out of the opposition.
That is the number one way for him to lose.
Garou moved his hands sprightly, blocking each of the solid surface of the bat coming straight at him, aimed to knock him out of the arena.
Garou stored all of the kinetic force inside of his hands, before uppercutting Bad in the jaw, causing him to cough a large amount of blood from his mouth.
Bad screeched in pain, his body growing stronger gradually.
But Garou was relentless. Using his distraction to his advantage, Garou struck him on multiple different places, causing him to yell out in pain once more.
Bad fell to his one knee, using his arm to support himself from falling. A sudden surge of energy flowed within him, giving him enough energy to stand up once again.
Garou was about to send him off the arena to end this fight as quick as possible, but fate had other plans for the two fighters
Metal bat quickly stood up, as he swung his bat to the side, using his full strength to strike his opponent.
Holy- that was fast!
Caught off guard, Garou tried to block it with his arms, but something unexpected happened.
It hurts.
It hurts!
The stream of the quirk usually protects him from harm, but this? It hurts so much, hell, it hurts him more than that Choze guy ever did!
"Holy fuck.." Garou uttered quietly as he held his right arm in pain, "Fifty seconds has passed...gotta make this a worthwhile.."
Bad was already in front of him to his shock. Garou quickly avoided the swing of his bat, before jumping into the air, spinning around, before moving his foot downwards, slamming it into Bad's forehead.
He barely moved from the force.
"W- what-?!" Garou barely blocked the swing from Bad's bat, sending him sliding to the side of the arena.
His bones started to creak. This is bad. He has to act, fast.
Before Garou can even move an inch, Bad was already in front of him, his fierce expression seemed to convince Garou that this maniac was aiming to kill him at all cost.
Garou rolled backwards, moving out of the trajectory of the attack, before activating his quirk once again.
"Gotta save...time..." Garou panted. Thirty seconds left.
Aw, fuck.
He has to use his other quirks if this fails, no doubt about it.
It was his number one flaw to rely on Silverfang's quirk, versatile as it may be.
"This guy has no techniques, no flow in his movements..." Garou muttered to himself, "Yet he's pushing me to the edge. His raw strength is..not something to be taken lightly."
Bad stomped forward at a slow pace, gripping his bat tighter than before. Each steps caused the arena to crack.
Aaaaaand the arena is now barely recognisable. Thanks, my beloved promising hero-in-students!
Bad ignored the sarcastic remark, spinning his bat around, before hanging it around his shoulder, "I'll beat the shit out of you...!" He exclaimed, his eerie expression springing into life.
But before Bad can advance even further, suddenly, his eyes were blank, and his expression turned hollow.
Garou raised his brow in confusion, before seeing that his opponent's body went limp, letting the bat in his grip slip off his palm, his consciousness leaving him, hitting the ground with a loud 'THUD!'.
Garou processed what just happened in his mind, before the blaring voice of the announcer approached his ear like a sudden train wreck,
OUT OF SHEER LUCK, GAROU MANAGED TO WIN AGAINST HITOSHI BAD AND ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND!
Garou looked down to the motionless body of the hotheaded pompadour boy..
"This isn't how it was supposed to go.." He muttered to himself in disappointment, disappointment in himself. He'll do better in the next round.
-- BATTLE 4! --
Suiryu crossed his arms, waiting for his opponent to come to the arena. He knew that it would be Amai Mask that would go against him, as all the other combatants were already eliminated from the battle charts.
But then...
We are very sorry for the inconvenience, but looks like Suiryu is passing onto the next round by default, as the notorious boy, Fujikata Byuto, refused to be shown at public.
The reasoning? He needed time to recover.
Suiryu was struck by the jaw dropping announcement. He has been standing here in the middle of the arena like a purposeless moron for nothing?
He threw his hands in the air, before heading back, "This has been a waste of my time."
...
Byuto promptly exited the stadium, frustration was the only emotion that lingered inside him.
This whole event, this whole..tournament is a useless piece of gimmick provided by the administration for entertainment.
Being a hero is not about entertainment. It's about strength, beauty, and the desire to help the one's in need.
This?
This has nothing to do with what a hero is about.
All this does is bring negative outcomes more than it brings positive ones. Villains all over the world could be observing how they fight, how they move, how their quirks works. They could use that information to their advantage.
How foolish can the system be?
And how could he stay here any longer? For all he cares, he could turn into a vigilante any moment, but being a law abiding citizen is modesty, and he couldn't abandon his ideologies.
And do all these brats think that they're here for fun? For the thrill? For the satisfaction? The concept of a hero is not about personal satisfaction and self interest. It's about community service, which means serving the public and tending to their interests should be the top priority.
Yagi Toshinori is the only one he respects.
Garou? He didn't know enough about him. Maybe he could respect him once he gets to know him better.
But the others?
Suiryu, from what he's seen, is only in the hero course for the thrill of a fight, and that kind of resolve is unacceptable in his eyes.
Todoroki Enji is an arrogant oaf who's full of himself.
Senritsu Tatsumaki...
If I admit, she has potential, but not enough to earn my respect yet.
He sighed, before leaving the grounds of the Stadium. He needed fresh air, some moment to think.
Suddenly, a gust of wind breezed across his smooth skin, feeling the cold momentarily. He turned his head around, only to see Yagi with his yellow suit standing in front of him.
"Yagi-san?" Byuto called out.
"Hey, Fujikata." Yagi replied.
"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be inside?" Byuto asked.
"I should be asking you the same question. But to answer yours, I only went out here to...get some fresh air." Yagi replied.
Byuto squinted his eyes in suspicion, "I don't find that answer..quite trustful."
"Okay, fine, I went out here to check on you. You said something about recovering, right?" He asked.
"It's...fine, really, no need to concern yourself over my well-being." Byuto suggested, his voice faltered slightly.
Completely unrelated to what he said, Yagi replied, "What's with the crack on your eye?"
Byuto pressed his arm tighter around the red crack over his eye, obscuring it, "It's..a side effect of my quirk."
"Interesting." Yagi smiled, before standing besides Byuto, "Anyway, are you up for a talk?"
"A talk?"
"Yeah. You're not doing well, I can tell." Yagi replied, "Talking things out helps, bud."
Byuto seemed to consider this for a moment, before saying, "...why are you participating in this event?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, he replied, "Why do I..participate?"
"Yes. Why? Why is someone great like you have the leisure to participate in a disadvantageous, gimmicky event like this one?" Byuto asked again.
Yagi sighed, "Here we go again with the unnecessary praise. You're putting me on a high pedestal, dude."
"You have the potential to be a great hero, more so than the buffoons that resides in our class. You can't be spending your free time on an event like this." Byuto replied.
"Okay, first of all, this 'gimmicky, disadvantageous' event is mandatory, so I really have no choice. Second...do you really want to know?" Yagi asked, "This is about you, not me. I want to know what's bothering you to the point that you felt like forfeiting the whole match."
"...fine." Byuto let out a heavy exhale, before saying, "Do you realise how disadvantageous this event is? Villains all over the world could be watching us as of now, they could use the information they acquired to their advantage."
"I do." Yagi replied, "Believe me, I do. I don't say it out loud, but I do believe that this event is disadvantageous. Let's just treat this one as a challenge for now."
"A pointless challenge that could well be avoided if the administrators behind the event relies on rationality rather than the impulse to gain money and attraction." Byuto spat out, "Life is not a game. Villains won't care if you're being fair, they could strike you in the shadows without you knowing what their scheme is. They can come at you unprepared. While we're in the dark, villains can strike you from the shadows."
"This whole event should've been held privately, not publicly." Byuto finished.
Yagi sighed, "Maybe we could try to change that in the near future when we become heroes, but it's best if you don't overthink it for now. Like I said, treat it like a challenge, an obstacle for you to pass through."
"Very well." Byuto then continued, "I still have problem with some of us who hasn't put the best of their efforts on their journey to become a legitimate, functioning pro-hero. Some of them even has one of the most half-assed resolve I've ever heard! Being a hero is not about the thrill, it's about helping the people, that's the basic premise of the concept, right?!"
Yagi locked his eyes to Byuto's for a while, before speaking, "You're right. Pro-heroes these days have lost the true meaning of a hero. I understand where you're getting at, but not everyone has the right qualities for being a hero. This profession might have the word 'hero' on it, but in my opinion, we're all no different than a couple of police officers, just more flashy."
Yagi continued, "It's the same thing that has been going on with the police enforcement for decades now. An officer is supposed to protect the peace, but I've heard that some of them are corrupt, even complies with a criminal if they have the right amount of money in their hands. As I said before, don't overthink it. Don't focus on other people and their resolve, you just gotta focus on yourself and your self-improvement."
Byuto gave him a thoughtful look, "I understand but..what if my self improvement aren't enough for the hero society to improve?"
"Then let them fall. It's not worth overthinking about the external factor, you just focus on the internal. Be the best of yourself. If you spend your entire life trying to turn people into something that they don't want to be, you'll find yourself wasting your valuable time that you could've used to improve yourself as a hero. So many lives can be saved through you, but the hindrance in your progress could alter that outcome." Yagi explained.
Byuto found himself amazed at the words said by Yagi. His lips tugged upwards, producing the most sincerest smile that he could muster, "As expected of the ideal hero."
Yagi's serious expression turned into confusion, "Huh?"
"Thanks. I'll keep your words noted, Yagi-san."
"You're welcome but..why do you keep calling me 'the ideal hero'?" Yagi asked with his brow furrowed.
"You fit all the criteria I have for the ideal hero." Byuto simply stated, "I wish you a good luck on your further progress." He then left, heading back towards the seating, his wave of anger calmed down like a subsiding tsunami.
Oh, the red crack disappeared too. He smiled to himself. Like a true hero.
Yagi was still silent from that quick exchange of words, before turning back to head back to the seating.
"Jeez, I get that I'm powerful, but I wish people would stop putting me on a high pedestal." Yagi said to himself, "Puts so much pressure with all the unrealistic expectations."
He knew he wasn't one to say that. After all, he will soon become the Symbol of Peace, and people will put him on a high pedestal, their expectations will flunctuate wildly.
But he wished he can just be a normal, regular person just for a little while before his status grows wild.
One last thought came to his mind like a sudden visit from a thief..
I wonder how Genos is doing right now.
That's all for today's chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for the next chapter!
TO BE CONTINUED!