CHAPTER NINE

Freaky Hand

Saitama just stared blankly at the three grotesque creatures in front of him, their tendrils lightly grazing the ceiling as they snaked their way around.

"I get the feeling you guys aren't from here," he said, putting his hands out in front of himself, "As such, how about you guys count our meal as free, and we'll let this slide, yeah?"

"I don't think they're in much of a bargaining mood," said Uravity, as she readied herself to deploy all manner of Gunhead martial arts on... well... whatever she was looking at...

Suddenly, a rogue tendril lunged towards her, but she dodged it at the last second, managing to apply Zero-G to the creature. The one that had tried to strike her soon began to float, before using its widespread tentacles to regain stability despite no longer having any gravity.

"Ok, so I don't think my Quirk is going to be much use in this," said Uravity, as she tensed up in mild terror.

It was at that point that Deku activated 20% of One For All and lunged at the creatures, his legs poised to deliver a swift kick. But the creatures quickly leapt out of the way and proceeded to strike him from all sides. Deku was surprised at their speed, but with a little bit of Air Force One, managed to flick some of the attacks away from himself. However, one of the sharp tendrils managed to slice his arm pretty deep, causing him to wince in pain.

He then quickly landed on the wall and leapt off as quickly as he had landed. He kicked one of the creatures in the head (or at least where it had been) before being caught off guard and getting flung into the walk-in fridge by the other two. He flew through the doorway, as Uravity screamed, "Deku!"

She soon turned towards them again, and dodged this way and that, applying whatever attacks she could to do some damage to the monsters, yet they seemed to have no effect, and they moved much faster than her. She soon found herself cornered as the creatures stood over her. They slowly began to morph together, forming into one giant flesh creature, before a creepy, toothy grin formed across its face. "I can appreciate it when my prey offers me a challenge, but I'm afraid our little game is over."

"I wouldn't be so sure, pal," came Saitama's voice from behind the creature. He turned his head to face the bald hero, who looked at him without a lick of fear in his eyes. If anything, he looked deadly. "In this day and age, I can't have you killing off kids. What are our countriesteachers supposed to do with their lives then?"

He then yanked the oven out with ease from the wall with one hand, his unflinching gaze still focused on the monster. He then proceeded to toss the oven like a frisbee, sending the monster flying through several walls and ending up in the street, before the oven soon exploded.

"Oh... that might have been a bit overkill..." said Saitama, before eating another mochi from one of the kitchen counters and stepping out through the hole he had made through the restaurant. As he stepped out however, he heard the screams of a deranged teen echoed from above. "DIIEEE!!!" screamed Bakugo, explosions flying from his fingertips, as he spiraled down towards the massive flesh monster below him. He plowed through it, as bits of the monster we're flung to all sides, including onto Saitama's suit. He looked down and muttered to himself, "Great..."

Uravity soon appeared behind him, alongside Deku, who had taken to wrapping his arm up in a kitchen towel for the time being. The four now stood over the monster, as flames smoldered nearby the decimated beast.

"Wh... what are... you?..." the strange creature croaked, its voice deep and gravely, and yet sounding like a blend of the Three Amigos.

"Just a hero for fun..." said Saitama, arms crossed.

The creature sighed, before saying, "I don't understand... you have so much power, and yet... you are not one of us..."

Bakugo grabbed a chunk of his neck as he lifted the being up to his face. "Yeah, cause we're not tentacled freaks, extra!" he yelled, before throwing him back to the ground.

"What are you?" asked Deku, "and what do you know about the portals?"

The creature coughed, and then spoke, "My kind are simply beings from another planet... attempting to assimilate ourselves with humans... and become them... You humans refer to us as parasites..."

The group slowly looked amongst themselves, as the creature continued to speak, "As for the portals... our kind have allied ourselves with another party... We know not what their intentions are... but only that they ask us to spread ourselves out and offer up their creation... which they call Portal Blend... In return... he will grant us access to not just control Earth... but to control entire galaxies..." He ended his sentence with a throaty laugh, until he began to hack and cough roughly. He then said, "The others will make quick work of you..." His eyes then shut, before his body began to quickly turn to gray and shrivel up rapidly. At this, the heroes stepped back in shock, as the now lifeless husk released its last breath.

"What the heck was that?..." muttered Uravity, loud enough as so everyone else heard her.

"I don't know..." sad Deku, "But if there are more of them, we need to eliminate them. I think its safe to say we aren't dealing with our normal villain attack..."

"Yeah, no kidding, nerd," said Bakugo gruffly. He then said, "You guys better not have just wasted time getting food. You get anything out of those three extras?"

"We did just kill them," said Saitama, pointing back at the courpse, "But I doubt they offered us any truth to begin with. I think its safe to assume that your friends aren't at the beach, much less in this world."

"If what they said was true, they might have already sent most, if not all, of the police force and pro heroes into alternate dimensions," said Deku.

"But surely it couldn't have been as simple as getting them to eat a special food blend... right?" asked Uravity.

"We're human," said Saitama, "The way I see it, we're usually quite eager when it comes to food. Also, I doubt those guys are here to congratulate us..." He pointed past the courpse, as several people staggered towards them, their faces molding into the same tentacled flesh as the dead monster before them.

"That's... not good," said Deku, activating One For All, as Uravity and Bakugo also got "quirked up".

Suddenly, a strange jacketed man leapt out of the alleyway, as his hand, resembling a giant blade, slice through multiple tentacles of the first monster. The creature collapsed at the attack, as the man pierced it through the chest. The other beings reacted aggressively at this, flinging their sharp tentacles in his direction, but he easily dodged them, while parrying the other attacks with his blade hand.

"That guy's gonna take all the credit!" yelled Bakugo, who propelled himself into the fray, lighting up the nearby monsters with his explosions.

"Um... you guys know him?..." asked Saitama.

"Nope," said Deku and Uravity simultaneously.

"Huh... Well... let's not waste time here..." said Saitama, before zipping away. In a matter of seconds, Saitama ran up to each monster, delivering a rapid punch to their chest, and quickly returned to Uravity and Deku's side. Of course, Saitama had moved so quickly, that no one actually saw him run up and singlehandedly take out the monster mob. The only thing they saw was the sudden rupture of each monster's chest, before they all collapsed and shriveled up into gray corpses much like the first one.

Uravity and Deku stood in awe, before quickly looking at Saitama, who merely shrugged the whole act off.

"C'MON!!!" yelled Bakugo, who stomped back towards the others, but they weren't paying attention to him. They were more focused on the man who had entered the fray earlier, yet his hand looked completely normal now. He ruffled his hair, before he noticed the others.

"Who are you?" asked Deku, as he walked towards him. He'd been asking that a lot already today, and he was getting tired of it.

"I could ask you the same thing," the man replied, though his voice sounded lighter in tone than he would have expected. He actually sounded like a high schooler.

"I'm Deku."

Silence.

"I don't think that's really much for him to go on," said Saitama, stepping in front of Deku and directing his attention to the stranger, "Here's the thing, pal. I'm Saitama. Hero for fun. I ate some Mexican food with some ok-ish salsa, wound up here, found these high schoolers, turns out they're super heroes... I think... But that's not the point. We're trying to find their friends, and then I'm trying to find my cyborg disciple and get home. So, as my young cohort was asking, who are you?..." He had spoken with the same, dull tone he usually spoke with, which the stranger found slightly unsettling.

He seemed to be muttering something to himself, before he spoke, "Izumi. My name is Izumi Shinichi."

"Are you a super hero, too?" asked Uravity.

"Um, not exactly..." he said, choosing to keep his distance from these people, "Look, I appreciate your help, but I have other places to be."

"No you don't," said Saitama.

"I'm sorry."

"You know I can hear your right hand talking, right? Migi's the name?"

Suddenly, Shinichi's right hand went up, as a mouth and an eye appeared across the arm. The hand spoke matter of factly, "You are correct. How did you know?"

"I'm a good listener," said Saitama bluntly.

"In that case, I must kill you."

Deku, Uravity, and Shinichi jumped in shock at this, while Bakugo merely scoffed, "So much for trying to help out this extra."

"Migi, we are not killing people," said Shinichi, "We don't even know where we are right now."

"I'm guessing you went through a portal, right?" asked Deku.

"Yeah," said Shinichi, intrigued at the question, "How'd you know?"

"Same way Mr. Saitama got here," said Uravity, pointing a thumb at the bald hero.

"Interesting," Migi interjected, "What about you three?"

"We're from here," said Uravity.

"Understood. Do you know if there is a way we might be able to get home, or what could be causing this?"

"Well, we do know what's behind this, at least partially," said Deku, "Those parasite things were involved with someone that supplied them with the tools to send people to alternate dimensions, but even they don't know who or what it is. They said they'd be given access to controlling other dimensions in exchange for spreading it out."

"Hmm," mused Migi, "That certainly sounds like the proper motive of my kind..."

"So, you're one of them, huh," said Bakugo, "Then give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you right now."

"For one, I am now aware of three different ways I could kill you should you attempt to harm me or my host. Second, unlike my kind, I do not hunger for human flesh. When I first attempted to establish control over Shinichi's brain, I was unsuccessful in reaching it in time, and only managed to implant my consciousness witin his right arm. As such, I only reside in his arm, and I am merely another part of my host. My goal is to protect him. That makes me a target of my own kind."

"And... you're cool with this?" asked Deku, looking expectantly at Shinichi.

"Not exactly," said Shinichi, rubbing the back of his head, "It's moreor less something I've learned to accept. But I've definitely bonded with Migi over the past year."

"That's incredible!" said Deku, whipping out his notebook, "Tell me more!"

Shinichi just looked extremely confused, as he looked to the others for help.

"He likes to jot down details about people's powers and moves," said Uravity with a sheepish grin, "It's kind of his thing."

"Nerd," said Bakugo, "Well, what are we waiting for, then? As far as I'm concerned, now isn't the time to nerd out, Deku. If we're gonna get these extras out of here and find our classmates, let's get it done."

"For once, he's got a point," said Saitama.

"Agreed," said Migi, "Where do you think we should start?" he asked the group.

"To be honest... I don't know..." said Deku, "Everything's been wilder than usual today. I don't know where to begin..."

"I might," said a deep, manly voice from behind the group.

The group whipped around to face the stranger standing there. He wore a dark red tank top, and a pair of black jeans with tears in them. He easily measured over six feet and was extremely muscular. Yet his most distinguished features were his large grin and spikey red hair.

"Kirishima?..." said Deku and Uravity in unison.

"Hey guys," said Red Riot enthusiastically while crossing his arms, "What'd I miss?"

Well, look who's back? Sorry it took a while to get an update out. Honestly, I feel like this chapter could be better, but that's just me trying to be a perfectionist in a fanfic.

So, in case you didn't know, Izumi Shinichi is the main character from an anime called Parasyte: The Maxim. Fantastic anime series, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you check it out.

Also, Kirishima's back! (Despite the fact he was only gone for less than an hour. Or was he? Time travel, am I right?)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to get another one out sometime soon. See you next time on One Punch Academia, readers!