"Is green tea fine?" Saitama sat down with his new acquaintances, put three cups on the short-legged table, and poured the tea. Usually, the hero for fun wasn't the most accommodating for guests, but he decided there was no harm in it since Kid and Killer claimed they only wanted information then they'd leave without issue.
Besides, it was a fresh day, what was the harm in a few social interactions?
"What's the point of asking if you'll give it to us anyway?" Kid chuckled and plopped a salty chip in his mouth. "I didn't expect to find anyone else in this abandoned place. I guess there are some people with some actual guts in this city. So, you're name's Saitama right?"
The bald man shrugged. "The rent is cheap here and I only encounter some weak monsters on an off day. Other than that, it's pretty much free real estate."
"Still," Killer set his teacup aside as he could only drink with a straw, "that purple monster you defeated earlier was in a league of its own. I don't think I've ever witnessed anything decimate an entire block in the span of a second."
"Eh, it's all the same to me because all the monsters I fight die in one punch ninety percent of the time." Saitama sighed and grabbed a handful of potato chips.
"Well, Killer and I were thinking of setting up a base in the area, but we like our privacy, so other than here; what's the closest route to the populated city?" Kid wiped the salt off his mouth and leaned in to hear Saitama's brief explanation.
"Sensei!" Came a loud voice from outside the apartment.
"Eh?" Kid and company glanced at the front door.
"Did that weird yelling cyborg really come back after he fixed himself up?" Kid grunted.
"Guess he was serious about becoming Saitama's disciple," Killer added.
Saitama deliberated whether he should answer. It wouldn't be good manners to pretend to not be home, but the young kid outside the door seemed like the pushy type...
"Oi, aren't you going to answer the door?" Kid jabbed a thumb behind him. "It's starting to get annoying to hear that kid's voice."
Saitama sighed. "Right... I'll get it."
/-/
After a short round of banter, Genos was now seated on his knees with a picture-perfect back. He glanced at the other men who shared the room and was now informed of their personas thanks to his constant connection to the world wide web via the communicator attached behind his left ear.
Genos had also had some minor upgrades after his defeat at the claws of Mosquito Girl. and now sported a black tank top with white trims, matching pants, and ankle-length boots with steel-toed reinforcements.
"So, you must be the Magnetic Flame and Massacre Soldier that has all the heroes and local citizens in a riot?" Genos said and cupped his chin.
"It was said that the two of you defeated a demon-level threat with a combination of skillful tactics, thus as a fellow hero, it's my honor to meet you both."
Kid turned to Killer who merely shook his head at the praise. The captain and his right hand weren't heroes, but rather the complete opposite given their history as pirates. Then again, Emily had made it crystal clear that the world they inhabited wasn't the grande line...
"Right... whatever you say." Kid huffed and took a swig from his now-warm tea.
Genos then gave Saitama his absolute attention. "Master Saitama, it is with great urgency that I seek your guidance. Please accept me as a disciple!"
Saitama came back from the kitchen with an empty cup then filled it with tea and placed it in front of Genos.
"You're serious about that?" Saitama seemed puzzled. "I don't need a disciple, so drink up and leave."
The bald man blinked. "Hey, you're all healed up?"
Genos nodded. "Almost all of my body is made of metal, thus when I am injured, all I need to do is swap out the damaged parts."
"Typical cyborg." Kid and Killer hummed in unison while Saitama thought the young man was weird.
"So what kind of parts do you use, master?" Genos asked.
"I don't use any parts," Saitama said.
"Really?" Genos raised a finger to the bald man's scalp. "Then what is that skin-colored armor on your head?"
"That's just skin..." Saitama deadpanned.
"Impossible. That would mean you went bald young but..."
"I am bald!" Saitama blurted. "What is your problem?!"
"Gahahaha!" Kid broke into mocking laughter while Killer chuckled humbly beside him. They didn't shut their traps despite Saitama's growing anger and firm rebuttal.
"Me? You wish to know about me?" Genos inquired as a twinkle of gratitude entered the corner of his luminescent eyes.
The cyborg's rant well over five minutes, both Kid and Saitama had tuned out, but Killer was able to grasp the general basics of Genos' rambling before letting a snooze bubble peek out of his mask's nostril holes.
"Alright, knock it off! Shorten that entire to twenty words or less!" Saitama said with a throbbing bulge on his scalp.
Taking some time to think, Genos closed his eyes, scratched his head, then cupped his chin in deep thought.
"Oi, Killer." Kid yawned. "Let's get out of here before our ears fall off. Hey, Saitama, thanks for the info but Killer and I are heading out."
Saitama glanced at the two men and waved them goodbye. "Just lock the door on your way out, and don't move in too close to my apartment."
"That works for us," Kid smirked and gestured for Killer to follow him. "We have our own plans to get underway anyhow."
/-/
"...Is it true that Mosquito Girl was defeated?" Genus lifted his head from his computer screen and turned to the clone giving him the report.
"Yes," said the clone, "despite absorbing a large quantity of blood; she was reduced to nothing by a single punch. I have a recording of the incident here if you'd give me a moment of your time."
The clone pointed to a tv screen hitched to the wall, and a replay of a bald man slapping away Mosquito girl through multiple objects and a building was shown.
"... Why is he naked?" Genus frowned.
"I do not have an answer for that." Replied the clone. "However, other than the cyborg, there were two other humans present during Mosquito Girl's defeat."
The clone used a pointer and zoomed in on a young muscular man with fiery red hair and his partner who sported a blue, white-striped mask with holes in it. They put up a decent fight against Mosquito Girl, but there wasn't enough data to determine whether the pair were a reasonable threat.
"Hm... the bald man will make an excellent sample for further artificial evolution, but the other humans with him aren't a priority. Notify Beast King that he will serve the roll of messenger, and let him take some underlings for easier transport." Genus said then turned back to his computer.
"Also, should you run into the man with the red hair and his masked companion, take them in as well. I'm curious about the red-haired man's ability to manipulate raw materials. Perhaps he's an esper, thus he would be a much easier test subject than that S-Class hero or her older sister."
"Understood." The clone nodded and headed to release the House Of Evolution's prized fighters. Bar the one locked away in the basement, of course.
/-/
"Oi, Killer, did you feel that?" Kid looked to the ground where a few pebbles had shifted.
"Felt like a rumble, but I don't think it's an earthquake." Killer said and instinctively reached behind his back for his punisher blades.
A loud crash echoed from Saitama's apartment, Kid and Killer whirled around to see a group of monsters stalking the nearby premises. That, and there were piles of rubble now littered the area.
"We were barely gone for three minutes, and there's already something exciting going on..." Kid chuckled in disbelief, then frowned when the rumbling beneath his boots grew more obvious.
"Armored Gorilla, those two aren't the professor's initial targets, but they are wanted!" Yelled a small mole-looking creature who dug quickly beside a running mass of weaponized steel.
"Huh?" Kid and Killer jumped out of the way as the massive steel-clad gorilla punched the road between them.
A crater left behind, Kid brushed away the dust from his eyes and cursed under his breath. Things were finally starting to look up, but the life of a pirate was one of action he supposed. As for Killer, the Massacre Soldier was rather fed up with surprises to be quite frank.
"You're lucky," the gorilla spoke in a robotic manner beneath his helmet, "that you're fighting the third of the House Of Evolution's strongest creations. But I suppose that this is for the better since it was initially Beast King's duty to capture the bald man."
"Eh? Bald man? So, this is Saitama's fault?" Kid grumbled.
"I don't think Saitama is aware of his situation," Killer muttered, "he doesn't really seem like the proactive type to be honest."
"Resistance is futile," Armored Gorilla warned, "for I am equipped with a multitude of functions for any combat-oriented endeavor."
"You say that, but there's plenty of scrap metal around us." Kid gloated and raised an arm. "Forget all your evolved smarts, that's nothing compared to brute force and guts!"
"What?!" Armored Gorilla tilted his head as he raised his arms to block an incoming mass of metal.
"Repel!" Kid shot a missile's worth of scrap at the gorilla, who smashed it to pieces with a double punch and ran forward to engage in close combat.
"Hm, this guy doesn't seem too strong. It's lucky that the surrounding terrain is to our advantage." Killer sighed in relief and squinted at the commotion in front of Saitama's apartment. The bald man had been buried, bar for his head, but Genos appeared to have done a good cleanup of the lesser monsters.
"Killer, watch out!" Kid yelled as Armored Gorilla charged through the metal wall the captain had formed.
"Never a dull day in the life of piracy..." Killer chuckled and readied his punishers that whirred to life.
"Come on ya walking-talking scrap-heap!" Kid shouted. "I'll tear off your ugly helmet and give you a new flattened faceplate!"