A/N: Thought this was the meteor chapter, right? WRONG!
Morning came for Saitama and the others inside the apartments. Problem was, it came a lot earlier than most would want.
"MASTER!" came the overly excited cry of Mizuki's voice as she knocked on Saitama's door. She was practically running in place before the door opened, revealing Saitama, who was rubbing his eyes before staring up at the giddy smile Mizuki was flashing.
"Captain Mizuki. You are early." Genos stated as from behind Saitama.
"I heard last night, but the train wasn't running when I heard, and I forgot to just call and say it last night, so I'm saying it now! CONGRATULATIONS ON RANKING UP!" she shouted, earning a wince from the bald hero.
"Uh, thanks." he said before they heard someone laughing.
"And here I thought you came this early just to see me." Beast Queen joked, already dressed for training.
"Well, as long as I'm here!" Mizuki smiled while pumping her arms before wincing.
"You alright?" Beast Queen asked in...concern?
"I'm alright! Just healing from that crazy guy's exploding stars from the other day." Mizuki answered. "A few scratches won't stop me! Just like it didn't stop Master Saitama from training when he was coughing up blood! Right, Master Saitama?"
"Right." he nodded. "Just power through and you'll get stronger."
"Is that so?"
Mizuki froze as a large hand grabbed her shoulder, causing the hero to look behind her and gulp audibly at seeing the Subterranean Queen's three bloodshot eyes glaring down at her, a wide grin on her face.
"Then does that mean she'll still be able to train after I'm done with her for waking me up at Stupid o' Clock in the morning?!"
"Uh...sorry?" she said with a weak smile before being pulled away by Beast Queen.
"Training first, thrashing later." said the lionness before walking to the roof, Mizuki in tow. Sub Queen merely sighed and rubbed her face with a yawn.
"Too early for this." she groaned before stretching. "Well, I'm already awake. Might as well start the day."
"Can it start with you covering up?" Saitama deadpanned, a little annoyed that she hadn't covered herself with magma yet.
"Sorry. I was up late with Vaccine Girl and Ki." she replied with another rub of her eyes.
"Ki?" Genos asked in confusion.
"We stuck her intials together instead of just calling her Kombu Infinity all the time. Easier to use in a sentence." she explained.
"Oh. That's cool." Saitama said. "Actually, how are they?"
"Ki spends a lot of time wondering how she'll get her hair to grow back. I bet you can relate." Sub Queen snickered.
"And Vaccine Girl?" Saitama asked as he resisted the urge to rub his own bald head.
Sub Queen stopped snickering, a frown of concern coming to her face.
"She's been a little...distant." she answered. "I think yesterday really shook her up. Do you think you can talk to her?"
"Sure. Nothing to do at the moment." Saitama answered. A quick change of clothes later found Saitama outside the door to her's and Sub Queen's room, where the tall monster let him in.
"Vaccine Girl. Saitama's here." said the tall monster as she shut the door behind the two of them. Both of them saw her hugging her legs in the corner of the room.
"..."
"Still not up to talking, huh?" Sub Queen sighed before whispering in Saitama's ear. "She woke up last night and has been like this since." Saitama nodded and walked over before sitting next to her.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Saitama asked, earning silence in response. He frowned as he remembered the details from her story yesterday. Some heroes chasing her, attacking and capturing her. He did wonder about that whole thing about the Hero Association keeping monsters for research, but not a lot.
"How's your leg?" he asked her.
"...It's fine." she sighed.
"So...why didn't you fight back?" She let out a snort of laughter at that question.
"You're the one who said not to fight humans." she said as she looked up at him, dried tears staining her cheeks.
"Oh yeah. I did say that." Saitama blinked. "Well, let me rephrase it. Don't attack humans. But if you need to defend yourself, don't try to hurt them any more than you have to."
"You're actually allowing that?" she asked in shock.
"Yeah. I mean, there are humans like Sonic out there that heroes need to stop." he explained. "Just don't use it as an excuse to attack them while claiming self-defense."
"Deal." she chuckled, a smile starting to form on her lips.
"By the way, why didn't you just run here to hide from them?" he suddenly asked.
Aaaaand the smile dropped as she curled back up and hugged herself.
"I'd rather not talk about it." she muttered.
"Well, I'm asking because we're all worried about you." he said, which seemed to make her curl up even harder. Saitama took that as her answer and merely shrugged before standing up. "If you do feel like talking, I'll listen. Just...don't make it one as long Genos', okay?" He was just about to open the door-
"I was scared."
-before she stopped him with her words. He turned to see her form trembling as she continued.
"I was scared...that they'd find everyone else here. They had capture orders for me, but not Beast Queen and Sub Queen. They'd just destroy them if they'd seen them. Or they'd call in someone stronger to do it." Her voice began to crack a little as she spoke. "And what about Genos? Or Mizuki? What about you?! What if they thought you guys were harboring monsters and...and..." Saitama blinked when saw her begin to tear up when she looked up at him. "And I don't understand any of it! Why do I freaking care?! I was Mother Earth's apostle! I'm a monster! I should hate humans!"
CRACK!
She then proceeded to splinter the wooden floor under her when she smashed her hands into it.
"SO WHY?! WHY DO I FREAKING CARE IF YOU GUYS GET FOUND OUT?! WHY WAS I WORRIED ABOUT THOSE RANDOM HUMANS WHEN THEY KEPT FALLING FROM THAT LITTLE SMOG BLASTING MONSTER'S POISON CLOUDS?! WHY WAS I...I..." she trailed off for a moment before continuing in a quiet tone. "Why was I scared of you guys getting in trouble? Why was I afraid of never seeing any of you again?"
Saitama could only watch as the little monster broke down into a fit of quiet sobbing. And the only reason he could watch was because this was a situation he'd never been in before. For monsters, all he would have to do was punch them and that'd be it. But trying to console a monster? That was another story entirely. Actually, he's never had to a console anyone before.
'Oh man. What do I do?' he thought as he watched her cry. With a quiet sigh, he prepared to answer the best he could.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you why you feel this way." he said. "That's something you'll have to figure out yourself."
"I can't! It doesn't make sense at all! Monsters aren't supposed to feel any concern for humans! I was created that way! I was created to destroy humans!" she whimpered.
"Well, that is what all monsters tend to do. The Subterranean Queen, Beast Queen, and a lot of other monsters I've met have all wanted to destroy humanity." he said. That just seemed to make her sink in on herself, causing him to frown again. He blinked when a thought came up before walking over and sitting down next to her. "Listen, all the monsters I've met have wanted to destroy humanity. A lot of them used to be humans."
"Where are you going with this?" she hiccuped.
"If a human becomes a monster and loses their humanity, then who says a monster can't gain humanity and care for them?"
She stopped trembling as he Saitama continued.
"The Beast Queen and Mizuki seem to get along. And the Subterranean Queen and Genos have been talking about something that has to do with metals and whatever. And you all talk to me without lashing out."
He stayed quiet for her reaction for a moment or so before frowning when she hadn't moved. When she finally did, she looked up at him with tears still in her eyes and a dumbfounded expression, as if she'd never seen him before. The two only stared at each other before she looked away and trembled again, which concerned the bald hero.
'Crap. I think I just made it worse.' he thought as he scratched his head. 'And that was all I had. I don't know what-'
"...heh..."
Saitama blinked at the sound as more soon followed.
"...heh...heheheh...eheheehe..."
When he finally realized where it was coming from, he looked down to see-
"HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"
-Vaccine Girl laughing. He just watched as she laughed and laughed and laughed.
"Oh, come on. I know I just came up with it on the spot, but-" Saitama began to complain before he stopped when she looked up at him, a smile on her face.
"I'm not laughing because of that! I'm laughing because it's so ludicrous that it actually makes sense!" she giggled. Saitama could only stare with a smile of his own as Vaccine Girl finally stopped to get her breath back. "I needed that!"
"Feel better?" he asked.
"Much." she sighed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thanks Saitama."
"Any time." he said as he patted her head, making her stare at him as he got up and walked towards the door. She kept staring even after he left before looking down at the floor, a blush practically engulfing her entire face.
-Later-
Within the Hero Association existed factions: Heroes who would band together to stop criminals or monsters that threatened society.
The fourth, third, and second rank Class-A heroes, all swordsman, who followed the Class-S hero, Atomic Samurai.
The Tank Topper Army, which consisted of heroes ranging from Class-C to Class-A, lead by the Class-S hero, Tank Top Master.
And the largest was the Blizzard Group, the largest faction made up of Class-B heroes, led by the Class-B Rank 1 hero, Blizzard of Hell.
And right now that faction was fighting a monster of threat level Demon.
And they were losing.
-Glasses-
Glasses, a Class-B hero that named for his eyewear, was stunned and terrified. The Blizzard Group, which he is a member of, had been beaten by the monster known as Demonic Fan. It looked to be easy with it just blowing wind everywhere, but it switched from low to high in an instant, literally blowing the rest of the Blizzard Group, including Fubuki herself, up against the wall.
'Oh shit! I'm all that's left!' Glasses thought as he looked at all his fallen comrades. 'What do I do?! Fight it myself?!' He took one look at the monster before an uneasy smile came to his face. 'Yeah right!'
BLAM!
Without warning, a hole was smashed open. A small figure floated in, revealing itself to be...
'THE T-T-T-TORNADO OF T-T-TERROR?!' Glasses thought in shock as she merely gazed around the room. Her eyes stopped on Fubuki's slumped form before looking down at the trembling form of Glasses, causing him to flinch.
"Are you one of my li'l sister's friends in Class-B?" she asked in a calm voice.
"I-I-I'm an underling-"
"YOU'RE A WEAK AND PATHETIC COWARD! GIVE UP BEING A HERO!"
Any confidence Glasses had was utterly obliterated by the harsh esper's words. He could only watch as she battled the Demonic Fan with ease. With a flick of her wrist, the fan's propellor was wrenched away as the rest of it's body was smashed to pieces. Then, taking her sister with her, she flew away.
-Tatsumaki-
"Hmph! I don't know why you hang out with these weak idiots." she said to her unconscious sister as she flew them away.
"...gotta...fight..."
"Huh?" said the smaller esper as she stopped them to look down at her sister.
"...gotta...protect them..." Fubuki muttered in a half conscious state.
"Why? They're just a bunch of eyesores!" snapped the older sister.
"...they're...my...underlings..." Fubuki muttered again before falling unconscious again.
"Ugh...fine." Tatsumaki sighed out before gently placing her on the roof of a nearby building. She then flew back while bringing out her phone. "Hey, it's me. I need you idiots to send a medical team to City-Z. My little sister's dumb group of friends got knocked out and need-"
She suddenly stopped when she saw something fly out of the building in question, only to explode a moment later.
"...I'll call you back." she finished before pocketing her phone and flying towards the building. When she got there, all she found were most of the Blizzard Group still out cold, save for the one she insulted moments ago. He seemed to be staring off into space outside the hole.
"Hey!" she shouted when she floated back in. Glasses merely blinked before noticing her floating before her, flinching once again.
"T-Tornado?! Wh-What are you doing back here?!" he asked in shock.
"Did you just throw that fan monster's dead body out into the air?" she asked with a glare.
"Wha-no?" he denied frantically. "It wasn't me! A Class-C hero showed up out of nowhere!"
"Oh really? And they're the one that threw it out?" she asked, her narrowing eyes serving to shake the poor Class-B hero.
"N-No. It was him! He punched it because it came back to life and started blowing again!" Glasses explained.
"What are you talking about? I smashed that thing to pieces." Tatsumaki said, her anger and power flaring.
"Y-You did! But the propellor was the main part! It lived, so it put itself back together!" Glasses frantically explained.
"Do I look like an idiot?" she asked in a dangerous tone. "Even if that monster repaired itself, what makes you think a Class-C hero could beat it when a bunch of Class-Bs and my sister couldn't stop it?"
"Well, he's gotta be Class-C. I've never seen a hero like him before in Class-A or Class-S. And if he was in Class-B, Miss Blizzard would've tried recruiting him already!" he explained.
The esper merely kept her glare up before finally easing up on her power.
"This Class-C hero got a name?" she asked.
"He didn't say. All I know is that he's bald, wears a yellow suit, red boots and gloves, and a long white cape." Glasses described. She merely stared at him before flying away.
'Probably a musclehead that got lucky.' she thought as she flew back towards her sister, unknowingly causing a gay prisoner, a Tank-Top wearer, a dark and shiny man, and Saitama to sneeze.. She stopped when a thought struck her. 'Wait a second. Not far off is the Ghost Town. That photo the bearded idiot showed me showed a giant hole going through some buildings. And an unknown Class-C hero, if that four-eyed idiot back there is to be believed, just punched a Demon Level monster away like it was nothing.' She hovered in the air for a moment in thought before deadpanning. 'Forget it. Probably just a coincidence.' she thought before flying herself and her sister away.
