They landed along a street corner that was lit up by elegant lights. It appeared to be a definite wealthy establishment from how far the houses were spaced apart. As well as how each house resembled a small mansion. Saitama was not impressed and was ready to find out who was holding the last fan set.
"Where do we start looking?" he asked.
"Just around the corner. However, hmm. Zenchu, scout for us? If we can get this done without even approaching then it may be best," Inichi said.
"Then why are we even here?" Tanktop Master asked.
"In case something goes wrong," Zenchu said. "Give me a minute or two."
"We can wait," Genos nodded.
"Hold on…" Mitsumi grimaced and found all of the fans on her alert and floating around her. "They want to try and call to the trapped set. To see if the fans will come to us directly."
"That would be…can they?" Fubuki asked.
"We're gonna find out," Saitama said when the blades flicked out to vibrate. There was the sound of glass breaking, an alarm going off and a whistling sound when the trapped fan set finally appeared hovering in front of them. They gently settled in Mitsumi's hands for inspection.
"They appear…complete. They truly were kept as an intense collectible," she sighed and hugged them before letting them float up and join with the seventh set. This allowed her to just use the mildly damaged set as her crescent fans to guide the rest in full. Now the group looked over to see a man in pajamas and wearing a long, dark red bathrobe running over to them.
"Unhand that!" the man shouted at them. His dark brown hair was mussed up from sleep, and he had a mildly groomed beard to show sophistication. Then he gaped to see the other fans floating around Mitsumi in the form of eight full circles. They all separated out into their three counterparts and flicked the blades out. "They…can do that…?!"
"Yes. I am a Wind Crane Clan assassin. The fans are being called back together. I was hoping to purchase your fan set from you. But I was informed that it may not have been able to be done. The fans must come together now at long last. I am sorry that you will be losing a collectible, but these are mine by right," she said calmly. "I am Fan Dancer. S class and rank 4 in the Hero Association."
"But…no! They were passed down to me for safe-keeping!" he argued.
"By who?" she asked. He went to speak, but he scowled.
"It is not your concern! I need them back!" he retorted.
"Would you say…it's a job well done to keep them hidden?" Mitsumi now asked with an edge to her tone. That got the man to become dead-white. She knows! She knows what I am!
"Hmm…" Inichi mused and hovered over her protectively. "You were holding these fans to keep them from being used. You truly are one of the Secret Skins. You hid yourself well."
"What?! You have no proof!" the man hissed defensively now. At this, the other heroes readied to attack. Mitsumi was swift to dart around the man with her fans skillfully flitting and striking with accurate precision to cut through cloth. And skin. When she got back to Saitama's side, he snapped his fingers for all of it to come away like confetti like all the others.
"Holy…!" Tanktop Master gaped at the newly revealed monster. It was almost the same look of a giant squid, but it had a fanged mouth under the tentacles. Blaring red, giant eyes looked at them all, and greenish-pink tentacles held it upright when it grew out from its freed skin. It towered nearly as tall as the elegant home, and it was completely bewildered that it was discovered.
"HOW…NO…!" the monster squealed and flared out to attack them. Zenchu slapped it back and tore off a tentacle. Black blood spurted from the stump to get the monster howling with fury.
"Just like butter!" Zenchu snickered. "Can I have some fun?"
"Go for it," Saitama nodded. When the monster heard this, it reared back and now appeared to get ready to strike down on them all with nine tentacles. Mitsumi rose up the fans in her hands to ready a defensive measure.
"ADVANCED REFLECTIVE SHIELD!" she shouted for all the fans around her to split into crescent forms. The blades flicked out, locked around the group, and there were other fans that had the blades pointed outward to cause severe slicing on any physical attacks. There were enough fans to make a solid dome of defense, and Saitama had a look of intense delight on his face at this.
She shouted to push the attack back, and that caused even more damage when the blades struck out to make the monster reel back. When the fans retreated after the attack severely failed, they found the monster curled up on itself. Every single tentacle was sliced up and useless. She looked at Saitama and nodded.
"Time to put you out of your misery!" Saitama said and leapt at the monster to punch it dead between the eyes. It exploded and shrunk in dead on itself. The beautiful yard was now covered in black monster blood.
"Eesh! I hope the landscapers can clean this up…" Zenchu grinned.
"Master Rojin?!" a servant came out of the house. On seeing the heroes, the tattered remains of skin and clothing on the ground and then the dead monster, the old man's jaw dropped.
"I'm sorry. He was a monster in disguise. The fans he was holding was to keep them from destroying him," Mitsumi said. "If there are any damages, you can report them to the Hero Association. I will help cover any repairs."
"He was a…I see…" the servant sighed hard. "It…makes sense now. For the past year, he would go out to these meetings. Sometimes for months at a time. Then he brought those odd fans back and set up a full security room for them!"
"Keeping them hostage…" Zenchu muttered. Inichi suddenly paused and looked at the servant intensely.
"Do you know where he went to these meetings?" Inichi asked.
"I do not. He does have heirs, though. I shall…take care of this. If Master Rojin had truly been deceased since then…I had my suspicions," the servant said sadly. "Changed eating habits. The way he treated others…"
"That's…the same thing that happened with my mother," Mitsumi said. "I am Mitsumi Takashi. My mother was also one of these monsters. She had neglected me since birth after she changed. My father figured it out, but he could do nothing. She ended up killing him. I was abused by another monster, too. I had parts of me taken to get regenerated all the time…put in crates…I…"
"Ah! That's from…you?!" the servant gaped. "Master Rojin was always talking about something that he got from a crate. It was…a crate of organs…and he had me cook something claiming it was from an animal…"
"What?!" Mitsumi gaped.
"Where is it?! Now!" Saitama said with a dark, smoldering glare. "Those organs are hers. Harvested from her when she was drugged and put in a horrific state to regenerate them. Just as she said! We need to destroy it!"
"They were…sending her out as…!" Inichi fumed.
"Shut up!" Saitama snapped at him and scooped up Mitsumi to comfort her. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm taking care of it right now. Don't panic…"
"I don't…" Tanktop Master frowned and then his jaw drop at Inichi's mental explanation. "Ah…you're not kidding!"
"Where is it?" Zenchu asked and revealed his claws.
"Bring it out here! I'll incinerate it now!" Genos said.
"Inichi," Fubuki frowned.
"It's fine. I know he didn't mean to talk to me like that. It was a purely protective standpoint for Lady Mitsumi," Inichi said and squeezed her shoulder.
"In the kitchen!" the servant said. Inichi got the visual memory and gave it straight to Zenchu. Within five minutes, Genos was destroying everything right on the lawn with the monster carcass. The black car that brought Tanktop Master to them at the flower field was just now arriving to the location, and the S class hero was quick to report to his crew to tell them what he just witnessed.
"It's true?" one of men asked.
"Yeah. There really was a man that was a monster," Tanktop Master grimaced. "I have no words for this."
"Lady Mitsumi," Inichi said and floated over to her. "I am bringing something to you right now."
"Okay," she nodded and moved to give him a careful hug.
"Hey. Sorry for the yell…" Saitama sighed.
"I know you didn't mean it," Inichi chuckled. "All is well. You were shutting me up. I understood why."
"That jerk…was sending out parts of me…" Mitsumi grimaced.
"And whoever has them…and ate them…ends up dying," Saitama vowed. He pressed a kiss to her mouth and let her snuggle into his neck. He was completely livid now, and she felt his arms tremble from it.
"You need to punch something?" she asked softly.
"Hmm? Maybe…" he muttered.
"I like watching you punch things," she muttered in his ear to get him looking at her with a small grin. He kissed her again and looked up at the blue bubble containing the newly repaired fans. Then he saw Kamikaze and Tacki arrive next. "Let me guess. Back to the field?"
"Yep! I want to harvest those teeth!" Tacki grinned.
"Don't give her anymore coffee!" Kamikaze growled at Zenchu. The monster laughed hard at this. Saitama smiled, but he noticed that Mitsumi had a distant, faraway look on her face at the sight of the repaired fan set.
"Mitsumi?" he asked.
"Even though one fan set needs mild repairing…to know that I have all ten sets…after a hundred years or so of them being apart…" she whispered. All the fans now hovered and formed the full circle sets. A sensation of joy was felt all around them. "Saitama! Hold on!"
"What?!" he gaped and found himself clinging to her when she jumped out of his arms and leapt into the air to hover with him. The ten circle sets split into the twenty crescent pairs. Then the three parts from each fan came out to fill the sky with sixty crescent sets. The blades came out from all of them and formed into a silhouette of a set of massive crane wings in flight.
"I'll meet you at the field of flowers!" she said and was quick to speed off on the bladed fan wings. She was holding onto one crescent set to help guide the rest on where to go to show she was in control. The other half of the crescent set was acting like protective shielding around her body. This is why the eleventh set is needed. So I can have a full set of ten fans with their three counterparts to protect me and do as I need.
"Mitsumi?!" Saitama asked and could only hold onto her. Inichi was quick to gather the group that had to leave with him.
"We'll be in touch tomorrow!" Inichi said to the bewildered servant.
"What about me?!" Tanktop Master asked. "I've seen too much crap to just not know what's gonna happen!"
"Eh…bring him," Kamikaze snorted. Inichi nodded at him to quickly place a bubble around Tanktop Master.
"Drive back to the field!" Tanktop Master told his crew before he was taken away. With the small group following swiftly, Saitama was just lost in his own thoughts on what was going on. As he studied the lightly damaged crescent fan that hovered around him now, he made a connection with the coloring of it. The monster crane…it had the same blue-black coloring on the feathers along the top! And the bottom of it had white feathers like the fans do! It's like…we're riding with the wings of the monster! Amazing!
"We're here…but…" Mitsumi frowned and hovered over the flower field. "I can't land yet. I need the plaque to be revealed."
"The others are likely here soon. Yeah. We are definitely sleeping in tomorrow," Saitama said to get her sighing and laughing softly with agreement. When Inichi showed up to let the group down, Saitama shouted, "Clear the field carefully! We need the plaque!"
"Yes, Master Saitama!" Genos nodded and moved to do just that. Inichi was focusing to bring the others now, and Fumio was carefully nudged awake. Even Bane was roused to be collected. Fubuki saw that his antennae was glowing again to show the intense power he was using. After five minutes, Mitsumi's monster family, even with Masaki, were brought to the field.
"This had better be good," Tatsumaki yawned.
"It's for Lady Mitsumi. I know there is a reason," Rendor chuckled and let her lean into him now. He watched Tsuruga move to help Genos clear out the field, and Orotsu settled to bear witness to everything with Masaki. Shenjou curled up on himself to sit and watch in case he was needed, too.
"Mom has all the fans now?!" Fumio gaped.
"She does," Kamiko chuckled and hugged her brother.
"Why is Tacki wide awake?" King asked with Kianna yawning next to him.
"She had coffee…" Kamikaze grimaced and had to hold her form on his shoulders to keep her with him.
"I wonder if I can get an espresso!" Tacki beamed.
"NO!" Kamikaze scowled to get them all laughing hard. "When you crash hard, you will find yourself in a crate!"
"As long as you're with me with no clothes on," she said to get him sighing and shaking his head. "And I'll need stuff to do in there, too! Like knitting! And puzzles! And stitching! And something to fix! And-!"
"I get it!" Kamikaze said and pulled her down to squeeze her and kiss her softly. "Calm down, please."
"I thought you'd have something to do in there," Zenchu mused at her to get her laughing sharply. "With Kamikaze…well…"
"He falls asleep after, though," she said with a grin. That got Kamikaze to look at her and got a whole new round of intense laughter. "I mean…maybe if he had coffee he could do an all-nighter…"
"Tacki. Shut up," Kamikaze growled at her beaming grin. Bane was just in tears now and shaking his head.
"You're the one that starts it with talk of putting me in a crate," she said and kissed his cheek to get him sighing at her. "And I'm the one that's gonna have to go through the pain of having your kids! Both of them!"
"Okay…I get it…" Kamikaze sighed and let her snuggle into him after lifting her up to settle against him. "The moment they are out of you, though…"
"You'll just give me more," she giggled and got him rolling his eyes at her.
"What's this?" Tanktop Master asked.
"Oh. She's pregnant with twins from me," Kamikaze sighed again.
"Really?!" the bodybuilder asked. "That's…impressive!"
"What is? That I'm gonna have his kids? Or keep him on his toes?" Tacki chuckled and kissed Kamikaze's cheek again.
"We are going to have a little chat later," Kamikaze grunted and found himself hugging her tight. "And, no, I'm not gonna let you go."
"I hope not," she smiled and watched him take the stick out of his mouth to kiss her fully before putting it back.
"It's clear, Master Saitama!" Genos said and backed away with Tsuruga. Mitsumi now let go of the fans she was holding and was able to land just outside the field with Saitama holding her close. She watched the fans align themselves into the perfectly matched sets of thirty crescents. Then the counterparts fit together to let the blades come out into a set of six pressed together from the three counterparts. There were now ten crescent fans fully compacted and moving over where the blades had to be inserted.
"Interesting! The fans do not split apart for this. They become one giant set of crescent fans compressed together in their respective pairs…" Inichi mused. Now they watched all the fans slice down to fit the blades into the various holes of the plaque. Something akin to a massive lock was heard opening, and the fans pulled away when the plaque opened from the center to reveal a set of stairs.
"We'll need a light!" Saitama said.
"No need," Mitsumi said and watched as a massive, skeletal beak with richly ornate engravings came out from the opening. One could even see the faded coloring as a brilliant orange with distinct teal markings along it at one point. "We don't need to go down there just yet."
"Is that thing a zombie?!" King gaped.
"Possibly," Mitsumi shrugged. "But it's too big to come out of there. It just wants us to harvest the teeth. Then it will go back down and rest again."
The beak creaked open, and Tacki was quick to run over and examine the inside of the beak. Taking out a scraper, she used it to loosen up ten of the hidden teeth within the keratin mouth. "Okay! I think I got them all!"
"Good," Mitsumi smiled and walked up to the exposed beak. She rested a hand on it to feel it shudder. "Thank you. I vow to use your fans for only good and continue to bring monsters back to regain themselves. I also vow to reveal any and all Secret Skins monsters that I discover."
Saitama also rested a hand on the beak to show his own silent promise. As they turned away, Mitsumi suddenly shouted when the beak plucked her up and disappeared with her down the stairwell. Saitama turned to gape. "What the hell did it just do?!"
"What?!" Inichi said now. The fans circled around Saitama and back to the entrance to urge him to follow.
"Genos! I need a light! You with me! Zenchu, you too! The rest…stay put," Saitama said. "Inichi, you need to stay up here with them in case anyone else appears. You can shove them away."
"Ah…right…" Inichi said with intense worry. "I sense she is fine, but in shock. Go carefully."
Saitama sighed and narrowed his eyes before walking down the stairwell. When Zenchu planned to move ahead, Saitama's gloved hand stopped him in a silent warning to stay put with him. The fans fluttered around him gently to show no harm at all. He was still a touch pissed, though. "If you wanted to talk, you could have just asked us!"
"I think it's a test, Master," Genos said. "To see how far you would go to protect her and keep her safe."
"Okay. Whatever. I just want her back in my arms. That's it," he muttered and moved faster down the stairway. They paused at the massive, open cave that they came to. The stairs moved to the main floor in a direct line and looked large enough for the monster to traverse easily, too. What was going on?! Genos flashed his palm around to show how the place was built. "This is…insane! Was this really a meteor that crashed here?! It looks like a shrine! Mitsumi?!"
"Saitama!" she called out from the middle of the floor she was on. He rushed down the stairs and moved to reach her. He jumped back when the massive, skeletal crane monster snapped at him to keep him back. "Stop it! Don't do that! He will end you! Please!"
"Are you okay?" Saitama asked.
"Yes. It…wanted to show me something. But it also wanted to fully test you. I mean…Saitama…it's not dead!" she winced.
"What?!" he asked. Genos kept his light on, and Zenchu kept track of where she was at all times.
"We thought it was! But it was only stunned! They thought it was dead. They built this place over it. The leader of the Wind Crane Clan…she knew this! She knew it was still alive! After it turned good, she nursed it back to health in secret. She gave it a way to have food and everything without the others knowing. It was much like…my family. How I cared for them and kept them hidden. But no one could have known about this. So…it's been here starving and near death. But it can't die. It's been suffering for so long…"
"And that's why we needed all the fans! To free it! I mean…is it really dying now?" Zenchu asked.
"I think so…" she cringed. "Unless we can feed it now…"
"Hold on…" Saitama sighed and thought to Inichi. :So…the monster crane is alive and starving to death…:
:WHAT?!: Inichi said with complete shock.
"What does it eat?" Saitama asked.
"Fish. Lots of fish," Mitsumi said. "Anything seafood right now to give direct nourishment will help."
:Bring us a cut up whale or a lot of fish. Anything edible from the ocean. Now.: Saitama said.
:I'll do what I can! Give me five minutes!: Inichi said and went quiet.
"Five minutes. Okay?" Saitama said. Now the monster lurched forward to gently touch its beak to his chest. "I get it. And no intense thoughts now, eh?"
"It needs to conserve its strength. I'm sure we'll learn the full story once it's healed," she sighed and pat the thin skin along the neck of the monster. It was once filled with feathers to show it lost them all from the starvation. "I'm sure you have a name and everything."
"Will I still be able to call on you when I punch?" Saitama asked. A sensation of agreeable mirth was given now.
"How could it live for so long without food?" Genos frowned.
"Some monsters don't need food for intense periods of time," Zenchu said. "I tried it myself. I didn't need to eat anything for five years if I focused off of it. This massive monster likely didn't need anything for close to two hundred or so. Maybe slept in a form of hibernation. Then, when the fans started to come back together, it woke up and discovered the problem. It had to act fast. Real fast."
"You're right," Mitsumi said. "I'll make sure you eat. Then I need to head home to rest. I know I'll be here to visit you the moment I can. I can't let you be alone anymore. We'll find a way for you to reach me, too."
The crane monster looked at her with a brilliant blue eye and pressed into her gently. Then it looked up when a massive blue bubble burst open where they were. It now proceeded to gorge itself on the fish, and Saitama worked with Genos to ensure it ate every single one of them. After that was done, Saitama was finally able to reclaim Mitsumi into his arms with relief.
:THANK YOU. ALL OF YOU. I MUST REST NOW AND RECOVER, BUT I DO HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU ALL. PLEASE FOLLOW ME.: the monster was able to tell the three of them and turned to face a back wall of carvings. The fans settled back on Mitsumi's belt now, and Genos was able to reveal the stone carvings on the wall. :THIS TELLS MY STORY.:
"I see!" Mitsumi said and studied the pictures. "Okay, Inichi is going to interpret for us. The meteor was not just a meteor. It was an egg. Of course, the egg hatched into this monster here. A week went by, and many noticed odd things going on in the surroundings. The monster was discovered and the attacks happened.
"Of all the ones attacking, only one girl wanted to know more about it. To see if something could be done in a neutral way. It was this girl that was able to convince it that not all was evil. That…things were good…"
"Much like you," Saitama smiled.
"As it started to die, she and trusted friends carried it away. It gave over its teeth in exchange to live. She fed it and healed it. It taught them how to use the fans. This monster…started the fan dancing! I mean…" she said with soft excitement. "And there are other skills I can learn now! With you, Saitama!"
:I WILL TEACH YOU BOTH EVERYTHING. BUILD YOUR DOJO. AS MITSUMI HAS WAYS TO PROTECT ME NOW, I CAN HELP TEACH THE ART OF FAN DANCING IN FULL.: the monster nodded. Then it looked at Saitama. :I HAVE AN ETHEREAL FORM, TOO. THUS THE FANS WILL SHOW ME FIGHTING WITH YOU AND YOUR PUNCHING. I WANT TO TRY THAT!:
"Deal," Saitama grinned. "Just don't take her away from me again!"
:I VOW.: it nodded.
"We need to go now. But I know I'll be back the moment I can tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, then the day after," she promised. It sighed and leaned into her now before moving off to rest and heal. The draconic, serpentine tail was already sprouting new scales and tufts of feathers. Even its beak began to gain far more brilliant coloring. It was looking like the vision it gave us before!
"We'll need to bring more food here for it," Genos said.
"It'll be fine for a few days with that amount we fed it. We'll figure something out," Zenchu nodded.
"Okay. Home. Sleep. Now. We'll explore later," Saitama yawned heavily and found himself encased in a blue bubble with Zenchu, Genos and Mitsumi to get pulled back out quickly. Back on the surface, the plaque was now set back with the flowers moved back over that to hide it.
"I sent the others back when we knew it was safe to do so. Tanktop Master was retrieved by his…colleagues. Even Miss Fubuki is waiting back at home for me. I am…in full shock," Inichi admitted. "It hid thoughts from me. It was that strong. I do believe that it may be even stronger yet. But, there is one thing I do know. It despises evil monsters. We will do what we can to ensure it comes to full health and is able to assist us in all ways."
"Good," Mitsumi smiled. "I sort of see it as a grandparent this way."
"Do you plan to reach out to that side of your family?" Genos asked.
"I don't know. They never bothered to help me. Neither side. So…why should I?" she shrugged.
"She is correct. Both sides consider her…an anomaly. Hmm. But there may be arrangements to visit you when the restaurant is back open. We'll be ready for it," Inichi said after a touch of intense thought was done. "As it is, are we ready to go back?"
"Yes," Zenchu nodded. Inichi was now regrouping the three of them into his bubble to take back home. What he also knew was that the monster below was a touch permanently locked to his mental state now. It was much how he would keep tabs on important people. He could only chuckle that the crane monster wanted to talk and catch up on current events. This is going to be a very long night for me! And likely quite enjoyable!