"Man you guys really did a number to this place." Metal Bat said with a whistle "Looks like you redid everything." He noted as he and the others looked around.
As of the moment none of the heroes or their guests had yet to make it past the lobby of the resort, and this was mainly due to the fact that the lobby which had already been ornate and beautiful was now even more so. From the newly installed fountain that rested in the middle of the room, to the columns of porcelain which had spirals of gold going down their bodies that lined the pathway to the elevators and staircases, and even the ceiling which before only had one fairly magnificent chandelier now had five of them and they were all made of the finest diamond craftsmanship, if this was but the lobby they dared not imagine what more there was to see.
"We spared no expense in the renovations and additions, because without all of you well there'd be nothing at all anyways." Sitch explained.
"Still, seems like an awful lot of work to get done in just one week." Puri Puri Prisoner admitted as he looked towards Metal Knight who for some unknown reason had sent a robot in his stead "I'm guessing you had something to do with that?" He asked.
"You would be correct." Metal Knight confirmed as his robot took a step forward "I already had my vacation while I was renovating this place for the rest of you per the association's instruction, and so I've sent one of my robots instead for this to see how all of you enjoy the accommodations." He explained.
"What POSSIBLE benefit could you even get out of doing something like that?" Zombieman asked with a raised brow.
"Don't misunderstand I'm not planning to open my own chain of resorts, there'd be no worth in that." Metal Knight stated as his robot looked around the lobby "But the whole purpose of this resort is to rejuvenate heroes who have undergone extreme stress or who are in the process of recovering from their recent ordeal, so this has research value to me in regards to physical and mental recovery." He explained.
"So we're basically just your guinea pigs for better stress relief?" Metal Bat asked.
"If you wish to simplify like that then sure why not." Metal Knight replied "Now if you have any issues at any point do not feel the need to come and find my robot personally, I have several cameras all around the building as well as the employees who will be taking notes on how much you're enjoying yourselves." He explained as the robot looked to Sitch "I'll leave the rest to you." He said as his robot walked away.
Watching the machine leave through an entryway in the left wall while most of the heroes were a bit unsure as to how they felt in being observed for whatever Metal Knight was gaining out of this, that didn't distract them from the fact that they were still here and were fully ready to explore.
"And with that out of the way you're all free to explore the resort as much as you want!" Sitch said seeming to read their minds.
Unable to keep a resounding cheer from escaping them, with certain exceptions of course, the heroes and their guests all ran off in different directions to begin indulging in all the resort had to offer, all except for Saitama.
"Hmm..." He hummed as he looked to the ceiling "...I think I'll just go up to my room first." He decided as he headed to the elevators.
"Wow, this is different." Tatsumaki said once she and Geryuganshoop had entered her room.
Not even the bedrooms of the resort were spared from the massive renovations, for where they were once fairly large rooms the likes of which you'd see in a more costly hotel, they were now more so like high rise apartments complete with multiple rooms, a decent sized kitchen, and even a spacious outdoor balcony, it simply screamed luxury.
"This looks a lot like your home." He noted as they looked around "Though yours is a lot simpler in addition to being bigger."
"Yeah, this place is so flashy it kinda hurts my eyes." She admitted as she crossed her arms "Did they really have to go so overboard?" She asked with an exasperated sigh.
Moving himself over to the couch Geryuganshoop laid down on it as to make himself as comfortable as possible, since Tatsumaki wasn't going to be staying for much longer.
"So." She spoke as she drew all the curtains in the room shut "Someone's going to bring up my stuff pretty soon, but after that no one else but me should come in here so you won't need to keep yourself cloaked the whole time." She explained.
"Camouflaged." He corrected.
"Whatever." She replied with an eye roll "Anyways, the fridge should be stocked full of food and drinks, but if you need something just give me a shout." She instructed before looking to him "Any questions?" She asked.
"Yes just one." He admitted as he looked behind the couch to her "Are you sure this is a good idea? because I can just take the contents of the fridge and head back to your place, that way we won't be at any risk of me getting discovered." He suggested.
"What's the worse that can happen?" She asked only to immediately raise her hand to keep him from speaking "That was rhetorical." She told him before heading towards the door "I'll be back in a few hours, try not to make too big of mess will ya?" She asked as she walked out.
"Says the one who's hero name has the word tornado in it." He thought jokingly as he laid his head back.
"I heard that." She told him via telepathy causing him to slightly jump from surprise.
"DON'T DO THAT!" He replied causing her to actually laugh out loud in the hallway.
"This feels so good~" Kaemon sighed blissfully as they laid on their back with their eyes closed at the bottom of the pool.
Even though Saitama had gone up to his and Kaemon's room first as to just relax for a while and let everyone else calm down a little, Kaemon on the other made a direct beeline to the resort pool to see how it would be for them. However, unlike every other pool in the world the resort's pool didn't have any kind of chemicals in the water including chlorine. This was entirely thanks to Metal Knight, for while he didn't do something as extreme as fill the pool with nanobots or something else that absurd, he did create the world's most advanced filtration system that is capable of detecting even the most minuscule amount of outside elements and removing them in complete silence as to not be a disturbance. This in turn meant that thanks to there being no chemicals the water was basically the cleanest water on the planet, meaning Kaemon was currently sitting in a massive pool of pure bliss the likes of which they never felt before
But they weren't the only one eager to check out the pool first thing, and in just a few moments they would see a group of people they wouldn't have expected to see here at all.
"Hey Kaemon!" Someone called out to them causing them to open their eyes.
Looking towards the surface of the pool Kaemon was shocked to find Mutusuko standing at the edge of the pull waving at him.
"Mutsuko?" They asked before they pushed themselves to the water's surface with their hair and poked their head out of the water "What're you doing here?" They asked immediately.
"Oh we're here with the doctor!" She answered as she pointed towards the building "Even though he didn't do anything about the aliens, because I mean what COULD he have done anyways? the association still let him come on the retreat because he helped to treat all of the survivors of the attack!" She explained.
"Wow that's amazing!" They replied "So are the others here too? I'd like to get to know them since I've only ever heard stuff about them from you." They asked.
"Mhm! they're all getting changed right now! speaking of." She said as she struck a pose "What do you think of my bathing suit? think Saitama will notice?" She asked.
Taking a moment to look her over Kaemon admittedly didn't know what to say, not because they thought she looked ugly or something else of that nature but because while they too had come to wear clothes it was mainly because Tatsumaki and Saitama said it'd be better than walking around naked, so they didn't really have any opinions of how someone looked in clothes of any kind.
"It...looks good!" They complimented causing her to smile.
"That's great!" She replied as she looked to her back "I had to have the doctor's clones make one special for me, since I have wings and a second abdomen." She explained before she looked towards the building "Oh! here come the others!" She said causing Kaemon to look in the same direction.
Sure enough the remaining members of The House of Evolution came out of the resort dressed in their swimwear, and while Chikara of course seemed eager to show off his muscles the others had varying expressions and demeanor. From right to left beginning with Chikara he sported a bright red thong which THANKFULLY wasn't too snug and had a big proud grin plastered his face. Next was Bunji, and while he and the other members all wore basic trunks which were the colors of their skin/fur only a slight bit lighter, he seemed to be slightly uncomfortable as he was looking off to the side while scratching his cheek. After him was Atomu and while he didn't have his cyborg helmet on he did posses a sort of blank expression, not as though he was bored or not eager to try out the pool but he just wasn't overly excited or uncomfortable was all.
Then there was Kamakyuri, and while no one really knew how he got his trunks on due to his blade like appendages, he had his eyes closed as he walked as though he was already relaxing before he got into the pool or just onto a chair on the side. And finally there was the trio of Suguru, Fujio, and Genjiro, and besides being given better looking appearances after the whole Sea King inciddent, they also were a bit taller standing at around Kaemon's height with Genjiro for some reason being the only exception. As for their expressions however it was clear they were the most excited to try out the pool, even more so than Chikara and Mutsuko.
"There you guys are!" She exclaimed as she walked over to them "What took you all so long? all you had to do was put on some trunks." She asked.
"We had to wait on Kamakyuri." Atomu answered as he looked to the other "Speaking of, how did you even manage to get those on by the way?" He asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it." Kamakyuri said with a sigh "I've got to talk to the doctor about giving me some hands or something..." He muttered beneath his breath as he walked over to one of the poolside chairs to lie down.
"Well anyway, I'd like all of you to meet a friend of mine!" She said as she gestured to Kaemon "Guys this is Kaemon, they're the absolute most adorable little sea creature ever!" She praised causing them to look away.
"Oh come on I am not..." They replied bashfully.
"Oh yeah I remember you!" Chikara exclaimed as he snapped his fingers "You're the plant thing right? the one that got their head chopped off?" He asked.
Upon being reminded of their near death experience by Sea King, Kaemon's eyes widened just before they dived down into the water.
"Oh way to go Chikara!" Mutsuko scolded as she got into the pool to check on them.
"What? what did I say?" He asked causing Bunji to look at him.
"You literally just reminded them of what was probably the single worst moment of their life, and you're unsure as to WHY that would upset them?" He asked.
"Hey it was a bad day for everyone I didn't think they would care!" Chikara argued causing the others to sigh.
When it comes to eating a meal many people have different ways they'd like to go about it, some people are a bit simpler and want a nice basic with no extra flair or helpings, some want a fairly hefty meal where there is plenty of variety and maybe even a second helping to tide them over, and finally there were those who preferred the buffet style of eating where you ate as much as you wanted to until it felt like your stomach would burst. Thankfully for all of the S class's different preference when it came to eating the association was able to accommodate them perfectly with the world's largest and most diverse buffet line. From exotic foreign dishes to more familiar homemade ones, this buffet not only included foods and meals all ready and waiting but it also had things like deserts, beverages, snacks, and even candy, literally anything any of the heroes could possibly want at any given point in time it was sitting there ready for them to take it. Which is exactly what Atomic Samurai, Zombieman, Metal Bat, and of course Pig God all had in mind, as each of them had platters stacked with food as well as had countless bottles of booze and soda covering the table.
Except for Pig God, he didn't seem to care about the beverages and just focused on making his platter stack into a platter mountain as it was almost twice as big as he was.
"Oh man this is the life!" Metal Bat said as he bit off a piece of meat "Food from all over the world and all of it for the taking, what could be better?" He asked as he continued to chow down.
"I'll tell you what's better, beer from all over the world." Atomic Samurai said as he took a sip from one of his many beverages "I'll be lucky if I'm sober by Thursday!" He joked.
"Don't you guys think we should maybe pace ourselves?" Zombieman suggested as he pointed to his left.
Looking past him both Atomic Samurai and Metal Bet felt their eyes widen in horror as Pig God was literally just opening his mouth and swallowing a solid fourth of his platter's contents like a snake, causing them to look at their own stacks of food and beverages.
"Uh...yeah let's...slow down a bit ey?" Metal Bat agreed as he put down the slab of meat he had in his hand.
"Actually I think I'm gonna have this sent to the room for later, you guys wanna check out the gym?" Atomic Samurai asked receiving nods in response.
Quickly getting up from their seats and exiting the room, Pig god didn't even notice what they had said let alone that they left the room and just continued to consume his food at an admittedly alarming rate.
"Well...least the bed's more comfortable than my own." Saitama said as he stared towards the ceiling.
Most people when they see how luxurious their resort room is and experience the unrivaled comfort of their bed would be smiling from ear to ear and struggling to contain the full force of their excitement. But as anyone could've guessed while Saitama was in fact enjoying himself he still possessed the same meh demeanor and expression in the face of all these comforts. However, there was a new reason as to why Saitama was his meh self beyond just the unrivaled boredom of being the strongest hero in the world, and it had to do with the attack.
"He was the denominator of the universe..." Saitama recalled though once again managing to get the other's title wrong "And yet I still didn't break a sweat, sure I was a little surprised when I realized I was in space, but I still didn't feel any excitement..." He went on as he looked towards his right hand "The strongest being in the universe and I defeated him...what does that say about me?...am I the strongest being in the universe?...and if so...does that mean...there's no one who can beat me?..." He questioned.
Feeling a bit of depression creeping over him upon making this realization, Saitama was going to just lie there and maybe think on this some more until a knock at his room's door was heard. Unsure as to who would be knocking since everyone was busy exploring the resort, Saitama still got up from his bed and went to the door to find out and upon doing so found Tatsumaki standing on the other side.
"Oh hey." He greeted as he hadn't seen her in the lobby "What's up?" He asked.
"I figured you'd be in your room." She told him with an eye roll as she walked past him "It's just like you to hold yourself up on an all expenses paid vacation." She added as she sat down on his couch.
"I just wanted to let everyone else explore first is all." He replied as he closed the door "That way when I go and check everything out things won't be so crazy." He explained.
"Hm, I guess that makes sense." She admitted as she crossed her legs "Still, if you want I could show you the spa." She offered as he came over and sat beside her.
"What do they have in the spa that I'd want?" He asked causing her to scoff.
"What DON'T they have is the better question." She corrected as she held up her hand "First there's the deep tissue massages which are FANTASTIC, then you have the mud bathes which aren't like the ones you see on tv but are still really nice, they you have face cleansing which really takes away your stress." She listed counting each thing with her fingers.
"Sounds like you've been to the spa a lot." He noted.
"Well of course I have, do you know how frustrating it is to deal with idiots all the time? I NEED the spa here otherwise I'd just explode!" She told him "So you want to check it out?" She asked.
"Eh, I'll think about it, but right now I kinda just want to watch TV." He told her causing her to roll her eyes once more.
"WOW big shocker there." She remarked as he picked up the television and turned it on.
Now there are moments in time when we feel as though the universe as a collective whole is out to get us, where for some reason or another it feels like we've somehow done something horrible without realizing it and the universe is getting it's payback. This was the exact scenario for Saitama, for the moment he turned the TV on it was already on some sort of celebrity news network, the kind that talks about both celebrities and heroes. And it was on this very network channel that a show was playing, one that talked about the latest gossip and news about any kind of famous persons, and the story that was their current hot topic caused both his and Tatsumaki's eyes to widen in shock.
"So what do you REALLY think is going on between One Punch Man and the Blizzard of Hell? do you think they're actually a thing or was this just an outing with an industry professional?" One of the hosts a woman asked to a group of people surrounding her, more than likely the other hosts.
"Oh without question this was a date." One of the two guys present replied as he pointed to the screen behind them where a picture of Fubuki and Saitama leaving the clothing store was displayed "I mean, let's say for argument's sake that this was just an outing with a colleague or maybe even a friend, why would they both have purchased vacation clothes TOGETHER if there wasn't something more going on there?" He asked.
"He does make a point, the two clerks specifically wrote in their social media posts that both One Punch Man and the Blizzard of Hell had bought a yellow bath robe for him, and for her a decent amount of clothes that one would typically wear to either a beach, a pool, or just a vacation in general." The other guy said.
"Plus there's all the other places they went to, they stopped at a grocery store, a book store, and a very expensive restaurant, now for the restaurant you could just write that one off as like a business lunch or something, but the book store and the grocery store? while they're not the most glamorous places for a date it could be that they were looking for low key places to avoid too much attention." Another female host suggested earning a collective nod from the others.
However, before the show could go on any further the television suddenly exploded sending pieces of plastic and electronic parts flying all over the room. And while Saitama felt the need to look to Tatsumaki to see what had happened the truth was he REALLY didn't want to, as he could feel her eyes doing their best to try and burn a hole right into his head.
"Saitama..." She said in a shaky voice, no doubt due to the fact she was TRYING to control her quickly rising anger "WHAT do you have to say for yourself?" She asked.
Even though every fiber of his being was telling him to just sit there like a deer in the headlights and not do anything in hopes she would slowly begin to simmer down, he still found himself slowly turning to face her as to answer her question. But it seemed as though he wouldn't get the chance as the moment he opened his mouth to speak she threw him not just out of his own room but through the ENTIRE building, causing him to fly outwards until he crashed into the ground about thirty feet from the resort.
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" She shouted at him via telepathy as he was far beyond the hearing range for her voice.
Even though he of course was not injured and felt no pain whatsoever, Saitama still found himself lying there staring up at the sky not moving in the slightest.
"Sometimes...I really do wish I'd gotten an office job..." He thought just as Tatsumaki began flinging his stuff out the same way he had gone, causing it to land all around him.