"Why does this always happen to me?..." King wondered as he stared up at the being who stood before him.
Towering over the S class hero was from what he could tell a massive robot, designed to look like a king or knight of some kind.
"All I wanted to do was buy the new dating sim and go home..." He thought as he recalled his life just a few minutes ago.
"Thank you so much mister King!" The female cashier exclaimed as she handed him his purchase in a bag "Please come again! we appreciate your business!" She added with a smile as he took the bag from her.
"Of course, you guys are the only ones who don't go crazy over me." He replied as he with a small wave headed towards the door.
After having dealt with the reptile man King went to a game store not too far from his place, where he not only was a regular but was also picking up the latest video game to release. Not only that, but like any true gamer would he made sure to get the limited first edition. And while some people might find being so proud and happy over a video game as he often got a little strange, he could say the exact same thing about most of his fellow S class heroes who he thought were a bit too into killing monsters sometimes. Regardless though of anyone's opinions of him and his love of video games, it seemed like for the first time in a while everything was working out perfectly and nothing could ruin his day.
But of course, this just wouldn't be the case, for after a few minutes of walking nearly back at his apartment he would find himself stopped by a being who sought to challenge him. Which honestly was something he had come to expect by this point.
"My name is G4, a machine god created by the Organization" The massive mechanical entity spoke as it looked down towards him "You are the world's second strongest hero King, Sidekick to the world's strongest hero One Punch Man, I have come to eliminate you!" It revealed.
"This close..." He thought with a sigh as he closed his eyes "This close to being back in my apartment..."
"Are you listening to me?!" It questioned as it suddenly drew from it's back a massive sword and pointed it towards him "I said I have come to kill you!" It shouted, seeming to be impatient.
Opening his eyes and staring back at the other, King knew that the likelihood of him winning this fight was not very good, so he would need to find someway to come up with a plan.
"Why are you here to kill me?" He asked, hoping to by himself some time.
"This is a performance test for my battle AI! I cannot collect any battle data if I kill you by surprise!" It answered "Fight me with all you've got!" It challenged.
Still struggling to come up with a plan that would help him beat this thing, something that it had said suddenly stuck out to King, giving him an idea.
"Are you planning to fight One Punch Man?" He asked, seeming to catch the other off guard "When you introduced yourself you pointed out I was the second strongest hero in the world, do you intend to use me as practice for him?" He questioned.
"Yes, I do." It replied as placed it's other hand to it's chest "I was designed with the intent of creating a weapon that could kill One Punch Man, but in order to ensure success I must test my capabilities, and who better to test them on than the world's second strongest?" He explained.
"If that's the case, then wouldn't you want to fight me at my best?" King asked.
"What do you mean?" The other replied.
"I have to use the bathroom, otherwise I won't be fighting at my full potential because I'll be holding it in while we do so." King explained.
Seeming to think it over for a moment, the other would soon lower it's sword, telling him that his attempt to delay the fight had worked.
"I will wait here for ten minutes, every minute after that I will kill ten people, if you try to escape then this whole town will be history." It warned.
Simply nodding to show that he understood, King walked away from the street and continued to do so until he reached the nearby park and entered it's bathroom. Once inside he pressed his back against a wall and clutched his chest with his free hand, as the other was still holding onto his bag.
"Shit what am I going to do?!" He asked himself as he looked down at the floor "There's no way I can fight that thing! at least not hand to hand!" He exclaimed as he slowly slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.
Feeling his heart only beat faster and faster as countless thoughts and ideas raced through his mind, no matter how hard he thought it seemed like there was nothing he could do that would better his chance for victory. But as he continued to try and come up with a solution, he found himself looking down at his hand which gripped his chest so tightly. And in that moment as he looked at his hand and how it seemed to be holding onto him as though he were about to die, a sudden realization hit him.
"...What am I doing?..." He wondered as he let go of himself "I'm...sitting in a public restroom...hiding..." He said as his heart rate was going down "...I'm supposed to be an S class hero...and yet I'm sitting here...acting like a coward..." He went on as his hand slowly balled into a fist "Every time something big happens, I'm either too scared or too weak to do anything, and then the others have to bail me out..." He admitted as he gritted his teeth "I'm tired...I'm tired of being so useless!" He shouted as he got to his feet.
Setting the game down on the sink as he stood King without hesitation left the restroom and headed back to the street. Normally in a situation like this he would've said it was the adrenaline that made him move, or the thought of being the reason that so many innocent people would get hurt or even killed because he failed to act, but in this moment as he headed to face down his challenger, it was neither of the two that made him move. His whole life he had avoided the world, done his best to stay to himself and let all of the insanity that waited for him out there to just ignore him altogether, but when monsters kept attacking him left and right it was always someone else who got him out of it. But now, as he found himself standing once more before the massive mechanical monster that had been sent to kill him from this "Organization", he wasn't scared like he usually was, nor was he hoping someone would come to help him.
For this was the first time in his whole life that King finally felt no fear within him, and whether or not he would win this fight he would make sure that he not only deserved his status as an S class hero, but that he also deserved his name. This would be the moment he would prove to himself and the world, that he was King.
"Alright." He spoke as he readied his fists in front of himself "I'm ready to fight you with all I've got."