Money and Renown, these two things hold far more power than they should in our world, sometimes people who's problems are far greater than our own or another's are overlooked and ignored simply because they are not "Wealthy" or "Famous" enough for anyone to care. And while this in no way applies to every person nor every hero, it would be naive to say that every person within the hero's association did not have this mindset as well. Though thanks to One Punch Man being the shining light of hope and inspiration for everyone that he was, even the most stubborn and narrow minded person has shown a bit more compassion and willingness to help someone even if they aren't some celebrity or high ranking hero. But even so, Money and Renown do still have power in this world of ours, a good example of this is illustrated in the very meeting that is currently being held within the association's headquarters, as while before hand it was only heroes being harmed by the "Hero Hunter", now it seems they may be targets as well.
"We should just call in One Punch Man to deal with this and be done with it!" One of the association's directors exclaimed, as he pointed to a picture of a man with a rather swollen face, which was being displayed in the center of the table via a holographic projector "Look what has already happened to Director Zeimeet!"
"Even so, we shouldn't call on him for something like this." Another director argued as he crossed his arms "One Punch Man is far too powerful, furthermore it'd be near impossible for him to go somewhere and not be recognized by everyone around him, so hunting the hero hunter would nigh impossible." He reasoned.
"I agree, besides how can we be certain this was an actual attack by the hero hunter? there were no eye witnesses and Director Zeimeet himself can't even remember who exactly attacked him, plus you know how he can be especially in his free time, the man's not exactly the most pleasant to be around." A third director said.
"I believe a know the perfect compromise gentleman." Yet another of them spoke, gaining all of their attention "Whether or not this was in fact a case of the hero hunter we can't be certain, what we are certain of though is that there is in fact someone out there who has a vendetta against heroes, so it would make sense to assume that their vendetta extends to the rest of this organization." He reasoned "So, until we can be certain of whether or not we and the other executive members are in any actual danger, I propose that we have any heroes not currently occupied with fighting monsters or engaged in any other serious duty serve as our protection." He suggested.
"You do know that won't go well with them right? especially S class." The first one said.
"Yes I am aware, however to ensure that we can continue to run this organization without fear of being harmed by this hero hunter, I believe this is the only true course of action." He replied.
It took only a few shared glances between themselves and a an ever fewer amount of murmurs before they all came to agree to the idea, having an S class hero or even one of the higher ranking A class heroes would certainly put all of their minds at ease. And with that this meeting was brought to it's end, but elsewhere there was another meeting being held that was just as important, if not more so.
"So, what do you think?" Saitama asked as he stood in front of King and Kaemon.
While King had known Saitama longer than anyone in their group that isn't to say that Kaemon or anyone else within their circle of friends hadn't seen just as much of Saitama's weird side as he had. But nothing, NOTHING could have prepared either King or Kaemon for what Saitama had planned to show them after he stepped out of King's bathroom. Standing there in the door way he was dressed in a karategi, and while that in of itself was a bit odd it was the crowning detail of the whole thing that TRULY made this strange, which was a massive orange haired wig that rested atop his bald head.
"What do I think?" King asked as he his brain was still trying to process it "I think...that you need to seek professional help." He told him, causing the other to raise a brow.
"What? is something wrong?" Saitama asked as he looked to Kaemon "You think it looks good right?"
"...Define...good..." Kaemon said as they squinted their eyes, trying to understand just like King why he was doing this.
"Look guys it makes perfect sense, Garou is a student of the old man's right? so he knows karate and stuff, all I have to do is go to the martial arts tournament that Cherry was going to go to, take his place, and we'll find Garou there." He explained casually, as to him it truly did make complete sense.
"First off his name's Charanko." King began as he crossed his arms "Second, you are the single most famous person in the ENTIRE world, do you honestly think a wig and a karategi is gonna change that at all?" He asked.
"I think you're overestimating my fans." Saitama responded bluntly.
"Oh? so you ACTUALLY think that if you were to go outside right now to a public place, that NO ONE would recognize you?" King asked.
"Fine, let's do it." Saitama said as he immediately headed for the door.
"Wait, you're serious?" King asked with widened eyes.
"Mhm, let's go." Saitama answered as he opened the door.
Exchanging a quick look with Kaemon as both were a little surprised by how determined Saitama was, they both followed him out of the apartment. Which unfortunately would prove to be bad timing, as right then King's cellphone which he left resting on the table began to ring, a call from the association seeking him for protection work. But with the trio on their way out of the building the call would go unanswered, leaving some other S class hero to receive such an unfortunate assignment from the association. And given the lot that made up S class, the likelihood of it being someone who isn't as mild tempered as King getting it, was practically certain.
"Why. the hell. am I here." S class hero Metal Bat thought to himself, as he simply stared at the wall.
As an S class hero you'd think that you'd get to do whatever you want right, that if you wanted to take some time off or simply not respond to a certain threat then you'd be able to just do it. And while there were in fact members of S class who could do such a thing such as Tornado, mostly because of her immense power and the fact that many people were intimidated or flat out scared by her, a surprising majority of the heroes in S class had a sort of honor that they carried with them that compelled them to always act if they were truly needed. This is exactly how Metal Bat was coaxed from spending his day off shopping with his little sister to protecting an executive of the association, as from how the dispatcher had relayed the "Mission" to him, they made it seem like it was something of absolute urgency. But now as he sat within a restaurant watching said executive along with his son comment on how cheap and basic the food looked as it went by on a conveyor belt, Metal Bat found himself gripping his weapon's handle tighter and tighter trying to control his irritation.
"Zenko is not going to be happy about this..." He thought with a sigh as he closed his eyes "But a mission's a mission, even if it's something as pointless and ridiculous as this, I mean, what would One Punch Man think?" He wondered.
"Oh look papa! they have pudding in a cup!" The boy exclaimed with true excitement, causing his father to laugh.
"I don't think you should have it son! we don't even know what kinda of pudding it is!" He replied.
"...God, I wanna die." Metal Bat thought as he gripped his weapon even tighter.
"Aren't you going to have anything Metal Bat?" The man asked, causing him to open his eyes "I greatly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to be our bodyguard, so if you want to eat by all means have whatever you want!" He offered.
"Er, thanks." Metal Bat replied doing his best to force a smile "But I'm just here to keep you safe, plus I had a big breakfast so I'm not that hungry."
Just then though as if things couldn't get any worse, his cellphone began to ring causing a wave of dread to wash over him.
"Can...you excuse me for just a moment?" He asked receiving a nod in response.
"But of course! take all the time you need." The man answered.
Nodding in turn as well to show his appreciation, Metal Bat hurried from the stool he sat on into the men's bathroom as to take his call, and the moment he answered he was met with the shouting voice of his sister.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" She asked in such a volume that he had to move his phone away by a few inches.
"I'm working Zenko, something important came up!" He told her, hoping that she would just accept that and hang up.
"Oh really? something important?" She questioned in a clearly doubtful tone "Then where are you hm? busy fighting a monster?"
Even though his brain screamed at him to lie to her just this ONCE, as her big brother he couldn't bring himself to deceive her even if it was just a harmless white lie.
"I'm...at mouse sushi." He answered hesitantly, preemptively wincing from the shouting he knew was going to follow after.
Sadly his sister would not respond with another outburst of anger but instead with a sniffle, showing how upset she really was.
"So having sushi is more important than keeping a promise huh?" She asked.
"Hey! you know that's not true! I swear it's an important mission! you know I'd never break a promise unless I had to!" He insisted not wanting her to cry "Look, I have to get back to the mission now, I swear I'll explain everything later, and if you want we can even go see a movie in addition to shopping later okay?" He offered before he ended the call.
Letting out a sigh Metal Bat couldn't keep himself from hitting the bathroom wall, not enough to do any kind of damage of course but just so he could let out some of his frustration.
"You don't break a promise, even if you really REALLY want to..." He thought as his mind began to reminisce of a particular memory "I wonder if he knew there'd be missions like this one though?..." He wondered.
Letting out another sigh Metal Bat hoisted his weapon back onto his shoulder and was about to head back to the restaurant, when suddenly a violent earth shaking tremor erupted throughout the entire building, followed by the terrified screaming of the executive and his son. Racing out of the restroom Metal Bat was met with the sight of two monsters standing in what was once the middle of the restaurant, one of them seemed to be some kind of plant like creature while the other was a massive centipede, and within a pair of it's legs the boy was being held captive.
"Metal bat! please you have to do something!" The executive pleaded as he ran up beside him "Th-that monster has my son!"
"Hang on a second." He told him as he reached down to the floor.
Grabbing onto a part of his jacket as it had been buried in the rubble, with a few good pulls he was able to rip it from the debris and in a quick flawless fashion he put it on.
"Alright you freaks." He said as he readied his weapon "You want to pick a fight? then let's go!" He shouted as he pointed the bat in their direction.
"All we had to do was get the executive, we don't have to-" The plant like monster was saying to the other, only to be interrupted as a swift yet incredibly powerful strike was dealt to it's skull.
A green blood like substance then splashed out in all directions as Metal Bat drove the weapon as far and deep as possible into it's head, catching not only the executive and his son off guard from how fast he had moved but also the other monster.
"You basta-" It began to say as it was ready to retaliate, only to be interrupted as Metal Bat swung his weapon in a wide horizontal arc which connected with it's body.
Feeling an immense wave of pain surge throughout every fiber of it's being the centipede couldn't keep it's hold on the boy after that, causing it to release him and upon doing so he ran to his father's side. With the boy now safely out of harm's way Metal Bat had no reason to be careful with his strikes, and so before the monster could recover from his last attack he began to unleash a torrent of violent blows against it, similar to how a hyperactive child would treat a pinata. Swing after swing he kept going until nearly all of the creature's legs were broken off and it's body was horribly mangled, and once he was absolutely certain that it would not get up he allowed himself to finally take a breath and relax.
"Incredible Metal Bat!" The executive cheered on as both him and his son now looked on at the scene with expressions of pure excitement and joy "That is exactly why you are S class no doubt!"
"Papa we should take a picture!" The boy suggested.
"No, what you two need to do is get out of here and get somewhere safe." Metal Bat told them as he sat down on the corpse of the monster "There's no telling if these two are the only monsters that're gonna show up, so you need to leave now."
Almost as if the universe had been listening to him the ground once more began to shake, starting off small it soon escalated into an even bigger tremor than before. But now since he was on alert Metal Bat was not about to be caught of guard a second time, he quickly grabbed hold of both the executive and his son and ran with them out of the building, which would prove to be the only reason they wouldn't die just then. For as they ran out from the building and into the street the former restaurant exploded into several different pieces of debris, as another centipede like creature who was far more massive than the last shot up from the ground and towered above them.
"I shall avenge you Kohai!" It shouted in anger as it looked down at them, it's pointed spear like legs all readying to attack.
To make matters even worse however, as Metal Bat readied himself by entering a stance a sudden purple smog also appeared quickly filling the air, and upon taking one whiff of it he immediately clamped his nose shut with one hand.
"Hey! don't breath in the air!" He shouted as he turned to look back at the executive and his son.
Sadly his warning fell on already sleeping ears as both the man and his son were currently slumbering on the street, the gas having made quick work of them both.
"Hue hue hue, impressive Metal Bat." A voice cackled from somewhere, as several vines began to sprout up from a nearby manhole "Then again it would be rather strange for an S class hero like you to fall so quickly." The voice continued on, as soon another plant like creature sprouted from the hole, though this one much like the centipede was bigger than the last.
"Do monsters travel in pairs now or something?" Metal Bat asked as he gestured to both of them with his weapon, making sure to keep a hand on his nose as he did "Or are you guys like their mommies or something?" He taunted, hoping to annoy them so they might let something slip.
Instead of replying with words the monsters chose to do so with action, as the plant like creature sent forth all of it's vines in a serpentine esque maneuver, hoping to overwhelm him with the sheer number and speed. But much like before Metal Bat was just as quick if not more so, even with one hand still being occupied by keeping the smog from entering his nostrils he was able to deliver another wide horizontal arc swing in front of him, quickly destroying every vine that attempted to get close. Sadly as he was focused on dealing with the vines the centipede managed to close the distance between them, forcing him to immediately go on the defensive as he was assaulted by all of it's legs at once as it spiraled around him.
"Centipede Parade!" It shouted out as it swarmed around his person, doing everything it could to land at least one fatal strike.
No longer able to keep one hand on his nose as he needed it for both defense as well as to increase his swing's power, Metal Bat gripped his weapon's handle before doing a full spin in place, effectively knocking the monster back.
"Impressive, no wonder he gave our Kohai trouble." The Centipede commented as it moved to be beside the plant monster "That's the power of an S class hero for sure." It added.
"What the hell do you freaks want?" Metal Bat asked as he was starting to get annoyed "Why do a couple of monsters want an executive and his son?"
"Hue Hue Hue, tell you what Metal Bat, if you are able to defeat us perhaps we will tell you." The Plant monster mused.
Just then a wave of exhaustion overcame Metal Bat causing his knees to slightly buckle, forcing him to shift his focus from them to simply keeping his balance.
"Oh? what's the matter Metal Bat? did you forget about something?" The Plant asked him, as the smog that had been filling the air was quickly getting denser.
"Sh-Shit..." He muttered beneath his breath, as by the second it was becoming harder to even keep his eyes open let alone stand.
Not wasting such a perfect opportunity the centipede pounced on him in his weakened state, proceeding to whip him violently back and forth with it's antennae, each strike becoming more vicious and damaging than the last. Unable to even lift his arm to defend himself against the barrage all Metal Bat could do was continue to take the beating. But as it continued on, his face and body being assaulted relentlessly by the other, the memory that he had thought of before in the restaurant flashed clearly in his mind for but a moment, along with the voice of the person he respected more than any.
"If people can't rely on heroes to save them, then who can they rely on?"
Feeling a sudden surge of strength erupt within him, Metal Bat just as the centipede reared back to deliver a final blow brought his weapon forward and delivered a blow so powerful to his own head that the sound exploded outward all around him.
"What the hell?" The centipede questioned as both it and it's partner were stunned by what they just witnessed "Have you actually lost your mind?"
Feeling a small trickle of blood begin to fall from his forehead down his face, Metal Bat regained his footing and stood upright, which only shocked them further.
"No, that's impossible! he shouldn't be able to stand!" The Plant exclaimed.
Unsure as to what he was doing the centipede quickly snapped out of it's stunned state as it knew there wouldn't be another chance like this to end the fight, so lunging forward it readied it's legs to skewer him completely. But before it could even reach him Metal Bat swung outward with a precise and deadly strike, that one swing being strong enough to completely break off one of it's front legs and embed it in a nearby building.
"Alright, I'm done with this." Metal Bat told them as he rested his weapon on his shoulder "It's been a while since someone's made me get pumped like this, not bad for a couple of freaks."
"H-How is this possible?!" Centipede questioned as he slowly began to approach them "Y-You were just about to pass out a second ago! you shouldn't even be able to move!" It insisted.
"Tsk, shows how much you know about heroes then." Metal Bat said as his expression intensified "People rely on us to keep'em safe, so of course we aren't gonna lose to a couple of monsters who look like they stepped out of some cheap horror movie." He explained "But I'm a pretty nice guy, so I'll be sure to end you both in one strike, just like he would." He told them as he raised his weapon high into the air behind him.
Staying true to his word Metal Bat then delivered a single strike to both his opponents, causing each of them to violently explode into several different pieces and a massive amount of blood, and that was solely from the incredible shock wave that each blow created from having made contact. Letting out a breath of relief that this whole thing was finally at it's end, Metal Bat rested his bloodstained weapon on his shoulders as he walked away.
"Been a while since I've been that pumped up for a fight." He said, only to stop immediately in his tracks as a realization dawned on him "Wait, I forgot to ask them why they wanted the guy and his kid!" He exclaimed as he looked over at the still slumbering pair that laid in the street "Though, I guess since they're alright that it doesn't really matter..." He reasoned.
However, as he was about to walk over to them and prod them with his bat to try and wake them from their sleep, the sound of running footsteps caught his attention causing him to look up the street.
"Hey Metal Bat!" B Class hero Pineapple called out as he approached with a C class hero known as Mohican "We're here to lend you a hand!"
"Eh?" Metal Bat sounded as they reached him "You guys are a little late, I kinda already killed the monsters." He told them.
"Wait, seriously?" Mohican asked "But, that thing was huge! we saw it from the other side of the city!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah well, it was still just a bug, so I squashed it." Metal Bat said casually.
Awestruck by the power of an S class hero, Pineapple and Mohican were about to give him praise for his victory but were cutoff by yet another tremor. But unlike the first or the second tremor, this one was immediately powerful causing not only the ground to shake but also all of the nearby cars and light poles that were on the street.
"What the hell?!" Metal Bat asked aloud as he readied himself for another fight.
Watching in disbelief as the very ground beneath their feet began to crack and break apart, a third centipede monster began shooting out from all around them plowing through countless buildings as it went into the sky, but unlike the first or even the second centipede this one was truly deserving to be called a monster, as but even one of it's legs was big enough to fill an entire city block.
"I-It can't be..." Pineapple muttered, as he and Mohican stared horrified at what they were seeing.
Soon the whole of the sky around them was taken up by a massive purple centipede body, the total length and size of the creature though unknown as much of it was still within the earth, was still from what they could see large enough to take nearly half of the city's space for itself. To make matters ever more hellish than they were as the creature continued to surface soon it's head could be seen looking down at them, more specifically at the executive and his child.
"You two, grab that guy and his kid and get out of here!" Metal Bat ordered as he readied himself into a stance.
"Wait what? you can't seriously think you can fight that thing Metal Bat!?" Mohican questioned.
"Yeah! we need to fallback and call for more help! like from Tornado or even One Punch Man!" Pineapple insisted.
Instead of replying with words though Metal Bat swung his weapon into the ground creating a small crater as he did.
"That wasn't a suggestion, TAKE THEM AND GO." He repeated to them, but this time far more sternly and with a look of absolute seriousness present on his face.
Knowing better than to test his patience any further the two heroes simply listened to his instruction and lifted the executive and his son from the ground, then proceeded to run as fast as they could in the opposite direction.
"Alright you freak, now it's just you and me!" Metal Bat shouted as he pointed his weapon towards it "Give me all you got you overgrown pest!"
There are many things in this world that one doesn't expect to ever see, sure they might hope that they do but the likelihood of it ever actually happening is slim to none. But for a man known by all as doctor Genus he had bared witness to things he could have never dreamed of, whether they be from his most cherished fantasies, or his most dreaded nightmares. Yet as he watched on his computer live news feed of a battle happening within city S between S class hero Metal Bat and a dragon level threat monster that seemed to be the size of the very city the battle was taking place in, where most people might be stunned or horrified he was strangely calm and at ease.
"Well, I suppose it can't be helped." He said to himself as he rose from his chair and headed towards the door "Guess I'll have to release him sooner than expected." He decided as he left the room.