"Okay, so I know this looks bad, but I promise that you're not in any trouble nor that anything bad is happening." King said to the still bound Lin Lin, hoping to try and calm her down before they released her.
The only way anyone could even begin to understand how the poor woman was feeling right now, is if they imagined every idol and celebrity they ever wanted to meet surrounding them in one room. Though she wasn't like most people who devolved into a senseless fan screaming and shrieking incoherently, as she saw a great deal of notable faces, One Punch Man's being the most by far, she wasn't afraid to admit she was very elated. Sadly she wasn't able to express this in any kind of way, as one of the only two people she didn't recognize still had her restrained, it what she could asses was absurdly strong and powerful seaweed. And as for why King was the one to speak to her of their group was simple, he was generally the best with people and was easily the most polite, so if anyone could make sure this didn't go up in flames it'd be him.
"Tell me again why we're not just tossing her into one of the lockers?" Tatsumaki questioned, finding this whole situation to be pointless.
"How very mature of you." Fubuki commented, causing her sister's anger to flare up yet again.
"You know, you've been getting REALLY snarky with me lately!" She exclaimed, earning an eye roll in response.
"Guys, not the time." King told them with a slightly authoritative tone, which remarkably worked as they both fell silent opting to ignore the other "Anyways, as I was saying nothing weird or important is going on here, but before we can explain why all of us are here in this locker room, I need you to promise you're not going to tell anyone about this, and that you'll keep your calm once we release you." He said turning back to Lin Lin.
Closing her eyes upon hearing this it wasn't so she could think it over, it was so she could focus on her breathing and her heart beat to begin doing just that, calming her nerves and her emotions. After a few seconds of inhaling and exhaling she reopened them and gave him a nod, which in turn gave Kaemon the go ahead to release her.
"I just want to say, I'm sorry if I startled you..." They apologized as their kombu withdrew, "I just acted on instinct, I wasn't trying to hurt or scare you." They explained.
"I understand, but I appreciate your apology nonetheless." She replied, causing them to smile.
"Well that's nice, glad to already see there's no hard feelings." King said while crossing his arms "So, where do you want to start?" He asked.
"If it would be alright, I would prefer if he could answer my questions." She replied as she pointed to Saitama.
"No that's fine, makes sense you'd want to hear this from him." King admitted as he stepped back.
"Alright, what's your first question?" Saitama asked.
"What are you doing here One Punch Man? and why are you pretending to be a student of Silver Fang's?" She asked getting straight to the point.
"You know how there's been a hero hunter going around right? well turns out he used to be a student of the old man's, so I figured that if we were going to draw him out or maybe even just run into him, what better place than a martial arts tournament?" He answered.
"That does make sense, besides myself lightning max and Snek are also participating in the tournament, and given how many people are in attendance and watching from home, this would be the perfect place for him to show off his fighting prowess." She reasoned before focusing back to her questions "Even so, that doesn't explain why so many other people are here, nor why you have a monster in your company, no offense." She pointed out, directing that last part to Kaemon.
"None taken." They assured her.
"Well King and Kaemon, that's their name, came with me because they had doubts my disguise would work, as for the others they all just kinda showed up on their own." He explained.
"In our defense me, Swim, and Genos had all come to watch the tournament, where as a certain someone came here because she has no impulse control." Fubuki clarified.
"One. More. Word." Her sister warned, as she was one remark away from showing off the "Terror" in her title.
"Um, anyway." Saitama said awkwardly, hoping that it might break the tension they had for some reason, "Does that answer all of your questions or do you still have some more?" He asked.
"Hmm...well, I suppose I do have one, are you planning to win the tournament? if so that seems unfair to the rest of the competitors, myself included." She responded.
"No, I was planning to initially just so the old man could get some good credit, but the others pointed out that would be a pretty underhanded thing to do, so I'm just going to win one more match before "losing" in the one that follows, that way I don't ruin the tournament but the old man can still get some good publicity and respect out of this." He explained.
"Wow, he's just as considerate as I thought he'd be." She thought to herself, unknowingly earning a glare from Tatsumaki as she was reading her thoughts, "That's very kind of you to consider master Silver Fang so much, especially given his dojo has been lacking in pupils for quite some time." She praised.
"Yeah, though maybe it's for the best, not just because the hero hunter used to be his pupil, but also that dude with the weird name and the kinda unsettling face who's in the tournament." He said.
"Oh, you mean Sour Face? yeah he is a bit strange." She agreed.
Almost as if it were on cue a sudden knock at the door was heard, followed by the voice of the man who had become the topic of their conversation.
"CHARANKO! YOU AND ME FIGHT NEXT!" He shouted out, before walking away to prepare for the match.
"Whelp, guess I better get ready." Saitama said as he put his wig back on "By the way, if you want you could stay here and hang out with us while the tournament goes on, only if you want of course." He offered causing her eyes to widen.
"Really? that wouldn't be an issue?" She asked.
"I'm fine with it, what about you guys?" He asked in return addressing the others.
"I mean, it's probably for the best regardless, not trying to be rude miss but we do need to make sure you don't say anything." King said, though a bit hesitantly as he didn't want to sound like a jerk.
"I agree with King, though you are a well known and respected hero Lin Lin most people would love to brag that they have met Saitama." Genos said.
"The more the merrier." Kaemon simply replied.
"Same." Swim replied in a similar manner, admittedly eager to talk and maybe get to know yet another amazing hero who she admired.
"I'm fine with it as well." Fubuki said.
"No." Tatsumaki said bluntly and without emotion, though no one seemed to acknowledge it as they knew she'd be against it.
"Well, that's six to one, so welcome to the locker room." Saitama told her as he headed out, though stopped just before he closed the door behind him, "Oh and by the way you can call me Saitama, I've heard One Punch Man enough to last me the rest of my life." He told her as he then shut the door.
Upon hearing this even the well composed martial artist couldn't keep both a smile and a small blush from appearing on her face, as the thought of being able to address her idol so casually admittedly made her heart skip a beat. And while near everyone else in the room didn't notice this, as they were focused on trying to clean up the space as much as they could from the locker collision, Tatsumaki was the only one who did and was not happy about it in the slightest.
"First my sister, then Mutsuko, now this bell wearing floozy, how many more people are going to fall for that idiot?" She wondered, as most of her anger was solely because she had yet another rival.
"Alright recruits listen up!" The withered bean sprout of a monster shouted, as to gain everyone's attention.
When Martial Gorilla had told him this was like a boot camp he wasn't kidding, as not long after his arrival did a small group of monsters take command of the room, much like if they were drill sergeants. Admittedly though he was surprised that the walking talking glorified piece of grass was one of them, as he just seemed so weak and an easily bruised kind of person, let alone monster. Yet even as said plant began going over all the things that he and the rest of the recruits would be put through over the next few days, he progressively became quieter as Chikara focused more on his thoughts about what he had seen.
"How the hell is that guy still alive, and what the hell happened to him?" He wondered as he closed his eyes to concentrate more, "He's totally different from when I last saw him, almost feels like a lifetime ago actually, but he seems to have undergone some kind of transformation, but how and why are the questions." He decided.
Opening his eyes as he felt something touch his leg, he looked down to see the bean sprout looking up at him.
"You asleep recruit? am I that boring to you?" He asked, both his voice and the size difference causing Chikara to still not take him seriously.
"No, was just thinking about what you were saying, closed my eyes to concentrate is all." He lied with relative ease, though making sure not to sound sarcastic at any point, which was genuinely very hard for him.
"Oh, okay." The bean sprout replied immediately, proving to be as gullible as he was stupid looking, "As I was saying it'll be about two to three days before you are either accepted or sent packing, during this time we are going to conduct two major tests that will evaluate your value to our organization, the first will asses your abilities and your powers so we can determine how exactly you can be put to use, the second will determine just how well we can trust you and whether or not you might be a liability down the road, the two day trial period will begin tomorrow so you all can get settled in and prepare for these tests, I along with my partners will be overseeing this whole thing so if you have any questions feel free to ask." He explained.
For a moment the room would fall silent as he waited to see if anyone actually had a question, only to be admittedly relieved when it seemed everyone got the gist.
"Great, we're gonna leave for a while just to make sure no more recruits are coming, feel free to mingle among yourselves or do whatever you want, just don't kill each other or your ass is dead." He warned before then walking out of the chamber with his aforementioned partners.
Remaining as they were until no more footsteps could be heard, soon the once orderly space became rambunctious near instantaneously, as every monster either began bragging about their abilities or actually did strike up a conversation with someone else. As for Chikara he'd look back once more at the door and his mind would fixate on it's inhabitant, as there were far too many questions that needed to be answered. This however would cause him to drown out everything around him like before, thus allowing an unknown individual to approach without him knowing.
"ExCuSe mE." They spoke in a distorted voice whilst tapping his chest, just to be certain they'd get his attention.
Being snapped back to reality Chikara would look forward to see who was either brave or dumb enough to try and speak to him of all people. However, once he saw who it was he would be kept silent from surprise, as he truly would never have expected see a monster like this. Standing at six foot six before him was what could only be described as a living marionette, he could tell this wasn't just a person wearing a costume nor having been transformed as they seemed entirely made out of wood. And while this on it's own was certainly a shocking discovery, what was truly unnerving was it's appearance as a whole.
Being dressed and made to look like some kind of jester complete with the period accurate clothing that was comprised of vivid colors, to the bell toting hat and slightly pointed shoes they looked like they just popped out of a fairy tale. But the truly disturbing thing about them was their face, it wasn't one that resembled a person's nor was it really a face at all, instead it was a mask of some kind that bore resemblance to those associated with theater and drama. Though it's features were simplified to three upwards crescents for it's eyes and mouth, as to give it a happy looking expression.
"Um...hi...there..." He awkwardly replied, as this truly was the freakiest thing he'd seen in a while.
"mY nAME iS Juxio, whAt'S yOur NamE?" They asked with a tilt of their head.
"Uh, Carnage Kabuto." He answered which caused them to clasp their hands together.
"oH WhAT a WoNderFUl nAmE YOu HaVe, soUndS lIkE yOU kNoW HOw tO hAvE fUN!" They exclaimed as they twirled in place.
"Yeah, sure, I guess." He replied wanting nothing more than this conversation to come to an end.
"I caN TELl wE aRe GoINg tO Be gOOd FRieNDs, wE CAn HaVE lOTS oF FUn TogeTHER!" They said before turning their back to him, "SeE yOu LAter NeW friEND!" They bid farewell, before walking away and disappearing into the crowd.
Confused and unsettled by what he just experienced, Chikara would chuck it up as nothing more than something he'd have to put up with while he was undercover, though he did move to a corner of the room as to avoid that happening again.
Stepping into the house of evolution was similar to walking into a themed attraction at an amusement park. Though not trying to come across as a science fiction fan's wet dream come true, it was still evidently clear to the motley group of heroes currently led by Captain Mizuki, that some cool and potentially mind bending things went on in this place. The first and most obvious thing that everyone was aware of were the enlisted heroes made by it's founder, two of whom Mutsuko the Mosquito Girl and Atomu The Armored Gorilla, were the ones sent to retrieve the incapacitated monsters. As for why they had come back with them it was by the request of both doctor Genus as well as the association, the reason why is because both parties were beginning to suspect that the monsters were up to something, due to the sudden lack of attacks which seemed far too coincidental to be exactly that.
Top it all off with the still at large hero hunter as well, what this resulted in was the association fearing that it's heroes could either be left in a state where they could not fight, or could even potentially be injured to a great extent, so it then fell onto the good doctor and his clones to get them up to snuff. Which was the second thing they immediately noticed the moment they stepped into the building, the abundance of the same man that were going about the place doing various tasks.
"Is anyone else getting late night TV scifi movie vibes?" D-Pad asked, receiving a collective nod in agreement.
"Gee, is EVERYONE gonna say that when they first come here?" Mutsuko asked Atomu as they led the group into the facility, having handed off the trio of monsters to the awaiting clones.
"Er, sorry..." D-Pad apologized upon hearing that, as he had forgotten that this was also their home.
"Oh no it's not a big deal, believe me we get how strange and weird this place must seem, it's just odd how consistent that comparison is with people is all." She told him.
"Oh okay, well glad I didn't shove my foot into my mouth then." He said.
"Speaking of weird and strange, what exactly is gonna happen to us? are we gonna get put into some kind of tube like in those movies?" Gasmask Cowboy asked.
"Unfortunately no, you guys managed to defeat those monsters with very few injuries, honestly from what I can see only two of you have any bruises at all, which makes sense given you were getting up close and personal." She answered, referring to D-Pad and Tank Top Girl with that statement.
"So then why are we here to begin with? if we're pretty much good to go?" Gearsper questioned.
"It's just the association being hyper precautious, a lot of crazy stuff has happened recently and they want to make sure every hero is in the best condition possible, but like Mutsuko said given you guys were barely touched at all you should only be here for a little bit, then you can go back out on patrol." Atomu explained.
"Yeah but I'd recommend you guys just go home, aside from your fight there hasn't been a single monster sighting or attack to come in from any city, the only reports were of the hero hunter having tried to fight Watchdog Man, to which he swiftly got his ass handed to him." Mutsuko told them.
"Wait seriously? so does that mean he's been captured?" Tank Top Girl asked hopefully, as she wanted the son of a bitch who hurt the tank top army in custody.
"Sadly no, while he was dumb enough to try and take on an S class hero, he managed to get away cause ya know, Watchdog Man only ever leaves his city if called in or if it's about One Punch Man." Atomu answered.
"Damn it..." She cursed beneath her breath, looking off to the side in both disappointment and anger.
"Don't worry, with the beating he got he couldn't have gotten far, plus he'll be out of commission for a good few days at the very least, and with how all the monsters seem to be in hiding at the moment, I'd say his chances at not being found are slim to none." Mutsuko said to try and make her feel better.
Continuing the rest of their walk in relative silence the five heroes would be taken to an examination room, which while certainly nicer than that of a typical doctor's office, was also much bigger than it as well, to the point where they could have actual beds for the patients to lie in if they needed to.
"This is where we part ways, it was nice chatting with you guys, see ya!" Mutsuko told them before walking away.
"Please feel free to make yourselves comfortable, though keep in mind that there is someone else in the room, so try to not disturb them." Atomu said as he pointed to the farthest bed in the room, which was hidden due to the privacy curtains being pulled around it.
"Can do!" Captain Mizuki exclaimed, though in a lower tone than usual to be respectful of the person.
With that all done and said Atomu would follow after Mutsuko down the hall, leaving them alone to talk among themselves.
"Man, this place sure is nicer than any doctor I've ever been to." Gasmask Cowboy noted, as he picked up a nearby medical instrument to look it over.
"Sure is, even the TV's really nice." D-Pad pointed out just as an idea came to mind "Hey, why don't we turn it on to pass the time?" He suggested as he began looking for the remote.
"Didn't you just hear Armored Gorilla? there's someone resting in here, we need to be respectful and not be a nuisance." Tank Top Girl told him.
"Speaking of our mysterious fellow patient, who do you think it is?" Gearsper asked.
"Counter question, why should that concern us?" She asked in return.
"Come on, the only people who'd be brought here for medical treatment if it weren't a huge emergency would be heroes, so it's got to be someone we know." He argued.
"That's true, though to my knowledge no one's been injured recently, not even during all those monster attacks, so it could just be some random person because the nearby hospital's are overcrowded." Gasmask Cowboy suggested.
"This place is as far from a hospital as once could be, so unless every hospital is overflowing with patients then it's definitely a hero." Gearsper rebutted.
"EITHER WAY." Tank Top Girl interrupted sternly, annoyed by this conversation, "Regardless if they are a hero or just some random person the fact is we need to be mindful of them and whatever it is that brought them here by being quiet and not turning on the TV." She said verbally putting her foot down.
Not wanting to incur the fury of a woman who could easily pick them up and fold them like laundry they al fell silent, the only sounds to come from any of them being Gasmask Cowboy fiddling with the medical instruments. That is until soon after they heard a pair of footsteps approaching the room, though given how light they sounded they wondered if it was actually one of those clones. Not paying them much more attention until their owner entered the room, they would all be caught off guard by a little girl holding a tray of food, which actually looked really good. Yet despite all being heroes and having not been in the room when she was there previously, the girl simply ignored them and walked to the back of the room, disappearing from sight into the curtains of the unknown patient.
"Big brother." They heard her say once, only to be met with total silence "Big brother." She repeated, once again receiving no response at all "Big brother!" She repeated thrice, though this time lightly shouting it.
Upon receiving no answer for the third time in a row, they assumed she had given up due to her having gone quiet as well. This would prove untrue however, for after a few seconds passed by they would hear the voice of a man yell out in pain, followed by a verbal response that would reveal who he was.
"OW! ZENKO I TOLD YOU TO STOP HITTING ME IN MY RIBS!" The clear and recognizable voice of a certain S class hero shouted out in anger.
"METAL BAT?!" They all shouted together in response, as they then Tank Top Girl included rushed over to the bed and pulled the curtains back.
Sure enough, lying there in the bed covered in bandages for several wounds was none other than the delinquent looking bat wielding hero of S class, accompanied by the little girl and her plate of food.
"Oi, who the hell are you guys?" He asked them, as they all just stood there in stunned silence.
(A/N: So a few things, yes this chapter's a bit shorter than usual, simply because this will be the last we see of Captain Mizuki and her group for a bit as we focus down on the tournament arc, the monster association, and other important story threads such as Boros and Geryuganshoop, Garou, and finally bringing Sonic into the fold, there is also the matter of Chikara being undercover and being introduced to a monster of my own design, but do not worry because I solely added this monster so he has someone to interact with consistently while he is there, I promise they are not going to play a massively huge role in the story beyond this small point, and I doubt I will ever use them again, they solely exist so I'm not just having Chikara think to himself for most of the time he's incognito, also while I'm still working on fully updating the story and it's chapters it's taking a bit longer than expected, hence why this chapter's out a bit sooner as I wanted to stay true to my word of getting on a hopefully regular update schedule, so yeah, peace)