One Punch Man: Attitude Adjustment
Ch.4 The B Team
More sirens from polices cars and a special transport unit sent by the Hero Association could be heard approaching the Bank. Two squad cars and an ambulance had already arrived but once the police were shown an unconscious monster they decided calling for backup might be a good idea. Randal leaned his back next to the hole in the banks wall he made by tackling the Peacock Griffin through it. His ruined leather jacket was slung over his right shoulder as he watched the clean up crew at work.
The men who robbed the bank with their missing leader Candy were being taken away by the police. Randal noticed that none of them said a word, or showed anything close to anger or regret now that they were caught. He also saw John Burns get put onto a stretcher. Even with his body beaten to the point where he couldn't walk, John still had just enough energy left to flirt with one of the paramedics that was putting him into the ambulance.
Just then, the team sent by the Hero Association arrived. They brought a large, military issue transport vehicle that would be used to take the Peacock Griffin to the Association's headquarters for study. As Randal watched the monster get taken, he eyed two of the Heroes that showed up to tranquilize it. First, there was the young man that Randal found spray painting a building earlier that night. He still had the same, paint covered cloths on and stood with a lazy slouch in his shoulders. It seemed like he was more then happy to step back and let his friend do the talking.
Speaking to the Association workers was a rather tall woman with curly, sandy brown hair that flowed halfway down her back. It was tied into a ponytail and covered by a black, leather outback hat. She was the one holding the tranquilizer rifle, which seemed to be part of the whole look she was going for. She had brown hiking boots on that looked like they were steeled toed. Her matching duster coat that went down to her knees was open, which let her show off her figure. It also showed beige, low cut safari shorts and the desert camouflage design on her tank-top. Aside from the outfit, Randal also noticed the 44. Magnum revolver holstered on her thigh.
"Here you are Mr. Hogan." A soft voice said in a very polite way.
Randal turned to his right to see the third Hero that showed up to help standing in front of him. She was the shortest of the three and had a petite frame. Her skin was pale and her black hair was fairly short, with a full set of bangs hanging over the light blue eyes that matched the color of her outfit. Unlike her some of taller friends cloths, this girls silk shirt and pants seemed like they were made to be modest. The way she talked and carried herself gave the same impression as she held out a jar of ointment for Randal.
"This is my fathers herbal mix, it's very good for helping your wounds heal faster." She said with a dainty smile.
"Just what I need, thanks...miss...uh..." Randal said as realized he didn't even ask for her name yet.
"Mia, My name is Mia." She said with a slight bow of her head. "You may also call me Lady Crane if you like."
"Alright, Thanks Mia." Randal said before looking at the other two heroes again. "So, you three always work as a team?"
"It's only been like this for a little while, at first it was just Kathy and I but then Jeremy joined not long after." Mia replied as she watched her two friends help the association workers put the Peacock Griffin into the transport. "Sometimes we don't agree, but I still think we all work well together." " She said with a content smile.
"That's good, kids your age should have friends they can count on. Especially if you're doing a job that can end with you becoming a monsters lunch." Randal said as he started using the medicine Mia gave him, rubbing it into one of the claw marks on his lower back..
"Oh, I forgot to mention that the herbal mix might..." Mia tried to explain.
"Ahhh, Dammit!" Randal shouted as soon as the ointment made contact with his skin.
"Sting..." Mia said with a guilty look on her face. "Sorry..." She said sheepishly.
"You okay big guy?" Kathy asked with an amused smirk, noticing Mia's ointment in his hand.
"Yeah...just fine." Randal said through gritted teeth, doing his best to ignore the sudden rush of pain as he finished rubbing the ointment in.
"Excuse me, Savage Senior." One of the Association worker called out as he stood with Kathy, Jeremy and his co-workers. "Can you come here please?"
"Just Savage is fine." Randal said as he got up and approached the man who asked for him.
Randal could see a domed shape piece of metal in the worker's hand. It was the device that was attached to the Peacock Griffin's head until Randal loosened it enough to make the monster decide to just tear it off, the amount of dried blood covering it showed just how connected it was to the monsters body.
"You said this was attached to the monster, right?" The Association worker asked Randal. "Did you see anything that might explain why? Could it have enhanced the monsters abilities in some way?"
"Can't say for sure, I was more focused on killing it then checking for upgrades." Randal replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "If I had to guess, I'd say the woman in charge of all this put it on to keep track of her over-sized pet."
"That would make sense." The Association worker said as he looked at the device with a very concerned expression. "But that would also mean...criminals have found a way to control monsters."
All of the workers, police officers and medical staff that were close enough to hear that theory were overcome with dread. Monsters and villains were dangerous enough on their own, the thought of one now having control over the other was enough to send shivers down their spines. Headquarters was called and given the information right away, Sekingar was the one answered.
"What?! Are you sure about it?" Sekingar asked, shocked by what he was hearing over the phone. "Keep me informed, I need to organize an emergency meeting." He said just before hanging up.
After the workers hauled the monster away, the police started to disperse as well. As Randal looked around and realized how much damaged was caused by fighting the Peacock Griffin he sighed in relief because Heroes never had to pay for the collateral damage.
"Hey, It's Randal right?" Kathy asked as she stood with Jeremy and Mia behind her. "Need a ride home?"
Since his only other option was walking, Randal took the offer. After a quick stroll down the road and walking around a corner Randal was standing in front of a black, six wheeled armored car that was big enough to fit in two parking spaces. It also seemed to have a custom paint job, with a pair silver of racing stripes along both sides and a well done image of an animals fanged teeth just below the windshield.
"Wow...nice way to get around." Randal said, impressed as his eyes studied every noticeable part about the vehicle.
"Thanks, we call it The Bulldog." Kathy replied with a proud grin.
"Oh yeah?" Randal said as he started walking around The Bulldog. "And why is...that..." Randal said as the smile dropped from his face.
As Randal looked at the back of the armored car, he found the answer to his question. He was face to face with a picture of a bulldogs head, a picture that was painted in a way that made it look like a character in a cartoon from the 1940's. The picture had big, bright eyes and a smiling face with the tongue hanging out and did not match the tough looking vehicle it was painted on at all.
"Let me guess..." Randal said as he looked at Mia and pointed at the bulldog picture. "Your idea?
"That's right, I told Jeremy to make it as cute as possible." Mia replied happily. "And I think he did a very good job." She said while smiling at Jeremy.
"It was no problem..." Jeremy replied with an uncaring attitude that wasn't very convincing.
"Alright guys, let's move out." Kathy said as she pressed a button on her key chain that caused the backdoor on the Bulldog to open.
Randal let the others go in first, when he stepped inside he saw high-tech monitors on the dashboard and in the center console. Kathy was in the driver seat with Mia sitting quietly beside her, Jeremy sat behind them in one of the four backseats. As Randal sat down, he also noticed a hunting shotgun mounted on the wall beside him which was one of a dozen different guns mounted inside The Bulldog.
"How do you kids afford all this?" Randal asked as he looked around.
"Kathy's filthy rich." Jeremy replied as he leaned back to relax in his seat.
"And I love it." Kathy said with a smirk as she started The Bulldog. "My parents run the Irwin Constriction Conglomerate."
"You mean the guys that always clean up after monster attacks?" Randal asked, hearing that name before.
"Yup, every time there's rebuilding to do we're the family that gets the call ." Kathy explained with her eyes still on the road.
"And how do mom and dad feel about you as a Hero?" Randal wondered out loud.
"Couldn't be happier, when I told them I was taking the test they gave me full support. Mom couldn't stop talking about all the press attention they were going to get. Daddy thought more about branding; that's why he really liked me coming up with a simple, catchy name like Outback Girl." Kathy said casually, a perky smile on her face as she kept driving.
"They sound like nice folks." Randal said with a hint of sarcasm before turning his attention to Jeremy. "And whats your nickname kid? Picaso? Maybe Da Vinci?" He said with a chuckle.
"Tagger." Jeremy replied after yawning, turning his head just enough to look at Randal.
"Do you think we'll find more criminal with monsters?" Mia asked Kathy.
"I hope so. Beating up bad guys is one thing, but throw a bunch of monsters into the mix and that'll make it even more impressive when we take them all down." Kathy said with a cocky grin as she kept driving.
The rest of the drive through the city was mostly quiet. Kathy was focused on the road, Mia was focused on what they might have to deal with in the future and Jeremy pulled his hood over his face to sleep. Randal didn't mind the silence, it gave him time to finish treating his wounds with Mia's medicine. While they all kept moving in the Bulldog, Sekingar's emergency meeting about tonight's robbery had begun.
"I'm sure all of you agree, this is a very troubling discovery." Sekingar said to the other committee members who joined the meeting through video chat.
"Are we certain this is the only known case?" The Bearded Worker asked from his half of the screen. "What about the data we gathered from the House Of Evolution?"
"That was different, the House Of Evolution was led by the worlds leading expert in genetic manipulation and according to Demon Cyborg; every monster encountered that worked for Dr. Genus was sentient and capable of speech. Everything we've heard about this Griffin monster shows that it behaves like a wild animal, I believe that's why the device that was found to is needed control it." The short-haired, female executive said.
"But we can't be sure until our technicians get a chance to run a full series of tests." The Bearded Worker commented. "How are the two heroes that fought the monster?"
"Mr. Burn's is in critical condition, but is apparently still still be in high spirits." Sekingar said while rolling his eyes, he knew enough about Jack Burn's to understand what was keeping him so happy. "Savage Senior appeared to be in stable condition before being taken home by Outback Girl's team."
"Do you mean the Irwin's daughter?" The short-haired woman asked. "I wasn't aware she formed her own group."
"They haven't been together for very long, and so far she only has two members." Sekingar said as he sent his two colleagues information on the three heroes and continued to explain. "At first, Outback Girl was only working with Class B Rank 43 Lady Crane. Not long after, Class B Rank 66 Tagger joined as well after helping the two of them deal with a troublesome monster. Being the highest Ranked at 31, it makes sense that Ms. Irwin would be in charge. But I have a feeling her parents paying for all of her Hero activities themselves also has something to do with it."
"Did they have anything to add to the investigation?" The short-haired woman said.
"No, they arrived after the woman known as "Candy" had fled the scene." Sekingar answer as he sent them a picture of Candy inside the banks vault. "Security cameras at the bank confirm shes the same Candy that leads a small time gang called the "Daddy-O's"."
"If they're so small time, how did they get their hands on a monster strong enough to fight two B-Class heroes along with the means to control it?" The Bearded Worker remarked.
"I'm wondering the same thing, but I already have a guess..." Sekingar said with a somber mood. "The rise in crime is far more serious then we thought and it may be thanks to someone supplying these gangs. That could explain how a simple street gang could suddenly have their hands own monster like this."
"True, but that also means we have to find any lead we can on this new crime lord." The short-haired woman said.
"You're right, and I think we should make it a top priority." Sekingar said without any doubt in his words. "If we cannot stop this from growing, then we have failed to live up to this Associations name." He said while clenching his first, his face showing just how determined he was to get the job done.
The meeting wrapped up shortly after that, all three members of the committee left it knowing how potentially dire the situation was. Meanwhile, the Bulldog was still driving through the T-City streets. Every person it passed on the street couldn't help but look twice at the massive armored vehicle that was rolling past them.
"Here we are." Kathy said as she parked in front of Randal's apartment. "Thank you for travelling with us, we know you have a choice of bulletproof transportation so your business is always appreciated."
"I'll be sure to give you five stars, thanks for the ride." Randal said he stood up and turned to walk out of the open back door.
"Bye..." Jeremy mumbled as Randal walked by without even opening his eyes.
"Actually, hold on a sec big guy." Kathy said as she stepped out of the driver's seat. "You were at the meeting about crime going up, right?"
"That's right." Randal replied as he looked over his shoulder.
"Good, because I'm going to make sure we're the ones that put a stop to it." Kathy said with complete confidence. "And once we do, I bet we can all talk the higher-ups into giving us a level up to Class A." Kathy said with pure excitement, as if their were actual stars in her eyes as she talked about their chance at fame.
"Shouldn't keeping people safe come first?" Mia said with a disappointed pout that Kathy knew all to well by now.
"O-Of course it comes first Mia." Kathy said with an embarrassed blush smile that resembled a child not wanting to admit they were caught. "But you to admit, the promotion would be pretty nice."
After pausing for a moment, Randal turned around to look at the three younger heroes. They all seemed like good kids for the most part, and they had access to some pretty impressive equipment...
"Nice offer, but I'll pass." Randal said after a soft sigh. "I haven't been much a team player for a long time. Have a good night guys." Randal said as he turned to leave again, he made it all the way to his door before Kathy stuck her heard out of the Bulldog to talk again
"Would it help if I offered to pay top dollar?" She asked with another perky smile.
Randal stopped dead in his tracks, his fingers just an inch away from touching the doorknob. Kathy noticed this, and her smile got a little bit bigger.
"Keep talking." Randal answered as he turned around again.