One Punch Man: Attitude Adjustment
Chapter 25: The Art of Affection
"Nooo! Bad kitty, bad kitty!" Jeremy yelled at the top of his lungs while still trying to avoid death by a large, mutated tiger.
The yelling and monstrous roars from the Sapphire Tiger were like music to his ears. He took out an expensive Cuban cigar and enjoyed it while occasionally helping his new pet with a burst of gunshots from his Colt M16A1 assault rifle. Tommy did not even shoot to hit Jeremy, he just liked giving the Hero one more thing to worry about.
"You got energy kid, I'll give you that!" Tommy called out with a laugh.
Being a Hero had put Jeremy in bad situations before, but his heart was beating faster than ever. His hair was soaked from sweat along with large stains on the chest armpits of his hoodie. Every step had to count while he evaded the Sapphire Tiger, it kept him mostly on the backfoot with only a few brief chances to fight back. The first try involved using one of his remaining two smoke bombs. Most of the room was enveloped in a lime-green colored mist, making Tommy have to step back and cover use the sleeve of his suit to cover up the coughing. Jeremy kneeled down, keeping quiet as he hoped for a chance to think of something. In just seconds, the monster came charging out of the smoke.
"Crap!" Jeremy yelled as he sprang back into a full sprint.
"That's not gonna work smart guy, not while he's got you're scent." Tommy said triumphantly after the smoke cleared.
With distraction no longer being an option, Jeremy had to keep moving. He also had to ignore the pain for the handful of times the Sapphire Tiger managed to carve into his skin with razor-sharp claws. After ending up near the armory shelves, Jeremy got a desperate idea. He grabbed a shotgun by the barrel and swung it at the Monster's head like a baseball bat. The Sapphire Tiger backed away and hissed at Jeremy like a perturbed house cat. With a moment of confidence, Jeremy wanted to move in and smack the monster in the head again but he was forced to jump up and cling to the side of one of the shelves because Tommy fired a dozen rounds at the Hero's feet.
Tommy fired again, making Jeremy jump off the shelf and roll on the ground as he landed. The monster pounced, but Jeremy managed to duck. At first, his eyes were on the Sapphire Tiger to look out for the next attack but then he noticed the door Jeremy entered before. A very unpleasant plan formed in his mind and after only a moment's hesitation, Jeremy ran straight for the monster to the surprise of Tommy Escobar.
The monster stood on it's hindlegs ready to pin Jeremy down, this made the young man smirk just before his forward on his back and passed through the Sapphire Tiger's open legs. Tommy realized what was going on, but Jeremy was out the door by the time he shot it. This infuriated the cartel leader at first, but his mood lifted when the Sapphire Tiger was quick to follow Jeremy down the hall.
"That's right Hero, scurry away like the ugly little cockroach you are!" Tommy yelled maliciously.
It felt like Jeremy's heartbeat was pounding in his ears as fled down the hall. There was no time to look back, the sounds of stampeding feet and bloodthirsty growls made his adrenaline spike. He nearly through the door to the "Failed Experiments" room while running inside, fear made him put aside just how disgusting everything around his was. With nothing lying around to help, Jeremy had to settle for ripping off a piece of metal pipe from the far side wall. He turned around and the Sapphire Tiger was already in the center of the room.
The pipe was held beside Jeremy's head like a javelin, making the monster squat down and get ready to avoid an attack. Instead, Jeremy tossed the pipe at the failed experiment chamber next to the Sapphire Tiger. Jeremy prayed in his mind, watching the pipe penetrate halfway into the chambers glass. Cracks started to form and then the entire tube shattered, letting the failed experiment ooze onto the floor like a puddle of mangled flesh.
Nothing happened at first, making Jeremy feel very worried. Suddenly, the failed experiment came to life with a horrible screech from multiple mouths. Several disfigured limbs and tendrils sprang out from the center mass and began to wrap around Sapphire Tiger. The monster fought back, tearing into the failed experiment's flesh with claws and fangs. For every limb the Sapphire Tiger ripped apart, another would take it's place and keep the savage beast tapped the struggle.
"Gross..." Jeremy mumbled, covering his mouth and noise as he snuck away. "It smells even worse than it looks..."
Tommy took another drag from his cigar, but the taste was not as satisfying while he waited for his pet to come back with a bloodstained mouth. He decided to check to himself, but was left completely baffled as Jeremy walked through the door.
"How did you...?" Tommy tried to ask.
With a full sprint, Jeremy was in front of Spade's lieutenant before he could finish raising his gun. A stiff shoulder check knocked Tommy onto his back, Jeremy stepped on his gun before pulling Tommy up to his knees.
"Damn...you sure look mad kid. What I ever do to you?" Tommy asked after a few sore coughs.
'Tried to kill Kathy and Mia." Jeremy said bluntly, both hands holding Tommy by the collar.
"Oh right, that." Tommy said with a conniving smirk. "Now to be fair, not my call. If it was, I would have just nabbed the girls and take them home for something much more...enjoyable."
"Oh yeah?" Jeremy said, pulling one arm back as he made a tight fist. "Well I'm gonna enjoy this."
Tommy covered his face with his arms, Jeremy was moments away from punching as hard as he could. He was stopped by the sound of sliding doors coming from behind him followed by a low, frightening growl. Jeremy slowly turned his head, quietly praying that he would not actually see anything. His hopes were shattered by the Sapphire Tiger, now covered in blood and gore as it carried a piece of tendril in it's mouth.
"Umm...uhhh...?" Jeremy tried to think of something, but panic was making his mind go blank.
Seeing an advantage, Tommy returned the favor and jabbed the Hero right in the mouth which gave him time to get away. Jeremy's teeth turned red from blood he spat out of his mouth. He focused on the monster again, ready to run again while he desperately tried to think of something else. Keeping his eyes locked on the Sapphire Tiger straight ahead let Tommy pick up gun from the side.
"Hey, puta!" Tommy yelled, loading a grenade into the built-in launcher of his assault rifle. "Time to go!"
Jeremy did not see Tommy load the grenade and assumed he would be using regular bullets. He ran, but Tommy was able to fire the explosive ahead of where the young Hero was going. The brief time Jeremy had to see the grenade pass his view was enough to change direction, but he was still caught in the blast and blown away by the force of the explosion. He rolled on the floor until he was stopped by hitting face first into the wall, after getting his bearings and sitting up Jeremy had to press his back to the wall. The monster was only a few feet away, close enough for Jeremy to feel the heat coming from it's breath.
"Gotta love having backup." Tommy said with a sinister smile. "Too bad no one's gonna come save you."
The Sapphire Tiger took the first step towards it's and Jeremy started to hyperventilate. He knew the monster was too fast to evade from his position and Tommy could just blow him away with another grenade. He had one smoke bomb left in his hoodie, but that idea already failed before. Jeremy's entire body was shaking in fear, tears started run down his cheeks.
"I'm gonna die...I'm gonna die..." Jeremy muttered with quivering lips. "I'm...I'm..." His eyes went as wide as they could. "I'm gonna let them down..."
It was funny in an odd, somewhat morbid way. The story of people seeing life flash before death was told to Jeremy more than once, but he always expected to see the whole thing. Time felt like it was slowly down, Jeremy's body was still sitting staring at the Sapphire Tiger but his mind was in a single moment from his past.
He was sitting in the family living room, head slumped down with his hands holding the back of his neck. Carter was pacing back and forth behind the couch and Sadhil was standing nearby with arms crossed as he watch the T.V screen. The news was running a story on an interesting new Hero who uses paint to help in his fights. The story even came with cellphone footage of Jeremy fighting a group of muggers.
"Unbelievable..." Carter said as he kept pacing. "I mean you have done some stupid things over the years..."
"It's not stupid dad, I'm helping people." Jeremy replied with a tired groan.
"He didn't mean it like that Jeremy." Sadhil said, sitting down while giving Carter a stern glance. "We just wish you would have told us first."
"Look and I know and I'm sorry but I...I just..." Jeremy said with a heavy sigh. "I didn't want it to be your problem, you shouldn't have to be worried all the time because of my job."
Neither father said anything at first, but Carter seemed to calm down a bit and stopped pacing. Sadhil softly smiled while shaking his head, seemingly amused by what Jeremy said.
"That's nice to hear." Sadhil said. "But I'm afraid it's going to happen no matter what."
"But it shouldn't have to!" Jeremy said, trying to make them understand.
"Well too bad Jeremy, life doesn't always go your way." Carter said, chuckling as leaned into the couch to stand over his son. "You could be working as a fry-cook and we'll still be hoping you don't get burned by the grease." He said while putting a loving hand on Sadhil shoulder, who replied with a playful smile.
"He's right, it's what good parents do." Sadhil added.
Jeremy didn't know what to say, he couldn't help feeling stupid for keeping such a big secret for so long. At that moment, Jeremy remembered just how lucky he was to have two people in his life that really cared.
"With that said, we need you to do one thing for us." Sadhil said.
"Ok...what's that." Jeremy asked.
"No matter what happens...please make sure you always come home." Sadhil said, his voice starting to sound choked up.
Come home, those last two words echoed in Jeremy's mind before his snapping back to reality. The Sapphire Tiger was just steps away and Tommy was in the background reveling in the moment. A deep, desperate fire felt like it was building up in Jeremy. He slowly tried to stand, but only got halfway before the monster pounced again.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jeremy screamed in absolute agony, the monster's teeth had engulfed his left shoulder and nearly bit down to the elbow on his arm.
"That's right baby, tear him apart!" Tommy ordered gleefully.
The monster pulled back to rip off Jeremy's arm, but surprisingly the muscular beast could not move it's head as the young man planted his feet and reached into his hoodie. Blood was already starting to soak into his cloths as Jeremy pulled out his last spray can. Tommy was confused, and then furious as he watched the Hero smash the base of his spray can into the Sapphire Tiger's eye. Three hard hits were enough to puncture the cornea, making the monster let go and pull back. As the monster rubbed tried to rub the blood out of the wounded eye, Jeremy twisted the cap on the spray can with his teeth.
"Eat this!" Jeremy scream to get the monster's attention and then tossed the can into the Sapphire Tiger's open jaws.
Staring in disbelief, Tommy watched his pet monster swallow the can and couldn't help wondering what it would do. Clutching his limp arm, Jeremy knew this was moment was do or die. The monster tried to hack up the can like a hairball, but it failed and Jeremy could see the stomach expand after the smoke bomb went off. Panic came back as the Sapphire Tiger turned to Jeremy again, it stepped forward like it wanted to attack but then fell on it's side. Red smoke began to rise from the monster's mouth and nose as it laid on the floor.
"Que carajo...?" Tommy mumbled.
A chill went down Tommy's spine as Jeremy pulled himself bac to his feet. He was slouched forward with his left arm hanging limp and lifeless, blood dripped off the fingers as Jeremy stared at his remaining enemy with bloodshot eyes. Tommy was the one panicking now. He didn't see a man getting up, instead he saw a ghoul rising from hell to punish him.
"No, no you stay away!" Tommy screamed, raising his gun to fire but it turned the magazine was empty. "Shit...shit!" His hands almost fumbled with a fresh clip as he reloaded, he pointed at Jeremy again but the Hero wasn't there anymore. "Where'd you go? Where are...?!"
Before Tommy could even turn to see it, Jeremy had run around and hit him with a jumping knee that left half the bones in the cartel leader's face shattered. Jeremy crashed into the floor instead of landing, both men laid still on the ground for over a minute. Eventually, Jeremy was the one to wake up, even though he was half conscious and in more pain then he ever experienced before. With one good arm left, Jeremy used it to crawl towards the door with a trail of blood forming behind him. Being so exhausted made Jeremy unaware he was thinking out loud
"I-I'll be home soon..." He said in between groans of pain. "I'll be home soon..."