One Punch Man: Attitude Adjustment
Chapter 26: Rabid Monkey Chasing Graceful Crane
The sounds of metal clashing and smashed concrete echoed through the air. The team of Heroes left to clean up the mess of monster were struggling to handle the last beast, the weaker ones could only stand back and watch their comrades fight with all they had against the Reaper Scarecrow. The A-Class duo and Master were able to land hits, cutting through the monster's cloths and severing the straw that made up it's body. But with every cut, the monster was able to weave it's wounds for recovery while still keeping up a fierce and fast paced assault. Nordic know he couldn't keep up with the others but still wanted to join the fight, he tried to pick his moment to charge in but each time he have to back away while and narrowly avoid being cut in half.
"Grrrr...this isn't working!" Nordic shouted in frustration.
"But what else can we do?" Tammy said in a distraught way.
"It's made of straw, right? Anybody got a match?!" Bushwhacker asked.
"My thoughts exactly..." John Burns said with a grin. "Everyone, back away!"
John Burns held up his watch, using it to emit a green laser onto the monster's chest. Seeing this made Amazoa, Crossing Guardian and Master step back to make room for John's car. It sped towards the Reaper Scarecrow but was stopped by the monster's scythe piecing though the front end. It could have been closer, but John knew there was nothing left to lose. After entering a four digit code into the watch, the Aston Martin suddenly exploded. The blast made all the Heroes have to shield their eyes, Bushwhacker held onto Nordic's waste to avoid getting knocked back by the shock.
Fire and smoke engulfed the monster, giving the Heroes a moment of hope. But the Reaper Scarecrow emerged from the blasts, it's cloths were burnt off and a charred layer of straw was shed from the monster's body like snake-skin. The scythe was broken, but the monster made up for this by splitting each of it's lanky arms into pairs of braided whips. The whips were strong enough to break concrete as they lashed around. The monster's jaw almost opened to let out a horrible wail, making Tennis Tammy and Bushwhacker cover their ears.
"No offense..." Mr. Olympian said, his words and lips trembling. "B-But I think you just made it worse."
"I'll admit, not one of my finer moments..." John Burns said after a very worried gulp.
The monster stepped forward, lashing it's whips at the group. Amazoa and Crossing Guardian were able to fend off the dangerous appendages but were clearly worn out from constant fighting. Seeing no other choice, Master Wing decided he would need to use a technique that was only pulled out in the most dire situations. He took up a Horse Stance with his arms crossed like the letter X. His fingers stayed in the claw position as the master began a series a deep, highly focused breaths.
"You two!' Master Wing said to the A-Class duo. "Hold him back as long as you can...I won't need long for this."
The two A-Class Heroes were already planning to fight and lunged towards the monster together. The others were confused about Master Wing's actions, but then they noticed what he was actually doing. Muscles were already starting to tense and bulge, abnormal heat would start to radiate from the martial artist's body. He was supposed to think about nothing but the technique, but a lingering fear was lurking the back of his mind.
While the Master kept fighting up above, his most important student was struggling with her own opponent. After a drawn out period of waiting for the other to strike, Simian got bored and decided to go in head on. This started a fast flurry of strikes and evasion that made the two trained fighters looked like they moves were perfectly choreographed. Mia held her own at first, but young Lieutenant's wild and unorthodox Monkey Style proved to be challenging.
The onslaught came from every angle, showing off Simian's incredible speed and flexibility. Quick sweeps and crouching jabs kept Mia on her toes whenever he attacked from below. He combined this with perfect flips and spinning kicks that looked something you would see from a world-class break-dancer. Simian enjoyed every moment of the fight while Mia did her best to adapt as the pink-haired man was slowly starting to push her back. Simian stood on his hands while twisting his legs at Mia's head, she ducked and used a strong sweep to knock his hands out of place. She was hoping this would make him fall, but Simian was able to spin his entire body in midair and launched her across the room with a kick to her chest.
"Not bad." Simian remarked, crouched down after landing on his feet with ease. "Feel free to take a breather if you need it."
A stiff glare was Mia's only response, she was tired of Simian treating this fight like a game. She was quick to get up and charged her opponent, hoping to catch him off guard with a flying kick of her own. The Lieutenant was pleasantly surprised and countered by jumping up and using Mia's head to play mid-air leapfrog. It threw Mia off-balance, making her land face first as she tumbled on the ground.
Simian whistled a happy tune, casually walking over to Mia until she sprang interaction with a flurry over kicks and strikes. The pink haired villain was skilled enough to block almost every shot, but being the shorter opponent helped Mia sneak in a hit with her elbow into the center of Simian's abs. This small opening let Mia turn him around, pin his leg to the floor by kicking out the knee and then grab Simian's arm to apply a tight hold behind his back. Before she could finish with a forehead to the back of the Lieutenant's head, something completely unexpected caught her off guard.
A tail, which Simian had kept coiled and hidden around his waist appeared all of a sudden to jab Mia in the left eye. She cried out in pain and loosened her grip, letting Simian slip out of it and push her away. With her eye already swelling and half closed, the young tried to keep up the offensive with a high kick to the villain's jaw. Simian easily ducked and used his tail to wrap around Mia's foot and trip her sideways. Before she hit the ground, Simian stood on his hands to deliver a brutal two-foot kick that sent Mia flying into wall behind her.
"Look on the bright side, no one's gonna say you didn't put up a good fight." Simian said, watching Mia struggle to get up. "But if that's all ya got, I can't imagine the old man's gonna be much harder."
"Wh...what is wrong with you?" Mia asked with disgust while down on one knee. "All that skill...and you just throw it all away to be insane."
"You know what...I am getting really tired of people saying that." Simian said after Mia's words struck a nerve.
"Well than maybe you shouldn't act so childish." Mia said after coughing blood onto her wrist. "I have to assume you had a Master of some kind, did they not each you anything about humility and respect?"
"Oh I did, but it's a pretty boring story." Simian said, shrugging his shoulders "Boy meets Master, Master takes boy in, cut to a three training montage and then Master gets mad because the boy decided to go have fun and beat up some guys who were dumb enough to try picking a fight. So as you might expect, the boy and the Master argue. Then arguing leads to shouting, then shouting leads to fighting and then fighting leads to the boy snapping the Master's neck." He explained while smiling with pure satisfaction.
"You...you killed them?" Mia said in disbelief.
"Yup, and I've been living the free life ever since. That means if I want to dye my hair a goofy color, I can!" Simian gleefully replied, running both through his long head of bright pink hair. "If I decide to just take anything I want instead of paying, I can! Hell, if I want to let some shady scientists strap me down and shove a tail into my spine...! Well, you probably get it by now." He said while twirling the tail with his hand.
Fists clenched in resentment, Mia had fought real monsters before but this somehow this man felt far more vile. Her composure was cracked, feeling the need to rip that smug look off Simian's face. It was not just a vengeful fantasy, Mia knew all to well it was possible. A personnel sacrifice would be required first, Mia always had pride in being able to fight with restraint but tonight would have to be an exception.
"Still got some energy?" Simian asked, seeing Mia get back to her feet. "Alright, suit yours...huh?"
Trained eyes let Simian see the change in style immediately. It was up front, ready to spring forward instead of just dancing around the opponent. Mia's three-clawed formation with her hands was the dead giveaway but the one thing he noticed most was her face. The naïve, frustrated girl that Simian was fighting seemed to be gone entirely. In her place someone stone-faced, resolute and bearing an aura of livid rage.
"Okay..." Simian thought, not letting the change in atmosphere throw him off. "Let's see where this..."
With only a split second to react, Simian look surprised as he dodged to clawed hand passing by his face. Now he was the one on the back-foot as Mia assaulted him with a flurry that was fast enough to make her arms blurred. The lieutenant could only block so many before two sharp nails left deep, identical cuts on his right arm just below the shoulder. This new attitude was starting to get on Simian's nerves, he feigned dodging in a way that let him do a full spin and then land his elbow into the center of Mia's cheek. Believing he done enough to end it left Simian completely open as Mia followed the moment of being hit allowed to pull off a flashy spin of her own. She swiped at Simian's stomach, making him bleed from two deep and identical cuts.
Wincing in pain, Simian realized this wasn't fun in games anymore. He tried to take the offensive again, but Mia was faster. All he could do was defend himself as the young Hero seemed to get more confident and dangerous with clawed punch and kick. The outside world was mute to Mia, as she continued her relentless assault the only thing echoing in her mind was the words of her father.
"In many ways, the Hunting Eagle's Claw Fist is the opposite of everything I have taught you so far. It does not comply with those who are indecisive. Every move must be done with commitment and the intent will always be to maim or kill. You will not enjoy this Mia, the training will be brutal and could easily cripple those who aren't prepared for it. At times, you may beg to quit like I did at your age but that will not be allowed." She could still remember sitting on her knees in the center of the dojo, her father's presence had never felt more intimidating. "The world can a very cruel place and even though we live in a time of beasts, no monster can ever compare to the ones that walk among us in human form. Until now I've shown you how to subdue an enemy, but sometimes that will not be enough. Some are simply beyond reason or redemption, they are the ones willing to take everything away from you and laugh while it happens. I pray you never come across them Mia but if you do, this training will be what protects you."
Simian realized he was getting close to the tables set up on the other end of the room. He used backwards handsprings to create distance and also flip over the table directly behind him. After flipping the table on its side, Simian lifted it up so he could launch it at Mia with a well placed push kick. With only a second to react, knew exactly what to do. She jumped over the table and with perfect timing, managed to jump off the table's edge with the tip of her toes. This let her jump close to the ceiling, the light hitting her back turned her into a shadowy silhouette. Simian looked up in shock and for a brief moment was left baffled by the image of a large, black bird descending onto him. Six claws dug into his shoulders as Mia used the landing to pin opponents Simian's torso between hers legs. One hand quickly moved to grasp the lieutenant's neck and the other hovered over his face.
"Good fight...call it a draw?" Simian gasped.
Every muscle was telling Mia to finish him off, he deserved it after everything that was done to her family and home. Hearing the fool keep joking even after being beaten made her want to silence him once and for all. But something was holding her back, something that could not be denied no matter how much reason told Mia otherwise. Her clawed hand changed into flat palm, one strike to the center of Simian's forehead knocked him out after the back of his head bounced off the floor. Her mind went back and forth between regret and denial. After getting up and dusting herself off, Mia couldn't help staring at Simian and wonder if she did the right thing. After a few moments, Mia pulled herself away from the unconscious villain and focused on the task at hand.
Despite most of her body feeling incredibly sore with the possibility of broken ribs, Mia still moved on. No amount of pain was going to stop her from completing her mission, helping her friends and showing her father that years of training was not going to be in vain.