One Punch Man: Attitude Adjustment
Chapter 29: Tremors
"So...what now?" Rose asked once she and Spade had their chance to recover in the elevator.
"Same as before, but with a little more hustle." Spade said, letting out a soft groan from the massive bruise in the center of his chest.
"Even sticking around to say goodbye? While there is a would-be god running around the place?" Rose asked, her eyebrow raised in concern.
"That's right." Spade said, smirking at the typical way Rose looked when he was up to something. "Which is why you're gonna go to the car, wait ten minuets and then take off if I'm nowhere to be seen."
"You're not exactly in top condition..." Rose replied with exasperation.
"Neither is he, which means we'll be playing on an even field." Spade remarked with a sinister grin.
To the surprise of both, the lights in the elevator started flickering they felt a violent shake that was similar to an earthquake. Unlike the natural occurrence, this quakes came in seven rapid shocks as if something was tearing its way through the entire base. Putting his arm around Rose's shoulder, Spade made both of them squat down. He covered there heads and braced himself just in case the shaking was enough to break the elevator and send them free falling down the last few floors.
"What the hell was that?" Rose mumbled after the shaking died down. "That didn't feel like a regular earthquake."
"Nope...sure didn't." Spade replied, chuckling as he realized they had a more time to spare.
The strange quakes were felt thought-out the entire underground base and for miles over the surrounding area. Kathy and Mia stopped making their way up the stairs, both praying to themselves it wasn't another monster or crazy villain making themselves known. At this point, blood loss made Jeremy somewhat delirious which is why he wasn't fazed by the entire room shaking for a bit. Randal stood still, waiting impatiently for the floor to be still again. After everything he dealt with so far, a strange earthquake just felt like another annoying distraction. Once it was done, he kept moving towards the elevator that was just a handful of feet away.
Above ground, the Heroes and Master Wing had made their way into the facility. Mr. Olympian had to lean on Crossing Guardian to stay on his feet, but the rest were not much better. They didn't get far into the base, because the trap Spade used on Kathy's group had completely blocked the hallway. Nordic believed he could force his way through, but the burly Hero could only put small dents into the metal wall with his Warhammer.
"Can you please stop?!" Tennis Tammy yelled, tired of hearing metal clash with metal. "It's not working!"
"By all means, come up with something better." Bushwhacker sneered.
"Damn, I must be too exhausted from battle." Nordic said as he stepped back.
"I highly doubt it..." Master Wing muttered before turning to John Burns. "Do you have any sort of acid that could melt through this?"
"I'm afraid I've used all the gadgets on my person." John replied, softly shaking his head. "And the extras were kept in one of my car's many hidden compartments."
"Then we must search for another entrance, our fellows warriors cannot be left without reinforcement!" Amazoa said with total conviction, raising her sword and then pointing it forward. "Follow me!"
The Heroic charge only took a handful of steps before the shaking started. Tennis Tammy and John Burn's were knocked down, Bushwhacker clung to Nordic's tunic. Crossing Guardian focused on covering Mr. Olympian just in case there was falling debris. Most of the Heroes and Master Wing not only realized this wasn't a normal earthquake, but each time the ground shake it seemed to be getting stronger.
"Something's coming..." Master Wing said after a terrible revelation. "Get ready!"
Even though they were inside, the finally quake made their feet feel lie the floor beneath them was rippling. It came with a loud blast from outside, one made from sheer force instead of any explosive material. After the blast, the Heroes prepared themselves for another fight. Standing at the ready to attack whatever may burst through the front doors, nothing was heard coming their way. Amazoa was the first one willing to move, leading the group in a slow walk down the hall to see what exactly was waiting for them outside.
The quakes covered enough ground to reach The Bespectacled Worker, who had spent the last few minutes enjoying a surge of confidence that came from witnessing Master Wing dispatch the last of Spade's monsters. When the ground started shaking, it threw the executive off-balance enough to fall back onto his rear end. He scrambled to get back up and grabbed the binoculars he dropped to find out what just happened.
"Oh dear..." The Bespectacled Worker thought as he got back up. "In that was an underground explosion, it could easily be enough to catch Mr. Hogan's group in the blast."
Looking ahead, he was stunned to find a house-sized hole in the middle of the concrete in front of the power plant. With all the debris surrounding the area, it was clear the blast was made from below. The Bespectacled Worker's heart began to race, wondering if there was one more monster under Spade's control. To his surprise, there was only a single man dressed in all white standing nearby. It appeared to be a rather tall man dressed in all white, with long hair that matched the rest of his attire. The man was also facing the power plant, which obstructed the chance to get a proper look at his face.
"Who are you?" The Bespectacled Worker whispered, going through the known associates of Spade in his head.
As a high-ranking employee of the Hero Association, it was expected to have a calm reaction when faced with horrible monsters and extreme disasters. Despite this, The Bespectacled Worker was absolutely terrified when the man in white turned around. There was miles between them, but the executive knew that this person was staring directly at him with an utterly domineering presence. Frozen with fear, his body was screaming to run back to limousine to escape but something in the very back of his mind said that trying to flee would not make any difference.
Luckily, something seemed to catch otherworldly persons attention which caused them to turn around again. Staring at the ground, the man used to working behind the scenes did had to focus to stop hyperventilating.
"Please..." The Bespectacled Worker thought to himself. "Please get here soon..."