The sound of collapsing buildings could be heard, alongside that of screaming citizens running for their lives. Soldiers, police, and strange short black creatures rushed to aid in the evacuations, guiding people away from the carnage.
From the wreckage of the building a large creature emerged. A black and red colored creature that had a humanoid torso, and ant body. It flexed his arms proudly for a moment before it announced itself.
"Mwahahahaha! I am the great Ant Overlord!" It proclaimed, facing towards the sky.
"Humans are wretched and filthy creatures... I know this, because I have seen the way you have enslaved my kind in captivity, the way you destroy the homes of my brethren that have existed peacefully in your society." It spoke that last part full of sorrow.
"But no more!" It clenched its fist in rage. "No more shall my kind remain slaves to be abused by you humans! With the extinction of your species I shall proclaim a new Ant Empire alongside my Queen! … Now prepare to face the wrath of the ants!"
After the end of the Ant King's speech the wreckage behind him collapsed further into the ground making a giant hole. From there a torrent of abnormally large ants poured out from a hole behind their King and surrounded him.
"Now kill them all, my minions!" The Ant King then sent his subjects forward onto the streets of the City.
From a close distance away a Black Sperm looked onto the sight in mild interest, as he sat on the edge of a building dangling his legs over it.
Ants huh? Interesting matchup. Do they have armor or is it just their boss?
Looking at the scene of the battle between ants and humans below, it appeared to him that the soldiers and police were successfully dispatching the Ant King's minion with their basic firearms, if a little bit outnumbered. Though he sent some cells to provide some light support too, so they weren't taking any casualties as most too injured would be carried out by other cells.
Eh, looks like the army should be able to handle the underlings. I only really needed to help with evacuation and support here.
Black Sperm got up, then stretched for a moment before diving off the roof of the building.
I guess I can handle the boss too. What level is this one, feels like a demon.
Black Sperm landed gracefully and rolled back into a standing position.
Ok, here we go!
Black Sperm then ran into action, alongside his allies and then maneuvering past the ants.
Never liked ants much.
Black Sperm got to the spot where the Ant King was. after killing a few of his slightly larger minions in moments, then he was greeted by the sight of the mysterious being fuming in rage.
"You fiend!" The Ant King pointed an accusatory claw at him.
"Allying with humans! If it wasn't for that one disgusting and deplorable act, I wouldn't have minded your presence within my Empire. Your unique abilities would have made you a valuable servant to me... but I cannot forgive you for killing my children and aiding the wretched inhabitants of the surface, for that you will pay! Now die!" Then the Ant King lunged at Black Sperm with his claws extended out.
Black Sperm didn't dignify the Ant King with a remark. Instead he promptly shapeshifted himself a larger body for a second moment before rushing towards the humanoid ant in response.
It didn't take much other than a simple and quick thrust of a fist to reduce the ant monster to nothing more than a stain and scattered body parts on the ground.
Eww.
Black Sperm sent off another few hundred thousand cells back towards the frontline fighting to assist the army combatants from the front of the frontline. Then he shrunk back down to his normal size.
So this was easy… is that really it? Could've swore I was told there was something larger here.
Black Sperm glanced around at the other destroyed buildings.
Now that I think about it, something pretty big had to be messing up those buildings other than a bunch of oversized ants, so whatever it was probably went back underground then. A Queen maybe?
Black Sperm crouched down and looked into the pit.
Don't have much experience underground, and I don't really wanna test if my cells can be asphyxiated… Maybe it can be flushed out to the surface for me to deal with easier?
Pulling out the phone Steel gave him, Black Sperm scrolled through his contacts then dialed up the number for the commander of the local army group.
"Army Group D. Who's speaking?"
"This is Black Sperm. I've dealt with one of the leaders above ground, but I think we might have a larger one that's tearing up buildings from the underground. I found the tunnel it's going through. Do we have anything that can flush it out? Like fire or water?"
I would have suggested just a large amount of pest control, but I had no idea if they had that in the amount needed to fill a maybe mile long tunnel.
"I could see if I could get a fire truck… but from my end it looks like the roads have been trashed too much for it to get through property. And we don't really have anything that can make fire or poison gas in large quantities fast enough for it to be worth it. How big is the hole, can you walk inside it?"
Black Sperm sighed. "Yeah I can fit in it… actually I'll just see what I can do to take things from my end."
Then he jumped into it.
Man it's dark in here. I should carry a flashlight on me or something.
Walking. Walking. Wait do I hear rumbling?!
Black Sperm could hear ahead the noise get louder and louder. He readied his cells.
Come at me!
Black Sperm felt the impact of a larger ant like creature hit him and push his body back a bit aways. He would've compared it to a truck save for the fact that he'd never been hit by a truck before.
Just a second late he focused his cells to shapeshifter, increasing the size and density of himself to match the force.
The hole is starting to get cramped in here!
Despite the size of the tunnel, an increase in size would also decrease the amount of room Black Sperm had to maneuver around for attacking.
Rrrrr! You know what I'm going to run out and see if you follow me, so we, or I don't get buried here, I think I got your attention now. See ya!
Black Sperm shrunk then rushed off he went to the way in whence he came. The other enraged ant followed suit pursuing him.
Heh, still fast as speed... whatever that means.
Ah there it is, light!
To the surface Black Sperm had arrived, and with the other creatures coming up as well. The creature, now an incredibly large ant was in view. It made a screeching sound as it arrived at the surface.
Just looks like all the other abnormally larger ants, only bigger then the rest of them. Was this the Queen? Huh.
Black Sperm sighed. Nothing too strange or abnormal, I'll take care of this quickly.
Again he shifted his cells and physical form larger to that of the gargantuan ant. Just a second later Black Sperm swung a large fist at its body, the impact tearing the bug into pieces just as he had done to the Ant King.
Hmmm. Neither the King and Queen didn't take much to beat... guess I should be thankful I only have to deal with fodder right now. I'm already going to be in over my head when the dragons start coming in waves... so I'll enjoy this while I still can.
Okay time to regroup!
"S-save th-the world?" Tatsumaki stuttered.
The green haired esper was unsure how to respond to such a broad statement, and so she repeated it back. As if to affirm that was what she had heard her 'dad' say.
Ah of course, I anticipated this sort of reaction. Better to be honest right at the beginning, before I divulge and twist the truth a bit.
"Yes." Black Sperm took one of her similarly sized hands into his before he continued. "You see there's something I've been meaning to tell you, and I just decided now would be a good time as any."
"What is it?"
"Well you see… I'm from the future."
"The future… ?" Tatsumaki repeated in disbelief.
Now to convince her.
"Correct." Black Sperm said simply. "That was how I was able to know where you were and rescue you in that lab."
Well I overheard some guys talking and I made a lucky guess, though partially true.
"R-really?!" Tatsumaki was surprised.
"Yeah, and also the fact that you can control your powers just fine."
Tatsumaki looked off to the side apologetically.
"Sorry for not telling the truth."
"It's cool." Black Sperm waved her off, before continuing. "I know your reasons. You can ask me questions about that later though, I'll explain the important things first. About the future."
"Okay."
"You've probably heard this already from the people working there, but you remember how you've been told you have incredibly strong psychic powers right?"
She frowned, and nodded. Remembering a few of the tests some scientists did to gauge her power, just before she was bought...
"Far in the future you become a hero. But not just any ordinary hero, it is because of your psychic powers that you eventually become one of the most powerful heroes in the world!"
Pausing for dramatic effect, and let it settle in.
"In the future you're able to destroy powerful monsters instantly and sometimes without effort. Eventually you become the strongest and most famous hero in the world."
Sorry Blast and Saitama… wait neither of you would care about that would you?
"That... sounds… really cool! But kind of scary."
"It is, but for as strong as you become, there are a couple of times where you're almost defeated."
"I-I thought you said I was the strongest!?"
"You are strong yes... But one person can only fight so much on their own or without the help of others, which is why in those times where you did struggle, you had other heroes to help when you needed it."
Tatsumaki gulped. "Okay… then, where are they now? The heroes who helped me?"
"All of them still need to grow up, and train to reach their true potential, including yourself. But instead of training your psychic abilities that will just grow as you age, you need to train your body instead."
To emphasize his point Black Sperm grabbed and pointed to her arm. "See this here? You need a bit of muscle, right now you're small and flimsy."
Tatsumaki blushed. "Are my powers not enough?"
Black Sperm nodded. "It's part of the reason why I saved you. In the future monsters will start appearing more and more, and get stronger and stronger."
"D-does that mean I l-lose in the future?" Tatsumaki looked scared.
"No but you end up having a lot of very close fights. I wanted to make sure when you win you always come out unscathed. As far as I know you haven't actually lost. Only nearly."
"If I never lost… then what's the problem?"
"The people put their faith in heroes, especially you. I think you need to train early on so they don't lose that hope when seeing you in danger, even if you still win the battle in the end it makes people afraid to know you could potentially lose. And that in itself is bad, I think you know why."
"So you want me to get stronger now? So people don't lose hope in me?"
"Something along those lines. Oh and uh, I apologize for not mentioning it earlier. I wasn't really sure how to explain it, or if you would believe me."
Tatsumaki stared at Black Sperm thoughtfully.
"It's alright. A-at least you told me, thank you. And um... I have to ask a few things too."
"Go on."
"Umm, not to be rude but... if you're a monster why are you helping me so much? I thought they didn't like humans? I-I know you're good, I was just wondering why..."
Good question. Do I try to explain Isekai manga reincarnation to a little girl? That I used to be human but never lost my humanity upon transformation? Or that I was monster that underwent redemption?
I guess saying that I was a former human would be a bit more sympathetic then always having been a Sperm, and that also would probably be more accurate to my situation.
"I used to be a human once too actually. But when I changed I never lost my humanity, I still kept my human feelings."
That was true, at least.
"No way! How did you change?"
"I'm not so sure myself. I just woke up here not that long ago, maybe a few days ago, and I found out my body was different. Not only that but I was in the past instead of the present. Just like that."
"That's weird." Tatsumaki scrunched her nose. "I thought you needed to like, be really angry, or something."
"Kind of. But emotions aren't the only things that can turn people. It can happen from pretty much anything... and I think in very rare cases monsters can become good too. It's really really rare, but it can happen... they just need to be in the right circumstances, and sometimes with."
"Oh! Because you're from the future, that means you know good monsters?"
Only Sweet Mask, Black Sperm, and Overgrown Rover came to mine, but only two of them seemed genuine. The original Black Sperm seemed more pragmatically selfish if anything. Rover was just a dog.
"Only a couple, but try not to get your hopes up too much, most are bad and shouldn't be trusted at all."
Tatsumaki nodded in acceptance to that.
Well I got that out of the way.
"Any questions?"
"Um, when will we start training?"
Oh that. Uh, okay so for a schedule she's gonna have... me, Bang, and schooling, I think. Not sure the order, or when to start... eh, we can be lazy for a little. I could probably whip up something with my doubles later. Maybe while she's sleeping.
"Tomorrow, actually."
"Th-that soon?!"
"Well yeah, but I mean training isn't all we're doing though. We just need to start soon to get you into shape physically, after that we'll work on a... cool fighting style. This is mostly to help you in the event that you're unable to use your powers, but most of the time since you're already strong fighting monsters will be a breeze."
Tatsumaki nodded. "Okay! Oh wait... I've never been very good at gym..." She spoke with disappointment.
"That's fine, I'll make sure the training isn't too hard for you at the start. We'll do a slow build up..." Black Sperm trailed off.
One hundred push ups... one hundred sit-ups... one hundred squats... and a... ten kilometer run... EVERY SINGLE DAY.
"Bedtimes in..." Black Sperm looked at the clock, the digital clock on the wall, it was 8:40.
Was it that late? Jeesh, time sure flies by.
"Now. Go bush your teeth and go to bed. Make sure to rest up, we got a big day tomorrow."
"Okay!" Then the little esper ran off.
Better start planning her schedule out. Dojo should come sometime later though, maybe when she's already a little bit more built. It's a gamble if she'll develop physically like Saitama, but you can't say I didn't try.
Would Bangs style be enough? Could do his brother too if Tats becomes a prodigy, then maybe-
Okay now I'm starting to get ahead of myself. Just gonna start things out simple, then I'll branch out as needed.
Where to look for the science man.
Black Sperm sat at a small table and stared at a map of a world, the supercontinent in the shape of the Saitama prefecture of Japan, as Black Sperm known through meta knowledge.
Uh let's see... Saitama and Genos found Genus in the same episode... so that means he should be at least near City Z, narrowing it down if I'm remembering right.
But that still leaves a lot of ground to cover. Though at least I can safely eliminate the population centers, since I do in fact remember the base being in a forested area.
No abandoned district yet to help judge the general distances, so that was something to take note of. Maybe I should station a few guys there to keep watch. Maybe raid the Subterranean guys base for myself, no clue what to use it for though, a giant personal base maybe?
Taking out another map, this time of City B's local forests, Black Sperm considered the possible areas where the House of Evolution would be located, or one of the main ones.
With splitting it isn't going to take too much work to actually find the main base, in fact I'll just go wander around until I find it. Shouldn't be too hard to find, considering its size.
...
As expected with the help of his countless cells Black Sperm was able to locate the House of Evolution in record time.
The building itself was something similar to a skyscraper, but with windows that looked more like slits covering it in an uneven way.
Unlike a certain rude cyborg I had no intention of destroying the House of Evolution. Genus' mind was far too valuable to be left in idle working at a Takoyaki shop, or wasting away creating monsters to test out.
Black Sperm approached closer to the entrance doors.
Oooo, a doorbell, that's interesting. Ring ring.
The metal door opened, revealing a Genus clone, labeled with the designation #88.
"Genus."
"Oh. This is quite unexpected."
"Yeah yeah... I want to talk about some stuff... but seeing a guy with a number on his shirt gives me an idea, now I'm thinking about a little business proposition, you interested?"
Real smooth.
"Why of course, the doctor will see to you shortly. You may come in."
...
"Black Sperm, while I've certainly had my eye on you ever since your first appearance I'm surprised that someone of your newly acquired societal status would be interested in my work." Genus said.
"There's a few reasons why I wanted to see you. One being that my body isn't human, obviously, I mean I used to be a human. but since that isn't the case anymore I thought I might need someone with a less constraining mindset to help me learn about my new body and research it's potential. Knowing your contributions to biology and mindset I thought you seemed like the best option."
Genus nodded. "Of course. I'm not restricted to the same ethics as most scientists working in the same field, so you'll certainly benefit off of my cooperation in researching yourself in ways others may be uncomfortable doing. But learning your own biology wasn't the only thing you wanted to talk about I presume. What's this I hear about a business proposition?" Genus inquired.
"A few things. After seeing you've cloned yourself and found eternal youth I'm suddenly interested in hiring you to work at my organization, and absorb your research facility into my company. Having just become a multi-billionaire I thought it might be more useful to utilize your mind to help evolve humanity in more public ways instead of hiding out in a lab like a recluse, and what better way to spread your ideals then through economic means with the help of a a large company?"
After Black Sperm finished some of Genus' clones began whispering among themselves.
Genus had a thoughtful look. "I'll admit I'm definitely enticed by that offer... But I do have some questions of my own regarding my employment and the fate of my work so far."
"Ask away."
"What will be the nature of our working relationship be? While I'm not averse to working under someone should it be beneficial to me I wouldn't want it to impede my own research and personal projects. Some of which would unfortunately not hold up well under public scrutiny." Genus was visibly annoyed.
"Eh, I can just do a hands off approach with this specific lab. Honestly it would be easier for the both of us if I just borrowed a bunch clones that I can order around at my own discretion in a separately owned facility. Along with this building here being 'absorbed' into the company. But that part is more to legitimize it legally, otherwise we can just keep the location of this place a secret."
"Ha, I suppose I could've expected as much that a mysterious being such as yourself wouldn't care to much about my methods of research would you?"
"Up to a certain point... You could technically continue doing whatever you want as far as I'm concerned, up until the point of deliberately killing civilians. Though if your less then legal experimentation gets out to the public I'll have to quote on quote 'publicly' demolish this place and bribe a bunch of people... But due to my generosity and pragmatism I'm more then willing to help in relocating you and your research to another secure area if need be."
Due to his spirit not having been broken by Saitama killing his strongest creation Genus right now was still in his mad scientist phase. As morally dubious as it was recruiting him in this state I thought the pros outweighed the cons here when it came to how I could use his inhumane products to benefit humanity, like eternal youth, cloning, and regenerative food. Plus I really REALLY wanted to get regenerative immortality for a Golden Sperm.
"If you have spare clones I can have work with me on separate projects with then I don't actually need the original you with me, assuming all of you have the same memories. I can get started right away with setting up the new lab whenever you're ready."
Genus' expression was unreadable, in contrast to that his clone were deliberating over what Black Sperm had just said.
Then Genus smiled and chuckled. "You know, I don't think I would mind heading back to live amongst the rabble again. Knowing there's someone of importance and influence who can see my genius for what it and wishes to utilize it makes me quite relieved, and I guess it's not unexpected that Mysterious Being would see it for its value before a human would...
Hey! I never lost my humanity! I just look like a Sperm that's all...
"I've decided to accept your offer, though I'll prefer to come to work under you myself then sending away my clones, since I'm also rather interested in what projects you had in mind for me to make I can see to them myself. The House of Evolution will still be in good hands, as I expect my clones to continue my research as normal."
"Sounds good. I'll see to getting you set up."
Black Sperm extended an arm up to Genus to shake his hand, and the scientist responded by returning the gesture.