Saitama gets serious

Chapter 2

Blessing or curse?

"After the devastating attack yesterday by the self-claimed Vaccine man, A-city starts the reconstruction with the help of the hero association." Tatsumaki stairs at the television. She saw with her own eyes the destruction that the monster caused. She was sent after the monster as its destructive powers reached the hero association. Everything she could find when she entered the battlefield were two knocked out A-class heroes, she can't remember their names, the leftovers of Vaccine man and a, for the situation, much to calm little girl, sitting in the rubble of A-city. As she approaches, the girl told her what happened, a bald hero killed Vaccine Man in one punch. And she told her a name too. Saitama.

Damn it! If she was there 10 minutes earlier, she could have met this stranger! "The 2 A-class heroes found in the debris, receive medical care and are on the mend," the reporter announced. "In the ruins of A-city, a rescue team recovered a 11-year-old girl and her 33-year-old mother. The mother of the girl is in critical condition, but the doctors are confident in her recovery. At this moment, both are taking care of in the King hospital in B-city." Good to know that they find her mother too, Tatsumaki thinks.

"But not only the girl survived her encounter with this monster, she witnessed the death of it. According to her report she gave to the police, a caped man with a bald head saved her life by eliminating the monster in one swift punch. The man called himself "Saitama". When questioned, the hero association gives notice, that they have no information regarding this mysterious person. His whereabouts are currently unknown."

"I can't believe this "Saitama" killed the monster in one punch, he has to be strong, but nobody knows him," she said annoyed. "Not even the damn association knows his whereabouts. I could have killed this monster easily too, but it's impressive regardless. Maybe I should keep an eye out for the baldy."

Saitama sits on the floor in his apartment in Z-city. Today is a good day. After the events of yesterday he had to clear his head. What's better to ease your mind than going shopping on bargain day. At this time Saitama is not bored anymore. He is full of excitement. What fantastic bargains will he get today? Will he get the bananas 75 % off, like he dreamed of last night? Only god knows, but he will certainly try. Oh, he loves Saturdays!

What a day! Not only could he get a full box of bananas, just small enough to put it under his arm, no, he gets also meat for a weak, mushrooms, potatoes, tofu and a lot more. "Man, that begs for hot pod," Saitama thinks. As he walks home, the hands full of his shopping trip, he becomes absorbed in thought. "How can it be, that I only feel satisfaction when the seafood is reduced in price? I mean, that's just messed up. Sometimes I wished I had got this fucking job, sometimes I wished I had never met this weirdo monster."

3 years earlier

"Waaah! That thing is gross! Let's get outta here!" Saitama walks down a street as he hears the screaming. People run by him with terrified faces. "This day gets better and better," he thinks sarcastically. He wears a suit and his hair seems messy, his face empty.

"Huh? Shouldn't you be running?" In front of Saitama stands a monster. From the legs to the hip, his appearance seems to be human, even if the proportions are bigger. He wears white underwear, it looks silly. But from the waist upwards not so much. The upper part of his body resembles an extraordinary big crab. The hands are replaced by crab claws, he has an exoskeleton in red and his eyes are big and grow out of his head. And when you think it can't get any more bizarre, on his chest are two nipples painted on it. And what's it with that creepy smile of him? Saitama sighs.

"Are you a new salaryman bored with company life?" the crab monster asks impatiently. "I transformed into Crablante after eating too much crab. I'm surprised you don't flee. Do you wanna die?"

"You're wrong about one thing," Saitama starts to speak with a plain face, "I'm not a salaryman, I'm unemployed. I was looking for a job. I just had an Interview and screwed it up. I don't give a damn about anything right now." Crablante looks bewildered. Someone like him, he has never seen before. "I don't even feel like running from you, Crablante. So, what you gonna do now?"

Crablante investigates Saitama, an evil grin on his face, but not for long. In a moment the monster goes past Saitama. "Well, I see the same lifeless eyes I have, in your face. Out of sympathy I let you go." Crablante turns his head to Saitama. "Anyway, I'm after someone else. Some brat with a cleft chin. And when I find him, I'll rip his limps off!" The monster laughs dramatically. Saitama is puzzled. Why does Crablante hate this kid so much? Well, that's absolutely not his problem. And so, they go their separate ways.

5 minutes after the encounter with the crab monster, Saitama walks by a park, it looks empty, but there is one child playing with a soccer ball. On closer inspection, his jaw dropped, and a little bit of sweat dropped of his forehead. In front of him stands the kid with the cleft chin, and holy shit that's a sight. His chin would give Peter Griffin a run for his money. It's like huge balls would grow under his face. "I hope his parents are rich," Saitama whispers humorous. "What are you looking at?" the kid asks perplexed.

"Hey brat, did you screw with a crab monster lately?"

"There was one asleep in the park, so I drew nipples on him with my marker," the kid says innocent.

Shit, he messed with the wrong crab monster. "Maybe there is enough time to hide him or bring him back to his parents. You know what, I don't need to do this, I didn't fuck up, so I just go and pretend I didn't see the walking balls." Saitama sighs with a little smile on his face. Yeah, that will do nicely.

"Gotcha!" Saitama hears a voice behind him.

"Oh, you got to be kidding!" Before a huge claw annihilates the brat, Saitama jumps forward, grabs the child and pushed him out of the danger zone.

"I will regret this," Saitama says to himself.

"Huh?" Crablante emits surprised. Saitama and the kid stand in front of him. The latter seemingly scared shitless.

"What the fuck are you standing there!? He's after you so run!" Saitama yells at the brat.

"B… but…," "Just do what I say!" Saitama gets pissed; this kid is not worth all the trouble.

"But my soccer ball…" This kid really doesn't know what nerves are. "Your ball hasn't any use for you when you're dead, so get moving! Or I'll kill you myself!" he says threateningly.

Saitama tries to appease Crablante. "Come on, do you really want to kill him over a childish prank. I mean, look at him, he's been punished enough with that face, don't you think?" The kid gives Saitama a toxic look.

Crablante laughs, "Maybe he is, but I sliced people for less, and nobody makes fun of my appearance, NOBODY!, he gets furious.

"This nuisance drew god damn nipples on me! With a PERMANENT MARKER! With these claws, I can't even wipe it off! This little fucker deserves to be ripped apart, and if you stand in my way, I'll batter you so hard, you never have to worry about another job interview anymore!"

"Heh Heh Heh…, "Saitama starts laughing. "Hah hah hah hah hah…!" "What is so funny?" Crablante asks with venom in his voice.

"Well, you look exactly like one of those villains in this stupid Animes I used to watch." Oh, Crablante really doesn't like to hear this.

He sends Saitama flying and brings the brat into focus now. "Die", the monster says cold, ready to crush the kid with his big right claw. But before he can make the final blow, he feels something thrown on his head. A stone.

Saitama is standing again behind the crab monster. He seems to be inspired, ready to fight. "You know, I just realized that I can't let you just kill the kid, they are the future and there are less and less these days," he says with a slight hind of sarcasm, "and besides that, when I was a kid I wanted to be a hero. You know, someone like these dudes in the cartoons." Saitama makes a fist, he will defeat this monster, at all costs. "Someone who beats annoying villains like you in one punch!" He takes of his jacket and unties his tie. He takes his tie in a firm grip.

"So, let's do this!"

Crablante is not impressed by Saitamas speech in the slightest. The little human gets beaten up badly. "Wow, what a hero you are! I hope you let me live, hah hah hah!" Crablante twits him.

When he saw him as defeated, the crab monster turns around to finish his business with the brat. Again, he feels something on his head, but this time it isn't a stone, no something soft, a noose. It's around his eye. Before he can make any more thoughts about this thing, something pulls on the noose. Crablantes eye is pulled out and with it, all his intestines.

Saitama breathes heavily, the dead monster in front of him defeated by his tie. What a way to go, he whispers to himself.

That was awesome, the adrenaline flowing through his body, the anger, the fear, the desire to win. He never felt that alive before. "Maybe I can make this more often," he thinks full of excitement. "What I need is more power. I was lucky the crab didn't kill me. He beat the living shit out of me to be honest. If I train every day, I will become stronger, I know it. Can I do this? I want to become someone who puts the fear of God into monsters. An unstoppable force of nature. I better go home and make plans for it."

"Uhhh, all this slippery stuff, gross!" He hears a voice. Saitama looks behind him. Oh, right, there were someone else involved in this incident. "Hey brat, what are you waiting for!? Get your fucking ball!"

Present

Everything changed that day. I ended my job search. I dedicated the next years completely to my training. After 1 year I noticed that my hair started to fall out, and my strength was increased. And when I say increased then I mean by a lot. All the time I fought against monsters it was a challenge, it was hard and often I survived just trough pure luck. When I look back at this time, I can say, it was the best time of my life. It was fun to fight, to train, to live. Of course, the training was hard as hell. The 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squads, the 10-kilometer run, what a pain in the ass. I can't believe I pulled through this, but I did it and it felt good. But as the training program became easier every day, the fights against monsters easier too, all the sudden, the high I felt became increasingly smaller. After 2 years of doing the same thing repeatedly, I lost all my hair, and I felt more jaded than ever before. I kept doing my stuff, but it was not fun anymore. Killing monsters was nothing more than taking your shoes on or putting noodles in hot water. There is nothing special, nothing to feel for, just nothing. I ask myself, what did I wrong? Was it wrong to follow my childhood-dream to become the strongest? Would it have been better, if I had become a salaryman, or some business dude. I guess not. I was pretty depressed at this time. Maybe I shouldn't have trained that much, but when I find a strong foe, I don't want to lose either. Man, this shit is messing with my head. All I want is to feel the high again. That sounds bad. I sound like a drug addict. But is this so far from the truth? I had experienced a lot of emotions. Now that they are gone, I want them back even more. That's some fucked up shit. Maybe out there is someone who gives me these feelings back I desperately need.

But I doubt it.