Disclaimer: I own nothing.

WARNING!: Some spoilers for the webcomic will be revealed, but they aren't what you would expect...

All out in the open. Didn't expect an update so quick, did you? Well, here it is, just 5 days after my last update, ripe and ready to read. I just want to thank every one of my reviewers. I really enjoy reading your thoughtful and insightful comments. They really brighten my day. Anyway, enjoy chapter 8!

Millions of miles away, The Caped Baldy and Demon Cyborg were enjoying a good night sleep, and the crack of sunlight was entering through Saitama's apartment windows.

"Mmmm… I'd like some syrup with my toast please. And make it snappy." Saitama was muttering to himself in his sleep, enjoying his abnormal dream, when something loud and annoying came knocking at his doorstep.

"Is this the residence of Demon Cyborg? I need to speak with you immediately!"

Saitama groggily rubbed his eyes, extremely upset that his beauty sleep was being interrupted like this. He opened the door and saw a man with a suit, looking out of breath.

Saitama frowned, unpleased with this random stranger at his door. "Dude, if you want to sell insurance, I don't have the money for it, so just skedaddle."

The man furrowed his brows. "Hey, I know you… You're the Caped Baldy! What are you doing in Demon Cyborgs apartment?! If you did anything to him, I swear I'll tell President Agoni and have you kicked out of the Hero Ass-"

"Leave my master alone." In less than a second, Genos was standing in between Saitama and this unknown intruder, with anger flaring through his eyes. "State your purpose."

"My deepest apologies Demon Cyborg! I thought the Caped Baldy was threatening you. Anyway, I've been sent by Minister Sitch and President Agoni to summon all S-class heroes for another meeting. Both seemed rather serious about this meeting."

"Another meeting? How peculiar… Master, like before, you should come as well."

"This is a meeting for S-class heroes only. I doubt that your company is needed or wanted by the-" His voice faltered when he saw Geno's eyes darken, his expression much more grave and threatening. He stammered for several seconds before speaking again. "But of course, any guest of Demon Cyborg will surely be welcome to attend such a meeting. It starts in 30 minutes."

The man then quickly scurried off like a field mouse, scared shitless of what the Demon Cyborg could do to him.

Genos turned to his master. "So shall we prepare to go, master?"

Saitama waved his hands in dismissal."Nice offer, but I think I'll pass. It's too early for me to listen to some boring crap, and if I go now, my sleep schedule is gonna be all messed up. I'll get a few more hours of shuteye. You go without me." Saitama slowly walked over and plopped himself straight onto his blankets.

Genos propped against the wall, concerned about what he had just heard. Whatever threat was coming, he had a feeling it would be a threat that of which humanity has never seen, and he was sure without a doubt that they would need Master Saitama to fight it.

Genos and some of the other S-class heroes were each patiently waiting, with some of them noting the behaviors of the other S-class heroes who weren't as patient.

"How come we have to come to this boring place again?" said an irritated Tatsumaki. "We were already gathered a few weeks ago, why do we have to come back here again?"

"Just calm yourself Tornado," said Bang. She glared at him, then simply huffed like the spoiled, inconsiderate bitch she was.

Finally, Metal Bat and Metal Knight, or at least one of Metal Knight's drones, entered the room. "Sorry I'm late everybody. I had to drop my sister off at her piano lesson."

"Unfortunately for me, I was forced to accommodate my busy schedule to attend this tedious meeting."

"Well unlike us, you don't have to haul your ass hundreds of miles here and can send one of your helper droids to go for you," said a frustrated Metal Bat.

"I'm sorry. You're a tad too annoying for me to bear with this morning."

Metal Bat jumped up from his seat. "Oh yea? I dare you to tell me that face-to-face, then we'll see if you have the balls to say that again!"

"Stop!" Everyone turned their heads and saw President Agoni and Minister Sitch, both of them looking tired and both appearing very distressed. "Now is not the time for such brash actions! We have much bigger problems than your petty squabbles!"

"But-"

"STAND! Down!" yelled Sitch, absolutely unwilling to hear more nonsensical argumentative garbage from any other heroes.

He tightened the grip on his bat, but grudgingly did what he was told and sat down. "So where the hell is Blast? Why isn't he here?"

Sitch sighed and put his fingers to his temple. "Unfortunately, we were unable to locate him, so he will not be joining us today. Again. Now, lets get down to the task at hand."

"Yesterday morning, one of our staff members informed us of a secret letter hidden in the closet of Madame Shibabawa."

Some of the more ill mannered heroes groaned. "This again?"

"We came here at 7:30 in the morning just so we could here this again?

"I wish. This was much, much worse. The letter was addressed to both me and President Agoni at that exact date, at the exact time." The heroes looked at each other in confusion and concern. "What's even more alerting is that it even lists every hero present at this moment at the exact date and time." Everyone gasped. How could that be?

Sitch typed a few codes onto the monitor, and up came a holographic image of the letter. "It appears that this letter was a continuation of her last words she said just before her death. The letter goes like this:

President Agoni and Minister Sitch, when you hear of this message, it will be at 3:32 in the afternoon, and it will be conveyed by a young man named Baxter Johnson with blonde hair.

To President Agoni, Minister Sitch, the S-Class heroes Tornado of Terror, Silver Fang, Atomic Samurai, Child Emperor, Metal Knight, King, Zombieman, Drive Knight, Pig God, Superalloy Darkshine, Watchdog Man, Flashy Flash, Demon Cyborg, Tanktop Master, Metal Bat, and Puri-Puri-Prisoner. Metal Bat & Metal Knight will be the last to arrive, in that order. You will receive this message at 7:43 AM on September 27, 2015. Heed this warning:

The Earth is in terrible danger

A simian's downfall will ripple through space

To a demon of unspeakable terror

The Devil of Frost shall reap and sow

Seeds of malevolent destruction

The poison of vainglory, a two-sided coin

To lead the trail of unity or division

The demon's wrath quelled through pain, and

The desolate wastelands returned to life

Everyone remained in an awe-stricken silence. This was so complicated, so convoluted, and each of them was in a conundrum for what it could mean.

"Wait, doesn't simian mean monkey? How the hell can a monkey from outer space have a downfall?" said an unconvinced Tatsumaki.

"Our data analysts have been attempting to match up these phrases and see if there was any correlation, but so far we've turned up no successful results," replied Sitch.

"If some of you are not aware, two mysterious beings appeared yesterday in an unknown extraterrestrial spacecraft. At exactly 2:34 PM yesterday, these two pods touched Earth's surface, and whatever creature was in there was powerful enough to level City C from the face of the Earth.

"At 3:14 PM, one of the space pods left Earth with one of the mysterious beings, yet for some reason, the other remained on Earth. We're currently unsure of why this was the case, but Metal Knight has taken possession of the remaining spacecraft. We're still unclear as to who defeated these two dragon-level threats or the details of their defeat, as the 3 A-class heroes are still in an unconscious state. Not only that, but we've deduced that one of the mysterious beings and a dangerous assassin who had escaped custody were 2 of the 5 people remaining at the scene."

"What was the name of the dangerous assassin?" Everyone turned in surprise when they realized that Flashy Flash was asked the question. For a stern, often uninterested S-class hero such as himself, it was rare for him to ever speak without a tone of rudeness in his voice.

"I believe he calls himself Speed-O-Sound Sonic. Why does it matter to you?"

Flashy Flash sighed in exasperation. "No reason you should concern yourselves with," he said with aggression, meaning he was back to his old self.

An uncomfortable mood swept the table. None of them had ever seen him raise his voice. Ever.

"Well… Uh, anyway, if any of you have any information about these mysterious beings, anything would be greatly appreciate-"

"I was the one who defeated them," said Genos. While on the outside he kept his expressionless façade, the intense debate was broiling within him. More than anything, Genos would have loved to say that Master Saitama had been the one to eliminate the threat. But he knew very well that many people did not hold Saitama in high regards, claiming him to be a conniving, credit-stealing con artist. He knew that there would be a day everyone would see the truly noble man Saitama was, but for now, he would respect master Saitama's wishes and make him anonymous.

"Demon Cyborg? You were the one who defeated those two?"

Genos sighed. "Yes."

"Very good! The rest of you may leave. Remember to stay vigilant and if you find out any strange activity, please report to either myself of the Hero Association as soon as possible. Demon Cyborg, we will call you in a few hours to ask for details. In the mean time, I have some more... personal business to attend to. Dismissed."

The S-class heroes immediately jumped from their seats as soon as Sitch finished talking. Getting another hour or two of sleep was on most of their minds at that moment in time. Yet as Genos was about to exit the door, he saw a message through his optical sensor, and Genos stepped back.

"Genos. We need to talk. Now. -Dr. Kuseno

Genos placed his palm to his forehead. What was the problem now?

Genos scurried down the steps do Dr. Kuseno's basement. "Dr. Kuseno! I came as soon as I saw your message. What is the urgent issue?"

Dr. Kuseno was pacing back and forth through his laboratory. His usually calm complex was now replaced with a jittery, disordered sack of flesh. He was wringing his hands, and his eyes now had several more lines etched into his skin. "This is unbelievable… I don't know how this can be… How can this technology exist?!"

"DOCTOR!" Genos sped to Dr. Kuseno. "You need to calm down!" The young cyborg planted both of his hands on the doctor's shoulders and stared right into the fear-ridden doctors eyes. "Dr. Kuseno. Take a deep breath, and calmly explain to me what it is you discovered."

The doctor did as Genos told him, closing his eyes as he inhaled and exhaled. "You're right Genos. I apologize, but it's just that I've discovered some very troubling news about the scouter you gave me. Come."

The doctor motioned Genos over to his worktable. Genos observed in curiosity at the several different wires connected to the scouter, which all looped to several computer monitors that were performing some calculations that Genos could vaguely recognize.

"Whatever sort of technology was used to create this scouter, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before. After you left, I turned it on to begin my analysis, and I was unable to read the language on the device. It took me some time, but I was able to replicate the numerical system and language of the scouter and download it onto my hard drive. The amount of information and programing coded into the device was equal to 5 terabytes of storage.

"Such a large amount of storage in such a small device on it's own is unprecedented. It took me almost 4 hours for me to download the entirety of the language text into my data system and replace it with our English language. It will still take a few days for me to translate the language into English, if that's even possible.

"As you know, I integrated sensors into your retinal system to detect high energy levels, but those measurements are very imprecise and can only read energy levels as high or low. But this scouter is something which I've never seen before."

"I took your advice and decided against using it on your master, so I scouted for the energy levels of the closest city to my lab, and I was shocked; not only was the scouter able to give a concrete reading of every different citizen, but it was able to estimate the exact distance between my laboratory and the city."

Genos picked up the scouter and stared at it in awe.

"Whoever had the capability of creating such an advanced sensory device has knowledge that is years, maybe even decades ahead of our current technology."

But Genos had stopped listening to the doctor about 10 seconds ago. A single overriding thought was going through his brain. If this device was as powerful as Dr. Kuseno said it was, then could he perhaps…

"Doctor, do you think that you could perhaps integrate this scouter into my sensory system?" The good doctor dwelled on this for a moment. If he could figure out how to duplicate the technology, it could be theoretically possible. But... "Genos, this technology is very advanced, far too advanced to replicate in a single night. It would take me days, maybe even weeks for me to replicate this kind of technology. Genos, I have to know something."

Dr. Kuseno turned to Genos, and while he gave no palpable signs of anger, Genos could feel a kind of serious chill radiating off of the doctor, and he slightly tensed. "Was there any other machinery or equipment that the mysterious beings brought with them? Where is the spacecraft that they used to travel to Earth?"

Genos ran his hand through his hair. "At the moment, one of the space pods is in the custody of Metal Knight, an S-class Rank 6 member of the Hero Association."

Dr. Kuseno looked at Genos as if he had misheard him. "Do you mean Bofoi?" said Dr. Kuseno with a tone that almost sounded like worry.

Genos tilted his head, somewhat baffled that the doctor sounded concerned when he spoke. "Uh, yes doctor. How did you know his real name, and why do you sound so uneasy about it?" He figured that he might be familiar with his hero name, but it was much less common for people to know his real name or any high ranking hero's real name for the matter, so how did the doctor know?

"Oh no reason at all." The doctor stretched his arms out palms out as he chuckled nervously. "I just know about him due to his high status in the Hero Association and his achievements in the scientific community."

Although his explanation sounded reasonable enough, something didn't sit right with the way Dr. Kuseno had sounded just now. It struck Genos as if he was trying to cover up something he knew about Bofoi. Was there some sort of connection between him and the S-class hero he wasn't telling him?

"Doctor, have you met Bof-" His pocket suddenly began ringing. "Who could this be?" He grabbed his phone and saw that the caller id was from the Hero Association. "Yes, what is the matter?"

"Demon Cyborg. The Hero Association is ready to question you about the mysterious beings."

"Very well. Tell Minister Sitch I will arrive in 20 minutes." He hung up the phone without saying another word. "I must go now Doctor. Forgive my short visit, but I must answer some questions for the Hero Association."

The doctor waved his hand in dismissal. He more than anyone knew that Geno's work was very important, and he'd already told him everything he needed to tell "You're fine Genos. Just make sure to be careful. Something tells me that something big is about to happen." The Demon Cyborg somberly nodded. "Yes. Farewell doctor."

The good doctor watched as Genos sprinted out of his laboratory. "That child is still as rambunctious as ever… " The old man chuckled. "Some things never change." He then walked to an unidentified room. He clicked on the keypad next to the door, and the door quickly whooshed open, revealing a bathroom. Dr. Kuseno felt like his clothes were glued to his body, and he thought that hot water would help wake him up. Besides, he had somewhere important to go, and he wouldn't smell like a dead skunk in front of HIM. "This is JUST great…"

"This is JUST great." The saiyan prince was gently floating in the healing ooze, but he knew that one thousand years in this liquid wouldn't heal his broken pride, or grow his trimmed hair. That glorified lizard had cut off about the top 2 inches of hair. The worst part was he couldn't even grow it back because a saiyan's hair stopped growing as soon as they reached adolescence. God, he'd had some bad hair days when he was a kid, that's for sure…

"Damn it Damn it DAMN IT!" The young Prince Vegeta was losing his mind, pacing around his training room and trying to figure out what he would do. It had been a regular training day, and he was relentlessly plowing through dozens of saibamen like the paper-thin trolls they were, when one of them caught him off guard and scorched the right side of his hair.

Any other day, he would have been pissed, but it would have been fixable over time, but today was his coronation into his title as Prince Vegeta. He was only 4 years old, about to become 5, and already such a prestigious honor was being held for him. Everyone would deem him a laughingstock if he appeared at the ceremony with hair like this. It wasn't like there was a barber around to suddenly fix his problem. Hell, over half of the Frieza Force was fucking bald! "I am so screwed…"

"Prince Vegeta! Your ceremony starts in 45 minutes!" General Nappa was patiently sitting next to the door to Prince Vegeta's personal training room, but Vegeta's babbling piqued his interest. He should have been out of his room 10 minutes ago, so why was he still inside the training room? "Are you alright Prince Vegeta?"

"MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS NAPPA! I'M FINE!" Nappa narrowed his eyes. All right, that did it. "Vegeta, just what the hell is taking you sooooooohhh. Whoa." If his eyes were working right, he was looking at Prince Vegeta with a face as ripe as a tomato, and his hair singed on his right side. "What happened to you?"

Vegeta slapped his palms to his forehead and groaned. God, this was humiliating beyond words. "One of the saibamen got a lucky shot at me and it clipped my hair! Nappa, what the fuck am I gonna do?"

"Alright Prince just calm down…"

"CALM DOWN?! I HAVE 40 MINUTES UNTIL I HAVE TO SHOW MYSELF IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE SAIYAN RACE, AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?!" Vegeta slammed the wall to vent his anger, causing the entire room to shake. General Nappa sighed in exasperation. If King Vegeta saw his son looking like this, he would surely be blamed for this. What could he do? "Wait…"

Prince Vegeta was snapped out of his paranoid and frantic mood when he felt General Nappa grab his arm. "Nappa, what the hell are you doing?!" Vegeta tried to break free and stamped his feet into the ground to halt Nappa's movement, but his resistance was pointless. While he was relatively powerful, there was still a difference of at least 1,000 between Nappa's power and his own, maybe even more. After flying rapidly down the hallway for about 20 seconds, where thank Kami no soldier was there to see him, they stopped at a room where Vegeta had never entered before.

As soon as they entered the room, Nappa locked the door. He then grabbed his scouter and pointed it at Vegeta. When he heard a faint clicking sound come from the scouter, he froze in his place. "Nappa, what did you…"

"It's just a precaution, just to make sure you don't tell a living soul what I'm about to tell you…"

"Tell what?" Nappa groaned. Was he really going to do this? He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes to ease the frustration he was feeling at that moment. "When I was in my twenties, I was… I was…" Nappa opened his eyes to see Vegeta tapping his foot, impatiently waiting for an answer.

"I WAS A BARBER, ALRIGHT?!" For a second, the room stayed quiet. Nappa covered his eyes with his right hand so he wouldn't see Vegeta's smug face. About 5 seconds passed, and still, nothing. Huh. Maybe Prince Vegeta wasn't so…

And as if on cue, a chorus of uncontrollable laughter came from Vegeta. General Nappa, one of the most powerful saiyan generals and his father's top adviser was a fucking barber? He knew that barbers existed, but such a menial position was an occupation for the low-class saiyans, and there were only rare occasions in which he or any other saiyan ever even needed something as arbitrary as a haircut. The irony and lunacy of General Nappa having such a random and ridiculous occupation was too much for the Prince to take in, and he fell on the floor in an uncontrollable laughing fit. His eyes were actually starting to water from the sheer hilarity.

The Saiyan General's embarrassment only grew watching Vegeta rolling on the floor and hearing his incessant laughing. After about 30 seconds, his annoying laugher started to wane and he started to take deep breaths. "So uh, why uh did you become a barber?" said Vegeta through giddy giggling.

He never thought that he'd be regaling this story to an actual person, but he guessed since Prince Vegeta already knew, he might as well tell him everything. Nappa sat on his bed and rested his hands on his lap. "Back in the day, it wasn't easy living on a foot soldiers salary. Hell, there were nights where I went hungry because I didn't have the money to pay for dinner. Anyway, I had to find a way to earn some cash until I moved up in the ranks and could afford a better place. So one day, while I was scourging through the streets and stores for any help wanted posters or job listings, I found a secret entrance in one of the bars, which revealed a hidden barber shop which was occupied by a few saiyans with scissors. They threatened to kick me out, but seeing as I was desperate, I asked them if they were hiring. I don't know what kind of god was watching over me that day, but for whatever reason, the owner of the shop took me on as a student, showed me the proper cutting techniques, and taught me how to talk nice to the customers so they would give me more tip money. So I worked in that underground shop, where I trimmed the hair of any saiyan soldier who'd pay and didn't want to see any of their comrades with their bad hair. The place I worked even had a special gel that regrew any saiyan's hair-"

"Wait, so you're saying you have a gel that can regrow my hair back?! WELL, COME ON! GIVE IT TO ME!"

Nappa sighed. "I don't have it."

The Saiyan Prince grimaced at Nappa's words. "WELL THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU BRING ME HERE?!"

Nappa grazed through his cabinet drawer next to his bed, and found a pair of scissors covered with a layer of dust. "I think I might be able to even out your hair, and if anyone has the gall to ask, you could just say you wanted to have a change of look for your ceremony. That way you won't look like an idiot in front of your own coronation ceremony, and I won't have my head served on a platter. Are you in or not?"

"What other choice do I have? Lets go!" Vegeta sprinted for the bathroom door and seated himself. "While I'm young Nappa!"

"Right right…" Sweat bullets began to rain down on Nappa's face. It had been almost 10 years since he'd used these rusty things. Oh well… He tried to remember everything he learned 30 years ago and began.

When Vegeta felt Nappa's thick fingers combing through his hair, he shuddered. Such a close range of distance with Nappa fondling through his hair was such an unnatural feeling. This was by far the most awkward thing he had ever experienced in his life. He'd take this to his grave, and he bet Nappa would too.

Bored out of his mind, Vegeta looked at the clock and began to click his thumbs together to match the rhythm of the ticking clock. After 200 ticks, Vegeta started to envy the dead saibamen. He felt as bored as a blind man watching a movie.

After clicking his thumbs 500 times, he reached his breaking point. "CAN YOU HURRY UP WITH-"

"It's done. See for yourself." Vegeta swatted Nappa's hands out of his hair. "It's about time! If you did anything bad to my hair, I swear I will…" His voice fell flat when he saw himself in the mirror. It looked… good.

His flaming, jet-black tipped hair was even more rigid and edged. The rounded hole created from the ki blast vanished, as if it had never happened. He was speechless. If anything, it actually looked BETTER than his original hairstyle.

"Wow… Thank y-." The Prince shook his head vigorously. What the hell was he saying? Was he actually about to lower himself by thanking him? Did Nappa put some sort of chemical in his brain while he was cutting his hair? "Thank god you didn't mess up, or else I would have stabbed your eyes out with your scissors."

Nappa chuckled. "You'd never get the chance, you little punk." Nappa clicked the keypad and both doors burst open. "Now come on, lets go before both of us get it."

If Vegeta could, he would have slapped himself for conjuring up such a nonsensical and frivolous memory. He'd learned not to hold on to such menial memories like this through his time under Frieza. That lesson, combined with the countless missions he went on, helped him cope with the untimely death of his fellow saiyans.

He heard a sharp ding, and the relaxing sensation tingling all over his body quickly faded. He opened his eyes and saw two scientists standing over the controller pad. "Prince Vegeta, how are you feeling?"

The Prince snapped at the scientists, detesting the idea of creating small talk to such lowly maintenance workers like these. "None of your business how I'm feeling!" The agitated prince pointed at the door. "Now leave me be!"

The scientists gathered their coats and shoved each other through the door like feral animals fighting for their fresh meat. He rubbed his temples and thought about what he should do until he left for Earth again. What would he do for the next 4 hours?

Well, around 1:00 he always went to the bar and got wasted. "Come on Nappa, lets…" There he went again! This was the 2nd time his mind had dwelled on that useless reprobate and memories of him. He'd remembered the times where they would steal Frieza's private stash of wine and gorge themselves on whatever other alcohol the bartender carried. What the hell was getting into him? His mind was too detached and erratic to think clearly right now, and at that moment he wanted to keep it that way. And what better way than to binge drink like his life depended on it? "Who needs that overgrown toad anyway. Certainly not me."

Sitch had actually managed to pull it off. He had been assigned by the Hero Association to be the leader of the prophecy emergency countermeasure task force, which was a responsibility he did not take lightly. Right now, there were perhaps a few hundred, possibly one thousand criminals gathered in one place for this underground meeting.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming to this underground meeting and responding to our call. Many of you have high bounties on your head, and are ranked high on the Hero Association's wanted list. And yet, you have come here with absolutely no hesitation because you believe you will not be apprehended and arrested for your crimes. Let me assure you this has nothing to do with your criminal records or your business in the underground market. This is not any sort of elaborate trap, so we can talk freely.

"That being said, lets make sure we don't do any funny business. Standing to my right are 3 A-class heroes." The 3 A-class heroes, Heavy Tank Loincloth, Blue Fire, and Magic Trick Man were being looked upon with venomous stares. Murmurs spread through the group of criminals. "Do not mind them, they are simply bodyguards. However, these A-class heroes have abilities that rival S-class, so it would be unwise to do anything foolhardy."

"What was Sitch thinking?" said Blue Fire. "All the most wanted contract killers, weapons manufacturers, mad scientists, and escaped convicts are gathered in one place."

Magic Trick Man nodded. "There's no way these thugs will agree to assist us."

"I don't know exactly why these criminals were called here," said Heavy Tank Loincloth. "But with all of these highly wanted fugitives in one place, that means..."

Blue Fire finished Loincloth's thought. "If a single one of them tries to pull a fast one on us, I'll burn them to a crisp."

"Same here," said Magic Trick Man. "I'm not letting this opportunity to conduct a huge act of justice slip away. As soon as this meeting's over, I'm going for it."

All three heroes nodded in synchronization.

"Lets begin. Please take a look at the handout I'm about to give you." Sitch walked to the side of the podium and gently handed the 3 A-class heroes the handouts. The heroes looked at their superior with incredulity. "We're not paperboys!" said Blue Fire.

"Please just do it. I can't stand up to any of these criminals by myself, and you strength is at that of an S-class hero, so they shouldn't be a real threat to you." The 3 heroes groaned and did what they were told. As they passed the papers down, all of the criminals stared straight into the heroes eyes with pure defiance, but most of them were smart enough to know they were hopeless against these heroes, so they simply took the papers and said nothing.

"Ahem..." Sitch cleared his throat. "As you can see, the amount of disasters above tiger level has been rising at an abnormal rate. This month alone was 6 times higher than the average of the past 3 years." A slide projected above him, showing a graph and a few different images of mysterious beings of each category, excluding God, as the world was lucky enough not to have such a monumental disaster just yet.

"If you are not aware of Madame Shibabawa, she was a prophet who would assist the Hero Association. And a week ago, we found her final prophecy, which was specified to us at an exact day at the exact time." Shocked murmurs spread throughout the room. Another slide appeared above Sitch. It was the prophecy, word for word.

Sitch and Agoni had had a very long conversation about whether or not they should reveal the full extent of the prophecy to such hoodlums. This information was EXTREMELY sensitive, for it could decide the very fate of humanity, and to allow these criminals to know such information was like shouting out to the entire world, "Hey everybody! The world might be ending! Apparently, there's this space demon that's gonna come to Earth that not even S-class heroes can beat, but please remain calm and don't do anything stupid!" But they didn't have a choice. Despite the amazing strengths of some of the S-class heroes, especially Tatsumaki, there was simply no way for all of these heroes to handle the increased number of monsters, and if they couldn't beat this demonic threat, then nobody could. So the only other way to stop this was to replace quality with quantity, and that was where these thugs fit into the picture.

"The S-class heroes already have their hands full handling the current disasters, so in order to protect humanity from the imminent threat that is coming our way, the Hero Association would like to..." Sitch pinched his eyes closed. He couldn't believe he was about to say this. Every fiber in his body wanted to puke when he said this, but he had no choice. "We would like to enlist your help in our battle against these monsters."

Everyone stood in silence. However, Blue Fire took this news the worst. The veins on his face were popping, and his eyes were quickly reddening. Then, the anger came bursting out of him like a raging inferno. "YOU SEEK HELP FROM THESE CRIMINALS?! IS THIS REALLY THE ASSOCIATIONS DECISION?!"

The minister slammed his fist on the podium. "YES! THERE NOW STANDS A WALL IN FRONT OF US THAT CANNOT BE BROKEN DOWN UNLESS ALL OF HUMANITY JOINS TOGETHER TO KNOCK IT DOWN!"

The slide switched over, showing a map of several different human icons, meant to show the number of heroes in all 26 cities. "Right now, there are 390 C-class heroes, 101 B-class heroes, 38 A-class heroes, and only 17 S-class heroes! That's nowhere near enough to fend off against the hundreds of monsters appearing every year! The Hero Association is not acknowledging your criminal acts, but it's undeniable that some of you have abilities that rival the heroes!

"However, the Association is not so gullible as to believe you would do this for free!" The next slide appeared, which caused the criminals to gasp and lick their lips with greed.

"For every monster you defeat, you will be rewarded. Your reward will vary based on the level of the monster you defeated. As you would expect, the higher the threat, the more money you will get. Now, depending on how many of you need to defeat a monster, the bounty will decrease. So defeating a dragon-level threat singlehandedly would get the greatest compensation."

Heavy Tank Loincloth jeered. "Sure. Let it be, but it's a complete waste of money. When the time comes, they'll all be useless."

"Yo Pops! I can't let that insult slip!" One of the criminals who was hotheaded and foolish enough to talk back to heroes more powerful than himself pulled a knife out to Loincloth. He wore a regular pair of jeans and a striped jacket, with spiky orange hair to go along with this oddly normal attire. He had a wicked smile that showed no remorse, and his eyes were like gateways that led to an empty room, filled with nothing but barbarous instincts to maim and kill. "In terms of killing, you couldn't even come close to matching my level of experience! You wanna try it out, see if I'm wrong?"

In a flash, the punkish criminal was barreled 5 feet into the ground. Loincloth spat at the lowlife trash. "They follow no beliefs!"

Both Blue Fire and Sitch stared at Loincloth with blank faces. "But... But the scale of the oncoming disaster..."

"WHOA WHOA WHOA! THE PROPHECY HIT THE BIG ONE! THE BIG ONE!" Everyone in the room turned their attention to the unknown stranger in the crowd. The criminal had a tight black long-sleeved shirt with white and loose white pants, with a yellow cloth belt tied around his waist. He had long silver hair that spiked upward into two large spikes. He had a wicked smile, similar to the criminal who was now buried in cement, and yellow eyes that shone in the dimly lit room. "NOW IS THAT PROPHET FUCKING AMAZING OR WHAT?! SHE CAN EVEN FORSEE A DISASTER LEVEL GOD?! WOW!"

"Oh great." Magic Trick Man slapped his forehead. "All those criminals living in the dark side really do seem to have a screw lose, it seems."

The white haired fighter spoke again. "Gotta admit, what the old fart said is true! Even if all of you ganged up on me, you wouldn't stand a chance!"

An anime-style sweat drop fell down Sitch's face. 'Looks like this meeting's attracted more weirdos than I bargained for...'

"I AM GAROU! THE MAN WHO WORSHIPS MONSTERS, AND HAS ALREADY DECIMATED COUNTLESS DOJOS DURING HIS TRAINING!" Garou raised his arms, like an open invitation for whatever these lowlifes could dish out at him. "There's plenty of fodder here! Fodder for me to become stronger... NOW LETS DO THIS! I CAN FEEL THE RUSH! COME ON, BRING IT ON! NOW THAT WE'RE ALL GATHERED HERE IN ONE PLACE, WE CAN FINALLY FIND OUT WHO'S REALLY THE STRONGEST! THAT IS WHY I AM HERE!"

None of the criminals moved a muscle.

"Just stop." Sitch couldn't take more of this daffy rubbish spewing from the mouthes of the evildoers. "I did not gather you all here for something this farcical."

"Farcical?"

Sitch motioned Garou toward the exit. "That's enough now. You may leave."

"That's how you treat your guests? Mr. Minister of Justice? I see... I've made up my mind. I'll punish the backwater cowards." Garou's yellow eyes were obscured, overshadowed by obsidian black evil sprouting from the excitement of battle. "Time to conduct evil. Lets make this a slaughter party."

"Another goddamn freak. I didn't want it to come to this, but it seems like you'll have to throw him out."

"With pleasure," said Magic Trick Man, taking out his wand for battle. This would get bloody.

"No! It's Justice Man! It's that lame song again!"

A little boy, filled with zealous energy, eagerly waited for the climactic conclusion of his favorite cartoon. But sadly, Justice Man had just arrived to ruin everything.

"No! It was just getting good for the bad guy! That stupid hero Justice Man just had to come in here and ruin everything again! He was SO CLOSE to world domination! Come on, Count Devil! Don't let this jerk beat you! Beat him and take over the world!" Count Devil tried his hardest, but Justice Man was too powerful. In seconds, Count Devil was on the ground, marking Justice Man's 50th victory over villainy. "Dammit! He lost again! Dad! Will there ever be a monster that's powerful enough to beat Justice Man?"

The boy's father shook his head. "No, Justice Man won't lose to anyone?"

"But why? Justice always prevails, but that doesn't make any sense. The monsters are always the ones working their butts off, trying to do their best to do what they want, but they always get killed off in the end. I don't want that kind of scenario! It's not fair at all! It's boring!

"Monsters have ambitions too. What about the way I feel? The way I cheer them on as a fan? The monsters are always way cooler..."

'The popular will win, the hated will lose. It's such a terrible tragedy. But that's why I won't lose.' Garou grasped onto Magic Trick Man's collar. The hero hadn't even seen his movements. 'I will become the strongest monster in history and change this scenario! No matter what I face.'

"Magic Trick Man!" Heavy Tank Loincloth rushed to his fellow A-class hero's assistance. But Garou was faster. With a devious smirk, Garou grabbed his right arm and broke his bones. The hero screamed with pain. Deciding the hero wasn't worth the trouble, Garoustruck Heavy Tank Loincloth with a very powerful right hook to his face, knocking him out in the process.

An upsurge of cheering erupted from the crowd of criminals. "You're the man!" "Give it to those bitches!" "Let me be your sidekick!"

Garou turned to the group of delinquents. "Oh, don't be so quick to cheer. You're next."

The cheers immediately died down, and were replaced with gasps of disbelief. "Wait, but why?" said one of the criminals. "We're bad guys just like you!"

Garou sneered. "Please! I'm not on your side. I'm not on the heroes side of the humans side. I'm a monster; nothing more, and nothing less."

"I couldn't agree more." Garou turned around to see Blue Fire, who was placing one of his hands in front of the other. He'd studied the special techniques of all A-class heroes, and he knew about Blue Fire's portable flamethrowers. He, for one, wasn't planning on getting cremated. "Now die, monster."

A long stream of fire burst from Blue Fire's hands. Garou swiftly dodged the attack, and using his superior agaility and strength, instantly appeared behind Blue Fire and tore off his right arm. The pain Loincloth felt was nothing in comparison to what Blue Fire felt. He screamed, rolling on the floor and clutching the stub where his arm used to be. The criminals behind Garou, however, weren't as fast, and dozens of these nefarious hoodlums had been cremated by Blue Fire's flames, so they were groveling on the floor alongside Blue Fire.

"Bastard!" The criminals charged at Garou, hoping that their sheer numbers could defeat this monster. But they might as well have been throwing pebbles at him, because it would have been equally effective. Garou effortlessly blew away the crooks one by one, kocking them out with a single blow. It only took about 3 minutes, 5 minutes max, for Garou to deal with all of them. Garou smiled. "This is merely the beginning. Today, I declare war on the Hero Association itself. 6 months from now, I will challenge King, the strongest man on the planet, himself. I'll leave you to ponder on that Sitch." Sitch was cowering in a corner, the shock of a human defeating all of these fighters singlehandedly still fresh and ripe in his mind. "Now have a good day." Garou walked out the door with a steady stride, like it was another just another regular day in this not-so-regular world.

"Could he be the one? The Devil of Frost..."

"Minister Sitch?" Genos had just arrived on the scene to discuss with Sitch about the two dragon level monsters that had arrived a week ago, when he was met with a pile of unconscious bodies of heroes and criminals alike, some cremated and one even missing his arm. What had happened? "Minister, what's going on?"

"You have no idea..." Sitch shook his head. "Now, lets get down to business. We have alot to talk about."

Saitama scowled in his sleep. Shortly after Genos left, Saitama ate some of the leftovers from yesterday's dinner. After heating up and eating a few delicious spring rolls, he felt an unbearable amount of sleepiness overcoming him. He guessed that going to bed at 12 in the morning and waking up at 7 wasn't exactly the best idea, so he plopped himself onto his sleeping bag and dozed off within a matter of minutes.

He laid down on his back, listening to nothing but the sound of his air conditioner humming in his apartment. Suddenly, he began to feel himself slipping out of his body, like he was being ripped right out of his body. It was like as if spirit was a Band-Aid, and it was being ripped off of his body. Saitama attempted to break free of this spiritual grip, to escape this sensational enigma, but whatever was causing this was too strong for him, and his sleepiness was only making it worse.

After several minutes, or maybe an hour, or 3 years, he couldn't tell, his sense of tiredness faded away, and he opened his eyes. As soon as he did so, he became intrigued at what he saw. All around him stretched a field of yellow daises as far as the eye could see, with beautiful golden petals decorated on each and every one of them. However, he frowned when he looked up. Just above him was a blood red sky that gave the setting a tone of eeriness, as if some sort of terrible apocalypse was just seconds away from destroying this entire valley.

As he began turning around, he stopped dead in his tracks. Standing in front of him was a massive creature. Its entire body was covered with a layer of bones and flesh, making it appear as if it was pulled inside out. Saitama felt shudders rack his spine when he looked up at it's face: there was nothing. It was as if the face was completely carved off, leaving nothing but a blank slate, devoid of any life. This didn't make any sense. Ever since he'd finished his training, he'd rarely ever displayed a sliver of the emotion he had before. But right now, he could himself literally shaking in his boots. For him, he was staring at the epitome of terror.

"Hello there, insect."

The HQ was bustling as usual. Through hordes of phone calls, paperwork, potential lawsuits, and collateral damage fines, the staff continued to hectically work in a frenzied state. They were so busy, that the three workers at the front desk didn't even bat an eye when an elderly man with a dome haircut came in and flashed his identification. All they could think about was getting through their overly booked schedule.

The unidentified elderly man began to walk through the compound of the HQ, navigating through its complex maze of hallways like he'd worked there his whole life. After combing through corridors after corridor of doors leading him further and further underground, he finally made it to a large steel door.

He reached for his front pocket, and inserted a jet-black card into the keypad. After about 10 seconds, the dark red light blinked light green, and the door opened for the unknown stranger.

The infamous, overbearing S-class hero Metal Knight was calmly going through the security footage, observing the actions of these everyday workers while he was on his break, when he was interrupted by a man standing behind him he knew all too well. The hero smiled.

"Hello, Bofoi."

The hero didn't move an inch from his seat. "Welcome. I believe you go by the name Dr. Kuseno now, don't you?"

Dr. Kuseno slowly stepped forward. The two were mere feet away from each other. "Yes."

"I must say I was rather surprised to see you here. I didn't expect you to so seamlessly override the Hero Association's database and bypass my security system."

Dr. Kuseno smirked. "You might have a keen eye for robotics, but data encryption has never been your strong suit, brother."

Bofoi swung his chair around and stared at Dr. Kuseno with a sense of curiosity and amusement. "It's been too long, little brother."

In response to the people who believe I am undervaluing Saitama's power, you're using logic from two completely different universes. There is no limit to how powerful anybody in dbz universe can get. A saiyan grow stronger every time he get defeated in battle, meaning that there is no limiter on how powerful he becomes since he becomes stronger than he already was every single time, thus breaking his "limiter" as well. That argument doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I said it before and I'll say it again, but I think removing the limiter just means Saitama can become as strong as he wants, but not that he can call on infinite strength. And being able to blow up the planet isn't much of a milestone. For god's sake, YAMCHA could blow up the planet. If Master Roshi could blow up the moon in his maximum power state during his fight with Goku, then Yamcha could do it if he had a power level of over 1,000. So no, destroying a planet isn't a good argument for proving he has limitless power. Until Chapter 9!