Chapter 24 is finally up! The beginning of the most anticipated battle in this story is about to commence! For some of you, you've waited countless months for the moment when Frieza and Saitama face off, and now it's here! Let's hope it's everything you ever wanted! Now enough jibber jabber! Let's just get it on!
"The name's Blast, and I'm here to kick your ass."
Genos gasped. That was the S-class Rank 1 hero Blast?! Genos had always pondered where or who this unknown hero really was, but if he was here, that only accentuated the gravity of the monster facing them right now. Likewise, all the heroes were letting out gasps of amazement, as only one of them had ever seen this man in person.
"BLAST!" The S-class hero turned his head and saw a familiar face flying toward him. The face of a little girl he saved many years ago. But he didn't expect that little girl to stay a little girl, and he certainly didn't expect for her to come running into his arms like a scene from a romantic movie reunion scene. All of the heroes' jaws dropped to the floor; Tornado actually showing an emotion other than bitchiness? It must have been a dream! Well, if they had truly known about Tatsumaki's past, they would have known Blast was the one who had saved her life and was the one who convinced her to become a hero, but was the one who taught her to stay strong, even in the darkest of times. He was one of the only people, besides Fubuki, that she actually cared about.
"You came back!" said Tatsumaki through watery eyes and sniffles.
"Uh-huh..." Blast uncomfortably patted Tatsumaki on the back.
"It's been years since I last saw you," said Tatsumaki, "Where have you been?"
"You know, just here and there, travellin around the country, chillaxing. The regular stuff."
"I'm being really polite allowing you to have this conversation," said Frieza.
"True, true," replied Saitama. Frieza gave Saitama a confused glare. The Space Emperor's patience was close to its limit. He didn't know how much more he could take of this or why he was even waiting for this little reunion to end. It was unbearable!
"Blast, is it?" said Frieza. "Quite a cute little name. Are you two related by blood?"
Blast and Saitama looked at each other with blank stares and shrugged their shoulders. "I've never seen this guy in my life." said both of them simultaneously.
"Then what's the deal with the somewhat matching uniforms?"
"Luck, I guess?" said Blast. "I work for the Hero Association as the top-ranked hero in the top-ranked class, so this is just my hero suit" said Blast. Saitama let out a faint gasp of surprise. "Really? You're the S-class Rank 1 hero that never comes to the S-class meetings?"
"That's right," replied Blast. "And you are?"
"My name is Saitama, and I'm a hero who's actually employed with the Hero Association too. I'm S-class Rank 4."
"That's pretty impressive," said Blast with a tone of approval in his voice, "You must be the real de-"
"EXCUSE ME!" Frieza's irritated voice cut off Saitama and Blast's conversation. "I'm sorry to put a pause on your little get-together, but unlike you two, I literally have a thousand better things to do, so which of you two wonder twins is going to fight me?"
Tatsumaki snarled. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO BLAST THAT W-" Tornado's sentence was cut off as she felt herself trapped in a psychic imprisonment ball. She tried to break free, but it was no use. She shivered in terror; could he really have psychic abilities that were this powerful? Combined with his super strength, super speed, and energy projection, this just... wasn't fair. With a flick of his fingers, Tatsumaki was sent flying back yet again as the trash she had been deemed by Frieza. She yelled out in pain when she felt the rock scrape her backside, and she just barely had enough energy to keep herself from falling to the ground. "Damn it..." Tatsumaki grasped her arm and weakly trudged over to the rest of the heroes, accepting her place in this battle like they already had.
"She wasn't even fighting," said Blast, "That wasn't fair."
"Who cares? As I was saying," continued Frieza, "How are you going to decide?"
"I dunno," replied Saitama.
"How about Rock-Paper-Scissors?" suggested Blast.
"Why not?" Blast jumped off the boulder and walked up to Saitama. The two of them shook their arms three times, and shot out their hands. To his utter annoyance and enragement, it was Blast who reigned supreme over Saitama, his rock crushing Saitama's scissors. The Number 1 S-class hero pumped his fist in pleasure, and shortly after, turned around to face the God-level monster.
"So you're next in the lineup?" said Frieza, "Well, are you ready to get your world rocked?"
"Heh-heh." Blast cracked his knuckles against each other and twisted his neck to create the sound of bones cracking, making himself appear even more badass. "The better question is: are you ready for a blast from the past?"
"I've never met you before. That line doesn't work there."
Blast's smirk faltered, and he let out a series of sputtering noises. "Whatever! Get ready for the fuck mothering pain!" Blast jumped off the ground and lunged for his newest opponent. The Space Pirates and S-class heroes couldn't help but be a bit excited and interested about the way this legendary battle would unfold.
"Go Blast!" shouted Tatsumaki.
The S-class hero landed a powerful right hook across Frieza's face, sending a few gasps throughout the crowd of spectators and eliciting a smile of glee and confidence from Blast and Tatsumaki.
"Yes! A direct hit!" thought Blast. The power from Blast's punch was quite impressive. Well, so they thought. But every spectator felt their hearts pump up to their mouth when they saw Frieza stare at Blast like all he felt was a love tap.
Amidst the wall of silence, the Space Emperor was the first to break through it. "Well, that answers that question."
"What..." Before Blast could inquire as to what Frieza meant, he was promptly greeted with a hard foot to his face. The hero was sent crashing into a boulder, and was quickly buried under a pile of rubble.
The seconds went by, and everyone was waiting for Blast to rise up from the rubble and shake off the attack like it was nothing. But it never happened. Everyone was stunned speechless.
"This is a joke, right?" said Saitama. "Come on, Blast! We get the joke! Very funny! Now stop faking a knockout and get your ass off of the ground! I wanna fight too!" Not even a pebble tumbled out of place.
"This can't be serious," spoke Frieza, "You're telling me that the number one ranked hero on your planet, a lone wolf who hasn't been seen for years and whose power is basically subject to rumor, is knocked out after a single kick to the head?"
"Apparently so..." replied Saitama.
"Wow..." Honestly, Frieza wasn't sure whether he should be laughing or crying. "Now I know how gamers who bought the Wii U felt."
"Uhh, how do you know about-"
"Space Nintendo."
"Weird."
On the ground, the teenage cyborg was in shock just like everyone else. He had expected a legendary battle between Blast and Frieza, but the number 1 hero in the association was now lying under a pile of rubble. And the only one left to fight this monster now was Master Saitama. There was no way Genos would allow that to be the case!
"But on the slightly brighter side, at least it's my turn now," said Saitama.
Frieza let out a hardy laugh. "Oh please! You?! If the #1 S-class hero couldn't even take a single hit, than how can his stupid-looking reject twin do any better?"
The next sentences they uttered were spoken simultaneously.
"Hey! Watch who you're calling stupid-looking! I mean, look at yourself! With that big head, those weird lips, and those two holes you have ears!"
"I mean, look at you, with that bald head, that derpy-looking face, those non-matching colors!"
Once both of them finished their string of insults, they gave one another nasty looks.
"What the hell did you say?!" shouted both of them at the same time. Both of them disappeared from sight for a brief moment, then reappeared, their fists colliding with one another in a violent burst of rage. As soon as their fists collided, a huge gust of wind and pressure was released, with this power cracking the ground below them like the battles before, and the level of power shocking everyone who was watching. The clash ended as quickly as it started, and both warriors rebounded several feet away from each other. The Space Emperor gripped his hand and let out a slight wince of pain. "Damn," said Frieza, "You've got quite some power behind your punches."
"Thanks," replied Saitama. "With that attack, I can say you're kinda strong. Usually most monsters I fight end up dying after the first punch, so you're definitely no pushover either. But it's too early to tell..."
"Wait..." Getting a glimpse of Saitama's power reminded Frieza of the description Vegeta gave of the warrior that defeated him and Nappa, and when he put the pieces together in his brain, he let out a gasp.
"It's you! You're the one who not only defeated Boros singlehandedly, but took down Vegeta and Nappa like they were just foot soldiers!"
"Uh-huh. That'd be me."
At last, Frieza's search finally bore fruit. "Defeating someone as powerful as Boros is no easy task. And now that I've gotten just a taste of your strength, I can truly comprehend the grandiose might hidden behind your misleading appearance and how you could have defeated such powerful beings so easily." The Space Emperor loosened his body and pointed his finger up toward Saitama. "My entire ulterior motive for transversing to such a deep breach of the cosmos was to ensure you were dealt with in one of two ways: you join my side, or you die by my side." Frieza paced up toward Saitama and stared at him with a steely yet lax gaze in his eyes, as if this was merely a business transaction between two different parties. "So I give you the choice now: join me, and you could live like a god."
Saitama didn't even bat an eye. "Don't think so. I'm not here to be a part of your little group. I've been invited to far too many groups. I'm just here to kick your ass. Now enough talk! Let's get it on!"
The S-class hero's disciple pushed himself off of the ground and took a fighting stance. He had spent the time on the ground focusing his energy on regeneration and to reboot his systems, and now he had recovered enough to assist his master in this battle. "Master, I will fight alongside you."
Saitama chopped his hand through the air in a single swipe. "No."
"Master?"
"You're too banged up. I'll fight him alone," said Saitama.
"But Master..."
"No buts! Go watch with the other heroes. I'll be fine."
The teenage cyborg hesistated for a second, but decided to follow his master's wishes. "Yes master!" He gave a quick bow to his master and flew off to join the spectating S-class heroes. When he reached the group of spectators, they greeted him with a few pats on the back, although some didn't even look at him in the eye and crossed their arms with a defiant huff.
"You were amazing," said Puri-Puri-Prisoner.
"Quite an admirable battle," spoke Bang.
"How did you get so strong?" said King. Genos turned his head to face King, and squinted his eyes. An uncomfortable tension stirred up inside King; why was Genos looking at him like that?
Shortly after, Genos stopped the squinting and replied, "Bofoi, his brother, and Child Emperor created a new body for me using the energy source from the alien spaceship that came to Earth."
"I see..." said Bang.
"Hold on a second!" said Atomic Samurai, "What are we gonna do about the Caped Baldy?! There's no way he can take this monster on alone!"
"His name is Saitama!" angrily replied Genos, "And my master can handle himself!" Genos said this with confidence, but in his heart, he wasn't quite sure. Frieza had power unlike anything he had ever witnessed before, possessing strength and speed that made warriors like Carnage Kabuto look like Wolf-level threats. Saitama would HAVE to acknowledge this strength, and perhaps, just perhaps, he would get the fight he yearned for.
Frieza condescendingly smirked. "Sending your friend off to fight me all alone. How gutless."
Saitama gave Frieza a quizzical look. "Wait, how is that gutless?"
"Because... suicide is the coward's way out."
In an unexpected twist, Saitama actually let out a laugh of amusement. "That's a good one!" said Saitama, "You're actually pretty funny!"
Frieza bashfully shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I try."
"You keep that up, and maybe that'll make this battle even more fun."
"Well then, let the fight commence."
Both warriors lunged for each other yet again, and with that, the most historic battle the planet would ever see had begun.
"Your reign of terror ends now, Dr. Genus!"
Armored Gorilla was standing behind the counter, putting away dirty plates and preparing to start the dishwasher, barely acknowledging this newcomer's existence. "Oh, are you a customer?" he said, "Just give me one moment, I'm washing dirty dishes."
The newcomer scoffed. "How many times have you switched your hideout locations? So this time, you've decided to select an unassuming Tako-yaki stand for your disguise? Such an obvious and stupid ploy will not work on me. I've followed your trail; you can't fool me." The newcomer grabbed a pocket in his coat and pulled out a Desert Eagle. "I go now by the name of Zombieman... The hero with the immortal body. Does Experiment Sample No. 66 ring any bell?"
Outside of the food stand, Karmath's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and his heart jumped up in delight. His partner noticed this, and he tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Karmath! What's with that grin?"
"That guy we were tracking... He's immortal." Karmath found it hard to keep his voice down. Orlen gasped. "He's immortal?!"
Karmath held his hand out to silence his partner. "Quiet! I need to hear this!"
"Eh, a hero who came form the House of Evolution?" said Armored Gorilla, "Sorry to tell you this, but the House of Evolution has been disbanded."
Zombieman's jaw dropped down. "What?!"
Armored Gorilla stepped out of the counter and opened another door to his right. "If you're interested in speaking to Dr. Genus, allow me to take you to him. He is right through this door."
Zombieman's grip on his gun didn't loosen, but he hesitantly followed Armored Gorilla's directions and walked through the door.
"Dr. Genus, you have a visitor," said Armored Gorilla. Sitting on the floor with a cup of tea (which ironically had illustrations of the line of evolution of mankind) in his hand, Dr. Genus stared up to meet this new visitor. "Ah, it's you," spoke Dr. Genus.
"What's going on here?" said Zombieman. "What game are you playing?"
"Please, have a seat." Dr. Genus motioned Zombieman to take a seat, to which he did, albeit reluctantly. Dr. Genus grabbed a pot of tea positioned next to him, and grabbed another cup from his cupboard, pouring another glass for his gust, as if this were just a friendly chat between friends. "Here. Have a cup of tea." Dr. Genus pushed the cup toward Zombieman, but Zombieman made no motion to pick it up.
"I remember Sample No. 66 quite well," said Dr. Genus, adjusting his seat as he spoke in order to get more comfortable, "The one success of the immortality series, an excellent specimen who destroyed my facility and disappeared."
Had they been in the other room, the three of them would have heard some laughes of amazement and delight coming from outside of the Tako-yaki stand. "This is unbelievable!" Karmath turned his head toward his partner. "That man wasn't born naturally. Apparently, the owner of this restaurant, a man who goes by the name of Dr. Genus, created him artificially in an attempt to create an immortal being." Karmath grasped both of Orlen's shoulders. "Do you know what this means?!"
Orlen could only shake his head as a response.
"It means that if we capture that doctor, he might be able to find a way to make Lord Frieza immortal!"
When the gravity of this situation hit Orlen, a wide smile spread across his face. "And we'd be known as the ones who helped make Frieza immortal!"
"Now you're getting it!" said Karmath. "Aren't you glad you listened to me now?!"
"So what's the plan?"
"Alright, here's what I'm thinking: I'll stay here and continue to listen in on the conversation. You call in the rest of the foot soldiers and tell them to track our scouter's signal."
"Can't the two of us just take them by ourselves?"
"Didn't you hear what I said? That gorilla managed to take out a monster with a single hit! And the 2nd guy has immortality, so we can't kill him; the most either of us can do is slow him down! If we want to do this right, we need numbers to overpower them."
"I got it."
"Oh, and make sure to do it out of earshot so they won't hear you."
Orlen nodded, and walked several meters away to call in the rest of the foot soldiers. Karmath's heart was fluttering with delight; at last, his life was secured.
On the fighting grounds, the spectators' heads were spinning, trying to catch just a glimpse of the ongoing battle. Like the battles before, the only sign that a battle was even taking place was the extremely sharp bursts of air pressure and the fracturing rocks that split apart whenever they were in the vicinity of the colliding punches.
"Amazing," said Atomic Samurai, "And to think I didn't view him as worthy enough to shake my hand."
"If anything, you're not worthy of shaking his hand for holding yourself above him," said Genos sardonically, "He could swat you like a fly if he so chose."
Atomic Samurai slightly bowed his head down in shame. "He really could..."
"How could a hero be so powerful?" muttered Garou. The Hero Hunter was in stupefaction to know someone who followed the hypocritical, self-serving side of heroism could attain such a level of strength that far surpassed the levels of all other S-class heroes thus far. Could Garou ever attain this kind of power? Was it even possible? The 18-year old just didn't know.
On the battlefield, the terrain was electrified. Slowly but surely, the raw power of these two unbelievably powerful beings was beginning to unfold. The very Earth itself would tremble in fear before their might.
Frieza performed a series of front flips midair, and swung his tail at Saitama, who easily dodged all of the tail attacks. Frieza continued his assault and struck Saitama with a barrage of punches, with the hero merely blocking or dodging his blows. Frieza took note of his opponent's bored expression, and he squinted his eyes in anger. Frieza then flew up into the sky, and using both of his palms, fired a beam of purple energy. Saitama's eyes widened. "He can fly and shoot laser beams?" Saitama bent his knees and jumped right up to meet the energy blast, slicing through it like a pizza cutter would slice through pizza. Frieza's eyes widened when Saitama appeared before him. He hit Frieza with a right jab, but Frieza caught it with his own hand. He instantly regretted it, and let out a shout of pain as the force from Saitama's punch ran through his hand.
Frieza grunted angrily and kicked Saitama in the chin. Saitama did nothing to block or dodge the kick, however, and flew up momentarily into the sky. Frieza then fired a series of eye beams at Saitama while he was midair and vulnerable. A cloud of black smoke appeared around Saitama and covered him from Frieza. Instantly, however, the cloud of smoke disappated in the air, and Saitama threw a long distance punch. The shockwaves from the punch were immense, acting like an invisible ki blast that blew Frieza back. Frieza held his hands back and fired a stream of energy that ran counter to his own trajectory and stopped him midair just before he touched the ground.
"I didn't know you could fly!" shouted Saitama, "And with those energy beams, you kinda remind me of Boros and that purple guy with the antennae."
Frieza didn't even have to ask about the 2nd person he mentioned, although the statement caught Frieza by surprise. Why would he say that? Wouldn't such simple feats as flying and energy waves be the norm for someone as strong as Saitama? "Wait, are you saying you can't fly or use energy?"
"Nope," replied Saitama.
"But then what was that invisible burst of pressure you just attacked me with?"
"That was just my regular punch."
Frieza let out a meep of fear and surprise. Did he just hear him correctly? That was the force of his regular punch? And when he wasn't even fighting seriously?
Likewise, the other space pirates and the heroes watching the battle had their jaws opened.
"Did Recoome get a screw knocked loose? Because Recoome is pretty sure the baldy said that was just his regular punch."
"Jesus Christ," said Superalloy Darkshine, "He must have the muscles of a god to pull something like that off."
"So this is really the warrior we came here for," said Captain Ginyu, "No wonder Boros, Nappa, and Vegeta were bested."
"Well that's just peachy," said an irate Frieza, "But guess what? You're not the only one who can play at that game." Frieza flew to Saitama and appeared just a few feet in front of him. Frieza cupped both of his hands again and fired an invisible kiai. Saitama's eyes nominally widened as he was pushed back by Frieza's attack, briefly closing his eyes as well. But when Saitama opened his eyes, Frieza was gone.
"Hey! Where did you go?" Saitama looked around the landscape and saw nothing but rocks and dust. "Did you like camoflauge or something? I mean, I know chameleons can change their skin. Are you like some mutated alien chameleon? Cus that would explain a lot about you." Frieza finally made his move, appearing behind Saitama and kicking him across the head with his right foot. Next came a knee to his gut, and finally, a red energy sphere square in Saitama's face. Frieza grinned in delight; a direct hit at point-blank range! And he was just leaving himself wide open for any attack. What an idiot! "That ought to have done some damage!" He waited for the smoke to clear to see whether his hope rang true or not, and of course, Saitama just stood there like nothing happened.
"Grrrrhhhhhh..." Frieza gritted his teeth and was prepared to let out another shout of anger, but he didn't want to let Saitama get the best of him so soon into the battle, so he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and calmly exhaled.
"You all good there?" said Saitama, "Already need to catch your breath?"
"Just fine, thank you." Saitama floated up into the air and held both his arms and hands out stretched. He floated backwards until he gently placed his feet on a rock cliff about 10 feet above Saitama. "You're quite the gifted warrior. Besides my parents, I don't believe anyone has ever worked me to this level. Truth be told, I can barely contain my excitement."
"Yea, I'm trying my best not to look too excited either," said Saitama, "Just look at my face." Saitama pointed both hands at his face, and widened his eyes.
"I can see that. Well, I guess I'll just have to heat things up." Frieza lifted his right hand up into the air, and instantly, a series of rocks him floated up in the sky. He lifted his other hand in sync with his other hand, and using both hands, twirled them in a circular motion, and began circling around him like an asteroid ring around a planet. Frieza extended his thumb, index finger, and middle finger, and one of the rocks was thrown at Saitama's face. Saitama didn't even lift a finger to stop the rock from hitting him in the face, but if the rock knew better, it would have known to get out of Saitama's way, for upon contact, the rock shattered and fell into dozens of tiny pieces. Frieza's smirk faded, and with both of his hands, he fired the rest of the rocks at Saitama, each rock striking Saitama at different angles. To his increased frustration, Saitama still stood there, and STILL took no visible damage.
"How come all any psychic wants to do is throw pebbles?" said Saitama, "It's a freaking waste."
"Oh, are these rocks not up to your satisfactory level of size?" retorted Frieza, "I'm so sorry. Here, let's play a game to make things more fun for you."
Frieza lifted both his hand with the palms face-up. Suddenly, the ground began to violently shake, knocking the spectators off balance. Saitama raised his eyebrows in confusion; what was Frieza up to? Behind Frieza, an enormous rock began to rise, being ripped straight out of the ground. The size of this boulder was unbelievable; even Tatsumaki herself couldn't help being shaken by its monumental size.
"It looks like a floating island!" said Puri-Puri-Prisoner.
"He ripped it right out of the ground!" said Genos in disbelief.
"How can such a monster exist?"
Likewise, the Space Pirates were letting out gasps of surprise and amazement. None of them had ever seen Frieza in his ultimate form, but the idea that their master could rip islands from the ground was unreal.
"Amazing, Lord Frieza!" shouted Captain Ginyu, "Crush that Earthling into a bloody pulp!"
"Oh I intend to," said Frieza quietly.
Saitama cracked a small smile. "Not bad. So what's this game called?"
"Rock Paper Scissors!" With a mighty thrust of his hands, the island-sized boulder came flying toward Saitama. Saitama bucked his hips, and prepared to take the rock head on.
"Except in my version, rock beats paper." The humongous rock prevented any of the spectators from seeing Saitama clearly once the boulder reached him.
The other heroes felt stomach being tied in knots. Each of them nervously glanced at each other, all of them worrying if Saitama could handle an island being thrown at him.
Bang and Genos, however, calmly smirked. "Frieza doesn't know what he's in for," said Bang.
Frieza smiled confidently, assured in his victory. But like Bang said, Frieza didn't know what he was in for. A deep rumbling echoed through the sky, emanating from the boulder. Suddenly, the boulder fractured into two semi-circles, landing on the ground with a thunderous crash.
Before Frieza had the time to let out a gasp of shock, Saitama appeared in front of him, smirking with confidence.
"I guess scissors cuts rock."
Saitama slapped him across the face, sending him skyrocketing to the side. Frieza propelled himself back to an upright position and fired a barrage of Death Beams at Saitama. Saitama flicked them away with his hands as one would flick away flies. The Death Beams lit up the sky with bright purple flashes of light, destroying even more of the terrain.
The force of the energy blasts coupled with the very intense energies of the two warriors caused the unconscious Super Saiyan to waken from his slumber. General Nappa was slow to get up; he felt all of his muscles were raw with pain and noticed dozens of wounds all over his chest. "What happened?" The memories of his unsavory defeat against that scumbag Frieza flashed back to him, and a surge of rage coursed through him in the process. That slimy reptile had actually managed to put him under like this? How humiliating!
"I'm gonna-" Nappa's sentence faltered when he saw Frieza floating in the sky, apparently looking at someone in front of him. Nappa turned to see who Frieza was looking at, and he gasped. It was Saitama! "So that bald bastard actually made it... Figures..." Frieza had no idea what he was in for; Saitama was unlike anything he'd ever seen, and pretty soon, Frieza'd figure that out too.
"Well, since I'm all banged up, might as well watch the show."
Frieza felt a sense of frustration, but he didn't let it put him down too much. The emperor still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. "Alright, how about we try this?" Frieza sped to Saitama until he was only a few meters separate from him. He extended his arms in front of him and put on hand on top of the other. As soon as he did, a bright orange ball appeared around Saitama.
The bald hero felt a wave of pressure surrounding him, constricting his muscles. "What is this?" said Saitama.
"It's paralysis. Another useful feature of my psychic abilities."
"Nifty."
Frieza lifted his hands up into the sky with the intention of sending Saitama flying upward, but Frieza felt an instant tug preventing him from lifting Saitama more then a few inches off the ground. "What?" Frieza tried again, but he still felt a great resistance pushing against him.
"How the hell are you so heavy?" Frieza let out a very loud groan of frustration and exertion as he continued to try lifting Saitama off the ground. Saitama's eyes nominally widened in surprise when he saw himself slowly being lifted off the ground until he was hovering about 30 meters off the ground.
"So this is what it feels like to fly," said Saitama, "It's pretty neat."
Frieza felt like his insides we're going to burst, until he could no longer take the stress and put Saitama off the ground, still being careful to keep the paralysis in effect.
"Is this all you're paralysis can do? Cuz..." Saitama extended his arms out, and instantly, the bright orange ball around Saitama vanished.
"Unbelievable..."
"Alright, I've let you have your fun and sit idly by," said Saitama, "But I've had enough waiting around. Now, oftentimes, I'd usually have already killed regular monsters, but this time Ima do something a little different: I'm gonna draw this out for a little while since I've been waiting a few weeks for this, and I'm sure as hell not gonna end it with just a punch. Does that sound good to you?"
"Very well. You should know, though, that I've been fighting you with only a fraction of my full power," said Frieza in an attempt to incite some fear in Saitama. But Saitama just smirked with confidence and replied, "That's what I like to hear."
"Now lets see..." Saitama looked at the ground around him, as if he was searching for something. He ran about 10 to 20 meters northeast, but once he got there, he shook his head and ran toward another spot. Perplexed by this odd behavior, Frieza spoke out. "What are you doing exactly? Looking for a hole to dig your friend? Besides the one you've already dug for yourself."
Saitama let out another chuckle. "Nah. Besides, everything around here is rock, no soil to dig. No, what I'm looking for is the right spot to do this..."
Saitama bent his knees, and dug his fingers into the ground.
"Super Move Serious Series: Serious Table Flip."
To all of the spectators watching, in front of the S-class hero, a wall of black suddenly appeared. It took a few seconds to realize that what Saitama had done was flipped the entire ground below Frieza and all of the accompanying debris from the previous battles up into the air. Like the other spectators, it too took Frieza a few moments to understand what had just happened. All around him, he saw blue sky and rocks flying up in the air. When the realization of what had happened came to him, his face hardened to a serious stone tablet, and he surveyed everything around him.
"What a move!" shouted Frieza, "You must be pretty steamed to flip the tables around like that! I guess all that time waiting for me ground your gears! I'm touched!"
"I had to run across a continent, so yea, I'm pretty pissed." Before Frieza had the time to turn around, he felt a foot kicking him in the back. Frieza's trajectory was stopped by several rocks. "Hold on..." At the speed he was going, Frieza should have hit the ground. How high were they?! Frieza looked below him, and he couldn't believe it; none of the spectators were in sight. The only thing he saw was a little area of brown, which must have been the ground thousands of feet below. The shock quickly wore off, and Frieza focused his attention back to the matter at hand. He saw Saitama still hovering in the spot where he had hit him. Frieza bent his knees, and with all of his might, flew up and headbutted Saitama in the stomach. Saitama was sent crashing through many rocks just like Frieza had, although he gave no visible signs of pain.
Frieza couldn't be so cavalier in this fight any longer. An erroneous move would most likely cost him his life. This realization infuriated him, but in a way, it also brought him some excitement. He decided a change of attack would be a good call, specifically his close-range combat. Frieza focused his energy and channeled it into his fists. "I'll have to play this smart." And to do that, he'd have to be mobile. So he proceeded to jump across the many different rocks, changing his angle to make it more difficult for Saitama to track. Frieza flew at blinding speeds and punched Saitama across the face. Saitama attempted to grab him, but he was moving too fast, and he was unable to get a firm grip on him. Saitama followed him through the air and struck him with a series of love taps. Frieza and Saitama exchanged a series of close-range blows midair, but to the human eye, all they would have seen was bursts of air and debris being further destroyed. After a few seconds, Saitama's love taps eventually overpowered Frieza; the Space Emperor realized this, and he released a burst of energy around him that blew Saitama back momentarily.
Frieza performed a series of midair front flips and struck Saitama with his tail. He then wrapped his tail around Saitama and tightened his grip.
"Are you giving out free neck massages?" said Saitama. Frieza snarled, and formed a small fireball in his palm and fired it at point-blank range. Smoke enveloped around Saitama, but Saitama jumped upward, unharmed whatsoever, and engaged in another close-range brawl with Frieza.
Like before, Saitama's punches were but love taps. Fists collided, the air moistened with intensity, and the Space Emperor was yet again being overwhelmed.
The power of Saitama's punches was beginning to take a significant toll on him. So early in the battle, but already he was having blurry vision and could see blood forming on several parts of his body. He truly felt death creeping up on him. Could this duel really be over in such a short amount of time? Could Frieza really die with this sort of shame?
A great surge of fury and willpower rose up in Frieza. The lizard focused on maintaining focus, and the blurriness in his eyes instantly faded. He refused to be humiliated by an opponent such as this! He could not allow it!
"YYYYYYHHHHHHAAAAAAHHHHHH!" A purple aura enveloped around Frieza, and the surrounding rubble was vaporized by the high-level energy barrier. Saitama instantly noticed Frieza's punches increase in speed and ferocity. His love taps were quickly being overwhelmed by Frieza's newly empowered punches. Saitama beamed in delight. Maybe he could break a sweat! Well, not with the power he was displaying now, but it was a start.
"Not bad," said Saitama, "But not enough either."
"Normal Punch Combo."
"What?!" That was all that Frieza could say as his punches were instantaneously nullified by Saitama's punches and he was sent hurtling toward the Earth. He felt himself landing on the ground with a thud. He looked around and realized they had made it back to the ground; Zarbon and the remaining Ginyus were looking on in distress, and from the sky, Saitama crashed down, sending several more rocks momentarily up into the sky.
Frieza was panting like a dog in a hot summer afternoon. His body was covered with smudges and bruises, and his hands were throbbing. Frieza couldn't understand it. "No matter what I hit him with or no matter how many times I hit him with my attacks, he doesn't feel a thing. It's as if his body is an impenetrable suit of armor that protects him from anything."
Frieza looked at his hands and saw the dark smudges and slightly increased size from swelling. "To think that a mere human could have such unbelievable amounts of strength!" thought Frieza in his mind, "I attacked him with 50% of my power, and he treated it like it was nothing!" No one has ever pushed my body to this extremity before." Frieza looked up at his opponent, who, even after the earth-shaking battle underway, appeared as if he were on a regular Sunday stroll. His teeth were clenched in anger, and his fists were shaking in rage.
"Why... YOU!"
Unbeknownst to any of the spectators on Earth, in a parallel dimension, the being known as God was observing the ensuing struggle with intense curiosity and burgeoning bafflement. God watched as fighter after fighter arrived and was easily disposed of by the Emperor of the Universe, and of course, when Saitama had arrived. God thought Frieza could handle himself against Saitama, but this belief was quickly proven wrong. Even with only a fraction of his power, Saitama was more than a match against Frieza at 50% power.
"With such a large power gap, I'm not sure how Frieza will reign supreme over Saitama. However, I have reason to hope..."
"Even though I know little of Frieza's life, from what I've seen of this battle so far, Frieza's willpower is extremely formidable. Just like Saitama, and just like Garou. I could sense Frieza's life force fading, but it instantly reappeared, and with it, Frieza managed to momentarily overwhelm Saitama's initial punches. His determination managed to prevail over the feeling of death."
"For this is the true key to surpassing one's limits: overcoming death. Only Saitama has managed to do this. And if an ordinary man such as him could do it, there should be no reason why a mutant prodigy such as Frieza shouldn't be able to."
"If Frieza can continue to surpass the sensation of death, gradually use more of his power and overcome Saitama's increased power, perhaps he could obtain an explosive growth of power like Saitama did.
"I can only hope."
Back on the battlefield, Saitama's expression was still rather dull, but Frieza's anger felt like it was going to burst.
"You're pretty strong," said Saitama blatantly. This comment alleviated some of Frieza's anger, and the pressure built up in his teeth and fists dialed down. "I haven't felt this way since Boros."
"Likewise. No wonder Boros was defeated. But alas, the difference between him and I is you fought him at his maximum power. I've only fought you with about half of my true power."
"Join the club," blurted Saitama, "That's me everyday of my life. It's freaking boring as hell." This new revelation made a question pop up in Saitama's brain. "Let me ask you something: if you're this powerful, how do you deal with it?"
"Deal with what?"
"The boredom. How do you cope knowing there's nobody who can give you the exhilaration of a real fight?"
"Oh, getting personal are we?" said Frieza, "Well, if you were here before, you would have seen I have the ability to undergo transformations that reduce my strength significantly."
"Lucky."
"But unlike you, I'm an opulent ruler who doesn't need to reduce himself to barbarous engagement to quell my tedium. Such trivial matters are beneath me. Now, if we might, I'd like to cease this heart-to-heart and do what I came here to do: put you in the ground."
"Sound's good to me."
"But..." Frieza looked at the barren wasteland all around him filled with piles of rocks and uneven grounds spanning for miles around, and he shook his head in disapproval. "If it's alright with you, I'd prefer to move to a place that isn't completely destroyed."
"Fine, fine. What do you suggest?"
"Follow me." Frieza levitated off the ground, and motioned Saitama to follow him up in the sky. Saitama bent his knees down and jumped up to accompany his opponent. The two of them were flying through the air, searching for a more optimal place to resume their legendary battle. The entire terrain was just barren rock lands devoid of any life. Just when Frieza was about to give up on finding a better spot, a new biome came into view. A field of lush green grass spanned for several miles. A crystal clear lake glimmered in the morning sun, and a series of tall pine trees were spread across the land.
"We'll choose that as our next area of battle," shouted Frieza through the noisy wind.
"Got it!" replied Saitama. The two fighters quickly descended to their new fighting ground. Once they reached the ground, both of them took a moment to survey the landscape and somewhat admire the lush greenery in comparison to the arid and sun-baked ground they just left.
"You know, I'm feeling like having a little fun," said Saitama, "So how about this? I'll fight without using either of my hands."
"What a generous offer. Alright, I accept your terms. But I must warn you," Frieza smirked with his typical poise, "the gloves are coming off this round."
"Oh." Frieza's smirk floundered when he saw Saitama proceed to pull his gloves off his hands. "I didn't mean literally..."
Saitama snickered, catching Frieza off guard. "I know, just messing with you."
"Ahhh..." Frieza couldn't help but give a small smile of amusement as a response. "Well played."
"Now then..." A purple aura encased itself around Frieza, and his muscles tightened as he felt the power surging through him. "Let the real fight begin."
Ba-ba-ba Bam! The first round of the ultimate battle is over! Hope it was everything you were waiting for, and also hope none of the characters were OOC.
Now, I figure I owe an explanation for the crazy and anti-climactic end to Blast, the #1 S-class hero. Well, I've got a few reasons for this: One, I wanted to see the look on your faces. Two, I wanted to do a reverse One Punch Man with Blast. Three, there simply just isn't enough information about Blast. There's been next to no mention of him besides a few flashbacks here and there and his defeat of Elder Centipede, but beyond that, he's a total stranger. I gotta be honest, most of the theories about Blast are pretty stupid in my opinion, like how Blast is somehow Saitama, even though Tatsumaki met him when she was 13, meaning Saitama was 9, or that Blast is Saitama's father. If he was, you really think Saitama wouldn't ever mention him even once? Or like mention him as his role model in his decision to become a hero? Four, I find it hard to believe that Blast would be so overwhelmingly more powerful than most of the S-class heroes since he still has his hair, and having no hair is one of main attributes of having a person's limiter removed, so while me might be more powerful than some S-class heroes, I don't imagine he's dimensions above them in speed and strength, unlike Saitama and Frieza. And finally, I feel having Blast would detract from the final confrontation between Saitama and Frieza. Well, that's my opinion, feel free to review and object to it.
Until Chapter 25, when Round 2 of this legendary battle will begin!