Chapter 12

Knuckle was quick to change into the new clothing he got. One thing for certain he needed was a massive hoodie to bring up and over his head. When he goes into the Underbelly of the cities, he doesn't like to be seen. Despite his large stature he was quite good at blending in and appearing faceless in a crowd. It's what the villains hated about him, he could get in and out with them noticing. Then, when it came time to take them down, he knew everything. Where they were, their favorite locations to eat and drink or just hang out. But tonight, it wasn't about bounty hunting. It was information gathering.

Knuckle snuck out in the dead of night, he didn't have to go far either, down the street, take a right, a left and then down to the subway tunnels that have long since been abandoned. He remembered the markings on the walls that the underworld liked to use. What appeared nothing more than teenage graffiti was actually code for what is there. Tonight, he was going to a tavern.

The subway tunnel was filthy to say the least, yet it was home to those who called the streets their property. He followed the path down to the end of the platform, there he found a small set of stairs that went onto the tracks. Within the wall a mere 100 feet away was a door, he could smell the smoke from where he stood. Knuckle walked in, his head lowered as he kept near the back and listened around. These thugs were talking about the neo Heroes, how the M Class dragons were no more and the association that fell.

"About damn time, now we can kill those freaks without real punishment!"

"Yeah, good luck on that. You saw the news. Garou attacked the Headquarters on his own! He wasn't even trying!"

"No shit, perhaps it's better to take out his children first, they can't be that strong now, can they?"

Knuckle looked up and peered about, all over the walls were the underworld bounties, prices placed on the head of heroes that they wanted dead. There was a wall though dedicated to Garou and his so call family as the patriots put it. Knuckle was curious as he approached and stared at the photos. There was an older picture of the human monster, one when he was human. 40 million yen was placed on his head. Curious, he took the photo off and stared at it.

"Oh good luck boy!" he heard a voice yell. Knuckle turned as he realized he got the attention of the whole establishment. "That's the OLD bounty placed on his head. You want the new one, besides, he don't look like that no more."

"About that… how did he go from this to that?" Knuckle asked. "Quite drastic if you think about it."

The bar laughed. "Kid don't know shit!"

One woman cackled. "You naïve fool!" she said. "Garou sought to become the strongest. When that bounty was put on him, he decimated a room full of criminals when the Heroes association was BEGGING for help to fight monsters. Not only did he take out three A Class heroes, he took out the whole room! Some of us here being among those he knocked out."

"YOU WEREN'T THERE!" one of the criminals yelled. He sat there at the back of the room shaking like a leaf. "He… he wasn't even trying… the kid was too much… he was just a kid… just a kid!" he muttered.

Knuckle turned back to the board and saw the new photo of Garou. In his monster form, the bounty on him went to 6 billion yen! "Really, 6 billion huh? No one has tried?" he asked.

The room erupted with laughter. "You got a death wish!" the woman snickered. "No one, goes after Garou. NO ONE" she stated.

Knuckle turned back to the board and found one torn, it was a woman's face with scales under her neck, her eyes white as her hair was medium length and flat. The name however was torn off. "That's his wife." One man stated. "Just as deadly if you piss her off. Especially if you come after her children."

"He has kids?"

"Last I heard five, rumor was he just had more!"

Knuckle kept staring at the photo. She reminded him of someone, but couldn't quite place the name. So he looked over the other photos. He has children that are nearly a dead ringer for Garou himself. Yet for someone so young, how come his children appear the same age as him?!

Two appeared just like him but different color scales and hair, an older daughter who looked like her mother. But then, he froze. There were two that were remarkably different. They still had their father's resemblance, yet one of them, Knuckle swore he saw his own father's looks in him. "Strange, that or it's a coincidence." He thought.

Then there were three, not even related to Garou or the others. One he knew. "Biting Snake Fist Snek… I remember him. He was fighting with dad once, he was a lot younger too…" as he stared at the picture, he wondered why he looked like a serpent now.

Then there was Lightning Max. "Didn't I go to school with a guy that had spiked hair? He was in track and field if I remember… GAH!" he froze as the headache returned, he wouldn't put stress on his mind trying to recall the face. The last one was Suiryu. A young man with great strength, but he didn't know who he was the least bit.

"You ain't thinking about going for a bounty, are you, kid?" Knuckle turned and saw the people haven't stopped staring at him.

"No… no, just curious is all." He explained. This wall had the greatest amount of money put on their heads. The lowest was Snek by the looks of it, but at 625 million yen was nothing to sneeze at. Knuckle continued to look about the walls, when one caught his eye.

300 million yen, Amai Mask.

"Him… I remember… how could I forget!" he growled. Knuckle felt the anger and rage every time he heard the name or seen the face of Amai, yet there was no reasoning behind it, not just yet. Still, the man boiled his blood.

"Listen, kid. You're new to this ain't, yeah? Take it from me, Bull-Bull and go for low level heroes first. Then aim bigger!" He turned and saw a man in a bull outfit explaining how to do things, however Knuckle smirked.

"Thanks for the advice, I'll mange."

"Just who the hell are you anyway. I ain't see you here before?" Bull-Bull asked.

"Just someone passing through, nothing more."

He turned his back as someone reached for his hood. Knuckle was quick to grab the arm and lob them over his head and on to the table. The room stood on end as he froze to his actions, yet quickly collected himself. "Don't touch me." He warned. Yet he looked about the room to see if anyone else would try something. There was temptation. He could feel it. "I ain't looking for a fight, if you are. I warn you now… you won't be getting up for last call." Knuckle warned.

They backed off. He straightened his jacket and went on his way. He got a little detail on Garou and his family, yet he needed more. Who was the woman with the bounty placed next to his? What happened to Snek and the other two men? Why did one of those children he has possess some of his own father's resemblance?

#

Street found the computer lab.

He was fascinated to how the technology changed, despite it, he was able to use it well enough to get what he was looking for. "Okay big shot, who the hell are you…" he whispered and typed in the name.

Garou.

Instantly files pulled up. Photos appeared of heroes beaten down and their injuries listed. Street went through the list of all those he took out, he wrote down names and ranks incase he encountered these heroes in the streets. Perhaps they will have more details.

He went on to read the history of Garou, how he was a top disciple at a dojo run by former S Class hero Bang, aka Silverfang Rank 3. But after he went mad, wanting more of a challenge. He attacked the other student and was quickly dealt with by Bang who beat him and expelled Garou. But, it didn't stop him.

"He went from Dojo to Dojo, causing devastation in his wake, he learned everything that they offered through forced combat until nothing was left to gain. He went on until the Heroes Association called in the Underworld criminals for help in dealing with growing monster attacks. Garou took out three Class A heroes including ripping the arm off of one…" He froze. "Shit, this kid wasn't joking around."

"After the heroes defeat, he set his sights on the criminals, stating he was on the side of monsters, and therefore they were against him. He decimated the room and walked out on his own accord."

Street paused. "This defiantly isn't the same guy we met earlier." He kept reading the reports, Garou went on to fight the Tank Top Army, took out S Class Heroes Tank Top Master and Metal Bat… wait, Metal Bat has info on this guy!?" Street jotted a note to remember to ask Bad later about this.

There was more, the association classified him as a level dragon threat, and worried that Garou joined the monsters association. He vanished for some time after a hoard of monsters came up and attack Bang, his brother Bomb and S Class hero Genos. He returned only to vanish once more. "Reports indicated by S Class Heroes that Garou transformed into a monster, became known as Awakened Garou. Their battle is unknown, but all that is reported is Garou was defeated, yet escaped before he could be killed." That report was done over seven years ago.

"Seven years…" muttered Street.

He began to feel tired, despite the details he has yet to read. Street called it a night and decided to sleep on it for the moment. His mind does this, when there is new information, he tended to fall asleep in order to retain it. Yet the night brought about a strange and yet vivid dream…