A/N

I apologize once again to those that were reading this story before or had already read what I posted and were waiting for more. I understand your frustrations. My reasoning is that the original plot I had planned derailed too far, and the quality was poor as well. There were plenty of holes that people were helpful in pointing out. With this revamp I've added new dynamics, hopefully filled the holes, and have improved the quality of writing.

Sorry again, and thank you. Please enjoy.

She laid on her side on her floor- which also happened to be her bed. Noodles hung from her mouth as she stared blankly at the television. Whatever she was watching wasn't funny. Amusing, but not funny, and very pointless. Yet it was still enough for her brain to keep her entertained. She slurped up her noodles and ate. During her morning ritual there was a disturbance. A tremor went through her apartment and her hanging light swayed as it flickered. She sighed and reached for the remote. It was a difficult struggle with it being on the other side of the table. She grunted as she stretched her arm. She was just a couple inches away...! She shut her eyes tight and leaned into the edge of the table, reaching as far as she could. Even when the muscle was pulled in her shoulder, she didn't give up. Just a little further...! Her teeth clenched, sweat breaking out on her forehead. The tips of her fingers just grazed the remote...

She caved and pulled her arm back. "Ow, ow, ow, ow..." Forced to sit up, setting her cup of noodles on the table, she held her aching shoulder muscle and snagged the stubborn remote to change the channel.

=An update on the attack on Z City= the woman reported, sitting at her desk looking professional.

"Us again..." She shoved more noodles in her mouth and slurped them up.

=The monster had been identified as Caperticus: once a man with an obsession for gardening cacti had a science experiment go horribly wrong and is now a cactus himself with an unrelenting rage. On the scene is Fumoi- Fumoi, what's the status?=

The screen split to show a male reporter. Instead of a suit he was wearing a bullet proof vest and a helmet. =Atsuka! I'm here at the west side of Z City and everything is nearly demolished! As you can see behind me= The camera swerved passed him to show an eight foot tall walking cactus. =Caperticus is showing no mercy! We are still waiting on the newly founded Heroes Association to respond! The police are doing all they can-= an explosion cut him off.

Another tremor went through the apartment, light swaying and the lucky neko statue on her television stand shook its arm violently. She reached into her cup with her chopsticks, but they were empty when she brought them to her mouth. She looked down at her cup in disappointment. "I'm out of noodles..."

That's when the phone rang. She blinked and stared at her corded phone for a moment. No one hardly ever called her. She at least didn't have any friends or a job. As she stared, the phone continued to ring. Guess someone was really trying to get a hold of her. The news report on the television was losing its mind with yelling and explosions, but she paid it no mind as she forced herself to get up.

Still in kitty cat pajamas she walked over to the wall separating the kitchen from the living room, the apartment shaking and light flickering. "The power better not go out again." She answered the phone, "Hello."

"Are you all right!?" She blinked, staring down blankly as she tried to recognize the voice. "Oi, are you there!?"

"Oh!" She perked up, recognizing the voice in a panic. "Stubbles!"

The man sighed heavily. "Stop calling me that."

"Shave your face."

"Are you all right? There's a monster in Z City right now."

"Yeah, when isn't there." Looking back at the television, the light flickered with another tremor and the news team was still tailing the giant cactus man. "I'm all right, the monster's a little too close. My power might go out again." Turning back around she examined her nails as she casually asked, "So, how's working at that new job of yours?"

"You should be evacuating to be safe!"

"Eh." She bit at her nail. "I don't wanna put pants on."

The man sighed. "Dammit..."

"Besides, isn't that new Hero Association supposed to send a hero out to save us?" Turning around she leaned on the wall to watch the television, the apartment shaking and rattling.

"Yes, we've already dispatched two heroes, though only one of them is close by."

=Wait- there! There he is! Who is that?= She perked up at the television to see it zoom in on a man in a tight red suit standing on a building top.

"Looks like a man in red spandex just showed up."

=Oh- it's the Red Wonder! The Red Wonder has just made his appearance to put an end to-= Then the power went out after a violent shake.

She nearly fell over, but caught herself. "Hello? Stubbles?" She sighed and hung the phone back up. "This city sucks. But I'm too poor to move out." She could get a job of course, but she didn't really want to. Dealing with the occasional earthquake, she tried her best to clean up her cup of noodles after chugging down the broth.

She was a NEET. Whatever family she had pretty much disowned her. However that stupid guy Stubbles continued to look out for her, for whatever reason. He wasn't even that much older than her. Not that she really knew his age, she realized as she pulled out the full trash bag from the can. After taking out the trash she went out onto her balcony and leaned on the railing, noticing a column of smoke rising from the building beyond. "Seems far enough to go to the store." She stood upright and stretched her arms up groaning in delight. She then sighed in satisfaction as she scratched her back. "I might as well do something with my day."

She put on her baggy jeans and green sweatshirt. She scratched her head before putting on her green cap over her unkempt hair. She left her small apartment and made her way into the city away from the stupid cactus monster, stopping by a supermarket. She grabbed a hand basket and got a few groceries for herself. She then stood at the checkout line, listening to the beeps as the items were scanned. "That will be ¥1,204," the cashier said politely.

"Okay," she took out her wallet and pulled out a few banknotes.

"Did you hear?" A woman was whispering to her friend behind her. "The Red Wonder took care of that monster on the west side!"

"Amazing!"

Guess the cactus crisis was averted. Hopefully her power would be back on when she got home. The cashier gave coins back for change and she left with plastic bags hanging from her hands.

As she wandered around the city just to pass time, she spotted a cat darting down an alley. "... Kitty." She lightly ran after the cat into the alley. "Kitty, kitty, kitty..." She slowed as she approached the cat. The feline looked up at her, but when she came too close it darted off further down the passage. While the cat rejected her affection, it didn't deter her for even a moment. "Kitty, kitty, kitty-" the dumpster she was approaching suddenly erupted. She halted and blinked up at the looming figure- some guy covered in garbage wearing a trash can lid for a hat.

"Ahh, a human!" The rubbish monster leaned down to her and she in turn leaned away, staring at his ugly smile. The vapors of his horrible breath were visible. Her cheeks puffed out as she held her breath. "You have witnessed the birth of The Warden of Waste. As my first victim, I shall reward you with the tale of my birth-"

"No thanks." The Warden of Waste blinked as the young woman was already lightly running back out of the alley.

"You..." He hung his head as he trembled with rage. "You think you CAN ESCAPE ME!?"

Hearing the trash monster yelling in anger, she turned her head slightly to call back to him, "I would be more willing to listen if you didn't stink so bad." Some monsters were cool, but others were weird, and some, like this unfortunate guy, were downright dumb. "Excuse me," she calmly jogged around a man on his cell phone while an explosion occurred behind her. That didn't worry her- The Warden of Waste roaring and shouting, the screams of people as they scattered in a panic- what worried her was the wind force from the explosion. Not only did it stink like old waste, but her cap was blown off.

She gasped, some life being brought into her eyes. "My cap!" It was her favorite. Worn out a bit from years of use, but because it was so old and worn out there wasn't another cap like it, and it was really comfortable. Just not machine washable.

She slowed over to it and bent down to pick it up. While she was busy doing that she also happened to smoothly dodge the giant ball of garbage that was hurled at her. It slammed into a car that was parallel parked against the sidewalk and exploded. She didn't know what was in that garbage to cause an explosion like that, but she did know that the wind force knocked her cap out of her grasp between her feet, sending it tumbling right back towards the monster.

She sighed at her lost and calmly went back over to it, but was stopped by the looming, seething Warden of Waste. She blinked up at him. "Oh... Hi."

He bared his grinding yellow teeth in absolute rage, his bulging eyes fixed on her normal ones. Some cans and wadded up paper, also some old banana peels for a nice touch, were pulsing around his face as if they were veins pumping blood straight to his head. "You foolish human... To think you can just ignore me..." He suddenly was grinning maniacally at her, his black irises shrinking from utter insanity. "I, THE WARDEN OF WASTE, SHALL SHOW NO MERCY!"

She furrowed her eyebrows up at him. "Oh, you're focused on me, huh?" He breathed heavily in her face, which wasn't appreciated. Though she decided not to bring this up right this moment, but she bared through it and said, "Um... Would you mind giving me a second?" He froze. "Just one sec," she promised. She knelt to his feet and picked up her cap. She dusted it off and then put it back on. After picking up her grocery bags again, she resumed lightly jogging away from him.

His eye twitched. "You... Will not escape me," he whispered to himself. He grabbed the lid of a trashcan off of his head. "Die, human!"

He chucked the disk and it rapidly spun towards her. Feeling the sensation of something gaining on her, too slowly did she glance back over her shoulder. Her eyes widened, seeing the spinning trashcan lid closing in inches from her face. She closed her eyes in a flinch, but then heard a voice. "Got you!"

She opened her eyes again to find herself whisked away in some guys arms. "Eh!?" She blinked in confusion, staring at the guy's sharply angled sunglasses. "O-oi, who-wha!" Somehow this stranger picked her up and raced off with her across the street, successfully getting away from the trash monster. Then the same guy shot up into the air, still carrying her while she held onto her groceries for dear life. Gently did he land on the top of a twenty story building.

He smirked down at the confused Warden of Waste and she was distracted by his gelled back suave hair. He put a lot of effort into his appearance. "So, another upstart monster, eh?" He laughed, the shakes of his shoulders causing her to bounce a little. While he mocked the monster that was now glaring at them, she checked her groceries to make sure nothing was damaged. "Shame! You should have stayed quiet. That way you wouldn't have been noticed! And I wouldn't have to beat you into the ground!"

She blinked back at the guy that saved her. "Oi... Who are you?"

"Hm?" He smiled at her confused stare. "My name's Jumpin' Handsome Jack," he set her down on her feet and she took a step back from him. "But..." He pulled up his shades to wink his blue eyes at her. "Pretty ladies can just call me Jack."

She stared at him with a blank look as he turned his attention back to the monster. Was that supposed to mean that included her as well? "Okay..." She became surprised when Jack jumped back down the building. Sweat rolled down her face as she watched his falling body, and then blinked when he landed unharmed.

She then watched with intrigue as Jumpin' Handsome Jack began jumping around the monster at a crazy speed, confusing him and dodging his attacks. "I see..." She focused on Jack's legs, seeing he had gear on his feet to boost the force behind his jumps. "He's just a creative guy... And became a hero." She then perked up when Jack went to land on the monster's head. He looked up in time to see Jack kick his gear into gear, and used the springing mechanism to blast the monster face-first into the ground, while at the same time jumping away from him. "I guess he beat him..."

People swarmed out of their hiding places and gathered around him, thanking him for his deeds. She furrowed her brows up, a bead of sweat rolling down her face as they picked him up and carried him off down the street. "Oi... Oi!" She shouted down at them, but they didn't hear her. "Oi! OI!" She ran across the building still holding her groceries until she couldn't run any further. "OOOIII!" Her voice echoed out on deaf ears as the people paraded down the street. She watched them leave with an upset expression. She then sighed and stared down at the ground twenty stories below her. "He left me up here..." She looked back over her shoulder, seeing the emergency exit door. "Guess I have to walk back down... Some hero you are," she grumbled out of spite.

She made the long trek down the building and back home to her apartment as a sweaty tired mess. Thankfully by the time she was back the power was back on. While putting groceries away and despite her exhaustion, she was still pouty and grumbling over that Handsome Jack Ass. Leaving her on a freaking building, what kind of hero just- she blinked, pausing her task. "Hero..." She was suddenly reminded of that guy from before. What was his name?

Her eyes trailed from the screen to the ceiling. "Oh... I didn't ask." She shrugged one of her shoulders and resumed working in the kitchen. She froze. "Wait." Dropping her shit she ran around the wall to her desk with a computer. Sitting on the floor she typed furiously and brought up the news article of the recent attacks of monsters. It was easy to find the reports on the two heroes Red Wonder and Jumping Jack Wad. "Let's see..." Her eyes darted back and forth, scrolling, scrutinizing the stylish men with black hair.

Remembering that guy in the jogging suit... He was pretty plain and indifferent. "Nope." She closed it out and went back to her previous task. "Not him."

He was training to be a hero, wasn't he? She thought back to him standing in the sunset, staring at the sky as he thought of an explanation.

Well, 'cause I want to.

After putting groceries away she put on an apron and started on her lunch. She put the sushi and rice and vegetables away in a couple of bento boxes. After wrapping them up nicely she left her apartment again. It had been a while since she saw him. Making her way to the park, taking a short cut down the stone steps, she returned to the place where that guy was. Sure enough he was there again, and now he was doing squats, sweat flying off his face as he went up and down.

As she approached she called out, "Oi." She stopped and waited for a response as she held the bento boxes up. After a few minutes she sighed and hurried around him, standing in front of him. "Oi." Each time he stood back up he looked at her, but didn't say anything. She began squatting with him to keep the eye contact going and droned out, "Oooooooooiiiiiii-"

"What?" He asked in a huff.

As they squatted together, she held up the bento boxes to his face. "Lunch."

Once he was done with his one hundred set of squats, he accepted his bento box from her. "Thanks." While she sat down on the ground to eat, she hesitated and stared up at him, seeing him still standing as he dug into his.

"You're not gonna sit?"

He shook his head after shoveling the food into his mouth. After chewing and swallowing he explained, "After this I'll have push-ups. If I sit down I might not be able to get back up."

"Oh." She then ate her bento box calmly, watching him make a mess as he devoured his. "You know... Half of it is falling on the ground. Eat that quickly and you'll get sick."

"Eh-!?" He stopped short in shock.

After they were done eating, she remained sitting on the ground as he resumed his work out, doing his push-ups. "So, how many do you do?" She asked.

"One hundred." He paused and then glanced over at her. "Get on my back." She blinked.

She was now sitting on his back, watching the ocean rise and fall as he struggled to do his push-ups. "So, what's your training regimen to become a hero?"

"One hundred... Push-ups! One hundred... Squats!" He struggled out his answered as he tried to deal with her extra weight. "One Hundred... Sit-ups! And a... Ten kilometer run! No AC! And three square meals... Every... Day!"

"Oh." She continued to watch the water lower and rise, feeling him shaking beneath her. "How long you been at this?"

"About... One year...!"

"Hm. How long you gonna do this?"

"Until... I'm... Stronger!"

"Huh. What number you on?"

"Thirty-seven... thirty-eight...!"

He continued to mutter his numbers out as she sighed. She didn't think this would be so boring. Since she wasn't doing anything it took a long time for her before he finished his set. She got off of him and watched with hands in sweatshirt as he struggled furiously to get to his feet, his body popping and cracking bizarrely again. Once he made it she lifted a hand. "See ya." He could only nod, his body exhausted as he started his ten kilometer run. She tucked her hand back in her pocket and watched him leave. It then dawned on her. "Oh, right... I forgot to tell him something. Oh well," she began walking away herself. "At least I know where he lives."

She made her way back there slowly, having nothing else to do. She then sat in front of his apartment building and waited. It was sunset again by the time he arrived. When he noticed her he slowed to a stop, blinking in confusion. "Are you... Stalking me?"

"Eh?" She looked up, noticing him. "Don't flatter yourself so soon. You're not a hero yet."

He sweat dropped as she stood up, dusting her pants off. "Well, I... guess..."

"I just had a request," she explained as she approached him, slipping her hands into her pocket. "You know, 'cause you're gonna be a hero, right?"

"Uh... Yeah." He nodded. "Sure."

She stopped and stood beside him, staring down the street. He looked down at her sideways, confused at the far away, sad look on her face. "If you ever save someone... Don't forget them on top of a building. Especially twenty floors up."

He stared at her for a moment. "... No promises, but I'll try."

"That's all I ask." With that she walked away again, leaving him standing alone.

He watched her for a moment. When she was too far away he realized, "Right, I didn't get her name..." He shrugged and continued up to his apartment.