Chapter 19

It was glorious.

Amai couldn't help but cheer as Garou was thrown into the crater walls and was lodged in there for a good minute or so until he dropped out of it. Unconscious to say the least and hitting the ground hard, Amai stood up and applauded. "Well done Saitama! That was… beautiful!" he said with great contentment.

Yet as Amai cheered, everyone else when to check on Garou. He was battered and bloodied, yet smiled. "Wow… you really did get stronger. Normally that's a good twenty foot dent into the wall, now, you just hit it like a regular punch. Impressive." Said Saitama.

Garou shook off the blow, he spat the blood from his mouth before starting to heal over once more. "You lasted a full half hour!" said Genos. "Doubling your old time."

"Wow… I did get stronger. Who knew?" Garou said with a smirk.

"Wait, you mean to say he is far more powerful than before? I mean, how much stronger did he get?!" Amai demanded.

Saitama thought it over. "Well, when he called himself 'Awakened Garou' he was pretty strong, when he first became this, he was beyond that strength. What he's at right now. I would have to say nearly double that."

Amai froze. "D…double?" he whispered.

"I did just nearly die a while back, and as we explained, near death experiences brings out the power in my kids and I. I don't know about Melee…"

"Wanna check?" asked Saitama. Melee was reluctant to try, but he was insisting upon it. "Come on, one punch, let me have it!" he insisted.

Melee sighed and agreed. She stood before Saitama and prepared. Her fist clenched, her focus turned to him. She let it rip!

The sound barrier broke!

Saitama was thrown back just a small ways, yet he nodded, impressed to say the least. "I don't know her strength from before, but that was pretty good."

"Indeed, I have seen Melee in battle before," said Genos. "By my calculations, she has nearly doubled her strength as well."

"I'll bet if you fought more often, you would be on par with all the S Class and their abilities," said Garou.

She nodded, but then again, Melee appeared content with her power level. "I know I could get stronger, but for the moment, I am satisfied where I am."

Amai was stunned silent to say the least, he never knew Melee contained such strength before. He was aware that she took nearly all of the S Class's abilities and made them her own, and yet, he had never seen that strength combined into one person. "Well I think I am going to call it a day, it was fun while it lasted." Announced Saitama. "Until next week, hot pot dinner?"

Melee rolled her eyes. "Yes, I will make hot pot!" she said. Saitama was already excited on the feast to come. With that, he and Genos took their leave. Garou was just finishing healing up from the battle.

"Son of a bitch, got me good" he said and stretched out his back. "Still… half an hour huh?"

"Well done!" Melee gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Now, let's get you home and into the shower, you're covered in dust!"

Amai kept looking about the crater, realizing that most of the damage done to it was caused by Garou and Saitama sparring. He couldn't help but feel this was a terrible idea on Saitama's part. Why is he helping Garou get stronger? It didn't sit well with him the least bit, but he knew not to say anything.

They flew back home, Garou immediately went to the shower. Amai felt he could use one too, yet didn't know how to go about doing so. "Is there a place for me to bathe?" he asked.

"You just shed your skin. You should be all cleaned up," said Hunter.

"I do prefer a cleansing shower myself. You can't tell me Snek never did"

There was an awkward pause between Melee and Hunter. "Okay, we won't then." Said Hunter.

Amai felt disgusted. He wanted to have a good cleansing, but how to go about doing it? He waited for Garou to finish, yet when he got to the bathroom he found only the top half of him would fit, the rest of him would go unclean. "Damn it, this isn't ideal!" but the continued to think it over, perhaps he needed a different approach.

Despite the cold weather, he went outside and discovered a waterfall at the base of the mountain. A cold shower would do just fine. Slithering down the step Amai went to the base of the falls and stood under the water.

It was freezing!

He endured since he was getting his body fully cleaned, and yet, he found himself unable to keep his eyes opened. The world was becoming a little hazy until he collapsed face first into the small lake at the base of the falls…