Chapter 24

The next day…

"Are you listening?"

Amai Mask snapped out of his daze, he forgot he was at a meeting at the heroes association. They were doing a follow up with him after his latest 'stunt' as it were. Questioning his motives and logic as to why he revealed himself to the world as the blue serpent. He didn't quite have an answer for them, despite their insistence of one. "Amai Mask, we have come to know that you wanted to keep yourself hidden from the world, until this little… punishment was over. Question is, why did you reveal yourself?" one member asked.

He lay in a mess of a coil, not neat and proper as Snek would, Amai lay on the bulge of his stomach and thought over the question. "Perhaps… I wanted the people to see me like this, wondering if I am this way, would they still consider me a hero? Is that not what this whole thing is about? I accused Snek that he was no longer hero material after his transformation, I may have just wanted to see if my words were indeed correct on the matter. I am grateful though, I was proven wrong."

"Have you changed Amai?" the woman questioned.

"Physically, yes, I am a serpent monstrosity. Mentally… I think so… emotionally… yes. But I won't know for certain, I have only been like this just over a month to be honest. I am getting a feel for this body though. There is beauty to it," he said as he stroked his scales.

The panel began to whisper. "Amai Mask, what is your position now on the M Class dragons?"

He paused, slowly he arched himself up and stretched. "My opinion of them has changed, but as to how far… I am still debating. Despite the fact that I have had issues with the family, time with my own thoughts have made me realize many things about myself that I have not taken notice before. Why I am constantly busy and keep my schedule full for one… I've been distracting myself from other issues I have yet to address in my mind and my heart."

"Has this been a good experience for you so far?"

"I am still in the moment of it. Once more, I will have better insight with this is over."

"Very well, you are dismissed."

Amai nodded as he slithered out of the room. He had to wait for the others to finish their meeting before he was able to leave, so he wondered around a bit. He was slinking down the hallways, staring at various posters on the wall until he heard a commotion. "You newbies want to play a game of lift?"

Curiosity got he better of him as he slipped into the gym. It was the Tank Top Army, staring down Draven and Goliath. Amai didn't realize it until now, but the twins stood nearly as tall as Tank Top Master himself. They were not as toned as he was in muscle, but they could certainly match him in power to say the least. The twins appeared they were just testing the weights when the Army approached.

"What's lift?" asked Draven.

"Simple kid, you lift a weight, we lift a weight, we keep going until someone can't lift it anymore. Those who are able to lift the greatest amount wins! So how about it? We win, you join the Tank Top Army!" said Tank Top Black Hole.

"What if we win?" asked Goliath.

They laughed at them. "You! Beat us! You are newbies! You didn't even know what those were until we told you!" snickered Tank Top Hatter.

Amai slithered in after deciding to take an interest in the event. "This is beneath you." He said aloud.

The Tank Tops turned, yet jumped at the sight of Amai slithering behind them. Some even turned white when they saw that he ate recently. "Whoa… so it is true! You're the blue serpent everyone is talking about," whispered Tank Top girl. Amai bowed to her respectfully but then as he stood up again, she appeared confused. "Hey, what do you mean this is beneath us?" she demanded.

He laughed. "Not you… them." He said and turned towards the Twins. "Do you have any idea who they are?"

They shook their heads. So, Amai smirked. "I figured as much. Tell you what. I am so confident they will defeat you with ease, so much so that if you happen to win, I will join the tank top army myself"

This got their interest, the others were already making plans for the thousands perhaps millions of new tank top legions that will follow suit when Amai Mask is forced to join their ranks. "You got yourself a bet."

"Just a moment… what's in it for them?" he questioned. "Twins, what do you want from them?"

Draven and Goliath paused and looked to each other. "They have nothing that we want!" said Draven.

"Can't think of anything." Said Goliath.

"May I make a suggestion then? If you want to have some fun with them, it will be funny."

The twins were intrigued as he went over and whispered into their ears. Suddenly they burst into fits of laughter, Goliath laughing the loudest. "Really?" he asked. Amai grinned and nodded. So the twins nodded and turned to the Tank Top Army. "We win, you have to change your posters at the gym to Amai Mask and play his music in your gym for four months!" announced Goliath.

"That's weak, you're on!" called tank Top Al Dente.

Amai set himself up in a messy coil once more, resting on the lumpier part of himself and began to watch. They started off easy, 300 pounds. Everyone in the tank top army lifted that no problem.

The twins used two fingers.

Much to the shock of the others, as the weights continued to increase. The twins constantly showed off their strength using a few fingers at a time. By the time they reached 675 pounds, the tank tops were starting to really slow down. They began to have trouble lifting the weights. The twins, were still using one hand if that to lift. Soon the tank tops began to drop like flies, none could keep up as the twins weren't even trying.

"When is this suppose to get challenging?" asked Draven.

"You snot nose punks!" growled Tank Top Black Hole. "You disrespect the tank top!"

"No, we are merely stating this is boring!" announced Goliath. He rolled his eyes and saw a set of weights at the back of the gym. "What about these?"

"Oh don't even think about lifting that, that's Tank Top Master's squat set! We all strive to lift that one day, he can. We can't!" said Hatter.

Amai was laughing. "Twins, I do believe you know what to do, end this and make it painful for them… not physically of course"

Goliath smiled as he approached the weights, with two arms he lifted them up without issue, it was light enough that he could one arm it! The tank top army all became slack jawed. "No… way!" protested Al Dente.

"What's going on here…" Tank Top Master entered the gym. He froze at the sight of Amai Mask, but then saw Goliath lifting his weights. Tank Top Master, however froze.

"That stance, that form and figure… that is not the figure of a tank top… that's a Brawler!"

"At least someone noticed." Muttered Amai. "Your little army made a wager with them. Trying to force them into your little legion. They lost of course, so for the next four months at your gym, you will he hanging posters of me and playing my pop songs for your workout music."

TTM turned and glared at his legions. "You… made a bet against a Brawler!" he demanded.

"We… we didn't know!" protested Black.

"We really didn't!"

"I'll be sending you posters and I will be there personally to ensure the get hung properly." With that Amai slithered out of the room, yet he began to hear a commotion in the communication department…