Chapter 26

The situation was brought to the wayside. The Heroes Association was no longer bombarded with calls, the interview Amai Mask gave was enough to pacify the masses. He was rather proud of himself that it all went smoothly for the most part. Amai began to do patrols on his own without Hunter. In fact, by the next day he was out and about in City R once more. He even got his own little backpack to keep his phone and wallet.

The people were respectful and kept their distance, they would offer a friendly wave or a blushing giggle in his direction. Yet there were also some who didn't take kindly to his appearance.

Amai paused for a moment to savor a warm drink on a rather cold day. The heating device Alley made for him did the job, but at times, nothing beats a hot beverage. He was just savoring his hot mocha latte when he saw these people staring at him. Angry to say the least, curiosity got the better of him as he approached the men. "You don't appear to be pleased to see me, any explanation as to why?" he asked.

One man spat towards him. "You were the hero we all looked up to. Now look at you, a freak! You're a monster!" one protested.

Amai wasn't the least bit startled as he sipped his drink. "I do believe I explained that this is but a temporary form, I am not like this for the rest of my days, merely slithering in another's position to gain a better understanding of them. You shouldn't take offense to that now,"

The men sneered. "You betrayed the people!"

"You are nothing but a worm now! A slimy, disgusting wor…." Amai grabbed him by the throat, still he kept calm and sipped his beverage.

"Now now, no need for ugly words." He said and then dropped the man with great ease. "Now, as I explained before, this isn't forever for the likes of me. I will return to my former glory. In the mean time, I still expect the same respect that I had before I became this. After all, I am still Amai Mask. I am more than capable of doing everything I could before!" he warned.

The men were startled. Amai paused as he felt the familiar veins trying to push up through his scales, they protruded a little but not as much to be noticed. He calmed himself down before turning back to the men. "Now, are there any more concerns you wish to express before I move along?"

They shook their heads fearfully. "Good, have a wonderful day gentlemen." With that, he left.

"This must be what Snek endured. Then again, I am certain he still endures this kind of behavior." Amai said to himself.

The city was quiet today, perhaps that was a good thing. Since it has gotten colder, his digestion has slowed down greatly. Granted, he could still eat, but he didn't want to look too ridiculous as he slithered about. He did manage to help a few people. One was a girl who fell down a steep hill, he was able to coil around a rock and reach down to retrieve her with ease. Another was stopping an armed robbery. The last incident was a monster on the way back to Garou's home. A rather large looking one at that, and it fearlessly confronted him!

Amai stared at it oddly, thinking over his options. "Hmmm, it's big… but is it too big?" he asked himself. With his drink finished, he decided there was no point in letting it go to waste. With a stiff one inch punch to the chest, he shattered its rib cage. The monster gasped for air and fell to its knees. As it leaned down, Amai struck and began to swallow it whole!

#

"You sure he should be going on patrols on his own?" asked Melee.

Hunter nodded confidently. "I think he is more at ease with it…" he paused as his phone went off. Hunter looked to it and signed. "I do need to go pick him up though."

"Let me guess, he just ate again huh?"

"Needless to say, I got to admit he has a good appetite!" Hunter excused himself and went to retrieve Amai. Melee however still hasn't been able to process what Sweet Mask said a few days ago. Garou too, it's put a small strain on the house. After all, Melee never liked him, but for Amai to confess everything out of the blue was something of a shock.

And for Garou to learn that part of the hatred he has towards him is because of Melee! "So, are we going to talk about this?" Garou asked of her.

"Might as well. I have no feelings for him, you know that," she said.

He nodded to her. "I know, I don't hate him as much as I use to. Still, he annoys the hell out of me. But I will admit that was some damn courage for him to lay it all out like that." He then thought it over. "I can't say I blame him from hating me, I did cave his face in," he said with a snicker.

"And it was because of him, we met," said Melee. "Can you believe that though? We met because I said I would buy you dinner for messing up his face!"

The two laughed, Melee went to the couch and cuddled into Garou. "Nothing has changed between you and me. But, I think things are changing between Amai and us, isn't there?"

"He hasn't complained as much, I think he is starting to see things differently now. Whether or not he will keep that idea has yet to be seen. You know about the bet Hunter and I made with him. If Snek had beaten him during the rookie crushing, he wouldn't fight Hunter's promotion to S Class. He wasn't going to keep his word on it."

She nodded. "You think that's going to happen again, after he changes back. Don't you?"

"I wouldn't be the least bit surprised."

The door opened, Hunter was floating in a very full Amai Mask. He was taken to his room and left there to rest off his latest catch. When Hunter closed the door he was rather surprised. "That guy can eat! Level Demon, a high one at that before getting home, there was no way he was going to make it up the stairs!"

Garou snickered. "Well, speaking of demons. I do believe we have to help Bang plan for something, don't we?"

Hunter's eyes widened. "Yes! The Haunted Dojo!"

"Ooo, we got to think of something good this year!" said Melee. "What did we do last year?"

"I think it was something like the haunted graveyard of sorts." Said Garou. "But we can do better, we have to do better. It's the one time of year where I can scare the piss out of snot nose brats and not be sorry for it!"

"I think we need to do a monster mash! Really bring out our monster side!" said Hunter.

"Ooo, I think that's a good idea. Make a demonic stair way to the dojo… then, turn the place into a monster creep house!" said Garou.

"Hey, we can get the twins to dress up, we can make some visual effect…" said Melee.

"I think we could come up with something good!" said Hunter. "I'm going to get the twins and see if Pac and Alley have some ideas!"