Chapter 5

It was getting to be too much. Melee couldn't hold on to the esper power as long as she could before. She grew weak and tried from the ordeal, she needed to rest for a while to recover. Garou was the same way, he could hold on to it for so long, before feeling himself become overwhelmed. Despite the breaks in between, his power did grow, but not to the extent he needed it to be. Melee was bracing herself for another round of drones coming to the house. She feared that she may have wavered a few days ago, which made the drones come often. Today, there was more than one, and they were stronger than the last ones sent. "Damn it!" she cursed.

She tried to summon every bit of strength she had to shield her family, just once more, then perhaps he will abandon the notion. Yet as the drones came in, her nose started to bleed. Her mind pulsed with pain as she couldn't hold on to it anymore!

Melee's shield dropped, the drones closed in and did their scan! She cringed. She failed her family! And yet… why was she glowing green?

"HEY METAL KNIGHT!" Melee froze to the voice of Tatsumaki. "Sitch told me to watch the house, not you! Why the hell are you here?!"

She could hear Metal Knight try and explain himself, claiming he didn't know Sitch had asked her to watch the house of Garou. "Don't give me that, if you came to the meetings you would know. Get lost, I got this and don't need your help!"

With that, the drones were quick to leave. Tatsumaki waited for them to go before coming down to the house once more. There she walked right in, and stared at Melee. "No one can see you, no one can hear you but me in this state. You got it? You can speak freely, but there will come a time where I have to rest. Now, I suggest you get some sleep because I am not doing this all the time for you!"

"Thank you…" Melee said with tears in her eyes.

"Whatever, one thing you do for me is that you leave the Fubuki group alone, don't interfere with my sister's thing. Got it?"

She nodded. "We will leave them alone, and we will get bounties in other cities for a while."

"Good. Now, heal your arm, I am getting sick looking at that stump!"

Melee had spent all her time focused on her family, she never considered the idea that she could heal her own severed limb. However, she began to concentrate. Next thing she knew the scales that remained on her arm, began to cascade down, the dead flesh was sheered off, then, new skin began to grow in its place. She felt the nerves regrow, the bone develop and the muscle form. In mere minutes, she had a left arm again. Good as new.

"Now get some sleep! As I said, I can't hold this forever and I'll show you how to do this, it won't take as much energy, and I can help you if you get too tired from it. Now hurry up!"

Melee didn't refuse. She went right to bed, nestled herself next to Garou and slept for the first time in days.

She awoke again in 24 hours. But the rest was what she needed.

She was surprised that Tatsumaki remained in her house keeping the hold over her family. When Melee got out of bed, she confronted the powerful esper. "How do I do this?"

"You slept enough?" Tatsumaki demanded.

Melee nodded. "Plenty, thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," she warned. "Here's what you do, you know how to control chi and chakra right? You are focusing on the chakra points. The esper power you have can block these energies; this is what can be registered as bio signatures. Keep the points blocked, no one can see you. The glow prevents you from appearing on any device. So you can't be seen or heard in this form"

Melee nodded. "Okay."

"Another thing. Let Metal Knight know your kids are still alive. I think that's the main thing he is looking for. Not you or Garou, your children."

"I can't have them stay here…"

"No… but the association houses heroes…"

With that Tatsumaki dropped her shield and allowed Melee to take it from there. Perhaps she was right. Metal Knight is more concerned with the children than Garou and Melee. He has the utmost confidence in his weaponry. He will believe what it says. He's after the kids more than anything.