"Ah, the Tornado of Terror. So glad you could join us."
Tatsumaki, Saitama and Genos were back at the Hero Association's Z building, where a scrawny bespectacled man was there to greet them.
"Who the hell are you?" enquired the ESPer.
"Oh, surely you've figured that out by now, Tornado of Terror."
"...Are you the one in charge of the House of Evolution, Doctor Genus?"
"Indeed I am. You're as smart as they say." the man known as Doctor Genus sarcastically remarked.
"But I'm not here for you, Tornado. I'm here for this fine gentleman."
The doctor walked over to Saitama, who was pondering on what to get from today's sale whilst digging his nose.
"You are the one who destroyed my creation with one attack, are you not?"
"Huh? You talking to me?"
"Sensei, I believe he is referring to the mosquito woman hybrid you defeated."
"Indeed I am. So tell me, are you the one who defea-"
The doctor was suddenly hovering a few inches above the ground, and was facing a pissed off ESPer.
"First of all, how dare you address me with such a tone, then proceed to ignore me. Second of all, what do you want?"
"Ah, straight to the point, I see. Well, as I was about to explain, I am curious as to how this man was able to defeat my creation with one attack. Whilst she was in her most powerful form, no less, especially since this here cyborg was unable to compete with her. As my goal is to help humanity evolve, I wish to run some tests with this exceptional specimen."
"Uh, listen dude, if you want me to help you, you don't have to butter me up. Just tell me what you want, and if it doesn't take too long, I'll do it. I have a sale to catch so make it quick, will you?"
"Hmm, are all you heroes so impatient? Very well. I simply want you to go against my strongest creation, to see if you are indeed worth my time. If you can survive against Carnage Kabuto for more than 5 minutes, then I will begin experimenting on your body."
Genos, Tatsumaki, and Doctor Genus waited in anticipation for Saitama's decision. The bald hero, who looked oh so bored while the doctor was telling him his offer, had his hand to his chin.
"By experiments, you don't mean anything to do with sex do you? Because I'm not into du-"
"DAMN IT EGGHEAD WE ALREADY TOLD YOU BEFORE THAT'S NOT WHAT HE MEANT!"
"Hey, didn't we agree to call me Saitama Tats?"
"No, we agreed not to call you Baldy! I still have a plethora of names to call you, Avocado head!"
"Tats, that's not how you treat a-"
"Ahem. I hate to interrupt, but could we hurry up? If Kabuto is left unattended any longer, all the clones I have distracting him will most likely die."
And so, with Genos and Saitama running on foot, and Tatsumaki and Doctor Genus in the air, the group headed to the House of Evolution's base, which turns out to be an 8 stories high building in the middle of a forest.
"So much for a secret base. What took those idiots so long to find it?"
As the heroes followed the doctor into the building, they realised the floor was completely empty, save the 5 creatures the heroes had... befriended? Yea, befriended. As well as a familiar bug. Said bug was currently hiding behind the Beast King, looking at the heroes, specifically Saitama, with fear in her eyes.
"Oh, she's alive?"
"Indeed she is, for you see, I have the ability to clone them, and due to a system I set up, with all their previous memories intact, with absolutely no side effects, whatsoever. If you want, I can show you how I do-"
"Nah, lets just get this over with. Oh, before we do,"
Saitama walked over to Mosquito Girl, who hid herself even further behind the Beast King, almost like a child hiding behind their parent.
"Hey, sorry for uh... killing you I guess. As long as you don't hurt anyone else, we can be friends, okay?"
The hybrid still dare not show her face. The Beast King, noticing just how scared she is, tried to comfort her.
"It's okay Mosquito Girl, he's not that bad once you get on his good side."
The still fearful Mosquito Girl slowly stepped out of the Beast King's shadow, and approached Saitama, who retained that blank look in his eyes, with absolutely no intent of hurting her showing.
"I...I'm Mos-Mosquito Girl... Nice to... meet you."
"Name's Saitama, sorry we got off on the wrong foot."
"My apologies Saitama, but we must hurry. You can speak with Mosquito Girl another time."
As the heroes followed Doctor Genus down a staircase, which was revealed when the floor retracted due to the doctor pressing a switch in his hands, the other creatures stood rooted to their spots.
"I wonder if he'll be able to handle Kabuto."
"We witnessed his power firsthand Slugerous. I have no doubt that Saitama will be the one to finally make Kabuto human again."
"But Beast King, what if the reason he dodged all the cyborg's attacks was because he wouldn't be able to survive them? If Kabuto lands a hit, our plan might be finished!"
"Such power does not come without durability to match Frog Man. I calculated that if a normal human were to punch with that much force, his own arm would have torn off."
"We'll just have to wait and see Armoured Gorilla. Now then, we should head upstairs. We can watch their battle unfold from a safe distance."
And so, the creatures followed the Beast King's suggestion, and climbed to the second floor, where screens were showing the live feeds of cameras in a giant, white room, and wondered if Saitama will be able to scar the insane beast into being humane, just like he did them.
In front of the heroes was a long hallway, with lights on either side, giving the place a weird feeling of dread.
"Man, this basement is big! Now I'm all hyped up!"
"Then we should hurry Saitama, I don't know how much longer my clones can-"
"Sensei, I detect a life form approaching."
"Oh no, we're too late."
The lights at the end of the tunnels went out, along with the sound of glass shattering.
"WHICH ONE DOES THE ORIGINAL WANT?"
"Th-the bald one..."
"THEN WE DON'T NEED THE OTHERS!"
The screaming voice came from a giant, brown, beetle-man hybrid, with a face even a mother would find hard to love, and a horn protruding out of his head. Said hybrid flung Doctor Genus, a clone of the original that is, at out heroes, who successfully moved out of the projectile's way
"I will protect you Sensei!"
Genos ran to face the beetle, only to be smashed straight into the wall. Poor guy didn't even have time to react.
"Genos? You okay dude?"
"YOU! THERE'S A ROOM WE USE FOR COMBAT! WE WILL FIGHT THERE!"
Saitama turned to face Carnage Kabuto. His face was serious.
"You turned Genos into modern art. The fight is on."
Kabuto's face contorted with excitement. Finally, he could have a fight with something other than a cloned ragdoll
"Why not just take him on here, egghead?"
"Well, I did agree to a test. I don't think this hallway is the best place to do it."
"Hmph! Fine egghead, let's go."
"You don't have to follow if you don't want to Tats."
"I'm bored. I might as well watch. It's probably better than staying here to take care of the stupid cyborg."
"Oh yea, hey genius guy, take care of Genos."
"HUGE AIN'T IT!"
Tatsumaki and Saitama were in a giant white room. The place was empty, bar them and Kabuto.
"IT'S THE BIGGEST ROOM IN THE FACILITY. IT'S USED TO TEST OUR COMBAT ABILITIES."
Tatsumaki was near the entrance to the room, watching as Saitama moved himself into position.
"So... Shall we begin our death match?"
*BOOM*
Flames engulfed Carnage Kabuto and scorched the ground beneath him. Though the creature was unharmed.
"Oh, you're still alive?"
"Cyborg? What are you-"
Genos was supporting himself against the side of the entrance. He had fired a blast from his arm, and looked quite tired. I guess being turned into modern art puts a strain on your body. He took a breath, before launching himself towards Kabuto.
The cyborg attacked Kabuto, but found himself ricocheting off the latter's tough exterior. Genos launched himself forward, blasting the beetle with fire while strafing right.
Genos, with all the strength he could muster jumped and pulled back his fist, intent on finishing off Kabuto with one blow, but while his body was on fire, he looked at the cyborg with a smile, letting all in the room know, he felt no pain.
"You moron." said Kabuto with a murderous glint in his eyes.
"Machine gun Blow!"
Genos threw tens of punches at incredible speeds but it was not enough, as Kabuto simply punched the cyborg to the floor, causing him to bounce like a pebble on a river, all the way to Saitama, who caught him in his arms.
"I failed... that thing... let me-"
"Your face is broken dude, just take it easy and let me-"
Genos charged his arms for one last shot, taking up most of his energy. Kabuto however, was not impressed, and simply blew the fire back at the sender.
"With his breath? Impossi-" Genos was cut off, as both he and Saitama were engulfed in flames. The fire cleared, revealing Saitama and Genos, who were shielded by a green barrier.
"Honestly cyborg, just let the octopus do his thing, will you?"
"Yea Genos, listen to Tats."
The beetle, seeing the cyborg all beat, laughed and stuck out his tongue in a mocking manner.
"You put up quite a promising performance, didn't you?" Saitama asked in a mocking fashion.
"Just bring it already, show me your full power!" taunted the beetle.
Tatsumaki watched as the loony smiled at Saitama, noticing a familiar presence behind her.
"I was wondering where the hell you were. You missed the cyborg being outclassed, no thanks to you not watching over him."
"It is to be expected. The strongest being, the demon created by MY House of Evolution, Carnage Kabuto, cannot be matched by a simple cyborg."
The doctor had a maniacal smile on his face, you know, the one mad scientists have when they witness their creation. Tatsumaki could only laugh internally. The strongest being? Oh please, she could have squished the thing if Saitama didn't insist of fighting it.
"How will you, a human, albeit one that tops all others, fare against my creation, man in it's final evolved form? Will you be the gate to humanity's long overdue evolution, or just another failure? Show me... Saitama."
"I can tell, I can tell! You're strong aren't ya?" Kabuto cockily aimed two finger guns at Saitama, who walked towards him.
"You'd better not disappoint me."
"Eh?"
"You're this place's ultimate weapon right? You're clearly not the same as the others. Look at you, brimming with confidence."
Kabuto chuckled, before disappearing with astonishing speed.
"He's fast." thought Genos and Tatsumaki. "But not as fast as Sensei" + "But not as fast as egghead's display."
Kabuto appeared behind Saitama, ready to end him with a punch, but to everyone's surprise, he flew all the way to the other side of the room and hugged the wall, with fear all over his face.
"What are you doing?"
"Carnage Kabuto... he backed off?!"
Kabuto was sweating, somehow, and shaking with fear. Shocking Doctor Genus.
"If I had attacked him, he'd have killed me right there and then! Who the hell is this guy? He's full of openings and yet, my instincts are screaming, telling me he's dangerous!"
"Huh?" Saitama was confused, what the hell was the guy doing?
"YOU BASTARD! HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET SO STRONG?" Kabuto's cry echoed throughout the room, shocking Tatsumaki, Genos and Doctor Genus.
Kabuto stared at the confused egg, panting. This was no ordinary man.
"So, you wanna know too?"
...
"All right then."
Everyone stared at the bald hero in silence.
"Is Sensei going to tell us now? The secret to his power?" + "Baldy, I swear to god if I have to deal with strong and ugly human animal hybrids from now on, I'm killing you." + "Yes, Saitama. Tell me, tell me your secret!"
Saitama put on the best game face he could, and everyone perked up their ears, even Tatsumaki. Even she couldn't help but be curious.
"First, make sure you stick to this intense training regime."
"Training? Not modifications, nor genetic enhancements, but training?" the doctor was even more shocked now.
"Just what kind of training..." Kabuto could only imagine what Saitama had to go through to be able to make him of all creatures so afraid.
"Listen up Genos. You need to keep doing this regime, no matter how hard it gets. It took me three years to get this strong."
"Three years baldy? But the kind of training-" + "Three years Sensei? But how-"
Saitama had a serious face on, the kind that... honestly it looked more ridiculous than serious. But the aura he gave off made everyone tense.
"ONE HUNDRED PUSH UPS! ONE HUNDRED SIT-UPS! ONE HUNDRED SQUATS!"
"Say what baldy?" + "But Sensei, that's-" + "This regime is-" + "That sounds like-"
"THEN A TEN KILOMETER RUN! DO IT EVERY SINGLE DAY!"
All four spectators looked shocked. You'd think they'd be impressed and all, but no, they were shocked.
"Of course, you must eat 3 meals a day. For breakfast, a banana's just fine. Above all, in order to train your mind, you must remember to never use any air conditioning or a heater, no matter the weather. At first, you'll feel like you're dying because of how hard it is. You might think of taking just one day off, but you can't. Even when I spat out blood, I continued training to be a hero. Even when my legs were so heavy I couldn't move them, I did my squats. Even when my arms made weird popping sounds, I did my push-ups. After a year and a half, I noticed a difference. I had become bald! And I had become strong! In other words, you have to train like hell until your hair falls out. That's the only way to become stronger. Screw all of this evolution crap, it will never attain this level, for humanity's greatest strength is our ability to grow and adapt!"
"Wh-what?" + "Is this guy for real?" + "Are you shitting me Baldy?" + "Sensei... at a time like this..."
"PLEASE STOP JOKING AROUND!"
"Eh?"
Genos screamed in anger, causing Saitama to go back to his egg face.
"That's just normal strength training! AND IT ISN'T EVEN THAT INTENSE!"
"Yea egghead, are you trying to bullshit the bad guys? Because it's not working."
Oh, so that's why they were all shocked. They thought Saitama was crazy.
"I have to become stronger no matter what Sensei, I didn't become your disciple just to hear a joke like that!"
The baldy could only stare at his disciple. He was so sure that at least Genos would believe him.
"Saitama Sensei, your power is far beyond what you could achieve with strength training. Please, TELL ME YOUR SECRET!"
...
"Believe it or not guys, that was all I did."
"Is that so?"
Everyone turned to face Kabuto, whose entire body started to bulge.
"W-wait, Carnage Kabuto!"
"I don't care if you're not gonna tell us your secret"
Bits and pieces of Kabuto's exoskeleton started popping off, as his body continued to grow.
"Stop it! You'll go on another rampage!"
"You ain't stronger than me anyway!"
Kabuto started to turn purple, and even uglier, his horn extended even more and seemed to be sharper than before. Blaring alarms filled up the room, causing the whole place to turn red. The entrance slowly closed off, locking our heroes and Genus in with Carnage Kabuto.
"But I'm pissed off now, so I'm gonna beat you to death."
The once 11'6" ugly brown Kabuto was now an even uglier purple 27'11" thing with spikes protruding out his back, and a horn so disproportionate to his head, it shouldn't be possible. His purple body, with what appears to be green blood pulsating through his body, contrasted the now red room.
"CARNAGE MODE!" yelled the monster as he stomped his feet, cracking the ground beneath.
Kabuto's ugly face, with completely red eyes and a row of sharp teeth stared at the bald hero.
"WHEN I ENTER THIS FORM, I LOSE MY MIND FOR A WHOLE WEEK! MY WILD INSTINCT WON'T SUBSIDE FOR THAT LONG! WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, I'LL GO DOWN TO THE CITY AND CAUSE A BLOODBATH UNTIL NEXT SATURDAY!"
Saitama now had a face of absolute horror, which shocked Tatsumaki who we all know is all the way at the other side of the room near the closed off entrance, watching the spectacle.
"Huh, should I step in now?"
"IF YOU'RE SUCH A GREAT HERO, JUST TRY AND STOP ME!"
Kabuto let out a... battle cry I guess, and launched a punch that sent Saitama flying across the room and into the wall, smashing it. The bald hero didn't even respond with a cry of pain, much less a counterattack. Genos watched as Saitama was flung around the room not even retaliating, Genus had an evil grin, whilst Tatsumaki simply had a small smile.
"Sensei?"
"It's all over, nobody in the world can stop him now. I suppose Saitama is as human as the rest of the world."
"Not even a scratch Baldy? Come on, stop toying with the guy."
Throughout the entire battle, Saitama had a grim face, his thoughts however, didn't match.
"No way... it can't be... I might've made a terrible mistake. This guy's in carnage mode... and he'll be like this for a whole week... until next Saturday. But that means... today is Saturday too... but the sale... it was on Friday... that means..."
"THE SALE WAS YESTERDAY!"
Doctor Genus' jaw dropped as far as humanly possible. Genos' eyes widened as he realised his Sensei was in shock the whole time, hence why he didn't attack and why, and Tatsumaki just chuckled to herself. Saitama had uppercutted Kabuto so hard, the hybrid's torso exploded, with his head and arms being flung to the side, and his guts and blood flew in every direction, leaving just everything below waist level untouched.
Saitama clutched his bald head in despair and let out a wail of anguish, comparable to someone who had just lost everything they ever loved in the world.
"Who the hell is this guy?!"
"I FUCKED UP!"
"What is he saying?"
As if reading his thoughts, Genos walked up to the doctor with a sheet of paper in his hands.
"My Sensei is most likely concerned about this."
Genus looked at the piece of paper the cyborg handed to him. It was an advertisement for a huge sale of up to 50% all products in a supermarket that was happening on Friday, or rather, happened on Friday.
"Sensei, I'm sure there is another sale in a different city, perhaps we could spend the rest of the day searching for one."
"Oh, you're right! Other cities should definitely have sales!"
"Hey advocado!" Tatsumaki flew over to our two heroes.
"Didn't you know that us S classes are given a pass a week into our duty that allows us 65% off everywhere we go? Or did you honestly forget all those times I paid far cheaper than the original bill?"
"Oh, really? YOU'RE A LIFESAVER TATS!"
The ecstatic bald hero hugged Tatsumaki so hard, she found it hard to breathe, even with her barrier.
"T-Too tight!"
"Oh! I'm so sorry!"
"Sensei, we must hurry, for the store closes in 5 hours."
"Alright! Let's go Tats! Genos, write down the list I'm about to give you!"
"I... give up on this path. It seems I am the one who must change."
The doctor sniffed, before smiling. A content smile, one you'd normally see on a person who has found a new purpose in life.
As Tatsumaki gasped for air, she noted this small change, and made sure to note this to the association, as she followed Saitama, who punched a hole through one of the room's walls, revealing the mountains and the beautiful sunset behind it.
And there's the chapter! I'm so sorry, but I decided not to try and describe Kabuto versus Saitama in detail, as my brain fizzed out. Besides, I was going to be oh so "original" once again and have the same thing happen as the anime. Also, yea the sale is now on a Friday because I didn't know how else to fix the timeline. Yup, really starting to regret this whole "just write what comes to mind" approach. *Sweatdrop*
Anyway. for those of you who have read "The Strongest Hero", one of the stories which inspired me, you might recognise the fact that I've kept the guys from the HoE alive comes from there. Of course, Kabuto will be revived, just as Mosquito Girl was which means, I'm gonna need you guys' help in coming up with names for the guys. Otherwise, I'll have to request permission from the author of "The Strongest Hero" permission to use their names, and I'm not sure if they'll have the time to reply to a lifeless teen like me. Anyway, thank you all for reading, and... for the... separate reviews. Welp, anyone not interested can go on with their day, thanks again for all of your time, and I hope I can continue to entertain you readers!
Elfetrange- Uhm, I'm going to assume from the previous sentence you were going to write "as I really 'don't like' the SaiTatsu ship", in which case, I'm so sorry, but I intend on letting that ship set sail in the future. I'm going to try and make it as believable as possible because let's face it, Tats has a really fucked up childhood, thus psyche, and it will take more than just making her first friend in a long time to fix it. I'm glad I was able to give you a laugh with my writing, and I hope I can continue to do so. I thank you for your opinion on the fillers as well as your kind words and.. yea, I don't know how else to write this without going too long or sounding cringy.
Hektols- Yea, that was the first thing I wanted to resolve. In my mind, Saitama's rank just never made sense. Sure, it can be written off as bad scores but when ONE brought up Genos' suggestion, it just seemed like a cop-out to give Saitama a goal. About their reactions, that will be next chapter. And I have to say, it ***'* ** *** ****** *** **** *******.
HyperionAtlas- God no, I know the pain of a good story not being finished and while I cannot say my story is any good, I plan on finishing it. And I don't mean finishing it up to the anime, I mean going past the Manga, and possible catching up with the webcomic, though that might be too far fetched.
Ander Arias- Well, I figured I could make the lines distinctive enough that people would be able to differentiate who's who, but I can see how it could get confusing in some parts, so I've tried to resolve that issue here. Hopefully not doing the usual "he/she etc after every line of dialogue" won't come back to bite me in the butt. Do let me know what you think of it! So glad I could entertain you, and as to the meteor, I can't say Boros has a hand in it, more like that Japanese Wet Dream had a tentacle in it. ; )
My inspirations:
The Bald and The Esper: s/11725053/1/The-Bald-and-The-Esper
The Strongest Hero: s/12494528/1/The-Strongest-Hero
There is definitely more to be added, please let me know if you read anything similar!
