Chapter 8

They called for the 'rookie crushing' to take place.

They met at the Heroes Association in City A the next day since they had the sparring room to use. Most of the S Class appeared as Garou brought the newest members of the M Class Dragons along with his son Hunter to the association. Tatsumaki hovered off the ground, her arms crossed as she stared at the three. "I'm not impressed!" she announced. "So freak boy. Who's facing who?" she demanded. "And it better be interesting!"

Garou smirked. "Lightning Max, will take on Flash." He said.

"Wait, are you sure about this?" Max whispered.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Suiryu I wanted him to take on Watchdog Man, but he's not coming is he?"

"He won't leave City Q unprotected," said Zombieman. "Whose the runner up?"

Garou looked about, but knew there was only one choice. "Suiryu will take on Silverfang, if you allow it."

Silverfang nodded. "I look forward to seeing what Garou taught you."

"No pressure huh?" snickered Garou. "Lastly, Snek will take on…"

"Me."

Everyone paused as they turned and saw Amai Mask lingering in the halls. "I heard about your little contest, and became… interested. I also heard about their latest promotion. Curious though, how could the bottom of A Class become an M Class Dragon? I say it was a pity rank! You couldn't even break the top 30 and now, you are to be on par with the S Class? I don't think so, no, no one moves ahead unless they get past me."

"This is an S Class event, you are still in A Class!" snapped Garou. "I never invited you to this either," Garou half expected Snek to come out and say something about it, yet when he felt Snek's hand come on his shoulder, he paused.

Turning to him, Garou for the first time a fire in Snek's eyes. A look of determination came over him before Snek turned to Garou. "I'll take him!" he said defiantly

Amai smirked. "How fitting, the bottom of the A Class to face the top of it. I can already see how well this is going to turn out for you."

With the battles decided, everyone went off on their separate ways. However Amai lingered. Hunter was going to give the guys a pep talk when Sweet Mask announced. "Let's make this interesting."

Garou paused. "Interesting? How?" he demanded.

Amai turned to Hunter, the smirk only grew on his lips. "I heard you have climbed the ranks quite quickly, it won't be long until you are in the same class as me… so… my wager." He turned back to Garou. "If Snek manages to best me, I won't argue or resist your son's attempt to get to S Class. In fact I would be more than happy to allow him to surpass me!"

"If we lose?" Garou questioned.

Mask smirked. "After I win, your son will never break from A Class! I go one farther, he won't even be allow to go to the M Class should he decide to no longer pursue the S Class. Just so he knows his place when I am around… Do we have a wager?"

Amai's hand extended to Garou, however, he refused to take it. "No." he said.

"Oh? You are not confident in Snek?"

"I'm plenty confident in him, but this isn't my bet to make."

Amai was taken aback when he felt another hand grasp on to his. Hunter took the bet. "I accept," he said without hesitation.

Sweet Mask smirked. "I cannot wait to suppress you in the A Class!"

"I cannot wait to surpass you in every way" Hunter said back.

#

In the Sparring room.

Garou request that Genos officiate the battles. They won't go until someone is knocked out, instead they will go by time. Three minutes. If someone is unable to battle within the three minutes, the match will be called. They are not aiming to kill, or harm their opponent, it was merely to test their skills.

Flash and Max went first.

Max was nervous, he has seen Flash in action, he has heard of his skills with the sword but he also knows he is perhaps the fastest man in the world. Can he even compete with that? But he remembers the training he and Garou did. Also there was no pressure for him to beat Flash, merely keeping up with him would be a testament to his rank. Max kept telling himself, that it was okay to lose, but more importantly was to last the three minutes. With that, Max stood his stance.

Flash showed no emotion, he barely looked at Max, as if he were unworthy of eye contact. "Ready!" Genos called. "BEGIN!"

They vanished!

The room froze as they found they couldn't see either one of them! Then, the clash occurred! Sparks of lightning came off of Max as he managed to hold off Flash's sword with his scales! Flash was using the blunt end of the blade, since he was not intending on harming Max, yet even with the dull part of the sword, he still managed to sheer off some of Max's scales! Garou cringed when he heard impact. Max hit the wall hard, yet as quickly as he was struck, he was on the move again!

There were constant surges of energy. Max was holding his own, and even caught Flash off guard once. Garou knew it too since Flash became visible and was thrown back slightly! They would continue to battle getting into dead locks with each other every so often. More often then not though, Max would be knocked to the ground or against the wall. Yet instantly he got back up again! They went into a deadlock clash once more. The two broke off from each other. Max still on his feet, Flash not even breaking a sweat.

They would vanish again, but this time those who watched saw surges of electricity begin to fill the room. Max was getting powered up! Each time Flash struck Max, surges of power would come off of him! Each strike forced out the electrical power Max was storing. Hardly anyone saw a thing, what gave way their location was the sparks and surges of electricity. Then, Genos called. "TIME!"

It ended in the most unusual way. Flash had his sword inches before Max's face. At the same time, Max took out his tentacles and were about to grab Flash for a electric shock! The two pulled away. Max was breathless, battered and bloodied from the fight. Flash wasn't. He placed his sword away, he turned and walked past Garou. He didn't even bother to turn and look at him or anyone else, he said but one word before leaving. "Adequate."

Even Atomic was stunned. "Shit… normally he said nothing at all!"

Max rejoined the others, he was battered, bloodied and tried but other than that, he was proud of himself! Garou smiled with pride. "I think you made an impression on him."

"Next, Suiryu and Silverfang!" called Genos.

Before Suiryu went out, Garou stopped him and said. "Bring out the animal." And let him pass.

It confused Suiryu at first, but he shrugged off the comment. He stood before Silverfang who didn't appear to be concerned about him. "No offense old man, but I use to spar with my master all the time and got board of it. In fact I blew off training and I am still one of the best martial artists in the world!"

Silverfang smirked. "You sound just like Garou. I do hope he told you something about me."

"Oh?" questioned Suiryu. "What would that be?"

"READY!" called Genos.

"He hasn't beaten me yet!"

"BEGIN!"

It was a slaughter. Despite the fact that Suiryu was skilled, Silverfang was better. There were a few moments where Suiryu gained the upper hand, he finally understood what Garou told him about bringing out the animal. On all four's Silverfang couldn't read his movements as well. It allowed him to land a few strikes, but never enough to take out Silverfang himself. It didn't quite last the three minutes, Suiryu was held on his back at the mercy of Silverfang. Genos called. "Victory to Silverfang at 2 minutes 49 seconds!" Suiryu was battered, a little bloodied yet pleased. Silverfang broke a sweat but nodded his approval. Fang helped him up off the ground and smiled. "Exceptional skill, but don't think talent gets you every victory." Fang turned to Garou. "I approve."

Genos then called. "Our final bout, Snek Against Amai Mask!" The last match was about to commence, everyone in S Class was grinning from ear to ear. "Ooo, this is going to be good isn't it!" said Tatsumaki.

"It's going to be quick." Muttered Atomic.