The giant's ice ax slammed into the mosquito girl's arm, pushing it back and grazing her throat. Struggling under far more force than she anticipated, the monster woman barely managed to push the weapon back and she promptly countered with her right claw. But a shield of ice manifested only seconds before the attack connected, locking the two in close quarters combat. Meanwhile, the blonde cyborg ascended a nearby building. He kept his distance as the two clashed in mid-air. The monster and the giantess hacked, clawed, blocked, and countered each other, leaving numerous, though mostly superficial wounds. Between the two combatants, the insectoid monster appeared to be on the losing end of their skirmish, even with her biological advantages.
At last, during their struggle, the mosquito girl turned her back on the cyborg, and his chance had come. He leaped from his vantage point and flew towards the two with blinding speed, raising his fist for a surprise attack. Yet, the monster had heard him move, and quickly spun around and flung the giantess at the cyborg. But instead of colliding in mid-air, the giantess grabbed the cyborg's arm, spun around, and hurled the cyborg towards the mosquito again, doubling the already incredible speed at which he flew. Panicking, the mosquito girl raised her just in time to block the cyborg's punch.
The initial impact shoved the insectoid creature back several meters. But the worried expression on her face quickly changed to a wicked and confident smirk, as she found the cyborg's strength more manageable than the giantess'. She slashed at the blonde cyborg, who blocked the attack, but still was sent hurtling towards the ground.
The cyborg recovered in mid-air and managed to land on his feet a good distance away from the monster. The monster wasted no time and charged at the cyborg, who had already raised his arm. A rapid barrage of fiery projectiles was launched at the beast, but her agility allowed her to avoid each fireball until she was directly in front of him. In a split second, the sound of tearing metal rang through the air, and the mosquito girl flew off with a metallic arm skewered on her horn.
"Ha! Next, I'll go for your-" said the mosquito girl, before feeling the sharp pain in her knee. And when she looked down to find the source of her pain, her confidence, which seemed for a brief moment to be infallible, was shattered in an instant.
Her right leg was gone. Ripped off at the joint.
"… Legs? M-my leg!" she exclaimed in horror.
She could see on the ground the cyborg tossing aside her missing leg as if it were only garbage. It seemed that in her state of tunnel vision, he had grabbed her right leg. Allowing her momentum to instantly yank the limb off. The mosquito woman was stunned by her surprise, to the point that she nearly didn't notice the movement in the corner of her eye. At the last second, she swerved to the right. But it was already too late. Her left arm was torn clean off by an incoming ice spear and pinned to a nearby building.
"Agh! Shit!" the monster screamed in pain and frustration. Now she was down by two limbs against two fighters she could barely handle with all four! And when she looked back at her two opponents and saw them preparing for the killing blow, she played the only card she had left: turn tail and flee as fast as her wings can carry her!
"You can not escape me!" the cyborg shouted, aiming his incineration cannon toward the monster. Taking a brief second to charge, he fired a larger, more powerful fireball from his hand. But just moments before her incineration, another swarm of mosquitos gathered to intercept the projectile. When the flames subsided, the two saw that the monster had already gained some considerable distance between them.
"Come on!" The giantess cried to the cyborg to follow her. She jumped in the air, allowing two skis of ice to form on her boots. A path of blue ice supported on ivory pillars sprouted from the ground beneath her and when she landed, she glided upon it like the wind. The cyborg followed suit; running behind the giantess, using the fire from his palm to propel him forward at equally tremendous speeds after the wounded monster.
Mosquito Girl had her wings working overtime; they were beating so fast that they threatened to fly out of their sockets. That antlered giantess and that little blonde cyborg may have had her matched in strength and combat speed. But in overall speed and agility, she still had the edge and then some. And yet, this did nothing to ease her panic.
"What the hell was those two!?" she said, grimacing from the pain in her limb stumps. "If I don't do something, they'll kill me!"
She stood no chance against them. Even before her injuries, she was struggling to hold her own, especially against that giant. What even was she? With her strength and those weird ice powers, there was no possible way she was human. Her best course of action was to flee, but where could she go? Maybe… back to The House of Evolution? Maybe she could come back and ask for help from the doctor and the others! Against the strongest fighters of the House of Evolution, those two assholes surely stood no… wait…
"The Doctor…" Mosquito Girl thought. "What would the doctor think of all this?" This whole outing was meant to be her debut; a final test of her capabilities to see if her type was worthy of mass production. If she came back to the lab like this, that would mean she was a total failure! And in The House of Evolution, failure meant…
"NO!" Mosquito Girl shouted, shaking the thought out of her head. "Th-there's got to be something else I can do!"
But what could she do? She was in no shape to fight and she couldn't heal herself without blood, and practically all her mosquitos in the city were destroyed. Even if she did have them, all the humans were in hiding, so she couldn't draw much blood from the city. The most she could get would be from the occasional stray dog or the random street cat.
Cats… Dogs… Animals… Wildlife!
"Of course!" Mosquito Girl could she have forgotten! Before moving on to the city, she had left half of her swarm in the surrounding wilderness as insurance. "There are plenty of animals to feed off of!"
With her confidence restored, the monster shot up straight into the air, gaining enough altitude to give her telepathic control maximum range. "To me, my little ones!" she cried out to her countless minions. "Come and empty your collected fluids into me!"
With those commands, it didn't take long for a swarm of mosquitos, far larger than any seen before, to come flying into the city and towards their master.
Seeing the congregating swarm of parasites in the sky, the cyborg and giantess hastened their pace. Upon a path of ice that manifested and broke away as they moved, they dashed across the city-scape with speed unmatched. Weaving between buildings and glided above alleyways, they, at last, touched down upon an empty street. They had reached their quarry, or rather, they bore witness to a floating sphere composed of an incomprehensible amount of mosquitos.
"It's worse than we thought," the giantess said. "If she's been taking this much blood, then she's not just doing it to feed."
"Indeed. But now that she's gathered all of her mosquitos in one place, I can incinerate all of them in one blast." The cyborg said as fiery energy charged in his right hand. In just a few moments, he would be ready to wipe out the monster and her minions in one fell swoop…
"GET BACK HERE DAMMIT!" Screamed a voice.
"WE'RE NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!" Another female voice shouted.
The cyborg and the giantess spun around in surprise, brandishing their weapons for an attack. But to their bewilderment, they only saw two civilians: a bald man, and a young woman, sprinting towards them with furious expressions. The man, dressed in a simple polo shirt and cargo shorts, was haphazardly spraying insecticide into the air. While the younger woman, who was wearing only a blue sash bra, a flowing knee-length skirt, and a piece of white cloth tied over her left eye, flailed around two fly swatters in reckless abandon. They stopped a short distance away from the cyborg and giantess, their faces warped by their shared frustration.
"It got in my mouth!" The bald man shouted, and he spat several times in an attempt to get it out.
"Oh, that little f%#&ing… Woah… " the woman trailed off, gripped with an all too relatable terror when her eye drifted to the massive cloud of mosquitoes. With her gaze locked on to the gargantuan parasitic mass, she elbowed the man to redirect his attention, where he promptly mirrored her reaction.
"Are those… what I think they are…?" The bald man asked, his voice nervous and shaky.
"You two, evacuate now!" the cyborg yelled at the two, snapping their attention from the storm to him. "At the center of that swarm is a dangerous monster. It isn't safe for you here!"
In spite of the urgent command, the two merely stared at the blonde cyborg in silent confusion. The one-eyed woman, however, shifted her gaze from the cyborg to the giantess to his right. Their eyes met and for a moment, they stood stupefied at the sight of one another. Then, their eyes widened in a mutual realization.
"Mayari… ?" said the giantess in a quiet, unsure voice.
"Tita Skathi… ?" the young woman asked, her expression and voice full of pleasant surprise. The gears in her mind turned in an effort to comprehend who stood before her. And when she finally did, her excitement could hardly be contained. "Tita Skathi!" she cried out again.
In a single, joyous moment, the younger woman dropped her "weapons" and sprinted towards the giantess with open arms, and she leaped at the giant huntress for an overjoyed hug. The giantess returned her embrace and they both spun around in happiness, laughing like schoolgirls. After some time, the giantess pulled away and held the younger woman out in front of her. Amusingly, due to their height difference, the young woman dangled a few feet from the ground; giving them the appearance of a parent holding up their unruly child.
"I haven't seen you in centuries, Mayari!" the giantess asked the young woman, a warm smile on her face. "How have you been?"
"Oh, I've been great!" Mayari exclaimed. "I've been fighting monsters, saving humans, eating some of the new foods they made up… Hey! Did you know that they sell food from machines now? They have, like, these big vending box things that when you put money into them… "
Mayari gleefully rambled on and on about her recent adventures and the giantess, Skathi, listened with equal parts content and intent. But her attention shifted from the young woman to the massive swarm of death; watching it stir, looking as if it were about to burst. Skathi's instincts immediately screamed "danger!" within her mind, screaming at her to move, and she did. Thinking fast, she dashed towards the bald man with Mayari in hand and grabbed him. Quickly, she crouched as low as she could and a protective dome of ice materialized around the trio just moments before the swarm overtook them. Inside the dome, Skathi listened intently for any sign of an opening in the dome. Fortunately, all she could hear was the muffled buzzing of insect wings and a rapid "pitter-patter", caused by the swarm ramming into the side of the dome.
Movement at her sides startled the giantess, but she eased up just a bit when she saw that it was just Mayari and the plain-faced human squirming out of her grip.
"I almost forgot to ask!" Mayari said with a wide smile. "How've you been doing? Is Asgard still dumb and sad?"
"Oh, you bet," Skathi began with a disdainful smirk. "Everyone up there is just moping around, getting drunk and fat, telling half-assed tales of the 'good old days.' It's miserable!"
"That sounds like it!" Mayari exclaimed, giggling like a child. "But what about Tito Njord? Did you two finally work things out?"
Immediately, at the mention of that name, Skathi froze. Her expression grew dour and beads of sweat lined her forehead. She opened her mouth to respond, yet only nervous, unintelligible mutterings left her throat. It was clear to everyone present (well, everyone except Mayari) that whoever this "Njord" was, Skathi was not comfortable talking about him. And in the absence of Mayari's situational awareness, the only human present spoke up.
"Um, sorry, but…" the bald man interrupted. "Mayari, who is this?"
"Oh right!" Mayari said, grinning again. She held out her arms as if presenting the giantess on a stage. "Tita Skathi, this is Saitama. Saitama, meet Skathi, Goddess of the hunt… and skiing."
Saitama seemed unfazed by Mayari's grandiose introduction. But he did put on a friendly smile as he extended his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you, I guess," he said plainly.
"Er… likewise," concurred Skathi. She took his hand in an awkward handshake; her larger size causing it to disappear in her grasp.
"Huh, you're pretty big," Saitama remarked. "So you're also a god?"
"Well, technically only by marriage, but yeah," the glacial deity answered casually. But almost as soon as the atmosphere settled into a calm, a greater concern dawned upon the jötunn.
"Wait, how do you know Mayari?" Skathi asked.
"I saved her life," Saitama said in a frank tone, and Skathi's eyes promptly widened in disbelief. Mayari noticed the giantess' incredulous expression, and she quickly moved in to vindicate Saitama.
"He did, really!" the younger deity insisted. "He's like, the strongest human ever."
Even with the assurance of a goddess of war, Skathi was still unconvinced. And really, how could she not be? Putting aside Mayari's own considerable combat prowess, this Saitama was the epitome of innocuousness. What with his simplistic face, thin frame, and bland demeanor. He looked as if he could hardly stand in a slight breeze.
But what was most baffling to the huntress, however, was how quick Mayari was to defend his claim. She knew Mayari long enough to ascertain that the young goddess hardly vouched for anyone, let alone people outside her social circle. And while far from arrogant, Mayari wasn't exactly among the humblest of deities. At the very least, she was not the type to willingly admit that one's strength was superior to hers.
All this seemed to indicate the truth in Saitama's words. And yet, just one look at the man could reduce all of that evidence to ludicrousy. Frankly, Skathi didn't know what to think, but she was leaning towards disbelief.
A loud boom outside the dome interrupted her musings, accompanied by a faint orange glow and the abrupt ceasing of the buzzing.
"Hold that thought," Skathi said, and she smashed a large hole in the side of the dome with two elbow strikes, allowing the trio to exit their icy shelter. Once outside, they saw a charred and smoking cityscape. Concrete was burnt black, metal posts were scorched to the point of melting, and there was not a single mosquito in sight. Even the mosquito woman was nowhere to be seen. The blonde cyborg stood before them with his back facing the trio; smoke emitting from his palm and his body glowing a bright, hot orange.
"The swarm was a great danger to any organic life," he said as the orange glow faded along with the intense heat of his cybernetic body. "But in the end, they were still only insects."
The cyborg turned around and saw Skathi, Saitama, and Mayari, standing next to a mostly undamaged dome of ice; save for the large exit hole in its side.
"Thank you for protecting those civilians, Miss Skathi. It's miraculous how resilient your ice is." He commended the goddess, who responded with a casual wave of her hand. Meanwhile, the younger deity and the bare-scalped human were admiring the carnage around them.
"Man, you really made those bugs bug out," Saitama remarked with a horrifically bad pun as he took in the charred cityscape. "Who are you guys?"
"Ah, my apologies," the cyborg began. He bowed his head in respect as he introduced himself properly. "My name is Genos. I am a cyborg who fights for justice."
"Wow, a cyborg," the bald man repeated in awe. Though, his face failed to express his genuine (if minuscule) feelings. "That's pretty cool."
"AHAHAHAHA!"
In an instant, Genos and Skathi readied their weapons when they heard the mad cackling of their supposedly dead prey. "Too slow, you too," a wicked voice taunted the cyborg and the giant huntress. "Still too slow~."
The two hunters tensed up, their eyes darted around in a frantic effort to locate their quarry. Their eyes drifted back up to the sky, where they finally saw the source of that familiar voice. The mosquito girl had survived, and with a new, larger, crimson-colored body!
"You might have killed all of my little ones, but not before I was able to take their blood!" She gloated. "And just look at this body!"
The monster closed her eyes and stretched her arms; humming contently as she savored every ounce of strength from her augmented muscles. It was a euphoric sensation that Mosquito girl never felt before; it was like she could conquer the whole world and then some! Opening her eyes again to face her attackers, she nearly scoffed when she saw the courageous expressions her foes defiantly presented.
"You still think you can take me?" Mosquito girl asked, confident confusion apparent in her tone. She grinned yet again, and the two hunters readied themselves for a vicious reprisal. But nothing could have prepared them for the events that would follow.
The monster vanished in a blur before their eyes. Genos, in a bout of confusion, dropped his guard, while the experienced Skathi immediately braced herself with an ice shield. But then, in an instant, an invisible force ripped through the group, shredding the two unprepared hunters. Genos received the brunt of the savage attack, being nearly cleaved in two by the torso. Skathi managed to save herself from any lethal damage. But the power behind the attack was still so great that her ice shield was instantly smashed to pieces, and the huntress was sent tumbling backward past the two onlookers.
The monster reappeared several meters in the sky above them, laughing even louder than before. "You think you can take this!?" The Mosquito Girl shouted.
In spite of his injuries, Genos' fighting spirit was unwavering. Just barely managing to retain his footing, he still raised his incineration cannon and aimed it at the monster. The beast only smiled at this futile gesture and disappeared once more in a blur. Desperately, Genos tried to turn and face the monster, but she had already struck him with his claws and launched him into the air where she drove upon him with unmatched ferocity. Skathi, who was still feeling the force of the monstrous strike, had just noticed the ruthless onslaught on her partner. In her state of pain and confusion, she mustered what little she could of her magic to summon an ice spear. In her now unsteady hands, her weapon felt fragile, as if it were just a rod of fine glass. But it would have to do. The huntress rose, took aim, and threw her spear at the monster with all her might.
Yet, instead of the impalement of her quarry, she could only perceive the sound of shattering ice and an explosion of blood. Her blood.
"Not so fast, anymore~" the Mosquito Girl whispered into Skathi's ear.
Moving too fast for most to comprehend, the mosquito girl blew past Skathi, leaving two gruesome slashes on the huntress' chest. The monster only continued to press her attack, circling back around to deliver two more slashes to Skathi's back, forcing the giantess to her knees.
"Tita Skathi!" Mayari cried out, horrified at the sight of her old friend's grievous injuries. As the insectoid monster flew off to align herself for another swooping attack, the lunar goddess acted fast. She dashed over to a nearby light post and ripped it from the ground. The mosquito girl was nearly upon Skathi again, but Mayari had reached her just barely before the monster. She grounded herself and swung the pole directly at the monster's face, forcing the monster back in pain.
Well, at least for only a moment.
"You little…" the monster mumbled, apparently unfazed. She simply waved her claw, and the light post in Mayari's hands was sliced to pieces, reduced to only a metal stump. Now defenseless, the young goddess' confidence visibly wavered, yet she still held her ground. The mosquito chuckled at this futile gesture and charged once again at the deities, bearing her claws while cackling maniacally. Mayari braced herself with the remains of her weapon, undaunted, closing her eyes in anticipation of the final impact…
BOOM!
In a blur right before the impact, Saitama had stepped between them and struck the monster. With his indomitable power, the monster was slain upon contact with Saitama's fist, and her corpse was sent flying off into the horizon. Just the shockwave from his attack was enough to crack and deform the concrete buildings around them and even part the clouds above them. Skathi and the cyborg's eyes widened at the sight of such awesome power.
"Bugs," Saitama said to Mayari in a playful monotone. "They suck."
Ignoring him, Mayari turned her attention back to her wounded friend. Skathi was severely wounded, with blood staining her pelt clothing. But she appeared to be too frozen in shock and awe to notice the pain.
"Tita Skathi!" Mayari cried out with worry as she rushed to the jötunn's side. "Are you OK!?"
"H… how… w-wh… he…" Skathi stuttered, not even able to properly respond.
"Woah, are you OK?" said Saitama, who had finally taken notice of Skathi. "You're bleeding a lot."
At last, Skathi snapped out of her stupor, only to immediately curse and grimace when the pain of her wounds finally registered in her mind. With Mayari's help, she raised her hand over the wound on her chest and from her palm sprinkled a thin layer of powdery snow. A soft light emitted from the open wound, and magically, the damage had been undone without even a scar remaining.
"Woah," Saitama said, slightly (but still genuinely) amazed. "How'd you do that?"
"I'm part frost giant. So long as I have access to the cold, I can survive anything," Skathi answered, now noticeably more at ease thanks to her healing. "Doesn't mean it won't hurt though. Heh."
Saitama only hummed in response to the answer, and Mayari held up Skathi so she could reach her hand over her back. The sound of metal grinding on asphalt drew Saitama's attention, and when he looked over his shoulder, he saw Genos dragging himself over to the trio. He was in a much worse state than the giantess. One of his arms was missing, first off, and his left eye, along with some synthetic skin, had been torn out, revealing the damaged mechanics underneath. There was also a huge gap in his torso. So huge, in fact, that his legs were only barely still attached by a few spare wires. "How did you do that!?" Genos demanded from Saitama.
"What? Kill that bug thing?" the bald man answered, nonchalantly. "I just, y'know, punched it."
"With just one punch…" Genos muttered to himself in astonishment. "What is your name?!"
"Saitama," the bald man answered flatly.
"Please, Mr. Saitama!" the cyborg shouted, raising himself as much as he could. "I beg that you take me on as your disciple!"
The cyborg's volume startled the goddesses, drawing their attention to him, and a brief moment of confused silence followed the emphatic demand. Saitama seemed to silently contemplate the cyborg's out-of-the-blue request, though he looked more confused than anything.
" … Sure," He finally said. Though, Saitama seemed to have not completely registered what Genos had said to him, because almost immediately after the words left his lips, he backtracked and looked at Genos confusedly. "Wait, what did you say?"
"Hey dude," Mayari spoke up, having finished making sure Skathi was fully healed. "Weren't we gonna go to the store?"
"Ah crap, I totally forgot!" said the bald man, slapping his forehead. "Just let me go get my coin purse."
Saitama dashed off back to his house, moving so fast that he literally disappeared into thin air. From the spot where he once stood, a torrent of wind blew out in all directions and a cloud of dust and ash erupted from the ground and into the air. Skathi and Genos were left dumbfounded by his speed. Mayari, on the other hand, looked more miffed than anything else.
"Well, I better get going," Mayari spoke up. "It was nice seeing you again, Tita Skathi!"
"Y-yeah," said Skathi, not taking her eyes off the direction where Saitama ran. "You too..."
With that, Mayari ran off after Saitama, though not quite at the same ludicrous speeds as her bald friend. Now there was only Skathi and Genos present; confused, in pain, but most of all, just plain tired.
HOLY SHIT I DID IT!
I FINALLY #%$#ING FINISHED IT!
I DID IT!
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Ahem.
I am so sorry that this one took so long. College is proving to be a bigger bitch than I thought it would be. That, and my new job kind of sucks sometimes, but it's not too bad.
And… I just simply didn't have the motivation to write some days… weeks… months…
But I actually finished the chapter, and it properly introduces one of my favorite mythological characters to boot!