Atsuko had moved to talk to Sweet Mask privately in the Hero Association building. Saitama decided it was time to inspect the new room given to them. He carried Mitsumi down to the elevator and pressed the button to get to the living apartment floors. He was quite curious on how it would look.
"Oh, honey! I thought of a name for your sword when I make it!" Tacki beamed at Kamikaze.
"And that is?" he asked curiously.
"Overbite!" she grinned. That got him dying with laughter, and he could only agree at the name.
"Saitama," Mitsumi muttered softly in his ear.
"Hmm?" he looked at her.
"I was…seriously considering on purchasing a massive plot of land. For retirement if it comes to it," she said softly. Now he looked at her with surprise. "I know. It may never come to it. But…it's just in case. I don't know how many more monsters we'll free. How they'll be seen by others. I don't think I want land on the mainland, either, so I actually won't need to purchase anything if we go that route for secrecy. With our pets, they can create a hidden oasis for us under the ocean. Completely undetected by anyone. Even if we don't live there all the time, I just want a full safe haven for freed monsters."
"That…huh! That would be pretty cool!" Saitama blinked at the idea.
"I mean, sure, we can come here for missions and check on the mainland, but if we get too old to do much? We'd need a place to go. And if we are gone, I don't want my other family of freed monsters to become threatened," she nodded.
"I'm sure Deep Sea Prince could even help patrol with his people!" Iwasaki chuckled. Mitsumi found herself liking the idea immensely.
"I can have him rally his people to find a decent section to find for us. It can get cleared out and easily purposed for our needs," Blue Ripple chuckled. "I will soon need to swim out to them for my monthly promise, so I can survey what they find to judge it worthy. Deep Sea Prince can accompany me to help set the need."
"That would be wonderful!" Mitsumi smiled and caressed his neck with affection. Stable Rock snorted to show he would ensure the land chosen would work, too. Tangled Vine was already thinking of a list of aquatic plants that would be beautiful to see to help hide the hidden land with. When the elevator doors opened to reveal a long hallway, the group was quick to move to their destined room. Saitama pulled out the keycard from his pocket for room 104 and opened it.
"Pretty basic," he frowned at the room layout. "I know we saw some of the footage, but I guess it will do."
"Nope! NO! This won't do for Lady Mitsumi!" Tacki growled out.
"Tell me…what…you want…?" Stable Rock said on lumbering in. "Much…can be…changed…easily…"
"I'm not sure if I can change around dead wood," Tangle Vine grumbled and trotted over to a nightstand. "I'd much rather create a living tree and alter it."
"Can't do what you don't know," Bright Bolt snorted and examined the lighting. "I'd say to try it."
"Whatever you want to try is fine by me," Mitsumi chuckled. Saitama was about to sit down with her in a basic chair, but Tacki stopped them. Inichi was able to have Metal Knight open up one of the windows to start a quick furniture swap out. The unneeded furniture would be set in a waiting storage section to be used for other rooms in the association.
"I've never been inside a human dwelling publicly before. This is kinda nice," Cold Snap chuckled and cuddled into Mitsumi's arms. She was still carrying him and didn't plan to set him down just yet.
"How is it that we have extra furniture of what we already have?" Mitsumi blinked at the plush chair that Saitama sat down with her in. Cold Snap settled easily with them and giggled when Overgrown Rover jumped up in its tiny form to lay on them all happily.
"I had Rendor take the liberty of ensuring we had a small warehouse at our City Z home. It's filled with all sorts of furnishings," Inichi chuckled from where he hovered outside the window.
"Nice!" Saitama grinned. They all looked over at the second board member walking in to talk to them.
"I wanted to ask Fan Dancer directly on something," he said.
"Oh?" Mitsumi blinked at him. Cold Snap frowned, but he giggled at Saitama's tickling side poke.
"It has never been documented on how a Wind Crane Clan assassin moves in a training room. Metal Knight did study the original training room and made a duplicate room down below. Much like how we did such a thing with Caped Baldy in the beginning. Would you be able to show us how the elusive Wind Crane Clan moved and acted in such a hostile environment?" the board member asked with a bit of hopefulness in his eyes.
"I need to study the room. I need to see how the traps move and function. A true assassin surveys their surroundings to plan out how to move and infiltrate first. I need to know where the traps will go and how they work to memorize where they start and end. And I'm only saying this because of one thing.
"If Saitama sees me get hit even once, then you know that room is gone. He will pull me out of harm's way and destroy the room that hurt me. Then he will go after the one that built the room. I am protecting Metal Knight this way so he knows that I need to see the room function on its own first. It's all for his safety as he is soon to be married to Siren. And I see her as a sister," Mitsumi said carefully. "I must see the room in action before I walk into it."
"And I know I'll do everything she said I'd do," Saitama nodded. "I also have to be in that room with her. I have to put my touch on her directly right after she gets to the end of the room. The training room had a five minute timer. This one must be the same. There is a leeway of ten minutes, but I can't let it get that far. Her body goes through intense pain without me to a point that she gets violently sick. As in, she throws up. Bad. It's been proven. I won't let her suffer. Got it?"
"I'm sure they know," she chuckled and pressed into him to get squeezed.
"I think it would be awesome to see you in action," Zenchu chuckled. "Wind Crane definitely wants to watch and evaluate you, too. She's still on the roof with Fire Flight, but you know that Wind Crane would want to see this. She'll even shift human to sit with us to watch."
"Ah! True! Okay. Is that room ready now?" Mitsumi asked the board member. "This would be important for other possible clan members for training. So, if Wind Crane needs it done, then I will not argue. I'll gladly do what I can to help the clan thrive."
"I'll check the room now and ensure it can be fully run and reset. I'll have an employee send for you," the board member nodded.
"Just think to me, please," Inichi said calmly.
"Oh! Right. Ah, of course," he nodded and made his way out.
"Miss Mitsumi! I'm glad the window is still open. In ten minutes you can head down there. I'm going to set off a small commotion to set the room off. It will reset within five minutes, too. I do have it so all of the projectiles will fit into various parts of the floor and walls. Mechanisms will lock them back into their original positions after they are used and will be ready for the next session," Metal Knight said from his hovering robot.
"What would happen if one of them goes off track?" Kamikaze asked.
"There is a program in each projectile to ensure auto-correction is done. Much like a militia missile with self-guidance," Metal Knight chuckled. "Of course, the floor traps are stationary."
"That is incredible! I have no idea how the room is reset originally. Hmm. Come to think of it, I found no traps or arrows littering the floor there, either! I wonder if the same thing is done. Just not with all the technical know-how. So ingenious!" she blinked with recollection.
"Except for the ones I caught and damaged, yeah. That's pretty nice. I don't think there would be a training room that would work for me, though. I was able to hear each trap being sprung in that other training room that I ended up smashing down," Saitama shrugged.
"You heard every trap in motion…?" Metal Knight paused on hearing this.
"Yep. My senses are stupid crazy strong," he said with boredom. "Now even more on protecting my wife and growing child. I can actually feel the elevators moving through the building beneath my feet."
"Where is the elevator closest to you right now?" Metal Knight had to ask.
"Hmm. Heading down to the first floor. I can feel…four people in it shuffling around. I think one of them farted in there," Saitama nodded. Metal Knight was heard typing on a keyboard and now dying with laughter. Siren was in the background with him and laughing as hard as he was.
"Was he right?!" Mitsumi asked with amazement.
"Watchdog was in that elevator with a few C class heroes. They ran out and are too…ashamed to say what may have transpired," Metal Knight said with heavy mirth in his tone. "Watchdog was undisturbed by the whole thing. So, ah, Saitama was very correct on what he felt."
"So, the dog did it?" Zenchu grinned and got smacked by Kamikaze.
"You can say that," Metal Knight snickered. "I even caught some footage."
"I wanna watch it!" Saitama grinned. A television flicked on to reveal the elevator camera footage. It revealed Watchdog sitting on his hind legs in his usual dog fashion. The lesser heroes standing in awe around him were soon coughing and gagging after several minutes. They ran out when the elevator doors opened. Watchdog calmly walked out on all fours as though nothing was wrong. Even better was when a couple A class heroes walked in and swore violently at the lingering smell after the elevator doors closed. Mitsumi was in absolute tears of laughter at the whole thing.
"That was the most awesome thing I ever saw!" Tacki said with sheer delight. "Oh! Lady Mitsumi! We totally need Saitama's dog to do that!"
"If that's the case, only family should be with us that are not affected by my dog," Saitama nodded to get Mitsumi laughing hard all over again. "This way we can give them weird looks as we won't smell it."
"That would be…so mean…but so funny!" Mitsumi managed to gasp out from laughing so much.
"You should have Daiki in there with you," Zenchu said. Mitsumi laughed again and had to lean on Saitama.
"Yes. Yes we do," Saitama agreed in full.
"And that stink will linger for a looong time!" Zenchu grinned wickedly.
"It would, huh? Good!" Saitama grinned back.
"Should we start heading down there? I'm sure we'll be back up here for lunch and the rest of the room design," Mitsumi said with a sigh of recovery.
"I don't see why not. Okay. I want to make sure we pick an elevator that will have a few stops. We're going below the main headquarters, right?" Saitama asked and lifted up Mitsumi in his arms. The monster pets glanced over and prepared to follow.
"Do I go with you, Dad?" Fumio asked with Black Sperm on his back.
"Yep! Come on," Saitama nodded.
"I can guide the way," Metal Knight said.
"We will meet you below in another elevator. I will have Fubuki give me my clothes. I'll be in my human form for this," Inichi agreed and had the window close up before hovering off.
"Make sure Daiki is on the way there to join our elevator. I don't think I want her older sister to see this, though. Unless you all think it would be another eye-opener for her," Saitama sighed. "What do you think, Mitsumi?"
"If Sweet Mask watches over her, then I honestly wouldn't care. Maybe it will give her ideas on what to do with her life. Anyways, we should have Orotsu with us and the rest of our family here. Is Kamiko with Genos now?" Mitsumi asked. "I would like Tsuruga with us, too. Ah, wait. Tanktop Girl is covering for Kamiko. We should have this privately streamed from the front computer and the security screens in the back room."
"I can handle that," Metal Knight agreed. When they reached the elevators, Saitama was handed a basic clip leash for Overgrown Rover's collar. Mitsumi was set down to stand next to Saitama, and he had Fumio stand behind him with Cold Snap. He gestured for the pets to also stand behind him to show he was protecting them. Mitsumi pressed the button for the secure floor below the association building to start the elevator. Metal Knight had his robot fly off to get Daiki to meet up with them on a lower floor.
"We were on the 50th floor" Mitsumi smiled and picked up Overgrown Rover's tiny form. It huffed and yawned before stretching out contentedly in her arms. "Such a good puppy! Yes, you are!"
"Sounds about right," Saitama nodded and chuckled at how happy his monster dog was with all the attention. The elevator stopped on the 47th floor to let in a couple C class heroes. They blinked at the sight of the group, but Mitsumi was snuggling Overgrown Rover to show that everything was fine.
"What rank hero are you?" a hero resembling a tripped up bodybuilder in a dark blue spandex bodysuit asked.
"We are both in class S. You can look us up," Saitama said with an eye roll.
"Ah! Sweet!" the other hero said wearing a pig costume.
"Yep. It's nice. We're heading down," Saitama said and squeezed Mitsumi close to show she wasn't single. He even kissed her and chuckled when Overgrown Rover grunted before licking at them happily.
"That's a monster…?" the bodybuilder asked.
"Yep. My dog," Saitama nodded. "All of the monsters here are my pets. Except for the kids. They're my sons. Adopted, but my sons."
"Dad!" Cold Snap beamed and got picked up by him to get comforted.
"That's a monster, too!" the other hero gaped.
"Nonsense! He's my son!" Mitsumi scoffed. "Press the number on the elevator to start it, please. We have a place to be at."
"Oh…" the first C class hero frowned and pressed the button for the 20th floor. While they rode down, Mitsumi was giving Overgrown Rover belly rubs. Then the C class heroes gasped with shock.
"What's that smell?!" the bodybuilder asked.
"Oh. Likely my dog. It might have farted," Saitama shrugged. "Belly rubs do that. I don't smell anything."
"You don't smell that?!" the other hero gaped while holding his nose in the costume. "It's getting through my suit! That thing reeks!"
"My puppy is not stinky!" Mitsumi chided and cuddled into the monster dog. "You're a good puppy! Yes, you are such a good puppy! And if you have tummy troubles, then it's not your fault. Good puppy!"
It whined and rolled out its tongue at each response given. Then it blinked all six eyes at the heroes and let another gas bomb go off.
"LET US OUT!" they both shrieked. Fumio had to turn and keep his laughter down at everything that was going on. Cold Snap was hiding his face and giggling madly at them.
"Oh, stop it. Look. Here's your floor," Saitama rolled his eyes. Mitsumi was cackling softly when the doors closed, and Saitama was grinning slightly at the whole thing. He pressed a kiss on her mouth when the doors closed and they started moving again. There were two more stops with the same scenario from other lesser heroes. When they got to the 10th floor, Daiki was let in. He was puzzled at how the other heroes rushed out.
"Hey. I was told to catch this elevator down with you. Ah…wait…no! No! I need to get out!" Daiki gasped and swore when the doors shut to start moving. "What cut loose in here?! It reeks!"
"My dog," Saitama nodded. Daiki swore again and covered his nose with his hand. "Sorry. It did have to eat after getting teeth pulled."
"Such a good puppy!" Mitsumi crooned and got her cheek licked. Then Overgrown Rover stretched out and sighed before letting another gas bomb free.
"Shit! Stop the elevator! Please!" Daiki started to beg.
"Nope. You'll be fine. Just think of how this place is gonna be when the next group has to use it," Saitama said with a small snicker.
"Not with me in it!" Daiki grimaced and coughed hard into his dark blue shirt sleeve.
"Aww. Does big, bad Daiki not have what it takes to muscle through this?" Mitsumi seemed to tease. Now Daiki looked at her like she was crazy. "I thought you always claimed to be a badass. Was that a lie?"
"Ah…well…fuck…!" Daiki scowled. Overgrown Rover snorted and let out another bomb. The other monster pets there were mildly affected, but they didn't show it. Saitama's family was completely immune to the smell. Daiki coughed again and banged on a wall. "Damn it! This is so gross! How many more floors?! We can't have that many more! Do we?! There has to be a fan activation button somewhere! This is torture! Why aren't these other buttons working?!"
"It's just five more floors. Then we have to go below the association," Saitama nodded. "You'll be fine. It's just a bad smell. Tough it out."
"Just a bad smell?!" Daiki asked him with shock. "This smell is like raw sewage mixed with rotting ocean fish! And everything else mixed into it to make it even worse! Just make it stop!"
"I can't stop my poor puppy's tummy troubles," Mitsumi said and stuck her tongue out at him. "It's not my fault that you can smell it. We are its owners. It wanted us to not smell such a thing. It's a good puppy!"
Overgrown Rover huffed and let out yet another bomb. And this one was clearly audible to make the man panic with complete despair at what happened. Daiki was now crouched on the ground and hiding his head in his arms with complete helplessness. It took another tormenting minute for the elevator doors to finally open up to the desired underground floor. Daiki was all but crawling out with weak relief.
"Wow. Who killed you?" Garou asked while holding Lily.
"That…damned…dog…!" Daiki gasped for fresh air.
"Ah…oh…" Garou said and bit back a sharp laugh. Then he pulled Lily away for safety to keep from getting near the offending odor.
"Don't use this elevator for a while," Saitama suggested to the others after leading the group out. "Let other heroes experience the surprise."
"Are we recording that?!" King asked while the others were dying with laughter at the whole thing.
"Definitely," Metal Knight chuckled with wicked mirth. "Oh, and I had, ah, disabled the button controls after the 10th floor. You had to keep to time."
"I figured you would have," Mitsumi chuckled at the floating robot.
"I should totally have my dog gas up every elevator…" Saitama mused aloud. Mitsumi's jaw dropped before she burst out into laughter.
"I will gladly take the stairs…" Daiki managed to say to get them all laughing again at it. "My clothes are destroyed by that stench!"
"Only for ten minutes. You'll be fine," Tacki said. "If you want to be useful, say nothing about the elevator. I wanna see who uses it next."
"Ugh…" Daiki grimaced and coughed.
"I suppose I can help you out. Smell this," Mitsumi said and had a fan set swirl around him to gently perfume the air. The foul smell was completely neutralized and replaced with the soothing scent of rainwater and roses. He took in a deep breath and sighed with relief. "Better?"
"Yes. Thanks," Daiki nodded. All of her current fans moved to hover in their circular sets of ten to show they were on alert. Blue Ripple's fans were on the offensive while Wind Crane's fans were defensive. She yawned and sighed with a touch of exhaustion.
"Are you okay?" Saitama asked and squeezed her.
"I really should eat something," she frowned. Cold Snap opened his palm to reveal a lightly frosted cookie covered in ice. Saitama was able to break the ice off gently and feed Mitsumi the elegant chocolate cookie. "Thank you, dear."
"Always, Mom," Cold Snap nodded. As they walked along, Mitsumi suddenly paused at a thought that struck her. Saitama looked at her curiously.
"I think…I have an idea we can try. For a flea to become cured," Mitsumi said. Now Iwasaki looked over with complete alertness. "We can remove a flea to make a flea out of the monster, but it leaves the skin empty. Can we…put a flea removed back into the skin to see if it reverts into the skin?"
"That…would be…I wouldn't know!" Iwasaki blinked.
"I'm making a note of that to try!" Metal Knight said. "We have a few fleas that were tricked that are waiting to see if we can help them. However, we don't know if they were male or female before. I would think we would need the correct skin type for them in order for it to work. We'll definitely need to test that."
"Yeah. We'll do that when we get home. That's important," Saitama nodded. "I wonder if we can test it on that reporter…"
"We can save his skin, then. We did want our pets to touch him and kill the monster. The problem is that we'd have to destroy the skin. Unless we can provoke the monster to come out and leave the skin in one piece for us…?" Mitsumi mused aloud.
"We shall experiment the moment we can," Metal Knight said with a touch of excitement. When they got to the main room, they saw it was redone to be much like the training room cavern. Mitsumi set down Overgrown Rover for it to follow Saitama obediently with the leash. Wind Crane was there in her human form and ignoring the stares from other heroes as they came in to find seats.
"Wind Crane Clan Mother," Mitsumi said reverently and moved to get hugged by her. "I hope I impress you well."
"You already do, my daughter," Wind Crane smiled warmly. "However, I did want to inform you and Saitama of something."
"Oh?" Saitama asked.
"I know you found my scepter. However, there are a few more items," she said. "There is an orb, a pendant, a ring and a circular crown. We need to find the others. All of them were hidden away in rooms like the one my scepter was in."
"Do you know where they would be?" Blue Ripple asked.
"Just the main locations. I am unsure of how they would be now. Even if the rooms still exist in one piece," Wind Crane admitted. Stable Rock snorted to show he would easily help.
"Where do we sit?" Fire Flight asked in her human form. Shenjou kept a protective arm around her waist to show he was with her.
"Wow! You're gorgeous!" an A class hero grinned.
"Thank you. My mate says so, too," Fire Flight chuckled.
"Mate?" the hero asked.
"Yeah. Me. Her husband," Shenjou grunted. "Just be careful. She likes to set fire to those that piss her off."
"Oh…" the hero blinked and quickly moved off to find a seat.
"I likely would have set him on fire, too," she snickered softly in Shenjou's ear to get him grinning at her.
"How am I to be watched by others?" Mitsumi asked Metal Knight's robot.
"The ceiling is devoid of traps. So, it will be viewed. From below," Metal chuckled. "When you walk in, the room will drop for the ceiling to be at our floor level. It will have a glass top for us to view down. Of course, Saitama will be in the room with you. Wind Crane can also stand with him to evaluate you. When you step off the first tile, the timer starts. On the last tile, the room will raise up to allow you to escape it."
"Ah! So clever!" Mitsumi beamed.
"There will also be televisions set up to let others see you on your level with intense camera angles at all sides," he added.
"Good," Saitama nodded. "How do we watch the test happen first? Like, how she has to see the room in action."
"I was thinking of this. You go in with her and Wind Crane. Wait where you would wait for her. The room drops below. I can remotely trigger the first platform. She can watch how the traps would move and see where to step. It should match up exactly, but I can understand how she would need to see a new design first. The room tiles will trigger by my remote program to match exactly five minutes. When the room raises back up, it will be reset. She goes to the first trigger to step on it to alert the room that it is ready to test and sink back down," Metal Knight explained carefully.
"So the reward is to leave the room. Okay," Saitama nodded. Then he looked at his sons and pets. "You all can wait up here with the others. However, Stable Rock, you stay with me. And Bright Bolt, too. Stable Rock can shield her quickly with Bright Bolt if any trap starts to act up."
"Done…" Stable Rock grunted.
"I'll act like a magnet easily!" Bright Bolt nickered and nodded his head.
"I'd rather wait with you, Dad," Cold Snap frowned. "I can also freeze the room solid to keep other traps from launching."
"Hmm. I guess," Saitama shrugged. Overgrown Rover whined and pawed at him before raising itself up on its hind legs for appeasement. "What?! No! You stay up here!"
It whined and tugged on the leash in a playful way to get others watching to start snickering. He scooped up the monster dog to scowl at it before pausing at his cheek getting licked. He groaned and paused again when Blue Ripple cuddled into his side next. Tangled Vine rubbed against his leg in true cat fashion. Mitsumi found herself dying with laughter at the whole thing.
"I can sit with King, Dad," Fumio said with a hard laugh. "I'll have Black Sperm, too! We'll be fine."
"Too many pets!" Saitama grounded out to get them all laughing. "Ugh! Fine. Pets can stay with me. Cold Snap, you stay behind me. But watch your mom. Okay?"
"Yes, Dad," Cold Snap giggled and pressed into his leg. "Um…can I sit on your shoulders? I might be able to see her better."
"Hmm. Okay. Don't mess with my head, though," Saitama warned and let him climb up carefully to settle on his shoulders.
"I can't do anything, anyways. I wanted to give you hair of ice, but nothing works," Cold Snap frowned. "Even if it was like a wig. It doesn't work."
"That would have been so cool!" Saitama blinked at the thought. "You're sure ice hair won't work?"
"Maybe if I try to coat over…" Cold Snap mused and set his hands on top of the bald hero's head. Something resembling a helmet of spiked ice appeared and seemed to stay. "Ah! Okay! I can make you an ice helmet that resembles hair!"
"You work on that later!" Saitama grinned and poked his side to get him giggling with delight. Mitsumi smiled warmly at her son and let Saitama guide her and the others in the destined group to the waiting platform. Metal Knight activated the room for it to sink down.
"I need to study the room intensely. Just keep your hands on me, love," Mitsumi murmured softly to show she was on alert.
"Your mood right now is a complete turn on," Saitama growled in her ear.
"After, dear. After," she said with a small smile.
"Count on it," he grunted and let her lean into him. Wind Crane stood tall behind them both to study the room intensely. Now Mitsumi watched the room in action to study where every trap moved, launched and slipped into various sections to be reset. While she did that, the seats were quickly getting filled up above.
"I'm very curious," Sneck chuckled.
"This is so exciting!" Mumen Rider grinned.
"Find a wife yet?" Metal Bat managed to ask him.
"What?! No!" Mumen Rider said with a hard blush.
"Leave the kid alone," Tanktop Master chuckled.
"I'm glad we have a partition here," Genos muttered while watching several lower heroes eyeing Kamiko. She was huddled next to his side while the medicine started to kick in to help her.
"Just ignore them," she chuckled with a wince and a soft sigh. "Damn. I did not miss having these!"
"We will bear it together for a few days. It will give you time to rest and recover from me," Genos nodded. She gave him a look with a raised brow.
"We are taking a bath when we get home," she said with a small smirk to get him lightly grinning at her in knowing.
"Sister, I'd rather bleed than get sick!" Tacki said from where she sat on Kamikaze's lap. "But I do get away with a lot more things…"
"Quiet," Kamikaze warned and chewed the stick. Tacki grinned and snuggled into him to watch below them with contentment.
"What are you doing?" Kianna asked King while he browsed a game site.
"Trying to find a good game to download for later. I think they made a sequel of the game I played last night. I just need to find it," King chuckled.
"Oh! This is going to be so delightful! I'm glad the prison let me out to see this. Thank you for meeting with me, Pete," Puri-Puri Prisoner smiled from where they sat with the other heroes.
"Sure! And, eh…thanks for guiding me on how to help that woman in the park. That dog really did run off with her purse! She had some trail mix and beef jerky in it, apparently," Pete chuckled. "I got a week renewed to be a hero."
"Wonderful! You know, after this, I do know there's a great movie being shown! Would you…like to watch it with me? We can get in free for being heroes," the large man said with a touch of hopeful delight.
"Huh. Sure," Pete nodded. When Puri-Puri Prisoner whispered to him softly, Pete found himself paling. "Um…we'll…see what happens after the movie. We'll talk about it."
"Splendid!" Puri-Puri Prisoner grinned and returned his gaze to the training room in the floor.
"Is the floor rising up yet?" Fubuki asked from where she sat with Inichi within the partitioned section with the others.
"Almost," Inichi nodded and placed an arm around her.
"I have a new script," Sweet Mask said from where he sat next to him. Inichi paused and glared at him sharply with his red eyes with black cat pupils. He pursed his lips at what he gleaned the story was mildly about.
"No," Inichi said calmly. Tajima coughed a bit with Fubuki and found herself snickering. "I'm here to enjoy myself. I'm not here to feel drained and disoriented from someone that cannot fathom what an actual sentence looks likes."
"You might like this one," Sweet Mask said.
"Did Miss Tajima write it?" Inichi asked.
"I did not," Tajima grinned.
"Thank you for telling me. Now, Sweet Mask, I will say this to you. No thank you. I'm here to watch Lady Mitsumi train," Inichi said.
"I'm sure that Fan Dancer would need to know your critique," Sweet Mask started before ducking from Inichi's slap. Zenchu died laughing with Garou from where they sat nearby. It was when the room started to raise up that everyone went quiet again with eager anticipation.
"Can they hear us from here?" Saitama asked on looking around.
"We can hear you. There are microphones and speakers all over. Even in the televisions," Metal Knight chuckled from where his robot was stationed for recording the event. "You can also hear us clearly if we speak in dedicated microphones. Of course, that's if we need to speak with you."
"Good," Saitama nodded.
"You know what to do, my daughter?" Wind Crane asked.
"I do, Wind Crane Clan Mother," Mitsumi nodded.
"Good. Let us show them how a true Wind Crane Clan assassin moves and is fully untouchable!" Wind Crane said with pride. Once the green light was given to show the room was ready, Saitama pressed a kiss to Mitsumi's mouth and squeezed her to ensure she had enough of his touch. Only then did he watch her move swiftly to the other side within seconds. She stepped on the starting tile to let the room sink back down. She ensured only the guiding fans where out and ready to help balance. The other fans stayed in her belt loop holders.
The lights dimmed lightly, much to Mitsumi's surprise. Cold Snap was ready to provide more lights with Bright Bolt if it was gestured for. The moment she stepped off the tile, she swiftly danced around a loosed bolt. Gasps of awe were heard all around as she danced and leapt around in the same manner as before. She arched, jumped and twirled around every trap and bolt that tried to touch her.
"This is amazing!" Fubuki gasped.
"It does look pretty," Tatsumaki said from Rendor's lap.
"I never knew that Lady Mitsumi could do this. If only she knew what she was trained to be!" Kamiko said while Genos studied the intense footwork done.
"If she knew what she was then…" Daiki whispered with a touch of intense fear mixed with shocked surprise. Himiko could only nod at that. Atsuko was also watching with them, and her face was dead white at how lethal her youngest sibling truly was.
"Okay. Now I know I want to learn how to do that!" Tacki said with fascination. "This is as awesome as her performances!"
"Wait. What was that?" Kamikaze blinked at the sight of a bolt suddenly veering off course. "That didn't happen in the trial run!"
"It's not my programming!" Metal Knight said from his hovering robot. From his base, he was furiously typing over various keys when Siren pointed at a screen. He zoomed in and saw a lower A class hero with a small smirk on his face under a plastic helmet that resembled a skull with rubber bumps all over it. A call was made to show a troublemaker was in the crowds.
"Mitsumi!" Saitama said when other bolts began to veer out of control. He set Cold Snap down in case she needed him, but he paused with complete awe at the sight of her. Mitsumi was in full assassin mode right now. She arched, danced and flitted out of each rogue dart's way. When five darts aimed at her all together, she did a perfect split, took out her fans and let the blades cut them to pieces. Then she turned and glared at the one causing the issue.
"Traitor!" she hissed and let all of her fans come free. The hero's jaw dropped that he was caught, and the others around him quickly scooted away. Bright Bolt activated his electrical magnetism to shield her completely from anything else in the room. Stable Rock was ready to mold the walls shut if any other stunts were tried.
"Mitsumi! I'm here!" Saitama shouted and ran out to help her. She gasped at his direct touch before turning to stare with anger at the one causing the problem. He was absolutely furious. "You. I see you. I'm slapping you the moment we get out of here."
"Take me to the finishing tile," Mitsumi said. He jumped over with her to land on it with her. As much as the training was ruined, Metal Knight had already activated an emergency override to let the room rise up and the walls collapse down into the floor for repairs.
"Got him, Dad," Cold Snap said. The man was now fully encased in ice.
"Can I eat him?" Blue Ripple seethed. Overgrown Rover was just barely kept calm after Mitsumi scooped it up to hold it.
"Absolute disgrace!" Wind Crane fumed. "I have never felt such outrage! My daughter agreed to show a secretive training rite and it was disturbed!"
"Oh, boy. I'll try to calm her down," Zenchu grimaced and shadow phased to her side to comfort and soothe her.
"Is it a Secret Skins?" Fumio asked from where he sat with worry.
"No. It's a hero that has some control over metal objects for magnetism. Strong enough to deter, but not enough to really do much else. Why would he do such a stupid thing?" the first board member frowned from where he sat with them. "Regardless, he will be detained as of now."
"But…well…how do we get him out?" the third board member asked.
"Tap on the ice four times to break it off," Cold Snap instructed. "I'd say to let Dad do it."
"Good," Saitama nodded. The iced-over hero was brought over by Blue Ripple and dropped in front of him. Mitsumi was clearly tense and ready to attack. Saitama kissed her temple and said, "You need to be upset so I can be pissed off."
"But he attacked me!" Mitsumi pouted.
"And that's why I will be the nasty, over-protective husband and slap him," Saitama nodded. Overgrown Rover huffed and shook its rump. That got Saitama to look at Mitsumi with a raised brow.
"Maybe he needs a ride in the elevator with us interrogating him," Mitsumi said with a small grin.
"I approve," Saitama said with a nod to get Cold Snap laughing hard.
"Good. We can take him up to the 30th floor where they detain unruly heroes," Sweet Mask said when he made his way over to join them.
"Oh. Sugar Face should join us, too. Maybe wear a gas mask," Saitama nodded. Sweet Mask went quiet while several heroes died laughing.
"Saitama! Did you really forget his name again?!" Mitsumi hissed in his ear. He gave her a look and squeezed her.
"Nope. I just like to call him that," Saitama shrugged. Now Inichi died laughing from where he sat. "Until I can slap him, I won't care what I call him."
"But…!" Sweet Mask started before scowling. Then he paled at Saitama's neutral glare of seriousness.
"I don't care that I said I wouldn't slap you. I do care that I still can't slap you. Ever since you hit me that day for no reason, I should have been able to slap you. Until that day happens, don't remind me of what your name is. Got it? If I get it wrong, then I get it wrong," Saitama said with a low, protective growl.
"Ah…" Sweet Mask paused at the sight of Saitama's pupils glowing like dull, red coals. "Right…"
"Glad we agree," Saitama suddenly said with a pleased nod. "Bring that idiot and tie him up in the elevator."
"I'll handle that," Tangled Vine chuckled and got scooped up by Mitsumi to get cuddled with Overgrown Rover. Sweet Mask was still grimacing over everything until Tajima walked over to rest her hands on his shoulders.
"I'm going to suggest something," she said softly.
"Yes?" he frowned at her.
"Let him slap you," she said.
"What?!" he gaped at her. He looked over at Inichi and realized he wasn't laughing at this. He's actually perplexed…
"Think about it. Once that's done, then he'll have no more hold on you. You did something wrong first. I know why no one would want to get slapped by him! I saw him punch! But once that's settled, then you'll be on even grounds with him again. Just think about it, please. For me," she said gently.
"I…ugh…well…" he frowned hard. "Maybe you're right. Just…not in front of…you know…?"
"I'm sure a secluded area can be found," she soothed and let him hug her tight. "You were there for me. I'm here for you. I'll even suffer in the elevator with you. If you want that?"
"No!" he said sharply to get her laughing. "I'll muscle through that. You meet me on the 30th floor. From a different elevator. I'll be leaving with that one the moment the doors open again."
"Of course," she giggled and walked off with him.
"Can we take the stairs?" Daiki asked the other board members to get them laughing hard. Saitama was already in a different elevator and grinning at the swearing he heard from the original elevator he arrived in. Good. We'll gas up this elevator and get some answers. I think Metal Knight can even stop the elevator. I'll have Inichi ask him. This will be fun!