Hello, my readers! Before everything, i want to thank you for the support you've given me thus far. I really appreciate that you like this story! Anyway, the day before i was going to create a document that should've contained this chapter, but instead i was modifying the one covering the deep sea arc! Luckily, i acknowledged my error early enough.
Still, aside me being a distracted dummy, here are the responses!
To Exodus12345:yeah, at least Saitama will not have to deal with that hassle but, as we all know, life will always find a way to screw with people. Also, Shinko will get the credit for destroying the debris, however we have to count in Metal Kinght as well (i wrote that he helped too), so his rise will be "hindered" (not by much though).
To Jackejsh:i appreciate that you like the story, but comment about my OC hit close to home. Not that i'm offended by that, by all means! But i really liked my OC a lot...well,i guess this kind of view was to be expected anyway.
To Jackejsh (again):Thank you so much for this detailed review! -excuse me, but i don't exactly know what "Character dev" means. Not only english is not my primary language, but i turn into a braindead idiot when abbreviations are in place -ah! Well, this IS my first story, so i guess i have a ways to go before becoming actually good (still, i'll try to get a little slower) -i try my best to make sure the grammar is at least decent (even though there are some recurring errors), but i also brought an actual english book, so it "should" improve -if count out the antlion chapter and this one, then a bit more right, but this is going to slightly change in the next arcs -the last bit is interesting:sure the ones around him (Saitama, Genos, Bang, Mizuki and the Wastelanders) know of his strength, however the public doesn't or has a vague idea (for them Shinko is just a high ranking B class). Also, i'm going to add that, initially, Mizuki would find out Shinko's strength way later, but that direction simply didn't make any sense, so...here we are.
Anyway, i think we can now start with this chapter.
Two days passed since the meteor was destroyed by Saitama and Shinko.
While the former was out buying groceries, the latter was occupied on something else.
Shinko sat on the couch with a small notebook, scribbling notes, frowning and then canceling them. Ariol, who wanted to talk with Shinko about their training, was getting impatient and curious about the fluffy boy's activity.
So Ariol went behind him and he saw various words, the ones that caught his attention being 'Air Slash' and 'Wind Cannon'. Already knowing what Shinko was doing, Ariol sighed with annoyance.
"So now you're giving names to your moves too, like a silly cartoon hero?" Ariol revealed his presence by mocking Shinko.
"Look, i HAVE to do this!" Shinko replied annoyed, already knowing Ariol was behind him "Since i moved from rank 69 to rank 6, i need to make an image:all A class heroes have special moves -even C and B classes!- so of course i need some of my own!"
Ariol rolled his eyes and went beside him to take a better look, he was just interested (and definitely did NOT make him remember how he got a beating, two years ago, because he annoyed a demon level to death by telling him his special moves).
Ariol cringed at the memory and shook his head, returing his attention to the notebook:his normal moves were 'Air Slash', 'Wind Cannon' and 'Whirlwind Sweep'.
"'Air Slash' is supposed to be an attack i do with my arms, while 'Wind Cannon' is simply a punch, and 'Whirlwind Sweep' is a circular motion with my legs to sweep all enemies around!" Shinko explained excitedly, while Ariol sighed.
"You sound like me when i was 2 years old" Ariol muttered, but Shinko heared it and got curious about something.
"Wait, i always wanted to ask...how old are you exactly?" Shinko asked tentatively.
"I suppose that's as good as any time to explain it. My sister and i's ages are different from humans:every human year is 4 years for us, i am technically 16 years old by human standards, while my sister is 8" Ariol explained.
"So you're four years old?! And your sister's 2? That's something..." Shinko muttered amazed. Ariol scoffed "What? Did you give me more years in age simply because my voice's deeper that yours?"
"Well...yes" Shinko admitted and Ariol returned his attention to the notebook, noticing something else.
"What's this?" Ariol asked Shinko as he pointed at 'Hurricane Hammer'
"That's just a cool name i gave to a normal hammer arm" Shinko replied cheerfully.
"Rename it 'Katrina Hammer'" Ariol said suddenly with a steely tone.
"What?! No-" Shinko was going to say, bit was interrupted by Ariol's death stare.
"Ok..." Shinko conceded annoyed, writing 'Katrina Hammer' over 'Hurricane Hammer'
Monoculor and Gaia simply chuckled at the whole ordeal, while Gelgo was vomiting in the sink because he tried a beer (Beetle-Roach's idea).
X X X
Meanwhile, outside of Shinko's (and Saitama's) residence, three humans were advancing with clear purpose in their minds.
"Is this the place?" a large man in a tuxedo asked the rather...busty woman beside him.
"Yes, apparently he lives here" she said calmly, but then her voice was filled with confidence "Let's give our soon-to-be new member a welcome"
"Exactly, miss blizzard!" a slender man by her other side, dressed in a tuxedo as well, exclaimed while pumping a fist in the air "With that new member in our group, we'll truly become unstoppable!"
"FOR THE BLIZZARD GROUP!" the two men shouted, while their boss merely sighed at their antics.
X X X
"And...done!" Shinko said as he got up from the couch:he had finally come up with decent names for his melee moves and ranged moves. Now he just had to memorize them and this 'issue' will be no more.
Ariol sighed from behind him as Gaia moved to the sink, washing the dishes she and Monoculor used to eat a quick snack (of course, she washed the vomit beforehand and bonked Beetle-Roach on the head).
"Hey Gaia! Don't clean those yet, i think the rest of the gang's gonna come here any moment now!" Monoculor said as he approached her.
But then the door rang.
"Who might be now?" Shinko asked aloud as he went to open the door.
Ariol remained in the living room, while Gaia and Monoculor went in his bedroom. They also momentarily blocked the backdoor, so that the Wastelanders wouldn't enter as other humans were around.
"Oh, hello there!" Shinko said as he eyed the three people in front of him:a rather large man on the right, a more slender man on the left and between them, a gorgeous woman with a...big bust.
'They're all well-dressed, i wonder if they're from the Hero Association...' Shinko thought, but snapped back to reality as the woman spoke.
"Good morning! I am Fubuki, aldo known as 'Blizzard of hell' and the ones beside me are Eyelashes and Mountain Ape. Together, we are three strongest B class heroes and we ask you to join the Blizzard group" Fubuki said. Shinko wanted to say something, but Fubuki interrupted him "Before you say anything, let me tell you about the perks of being part of this group:not only you won't have to worry about your rank anymore, but you'll have an increased pay AND a better medical insurance in case you get severely injured! Of course, you'll also have to work along the group, so no charging into battle alone" she then finished and waited for a response.
Shinko thought about the pros and cons for some time:the increased pay sounded good, the medical insurance was basically useless and he never liked working in groups. There was also the fact that Shinko wanted to go into A class, something that wouldn't be a choice anymore if he joined this group.
Shinko took a deep breath and, having made up his mind, he confidently said "Well, thanks for the offer, but i'll pass:i don't exactly work well in large groups and i also want to move to A class" Shinko said with an apologetic smile.
He then went to close the door, but Mountain Ape blocked it with a hand.
"You don't really get it, do you?" said Fubuki with a more threatening tone and her voice much colder than before "Up to this point for you it will be impossible to rise in rank. Other heroes, like us, will try to stop you in order to protect their rank, understand? We are doing a favour to you, honestly. Many other heroes have dropped out because the competition in A class was too fierce"
Shinko's gaze hardened a little bit "Don't worry about that. With my strength, i'll be able to handle myself" he said, looking at Fubuki in the eyes, the latter flinching for a second, before returning calm "Besides, do you reserve this treatment to other heroes as well, threatening and the like?"
Fubuki gaze then hardened as well "If that's your decision, then there's nothing else to say" she said simply, as Mountain Ape and Eyelashes closed in ominously. Shinko remained unfazed and punched the both of them in the stomach, making them soar into a small clearing in front of the house.
Fubuki was surprised for about two seconds and then jumped to the right. Immediately after that she, along with the surroundings, glowed a bright green.
Shinko looked around confused, before pebbles and dust gathered in front of him and slammed into him with a vicious roar, just like a blizzard, damaging the railing and the wall in the process.
Fubuki floated as her eyes glowed with malicious intent "That is your punishment. My telekinesis, although not as strong as my sister's, will tear your muscles and pulverize your-"
She was interrupted as the cloud of dust seemingly parted by itself, revealing an angered Shinko, whose muscles looked undamaged, save for the pulverized shirt "Spare the dramatics, this isn't how a hero acts and i'm already sick of you!"
Fubuki then floated down the street and Shinko followed her.
But it was a trap, as Fubuki raised the sides of the street and made them slam into Shinko, but the fluffy boy destroyed them by moving his arms. The esper was even more enraged and prepared herself for a devastating attack.
Shinko then was worried (even if he didn't show it):he said that he was sick of her, but Shinko was also trying to find a way to not injure her too much.
However, every plan he might have thought up were canceled by a scream coming from behind him.
He recognized that voice the instant he heard it.
X X X
Mizuki was in her hero attire, currently performing hero duty.
But if she wanted to be truthful with herself, she just wanted to train herself and raise her hero rank.
For some reason, it didn't sit well with her that she was rank 76 and Shinko was rank 6. She wanted to become stronger, so she could be at Shinko's side.
Suddenly she felt weird saying that, but she shrugged off the feeling.
Then, in the distance, she heard an explosion, and naturally she wanted to check it out, being in 'hero duty' and all.
When she came she found two individuals she knew very well:Shinko, whose back she was facing, and Fubuki, leader of the Blizzard group.
'Oh no, Shinko's her target for rookie crushing today!' she thought worriedly.
And she screamed in surprise as Fubuki was launching a devastating blizzard of pain in their direction.
Then Shinko, as if he had heard her, hardened all of his muscles and went into action.
"Pressurized Cloud Wall!" Shinko shouted as he thrusted the palm of his hand foward, creating a shockwave which completely annihilated Fubuki's attack.
Other shockwaves also erupted from Shinko's arms, feet and back as he was not really controlling which bodypart did what. These shockwaves laid waste to the street around Shinko and threw Mizuki on the ground, landing on her butt.
She was not hurt though.
Shinko, after taking a deep breath, looked around and became aware of the damage he caused, including Mizuki, who was now getting on her feet.
'Oh no i messed up!' Shinko thought and when he saw in front of him, things got worse.
X X X
"Mizuki, do you think she's fine?" Shinko asked her companion, who was beside him.
"She's just unconscious, she can survive getting thrown through a wall" Mizuki said, trying to calm herself and thinking about a solution.
Basically Shinko's attack threw Fubuki through the wall of a building and now she laid on a pile of rubble. Aside from her bruised body and some blood on her forehead, her dress was also torn in several places.
"Also, i'm sorry for throwing you on the ground like that" Shinko apologized for the third time.
"Of course you are" Mizuki said to reassure him, while also hoping he wouldn't apologize for a fourth time.
"Do not worry, i'm going to bring them to the hospital" a new voice said from beside them.
Shinko turned around unfazed, while surprise was written on Mizuki's face.
Beside them was Genos, currently holding Mountain Ape and Eyelashes, who were also unconscious.
"G-genos, why are you here?!" Mizuki asked in disbelief as she didn't even hear him coming. Shinko was way less surprised since the cyborg exited the house exactly five minutes ago to find out the source of the ruckus.
"I was cleaning Sensei's home, but the fighting outside attracted my attention" Genos said matter-of-factly.
"But...where's your Sensei now?" Shinko asked him:Saitama would no doubt be upset about all this dust and the crack around here.
So where was he?
X X X
"Goddammit" Saitama muttered as he looked at all the goods.
He would have arrived at the mall in time if it wasn't for some monsters.
Now he had lost all of today's sales!
"GODDAMMIT!" Saitama screamed at the heavens and whatever other entity was responsible for his bad luck.
X X X
"Let's go to my home, you must be pretty exhausted" Shinko said as he looked at Mizuki.
She was in great shape, but it was evident that she got into a few fights, if the bruises on her abdominals and legs were anything to go by.
Mizuki, realizing she WAS actually a bit tired from continuos fighting, accepted his friend's request.
"But only for a mid hour, i'm on hero duty, you know?" Mizuki said and Shinko nodded.
Unfortunately Shinko forgot of his other guests (the ones who were already there and the ones who had yet to come).
So when Mizuki saw an entire squad on mosters eating at Shinko's table, her surprise and hostility were justified.
Ariol was also pissed off so, in order to not have his friends kill each other, Shinko decided to step in.
X X X
"And that's how we got here" Shinko said as he finished explaining everything to Mizuki.
The latter knew what to say then.
"Shinko, this is a bad situation:imagine if someone comes to know of this!" Mizuki said with a panicked tone, imagining her friend in even bigger trouble than he would usually get into.
"Don't worry! Nobody knows of this, besides here in the ghost town they can't hurt anybody" Shinko reassured Mizuki.
The latter was no less reassured, but decided to let it slide:Shinko's argument made some sense and the monsters didn't even attack her on sight (except the tall one, but he seemed to be shielding the smaller green one).
The second point was further proved by the hospitality of the small cyclop, who gave her a sandwich, while Shinko passed her a glass of water.
"Well, Fluffy Boy, it seems you are quite the gentlemen" the hexagonal monster said and Shinko's gaze hardened.
"Stop it Malware. Why do you even call me like that?" he asked annoyed.
"Well take a look at this then" the newly identified Malware said as he handed Shinko the computer, which was currently showing the hero registry.
As he read the words in his section, Shinko's jaw hit the floor, along with the rest of the body, as he read his hero name.
Fluffy Boy.
Mizuki placed a hand on his shoulder, in order to cheer him up, and found herself prodding his skin, feeling its softness despite knowing its toughness.
Shinko calmed down and seemed to enjoy it, but then Mizuki had to stop, embarrassed by the looks the others were giving her.
After eating (while savoring the monster's cooking) and bidding farewell to Shinko, she left.
X X X
Mizuki was on the road to leave the ghost town, still thinking about that revelation.
Was it really a good thing?
What if Shinko was being tricked?
These possibilities swirled in her mind, but a voice called from behind her, snapping her back to reality.
"Wait!" the voice said.
Mizuki turned around and found herself facing Monoculor, who was panting heavily.
"What do you want?" Mizuki asked with a hard tone, trying to answer one of those questions in her mind.
"Just to give you a warning" he said as he recollected himself.
Mizuki almost jumped 'Is he going to reveal whatever plot he has in mind?!' she thought as her muscles readied themselves.
"Calm down, if you think we are going to do something to Shinko, or making him do something illegal, then you got the wrong idea" Monoculor explained calmly while throwing his hands up "We just want to survive. Nothing more, but nothing less"
Mizuki whole body relazed by a little, but her eyes were still panicked.
Monoculor, feeling that he got her attention, further explained the situation "This whole city, you see? It's a death trap, not just to humans, but monsters as well. There is something dangerous in this city, but i can assure you it's not that silly 'Monster of Ghost town'. I can't explain it very well, my group doesn't have enough data, but if left unchecked this 'threat' will definitely cause trouble"
Mizuki raised an eyebrow at this 'threat', finding the monster's explaining vague, but after hearing about some of the theories the A class heroes made about this place, it started to eerily make sense.
"But why are you telling me this?" Mizuki asked to Monoculor.
"Because of two reasons:you are Shinko's friend, so we can actually talk without killing each other. The other one is your connection with the S class Superalloy Darkshine, who in turn can notify the higher-ups of this situation" Monoculor said.
Mizuki paused, thinking hard about this. If this threat was real and this serious, then the bordering cities might be in trouble.
It might be even worse than the antlion invasion.
So she decided to trust him, also because he was Shinko's friend and seemed sincere.
"Fine, i'll think about it" Mizuki finally said.
"Ok then, when we get to know more about this, Malware will send an email to your computer. Until then, good luck" Monoculor said as he got away.
Mizuki inspired to calm herself and sprinted to the borders of the ghost town.
I don't know if this chapter officially made Mizuki OOC, but let me say one thing:if she, along with the rest of the heroes, believed in Gyoro Gyoro, then she can believe Monoculor and the others's acts of hospitality just as easily.
Anyway, see you all next Wednesday!