Hello, my readers! Hope that school (or work) is going well for all of you, whether you're doing it from home or otherwise. So, because this is the start of final high school year, i will not write much these days, as i will concentrate on school more and make a studying plan so i will not go insane.

I will also tell you that this is the chapter that had the most modifications (i swear i worked on this chapter at least thrice).

Don't worry though, because chapters will be uploaded anyways, of course using the new schedule i explained in the previous chapter.

Now, anyway, onto the responses!

To Exodus12345:well, about Monica...Shinko did save her, but she's a kid (Shinko has no real experience on how to treat one) and he didn't know if she had any relatives, so he gave her to Iaian to keep her safe. As for the "too many guys"... Now that you mentioned it you're right, i 'll try to see what can i do. As for the Hulkaber i wanted to have one alien joining the Wastelanders and...i noticed a distinct lack of octopus-like monsters, so that is the reason.

Anyway, onward with the chapter!

Boros, the so called 'dominator of the universe', sat at his throne in an huge, empty hallway where countless huge columns stood tall.

For decades he searched for a worthy opponent, travelling across the universe, to no awail. But, thanks to a certain seer, Boros had a solid lead. He was now waiting for the biggest match of his life that would finally quench his boredom and give him a fight worth remembering.

Standing to what Geryuganshoop told him, either of those intruders could be the representative of this planet and, consequently, his ultimate opponent.

The gigantic door suddenly exploded and a young, fluffy haired boy landed on the ground.

Despite his harmless looks, Boros could sense no actual limit to his energy, if the huge aura atound him was anything to go by.

'This could be interesting' Boros thought gleefully.

X X X

Shinko was finally face to face with the one that started it all.

The chief of the aliens a tall and muscular individual with only one eye and pink, spiky hair.

He wore a golden armor a red, flowing cape.

"Welcome to my ship, you must be the representative of this planet" Boros said as he walked down the huge staircase.

"As it's customary i'm going to introduce myself, i am-" Boros was going to say, but Shinko interrupted him.

"I know who you are! I am Shinko, a professional hero who's going to put a stop to your senseless destruction!" Shinko roared.

"Then i'd like to see you try" Boros said simply and Shinko punched him.

The attack hit Boros between the chest and the stomach, launching him in a column behind him and making a rather big crater in it.

The smoke cleared and Boros was unarmed, but the armor exploded, revealing Boros' muscular body.

"That armor was created contain my power and could withstand any attack, but you've broken it with a single hit..." Boros said with a low voice, but the raised his head to reveal a gleeful smile "...Excellent!"

Boros's body created a powerful shockwave as his energy was being released, strengthening his body beyond its limits.

Shinko didn't care at all about that, his mind focused on how he was unharmed by his punch. And it wasn't like he attacked absent-mindedly!

In the meantime Boros finally finished his transformation and charged at Shinko, who in turn did the same.

But just as Boros threw a punch, Shinko tossed him in midair.

While Boros was stunned by the action Shinko jumped to get beside him and, with a full arc, slashed his foot at Boros' lower body.

The attack crushed Boros' thigh, successfully detaching it from his body and threw him downward, Shinko dropping to follow him.

Boros crashed through the floor, Shinko soon crashing through it as well.

For exactly three seconds all was quiet, but the floor began cracking and soon exploded.

From the debris Shinko and Boros came through with such power that they began going upwards, towards the roof.

Boros had ugly bruises all over his body, but punched all the same with his left arm.

Shinko did the same and his attack obliterated Boros' arm.

This did not deter the alien, however, as he continued to attack, fighting both Shinko and the growing aches.

Then they hit through the roof and, after many tremors they surfaced outside of the ship.

While still in the roof Shinko managed not only to obliterate Boros' right arm, but also to damage his body even further.

Boros landed first, balanced on his remaining leg, and fired a powerful blue beam from his chest-eye.

The scorching attack hit Shinko square in chest as he landed, but he soon dispelled it by flexing his chest.

As the steam generated by the beam went away the two opponents stood face to face:Boros lost both arms and a leg (not to mention his very damaged torso), while Shinko stood unharmed.

"It's over Boros, give up" Shinko said.

"Over? If that is what you think, then take a look at this!" Boros said said as his body began to convulse, his arms and leg regenerating along with any kind of damage.

'Regeneration? Really?' Shinko thought annoyed.

"Done! My body is as good as new, but i'm not done yet!" Boros said as he got into pose and energy radiated out even more fiercely.

"METEORIC BURST!" Boros said as his body became more muscular, his skin turning from dark blue to pure white with pink veins bulging on his body.

Shinko remained stoic, even if his gut was telling him that he had gotten way stronger.

Boros roared as he charged Shinko with his fist already flying and Shinko met his attack with one of his own.

Pressurized wind and plasma crashed and deflected each other as the two godly foes restarted their fight.

As the conflict drew on Shinko was getting annoyed. Not only Boros was taking his hits better than before, but Shinko could actually feel the opponent's hits now.

They hurt little though, Shinko could easily overpower them.

Boros picked up his opponent's annoyance and decided to turn it aganist Shinko.

"You are a formidable opponent, Shinko..." Boros said as dashed away from his opponent.

"Get back here!" Shinko said as he growled, making a dash to get him.

Boros crashed through a thick and wide tower, melting it instantly as Shinko followed him.

"...but the energy inside me..." Boros said as he jumped really high, continuing "...allows me to surpass the limits..."

Shinko jumped and went for an uppercut that Boros managed to easily dodge, given the fluffy boy's annoyance "blinding" him.

"...OF LIVING FLESH!" Biros shouted as he grabbed Shinko with both hands.

The latter's eyes widened as he realized that his opponent baited him, but it was too late.

Boros hit Shinko's abdominals with a knee attack, putting all of his might behind it.

Shinko vision got a bit blurry at the attack, which DID hurt a lot, and was propelled high into the sky and through the atmosphere, making a small crater in the moon.

Shinko's vision returned as he dusted himself off, not yet realizing that he wasn't on Earth anymore.

It took him two minutes to actually notice that detail and he jumped in a panic, his mouth opening to scream.

Then Shinko immediately calmed down as he noticed that he wasn't suffocating.

He looked down at his body:there were normal bruises all over it, while a kind-of-nasty purple one was forming on his abdominals.

Shinko was quite surprised at the damages Boros manage to inflict to him.

So he put himself into position and flexed, the bruises on his body becoming less noticeable. Then he looked at the Earth and thought of the battle thus far:Shinko had underestimated Boros and because of this that bastard got the upper hand.

But now Shinko was actually serious.

He squatted and propelled himself towards the Earth, cracking part of the moon's face in the process.

X X X

Boros was breathing heavily, a side effect of 'Meteoric Burst':this mode would put extreme stress on his body, like anaerobics, thus shortening his life span.

But to win this fight he needed this mode and it showed.

Now he had...

...definitely not won.

Shinko came crashing into the ship, making it tliting on a side and shooking it.

Boros turned just as Shinko emerged from the crater he made.

"Did you think you could win aganist me? Never!" Shinko said as he charged at Boros.

"Still here? You must be an enemy worth defeating!" Boros said as he charged at his opponent too.

However, before Boros could do anything, Shinko shouted "Storm Onslaught!"

With both of his arms, Shinko released a flurry of blows so fast that Boros could not even react.

After the attack stopped one second passed before Boros popped like a balloon, the punches wrecking the ship's surface.

But as Boros' eye was flying away, it glared at Shinko.

Immediately Boros' remains gathered and the dominator of the universe became whole again.

"Fine then! I'll have to use my final move! Watch as i'll obliterate all life on this hideous planet!" Boros shouted as he began building absurd amounts of energy, so much that a sphere of plasma formed around him.

Shinko drew a deep breath and put his body into position.

He too began building up his power as his muscles flexed and an upward shockwave was produced, looking like a small-sized hurricane.

Finally Boros finished to build up his energy.

"COLLAPSING STAR ROARING CANNON!" he shouted the plasma ball shrunk and a gigantic yellow beam was fired from his chest eye.

"Here goes nothing. Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!" Shinko shouted as he unleashed a flurry of punches.

The fluid, yet mountain-obliterating movements pierced the beam and made impact against Boros.

So the cannon was splitted in half as it melted the ship's exterior and deleted the clouds on its path, its effect clearly visible from space.

X X X

Shinko drew another deep breath to relax his body and wiped his forehead with a hand.

'That was quite the effort' Shinko mentally added.

He then saw Boros' carcass:its arms were half gone, while the legs and his eye were totally gone.

"In the end i was a fool, that prophecy...was total garbage" Boros said as Shinko got close.

"Are you still alive?" Shinko said incredulously, just how tough was he?

"Not for long, but you...i wasn't that much of a challenge to you...you didn't even take me seriously, did you?" Biros said slowly.

Shinko was silent, he had a point after all...

"What are you even saying? Of course i did, that was the toughest battle i had ever fought!" Shinko shouted without wanting to, trying to bluff.

But Boros was not dumb "You aren't even that tired though...just some some beads of sweat on your forehead, no groan at all...and a deep breath to calm your body" he said, his face unreadable.

Shinko looked behind, avoiding an eye that wasn't even there anymore.

"Whatever, i'm going..." Shinko said, his mind urging him to get away.

"Farewell...Shinko" Boros said with a wheeze.

The barely-living corpse was staring into the sky and soon the one called 'Dominator of the universe' drew his last breath...

As Shinko was walking to the edge of the ship, Sautama appeared.

He was searching the leader of the aliens, but flames and shockwaves kicked in and he got lost.

Then he had the idea of jumping upwards, thus getting where he is now.

"Oh hey Shinko, i see you're a bit rugged up" Saitama said said as he eyed Shinko's injuries.

"Don't worry, it's nothing" Shinko said half-heartedly.

"Doesn't look like nothing, but, since the aliens' leader is no more, i guess it's fine" Saitama said with a bit concerned tone.

"Ok then, i'm going home" Shinko said with a weak smile.

"Ok then" Saitama said, but then called Shinko back "And if you need someone to talk to, i'm here"

Shinko was a bit surprised, but managed to give a thumbs up before jumping to a nearby building.

As Shinko was jumping from building to building, his humor was down.

He had underestimated a deadly and cunning foe that could have caused unamaginable destruction.

It would have been more logical to use an extremely powerful attack and kill Boros before he could power up.

But he hadn't done that.

This wasn't the first time either, since the very same thing happened with Carnage Kabuto as well.

Even when he went serious, with the stakes never being higher, Shinko was only annoyed.

Just as he thought that, he found himself trembling now, not because of the fact that he was shirtless, but because of another realization...

...Were his emotions slowly numbing?

He trembled even more, since losing his emotions he would lose a lot more:his friends, his family...and Mizuki.

His heart warming up at her sight, the relaxation at the sound of her laughter and his skin pickling in pleasure at her touch...

He shook his head to cancel these thoughts, but with no avail.

And then he tripped on something and fell in a crater.

Looking up he realized that he arrived at his house, but he was not ready for that.

Instead he went to the park in order to find peace.

He sat on a bench as the light of the evening sun bathed him.

The feeling of the sun brought some peace to Shinko, just a little though and definitely not enough to quench his inner turmoil.

As he closed his eyes, a familiar voice called him from the distance.

Shinko opened his eyes to find himself in front of Mizuki, currently in her hero outfit, who looked concerned.

"Shinko..." Mizuki said, eyeing his injuries with some worry.

Shinko sighed and motioned her to sit beside him.

As Mizuki sat beside him, Shinko told her about everything:from his encounter with Boros, to their fight, ending with his final speech and his thoughts (of course he left out the part about her).

Mizuki looked at Shinko in the eyes so he wouldn't lower his head, what she saw was panic and...fear.

She sighed and started slowly "I didn't know you felt that way, but don't worry. As long as you have friends by your side and you're honest with them, you will not lose your emotions. And i especially won't let you suffer like this" She finished, squeezing his left shoulder lightly.

As she gazed in his eyes, she almost feared that...he wouldn't care about her feelings towards him anymore, but the pain in his eyes spoke clearly.

He didn't want to lose her.

Even though they were not much, these words meant a lot to him, so he hugged her.

This action drew a surprised yelp from her and Shinko broke the hug instantly.

"S-sorry, i was...overwhelmed" Shinko apologized.

"Don't be. Actually, with that action, you just proved yourself that you'll never lose your emotions. You're too strong to let your power take that away from you" Mizuki proudly said as she hugged Shinko, who hugged her in turn.

For some time, all was still, but then they broke away as they both blushed lightly.

Shinko decided to move to another topic "So...what have you been up to lately? And why are you here? And what's with the iron weights around your arms and legs?" he asked all at once.

Truthfully, he did not notice the weights before because of his state of mind, but now they (kind of) confused him.

Those were a lot of question all in one for Mizuki, but she found out how to answer to all three at once.

"You see, ever since you showed me your strength and climbed in rank so fast, i wanted to become even stronger too, so i asked Darkshine to help he create a training regimen. That's how i got these weights, all of them around 35 kilos" she started with her explanation, but Shinko interrupted her "Huh, i didn't know you felt that way..." he said sadly.

"Don't even try to apologize. To get that strong you definitely went through hell and back, so your efforts paid off" She said and Shinko shut up, letting her continue.

"I know you want to reach A class and then S class and i don't want you to wait for me, so i'm going to train beyond my limits and we will reach the top, together" Mizuki finally finished.

Shinko remained silent, but then a proud smile appeared on hus face.

"Fine then..." Shinko said as he got up.

"...we're going to reach S class together!" Shinko shouted happily as he pumped a fist in the air, causing a massive surge of pressurized air, accentuated by his hardened muscles.

Mizuki smiled softly at the whole scene, happy to have lifted Shinko's spirit and marveled at the fact that he could still look adorable.

But then five heat blasts were fired towards Shinko, the latter simply swatting them away with simple flicks of his hand.

The attacker walked out of an alley, it looked like a car sized penguin in a fiery mech-suit.

It also seemed that three monsters were coming towards Mizuki.

So the two went in a back-to-back position.

"I noticed that the monster population in the city is steadily rising" Mizuki noted seriously.

"Clearly my reputation precedes me" Shinko said dryly.

"Oh, don't be like that! This situation makes for good training!" Mizuki confidently said as she went in a fighting position.

At the same time Shinko and Mizuki charged at their respective opponents.

Shinko was now much more at ease.

X X X

After defeating the monsters and bidding farewell to Mizuki, Shinko was returning at home. It was also dinner time, if the darkened sky was anything to go by.

As Shinko opened the door he found all the Wastelanders around the house:Ariol was helping Monoculor with the cooking, Nark and Malware were surfing through the internet (Shinko shuddered a little), Gobold a Beeline were counting the money of their recent heist (Shinko remembered how she got closer to Gobold as the days passed), while Gaia was talking with Hulkaber.

"Oh Shinko! I see you made it! Tell me, how did it go?" Hulkaber said as he floated towards him.

"Boros is no more" he said seriously.

Hulkaber's eye sockets widened and the news and exultated happily, while also taking his hand with two of his tentacles.

"Ah, Shinko! I really gotta thank you for strengthening our numbers!" Monoculor said with a laugh.

"That battle must have been something to behold, especially with those injuries" Ariol said from behind him.

He was the first one to have noted the bruises, who were now hardly visible on Shinko's flexed muscles.

Gaia noticed them the instant she lifted her head from a book.

She hurried to his side, touching the bruise on his stomach and threw him a barrage of questions "How did you get these injuries!? Who did you fight!? Are you okay? Can i heal you, Shinko?"

Among the Wastelanders, despite Gaia always asking permission before doing this, it was an unspoken rule that nobody could deny her healing. So Shinko gave her the signal that she could heal him by sitting the floor. She hurried on his legs and placed her fluffy hands on Shinko's abdominals.

As four additional body parts revealed themselves in the form of fluffy-looking, knife-shaped receptors (two on her head and two on each cheek), green light flooded through Shinko's body, relaxing his muscles and healing the damages.

"Anyway, dinner's ready, folks!" Monoculor said and everyone, including their new member, moved to feast.

X X X

Mizuki was out of Z city, her body a bit worn from this training and bruised by another monster attack.

But she could keep on.

After all, she started wearing these weights during training ever since her intrusion in the battle between Shinko and Blizzard.

Even if the road of the strong was long and hard, she knew Shinko walked it and succeeded, so she wouldn't give up either.

Mizuki gazed at the full moon to mark that as a promise to keep with all of her will.

And that is the chapter, folks! With this chapter, i can now say that the first part of the story is completed! Next will be the second part, the Monster Association arc, which is my most favourite arc in the OPM manga.

Anyway, see you next time!