Good morning, my readers! It's been a while from that last chapter, hasn't it?
You already know my situation with studying and all of that, so I won't bother you any longer and just get on with the chapter...
Early morning had turned into mid afternoon as Nagasaki stood in his nuclear bunker, looking at the multiple screens which cast a greenish light on his neutral expression.
"Yes, fully switch from fighter jets to heavy bombers, most of the noteworthy targets on the surface are slow-moving, however multiple bombs will be needed to permanently kill these Antlion Brutes" Nagasaki spoke to an intercom and then put it down, his expression noticeably souring as he thought 'Those S class heroes, what are they doing down there for so many powerful monsters to slip through? It's a miracle that the heroes on the surface were unaffected by the multiple air raids coupled with artillery barrages, they really ARE something else entirely...'
'...and not just the heroes' Nagasaki turned to two monitors in particular, the first one displaying the strongest member of Darkshine's fan club fighting an injured Antlion Brute (if the flames on its back are anything to go by) and not getting torn apart, while the second one displayed an aerial view of a makeshift stronghold made up by interconnected skyscrapers currently sieged by Tank Toppers and other vigilantes.
'Who would have thought that there could be humans who are on par and even capable of surpassing heroes! I have to get them in the Hero Association as soon as possible...after a little change in leadership. I can't have dissidents ruining the waters for me, not in the current state of affairs' Nagasaki thought as he looked away from the monitors and looked at a small rectangular device. It was a communicator given to him by none other than Metal Knight.
'Now, let's see if the Human Light project will bear fruit to success. We planned for this ever since the Dark Matter Thieves made planetfall with their blasted ship' Nagasaki thought venomously as the memories of that day resurfaced in his mind. The decision to sell the area where A City once stood was a highly debated one between the president and his aides, but Metal Knight's- no, Bofoi's suggestions made Nagasaki ultimately go through with the plan. The president could say that it was a resounding success.
That alien ship unintentionally brought along the materials needed to build a new HQ for the Hero Association, but it also brought along a wealth of technological knowledge the likes of which neither Nagasaki nor Bofoi had ever seen before. It allowed them build many mechs and weaponry to combat future threats, no matter where would they appear...
...However the existence of the Monster Association blindsided both of them, in a surprising turn of events, but now those fools (and whatever malignant organization was hidden around the world) will learn firsthand the limitless potential of humanity.
The communicator at his side, silent for the entirety of the Raid, beeped as the following message appeared on its screen.
HEROIC SPEAR IS NOW READY FOR ITS MAIDEN VOYAGE.
'About time' Nagasaki thought as he looked at the message with fondness, but a blaring sound coming from the monitors and accompanied by a crimson red blinking light made his face go pale with a determined look.
"WARNING, TWO DRAGON LEVEL MONSTERS HAVE EXITED THE ENEMY HQ" the dreadful message blared on all of the screens.
'So whatever has created that damn hole in the ground must have shown itself...along with another escapee, perhaps? No matter, NOW the battle against the Monster Association truly begins' Nagasaki thought with a predatorial expression as he dialed a confirmation on the communicator.
X X X
In a small damp cave connected to the Monster Association's HQ by small cracks, two bodies of water stood.
The first one was completely normal, with a diameter of 40cm, some pebbles at its bottom due to a distant shockwave and whose water was completely still, but an interesting fact about it was that it connected directly to the ocean north of Z City, though many winding tunnels with many dead ends.
The second one was everything but normal, a small blob with two floating dead-looking eyes yet seemingly possessing intelligence akin to that of humans...despite now even having a brain.
Evil Natural Water was considered mindless by all, including its maker, but the truth is different. The monster could feel simple emotions and recall memories along with information, to use them to solve problems and entertain itself. But the most important thing was that it had desires.
A desire of seeing new places, to be free to roam wherever it pleased and, of course, to grow larger.
Right now Evil Natural Water was staring down at the body of water, still as if the monster was frozen in time, in fact the monster was feeling a sensation it was very much accustomed to.
Confusion.
Everything since the earliest moments the monster could recall through its memory with various degrees of clarity, confusion was its most preeminent state of being...aside from annoyance at the bloodlust of everything around it. Confusion of the places it found itself in, confusion at the identity of the creatures it was accustomed to call "colleagues", confusion at the inner dynamics of groups and most of all confusion about its place in the wider world (which it knew next to nothing of).
But as it stared at the unassuming body of water, Evil Natural Water felt something different from all other emotions and feelings it had up until now.
Clarity, and a feeling of purpose. Not the fickle one Gyoro Gyoro gave it when testing its abilities and not the one it felt when acquiring information about something, only for it to become insufficient immediately after as more situations presented themselves.
No, this was something much more solid than those examples, something that felt...more real to it, somehow, Evil Natural Water was unable to put this feeling into a comprehensive thought and it was physically unable to put it into words.
Evil Natural Water thought back to the moment that strange boy destroyed its body, almost coming close to kill it. The memory of that event awakened something within the monster, a burning feeling usually absent in the normally docile (or unresponsive, depending on how one looks at it) Evil Natural Water.
Revenge.
Its body began bubbling as the feeling grew in intensity and, with no more hesitation, the Cadre jumped into the body of water as it immediately began to feel its volume grow in intensity. Evil Natural Water started to traverse the winding underwater tunnels while familiarizing with its newly-found bulk, but its mind was concentrated on one thing only.
Teach that impudent boy his place when compared with the reborn Evil Natural Water.
X X X
Meanwhile, back on the surface, a fiery battle was taking place on a wide cracked street.
Takanasha grunted as her enlarged muscles struggled to absorb a punch to the gut, but she managed to not back down as she answered with a straight punch directed at the augmented Antlion Brute's already cracked head.
The reanimated creature's dizziness was made slightly worse as a handful of black tar came out of the partially broken head, but the creature gave no signs of dying and that unnatural substance was already in the process of healing the wound...although its efforts were considerably slowed down by its many cracked body parts, along with the fact its body was on fire due to incendiary payloads dropped on it beforehand.
Takanasha also had many nasty bruises around her body and was terrified that there was an opponent able to take on her augmented muscles without too much difficulty, but her resolve was strengthened not only by her determination of NOT dying, but also by her desire to impress Darkshine and Mizuki.
With a roar, Takanasha and the Antlion Brute charged each other once more, but the battle was going to the former's favor as the latter's reaction time was slowing down. The colossal bodybuilder started with a strong tackle to the monster's chest, cracking it further, and took advantage of her opponent's dizziness with a devastating two-handed flurry of punches, her enlarged fists further shattering its ribcage and skull, but the most important damage to the monster was the loss of its two limbs, torn apart by Takanasha's onslaught.
The bodybuilder roared as she finished with two straight punches in quick succession, in which she managed to put all of her back behind. The first reduced its ribcage in a gory mess as black tar and mutated organs erupted from the wound, while the second one almost shattered its skull in half, still holding on thanks to the strenuous efforts of that substance.
The Antlion Brute was pushed back, but despite its grievous injuries it still somehow held on to life. '...What the hell am I fighting right now?' Takanasha thought with utter disbelief and disgust at the creature's revolting state, but a movement from above made her smile. Mizuki rocketed through the sky and onto the monster's head as she used her leg as a bludgeoning weapon, the sudden devastating hit able to fully split the head in half, finally killing the augmented monster.
Mizuki launcher herself in the air, backflipping to her friend's side as her landing cracked the asphalt beneath her and made her thighs bulge. Despite the swelling of her powerful muscles, the weights held on very well.
Takanasha didn't know what was more incredulous, the physical prowess of this B class hero that offered to train her or the endurance of her training equipment. She chose both and was snapped out of her thought as her muscles deflated, lessening the severity of her wound but bringing her a wave of nausea.
Mizuki looked up to her in slight concern, but Takanasha held her hand up and said "Don't worry, I can still walk"
The heroine studied her with a serious gaze for a few seconds then, seemingly satisfied with her companion's condition, said "Alright, but I'll handle any monster we may come across" and after Takanasha nodded the two made their way back to the other heroes.
It only took them a few minutes to get to their hastily-made surface hero team, some studying a map of the Ghost Town to look for other holes to seal while others just looked around, either trying to find any monster to kill or just having nothing better to do. As the two women arrived, a scrawny-looking hero in a white robe motioned them to get closer. Mizuki also noted that some heroes were giving her unofficial trainee the stink eye.
'Probably because she would get in their way of rising in rank...' she thought in frustration, but decided not to act upon it. There were more important matters to take care of now, and if they didn't try anything then she wouldn't either. But Mizuki couldn't entirely blame them for seeing the Raid as a chance to further their individual careers.
After all, she did too.
"As you can see, most of the holes connecting the Monster Association's HQ to the surface have been sealed" the A class hero said with enthusiasm, then trailed off as he said "Though we are being told to stand by in case new information about that strange hole is found..."
Mizuki and Takanasha got serious at that, with the latter dealing with dread swelling inside of her. After the S class heroes went underground and they started closing holes and killing escaping monsters, a powerful earthquake shook not only the Ghost Town but the entirety of Z City as well. Panic seeped in the military forces stationed around the area, but most of all in the heroes as both scrambled to find the cause of it.
What they found was terrifying, a large hole glowing white as it radiated heat and around it scorched bubbling earth extending dozens of meters from the hole, along with the building in front of it practically melting due to the extreme heat.
After the ground forces couldn't find anything, and with the monsters still on the surface running rampant, the heroes decided to let the military handle the search of whatever caused it and focus on the current threats.
"Mizuki, you will remain with us to close the remaining holes. As for you, your bulk is requested by the southern team in breaking fortifications set up by the monsters there" Green continued and upon hearing that Takanasha stood up and said "Alright, no monster or building can hold a candle to my bulk!" as she grabbed a map handed to her by the A class hero and began jogging to her destination.
As the bodybuilder was gone, Mizuki heard one of the heroes on lookout duty shout an alarm. Apparently a lone monster was nearby and seemed to be approaching them.
Mizuki went to see who this monster was, eager for a memorable fight, but as soon as the heroine laid eyes on the supposed lone monster she froze in fear. Bipedal, tall and cat-like in appearance, Mizuki knew who this monster was.
Dragon level threat monster and Monster Association Cadre, Nyan.
The sniper of the team confidently aimed his weapon at the lone monster, but Mizuki already knew what would happen. So she raised her communicator and spoke to the only person she knew could send help.
As she uttered the message and closed the device, the sniper was down and Nyan was now in the middle of the group...as all those behind him were knocked out by seemingly invisible slashes, blood gushing out of the sudden wounds.
Mizuki and the others put themselves in a fighting stance and prepared to go for the attack. She knew she didn't stand a chance to him, but she wasn't about to go down quietly.
X X X
Meanwhile, in the Monster Association HQ, Child Emperor smiled as he held Waganma near him, while Zombieman guarded the two of them and Metal Knight's robots finished off the monsters who were about to pounce on them.
'This mission is going very well so far. Let's hope the other heroes stick to the plan' Child Emperor thought as he reminisced about the mission's course so far.
The three entered the enemy base without any trouble and quickly made their way to the cells, which were supposed to contain prisoners and test subjects for the laboratories (which the three would have to destroy after saving Waganma). Once they arrived, the group found scorch marks all over the place, the remains of the guards most likely, and a very glad Waganma welcoming the heroes. While Zombieman and Metal Knight expressed concern over the possible culprit of the guards' demise, Child Emperor already knew who had caused this.
'Good work Phoenix Man' the young hero thought before being snapped out of his thoughts by a loud beeping noise, so he pressed a button to hear the incoming message.
"There is a Dragon level monster quickly approaching our position. It goes by the name of Nyan, please send reinforcements from the S class!" a feminine voice shouted with stoic urgency, then the message ended, leaving a fearful Waganma and concerned S class heroes.
"This is troubling, we'll have to ask for reinforcements due to our current situation" Zombieman said and Child Emperor was already on it as he activated the device and said with a strong, urgent tone "To all S class heroes, the Dragon level monster and Cadre of the Monster Association Nyan has gone to the surface and about to approach a group of heroes. Whoever is nearest to the surface, go and stop it from exiting the perimeter of the Ghost Town!"
Zombieman was satisfied and nudged Child Emperor to go faster since the robots of Metal Knight had moved ahead of them again, but unbeknownst to him the message reached a secret communicator instead of those of the other S class heroes.
X X X
Only a minute passed since Takanasha had left her team to go and help out the southern one, however she was slowed down by the presence of stray monster who were either roaming aimlessly or looking to ambush someone. Not that they posed any kind of threat to her.
'I wonder how Mizuki and the others are doing right now...' Takanasha thought as she jogged to the place she was told. Although the only one she could safely say was her friend was Mizuki, Takanasha also cared about the wellbeing of the other heroes. She always had a kind-hearted nature, but her feelings were heightened by seeing a fresh corpse for the first time.
Suffice to say, Takanasha wasn't going to sleep well (or at all) for a while.
Suddenly, she stopped her jogging and skidded to a halt, which greatly confused the colossal bodybuilder.
Then she felt it.
Her body froze on the spot as her skin became ice cold and her blood crawled to a halt. Her muscles, previously so powerful and flexible, now became rigid as they kept refusing to budge from their still position, despite Takanasha's best efforts. Her bones meanwhile went from a helpful support during fighting to a damning prison, anchoring the colossal yet now puny bodybuilder on the spot.
Takanasha felt great terror not from her body's state, weirdly enough, but from a point that her sight currently couldn't locate.
With titanic effort Takanasha rotated her neck to look behind her and saw a monster slowly walking towards her. It was considerably taller than the average human and was cat-like in appearance. Despite the difference in stature between them, it was Takanasha who felt on edge.
'What is this menacing aura? No monster I have ever seen had one like this!' she thought in panic as her sweat flowed upwards.
"Well, looks like I'm going to have more fun with you than the rest of them" he said as his pupils became bigger and claws audibly sprung up from his paws. Despite her rage at this monster for hurting her teammates, she was powerless against his presence.
But then a familiar voice intervened and dispelled Takanasha's fear in an instant.
"Come back here, I'm still standing!" Mizuki shouted as she sprinted at the monster, plumes of dust and road debris being uplifted which each of her powerful step. Now that the bodybuilder could see her better, Mizuki was bleeding from various slash wounds on her arms, legs and chest but the heroine didn't seem to mind her injuries; another thing she noted was that her weights sported very few small cracks.
The moment she was near enough, Mizuki threw a flurry of punches at the monster, who easily dodged them by angling his body as if it was a liquid, much to Takanasha's surprise.
"Oh, it's you again" the monster said in a bored tone, then looked back at Takanasha with a small smirk "Right now I want to play with this new toy"
But as soon as he took a step towards the bodybuilder, Mizuki grabbed his tail and began pulling him back with all of her strength. The feline monster wasn't budging from his position, but he far from calm as he looked down at the heroine in frustrated rage and said "How dare you...!"
He raised his dreadfully sharp claw towards Mizuki, which prompted Takanasha to finally stop standing around and dash forward to stop the attack. 'He's too slippery for any attack to land, but if I manage to absorb the attack for her I can allow Mizuki to at least land a punch on this monster!' the bodybuilder confidently thought 'If my muscles are useless against him in offense, I'll just have to use them in defense!'
But before any attack could even be launched, Nyan's ears twitched as he felt dread spreading through his entire body.
'What...is this feeling?' he thought in disbelief, which then turned into full-on panic 'I have to get out of here now! the surface isn't good enough for hiding, the Monster Association HQ will have to do!'
He then thinned his body and easily slipped out of Mizuki's grasp and into a crack in the asphalt road.
A few second passed after that as both women were confused at the monster's sudden escape, then the earth began rumbling and a strange sensation swelled in the bodies of the two fighters. As if it was a physiological reaction, Mizuki's toned body flexed as it became slightly larger and much harder while Takanasha's muscles swelled with anxious anticipation in a quick motion, creating slight ripples in the air around her.
'This sensation...it's even stronger than the last one!' Takanasha thought incredulous and looked down at Mizuki spectacular form as she meekly thought '...Can we alone fight off something of this magnitude'
Then the road ahead of them exploded outwardly in a spectacular manner as powerful gusts of wind flowed upward and debris was scattered all over the place. Mizuki blocked those flying at her face with her arm and let others harmlessly break themselves against her muscles, while Takanasha was too paralyzed to move but still wasn't damaged in the slightest by the flying debris.
Mizuki's eyes focused to find whoever or whatever caused the explosion, but couldn't see anything worthwhile. She didn't need to however, because she immediately felt something impact against her stomach and envelop her in an embrace. Immediately Mizuki dealt a powerful strike with her conjoined fists, but regretted doing that as soon as she was who was actually hugging her.
"Oh, Mizuki..." Shinko said with palpable relief as he rubbed his face between her neck and chest while his body almost clung to hers. Immediately the color red permeated her cheeks as the sight of Shinko acting so intimate with her outside, in front of a stranger and with their hero get-up filled her with embarrassment like never before...though she couldn't deny that it wasn't an unwelcome sensation.
"Come on Shinko, I'm alright...we got things to do..." Mizuki calmly said to Shinko with a soft voice as she tried to pry him off, one hand deep in his hair and the other on his shoulder. While she was still thinking about Nyan's current whereabouts, Mizuki couldn't help but notice some noticeable physical changes of Shinko.
His skin was thicker yet softer than what she felt was normal, not to mention much warmer too; the same thing could be said about his hair, but now that she took a good look at his body, it seemed that his muscles were bigger and more toned too, along with his skin being a slightly darker shade of brown. With his sharper looks and forged physique, Mizuki found herself moving closer to Shinko who was still cuddling her, but then shook her head and returned serious.
This definitely wasn't the right time or place to act like happy-go-lucky lovers.
So she readied her fists and dealt a powerful strike to the top of her partner's head, the strength of the attack so great it created a meter wide crater below them. "Get it together Shinko, we have work to do!" Mizuki shouted in a much rougher voice, which startled the fluffy hero who was now looking at her with a serious and surprised look.
"Sorry Mizuki, I just...when Child Emperor told me a Cadre had gone to the surface, my mind immediately went on you..." Shinko explained as he rubbed the side of his head and looked at her with a look of longing. Mizuki certainly noticed it, but decide act like she didn't and sighed as she said "I know, but we have more important matters to deal with" then looked to the side, then back at him and then she suddenly said "Still, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a hero too, you know?"
Shinko was slightly surprised to hear this coming from Mizuki, who he knew to be mindful when powerful opponents were concerned, but then thought about it and said "I know you're strong Mizuki and you are growing so much even now, but you're not strong enough to take on a Dragon level monster...but, I guess you're right, you know? Those scars are proof of your strength"
Mizuki's heart leaped a little and her swelling body heated up at that compliment, her desire to be closer to him manifesting in her voice without her realizing, however she looked down a little, knowing that he was still right about her level.
But now Mizuki was almost worried about how silent Takanasha was now. 'Maybe she's too embarrassed at our display that she can't even speak?' Mizuki thought as the redness and embarrassment of before returned to her face, finding this theory to be outlandish yet slightly plausible given her nature.
Then she turned around and found the colossal bodybuilder frozen in silent terror, completely focused on a small figure not too far from her. It was one of the most unthreatening monsters she had ever seen and it had a look that was a mixture of confusion, anxiousness and frustration.
"Oh, you're done, can we go now?" it asked with a small hint of impatience, which ticked off Mizuki as she asked in a tone betraying cold fury "What have done to her?"
The monster wasn't scared by her display in the slightest and replied in an angry tone "I didn't do anything! I just told to not even think about attacking me!"
Mizuki was slightly confused at why Takanasha was scared by such a weak monster, so she turned to Shinko who clarified "He's harmless, besides he has guided me through the hideout"
It was at that point that Takanasha snapped out of her stupor and decided to speak up. "I see you have the situation under control, thank you for saving us so fast...I have to go now, some heroes need my help busting fortifications..." she said as she looked down at the boy who showed such strength with such a small body.
"Don't mention it! I'll notify Child Emperor of any injured heroes, but now I have to go back down, there are more monsters who have to be killed" Shinko said as he walked back to large hole in the road, but a hand firmly planted in his shoulder stopped him.
"Wait, let me go with you too!" Mizuki said as Shinko gazed at her eyes, that look of longing making his heart skip a beat. So he nodded and the two moves to the hole...before Takanasha stopped Mizuki.
"Wait, are you sure this is a good idea!? The monsters down there will surely be much stronger than those on the surface!" the colossal bodybuilder shouted at Mizuki with worry in her voice. She knew that her friend was strong, but could she really manage to survive such hostile encounters?
Mizuki was about to speak up, but Shinko beat her to the punch as looked up at Takanasha and said "Don't worry about her, she's much stronger than you think and this will serve as a test for what's to come, which she's more than prepared to face. Besides...if the worst really comes up, I'll take care of it"
Takanasha was silenced by the confidence in his voice, thus the two heroes turned back and jumped into the hole.
X X X
Meanwhile,back in the Monster Association HQ, the ethereal mass that was now the Necroanter floated at great speed, keeping up with his partner without a problem. Platinum Sperm moved with great agility, achieving such a speed not requiring too much effort for him.
"Alright, we've been running for a while. Where's this 'being of unimaginable power' or something like that?" Platinum Sperm asked with a certain degree of annoyance. He was still skeptic about what the Necroanter told him and also frustrated about being denied his revenge against Atomic Sandbag.
"We are close, just past this wall up ahead" the Necroanter said as Platinum Sperm smashed through it and the flying debris from the explosion passing through his ethereal form. They entered into a very wide corridor, illuminated a myriad of torches, and found themselves in front of the so-called threat.
A bald man in a traditional hero costume.
To anyone else, those in front of him would be considered to be powerful monsters, but to Saitama it was just a weird lamp and a very weirdly dressed guy...but now that he looked at him better, the bald hero was now sure that he was a monster as well.
Suddenly, he felt pelted by explosions of bright pink energy that seemed to vaporize all they touched...except for him and his costume. The light however was strange and it making his eyes slightly twitch.
So Saitama swiped his hand, clearing out all of the explosions and destroying a large part of the right part of the corridor, and threw a punch in the direction of the weird monster-lamp. It shattered in a million pieces as its light died out and an eldritch scream mixed with thunderous noises rang out.
Saitama now turned to the other monster, but he already moved and punched the bald hero in the face. The punch was able to knock him into several columns in the back and as he stood up, though unharmed, Saitama understood the threat this monster could pose.
'If this one goes to the surface, it's going to be a pain to the other heroes' Saitama thought as he scanned for the monster's location...and oblivious to the fact the other heroes were already inside of the Monster Association HQ.
Saitama found the monster moving from pillar to pillar at absurd speed, but to him the monster was moving not too quickly. He jumped to the monster, who was very confused on how this hero caught up to him so easily, and threw his knee into the monster's stomach.
He doubled over, but to Saitama he was still not down, so he performed his Consecutive Punches on him.
Platinum Sperm's body was atomized as only specks of his blood remained, and the entire left part of the room was completely destroyed. As the place around him collapsed, Saitama made his way out as he ran through the falling debris.
He would find the leader of this Monster Association, whether it was going to be a good fight or not.
X X X
Ariol was so concentrated on running to the source of the signal that his mind was completely empty of other thoughts. The raid up above, the risk of finding S class heroes along the way, whether or not his teammates were with him or not...these were less than afterthoughts to him.
Saving his sister came before all else.
He burst into a corridor in order to save time and saw a door, where his sister certainly was. 'Finally, I'm here to rescue!' Ariol thought as the feeling of their mental link was at its strongest.
But when he ran through the door, the gargantuan atrium before him was devoid of Gaia's presence.
"Found you" a voice called him, coming to his left, which prompted Ariol to skid to a halt and put himself in a crouching position, eyeing the speaker and other only presence in the atrium. It looked a long-bearded human with a rather haggard appearance, but Ariol felt that there was much more to this man than his looks suggested.
But above all, he was hopelessly confused.
"Where is my sister?" he asked the figure with a rough tone, one that offered no quarter, which made the figure frown.
"I am Homeless Emperor, and I wish to make you my ally. You see, you are a special tool of-" he started but Ariol interrupted him as he shouted "I don't care about who you are or your stupid deals or who do you think I am! I just want my sister back and I'll go THROUGH you to get to her!"
Homeless Emperor glared at him and with a sudden movement of his hand three small energy spheres soared towards him.
Ariol barely dodged the first two, but was lightly grazed by the third one, which burned his right side but the contact wasn't enough to make it explode immediately. As the three spheres detonated and Ariol was still launched away by the third one's explosion, he put himself in a crouching position, panting slightly and thinking about his next course of action.
'Damn it...I don't think I can defeat this guy without losing a limb or two. I could run away and sic a passing S class at him, but that's too risky of a plan, and I can't even run away to resume the search for my sister...something about him is preventing me to locate her with our link' Ariol thought as more possible plans turned into failures and the 'decision' to fight this enemy head-on seemed to be the only plausible one.
"So the tools created by Him really ARE useless after all. I'm still not able to locate the other two...but by using your remains I should be able to..." Homeless Emperor mused to himself absentmindedly as he summoned more energy spheres and was prepared to hurl them at his prone target.
But then a sudden gust of wind and flashes of light passed between the two, causing the summoned attacks of Homeless Emperor to detonate.
Amidst the blinding explosion, the Cadre was mysteriously unharmed but still slightly disoriented as he frantically searched his pockets for something.
"I destroyed the amulet that led you to him, without its influence you should be able to find your sister" Phoenix Man quickly told Ariol who, without a second thought, bolted away and through a distant wall. Meanwhile Homeless Emperor glared at him as he said "I can't let him get away or the plan the higher will has set up will be unable to be properly executed...but first I have to deal with you"
"Please, as I am now you have no chance of defeating me" Phoenix Man said as he smirked and soared upwards, with the Cadre summoning dozens of energy spheres to shoot him down. He ducked and weaved around the nearby columns to block those attacks he couldn't dodge, then he went to the offensive.
His normal yellow costume morphed in design, becoming more slender and aerodynamic as the color changed into a light brown with black tips on the wings' edges and claws. Sparrow, the name of the form Phoenix Man's costume turned into, is the ability he gained after resurrecting during the E City Raid, and after some training sessions by himself he's now able to properly utilize it.
Phoenix Man turned to his opponent in a dramatic manner and performed a few slashing motions with his wings, firing off a volley sharp glowing feathers. These precise projectiles impacted the soaring energy spheres, creating a blinding explosions and a billowing cloud of smoke.
'So you can do that...while this new ability of yours won't change the battle's outcome...these smokescreens coupled with your speed will make dealing with you more annoying' Homeless Emperor thought in slight frustration, but suddenly the smokescreen violently parted due to a new volley of feathers. Despite their speed the Cadre managed to dodge both them and another volley fired by Phoenix Man from behind his position.
Still, the second volley did score some hits as a few bleeding cuts on Homeless Emperor's sides and left arm appeared, but his inhuman biology made these injuries negligible for the most part.
And so the fight continued on like this for some more time, with the two opponents exchanging volleys of ranged attacks that did next to no damage to either opponent, but with each repeat of the same battle strategy Phoenix Man got a little closer to Homeless Emperor, and when he thought he was close enough he enacted his plan.
'Now's the time, I have to act quick!' Phoenix Man thought and so he dove to the Cadre's position as his costume began to morph once more.
The wings completely retracted into the bubbling costume as its arms, legs and central became bulkier, while his claws got much sharper; the colors maintained the same scheme but they too changed, from brown and black to black and blue. Cassowary was this form's name.
Clad in his new attire, Phoenix Man sprinted up to Homeless Emperor and began to unleash a devastating flurry of punches and kicks, but the Cadre managed to dodged these attacks for the most part, at most the claws of his opponent grazing his inhuman skin, causing at most surface-level cuts.
However Homeless Emperor didn't seem to counterattack in any way, something which pushed Phoenix Man to concentrate more on his onslaught of attacks, and for good reason. 'In a ranged fight I'll always be in a disadvantage against him, but he has trouble fighting against opponents at close range, which gives me the advantage here' Phoenix Man thought confidently as sweat began pouring from his skin under the suit 'This is my only chance, I have to deal the finishing blow now before he had any chances of widening the gap between us!'
For another painfully long minute Phoenix Man kept pouring all of his energy into the onslaught of attacks, each dodged blow making Homeless Emperor's movements more sluggish. This caused the next punch of Phoenix Man to score a clear hit on the Cadre who unable to properly dodge the incoming attack, moved in such a way that his central body would be out of harm...but the same couldn't be said for his right arm.
As the disembodied limb soares through the room and hit the cracked stone floor with a fleshy thump Phoenix Man mentally celebrated as he thought 'Yes! Just another hit and Homeless Emperor will be done for!" and reared back his clawed leg for a final, devastating kick.
Everything was finally set...
...Phoenix Man's defeat.
While the Cadre was certainly tiring, the same could be said for Phoenix Man as well, and that was what made his attack slow enough for Homeless Emperor to retaliate. A seemingly simple flick of his left wrist and five energy spheres appeared out of thin air between the two combatants as they slammed into Phoenix Man's gut.
As the singed form of the former monster was thrown back by a brilliant explosion, Homeless Emperor was unharmed was quickly moved his remaining upper limb to enact the second and final part of his plan.
While Phoenix Man was busy launching attack after attack at Homeless Emperor, he kept summoning all the energy spheres he could and placed them near the room's roof in preparation for a counterattack. He looked up at the shimmering ceiling and smirked at the thought of Phoenix Man not realizing the trap the Cadre set up.
So he quickly moved his left arm to direct all of the energy spheres into a dangerous cloud of lights and slammed it into the prone form of Phoenix Man who, by the time he got into his feet saw that it was too late to dodge. Not that it would've done anything since, despite the drop of Homeless Emperor's accuracy, the radius of the explosion was far too large.
The blinding flash thundered across the Monster Association's HQ as dozens of rooms were either irreparably crippled or straight-up obliterated. Yet in the crumbling arena Homeless Emperor stood unimpeded, as if the explosion hadn't touched him at all.
'GOD's gift wasn't limited to the manifestation of power, but protects me against it. This battle went in my favor ever since Phoenix Man challenged me' Homeless Emperor thought with satisfaction as he walked up to his right arm, fortunately only partly buried in the fallen debris, which he retrieved with a swift motion of his left arm. He then shook some dust off of it and forcefully reattached it to his bleeding stump.
As the section between the two bodyparts began bubbling as it fused them back together, Homeless Emperor's eyes began glowing eerily. As he scanned the surrounding area as it became pitch black, only some vague outlines of the objects around remaining, but it was partially illuminated by many dots of light, most small and flickering but among them there were others much larger which possessed a roaring light.
After looking around for a few seconds, Homeless Emperor found the one he was looking for and thought 'You went farther than I thought while I was distracted, but I'll catch you all the same. GOD's plan will be executed, one way or another'
But as he walked in Ariol's direction a resounding boom reverberated from the depths of the crater and through what remained of the spacious room. Homeless Emperor immediately reactivate his Vitality Vision and saw that, in the spot where the waning life force of Phoenix Man once was, stood now a roaring beacon of light, to the Cadre's utter disbelief.
'But how could he...only someone with God on their side can return from the abyss of death!' Homeless Emperor thought angrily as the beacon propelled itself upwards at stunning speed, and rising through a tall plume of dust and falling debris was none other than Phoenix Man himself.
Now wearing a costume resembling a fat penguin.
"Well, looks like you didn't expect that. I wish it didn't have to come to that, I always feel winded when resurrecting..." the former monster spoke as he slightly wobbled forward "But now I can definitely take you on"
Homeless Emperor summoned a handful of energy spheres as he said "As if, the outcome of this battle will be the very same!" and hurled them at Phoenix Man, who jumped up in the air and brought his arms upwards.
Just like that, a huge iceberg was summoned out of thin air and he hurled it at Homeless Emperor, who easily dodged the attack and summoned more energy spheres at the same time.
Against such a fast attack, Phoenix Man dove diagonally at surprising speed, the motion creating gusts of wind around him, then once he reached the ground the vigilante used his big white belly to bounce upwards, where he repeated the same motion with his arms and summoned another iceberg.
The battle continued on like this for some time, but it was harder for Homeless Emperor to keep up not only because of his fatigue building up, but also due to Phoenix Man's surprising speed in that form of his and the incredible toughness of the icebergs he summoned.
Eventually the ruined battlefield became a labyrinth of uneven and battered ice pillars, but as Homeless Emperor activated his Vitality Vision and looked in every direction he could, he was ultimately unable to trace his opponent.
"Where could he be-" the Cadre thought to myself in annoyance when suddenly a roaring beacon of light appeared and sped towards him.
That was the last thing Homeless Emperor felt as the new form of Phoenix Man tore his body apart at near-supersonic speed.
Eagle, this heavenly form's name was, characterized by a pearly white costume with cristalline light cyan parts on the chest, claws and outline of the wings.
"The sheer magnitude of the physical boosts this form gives me makes me feel like I can take on anything..." Phoenix Man mused as he inspected the ethereal glow of his costume "...but I can feel my stamina draining much quicker than with the other forms"
He then willed his costume to return to his normal form as his shoulders finally sagged, then took out his communicator to give Child Emperor the news about the Cadre's death.
X X X
Meanwhile Atomic Samurai continued his tireless search for the two monsters who killed his newfound friend as he cut down any monster that crossed his path in the damp and darkened tunnels of the Monster Association's HQ.
'Damn, so this is what the place looks like deep enough...It's a wonder these monsters were able to make this place function...' Atomic Samurai thought, then snapped out of it as his eyes caught something minuscule slipping through the cracks in the ceiling. Nyan gracefully touched down on the floor as he muttered "Yeah, escaping from the surface was the right call..."
Then he turned to the S class hero readying a Focused Atomic Slash and his combat instincts flared immediately.
However something else, unseen until now, was faster.
Nyan felt eight light taps on his back, quickly followed by a series of shrill thumps, so he turned to see the source of the sound. He was now looking at eight small syringes, filled with presumably his blood with the exception of one which was empty.
"What?" Nyan asked himself aloud with confusion, a feeling shared by Atomic Samurai, but in his case it turned into surprise as his excellent eyesight picked minuscule yet strange changes in the Cadre's body.
It started extremely quickly as masses of pink slime grew all over Nyan's body, engulfing it as the monster had barely any time to scream. After a few minutes the pink writhing mass stopped moving and slowly solidified, gaining a rocky exterior in the process.
"What the hell...?" Atomic Samurai couldn't help but ask aloud as he wasn't fully sure what had exactly happened and if the Dragon level monster was either dead or about to evolve into a stronger form. But before the S class hero had any chance of preparing an attack, a small eight-legged robot quickly crawled from behind the pink mass and collected the eight vials.
It then faced Atomic Samurai with its singular red eye and said, with a robotic yet oddly warm voice "Hello, I am Malathos, benefactor of Drive Knight and the main force that is currently opposing the Organization. There is nothing to be hostile of"
Atomic Samurai wasn't very convinced and didn't change his stance, however he decided to hear the robot out as he wordlessly urged it to continue "Before anything, know that Drive Knight is safe, if not somewhat grumpy. His consciousness is safely stored in his personal databank within my base, however he wishes to wait for a new body improved with samples taken from powerful monsters, such as this Cadre right here"
Atomic Samurai felt tense, but he also didn't feel too distrustful towards this 'Malathos' so he let it continue.
"If you are curious about what I've done to this monster, I simply administered it a dose of my Serum DM19, capable of reverting certain Mysterious Beings into what they used to be before their abrupt mutations. It's very useful to clear out small invasions and keep a low profile at the same time" Malathos continued as the pink mass was slowly punctured by a small animal, a (very confused and wary) ginger cat to be precise, which greatly surprised the S class hero.
As the drone used its long limbs to pick up the feline and safely put it in a compartment inside it, then said to Atomic Samurai "I'd love to tell you all about the Organization's origins and connections with Metal Knight and president Nagasaki, but the explanation would be too long and I can tell that you are quite busy at the moment. Know this however, that both Metal Knight and the president most likely aren't allied with the Organization and are actually searching for a way to permanently destroy it. Unfortunately I don't have clear evidence to back up my claims, but know that Drive Knight doesn't have the clear picture either"
With that, the drone left a slightly confused and frustrated Atomic Samurai who muttered "Tch, why are these types always so secretive..." as he resumed his search.
X X X
Smooth movements and flowing counters against lumbering skittering and straightforward blows. Silver Fang barely considered these augmented Antlion Brutes a challenge as he skillfully redirected the dozen of blows against the six monsters currently surrounding him.
As friendly fire tore apart the monsters' reanimated forms, black tar and semi-rotting viscera flying around the wide corridor, the S class hero looked at the carcasses one more time to make sure that they were truly dead, then hopped out of the circle of gore.
'For being nothing more than revived corpses, they sure are able to take a beating...' Silver Fang thought as he kept walking towards the hallway's exit, in no rush to regroup with his other teammates.
But then the floor started rumbling and in front of the S class hero a monster emerged. Despite having a rather short shirt and long pants, it looked more like a heavily bruised mass of muscles covered by stretched skin. Its face, if one would even be able to call it that, was caked on blood and sported a toothless mouth with only the right eye working.
Fuhrer Ugly purely acting on instinct, climbing upwards as his body grew and modified itself to cope both with the grievous damages as well as the beyond foul temper of the Ugmon. As he broke in yet another level of the HQ, despite the fact any higher thinking skills were very well beyond that smashed heap of grey matter that much was now his brain, he recognized that there was a small being in front of him.
Definitely not what that Sweet Mask had turned into (or always was, that bit of information unable to be properly recalled), but enough of a distraction for Fuhrer Ugly to focus on in order to attempt to calm himself.
But suddenly the section of floor behind the damaged Cadre exploded and two clawed limbs pierced Fuhrer Ugly's stomach. As the Dragon level monster was effortlessly torn in half, a giant insectoid monster slowly rose up and stood in a hunched position, its size so great it couldn't be fully contained by the hallway.
'the Antlion King! So Petrolic Wraith truly managed to resurrect such a monster!' Silver Fang thought as he went into a battle stance. Then, as a chitinous claw smashed the point he was in, the S class hero jumped into another incoming claw and battered its extremely sharp aside.
He went on the monstrous hand's palm and used it to propel himself towards the Antlion King's head.
Silver Fang had already used this strategy in conjunction with Atomic Samurai, where the former attracted its attention and the latter went for the kill with devastating attacks. 'I know for certain that its physical abilities have been greatly enhanced, but I have to see if its reflexes have received such an upgrade' Silver Fang thought as he prepared a devastating attack on the monster's eyes when suddenly two more claws sped up and blocked his attack. Flipping in the air, Silver Fang landed a few ways away from the Antlion King and with his suspicions proven right another plan formed in the S class hero's mind.
Thus the fight between the two turned into one of attrition, with Silver Fang using the walls and limbs of the monster to launch hit-and-run attacks. The Antlion King on the other hand had no choice but to be stationary due to its bulk in relation to the available space.
However, while Silver Fang's agility allowed him to evade all kinds of attacks the Antlion King was able to throw at him, he found that the monster's exoskeleton was extremely durable, even more so than when it was still alive. This, coupled with the fact he was unable to attack the head due to the claws' speed, meant that Silver Fang was unable to do any serious damage to the Dragon level threat monster, leading to him adopting a 'quantity over quality' approach as he damaged as many body parts of the monster as fast as possible.
About ten minutes passed as Silver Fang saw the damage he was dealing was too much for the Antlion King's regeneration to handle, but it would take more time and especially more attacks to truly bring the monster down.
But then something unexpected happened.
A small section of the floor behind the gargantuan monster broke in a fiery blaze as a metallic being sped into the Antlion King's backside and unleashed a devastating beam attack. The monster's body lit up like a christmas tree, shining with a powerful white light with orange spots, then perhaps due to the black tar's doing it inflated and then immediately deflated as the towering mass of chitinous flesh collapsed into smoldering hot slag.
"Demon Cyborg, I'm surprised that you're here and thank you for helping me take down this monster" Silver Fang said as he walked to his fellow S class hero, who replied "Yes, my team has managed to safely escort Waganma to the surface, where a military convoy is about to take him into a safe zone, so I decided to return in order to clear out any remaining monsters"
Demon Cyborg then said "Still, you were absent at yesterday's meeting, where the attack plan was laid down and teams formed. Why was that?" and Silver Fang said "Oh, I was busy training a promising disciple of mine. I came as soon as I heard the news about the Raid"
Demon Cyborg nodded and the two heroes decided to part ways.
X X X
Meanwhile Shinko could definitely say that he didn't regret bringing Mizuki along, especially since he wanted to see how her fighting improved after all those days they were separated for.
Again, he was not disappointed as he saw the athletic heroine not only tear through most monsters with ease, no matter their physical abilities or the kinds of attacks they threw at her, but also managed to somewhat keep up with his now "slow" running speed.
The three were running down a hallway, following the instructions given by Flake Mage and dealing with whatever monsters they encountered.
While Mizuki seemed to be focused on their duty, Shinko found himself rather distracted as his eyes always wandered over the herculean shape of Mizuki, especially on how her refined muscles contracted as they rippled the very air around them and her skin seemed to easily shrug off any kind of attack directed at it without so much as a scratch. Shinko felt the spectacle arousing something inside of him, a part of himself that laid there in his unconscious dormant and unsatisfied.
'It's really nice being with Mizuki again, and after this I'll make sure to spend as much time as possible with her. Mizuki needs all the support she can get with her new training regimen...' Shinko thought fondly, then his body became warmer '...but I won't lie, I also want to try and share a deeper bond with her. Those days when we were separated sure made me understand a part of myself'
Flake Mage and Mizuki noticed Shinko's not-so-subtle change in behavior, the former deciding to ignore it and the latter mentally trying to figure out what he was thinking about. One of the possibilities made her body become rock-hard.
Eventually the three arrived at a long hallway occupied by various bands of monsters. Seeing as they were pretty weak, Shinko decided to stand by and see Mizuki in action once again; the athletic heroine noticed this and felt herself swelling with pride as the thought of Shinko starting to see her as an equal.
If Flake Mage had to describe the following scene, he would call it less of a fight and more of a one-sided massacre. Mizuki didn't even need to actually attack most of the time as the mere movement of her muscular body tore groups of monsters apart with ease, not to mention that whatever monster attacking her with something that wasn't a weapon separated from their body would just end up hurting themselves.
The one-sided fight against dozens of monsters ended in less than a minute, but as Mizuki was about to attack the last ones standing something unexpected happened.
The wall and section of the floor at her right burst forth as a set of purple tentacles showed themselves and sailed towards Mizuki.
A single cyclopean eye could be seen from the ruined wall and the Demon level monster's proclamation of his name was stopped by a direct punch from Shinko. He then quickly obliterated the remaining monsters and whatever tentacles came near Mizuki, but unfortunately his reaction was too slow as one had already made contact with the athletic heroine and roughly battered her into the opposite wall, creating a small crater in the process.
Despite her body slightly trembling, Mizuki's body was mostly unharmed...save for a serious bruise on her right leg with growing purple lines. For the first time since she had descended into the Monster Association's HQ, Mizuki took damage.
Before the poison could truly set it, Flake Mage wordlessly got down and shouted "Healing Brine" as he sprayed layer upon layer of thin ice on top of the wound. Shinko, unable to directly help in the detoxification process, crouched down beside Mizuki and tightly cradled her upper body with both of his arms and legs, feeling sorry for not being fast enough.
The sudden warmth and intimacy of the physical contact, coupled with the close proximity of his breath, made the athletic heroine freeze up as redness spread from her face to her entire body (which had now stopped trembling), but then quickly leaned into it and even reciprocated by wrapping her slender yet ripped arms around the diminutive hero.
The two stayed like this for about a mid-hour as Flakes Mage did his best to eliminate as much of the poison as possible, an action made hard by the nature of that Demon level monster but also easier both by the quick response on his part and by the strong biology of the heroine...something that raised various questions in Flake Mage's mind.
"Alright, I'm done" Flake Mage said as the two humans were startled out of their daze, Shinko immediately standing upright and Mizuki following suit as he held her with great care for her right leg. "So, I managed to take care of most of the poison and I believe that the wound is going to heal pretty quickly, but until then you should let your leg rest" Flake Mage explained to the two.
Mizuki got rather worried she'd end up as a burden and said "Maybe it's better if we returned to the surface. I'm sorry for coming in the first place knowing such powerful monsters could be around..." to which Shinko replied "No, it's my fault for not coming to help you sooner. We are too deep in the base and I can't exit this place the fastest way with you injured. Besides, you're actually holding up pretty well"
With the athletic heroine's spirits noticeably raised, he turned to Flake Mage and asked "So, where exactly are we?" to which the small monster replied with an uneasy expression "Continuing along this path will bring us right in front of a wide ravine. A lot of flying monsters have made that place their hunting ground...however one specific section is occupied by Orochi himself"
That got Shinko thinking and he his resolve harden, followed by his muscles. Then he looked up to his companion and had an idea, a solution that would solve both Mizuki's debilitating injury and the need to continue the mission.
The only problem would be that Mizuki wouldn't like it, but in this situation Shinko reasoned that she wouldn't complain.
So in one swift motion he scooped her up in his arms, carrying her like a princess. Mizuki was understandably very surprised about this sudden action of his, but when Shinko looked at her face there wasn't any anger, but utter surprise and perhaps even some embarrassment. The fluffy hero understood that as he could very much feel all of her body, along with its warmth and rippling muscles.
Shinko shook himself out of it and so did Mizuki who managed to ask, in an uncharacteristic bout of timidity, "I...think you did the right call, but isn't fighting like this going to be-" only to be cut off by Shinko who said in a gentle tone "Don't worry. The next time I'll be faster"
And so the three took off once more, more or less ready to face Orochi.
X X X
Tornado of Terror was getting impatient as she floated into the ruins of what previously was an underground labyrinth. After she began descending into the deepest part parts of the Monster Association's HQ, the diminutive esper had neither time nor patience to play along the silly contraptions of her younger sister's former friend.
'Damn, where she could possibly be? Her brainwaves were around here a few seconds ago!?' Tornado thought with ever decreasing patience as she denied the possibility of already having killed her through her earlier rampage. Despited being beneath her when it came to...well everything, Psykos wasn't that weak.
So the diminutive esper began to blow sections of rubble aside within her psychic might. While it didn't immediately seem like a good idea, after a few minutes a wave of green energy and torn debris revealed a trap door.
Tornado didn't hesitate to rip it from its hinges and dive right into the newly revealed passage, but then things started to get weird.
Brainwaves crashed into the S class hero like a tidal wave, causing no injuries to someone of her caliber but still making her realize that something was wrong.
Very wrong as she finally encountered pulsating tendrils of grey matter guarding an entrance made of bone. Disgusted by the scenery, Tornado of Terror identified that as the source of all those abnormal brainwaves, but mistakenly thought that this was supposed to be a diversion.
The diminutive esper quickly realized her error as she burst through the bony gate and entered a room made of pulsating flesh, with a cocoon at its center just about to hatch.
Out of the grey sphere an unknown monster of ungodly psychic potential rose with a birth screech. She had grey pulsing skin crackling with psychic energy, her eyes were completely black, four blade-like wings sprouted from her back just above her large bust the outline of a core and light pink veins that covered a lot of her body could be seen.
Tornado of Terror somehow recognized what this mysterious being used to be.
Through her own research on psychic potential and Petrolic Wraith's extremely secret experiment on different ways to go about monsterization the mastermind behind the Monster Association had finally turned into one as well.
And so she shall forever be known as Psikotic, the Scourge of the Unconscious.
And thats was the chapter, everyone!
On the Homeless Emperor VS Phoenix Man fight, I meant to introduce the latter's different forms for some time now but never found the right time.
As for how the former fought, I think it's in line with how he is in canon due to the fact he was able to sneak up on and outpace Zombieman.
As for Mizuki, this marks the start of her growth in power so the third (and final) part of the story is going to heavily focus on her.
I also think you realized that the Romance part of the story is about to kick in, but since this is an OPM fanfiction I will treat discreetly and not shove in your eyes every time Shinko and Mizuki appear on page.
Lastly, the next chapter will NOT be a Prequel one but instead the fourth and final chapter of the Raid Arc (I never meant it to be too long, hence why the previous name of this chapter was "Near the Closing").
Anyway, that was all from me. See you next time!