I don't own One Punch Man, nor do I own My Hero Academia. Each Franchise i owned by their respective owner..
ENJOY!
...
Psykos felt the air rippled from her, as she was forcibly pulled upwards, up from her safe zone, to the room where her meat puppet used to be. This amount of Psychic power, she couldn't even comprehend it's fullest potential.
Tatsumaki had grown so much in her absence. So much, that she had miscalculated the exact amount of force that she would exert.
Normally..
They would be on par.
"Tatsumaki." She spoke in a tone that were all-too familiar. A tone that exuded aggressiveness and otherworldliness.
"You." Tatsumaki's fierce eyes sharpened, her gaze intensified like a refined blade. Her psychic culled the villain's own, immobilising her as a whole.
But she never expressed a hint of waver, nor submission. Her eyes shimmering with depraved intents all the same.
"My, my, isn't this the occasion? After long of not having you on my sight...now we reunite as a mother and a daughter would."
"Flaunting your charismatic aura like it would faze me, are you now?" Tatsumaki's lips curled, "You're no mother of mine."
"Aw, how heart wrenching of you to say," Psykos leaned forward, "Perhaps we could try to rekindle our...complicated relationship? Say, rebuild from scratch, start a family, strengthen our fractured bond?"
"No." Tatsumaki twirled her fingers, twisting the opposition's bone in a bizarre position. But she never once winced in pain.
Was she always this unhinged and desensitised?
"I'll deal with you later, right after lift your entire base of operations into the air, bring into light for what your callous organisation truly are." Tatsumaki levitated into a higher position, emerald aura cloaking her arms, as it spread throughout the wide room they were in.
With all her strength, she pushed her arms forward, bringing along the entire base with her.
The ceilings above crumpled, the debris began to gradually fall, dropping into the ground.
...
"What in the world..." Yagi's eyes suspiciously darted to the overarching glowing green aura spreading throughout every walls, every debris, every solid ground that they could see, "Is it just me, or is everything starting to levitate into the air?"
"Mayhaps." Flashy Flash stood up, "Brace yourselves. This could be the work of a monster."
"Could be another one of your hero fellas." Manako blurted out.
Flashy Flash shot him a look that promised violence.
"Dude, I was just sayin'," Manako held her hands up in front of her frantically, "W- what, I can't give you all my input now?"
Then, the realisation dawned on Yagi.
"This is no doubt, Tornado of Terror's doing. I know it too well." Yagi spoke.
"Are you certain?" Flashy Flash asked.
A hero has arrived? That means I'm far too late to take preventive measures. Flashy Flash thought. If only he knew directions..
"As if the green aura isn't obvious enough." Yagi said, "We gotta land on a solid ground, and I mean fast. You don't wanna fall through all that bottomless hole. Trust me, I've been there, it's not fun."
"Right." Flashy Flash stood over the edge of the minecart, "There's a ground over there, we could hop over if we're fast enough."
"You're talking about being 'fast enough' with me?" Yagi raised his brow.
"I was referring to a certain obnoxious bloated creature boarding the minecart with us." Flashy Flash's gaze lingered on the pink coloured monster.
"I can just hold her, no sweat." Yagi replied.
"Or drop her."
"Seriously, what is with the needless tension between you two?" Yagi deadpanned, his tone exuding a hint of exasperation, "What is the issue with bringing her along anyway? She's a nice company in my personal opinion."
"I can run down a few reasonings regarding why you shouldn't even bother with this," Flashy Flash cleared his throat, before saying, "First and foremost, she could be a liability. Disrupting your balance while you jump, you could easily be distracted and slip on something, which subsequently could lead to you falling down into the hole. Second, jumping with a dead weight on your shoulders isn't always the brightest idea, and the point is the same as the first one: A liability will always be a liability no matter how you look at it. Three, she's outlived her usefulness, therefore it is sensible to dispose-"
"Alright, alright, can it. You've repeated the same point twice and resorted to giving out your personal biases as a legitimate reason to just drop her off." Yagi sighed, "You jump first."
"...suit yourself then." Flashy Flash bent his knees, hopping between one wall and another, before eventually landing on a ground that led into another narrow, enclosed space.
Yagi grabbed Manako, wrapping his arm around her lower waist, "Hold on tight, cause I'm not gonna go after you once you slip."
"R- right! T- thank you!"
Seeing how they're thin on time, with everything starting to levitate into the air even more, Yagi braced himself to jump.
Leaping through the air, soaring high, Yagi braced himself to land on the ground where Flashy Flash stood...
Only for a monster to briefly appear in front of him for a split second. Manako shrieked in horror at the sight.
With mild annoyance, Yagi flicked his wrist to the side, catapulting the monster violently against the wall, creating a gaping hole shaped in it's body's form.
Landing on the ground, Yagi placed Manako besides him, "That's that. We should find another-"
The area they stood on started to glow with green as well.
"Oh you gotta be fucking with me." Yagi lamented.
"If I were to decipher this whole debacle, she's going to bring the entire base into the surface." Flashy Flash deduced.
"That, or she's just trying to destroy everything the old-fashioned way." Yagi slapped his forehead, "Not taking into account about the possible hostages detained in here."
Good grief, what happened to you, Tats?
He could say that he'd discuss this with her after this whole fiasco has reached it's outcome, but..
She had completely forgotten about him. Literally.
Sighing, Yagi's feet slowly moved forward, "We should keep moving."
"Find a way back to the surface." Flashy Flash suggested, "Lest we get caught under all these rubbles and get immobilised."
"Don't gotta tell me twice." Yagi said as he sprinted forwards with Manako in his arms, followed by Flashy Flash in his back.
"Are you really that bent on bringing her along?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"Just so you know, she tried to kill us on several occasions." Flashy Flash then emphasized, "Me in particular."
"Ah, you did?" Yagi's eyes momentarily glared into Manako, who in turn, frantically shook her head.
"N- no, I- I didn't!"
"I won't bite. Just tell me the truth. Were you intending on killing us?" Yagi asked.
"...Look, you guys seem nice," In truth, it was just Yagi that seemed nice, "But I can't just immediately trust you and blindly believe that you wouldn't just discard me once you found me to be nothing more than a nuisance." Manako admitted.
"Oh well," Yagi nodded slightly, "Makes sense. But nah, we aren't going to kill yo-"
"We?" Flashy Flash interrupted.
"I mean, me, I'm not going to kill you, and I'm not gonna let him kill you either." Yagi corrected himself, "To my perspective, you didn't seem like the type to senselessly take away someone's life unwarranted like an average monster would. I could say that you're a unique case."
Flashy Flash's eyes narrowed in mild frustration.
"Once this is over, I can help you out just in case you want to turn a new leaf, start fresh, and maybe apply for a feasible occupation." Yagi offered, "So you can adapt back the lifestyle that you once lost."
"Sounds...good." Manako thought for a while, and yes, a normal life sounded good to her. Free from the bondage of the Monster Association, from the constant threat of being executed on the spot at the slight hint of deviation from their coerced agenda...
I mean, it's not like I voluntarily joined this stupid organisation in the first place.
"Awfully considerate of you, Yagi, despite her reoccurring attempts to eliminate us both." Flashy Flash remarked.
A rubble sprung upwards as they sprint, blocking the path to the front. They had no choice but to go back, but as they did so, another rubble plunged upwards, trapping them in-between.
"Shit." Yagi cursed under his breath, "I can just punch through them, but it'll risk tearing down the pillars of this whole place."
"In short, you'd get everyone killed."
"Thanks for the pointers, captain obvious, but yeah." Yagi rubbed his chin, as he put Manako down from his hold, "I guess we could try to remove each of the-"
But before he could elaborate, the roof above starts to rumble, and shortly after, it collapsed into the ground.
Yagi tackled both Manako and Flashy Flash into the ground, simulteanously holding one of his legs up to prevent the rest of the roof from toppling them down.
...
Damn, I didn't realise I've been away for this long. I wonder how Izuku's doing back in Mustafu...
...
Garou slid his feet backwards, bending his knees, twisting his arms into different directions, the turquoise energy neatly adhered to the motion of his hands, synchronising with it.
As the outer shell began to expand from his body, shredding whatever's left of his remaining clothes, the ground beneath him shattered, forming an encircling crater.
Bang was the first one to make a move, their elbows clashing against each other, spreading a shockwave that collectively fractured the ceilings and the walls alike.
Nana and Torino followed along, each using their feet to propel themselves from the wall, cocking their clenched, tightened fist back.
With the assumption that he was distracted, they thrusted their fist, but then..
Garou hopped backwards, causing the fists between the heroes to collide, sending each of the combatants back from the source of the force alone.
Before he could make his next move, his heart throbbed loudly, the energy in him began to diminish.
No..
The poison was still there. He didn't know the effects could be this severe, let alone last a day after it's initial injection.
What kind of poison that they forced into him anyway?!
Blood seeped out of his mouth, as his legs began to lose it's footing power.
He disregarded the collective concerned looks from his adversaries. He shouldn't be getting whatever this is..Their pitying stares..
They should be utterly mortified at the sight of him, not sympathise with him.
Could it be...
That he was not cut out for this at all?
Garou wiped the smearing blood near his lips, struggling to keep himself standing, the irk bleeding into his emotions, ready to burst like an overloaded receptacle.
"You should probably stop pitying me and continue fighting." Garou suggested.
Bang contemplated for a second, his fist unclenched. But before he could open his mouth, suddenly, the narrow room around him was enveloped by an emerald glow, spreading across the ground and the ceiling alike as everything started to collapse, along with the diffused, vibrant aura lashing into every direction.
"What the-"
"It's her." Bang cut in, bracing for whatever's going to follow, "Tatsumaki is here."
Oh fuck. He definitely didn't expect this to happen this soon. The most valuable piece from the Commission is already here, right in this very base.
At this rate, she might as well flip the game board and be done with it. But despite that, the thrill that reverberated inside him fluctuated like a soaring missile.
The thought of finally having the chance to settle things with that boastful midget is exhilarating.
The crack enlarged from one end to another, as everything began to fall into the ground, rubbles upon rubbles toppling each other.
Garou flipped backwards, barely avoiding each of the falling debris. As he did so, he lost the sight of Bang and his other companions.
Whatever. They're lost cause.
Gotta get out of here, and fast!
Garou's legs began to tumble on itself as the ground began to levitate into the air. His head starts to wobble around, while he tried to his utmost limit to keep mobilising. But the foggy visions started to become more and more of a hindrance.
It was infuriating more than terrifying, so to say, the fact that he'd come this far only to risk dying in this shithole.
One could say that he'd just conquer death and spit in it's face for one last time, but he had a feeling lingering in his guts that the outcome wouldn't be the same as his previous encounters with death.
The ground began to destabilised, as he felt like he was in a moving space, soaring through the air, into the surface above-
Wait...
Was that...
Light emitting between the various gaps in the rocky walls?
But before he could figure out what was going on, the toll that the poison took on his body has reached its peak. His body lost all the power to move.
His perpetual will to gain more and more power prevented him from losing his grip on his consciousness, but the drawbacks of his body's current state is making it harder for him to push against his shortcomings.
Have I become it?
Garou fell limply into the ground, struggling to lift himself standing on his feet.
He placed each of his palms into the ground, attempting to push himself upwards.
The symbol of terror that brings despair to pro-heroes and villains alike?
Bleed gushed out of his lips, streaming down his face, eventually forming into a droplet at the side of his chin.
Then, that was when everything turned dark.
...
The entire base of the Monster Association were out in the surface for the world to see, all thanks to the endeavour of a single hero. The wreckage that it caused was certainly appalling. Scraps dangling above ruptured skyscrapers, along with many other collateral damages.
Floating in the air, the immobilised form of Psykos hovered above along with Tatsumaki.
"You know," Tatsumaki's eyes sombered a little, "The rift that you caused in this relationship of ours..I might say that it's regrettable to a degree."
Psykos kept her amused expression.
"I remember now. Everything about you. Ever since a few days ago, I started to get foggy visions of your face, what you looked like, what you did.." Tatsumaki's breath hitched for a little, her composure falling for a moment, "It was detestable."
"Hmph." Psykos puffed, "Is that all?"
"Knowing myself and the current predicament I'm in, pretty sure not." Tatsumaki emphasized, "Something happened before I woke up that day, and there's this...person I kept having visions about. I remember... loving him."
Tatsumaki noticed the shift in Psykos's expressions.
"You seem to know a lot about this, do you?" Tatsumaki accused.
"What do I know, I'm just a stranger on the sidelines when it comes to this whole facade." Psykos said, "It's not my job to settle someone else's love affairs..However, many affairs could be considered as a distraction. Example? Just look at the circumstance that we're in right now."
"Wha-"
The ground rumbled, and what looked like a lump of thick flesh shot itself from within the small gaps, morphing into an enormous amalgated substance.
It extended itself from the ground, before enveloping itself into Psykos's arms, as a burst of energy erupted forwards, pushing Tatsumaki away.
Forming a spherical barrier around her to prevent debris from touching her, she could sense that the power that the opposition initially held drastically fluctuated.
"Huh. Were your powers incompatible enough to win your own battles that you ordered a lump of flesh around to assist you? What a disgusting sight." Tatsumaki remarked, recovering from the violent wind bursting against her barrier.
"This is what remained of Orochi, as it seems. I couldn't pinpoint it's exact location, so I used the most effective lure of them all: An adequate scent of a gullible pro-hero who thought she had won the conflict."
"You're the gullible one here," Tatsumaki pointed at her accusingly, "A set of extra power boost won't change anything."
A violent breeze exuded by the infused psychic spun around in the air, manipulating the weather currents to it's whims, lightning crackled across the turbulent heavens with it's thunderous melody.
The sight was almost endearing, and eloquent in a way. The vibrant colours emitting out of the psychic, the luscious hair flowing in the air, increasing in size along with it's host's body.
That was when the beautiful view abruptly ended.
Worms crawled under the lower side of Psykos's body, eerily articulating it's flexible joint, moving back and forth and devouring everything it sees.
Tatsumaki remained passive and unimpressed. This was just a massive transformation with impractical spectacles, not to mention the length that the process took.
She could've ended her moments ago, but she decided to indulge the villain for a while.
Not that it'll last.
...
"Wha- wha- what the hell!?" Metal Bat fell pathetically on his butt, "What was all that? Another earthquake?! Don't tell me it's the second tectonic shift! We already had enough of it for a day!"
"It couldn't have been that." Izuku pointed at the gaps between the rocky walls.
Metal Bat wasn't sure what the kid was trying to do, "Are you trying to point at something non-existent?"
"No. Look closely."
'Would you just drop it and stop speaking in riddl- oh, oh my lord." Metal Bat's mouth was left agape.
Light was emitting out of the walls.
"Last time I remember, we're inside an underground cavern with no available source of light outside of these obsolete torches." Metal Bat said.
"Did you also not notice the vibrant aura enveloping everything whilst this supposed 'earthquake' commenced?" Izuku asked again.
"Uh..no? How the fuck do you expect me to pay attention to that?"
...
This man's perception of his environment is lacking. That is the only thing that Izuku could conclude.
"Something, or rather, someone caused this to happen." Izuku said, "And they said Tornado...wasn't on board with the plan?"
Oh. Yeah.
Fuck.
Metal Bat didn't know how to process this whole situation. They were literally plunged out of the underground, into the surface, and allegedly, Tatsumaki caused all of this?
"That stuck-up, glory hogging esper brat..." Metal Bat grumbled. Before he could lament even further, the communication device in his pockets vibrated.
"Finally!" He plucked the device out, answering the call.
Before he could say anything, the voice from the other end beat him to it, "Ah, Metal Bat."
"Sitch." Metal Bat replied.
"Would you be kind enough to fill me in about the current situation we're in?" The voice seeped with Passive-Aggressiveness.
Things like these are what grinds his gears.
"The signals were lost. You don't exactly expect someone to answer your calls when they're wandering around in a place where no internet connection is available." Metal Bat replied.
"And? I wasn't only referring to that," Sitch then dropped them with the truth bomb, "Something emerged out of the ground and devastated everything, particularly a large structural tower."
Oh. So they were right.
They were in the fucking surface.
Explains why they have signal in the first place when there is none before.
"Look, I'm in the clueless zone as much as you are. However, I can give you a little hint. It might involve a certain bitch with a curly green hair-"
"-You should probably describe it a little better." Izuku interrupted.
"-Who's done nothing so far but level down everything." Metal Bat finished.
"Are you insinuating that Tatsumaki would resort to causing a catastrophic event such as this one just to find her sister?" Sitch asked with edge on his voice.
"What do you think?" Metal Bat returned the edgeness, "She's been nothing but a bitch for the past few years, ya know? Ever since he left."
"Hm." The voice said, before eventually hanging up the call.
"Come on, really? Did he just hang up on me?" Metal Bat scrunched his nose, "Whatever, we just gotta bust these walls and get out there so we could get a clear view on what's really going on."
Izuku's fist caused a crackle in the air, and when it made a contact with the wall, a wide, gaping hole was formed.
They could feel the fresh air washing all over them. Finally.
Something good for once, even if it's short-lived.
From there on, they could see a massive creature with curvature features, worms springing downwards from her lower area.
...
Sweet Mask was never the type to be easily swayed. But this one is one of the few exceptions. His eyes were fixed on the television's screen, reporting the news of what transpired on the city of Yokohama.
Humming, he took a sip from the cup of coffee sitting near the edge of his desk.
With a slightly amused expression, he said, "A conflict of this scale, yet they left me out of the loop. So much for mutual goals, eh, Hero Commission?" He tossed aside the cup into the wall.
All that ruse about him being on a day off from the office today, he knew something was off. It just didn't occur to him that said something would involve something as catastrophic as this one.
If he was there, he might be able to hitch a plan to prevent that from ever happening. That enormous levels of casualties that could cost millions, not to mention the numerous lives that were lost along the way.
What were they doing, honestly? Scurrying their way into the base with a half-assed plan. The lower level heroes engaging on the surface, while the higher ones on the underground?
While it provides tactically from an outside perspective, it lacks the subtlety. One would say, if they have the location of the base within their hands, and the entrance to said base is a public space, they could've sent one of their lackeys to act as a spy, an infiltrator.
But they proceed with the operation following Child Emperor's hypothetical navigating system.
The human mind may be able to craft something clever, but even then, they still have it's flaws.
Were they obtuse enough to form a plan that would actually work in the long-run? Or maybe they were that desperate to maintain their financial state so they could uphold their status as this country's diamond in the rough?
A frivolous goal that he wouldn't simply let slide. The Hero Public Safety Commission must change, sooner or later.
Or they'll be in a risk of being replaced by a much grander organisation, namely something that he's got the wind of recently.
The door opened, revealed to be one of his bodyguards, "You called us, Fujikata-sama?"
"Set a course to Yokohama City, Kamino Ward." Sweet Mask said as he stood up, "The Hero Commission has made a grave mistake, and I look forward to their explanation regarding this."
"Right away, Fujikata-sama."
...
"Man, it's so dark in here." Yagi said, trying his best to see what was going on beneath all the mist because of the lack of light source.
He tried to rub into something, only to bump into something rock solid. He gripped it, before plucking it out of it's place.
A startled yelp could be heard from his back, and with a quick turn of his head..
Manako was emitting light from her eyes. As it turns out, Flashy Flash was stuck beneath all the rubbles, with only his head popping out of the hole.
"Wait, since when did eyes translate into a pair of breasts?" Yagi's brow raised, "Monsters anatomy is so weird."
"You're the one with the tacky, blond hair." Manako shot back.
"Say that again and I'll reconsider my offer." Yagi glared at the monster.
"You probably should-" Flashy Flash interjected.
"Shut up!" Yagi and Manako shouted at him in unison.
"Anyway, you need to get yourself out of there. Anyone with a working brain in their head would figure out that you could get out of that pile of rubbles rather easily." Yagi said.
"Indeed, but I'm trapped in a problematic position," Flashy Flash said, and Yagi didn't like where this is going, "And, if I'm not being careful enough, things could start to break in unpredictable ways. On normal circumstances, it's rather easy to escape, but..."
"But?" Yagi insisted for answers.
"...but for now, it seems that I might require your assistance in removing these stones."
"Now you're the one being the liability." Yagi deadpanned.
"I already have stated my reasons." Flashy Flash reiterated, "I am-"
"Fuck, just shut up, I'll grab you out of these rocks, okay?" Yagi exhaled, putting his hands on the rocks that trapped Flashy Flash, "You know that if I remove something that wasn't supposed to be removed, everything could fall on us, right?"
"...have you played Jenga before?" Flashy Flash asked.
"No, but I've heard of it before. Sounds like a dull way to pass some time." Yagi shrugged.
"Hmph." Flashy Flash shook his head, "Fine, I'll guide you."
"Suit yourself. Don't blame me if everything piles on us even more, though."
"Not like it'd kill me, or you for the matter. However..." Flashy Flash's eyes fixated on Manako, giving him a death stare.
"It's not like I can't use my body to protect her." Yagi shrugged.
"You would go that far?"
"To save a misguided monster? Yeah."
"...I concede." Flashy Flash relented.
"Just give me the instructions already, before I change my mind and leave you here." Yagi impatiently tapped his foot, his eyebrows twitching.
"Oi, Manako, increase the intensity of the light from your eyes, yeah?" Yagi requested.
The light grew brighter, to the point that it was too much.
"Not that much! I can't see shit." Yagi said in disapproval.
She balanced the intensity of the light, before it was sufficient enough for Yagi to proceed with...whatever he was going to do.
She admitted, that this would take longer than they'd expect it to.
Aw damn, I'm gonna be stuck with these two idiots in a cramped area for a little while now, am I?
TO BE CONTINUED!