"We must be on our best behavior," Genus said as they entered City Z.
"Agreed, Dr. Genus," Armored Gorilla nodded.
"Master Orotsu is a culinary genius! We tripled our clientele within a few days! And with the heroes coming to visit us…such a relief to see income again," Genus said with a sigh. "I have to wonder what we'll be taught next."
"Um…excuse me…" the voice of a young boy was said behind them. They both paused and turned to see the speaker. The slightly fat boy with fish-like lips looked at them and scratched at his black, bowl-cut hair lightly. He even had a touch of a bald spot, and he looked at them with his unibrow gaze. "Um…I'm looking for someone. I heard…maybe…that he was here. Can you…help me find him? I mean…"
"Well…that depends on who he is. And what he looks like," Genus said and adjusted his square glasses. The boy shuffled in his white shirt and shorts. The shirt had large letters of 'BG' on it, but it didn't seem unusual.
"Um…he has white hair. Yellow eyes, I think. He's tall. He's a fighter. But…" the boy frowned. "I heard he might be around here."
"I wouldn't know anyone with that description," Genus said.
"You should go home. It's not safe here," Armored Gorilla said.
"Please?!" the boy begged. "I just wanna find him! I mean…I don't have money to pay you…but…I gotta find him!"
"Kid…look…" Genus sighed and shook his head. "Okay. Walk with us. We're going to meet with some people. Maybe they can help you."
"Thank you!" the boy said and smiled with hopeful delight.
"So…what's your name?" Armored Gorilla asked.
"I'm Tareo," he said.
"Very good. I'm Genus. This is my assistant, Armored Gorilla. We are meeting with a very distinguished chef. As well as a respected group of people," Genus explained and continued his walk with them. When they got closer to the main complex, Sonic darted down to approach them.
"You're both expected. The kid is not," Sonic muttered.
"He's looking for someone. We were hoping you could help," Genus said.
"Hmm," Sonic frowned and blinked when Inichi appeared in his hovering way. Tareo cringed at the sight of him, but Inichi sent a wave of calm to show that everything was going to be fine.
"He's looking for Garou," Inichi chuckled. "He is definitely with us now. Sonic, all is well. Thank you for your due diligence. The three can pass."
"Oh. Okay," Sonic nodded and darted off.
"Allow me to bring you in the rest of the way," Inichi offered and bubbled the three of them. He floated the bubble after him to carry them directly onto the grounds before releasing them all. "Garou! You have a visitor!"
"Huh?" Garou blinked and saw the young boy. "Oh. It's you."
"Uncle!" Tareo said and ran over to him. "I looked all over for you!"
"Ah…I'm not your uncle…" Garou said and glanced at Lily's curious gaze. "I know him. Kinda. We shared a hero book. Talked now and then."
"He helped me! He also stood up for me around my friends…" Tareo said.
"Kid, they aren't friends if that happens. You got bullies for friends," Kamikaze snorted and watched Tacki set up another blanket. "I'd suggest for you to get some new friends."
"Whoa! Atomic Samurai!" Tareo gaped. When he looked around, he recognized all of the intensely powerful heroes around him. He was in shock.
"I think I know you," Saitama said on looking over. "You almost got hit by a car. With your dog. I hope you look both ways before crossing the street now."
"Aww. Our sweet puppy would have eaten the car. Isn't that right?" Mitsumi giggled and got a growling rumble of appreciation from Overgrown Rover with a chin scratching. "Such a good puppy!"
"That's a dog?!" Tareo blinked.
"Yep. A monster dog. But it's my dog," Saitama nodded. "Oh. You both are here, too. Hi."
"You're out of the bedroom?" Genus blinked at him. And it was now that he saw Mitsumi in full with her intense beauty. He was stunned.
"I look forward to seeing what you can create with Orotsu. A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Mitsumi said with a small nod. Then she looked at Saitama and pressed into him to get a kiss placed on her forehead. He yawned and smiled when Overgrown Rover yawned after him. On exposing the massive fangs in its mouth briefly, it snapped its jaws shut and snuggled into him happily.
"Good doggy," Saitama said and watched Anno walk over to introduce himself before leading the other two over to Orotsu. He saw how Genus couldn't stop looking at Mitsumi, and he knew he had to intervene quickly.
"Lady Mitsumi! I need to fix your hair!" Kianna said and was quick to walk over to help with it. Mitsumi nodded and laughed when Overgrown Rover blinked all six eyes at Kianna before licking at her hands. "Stop it! I need to fix her hair! Hey! Oh, come on!"
"Doggy!" Saitama said sternly to get the monster dog's attention to settle down. He leaned over to pull the large monster dog into his lap. "Stay."
It huffed and watched Kianna work with Mitsumi's hair now. It was able to learn not to bother anyone if working with Mitsumi's hair. Inichi chuckled and moved to hover over Fubuki. He looked over when Mitsumi asked, "Is Wind Crane okay? Does she need anything?"
"Tsuruga and Tanktop Girl are assisting with food for her. She is recovering well. We may be able to see the nest in a bit," Inichi nodded.
"Um…Uncle…" Tareo said softly.
"Yeah, kid?" Garou asked and sat back with Lily in his lap again.
"Um…I hope you're okay," he said.
"I'm actually doing better than okay," Garou nodded. "I have a girlfriend. I have family I never knew I had before. I feel…peaceful. I'm doing very well."
"Definitely has a girlfriend!" Lily chuckled. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Lily. I've been dating Garou for a few days now. What's your name?"
"I'm Tareo," he smiled. Fumio walked over now to have some casual conversation and to make a possible new friend. Black Sperm was gestured to come over and be included in the small group. It was incredibly happy at the offer.
"Garou," Mitsumi said to get his attention. "Can you please introduce me to your friend? It would be rude to not have introductions."
"Oh! Ah, right, Lady Mitsumi," Garou chuckled. "This is Tareo. He likes heroes and he collects books on them."
"If he has a hero book, we can pass it around to sign it," King nodded. That got Tareo to gape at the idea. "Do we have any books? Maybe the newest ones?"
"I don't think so," Tacki frowned.
"I can remedy that," Inichi mused and focused. "One moment. Ah. Sweet Mask will autograph it now, too…"
"What?! Sweet Mask?! He's gonna…autograph…ah…wow…!" Tareo gasped with complete shock.
"Hmm. Another thing of utmost importance. Lady Mitsumi, we will be finalizing a Heroic Monster listing tomorrow, too. After the assessment. They will want photos of all current monsters to put in this new booklet and to add to their system databases," Inichi said on the report from Sweet Mask.
"Very well. Rendor! We'll need to ensure of a contract for this. I won't have anything go wrong," Mitsumi said. Rendor looked over to nod and got out a parchment to start working on a contract. Tatsumaki brought over a small table for him to work on.
"Lady Mitsumi," Richoo said when he walked over.
"Richoo! I wondered how you were doing. I know you have been tending to family," Mitsumi chuckled.
"Yeah. Ah…I did something a little foolhardy, though," Richoo frowned.
"Oh?" Saitama asked and let Overgrown Rover snuggle back into Mitsumi the moment her hair was done. Kianna moved to sit with King again to listen in.
"I went to my old family home to help check if there was anything else in there. Mia thought she left something behind, and she did. When I was leaving, I heard one of the neighbors gossiping that her son had turned into a monster and she had to get rid of him quickly. A very certain fish monster," Richoo said carefully.
"What?!" Fumio gaped and looked over.
"Yeah, Fumio. Your mom moved into my old neighborhood. So…I confronted her when I knew it was safe to do it. Told her that her son was cured and that she clearly didn't care about him at all. That if she gave any form of a damn about him that she'd give him up for adoption for abandoning him like she did. It was obvious she didn't care, because she wanted him gone all along instead of trying to help him find a cure for what changed him! I heard what happened with you, Fumio, and I called her out on it. She tried to lie to me about saying she had a son, but she knew I heard her. And with me being a monster like this, well…" Richoo sighed.
"Did you hurt her?" Mitsumi asked carefully.
"No. But I did get this…" Richoo said and took out a folded paper from a protective bag. "She walked into an adoption agency in the early morning and signed over Fumio. This is a copy of the paper, and she gave it to me when she admitted that what she did was wrong. To wait in the old house so she could at least put some peace on everything. After I got the papers, I told her not to worry about him. That he will be adopted by heroes that will care for him and treat him better than she did. She was ashamed, but at least she knows she doesn't have to think about him anymore. Lady Mitsumi, you can adopt him right now to make it legally binding. Everything is ready."
"That was a bit foolhardy, as you say," Inichi sighed. "Hmm…you did this last night? While we rested?"
"Yeah. Mia forgot something at the old house. An old jewelry box. I was able to get it," Richoo said. "When did you want to see about Fumio?"
"We'll do that tomorrow. I'm sure the Hero Association has something we can do there," Mitsumi smiled. "Please give the papers to Rendor?"
"I can do that," Richoo chuckled and was quick to hand them over.
"You were followed?" Inichi asked and focused to scan for any unwelcome guests. "Hmm. It appears that you were."
"I was?!" Richoo frowned. Inichi narrowed his eyes and now floated over to where Grigos was stationed. Sonic was also standing before the burly hero with his arms crossed over his chest.
"A lady was threatened!" the hero argued. He looked like a football player from the football uniform and helmet he wore, but he was clearly a low class B hero. Grigos knew he wasn't a threat at all.
"Was she hurt?" Grigos asked. "Bleeding? Wounded?"
"No. But she was scared out of her mind! I'm sure of it!" the hero said. "And you're a monster! I should kill you!"
"For what?" Grigos asked. "Talking? That's…kinda dumb."
"No appointment. No entry. Leave or I get to cut you," Sonic smirked when he suddenly appeared behind the hero with a blur of movement.
"Not necessary," Inichi said and the hero gaped at the sight of him. "I understand your concern. The situation is under control now."
"As he said," King said when he walked over to glare for intimidation.
"Ah…well…eh…" the hero grimaced.
"Besides, it was about a woman that abandoned her kid," Kamikaze said when he walked over with Tacki on his shoulders again. "She gave him over for adoption. Something she should have done to begin with. Richoo didn't scare her. He made her see herself as something lower than dirt for what she did. He didn't lay a single finger on her. He didn't do anything wrong."
"Her son was afflicted on being a monster. She cast him out. Not only out of fear, but she never wanted him to begin with. We got him cured," Fubuki nodded when she showed up. "There is no more harm to him. He'll get adopted by S class heroes now. So everything is fine."
"But…that's a monster! You're working with monsters!" the hero growled.
"These monsters are my family," Mitsumi said when she walked over with Saitama. Overgrown Rover stood next to them and growled in warning. "Many of them are cured now. They lost their want to hurt others. The Hero Association knows of this, and they work at Neutral Grounds most of the time."
"She is correct," Genos said when he walked over to add his support.
"You can see us here," Bane chuckled on walking over now. "If there was an issue, it would have been taken care of."
"Easily," Saitama nodded. "You can go home now."
"But…" the hero started.
"Hmm…do I need to collect Sweet Mask? I can…" Inichi mused. "Oh. No, I won't. He has another script."
"Oh, dear…" Mitsumi cringed and giggled at the thought.
"Was it written by his new writer?" Kamikaze asked.
"I wish it was…" Inichi grumbled to get them all snickering.
"There's no way that Sweet Mask would be nice to monsters!" the hero snorted. At this said, Inichi sighed and focused slightly to bring Sweet Mask to them. And he eyed the manila folder wearily. When the bubble dropped Sweet Mask, the hero could only gape with complete horror.
"Inichi only speaks the truth these days," Sweet Mask said.
"What do you mean 'these days'?" Inichi asked.
"I remember how you were, old friend," Sweet Mask chuckled.
"And I remember how you gave me quality scripts," Inichi darted back to get everyone snickering.
"Here. Oh, and here," Sweet Mask said on handing Inichi the script and a newly printed hero booklet. The booklet was quickly passed around for autographs, and Inichi just glared at the folder he was given.
"Saitama. Your parents are still here. I don't know if you want your father to witness one of Inichi's rants…" Mitsumi said softly while signing the booklet.
"Um…yeah…craaaap…" Saitama sighed. "Oh! Ah, have Orotsu keep them busy with cooking. And food. Lots of food."
"I'll help with that," Richoo chuckled to help with distraction. Overgrown Rover huffed and nuzzled at Saitama's hand for attention after he signed the hero booklet. The monster dog whined and stared at him intently now.
"Shrink small," Saitama said for the monster dog to do that. Mitsumi bent down to scoop up the now small monster dog to snuggle it.
"Wait! That monster! What is it doing here?!" Sweet Mask gaped.
"It's my dog now," Saitama shrugged and put an arm around her. Then he looked at the lesser hero before saying, "Don't think of trying to hit it. It might think you're a chew toy. And Mitsumi loves it when it looks cute like this."
"And such a cute puppy it is!" Mitsumi said and laughed at the face licks she got. "Yes, you are! Such a good puppy!"
It yawned and reclined happily in her arms with all six eyes half-closed in comfort. She continued to pet it and watched Inichi read the script. The lesser hero in their midst was a bit curious on all of it and just watched.
"So…this is a script about a sport. Ice skating?" Inichi asked. The hero paused and decided to keep quiet after swallowing a bit.
"That's what I gathered," Sweet Mask agreed.
"And this is also why you needed to learn about fan dancing. You plan to act like you are gliding over the ice with fans?" Inichi asked carefully. "The script says nothing about it, but you felt it would be a decently added effect?"
"Yes," Sweet Mask confirmed.
"You always want me to make you laugh. I believe it is time that you returned the favor," Inichi said eloquently. "From now on, every time you give me a bad script, I shall refer to you as 'Sugar Face'. This way I will know it will make me laugh when I think of it instead of a script that outright depresses me from all the grammatical errors!"
"What?!" Sweet Mask gaped. Mitsumi died laughing at it, and Saitama had to support her staggering form. Overgrown Rover huffed at the sudden jostling, but it endured it just for the attention.
"There isn't a single sentence structure that is true to form!" Inichi ranted out. Fubuki was hiding her face in her fur coat from the tears that started up from her intense laughing. "Ice skating is a graceful, delicate and intense sport that is based on physique and beautiful ballet style on ice. This script reminds me of what a canine would find in the mud and judge how rotted it was before rolling around in it. Then it would run through water to shake off everything in the nicest room of a house to let you clean up the mess!"
"Ah…" the hero standing there was in shock at what he was hearing.
"One should be very glad I don't take up insult commenting on those I see," Inichi sighed and smacked Sweet Mask with the script to give it back. "However, I can see why you wanted to go with this scripting. It very much describes something you would enjoy. But it is difficult to enjoy such a thing when there are so many blasted errors! I'd have Genos calculate how many errors are found and give you the number, but I fear I may regret the very decision!"
"May I?" Genos asked to get them all laughing hard. He took up the script and flipped through it calmly. "Ah. I have counted ten pages total, four-hundred and twenty-four spelling errors, three-hundred and four punctuation errors and five major loop holes in the plot."
"I rest my case," Inichi said to get Sweet Mask in tears of laughter now.
"If you would like a further diagnosis, the writer lacks attention to detail, enjoys short-handed scripting and has a negative impact on any form of character development," Genos continued. "It is not mentioned what type of costume or outfit is worn, if the main character is truly male or female in figure, and it does not fully state where such a location the ice skating rink is.
"Furthermore, ice skating usually depicts its own story, much like ballet in a dance form. For example, the story of 'The Black Swan'. A famous story of itself, as we are all aware. But, on reading this script, there is no true story style to show what form of ice skating story is even depicted. The one watching would be clueless on what to surmise. Is it just skating on ice for fun? Does the writer wish for the watcher or reader to notice anything on reflection? The details are severely lacking to surmise any answers."
"Stop!" Inichi begged him. "My intellect is shrinking from all of this!"
"In conclusion, I would agree with Inichi. The writer of this script needs to relearn a few basic structures. Mainly all of them," Genos nodded and gave back the script to Sweet Mask. Mitsumi was in absolute tears and leaning hard into Saitama with Overgrown Rover staring at everyone with complete confusion on what the excitement was from her arms. It looked at Inichi to get a small explanation back. Then it looked at the script to catch a whiff of the various scents on it. Now all six eyes locked on the hero that it didn't see as family to growl.
"What?" Inichi blinked at the thought. Now he turned to the hero. "Is this script yours?"
"Ah…well…not really…" the hero grimaced.
"Hmm. And you now heard how I rant about bad writing. I see. You know who wrote it, then. And you offered to bring it to Sweet Mask's office in the Hero Association. Have that writer come by Neutral Grounds tomorrow. I am unsure if Mr. Saitama and Lady Mitsumi will be present, due to Hero Association duties, but I may be there to lightly talk and consult about a possible training class. The idea is good. The grammar is very poor. Please relay my message," Inichi said.
"Okay," the hero said and left right after that.
"He wrote it. Didn't he?" Kamikaze mused.
"Correct," Inichi sighed. "I shall urge for him to appear at Neutral Grounds to discuss possible writing structure with me."
"Geez…" Saitama shook his head and finally ended up carrying Mitsumi back to a chair to sit down with her. Sweet Mask was allowed to stay with them for dinner and found a place to sit with Flashy Flash. Iwasaki was still in her monster form, and Flashy Flash had an arm around her graceful, feathered neck. While they all planned out a menu for the elaborate dinner, deep below the ground in a hidden location, Metal Knight was laughing like crazy from what he was watching through the video feeds.
He was at one of his many portable desks, and this one was in his bedroom. He was letting Siren rest while he checked on current events and security cameras. He had just assisted Child Emperor when he noticed the scene in the main gateway entrance. He really did love Inichi's ranting and simply couldn't stop laughing!
"Dearest?" Siren crooned from the massive bed she reclined in.
"Ah. Awake, my love?" he asked and moved to recline next to her again.
"For now," she chuckled and let him hold her close. "What were you laughing at?"
"Inichi had another script," he grinned. He was still amazed with her body, and he was impressed that she was able to shrink her wings down to keep them from hampering her when she reclined. They were much like one of the cute, winged purses in style.
"Oh…" she blinked and laughed softly with him. "Hmm. I should go back and get you a promise ring. You think?"
"In good time," he agreed and kissed her softly. "I would have thought you'd have hair. At least on your head."
"I could…" she mused. "Would you like that, Bofoi?"
"I can almost see you with short hair on top and lengthened a touch around your shoulders. More of a purple-black sheen of color to add a striking touch of color to your dark red skin," he suggested. She blinked her glowing green eyes and focused to let him see hair start to sprout. Soft bangs now covered her forehead to be held neatly in place by her curled horns, and her hair now tapered to a light point down her neck. The color was as he suggested, much to his delight. She chuckled and got squeezed. He nodded and said, "Perfection, my dear. I like this quite a bit."
"Good," she laughed softly and snuggled into him. "What do you think on everything so far? With the Secret Skins and such? I know we missed meeting with Blue Ripple, but Inichi informed us of everything."
"I'm quite intrigued! I would love to get a sample of that seaweed, too," Bofoi admitted. "I know Child Emperor has been studying it extensively. It holds so many positive healing properties!"
"I'm sure many hospitals can benefit from it," Siren agreed and sighed. "I'd love to get some of the food they make."
"Easily remedied," Bofoi said and activated a small keyboard near the bed. A holographic screen came up to display camera footage, and a small microphone to talk through was pulled up from the keyboard. A robot was quickly sent off to hover in front of Saitama and Mitsumi with its camera activated. "Hello! Siren and I were wondering if it was possible to get a platter of what was made."
"Oh! Of course! I'm sure we'll have plenty to go around," Mitsumi smiled.
"Siren. You're okay?" Saitama asked.
"I'm fine," Siren chuckled in her gravelly tone to avoid suspicion of her new body. "I'll need to get a promise ring for Bofoi soon."
"You can work with Tacki on that. Also, eh…Wind Crane laid eggs. Four of them, from what we were told. She'll need that nest protected," Saitama said.
"Oh! I shall send my robot workers over right now to get a better structure made," Bofoi agreed. "It will have 24 hour surveillance at all times."
"Thank you," Mitsumi nodded respectfully to the hovering robot. Overgrown Rover whined and nuzzled under Mitsumi's chin to give some affection to her. She laughed softly and pet it while Saitama held her securely in his lap. At her soft sigh, it looked at her with all six eyes and huffed. "It's okay, puppy. I'm sure you've never had so much attention where you were before."
It cocked its head at her and whined as though wanting her to talk more. Saitama said, "Yeah, it pretty much did what it was told. Treated as you would expect it, too. I still can't believe that I forgot about my pets! And my plant! I mean…I had just moved into that apartment a couple days before I met you. So…I was a bit preoccupied. But I have them back now."
"Yeah," Mitsumi smiled and kissed him gently before laughing at the lick the monster dog gave her cheek. "They are both going to definitely be with us everywhere. I don't care what people would say. It's funny, though."
"Hmm?" Saitama asked and pet Overgrown Rover when he got nudged.
"I remember always asking my father for a pet. I promised to care for it. Brush it. All of it. He always said it would happen in time. That the time for one wasn't right. After he died…and I realized what the others were treating me as…" she frowned. "I…found it a bit ironic…"
"No!" Saitama said and sat up to hug her. She shivered and shook her head at it. Now he looked at the monster dog in her lap. "She's sad. If she gets sad, I get mad. She needs to laugh. Now. Do something."
Overgrown Rover whined, licked her cheek and jumped down to the ground. It looked around and saw King sitting back down to play a game on his portable gaming system. It trotted over to sniff under his chair casually before trotting over to where Garou was talking to Lily and Tareo. None of them noticed it, and it jumped back up into Mitsumi's lap with a small grunt.
"What…is that…smell?!" King suddenly blinked.
"Oh, hell no! Did that dog…?!" Garou gaped and got up with Lily to move and cough from the stench that now filled the air. Fumio and Tareo laughed and made gagging noises from what assaulted them. Black Sperm seemed to shrug indifference to it. Mitsumi was now dying with laughter at it, and Saitama nodded.
"Good doggy," he said and chuckled at the lick to his cheek. Now that they were all sitting back and waiting for dinner, he knew that it was time to relax for a bit. Everything was still cooking, and the smells that filled the air now made him sigh with a form of delight. He couldn't wait to start sampling everything that was brought to him, and he kept his hand over Mitsumi's belly with eager anticipation at the coming feast. At the sight of a whole deer being brought over by Inichi now, his eyes widened with absolute delight and excitement. Now we're talking! I guess I can wait a little bit longer for the food. Maybe.