"I can't…believe…that they had parts…!" Saitama fumed from the lightly forested area that Bright Bolt brought them to. Wind Crane had let him know of everything discovered after they left, and he was simply furious. Her fans were still with them, and they fluttered around protectively in small, hovering shifts.
"Do we dare ask what parts?" Mitsumi asked with a small swallow.
"I'll find out. I'll ask the questions. Wind Crane told me everything. If I see them…" he growled. "Crap! I thought we got rid of it all!"
"As long as I don't see it," she shivered and pressed into him. He still had his gloves off the whole time and all he did run his hands over her to comfort her. Then he paused on catching a sound in the far distance.
"Fan out! They can't have gone too far!"
"Our spy told us that they disappeared. Just our luck that they arrived out here where we were hiding!"
"Now that they're out of the protective nest, is it safe to catch them?"
"We have to! Then we can hold the girl for ransom! We'll be rich! All we have to do is get rid of that guy she's with. Easy!"
"Hmm…" Saitama narrowed his eyes. Then he saw the other pets appear. Blue Ripple moved to snuggle into Mitsumi with relief on finding her. Stable Rock sat down and glanced up at Saitama to get a good head scratching. Tangled Vine had appeared before making a vine to climb up to Mitsumi for his set of snuggles. When the voices got closer, Saitama made a motion for silence.
"Hmm?" Stable Rock snorted.
"People that want to hurt my wife," Saitama frowned. "They sound stupid, though. I don't think they know we're S class heroes."
"I don't hear anything," Mitsumi frowned lightly.
"My senses are crazy, love. And I'm too protective of you. But I clearly heard them, and I'm pissed," Saitama growled out.
"I heard them, too. Sound travels through the air easily," Bright Bolt grunted. "I can sense where they are. Can I zap them now?"
"Go for it," he nodded. Bright Bolt focused to let a few clouds roll in. Then he let the air charge up with a static field. He sensed where the men were coming in from, and he snickered before letting loose with a massive, zapping bolt of destruction to hear rewarding screams in the westward direction.
"That was too hard," Mitsumi frowned.
"Nope. They were talking about kidnapping you for money. Thus, why I said they wanted to hurt you," Saitama said. Now she looked at him with shock before looking at Tangled Vine.
"Can you please help detain them?" Mitsumi asked and gently pet along his quills. He looked up at her with his glowing emerald eyes with amusement.
"I want them closer. In fact, we should make some heavy mud. It will be easy to disguise it out here," Tangled Vine suggested. When he saw Mitsumi wince, he snuggled into her hands for an answer.
"I just need to eat something," she frowned. He focused on the ground for a tree to quickly spring up and grow out several types of fruits. Saitama reached up for an apple, and a peach was grabbed right after that. He gave her the peach for its softer flesh while he bit into the apple with delight.
"I like this land," Blue Ripple said and studied the area. "Is it claimed?"
"I don't think so," Bright Bolt said. "I came here because I detected no humans at all. At least large pockets of them. I knew those others were here, but I thought they were hikers moving in another direction. The hill we have in question is a few miles away. A rather great distance away, in fact."
"So…this earth…is free…?" Stable Rock mused.
"What are you suggesting?" Mitsumi asked and bit into the wonderfully juicy peach. Blue Ripple ensured none of the peach juice fell on her and kept it in a small bubble for her to consume as a form of juice on its own. While she was being sated from hunger now, Stable Rock focused to study the ground and surrounding areas. He was rather amused.
"Hmm…for twenty…miles…all around…there is…nothing…" he mused. "Our hill…is out…of range…too. We shall…claim…fifteen miles…for us…easily…"
"Is it close to any major cities?" Saitama asked.
"No…" he snickered. "The land…is not…good…for building. I…can easily…fix…that…in secret…"
"That's wonderful to know! I'll have to make sure I can purchase this land the moment it is questioned. If I don't know who to pay, then the land will belong to me by default until I am approached," Mitsumi nodded. "So, how do we plan to claim this land?"
"Like…this…" Stable Rock grunted and focused for massive walls of sheer rock wall to appear around the fifteen mile plot. Small tremors were felt by any within the new mountain range, but he made sure that nothing would be seen as too much of a threat to look into. The only way in and out was by flight or monster travel, and he knew the same thing would be done with the house on the hill.
"This was how I had my lake closed off, too. Stable Rock was able to help with that when we met long ago," Blue Ripple grinned. "Ah! Stable Rock can easily help with securing my lake land needs in City Z!"
"So he can!" Mitsumi blinked with delighted surprise.
"Oh?" Stable Rock looked at her. He gleaned her thoughts and snorted. "Show…me…later…?"
"Definitely," Mitsumi nodded. Blue Ripple now noticed the intruders closing in swiftly, and he focused for a heavy fog to blanket the area. It quickly made the men lose their sense of direction, and even Bright Bolt's static field interrupted their compasses.
"Boss! What do we do?!" a voice panicked in the distance.
"Calm down! Keep going straight!" a gruff voice responded.
"Where's straight?!" another man panicked.
"Oh, yeah. Them. They're intruders now," Saitama said. He glanced up when Inichi arrived with Fubuki in a blue bubble. He let her down gently, and Stable Rock mentally told him everything.
"New land?" Inichi mused. "That's good. I shall get with Rendor for all the contract details in case we are confronted. But you mentioned a foul plot to steal away Lady Mitsumi? This won't do. Allow me to investigate?"
"By all means," Mitsumi nodded.
"Are you serious? They don't know you're heroes?" Fubuki asked with complete confusion. At Saitama's shrug, she did a face palm.
"We have ten of them. A rather interesting group…" Inichi frowned from what he easily gathered in his hovering monster form. Then he saw Wind Crane land heavily. Zenchu, Garou and Lily jumped off her back quickly to show their support. Fire Flight soon appeared with Shenjou being dropped gently from her claws. None of them looked happy at all.
"They want a true fight? They've got one!" Fire Flight hissed out.
"It's one-sided, though," Garou grinned and squeezed Lily. "Stay with them, please. I brought you with me because I miss hanging out with you."
"Same," Lily smiled and let him kiss her before setting her near Bright Bolt.
"How should we do this? Do we ambush them? I mean, they do think I'm weak. Can I…play a bit of being bait?" Mitsumi asked with a small smile. "I can sit in your lap, Saitama, and sing softly to you. We can have our pets with us to be as tiny as possible. Then my fans can encircle as the others come into view…"
"And then we can grow larger!" Bright Bolt snickered. Overgrown Rover huffed and panted with a bit of excitement at this.
"I have an idea…" Blue Ripple mused and mentally told the others to hide. Fire Flight shrunk small to settle near Mitsumi, though. She was her pet right now and had to protect her. Even Wind Crane shrunk small to show she wasn't budging. Saitama got off Bright Bolt's back, set down Overgrown Rover and pulled Mitsumi down gently. She had him sit down to settle in his lap. Overgrown Rover huffed and settled in her lap with Tangled Vine. Blue Ripple snuggled up into her side happily, and Bright Bolt rested his muzzle against Saitama's shoulder.
"They…are…appearing…" Stable Rock snorted and moved his head under Saitama's hand for scratching. Wind Crane rested her beak on Mitsumi's knee, and Fire Flight coiled around the two of them affectionately.
"Too many pets!" Saitama sighed to get all the monsters laughing and huffing out amusement.
"They make me so happy!" Mitsumi said and snuggled all of the ones that pressed into her now. He looked at her and found himself laughing before pressing a kiss to her temple. She leaned into him and got kissed passionately.
"My beautiful wife," he muttered and let her lean into him.
"My overly protective husband," she chuckled and watched her fans float up to hide away from sight. He chuckled back softly and saw Blue Ripple focus on the ground to start flooding it with water. Stable Rock rose up the ground they were on into a small hill. Tangled Vine enhanced the grass and grew out the fruit tree a bit more to provide even more shade for them all. Bright Bolt snickered and charged the water up with electricity to shock anyone that tried to walk through the small puddles.
"That will hurt…" Zenchu grinned from where he hid in the shadows.
"No shit," Garou smirked.
"Where's Lily?" his brother asked.
"Safe. Inichi has her with Fubuki a short ways away," Garou muttered.
"Good. Let's get ready to…play nice…" Zenchu grinned wickedly.
"Once again, Tsuruga missed out on a fight. But he was also kicking away reporters. They're like little gnats!" Shenjou grunted with disgust.
"They can be with a good story to write. You plan to become the snake man again? Or stay in the human form?" Garou asked.
"I'll shift back into my monster form if I have to. I should be good enough like this, though," Shenjou grunted. "Nothing wrong with spraying some venom, come to think of it. I may do it if push comes to shove."
"Your muscle mass right now could over-shadow all of those skinny twigs," Garou chuckled. "Ah. There they are…"
"Good…" Zenchu nodded and narrowed his already slanted black eyes. Mitsumi had just started to sing softly before she looked over at the various men that trudged into the small clearing.
"Husband. It appears that we have guests on our private land," Mitsumi frowned and pressed into him.
"Indeed…" Saitama said with a blank stare at them. The two of them sparkled in their finery, but he noticed that the men were wearing all black cloth with red and purple sashes crossed over their chests. "And…eh…hi."
"Just hand us the girl," the leader said and pointed at Mitsumi. He was wearing slightly better clothes with a heavier set of sashes that even trailed down his legs in a flowing way. They all wore ski masks, too, but that didn't matter.
"Why? You know she's an S class hero. Right?" Saitama asked.
"What?" he blinked. Now he saw the fans appear and split out in their crescent counterparts to fill the sky. Then the blades and spikes flicked out and aimed right at them to show they were ready to attack.
"I'm Fan Dancer in the Hero Association. Ranked at 4, you see. Do you not read booklets? My fans are sentient and highly protective of me," she frowned. "Or did you think I was Himiko? She's with Zombieman, though. I don't think he'd let you near her. Atsuko is in custody. I just got married in full to Saitama. He's Caped Baldy and ranked at 3 in S class. I'm sitting in his lap."
"And you think I'm just gonna hand over my wife?" Saitama asked them with a puzzled look. Overgrown Rover growled dangerously and started to hunker down. Even Stable Rock glanced over to glare with mistrust.
"You're Mitsumi Takashi, though! Just some little girl that ran off!" the man said with disbelief. Blue Ripple hissed with intense protection now.
"A little girl? Back then I was. I'm nearing my mid-twenties. As for running off? True. But it was because my family wanted me dead," she shrugged. "You thought I would have you catch me and use me for what? Ransom? My mother was a monster in disguise. She murdered my father in cold blood. What did you hope to achieve? If she was still alive, she'd likely take me back and kill all of you out of spite! Do you not watch any of the news feeds? Or do you still live in the past and not keep up with the times? So confusing!"
"And I killed that thing with one punch. So, make your choice. I slap all of you and send you to jail. Or I let other things use you as chew toys before I slap all of you and send you to jail," Saitama nodded. Mitsumi smiled and sighed with relief when his hand moved onto her belly. "I'll put the gloves back on if I have to slap them. It might cushion the blow. But I doubt it."
"I tried to tell you, boss!" one of the henchmen hissed out. "You were too spazzed out over old news!"
"Shut up!" the man scowled.
"Also, these are my pets. They're all very powerful monsters. I freed them of their need to attack on sight. They choose to protect me and my family. Tell me, my dears. Should I go with them?" Mitsumi asked the monsters around her with a soft croon. Stable Rock snorted and ignored their stares at his jewel-encrusted shell. Bright Bolt licked her cheek to get her laughing before turning his head to look at the men. A spark of electricity zapped around his antlers to show he was charged and ready to let it all loose.
"They look stupid. And they smell like dead flesh," Bright Bolt snorted.
"I bet even the water will be fouled if they bathed in it. Best to drown them in water to ensure they all get clean," Blue Ripple smirked.
"Not…worthy…at all…" Stable Rock grunted and nudged for more head scratches from Saitama. "I should…drop them…in…a pit…"
"Cage them with thorny vines, too," Tangled Vine said and stretched before rolling onto his back for belly scratches. Wind Crane clapped her beak with intense dislike. Fire Flight turned her scarlet snake head over at them, flicked a forked tongue and focused on the ground they stood on. At the steam that suddenly rose up, the men all jumped backwards to get away from the searing heat.
"What the hell?!" a man gasped.
"Oh. My pets are mainly GOD monsters. Except for my sweet, innocent puppy! It's a dragon rank, I think," Mitsumi smiled and got cuddled by Overgrown Rover. "Does puppy need a good chew toy? Oh! Does puppy have a tummy ache? You poor dear."
It whined and licked her cheek before bolting around the men easily. It wasn't even hurt by the elemental traps, and that was from being gifted immunity by the GOD monsters there. When Overgrown Rover sat back in her lap, the men started swearing at each other from the stench that now filled the air.
"I told ya not to add beans to our lunch!" the leader snapped at the men.
"We didn't! It was that mutt-thing!" a man squealed while covering his nose. "What a reeking stench!"
"Yeah. It farted on you," Zenchu said with a sadistic grin on his face when he finally appeared with Garou next to him to block them off. Shenjou appeared right after that and cracked his knuckles.
"A mutt-thing?! You disgraceful ingrates!" Mitsumi seethed at them. "This is my sweet, innocent puppy! Saitamaaa! They insulted our puppy!"
"There, there, dear," Saitama sighed. She knew he was playing along. Overgrown Rover whined, rolled onto its back and waved a back leg as though wounded. She gasped and snuggled it to comfort it.
"My poor, dear puppy!" she said with a small huff. "Bright Bolt? Can you zap them for me?"
"You don't even have to ask!" Bright Bolt beamed and let a massive, electrical spark shoot up from the conducted water. That got all of the faulty men to shriek and tense up like boards from how fierce it was.
"I don't think we need to be here," Garou seemed to pout. "They have all the fun!"
"Hey. We're ready to eat. Inichi told me where to find you," Tatsumaki said when she appeared with Rendor. "Who are they?"
"Eh. People that want to kidnap Mitsumi for ransom," Saitama shrugged.
"What?!" Rendor blinked and found himself shifting into his monster form to slather with rage. He landed heavily on the ground now and roared to get the men gaping with sheer terror at the sight. When Tatsumaki settled on his shoulder, he straightened up and glanced at her. "I should hunt them all down like weak prey! What do you think, Tatsi?"
"Hmm. One of them should become a pretzel," she said and pet his mane. Fubuki and Lily soon appeared with Inichi to neatly box the men in.
"Interesting name of your group. The 'dual-sashed' men? Fitting from your attire. However, we are done playing games with you. I have consulted with Sweet Mask. Your new base now resides within a prison cell," Inichi chuckled and blinked his red eyes with black cat pupils. "The Hero Association is quite interested in all of you, too. Hmm. Ah. Apparently, your, ah, mother has been checking on your whereabouts. We shall inform her of your new location."
"What?! No! Don't tell her!" the leader found himself begging.
"Boss?!" one of the men gaped.
"She's vile! Evil!" the man said quickly.
"Likely not as evil as mine was…" Mitsumi frowned sadly. "I was fed pet food for six months after she murdered my father."
"Ah…" the leader gaped at this.
"She had…family…torture me…" she grimaced.
"Mitsumi! Stop!" Saitama said quickly and had her focus on him. "You're married to me. Completely. We have a second wedding night…"
"Um…" she blinked and started to blush.
"Come to think of, we also have a honeymoon to look forward to," he grinned a bit wickedly at her fierce blush. "We'll have to get on that after tomorrow night. Hmm?"
"Ah…" she started and found herself kissed intensely by him. When she still looked a touch distressed, Garou nudged Zenchu.
"Hey, brother," Garou said to Zenchu.
"What?" Zenchu asked.
"Wanna see how far that tail can reach in a rat-tail?" Garou grinned. Zenchu smirked and quickly had a man yelp and jump five feet into the air. That got Mitsumi dying with laughter. Tangled Vine now gained an idea to have several vines sprout from the ground to start doing the same to the other men. Then he had them all neatly ensnared in the twisting vines. Mitsumi was in tears of laughter at all of it and could only cling to Saitama now.
"Very good. Anyways, yeah. Let's go eat," Saitama said and rose up with Mitsumi in his arms. She was still holding Overgrown Rover and Tangled Vine in her arms, and now the other monsters around them grew larger. Much larger.
"Snack…?" Stable Rock asked on looking at the trapped men.
"No, dear. We don't know where they've been," Mitsumi chuckled. "However, Inichi, are any of them Secret Skins?"
"Hmm…no. But I don't think they need their decorations anymore," he said and gestured to the sashes. She nodded to her fans to let them swoop all over before reforming into their circled pairs. The sashes fell away like confetti when Saitama snapped his fingers.
"Good," Saitama said. Then he narrowed his eyes to let the red haze of his power filter out to be seen and felt by the men. "Be glad it's them playing with you. And not me. I would have killed you all for trying to hurt my pregnant wife. If we ever meet again, make sure you know your manners. Are we clear?"
"Clear!" the leader cringed. Then Saitama picked up a stray pebble and flicked it at a strong oak tree. The captured men now realized they were staring straight through the foot wide tree trunk.
"I can fix that," Tangled Vine chuckled and helped the tree heal up from the damage. "All better."
"Thank you," Mitsumi smiled and snuggled him.
"I shall take them to the prison. I would like to go back with you. A moment, please?" Inichi asked and bubbled the men into a group.
"I'll help. If any of them whine, I'll make a new hole in another tree and use them to patch it up," Tatsumaki snickered. That got Rendor laughing at the thought. Zenchu sighed and shook his head before walking over to Wind Crane. She grew larger and seriously considered squawking at them.
"Nah. Waste of energy," Zenchu chuckled and got a beak pressed into his back fondly. "You never did tell me what your favorite food was. Huh! Slow roasted fish with a lemon and garlic glaze? That sounds pretty good…"
"It does! We'll plan for that," Saitama nodded.
"Orotsu is aware and preparing several dishes with Anno to be part of the dinner. I shall return," Inichi said and was quick to bubble five of the ten guilty men. Tatsumaki got the other five and sped off after him.
"Still should have hunted them down! I feel cheated. Hmm. Oh…I smell a deer nearby…" Rendor grinned now and hunkered down. "Zenchu! Care to help hunt? It can be like old times."
"I could use some deer meat. I'm sure we can serve it up, too," Zenchu grinned and shadow phased out after Rendor bolted after the scent. Garou walked over to Lily and let her press into him gratefully. He walked her over to Saitama and Mitsumi to wait with them.
"What's the plan?" Garou asked.
"We head back and eat dinner. She's already getting hungry. It's why Tangled Vine made the tree. It's a pretty cool tree, too!" Saitama nodded.
"I could make even more of them," Tangled Vine mused. "If this land is to be protected, then it would make it even more of a place to remain secret."
"Not so fast!" a hissing screech of a voice was heard and closing in on them. Mitsumi looked up and found some form of a bird monster dive-bombing the group. The only problem was that her fans were already out, on the defensive and were quick to make a shield of blades, spikes and cloth. Then Blue Ripple focused to catch it securely in his ESP grip when it tried to veer out of the way with surprise.
"I have it. I can bring it in safely. Unless we kill it," he snorted. "Then again, I have been listening to its thoughts…"
"Yeah. Me too. This was their little spy. The ones that got taken away. They let it live with them in exchange for aerial view intel," Bright Bolt grunted. "Can I zap it?"
"Not yet," Mitsumi chuckled and laughed at his nibble with his lips to her cheek. She looked at the trapped, winged man and frowned. "Who are you?"
"Hah! I won't say!" the monster growled.
"Even if there's GOD monsters here?" Saitama asked. Stable Rock glared and blinked his glowing amber eyes. Fire Flight had yet to revert to human form, and she seethed with protective rage. Shenjou was quick to walk over to help calm her down, though. Even Tangled Vine was not impressed, and Overgrown Rover huffed and tilted its head with curiosity.
"Ah…well…" the monster paused in shock.
"I wanna zap it. Please? Pretty please?!" Bright Bolt nickered and nuzzled Saitama now for appeasement.
"If it lies, then sure. Lie detector," Saitama nodded.
"I can read minds. That was perfected," Bright Bolt snorted. "Anyways, your, eh, friends are gone."
"They weren't my friends! They were my means to survive!" the monster growled out. Then it paused when a set of Wind Crane's perfumed fans flitted around it to perfume the air and showed off the flower image in full. "What…what's that…?"
"Do you feel better now?" Mitsumi asked gently. "Do you remember anything before you became a monster?"
"Do I…remember…?" the monster blinked and found itself trembling.
"Yeah. He's good now," Bright Bolt nodded. "He remembers he's a guy and loved working with birds. Something happened and now he's like this."
"Good," Blue Ripple said and let him land gently on the ground.
"Fine. What's your name?" Saitama asked and watched Rendor appear with Zenchu. They were carrying two large deer with them and set the slain animals down. As much as Tangled Vine was a bit disgruntled, he knew that animals ate each other all the time. Mitsumi gently pet his quills and let him glean her thoughts that she loved deer meat cooked in various ways.
"I honestly don't remember my name," the winged monster said sadly.
"Then we can give you one," Mitsumi smiled and studied the monster in front of her. He had a sharp, eagle-like beak with golden eagle eyes. His hair appeared to look black with golden, feathery highlights and cascaded down his back like a golden cloak. He did have arms and hands that were incredibly strong to grab and lift things while he flew.
His feet and legs were very much like a bird of prey with strong, taloned claws. He even had a large feathered tail. He stretched his wings out to an impressive ten feet in length to show he was an incredibly swift flier. He did wear clothing of sorts, but mainly around his chest and groin. Wind Crane clacked her beak and looked at Zenchu with a tilt of her head. Zenchu looked at her and said, "I'm still faster than him. I use the shadows to move in."
She warbled softly and pecked at his tail to make him scowl at her. Then she looked at the freed bird man to get him to blink with surprise. "Oh! Ah, what did the others call me? Um…their spy. Really. Not really a name."
"Let's call you Scout," Lily suggested.
"Scout? Ah…hmm…I think that works!" Scout grinned lightly.
"Good. We need to head back and eat dinner. You, however, should go to City Z. Can we let the others know of him?" Saitama asked.
"I have done so," Inichi said when he reappeared with Tatsumaki. "Wind Crane kept me informed of everything. We should return now."
"Thank you for freeing me," Scout said. Mitsumi was set down, and she moved to hug him like an older brother. He hugged her back and found himself shivering. Then she stepped back with a warm smile.
"It's okay now, big brother. Go and meet the other family. When we are done with events here, we'll meet back up there. Or, if everything is calm, you could meet up with us in another place. I'll ensure the other heroes know of you," Mitsumi nodded with a beaming smile.
"Too bad Tacki isn't a bird monster anymore," Rendor chuckled. "But she's with Kamikaze now. If anything, she may want some feathers for decorations."
"I can give some over," Scout chuckled and flew off to follow Inichi's mental coordinates. Mitsumi gave a sigh of relief that she was able to help another monster regain their lost human self. Saitama moved to hug her and press a kiss to her mouth with a show of pride.
"Wonderful job, love," he smiled and scooped her up to carry her. "Wind Crane, can you take us back? I know Bright Bolt can, but I need to be ready for anymore crap that happens. We're also quite hungry."
She bobbed her head with agreement. Inichi bubbled the two deer that were hunted down to show he was ready. Wind Crane stretched out her wings and let the wind sweep them all away and back to the resort.