Since Shunshi had begun his martial arts training with Silver Fang, a couple of days had come and gone. By this point, the burn mark on his body was no longer red with pain and had simply become a massive but faint scar on his neck and back.
In what was an unusual act for him, Shunshi, dressed in his civilian garb, was calmly walking through a peaceful park in the center of City-L. During this time of the day, his usual routine would consist of patrolling for monsters and criminals.
During Shunshi's stroll, a strong gust of wind blew by him, carrying a wave of rolling leaves. The young Hero's eyes followed the dead foliage's path until he saw a group of kids playing baseball. This wholesome activity of childhood fun put a smile on the softhearted Hero's face, reminding him of what exactly he fought for.
As the dark-haired man continued on his way, he came across a line of empty wooden benches. Empty, that is, except for one spot that was being occupied by his cyborg Senpai. Feeling both surprised and happy to see Genos, Shunshi walked over to sit on the opposite end of the bench from him.
Smiling at his fellow student, Shunshi started off with a friendly, "Hey, Senpai. Didn't expect to see you here. I gotta say, it's a real nice day out."
Due to his sensors having been turned off, Genos genuinely seemed taken a little off guard by Shunshi's sudden arrival. However, he quickly recomposed himself and responded, "I also had not expected to see you here today. I believe you should move on, though. I was requested by a high-ranking official of the Hero Association to meet here with him, and I expect him to show up sometime soon."
Looking a little surprised himself, Shunshi rested his arms on the back of the bench and replied with intrigue, "Wait, seriously? I got the same kinda call. Think we got a call from the same person?"
Placing his hand to his chin, Genos posited, "That would be the most likely scenario. I suppose it is fine that you remain here, then. It is curious that this individual would want to meet us both in the same place and at the same time."
Shrugging in response, Shunshi simply sat there quietly with Genos. Without anything else to talk about, the two ended up waiting silently for the man who had requested their presence.
After they waited for roughly fifteen more minutes, the man who had called on the two Heroes approached them. He was a tall but scrawny man in a business suit, with a horse-like face, slicked-back hair, a thin goatee, and a pair of glasses thick enough to obscure his eyes.
Looking at Shunshi with a nervous and confused expression, this man thought to himself, Is... Is that Monster Mask? His profile in our database only shows him with his armor on... Oh crap! I've got no idea what he actually looks like...! But he is with the Demon Cyborg... So that's probably him.
Having easily noticed the nervous man staring at them, Genos calmly asked him, "Excuse me. Are you with the Hero Association?"
Clearing his throat, the man walked up to the bench situated next to them and asked, "Yes. Mind if I sit?" Without waiting for an answer, he took a seat and started looking at the ground nervously.
Shunshi was annoyed by this and wanted to say something, but, due to Genos being the higher-ranked Hero and his Senpai, he felt it best to let him do the talking.
Genos was quick to ask the first question, "Why did you decide to call both me and Shunshi here at the same time?"
Not looking away from the ground, the man softly clasped his hands together and answered, "You two've been seen publicly working together a number of times now. I assumed you guys were a team, or partners, or something. I thought you'd both... prefer it this way."
Shunshi saw Genos subtly twitch in anger at this, so he decided to speak up in order to avoid having the Demon Cyborg vent his rage at this man, "We're... acquaintances, sir. So it's no big deal."
Deciding to add to what Shunshi said, Genos remarked, "What is a big deal is the fact that we are meeting outside. This must be a personal matter. Therefore, you are abusing your power. However, I will still hear out your request."
Raising his eyebrows at his Senpai's response, Shunshi thought to himself innocently, I don't know if I'd go that far... Then again, I don't know what this guy wants from us.
Turning up to look at Genos, the horse-face man commented, "For a new guy, that's quite an attitude. Well, whatever... A creature I was secretly raising has escaped. I want you two to destroy it." Both Genos and Shunshi's expressions shifted to those of concern when they heard this.
Unable to believe what he'd just been told, the young cyborg asked the Hero Association member, "You cannot actually mean... You kept a monster that was previously defeated by a Hero as your pet?"
"I'll worry about regret later. Right now, it needs to be destroyed. I'll prepare appropriate compensation for both of you, but you guys have to begin searching right away," the man replied as sweat poured down his face.
As Shunshi clenched his fists in frustration, Genos squinted his eyes angrily and asked another question, "Will there be an evacuation warning?"
Tapping his foot anxiously, the man explained, "We're clearing people out of the area it's in, under the guise of investigating pollutants. This has to be handled in complete secrecy. Here, you'll need this. It's a map that shows what part of the city this monster is in."
After handing Genos a small map for the two to share, the man stood up, adjusted his glasses, and gave a couple more pieces of hasty advice, "I also brought in four other A-Class Heroes to help with this threat. Also, the monster was a Tiger Level Threat when I first took it in, but since it became strong enough to escape its holding cell, I think it might be a Demon by this point." Letting out a stressful sigh, the man nodded to the two of them before taking his hasty leave.
Once that disgraceful individual had left, Genos stood up with a frustrated posture and looked at the map. He saw a relatively small section of the city that was circled on it, indicating the location of the monster.
Putting the map in his pocket, Genos looked over at Shunshi and hesitantly ordered him, "Alright. Let us get going, Shunshi. We cannot waste time and-." The Demon Cyborg quickly wound up fumbling his words to a halt when he saw the expression of absolute fury on Shunshi's face. The black-haired young man was visibly shaking with rage, and his fists were clenched in a vain attempt to stop his body's violent vibrations.
Speaking through his gritted teeth, Shunshi growled out, "What the Hell is wrong with that bastard!? He's supposed to be a part of the Hero Association! He's supposed to help people! But so many people could die now, because of what he's done! I swear I'll-!"
Noticing the uncharacteristically surprised look on Genos' face, Monster Mask forcibly composed himself, stood up, and passive-aggressively said, "Sorry about that, Senpai. You're right. We need to get going and deal with this monster... (sigh) That asshole could've at least told us what the thing looks like... Uh, actually now that I think about appearances, I need to go get changed into my armor."
A few minutes later, Shunshi walked out of the park's public bathroom, dressed in the new armor that Dr. Stench had built for him.
Examining his surroundings to locate Genos, Monster Mask saw him leaning against the building with his arms folded.
Walking up to Genos, Shunshi calmly told him, "Thanks for waiting for me, Genos-Senpai... By the way, do you know what Saitama-Sensei is up to right now?"
Standing up straight, Genos unfolded his arms and explained to his junior, "He left the apartment earlier today, telling me that he also has an appointment with a representative from the Hero Association. Hopefully, the Hero Association is beginning to recognize Master's abilities. Come now, we have a monster to kill."
Nodding to his younger senior, Shunshi followed Genos as he made his way to the section of the city that was marked on the map.
Meanwhile, as his higher-ranked disciples walked towards their mission sight, Saitama was busy with a mission of his own. He was meeting with another representative from the Hero Association at a restaurant, deeper in the city.
Drinking a glass of soda as he sat across from a man who looked to be in his early fifties, Saitama listened patiently as the older gentleman explained, "Sorry to bother you, but I have an important mission that... Uh, only you can do."
With no change in his expression, Saitama took another sip of his drink and replied in a tone that had just the slightest hint of intrigue behind it, "That's weird. The Association doesn't usually come to me when there's a problem. But sure, I'll do it. I'll beat up monsters or supervillains for you."
Just as the smallest grin of hope started to form on the face of the world's most powerful Hero, the older man took out a child's crayon drawing of a cat. The drawing had little notes on it, which pointed out the obvious. These facts included that the cat was white, had a blue collar, and that it was cute.
Looking at Saitama with a dead-serious expression, the man requested, "Help my niece find her cat. You've got the time, right?"
Later that day, after passing through the border of the quarantined area, which was being guarded by a pair of B-Class and C-Class Heroes, the two students of Saitama entered the section of the city that the monster had escaped into.
Turning to Genos, Shunshi explained to him in an analytical tone, "This place is pretty big. I think we should split up and search if we wanna find this monster before it can slip away and hurt anyone."
Looking at Shunshi suspiciously, the young cyborg asked him, "Are you sure that is the best course of action to take? Do you believe that you will be alright on your own? We are hunting a possible Demon-Level Threat. You have only been able to defeat an opponent of this strength level once, and only after it had left itself vulnerable to attacks."
Raising his fist up in confidence, Shunshi reassured, "Don't worry, Genos-Senpai. Ever since I combined Master Silver Fang's martial arts training with Saitama-Sensei's strength training, I've been growing stronger faster than ever. I can take care of myself, especially with this new armor that Dr. Stench made for me."
Feeling more reassured by Dr. Stench's craftsmanship than Shunshi's claims, Genos nodded and said, "Very well. I will trust you to stay on your own for this mission." Exchanging one last glance with each other, the two split up and started searching.
While he made his way through the streets of the quarantine zone, Shunshi stopped when he thought he heard the sound of growling. Following the source of the sound, Monster Mask wandered into an alleyway. Turning the corner at the end of the alley, the young Hero was shocked and infuriated when he saw a giant, muscular cat monster with unnaturally large fangs and a set of six eyes, eating the remains of a stray dog.
As the cat monster turned and snarled at Shunshi, he glared right back at it, thinking, I'm sorry I couldn't save you, pup. But I promise I'll avenge you!
Readying himself to rip this beast apart, Shunshi surrounded his body in white flames, formed large Light Balls in both of his gauntlets' palms, and started slowly walking towards the demon cat.
Feeling the killing intent coming off of this creature with a metal face, the cat creature actually took a step backward in fear, as Monster Mask slowly encroached upon his prey. When dread started taking over its mind, the cat's fight or flight instinct took over, with the creature choosing the prior option.
The monster charged at Shunshi with its claws outreached at him. Much to the cat's terror, its foe easily twisted out of the way of its attack while uppercutting the cat monster in its torso with one of his prepared Light Balls. The explosion from this attack sent the monster flying through the wall at the end of the alley, as well as tore open a small hole in the beast's belly. Not only was the monster bleeding heavily, but one of its tumorous and pulsating organs fell out of the new office in its torso.
With its monstrous resilience still keeping it alive, the Demon got up and rushed at Shunshi once more, this time aiming to bite the Hero in half with its large mouth. Intending to counter this attack as well, Shunshi swiftly threw his other Light Ball at the cat's face, destroying all of the teeth and eyes on the right sight of its head. However, the cat creature's monster physiology kicked in once again, as it planted its paws into the ground and kept itself from being sent flying away again, as smoke and dust from the explosion filled the air.
Due to the gruesome injuries he'd given it, Shunshi was surprised when he saw the demon cat rushing through the smoke, still eager to fight. In the confusion, the beast clawed at Monster Mask so hard that he was just short of being sent into the wall at the opposite end of the alley. Utilizing his superhuman physiology as he was knocked away, Shunshi flipped himself upright before he even touched the ground. Feeling at his new armor's chest piece, the young Hero was pleasantly surprised when he realized that there was hardly a scratch on it.
Wow! A blow like that would've completely torn open my old armor. Dr. Stench really is amazing!
Before he could admire this for long, the cat monster rushed at Shunshi once more, ready to kill.
Not missing a beat, Monster Mask rushed at the monster in retaliation, and, when the two got within striking distance of one another, the Demon tried to claw at him once again. However, Monster Mask ducked out of the way and swiftly uppercutted the cat in its already damaged jaw. He followed up that attack by clawing at the monster's face, gouging out another one of its eyes.
Furious and in pain, the cat struck at Shunshi with the top of its head, hitting him in his torso again. However, in the split second that Shunshi was being knocked away, he utilized the momentum to reverse-ax-kick the demon cat in its face, jolting open its mouth. As he continued to move backward through the air, Monster Mask threw one more Light Ball into the open mouth of the monster. The orb of light exploded when it reached the back of the monster's throat, blowing its head clean off in the process.
Once he landed on his feet, Shunshi was catching his breath while thinking, Wait... Was that really a Demon-Level Threat? That was so quick... OH MY GOD! I just beat a Demon-Level Threat so quick and easily! Maybe I really am almost ready for S-Class! I never would've dreamed of something like that a few weeks ago!"
Letting out a satisfied sigh, Shunshi looked around for a second, before muttering, "Well, we only had the one target, so... I guess the job's done. I'll go find Senpai and tell him the good news."
Happy and proud of himself, Monster Mask started walking away but stopped when he heard an even louder growl than before coming from above him. Turning around and looking up, Shunshi was stunned when he saw a copy of the monster that he'd just killed, peering down at him from up on a rooftop. The difference between this monster and the one he'd just defeated was the fact that this one was nearly the size of a two-story building and was twice as muscular.
A few minutes earlier, Genos was also walking around the blocked off streets, until he saw a small puddle of blood in the distance. Walking up to examine it, the Demon Cyborg poked his finger into the blood and found that it was still fresh. Looking down the road, he saw that there was a trail of blood going into a large alleyway. Following the trail, Genos found two men on the ground.
One of them was an unconscious bald man who was wearing a toga and had a large chain wrapped around his torso. The other was a barely conscious man in a samurai outfit. The outfit had a peach emblem on the back of its jacket, as well as on its headband.
With his standard cold tone of voice, Genos asked the peach samurai, "Who are you?"
Lifting himself to his knees with his sword, the samurai spoke weakly, "You're the S-Class Hero, Demon Cyborg, right? I'm Peach Terry. I'm ranked 31 in A-Class. This is Heavy Kong. He's ranked 24 in A-Class. I'm guessing we got the same mission as you to defeat an escaped monster."
Still as blunt as ever, Genos asked this clearly injured Hero, "Did you encounter the monster?"
Struggling to even stay on his knees, Peach Terry replied, "Yes... but we underestimated it and ended up like this."
Looking mildly confused, Genos asked one more question, "Yet it fled without devouring you?"
As he coughed up a bit of blood, Peach Terry hypothesized, "I'm guessing it sensed you coming and ran off."
Just then, the samurai Hero gained a fearful look in his eyes, as a shadow appeared from above Genos. Noticing the shadow and Terry's fearful expression, Genos turned to look above himself. The young cyborg's mouth opened in surprise as he saw the same kind of cat monster that Shunshi had killed, suspending itself in the air itself by pressing its paws up against the walls of the alley.
While the beast let out a bloodthirsty and monstrous meow, Peach Terry gulped and exclaimed fearfully, "There it is!"
A few blocks from where all the action was, Saitama was walking around the city with a little girl in a tutu sitting on his shoulders.
Wiping away a tear, the kid asked the Capped Baldy, "You promise you won't leave? You really promise you'll help me find Torako?"
Shifting his eyes up to look at her, Saitama reassured the child in his normal bored voice, "Well I couldn't exactly leave you crying in the middle of the city. So yeah."
Noticing a white cat with a red collar walking down the street in the distance, Saitama pointed at it and asked, "Hey, is that it?"
Kicking out her feet angrily, the little girl screeched, "NO!"
Looking disappointed, Saitama asked her, "Seriously? Okay, do you have any idea where it might be?"
Resting her chin on her superhero babysitter's bald head, the girl began thinking of locations.
A few moments later, Saitama found himself walking towards an area of the city that was marked off by lines made of traffic cones tied together by little ropes and with signs that read 'Warning!'
Looking at this area with suspicion, Saitama asked the kid, "You sure this is someplace it'd be?"
Nodding, the kid answered innocently, "Yeah. Torako likes going places that look important."
Before he could comment on this ludicrous logic, Saitama's attention was taken away from the little girl when he noticed the two pretender Heroes, Tanktop Tiger and Tanktop Black Hole standing guard at the sectioned off area.
Noticing that Saitama, the man who sent him flying with a love tap, was walking towards him and his bro, Tanktop Tiger screeched, "Gack! It's him! What're you doing here? This area's off-limits!"
Not breaking his stride, Saitama continued to move forward as he dully asked, "Why?"
"I... I don't know why, but...! Anyway, this area is restricted only to Heroes on a special mission!" Tiger snapped.
"This ain't for C and B-Class Heroes!" Tanktop Blackhole chimed in.
Having ignored that statement, Saitama focused on Tanktop Tiger and asked him emotionlessly, "What kind of special mission is it?"
Still angry, the tanktopper gave the same answer, "I don't know! But only guys selected by a big shot in the Association may pass!"
His expression having unchanged, Saitama instantly responded, "Oh. That's me."
Hearing this, the two false Heroes begrudgingly let the Caped Baldy in, neither being willing to confront him physically after what happened before.
Once he had walked far enough away from the Tanktoppers that they were out of earshot, Saitama pondered out loud, "Is a missing pet really this important?"
Screeching at her babysitter once more, the child answered, "Of course! Torako hasn't come home since last night! IT'S IMPORTANT!"
Continuing to ponder, Saitama commented, "They even sealed off the area... I don't get rich folks."
Pouting, the girl ordered the mightiest Hero in the world, "Shut up and do your job!"
While the kid complained into his ear, Saitama saw a white cat with a blue collar run into the alley in front of them.
Looking up at his youthful charge, Saitama asked her, "Hey, doesn't your cat-?"
Before he could get his question out, the wall of the building to their right exploded, with Genos getting smashed through it. Fortunately, all of the debris missed hitting Saitama or the kid.
Seeing his Master standing before him, Genos asked him in surprise, "Master Saitama?! Did you receive the same request that Shunshi and I did?!"
His curiosity overwhelming any feeling of needing to answer his top student, Saitama asked him, "Whatcha up to?"
Answering his teacher as dutifully as ever, Genos quickly explained, "I am in battle! It is stronger than I had expected, but I have wounded it! Leave this to me!"
Ignoring Genos for a second, Saitama finished his question to the little girl, "Doesn't your cat have a blue collar?"
Unphased by any of this insanity, the girl just nodded her head in response.
Walking past his top disciple, Saitama, in a halfhearted encouraging tone, told Genos, "Don't know what you guys're fighting, but good luck."
Overcome with confidence at these words, Genos yelled back to his Sensei, "YES, MASTER!"
Meanwhile, a little less than a half-mile away, another A-Class Hero was fighting yet another one of these cat creatures. This Hero stood at five foot three inches. He wore roller skates, a suit of steam-punk-like armor, a cloth mask that covered everything except his face, goggles over his eyes, and a metal mouthpiece. For weapons, he was carrying two batons that were electrically charged via wires connected to a battery pack on his back.
A drop of sweat poured down his face as he kept his distance from the cat monster and thought out loud, "Geez, talk about eccentric tastes in pets."
Slamming his batons together, they began exploding with electricity and his roller blades began spinning on their own, as he slid on his goggles and exclaimed, "Twin batons max electricity! Here I go!" Without having to move his legs, the Hero's roller skates propelled him forward at the speed of a runaway racecar.
For its counter-attack, the cat thrusted one of its claws at the stout Hero. Just as it seemed like the skater was going to be impaled on cat claws, he leaped onto the Demon's arm and skated up its body. Once he was close enough, he struck it in its face so hard that he knocked out a couple of its teeth.
The anger this creature felt over losing its teeth was greater than the pain it was in, even as electricity crackled throughout its skull. As such, it swung at the Hero with what little strength it could muster, only hitting the man just hard enough to knock him away.
As he stumbled along the ground, the electric Hero yelled out, "It's slowing down! You're up Stinger!"
While Genji yelled this, the Hero known as Stinger jumped out from the building above whilst spinning around his bamboo shoot spear as a last-second preparation for combat.
Thrusting his weapon downwards at the cat, the spear-wielding Hero yelled, "GIGA THRUST!" He and his spear then flew downward and, in one attack, took off the leg he was aiming for.
Jumping away from the monster, Stinger pointed his spear forward, grinned confidently, and exclaimed, "That's one leg down!"
Grabbing the electric Hero by his back and lifting him to his feet, Stinger rhetorically asked, "You good to stand, Lightning Genji?"
Readying himself for another attack, Genji replied, "I still got a little over half power left. More than enough for one more attack."
Grinning even more viciously, Stinger excitedly proclaimed, "All right! The next attack is for the kill then!"
Just as the two Heroes were about to charge in for their assault, a person came hurdling through the building to their right, colliding with the cat monster hard enough to put a person-shaped hole in its torso. The two A-Classers were confused and stunned by this, but Stinger's mood shifted a bit towards the positive when he saw Shunshi climbing out of the pile of rubble and monster guts that his impact created.
Yelling over to him, Stinger greeted the newer Hero, "Hey, Shunshi! Thanks for helping us with the killing blow."
Getting a good look at who Stinger was talking to, Lightning Genji asked him, "Wait, you know Monster Mask?"
Gesturing to himself with his thumb, Stinger explained happily, "Yeah, we worked together almost a month ago now. We're on pretty good terms I think."
Rubbing his helmet as if it were his head, Shunshi recomposed himself and saw Stinger and Lightning Genji standing a dozen feet from him. Happy to see fellow Heroes, he smiled behind his helmet at them, whilst also taking note of the weapons they were carrying.
Waving to them, Monster Mask exclaimed, "Hey there, Stinger! Good to see you're on your feet again. And it's nice to meet you, Lightning Genji, sir. I'm a fan of you and your fighting style! So listen up, we don't have much time! There's another monster here, and I think if we all work together, we can beat it!"
A little surprised by the frightening Hero's polite demeanor, Genji pondered, He's... Not what you'd expect from his picture on the website.
Tilting his head, Stinger asked, "Wait. There's more than one monster to hunt...? Well sure, we can handle-." Before he could finish talking, the spear wielder nearly swallowed his own tongue in fear when he saw the gargantuan cat monster responsible for sending Shunshi smashing to the ground, come stomping from around the corner.
Seeing the looks of fear on his allies' faces, the younger Hero swiftly jumped to their side and explained, "Don't be afraid, guys! I've got a surefire plan to take that mistake of nature out for good." The second he finished speaking, the darkly-clad Hero started forming another Light Ball between his hands.
Seeing that another one of its offspring had been killed and that more of its prey had gathered, the building-sized cat monster let a lion-like roar of monstrous fury. Even with the distance that the Demon Cyborg and the Caped Baldy were from this monster, both he and Saitama were able to hear this roar as clear as day.
At this point, Genos' shirt had been shredded to ribbons, but he'd managed to claim victory over the crispy corpse of his feline opponent without a scratch.
Looking in the direction that the roaring had come from, the blond cyborg thought out loud, "That roar... I thought we only had one target. Surely it could not have reproduced in such a short amount of time... If it gave birth after running away... Then this must be its child!"
Back with the three A-Class Heroes, they were running down the street as the giant cat chased after them. Shunshi was running backward, while Lightning Genji was speeding along with his skates, and Stinger was ridding on the back of the much faster but much smaller Hero. On top of all this, for some odd reason, Stinger was holding onto Monster Mask's helmet.
By this point, the Light Ball Shunshi had between his hands had grown to the size of a small boulder, and he had to do his best to not trip over himself while carrying it.
During their mad dash, Genji was looking at Shunshi in shock and disbelief, complaining internally, How the Hell is he keeping up with me on foot?! He's even running backward!
Gripping tightly to his spear and Shunshi's helmet, Stinger asked the higher-ranked Hero, "Are you really sure that plan's gonna work, Monster Mask?!"
Through a dead-serious gaze, Shunshi answered, "It needs to! If we can't pull this off, then that thing'll rampage and kill who knows how many people! Just get on top of the buildings and give me a few more moments!"
Despite their fears, the younger Hero's selfless words caused the other two to redouble their fortitude and tighten their fists with the determination needed to put their lives on the line for the sake of others.
Turning away from Shunshi in order to head towards the wall of a building, Lightning Genji maneuvered in such a way that allowed him to use his speed to ride along the vertical surface and reach the roof. With Stinger still clinging onto his back, the two followed just behind Shunshi and the monster, preparing themselves for their part of the plan.
While all of this insanity was going on, Saitama had set down the little girl, and the two were giving chase to her pet cat as it carried a dead mouse in its mouth. In truth, Saitama could easily run fast enough to catch the cat, but, due to getting some amount of excitement from this job, he chose not to and was simply running at what was a lazy pace for him to allow the child to lead.
Understandably upset by Torako not coming back to her, the kid asked her pet as she was chasing it, "Come back, Torako! Why are you running?"
Eventually, the two stopped running so desperately when they saw that Torako was running towards a group of kittens that were only partially hidden by a bush.
Once they had caught up to the cat and her new babies, the kid was clapping her hands and jumping up and down while exclaiming, "Torako! You gave birth?! I had no idea!"
Lazily, Saitama scratched his face and told the child, "You need to be sure to take these kittens home with you."
Elsewhere, a lone cyborg was hastily leaping from one building to another. Genos was using his scanner to follow the life signature of the true monster. However, he became concerned when he saw that Shunshi's life signature was right by the mother monstrosity.
Images of the mangled and bony Shunshi from days ago flashed through the Demon Cyborg's mind. Determined to prevent that incident from repeating, Genos redoubled his efforts to get to the monster as fast as possible.
Back with Shunshi, he had finally finished preparing his Light Ball, with it having grown to three times the size of his body.
Gritting his teeth, the dark-clad Hero thought with some relief, "Great. It's done. Good thing this monster's only as smart as a wild beast. This probably wouldn't have worked otherwise."
Yelling at the top of his lungs, Monster Mask roared out, "TAKE THIS! MINIATURE WHITE SUN!"
Throwing his ultimate attack at the face of the pursuing monster, a huge explosion instantly went off that was almost comparable to the attack Genos had used to wipe out the mosquito swarm back when the two had first met.
As the smoke started clearing, one could clearly see that two of the monster's large eyes had been blasted out of its head, and all of the fur on its face had been completely burned off. Before the Demon could start to recompose itself from the blast, Lightning Genji launched himself and Stinger off the side of the building that was closest to the monster. Stinger propelled them even faster by performing another Giga Thrust, using an oddly modified spear to do so. Shunshi's helmet was attached to the end of the spear, and Genji's electrical cables were twisted around the spear's shaft.
With the combination of Lightning Genji's speed and Stinger's power rocketing them towards the monster, they easily hit their mark, one of the creature's empty eye sockets. The spear managed to pierce through what little flesh was left in the way, struggled when it collided with the skull, but ultimately made it through and punctured the beast's brain.
Knowing that they'd hit their mark, Stinger snapped at Genji desperately, "Do it now!"
Instantly, the lightning Hero turned on his suit's shock function, pouring all of its remaining power into the metal of Shunshi's helmet, which in turn pumped the amperage into the living abomination's gray matter.
The mother monster spasmed violently while its mind was getting charbroiled. As such, the two A-Class Heroes who had launched themselves at the beast were now hanging onto it for dear life in order to make sure as much electricity as possible went into this creature's head. Eventually, the mother cat stopped spasming and collapsed to the ground, as dead as it could get.
Once he was sure it was safe to let go, Stinger, whose spiky hair had fallen flat from the stress of this whole ordeal, dislodged his spear from the monster's eye socket and untangled his weapon's shaft from Lightning Genji's cables. Unfortunately, Shunshi's helmet was still stuck in the massive corps' brain.
Collapsing to the ground from mental exhaustion, the two A-Class Heroes found themselves in a state of disbelief, unsure if they'd actually won or if they had died during their little stunt and were on their way to the great beyond.
It was only when Shunshi started running towards them, shouting, "Guys! Guys! It worked! It really worked! We won! We saved L-City!"
Realizing that they'd truly come out on top against such a fearsome monster, Stinger and Genji sat themselves up, smiles slowly forming on their faces. Stinger found himself just barely able to hold back tears over the fact that they had not only saved the day but were still alive. On top of that, there was the pride both he and Genji felt over the fact that just three A-Class Heroes were able to bring down this Demon Level Threat.
Once Shunshi had reached the two, they stood up and found themselves unable to find the words they needed to express their feelings.
Unable to contain his excitement, though, Shunshi raised his fists into the air, inviting the other two to join him as he cheered, "YYEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Finding themselves equally as happy and excited, the two Heroes raised their weapons above their heads and let out cries of jubilation along with Monster Mask.
Just as the three began to wrap up their quick celebration, a pillar of fire came crashing down into the street next to them and the dead monster. Stepping out of the flames as they dispersed was the Demon Cyborg, with an expression that screamed he was ready for combat. However, seeing that Shunshi was standing next to two other startled Heroes and a giant dead monster, Genos' hostile face switched to a somewhat confused one.
Unsure of how to approach this situation, Genos fumbled his words as he asked, "You are... You are uninjured, Shunshi?"
Patting himself on the shoulder, Monster Mask commented optimistically, "I got bruised up pretty badly, but it's mostly healed up by now. But check this out, Senpai! I was able to kill one of this thing's kids on my own, and then Stinger, Lightning Genji, and I worked together and killed the mom monster!"
Before Genos could reply, both he and his older junior were surprised when Stinger, without warning, walked up to Shunshi and punched him in his head. The punch was delivered with just enough force that it would hurt, but not enough that it would actually injure the Hero.
Stepping back and rubbing his scalp, Monster Mask complained to Stinger, "Hey! What was that for?!"
While Shunshi was snapping at Stinger, Genos was internally debating whether or not he should be readying himself for a fight.
With a clearly pissed-off expression, Stinger grabbed the victim of his attack by his shoulders and yelled, "You came here with an S-Class Hero, but you still had us risk our lives with that crazy plan!?"
Seeing that Genji looked just as angry, Shunshi realized how he'd screwed up and nervously started apologizing, "Well, um... You see, I... in all the excitement, I kinda... forgot that Genos-Senpai came here with me... Besides, we should be proud of ourselves. We managed to take down a Demon-Level Threat without needing an S-Class Hero. I think this says a lot about what each of us is capable of."
While these words had managed to convince the other two A-Class Heroes to no longer be angry, they were visibly still annoyed.
Hoping to get some form of payback, Stinger let go of Monster Mask while berating him, "Fine. I see your point. However! I was gonna help you dig your helmet out of that thing's smelly skull, but now you can get it out yourself."
Blinking at this challenge with a puzzled expression, Shunshi responded by throwing another one of his Light Balls into one of the dead beast's empty eye sockets. The shockwaves caused by the proceeding explosion dislodged the helmet and made it roll out of the monster's head with an awkward clank. Shunshi then went over to pick it up without issue.
Annoyed that that task was so easy for him to complete, the two lower-ranked A-Class Heroes' faces twitched with frustration.
Just as he was putting his headgear back on, though, Shunshi smelled something awful and quickly pieced together that the smell was coming from the helmet in question. Unfortunately for him, all that electricity cooked the monster's blood right onto the metal of his armor's headpiece.
Pulling off his helmet and pinching his nose closed, Shunshi thought to himself, Crud. Definitely got to get this thing cleaned now... And my hair too.
When they saw this little bit of suffering on Monster Mask's part, the two Heroes chuckled, finding that this was just enough for them to calm down and fully forgive him.
As Shunshi took off his helmet and was thinking of places he could go to clean it and his hair, Genos approached him and began to explain, "Listen, Shunshi. Master Saitama is here. I believe we should report to him and-." As Genos talked, Saitama turned the corner with the little girl, her cat, and a box of kittens in his arms. In turn, the Caped Baldy's arrival caused yet another expression of surprise and annoyance to form on Stinger's face.
Seeing that his students were in front of him, Saitama asked them, "Hey, guys. I followed the sound of that roar and then I heard a big explosion go off. Was that you, Genos?"
Shaking his head, Genos gestured to his junior and explained, "I had arrived after this battle was already over. Shunshi was the one responsible for the blast you heard, Master."
Looking directly at Shunshi now, Saitama's eyebrows raised by a very small amount.
"Oh, it was you? Cool. I guess that means you've gotten a bit stronger now."
Smiling ecstatically at this praise, Shunshi nodded and happily exclaimed, "Yes, sir, Sensei, sir! I even managed to kill this monster with the help of these two, Stinger and Lightning Genji!"
Shifting his gaze to the other two people, Saitama found himself internally pondering, Is that guy in the black wraps the same guy Shunshi was worried was gonna get beaten up by the fish people?
Stepping forward to clarify something that was bothering him, Stinger angrily asked, "What the heck is going on with this Master and Sensei nonsense?! Monster Mask's got strength that's practically S-Class already, and Demon Cyborg is an S-Class! That guy's Saitama! The cheat who steals other Heroes' credit!"
In that instant, both of the Caped Baldy's students closed in on Stinger. Shunshi had his clawed fingers pointed dangerously close to his face, while Genos had his incinerator pointed at his head.
The dark-haired student was the first to speak, growling at his acquaintance, "Don't talk that way about Master Saitama! He's the greatest Hero in the world!"
In a cold yet hostile tone of voice, Genos continued where Shunshi left off, "If you are so caught up on Hero ranks, then think of it like this. Saitama-Sensei is so powerful that one day he shall stand at the top of S-Class, with no competition for his spot being possible."
As Stinger fearfully stepped back from the two, Lightning Genji looked at the furious expression on Monster Mask's face and thought nervously, Now that's more like what I expect from his photo...
Looking at Saitama, who was, in turn, looking at Genos and Shunshi with a hint of concern, Stinger thought to himself, Are they serious?! Just look at the guy! There's no way he's as strong as they say...
Gulping as he glanced back at Shunshi and Genos, the spear Hero forced himself to smile and concede, "Right... I'll take your guys' word on that." Hearing this, the two students managed to calm down, with Shunshi even putting a smile back on his face.
As the two turned to walk toward their teacher, Shunshi spun back around and explained to Stinger and Lightning Genji, "Hey, I can understand that you two might be curious now, but Sensei's a busy man and doesn't have time to field questions. If you wanna know stuff about him, though, just come to my home city and ask. I go patrolling every day that I can. Oh, I live in City-Y, by the way. Feel free to stop by sometime."
More confused now than ever, Stinger awkwardly waved at Monster Mask as he left with the Demon Cyborg and the Caped Baldy, muttering out, "Uh... Sure thing."
Equally baffled, Lightning Genji fumbled out some words, "We'll, uh... be sure to do... that..."
Once the group had left the quarantine zone, Genos turned to Shunshi and asked him, "Shunshi, for what reason were you being so nice to those two annoyances?"
Shrugging, the Hero dressed in a monstrous outfit casually answered, "Well, there's no way I could've taken on that monster without their help. And they seem like nice guys. So I just wanna see if I can be friends with them."
Such a thought having never crossed his mind, Genos found himself at a loss for words, only able to let out, "Oh... I see."
Saitama, who was still carrying a box full of kittens for the little girl at his side, looked at his pupils and explained, "Alright, I'm taking this kid and her cats back to her house. You two, stop following me and go talk to whoever it is you guys have to talk to when you kill monsters."
Due to Saitama's words, both of his loyal students were now standing at attention while simultaneously answering, "Yes, sir, Sensei!"
Feeling embarrassed by his companions' unwavering devotion, Saitama turned away to walk off with the kid without saying a word.
An awkward look was on the bald Hero's face, as he thought, I hate it when they do that...
By the end of the day, all of the Heroes involved with the slaying of the cat monster and its children received the rewards that they each deserved for their work. This filled all parties in question with a sense of satisfaction, even if it was a smaller feeling for some than others.