On the day following the battle waged against the cat monsters, Shunshi was in a good mood and wanted to do something special for his daily patrol. After his first solo victory against a Demon Level Threat, he felt the need to pit himself against monsters of equal caliber once more. In order to do this, Shunshi decided to go to the most dangerous place he could think of, the monster-infested ghost town that Saitama lived in.
To get to his Master's place of residence, Shunshi still had to make his way through the rest of Z-City, which wasn't at all difficult for him with his superhuman speed and agility. Regardless, he was still eager to test his mettle, so, to make better time, Shunshi decided to run and leap across the rooftops of Z-City's buildings.
As he leaped from one building to another, Monster Mask eventually found himself jumping over the city's shopping districts. As he passed through, Shunshi noticed a familiar, orange-haired face exiting a grocery store and carrying a bag of vegetables. Happy to see Charanko again, the darkly-clad Hero jumped down from the building he was on and rushed over to greet him.
The speed at which Monster Mask moved left no time for Charanko to take notice of the armored Hero's rapid approach. As a result, when Charanko turned his head to try and locate the sound of metal boots stomping towards him, all he saw was the face of a metal monster glaring at him. Despite the monster greeting him with a friendly hello, Charanko still thought he was about to be attacked. As such, he dropped his groceries and let out a scream of fear as he tumbled backward. However, he recomposed himself once he recognized that this monster was just Shunshi in his Hero armor.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Charanko started picking up his groceries as he complained, "Don't just sprint at me like that, Shunshi. You know I'm terrified of your costume."
While awkwardly helping to pick up the scattered veggies, Shunshi apologized, "Sorry about that. I was just excited to see you outside of class... Sooo, what exactly are you up to?" As he asked this, Shunshi handed the last vegetable to Charanko.
Lightly shaking his grocery bag for emphasis, Charanko explained, "Bang-Sensei was sent a bunch of lobsters by his older brother, Bomb. So I went out to buy some veggies to go with them... You know what? Now that I think about it, there's too many for the two of us to eat alone. Why don't you come help us out and eat some of them too?"
Excited by this offer, Shunshi took off his helmet for Charanko's sake and answered, "Sure thing! That sounds great. I've only had lobster once when I was a kid, but it was really good."
Smiling, Charanko exclaimed, "Alright. I'm sure Master Bang will appreciate both of us helping... Uh... What are those people doing?" Charanko then pointed at something behind Shunshi, so he turned around and saw that his orange-haired compatriot was gesturing at a group of people. This gathering of gawkers had taken out their phones and had been taking pictures of the two martial artists for a few minutes by now.
Seemingly unphased, Shunshi looked back at Charanko and explained, "Oh, that's nothing. I got promoted to the top five A-Class recently, so I've become something of a celebrity to my fellow Hero worshipers. I try not to think about it. It might go to my head otherwise. Anyways, we should get going before-." Just as he was about to finish his sentence, Monster Mask felt a tug on his cloak. Turning around, he saw a mother with her daughter, a young girl who couldn't have been out of middle school who was holding onto the end of his cape.
As he internally grew nervous, Shunshi put on a confident face and asked the young girl, "Oh. Hello there. What can I do for you?"
The girl opened her mouth to say something, but as she looked at Shunshi's face, she became visibly nervous and looked off to the side.
In an attempt to put her at ease, Monster Mask reassured the girl, "Hey, it's alright. You don't need to be nervous. I love meeting my fans."
Patting her on the back, the mother told her daughter, "Go ahead, dear. You're not gonna get a chance like this again."
Steeling her nerves, the girl took a deep breath and asked Shunshi, "Can I have your autograph? Also, can we take a couple pictures together?"
Despite wanting to hurry to Silver Fang's dojo, Shunshi forced himself to smile and politely answer, "Well, I don't have a pen, but I'd be happy to take a couple of photos."
With excitement exploding across her face, the young lady giddily explained, "Don't worry! I have a pen and paper with me!"
Giving Shunshi an annoyed look, Charanko tapped on his shoulder and told him, "Well, I'm gonna head back to the dojo while you deal with this."
Turning around, with a hint of desperation in his voice, Shunshi whispered to Charanko, "Wait. This should only take a minute."
With a stern expression, the orange-haired martial artist once again pointed at something behind Shunshi. Turning to see what he was pointing at, Monster Mask's pupils widened as they viewed a small line of fans that had already started gathering behind the mother and daughter, only getting larger with time.
As the Hero struggled to keep his composer, Charanko walked away while telling him, "I'll let Bang-Sensei know you'll be there eventually."
With his eye twitching ever so slightly, Shunshi internally pondered, I wonder if this is why Iaian was so reluctant to take pictures before... Oh, great. I just made myself sad thinking about Coner and his sister.
Despite his depressed thoughts, Shunshi could see that there were yet more people gathering to get his autograph.
Alright. Well, I guess I'd better get started if I wanna get done before sunset.
An hour and a half later, Shunshi had made it to the last of his fans in the line, a brother and sister who both looked to be in high school. After taking a third picture with them, Shunshi assumed that that would be all they wanted, so he started turning to walk away.
However, Monster Mask was stopped when the sister yelled, "Hey! Wait a second!" This made the Hero a little frustrated, so he let out a quiet sigh through his nostrils before he turned back around.
After forcing himself to calm down, Shunshi asked her in as pleasant a tone as he could manage, "Okay. What's up?"
Oblivious to her Hero's poorly concealed frustration, the girl fidgeted with her fingers, before blushing and explaining, "So, um... I'm, uh... I'm a member of your fan club..."
While the girl paused, Shunshi thought to himself in surprise, Wait a second. I have an actual fan club?
Prompted by her brother patting her on the back, the girl continued to speak, "So... I was wondering if you... if you... Do you have a girlfriend?! Can I be your girlfriend?!"
By that point in the day, this was the fourth time that Shunshi had been asked a question like this. When asked this the first time, he panicked and let out the first answer that came to mind. Since then, he rolled with that same excuse each time one of these questions got repeated.
Shunshi let out a flattered smirk at his fan's question and explained to her charismatically, "I'm sorry. You're a very lovely young lady, but I'm afraid I already have a girlfriend."
This was a flat-out lie, but his reason for giving this answer was two-fold. The first part was because she was obviously too young for him to date. On top of that, he simply wasn't looking for a romantic relationship at the time.
With the teenage girl looking horribly disappointed, her brother placed his hand on her shoulder and thanked Monster Mask, "Well, thanks for hearing her out anyway. We'll... I guess we'll be going now, sir." The dejected siblings then walked off, leaving Shunshi to put his helmet back on and finally be on his way.
Running as fast as he could, Shunshi quickly got out of Z-City and reached the mountain where Silver Fang's dojo was located. While running along the mountain roads, he slowed down when he saw something odd in the distance. As he trotted closer, he recognized the thing he saw was a pile of a few dozen men dressed in black karate gis, lying beaten on the ground.
Standing above the unconscious men was another young man who looked to be in his late teens. This man was wearing a skin-tight black shirt and a white pair of pants with a golden-yellow sash. He had white, spiky hair that was styled in such a way that it almost resembled a pair of horns. Hearing the sound of jogging footsteps behind him, the man turned around to see that the A-Class Hero, Monster Mask, was approaching. By turning around, this odd person revealed that his eyes didn't just have a crazed gleam to them, but were also colored bright yellow.
Stopping just a few dozen feet from this younger man, Shunshi cautiously asked him, "Hey! Could you tell me what happened here? Did you see who did this to these men?"
Grinning wildly while lifting up his blood-covered hand, this white-haired person cackled out, "Oh, I don't know. Who do you think did this, Hero?"
Glaring at this madman, Monster Mask struck up a defensive stance and demanded of him, "You'd better have a good explanation for this. Now come quietly. I don't want to have to hurt you."
Looking at the pile of unconscious men, Shunshi thought analytically, He'd have to be superhuman to defeat this many people at once. I don't know if he's on the same level as me, but I should still be careful... Heh. Who knows? Maybe I'll get the challenge I was looking for after all.
His smile growing even more insane, the white-haired man struck up a combative stance of his own and retorted, "Of course I have a good reason. I'm Garou, the Hero Hunting Monster! These fools were nothing but my stepping stones to power, just like how you'll soon be!"
With this statement, Shunshi cocked an eyebrow before responding, "Riiight... Well, Mister Monster, there are some nice men in white shirts I'd like you to meet who'd be happy to hear all about this. They even have a nice comfortable jacket for you to wear."
Visibly frustrated by this Hero's condescending tone, Garou rushed forward. His movements were so quick that he actually took Monster Mask off guard. Once he was within striking distance of the Hero, Garou bashed him in his stomach with an open-palm strike. The strength and speed behind this attack gave it such force that it sent Monster Mask flying back a dozen feet.
As he hit the ground, Shunshi understood that this would be no easy fight. Once he rolled back onto his feet, the dark-clad Hero surrounded himself in his flaming aura and rushed back at this villain.
Seemingly happy that his foe was still able to fight, Garou ran at Monster Mask as well. The sight of an armored man covered in flames did nothing to deter this madman's enthusiasm. If anything, he seemed even more excited.
Once the two reached one another, they began exchanging a flurry of strikes. Each time one attack seemed as if it were about to hit its target, it was parried by an equally powerful counter-blow. As this exchange of martial prowess continued, Shunshi noticed that Garou's hands were starting to become visibly cut and burned from all of their collisions against the Hero's flaming, armored gauntlets.
Taking advantage of the blood that was on his foe's hands, Monster Mask pretended as if he was about to attempt to grab one of Garou's punches. Instead, as his hand slipped along Garou's blood-covered fist, Shunshi grabbed the villain by his wrist. Before Garou could react to this grapple, Monster Mask thrusted his free palm into the center of the pretend monster's torso, knocking the wind out of him. Following up this strike, Shunshi gripped Garou's shirt, lifted him over his head, and slammed the villain into the ground behind him. The impact created by Monster Mask's superhuman strength and momentum wound up imprinting Garou's muscular back into the rock and dirt.
As he coughed up blood through gritted teeth, Garou lifted his legs up and wrapped them around the Hero's head. Using the immense strength in his core, the villain pulled on Shunshi's head and slammed him into the earth as well. This forced Shunshi to release his grip on the supposed Hero Hunter in the process.
Somersaulting backward, Garou stood up, glared at his opponent, and thought, Shit! This guy's armor is tough as Hell! He's not a bad fighter either. Gotta think of something... I might have to use the old man's techniques.
Thanks to his armor protecting him, Shunshi was far less injured from his collision with the ground than Garou was and was able to stand up much more quickly.
Thinking to himself in a calculated tone, the Hero pondered, Okay. This guy's not just superhuman, but he's also a skilled martial artist. Gotta keep on my toes with this one, or it'll be over before I know it.
Ready to continue the fight, Shunshi dashed at Garou once more.
Thinking this was another head-on assault, the Hero Hunter struck at Monster Mask with another open-palm strike. However, to Garou's surprise, the Hero dropped to the ground at the last second, avoiding the attack.
The split second he reached the ground, Shunshi spun himself and attempted to sweep at Garou's feet with a sliding kick. At the last moment, though, the fake monster leaped into the air and avoided the attempted trip attack.
Even though he missed, Shunshi was still spinning, so he lifted himself onto one hand, rotated back around, and spin-kicked the villain in his side while he was still in the air. The force of the attack cracked one of Garou's ribs and knocked him into a boulder at the side of the road, smashing apart large chunks of the rock in the process.
Despite his injuries, Garou climbed out from the rubble and glared at Monster Mask. Reaching his arms behind himself, the self-proclaimed monster dug his fingers into what was left of the boulder, lifted it into the air, and threw it at Shunshi.
Shunshi raised his arms in front of himself in defense as the boulder collided with him and pushed his body back. However, the force of the collision against Shunshi's armor reduced what was left of the boulder to dust and pebbles.
Taking advantage of the dust that was concealing the Hero's vision, Garou ran at him and launched a jump-kick through the debris, hitting Monster Mask in his faceplate.
Forced to take a step backward, Shunshi just barely managed to keep his balance but felt disoriented as his head started ringing.
Despite the toughness and sharpness of his opponent's armor, Garou followed up his kick with a series of strikes, one of which even dented Shunshi's chest piece.
Eventually, the ringing in his head stopped, and Shunshi was able to start counter-attacking.
The two found themselves engaging in another exchange of blows with each other. The clashing fighters eventually tried to hit the other with as strong of a punch as they could muster. However, instead of hitting their intended targets, the fists collided with one another, with the spikes of Shunshi's gauntlets digging into Garou's knuckles.
The force of these clashing fists was so great that the two fighters were propelled away from each other by the shock wave.
Due to his hand actually being in pain, Shunshi quickly examined it. He was shocked when he saw that the gauntlet had been damaged to the point that some of its spikes appeared to have broken off inside of Garou's fist.
His concern growing ever so slightly, Monster Mask thought, First he dented my chest piece, and now this?! Am I imagining things, or is he getting stronger while we're fighting? Crap, I gotta end this quick! Maybe I should use a Light Ball on him... No, that might kill him... Maybe that technique Lin Lin showed me? If I can pull it off, that is.
Placing his palm at his side, Shunshi started trying to vibrate it, while simultaneously raising his other hand to defend himself.
Understanding that the Hero was up to something, Garou rushed at Monster Mask and tried to spin-kick him in his head.
Having prepared for the assault, Shunshi raised his arm to block the attack. This deflected the kick but dented his armor once again.
Quickly regaining his footing, Garou threw a punch with his good hand and hit Monster Mask's chest piece in the spot that had already been dented.
As the Hero Hunter attempted to throw another punch, this time with his damaged hand, Shunshi panicked internally, Shit! Now or never!
Thrusting his vibrating hand forward, the Hero's palm collided with the villain's fist, causing both of their arms to recoil backward in pain. Not willing to let up on his counterattack, though, Shunshi uppercutted Garou in his jaw with his other fist, spun in place, and then elbowed the villain in his chest. This combo move knocked Garou backward and sent him tumbling along the road.
While the two warriors took a split second to catch their breath, they both noticed the damage that they had inflicted on each other. Shunshi realized that the punch Garou had used to counter his vibrating hand had caused the armor on his palm to partially shatter, cutting up his hand something fierce in the process.
Garou, meanwhile, could feel that his entire hand was broken and another two of his ribs had been fractured. The monster man quickly forced himself to his feet in order to keep fighting but found his legs stumbling slightly underneath his own weight.
This sight caused Shunshi to sprint at his foe while thinking, Okay. Time to end this!
Just as he got near the teetering Hero Hunter, ready to deliver the finishing blow, Garou suddenly struck at Shunshi's jaw with a lightning-fast palm strike that had, what looked like, a glowing stream of water flowing from it. The blow was so powerful that it almost broke off the jaw of the Hero's helmet
Injured and shocked, all that went through Shunshi's mind was, Wait, what?
Before Shunshi could even finish stumbling back, Garou unleashed a flurry of dozens more of these attacks while shouting, "Fist of Flowing Water Crushing Rock!"
Each of these attacks dented or pierced Monster Mask's armor in different places, grievously wounding him. Eventually, the Hero Hunter used a spear thrust at the spot in the chest piece that he had already dented twice over. This attack broke through the metal plating and dug the villain's fingers into the right side of the Hero's chest. After that, one last punch was thrown directly into Shunshi's face, shattering his helmet's faceplate, as well as breaking his nose.
As blood spewed from his face, Shunshi collapsed into unconsciousness on the ground, while Garou leered down at him and caught his breath.
Taking one last deep breath, the Hero Hunter smiled and told the unconscious man at his feet, "I didn't want to have to resort to the old fart's techniques, but you really pushed me. You made for an excellent stepping stone. That said, if I were you, I'd retire from the Hero business, dumbass."
Looking at his broken hand, Garou muttered to himself in minor annoyance, "Great. Gonna need a big meal for this." Without another word, the Human Monster then walked away.
Later that night, Shunshi woke up in pain while lying in a familiar bed. Trying to sit up, he looked at his surroundings and saw that he was in his room at home. The young man realized that he was no longer wearing the remains of his armor, and was now dressed in some of his casual clothes.
As Shunshi continued to try to sit up, the voice of his mother shouted to him, "Oh, thank God! You're awake!" Not even a second later, Shunshi found himself being hugged by Hanja.
Pushing for Shunshi to lay back down, he cooperated with his mom and asked her weakly, "Mom, what happened...? How'd I get back home?"
Pulling his blanket back over her son, Hanja explained, "Your friend Genos said that he and your teacher found you all beaten up. He brought you here to rest while you healed. The dear also took your costume to be fixed by someone named... Dr. Stench...? You had a hole in your chest... I was so scared."
Reminded of what Garou did to him, Shunshi pulled up his shirt's collar and looked at his chest in fear. He was partially relieved when he saw that all of the wounds on his torso were bandaged up, however, he could feel that the hole in his chest was still partially there, even with his powers slowly healing it over.
Looking at his room's ceiling in contemplation, the beaten Hero eventually turned and asked his mother, "Hey, Mom. Where's Dad right now?"
Patting her son's shoulder in a comforting way, Hanja explained, "Your father is at the store right now. He rushed out to buy more medical supplies for you... Say, now that you're awake, do you want a glass of water? I'm sure you must be thirsty, dear." As if on cue, Shunshi let out a dry cough as his throat begged to be parched.
Smiling at his mom, he nodded and answered, "Sure. That sounds good right about now. Thanks."
Kissing her boy on his cheek, Hanja got up and went to get him something to hydrate himself with.
Too sore to move, Shunshi once again found himself looking at his ceiling. While he processed his emotions, he was surprised when he found he was far angrier than anything else.
As images of the criminal he lost to raced through his mind, Shunshi thought vehemently, I don't know who you are, Garou, or how you know Silver Fang-Sensei's techniques... But next time we fight, I'll win and bring you to justice!