In the heart of City-Z sat the apartment of the world's strongest Hero, Saitama. Two days had passed since he and Genos had found Shunshi beaten senseless on Bang's mountain. Fortunately, his older pupil had made a full recovery, as he typically did, and was back to his daily training routine at his Master's home. However, this time, he was noticeably pushing himself to complete much larger sets of his usual workout regimens.
While on his three hundredth one-handed-hand-stand push-up, Shunshi flashed back to the day before this one.
He had gone to Silver Fang's dojo in order to ask his second sensei a question, this time without any incidents on the way there. He had asked the old hero if he knew anything about the evil martial artist named Garou. A pained look of sadness came over the old man's face upon hearing that name.
In a depressed tone, Bang had explained, "Garou was my former top-student, but he went mad one day and beat all of my other pupils so badly that they all quit the dojo. Some had quit from fear while others were simply too injured to continue down the path of martial arts."
Back in the present, a shirtless Shunshi was on his three-hundred-thirtieth push-up as his thoughts intensified, Hmmm... I thought Garou was just some guy who picked up some Fist of Flowing Water Crushing Rock techniques from a second-hand source. But if he was Silver Fang-Sensei's top student at one point, then I guess that dashes my idea of trying to outdo his skill in Master Bang's martial art one day. Gotta think of something... new if I want to stop this guy. Maybe I can pick up some more techniques from Lin-Lin. She seems more and more eager to hang out and train with me each time, and what I have picked up from her did help against him during our fight... I'll call her to meet up for another session in a day or two.
As Shunshi continued to ponder over how to defeat this superior martial arts foe, Genos was doing the dishes, and Saitama was playing a video game on a hand-held console that neither of his students had ever seen him use before.
Intermediately throughout Shunshi's workout, Genos quietly snuck worried glances at his junior. Whenever the cyborg would look at him, it was as if he thought his junior would break unless a watchful eye was kept on him.
Suddenly, a look popped onto Genos' face as if he had just remembered something, followed by him addressing Saitama, "Master Saitama, I thought you should know something. I checked the Hero Association website yesterday. You rose to Rank 7 in B-Class, I have risen to Rank 14 in S-Class, and Shunshi has risen to Rank 4 in A-Class."
Not even bothering to turn his attention away from his video game, Saitama responded in his usual monotone voice, "Really? All I've done is beat the monsters I stumbled across. There sure are a lot of them recently, though."
Hearing this, Shunshi continued to work out as he speculated, "I got promoted again...? Was it from the extra points Genos and I got from dealing with those cat monsters?"
In as close to an excited tone of voice as Genos would ever speak, he hypothesized, "You do not report your victories. Which means witnesses are doing it for you. People are beginning to recognize you. Maybe you will get a fan club soon."
Still not looking away from his game, Saitama dismissively replied, "Nah. Even guys like you and Shunshi don't have fan clubs. And you guys're A and S-Class."
As he went back to doing the dishes, Genos clarified something to his Master, "No. We actually both have fan clubs. From what I understand though, Shunshi's is not as large as mine, due to our difference in rank."
Frustrated at this knowledge, Saitama's pupils dilated as he exclaimed, "No way!"
A few moments of everyone returning to their routines later, Genos had detected something approaching the apartment complex on his radar.
Turning to face the kitchen exit, Genos frantically thought, I detect something approaching... And it is fast. Is it a monster? Hmmm... Saitama-Sensei is clearly busy, and I am unsure if Shunshi could handle a fight after all of the training he has done today. I will handle this on my own.
As Genos made his way to the door, Saitama was so enraptured with his game that he didn't even notice that he was leaving. Meanwhile, Shunshi was so intensely focused on his training that day that he hardly noticed his Senpai heading for the door. When he did see Genos heading out, the older Hero just assumed that he was off to pick up groceries or some other mundane task given to him by their Master.
Once he had stepped out the front door, the Demon Cyborg concluded excitedly, This will be perfect. I can test my new parts.
Glaring at the apartment complex's stairs, Genos coldly demanded, "Show yourself."
Jumping down from the top of the building, the ninja, Speed-O-Sound Sonic, landed at the end of the walkway. He was dressed in a slightly more armored outfit than what he had worn before and was carrying a sword behind his waist.
Surprised at the appearance of this intruder, Genos instinctively asked, "You are Human? What do you want?"
Approaching the cyborg with a sadistic jaunt, Sonic gave an order of his own, "Get Saitama. I know he lives here."
Due to this man clearly not being a monster, Genos somewhat calmly asked him, "Are you an acquaintance? I think I have seen you somewhere before..."
Not thinking anything of the metal teenager in front of him, Speed-O-Sound explained, "I don't have time for small fries. I'm Speed-O-Sound Sonic. I'm Saitama's rival. I'm here to settle things, so scram."
Having been both amused and angered by this statement, a frustrated smile appeared on the blonde cyborg's face as he retorted, "Speed-O-Sound Sonic? Haha... What a freak. You claim to be Master's rival? How presumptuous and shameless! Get lost... Or I will eliminate you!" Pointing his palm forward, Genos readied his incinerator. In response, the ninja smiled eagerly and readied one of his shurikens.
Ready to fight, Sonic responded, "No. That's your fate... sidekick!"
Back inside, Shunshi was working so hard that a small puddle of sweat was forming beneath him.
All the while, the Caped Baldy was still playing his game when he realized, Oh crap. I saved over King's data. Can't believe I swiped this from his room. Oh well, that sucks...
Twenty minutes later, Shunshi had been working so hard on all of his other workouts that he only just now had finished the daily training regiment that his Master had assigned to him. This was also in part due to having to constantly clean the puddles of sweat he was leaving on Saitama's floor.
Just as the black-haired Hero was getting up to stretch so he could go running, he and his Sensei both flinched when someone outside yelled, "Class-B Hero, Rank 7 Saitama! We know that you live here! Show yourself! Class-B Hero, Rank 1 Blizzard Of Hell wants to talk!"
Looking annoyed, Saitama turned to the door and told Shunshi, "Oh great. Must be a newspaper salesman. Shunshi, go tell them to leave."
Hearing what his Sensei told him to do, Shunshi blinked in confusion while pondering, So... Blizzard Of Hell delivers newspapers to other B-Class Heroes? That's... odd. But I guess that's pretty nice of her too. Well, better go do what Saitama-Sensei asked. It'll be nice to meet such a famous Hero... Oh man, I'm getting kinda excited now!
Getting up and walking to the door, Shunshi opened it to find the top three B-Class Heroes standing just outside. Standing to the left was B-Class Rank 3, Mountain Ape. He was a massively huge and muscular man with relatively short hair. He had dressed himself in a professional-looking business suit and tie. Standing to the right was B-Class Rank 2, Eyelashes. Unlike Mountain Ape, he was of average height, but he was still well-built and was also dressed in a suit and tie. His eyelashes were extravagantly curled, and he had long hair that he kept combed back and tied into a ponytail. Standing between these two was B-Class Rank 1, Blizzard Of Hell. She was a slender and extraordinarily well-endowed woman with shoulder-length black hair. She had a naturally beautiful face and expensive-looking eyeliner on. She was dressed in a white fur coat that rested on her shoulders, a black formfitting dress, and had several gold necklaces resting around her neck.
Blizzard and the other two Heroes were surprised when the man they had called out for hadn't answered the door and were instead greeted by an over six-foot-tall, athletically built, shirtless man with long, spiked hair, who was covered in fresh sweat from a workout.
Initially flustered by this young man's physique, Blizzard blushed for a moment before recomposing herself and explaining, "My apologies. We thought this was where the B-Class Hero, Saitama, lived. Is he a floor up or something?"
Shunshi, who was also initially taken back by how pretty Blizzard of Hell was in person, had to take a moment before answering, "Oh, uh... This is Saitama's home. I'm just one of his students..."
Hearing this, Eyelashes wondered, His student? So Saitama's already started forming his own faction? Who is this guy, though? He doesn't look like any B or C-Class Hero in the registry.
Having taken the time to think of the most polite way to tell these people what Saitama had told him to, Shunshi awkwardly explained, "Um. First off, it's an honor to meet all three of you in person. I'm a big fan of the Blizzard Gang. But, uh, second off, Master-Saitama appreciates you coming all the way out here, but he says he's not interested in the newspaper you brought for him today. Thank you anyway."
All three of the B-Class Heroes looked insulted and confused at this, with Mountain Ape yelling, "What are you talking about?! We're not here to sell newspapers! We're here to have a talk with your boss!"
Looking embarrassed, Shunshi gave off a quick bow before apologizing, "Oh! I'm so sorry about the mix-up. I'll let Sensei know why you're actually here."
Turning around to half-yell into the apartment, Monster Mask called out to the Caped Baldy, "Saitama-Sensei! They said they didn't bring you a newspaper. They're here to talk to you."
Seeming somewhat puzzled by this, Saitama set his borrowed video game down and made his way to the door, while asking, "Who wants to talk to me?"
Peaking his head outside, the bald Hero saw the other three Heroes who had gathered at his front door. Unsure of who any of them were, he just gave off a blank expression.
Pleased that Saitama had shown himself, Blizzard smirked and greeted him, "Hello, new Hero. I'm Blizzard Of Hell. Do you understand what that means?"
Looking at his Master, Shunshi was a little surprised when he saw him smile and retort, "Uh, nope. Who?"
Blinking at this, the young Hero thought in embarrassment, He doesn't know who she is? Uh... I think I got mixed up at some point.
At this point, Eyelashes was sweating with anger as he venomously answered Saitama's question, "She's the top-ranking B-Class Hero."
Continuing to smile, Saitama replied once more, "Oh. Good for her. So?"
Simultaneously, all three of the professionally-dressed Heroes grew frustrated and thought in unison, Oh great... He's copping an attitude.
Wearing his usual humble expression, Shunshi gestured to his teacher and explained, "Oh, um. Sorry, but Master doesn't really pay attention to what rank other Heroes are, aside from myself and my Senpai. You see, he's actually the strongest Hero in the world and, so, ranks don't really apply or matter to him all that much."
Looking over to his student, Saitama gave an appreciative nod and said, "Thanks for putting that into better words for me. But yeah, that's it."
At this point, the top three B-Class Heroes were completely baffled by the two strange men in front of them.
Out of a mixture of frustration and confidence, Eyelashes shouted at the younger Hero, "Look, kid! I don't know who you are, but this guy here obviously tricked you. He's just some random B-Class who's gotten lucky so far. He's not some all-powerful Hero you can learn from."
Becoming a bit annoyed at that remark, Shunshi did his best to stay polite as he insisted, "I know it's a little hard to believe without having seen it first hand. But, Sensei truly is the world's greatest Hero."
Impatient with this stranger's attitude, Mountain Ape was about to step forward and interject, but Blizzard put her hand in front of him and stated, "We're getting off track here. Saitama, you're a new B-Class Hero, yet you haven't come to offer me a greeting. Doing so is customary for all new B-Class Heroes."
Hearing this, Shunshi's mood softened back up a bit, as he thought to himself, Oh. I suppose that's reasonable.
Having finally stepped fully outside for this, Saitama closed the door behind him as the smile faded from his face and was replaced with an intense annoyance.
As he released his door's handle, Saitama stoically asked, "A greeting, huh? I'm Saitama. Whassup?"
Her expression staying just as cold as it was before, Blizzard took a second to process this before continuing, "Fine. Did you know there are Hero factions?"
His expression showing no real sign of interest, Saitama halfheartedly asked, "Factions?"
Feeling like he understood what she meant, Shunshi chimed in, "She means like how Heroes sometimes form teams to be more effective. Isn't that right, Ms. Blizzard?"
Shaking her head at this, Blizzard explained, "You're close, but that's not exactly the same as what I'm referring to. Without joining a faction, you can't move up in the ranks on your own. The reason why is because other Heroes from different factions will get in your way."
Having officially lost all interest, Saitama gestured his thumb over at Shunshi and explained, "Look, I'm uh... Busy training my student here, so-."
Cutting him off, Blizzard yelled at Saitama as her two subordinates glared at him, "I'm not done talking! Join me and my faction. I'll let you occupy a high Rank in B-Class."
After working to piece together what Blizzard was telling him, Saitama eventually snapped his fingers with a grin and declared, "Oh, I get it. If I don't agree, you'll try to hold me back."
As soon as his Sensei articulated what was going on for him to understand, Shunshi realized that they were dealing with more fake Heroes. He kept up his calm expression as a facade but clenched his fists in preparation for the inevitable conflict.
Not even bothering to stand up straight anymore, Saitama hunched over and asked the top B-Class Hero, "Do you threaten all B-Class Heroes like this? Like some kinda gang leader?"
Unphased by his accusation, Blizzard responded in a tone that almost sounded like a compliment to the Capped Baldy, "Only the ones who impress me."
Smirking in amusement, Saitama bluntly asked her, "Are you scared that I'll take the number one spot from you? Don't worry. After that, I'll move on to A-Class. Why don't you do that too? You've got your flunkies, but isn't B-Class boring?"
Hearing his Master's retort, Shunshi couldn't help but smile out of pride and child-like excitement.
Looking visibly annoyed, Blizzard let out her demand, "Give me your answer."
Waving her off, Saitama scoffed back, "I refuse, of course. Heroes shouldn't care about hierarchy."
His smile taking over, Monster Mask pumped his fist into the air and exclaimed, "Well said, Sensei!"
Pointing her finger at the bald Hero, Blizzard Of Hell yelled out, "Eyelashes! Mountain Ape! Hurt him so badly he can never play Hero again!"
In an instant, both of the so-called Heroes replied, "Yes, ma'am!"
Eyelashes whipped out a pair of eyelash curlers, while Mountain Ape got ready to throw a punch. However, before either of them could even finish taking a step towards Saitama, Shunshi had grabbed both of them by their heads and slammed them into each other.
As Eyelashes and Mountain Ape collapsed to the ground and were seconds away from losing consciousness, Shunshi glared down at the two and explained, "You said you don't know who I am? My apologies. My name's Shunshi. My Hero name is Monster Mask. If you wanna step up to my Sensei, then you at least gotta be able to get through me first."
Having been prepared to handle this himself, Saitama asked the older of his two students, "You sure about that, Shunshi? I don't really need you to take care of this for me."
Striking up an offensive stance directed at a shocked Blizzard, Shunshi furrowed his brow and replied respectfully, "If you don't mind, Master, I'd actually like to handle this. I have a personal beef with fake-Heroes like these guys. Can't stand 'em."
Visibly upset by Monster Mask's statement, a vein popped on the number 1 B-Class' neck as she growled back, "Fake!? Don't mess with me!"
Suddenly, the Caped Baldy and Monster Mask heard a slowly building rumbling noise. Lifting her hands into the air, Blizzard Of Hell summoned a massive cloud of dust, rocks, and pebbles. As the cloud moved in, Eyelashes and Mountain Ape were levitated away from the balcony to the ground below.
While Shunshi switched to a defensive stance, Saitama calmly asked Blizzard, "Is this... Some kinda psychic power?"
Clenching her fingers into claws, Blizzard angrily answered, "Yes. You don't seem surprised."
Looking at the pebbles moving through the air, Saitama, not even halfheartedly, asked her, "You gonna attack us with rocks and pebbles? No, please don't."
Smirking excitedly, the Blizzard Of Hell retorted, "Ridicule me, huh? You'll regret that. Hellstorm!"
Calling down all of her ammunition at once, the psychic woman caused such powerful vibrations with her attack that Saitama and Shunshi were somewhat bouncing off the ground.
Timing his movements in between the bounces, Shunshi lunged forward at such remarkable speeds that Blizzard didn't even know what had happened until after it was over. Tackling her, the two fell off the balcony, just as the whirlwind of debris came crashing down at the front door.
Before Blizzard's back could collide with the ground, Shunshi stuck out his right arm behind her to brace the fall. In the split second that his palm touched the ground, Monster Mask used his other hand to grab the fake-Hero by the back of her dress and throw her to the side.
Quickly flipping to his feet, Shunshi looked up and saw how Blizzard's attack had ripped, ground up, and torn apart the stone and metal of the building. While the damage to the building wasn't awful, it was still clearly an attack that could have seriously injured the blue-eyed Hero.
Despite knowing full well just how powerful the Caped Baldy was, Shunshi couldn't help but yell out in concern, "Master! Are you-?!" He found himself stopping mid-sentence, smiling when he saw Saitama appear a few dozen feet away, having moved so fast that this his weaker student couldn't have hoped to follow his movements. He was visibly unharmed, but his white cape was noticeably shredded at its end.
After dusting himself off for a half-second, Saitama looked up, pointed at the direction Shunshi tossed Blizzard, and spoke with just a hint of concern, "Hey, Shunshi. Heads up."
Looking upwards, Shunshi was shocked when he saw that the Hellstorm had moved and was crashing down on top of him.
As psychic energy radiated off of her, a scuffed-up Blizzard held her hands out towards the tornado of debris and yelled, "I don't care if you're pretending to be an A-Class Hero! This attack'll rip your flesh and grind your bones! You have no one to blame for this but your wannabe-teacher for trying to surpass me!"
Within the tornado, an explosion was set off that propelled a flame-covered Shunshi out of it. His skin was noticeably cut up, but his powers had shielded him from any further harm. The explosion Monster Mask had made was so strong that it actually launched him shoulder-first towards Blizzard's face. This impact was enough to knock her over, but an invisible psychic barrier around her body had shielded her enough that she only got a bruise at the point of blow.
Flipping around so that he'd land on his feet just before he reconnected with the ground, Shunshi looked at Blizzard and saw that she was also getting up from the hit he'd just landed on her.
"Ya know, I thought me throwing you would've been enough to knock you out, but you're even getting up from that? It looks like your powers protect you the same way mine protect me," Shunshi openly posited.
Scowling at her shirtless and flaming foe, the number 1 B-Class snapped back at him, "Of course they do! Puny attacks like yours won't put me down!" She then muttered under her breath, "So why the Hell did that hurt so much just now...?"
Focusing back on the battle at hand, Blizzard slammed her hands onto the ground. A wave of psychic energy traveled from her palms, through the street, and underneath Shunshi's feet. The ground then folded in on itself and crushed Shunshi between two pieces of the road.
Forming Light Balls in his hands, the younger Hero blasted his way out of the street sandwich and back onto the impromptu battlefield. Not wanting to make the same mistake of holding back as he did against Garou, Shunshi formed several more small Light Balls in his right palm and threw them near the feet of the Hero-poser. The resulting explosions created a fog cloud of dust and debris.
Tsking her teeth in annoyance at being blinded, the psychic woman used her powers to split the cloud, which revealed Shunshi jumping downwards at her with a flaming drop-kick. Reacting just in time, Blizzard used her telekinesis to catch Monster Mask in the air, killing his momentum in the process. However, what happened next shocked both of them.
In the split-second Blizzard had gotten her psychic grip around Shunshi's flaming body, the young man's white flames fizzled out, and the young woman's psychic barrier shattered. Shunshi then fell to the ground, his muscles spasming in pain, while Blizzard fell to her knees, screaming as she suffered from a mind-crushing migraine and bled from her nose and eyes.
Seeing Shunshi convulsing on the ground, Saitama walked over to his student, crouched down, and asked him with a hint of genuine care in his voice, "Are you alright, dude? I've never seen this happen to you before."
Wanting nothing less than to embarrass himself further in front of the world's greatest Hero, Shunshi forced his body to cooperate, stop spasming, and get to his knees. In the process, he ended up pulling several muscles.
Forcing a grin onto his face, he looked Saitama in his eyes and answered confidently, "Don't worry, Master. I'll have this all wrapped up in just a second."
Raising his eyebrows in concern, Saitama replied, "Uh... Okay. But if anything else weird happens, I'm ending this."
Nodding to this in gratitude, Shunshi sprung to his feet and began rushing towards the now recovering Blizzard.
While running forward, Shunshi tried to light up his body once more, but his flames didn't respond. Ignoring this in the moment, Monster Mask grabbed Blizzard by her neck, carried her for a few feet, before pinning her to the ground. With no barrier to protect herself, Blizzard felt the full brunt of this slam. If she weren't one who had become so accustomed to pain and combat, then this may have knocked her out cold on the spot.
Desperate to free herself, Blizzard lifted her hand to blast her foe with a wave of psychic energy, but, like with Shunshi's flames, nothing happened. Unsure of what else to do, the fake-Hero grabbed a box-cutter knife from a pocket in her sleeve and tried to stab Shunshi with it. However, even without his Kie protecting him, Monster Mask's superhuman body caused the knife to bend and break.
Having had enough of her antics, Shunshi yelled at his trapped foe, "What in the name of God is wrong with you?! Heroes are supposed to work together and help people! Not form gangs and go around attacking other Heroes just to hold onto a stupid rank! They're just there to help us know what to go up against! They don't really matter! You and so many others are just a bunch of gutless fakes giving real Heroes a bad name! So what's a fake like you gonna do now?! Your gangsters are out cold, and you can't beat me on your own! SO WHAT NOW!? Personally speaking, I think I should drag you off and report you to the Hero Association!"
Spitting venom back at him, Blizzard yelled, "SHUT UP! You don't know what I've had to do to get my rank! I won't give it up to some nobody like that Saitama!"
Just as tears not made from blood began spilling from Blizzard's eyes, Speed-O-Sound Sonic ran past the two combatants. Genos quickly showed up as well, chasing the ninja and readying an attack.
Seeing the danger this posed, Saitama's eyes filled with more concern than they'd had for quite a while as he jumped in front of his student and Blizzard. His goal was to use his body to shield them from the massive explosion Genos had set off at that very moment.
Blinking in confusion as dust and smoke filled the air, both Shunshi and Blizzard thought simultaneously, What just happened?
Blizzard tried to get up, but she winced in pain and fell back down onto Shunshi, as a new head wound and an overall sore body prevented her from rising for a moment. Once her hand brushed past one of his nipples, though, the Blizzard Of Hell realized that she was lying on the muscular chest of the man she had just been fighting. Angry and embarrassed by this, she pushed herself off of him and got to her knees.
Having thought nothing of having such a beautiful woman lay on top of him, and despite some new injuries, Shunshi managed to climb back to his feet on knees of jelly. Looking at the Saitama-shaped silhouette of the ground that had been spared from the explosion, which he and Blizzard were both resting in, the older of Saitama's two disciples pieced together what had just transpired.
Putting his hand to a small wound on his head, Shunshi thought through a shaky haze, It looks like Master shielded us from... What did this exactly?
Looking past Saitama, Shunshi saw his younger Senpai and thought in a matter-of-fact tone, Oh... Of course, Senpai made that explosion.
Stunned at the sight of the Demon Cyborg, Blizzard thought in amazement, Is that the S-Class Hero, Genos? What's he doing here?
As more smoke and debris was bellowed about by the wind, Genos noticed his Master, turned, and told him, "Saitama-Sensei, sorry about the dust."
Having come to the same realization that Shunshi had over who had saved them, Blizzard looked on at Saitama in awe as he complained to Genos, "This is more than just dust! I just saw Sonic! What's going on?"
Baffled by the way that Saitama was speaking to an S-Class Hero, Blizzard couldn't help but ask him, "Uh, hold on a second. It's not just the A-Class with Monster Mask? You have S-Class connections too?"
As the soot-covered Saitama turned and looked at Blizzard, he posited back to her, "Huh? You mean Genos?"
Looking at this woman with his default cold stare, Genos explained, "I am Master's top pupil."
Now confronted with two higher-ranking Heroes studying under this bald man, Blizzard Of Hell fumbled out, "Pupil...? So you guys're really...? But he's B-Class..."
Realizing who this woman was, and noticing the rough condition she and Shunshi were in, a small but smug grin formed on Genos' face, as he stated, "You are Blizzard Of Hell, the number 1 B-Class Hero. So, you came to crush Master, but Shunshi came to defend his honor and reduced you to this state!"
Looking at Blizzard with equal amounts of disdain and awkwardness, Shunshi explained to Genos, "Well, I did some of that to her. But it was mostly the explosion you made just now."
Giving Shunshi's injuries a quick scan, Genos glared at Blizzard while asking his junior, "What about you, then? Are you in your current state because of her?!"
Waving his hand to his Senpai, Shunshi once again explained, "Well, she made some of these cuts on me. But, again, most of this was from you just now."
Looking genuinely embarrassed for the first time since he and Shunshi had met, Genos blurted out, "Oh... Uh... I am sorry abou-."
The Demon Cyborg found himself stopping mid-sentence when Sonic's voice came from out of nowhere, "Exploding Shuriken!" His metal body was then struck with a ninja star, which exploded on impact with half as much force as one of Shunshi's Light Balls.
Out of shock and fear, due to her powers not being there to protect her, Blizzard yelled out to no one in particular, "Eeek! A monster?!"
With a somewhat annoyed look on his face, Saitama answered, "Not exactly. But it's gotten crowded now, so you should take your flunkies and go."
Stepping out from the smoke of the explosion that had just engulfed him, Genos looked up and saw Speed-O-Sound crouching on top of a street lamp.
Unharmed and annoyed from the attack, Genos declared to his ninja foe, "Tch. Your attempts are futile. Even Shunshi has stronger attacks than that. You will never defeat me if you cannot even scratch me."
Cocking an eyebrow at this, Shunshi internally questioned that statement, What's he comparing that to? Senpai and I have never fought each other before... Maybe we should have a match at some point...? Wait a second, is that that ninja from the woods that Master... took... care of?
Grinning from his high-up vantage point, Sonic retorted, "Ooooh, tough talk. If you wanna talk about never defeating someone, then maybe we should bring up how you haven't even been able to touch me yet?"
Using his speed, Sonic vanished from atop the street lamp, shattering its light bulb with the shockwaves of his take-off. Once the ninja had reappeared on the ground, so little time had passed that the glass from the bulb hadn't even reached the street. The reflection of the glass shards falling behind him caused Sonic to be ever-so-slightly illuminated in their glittering sparkles.
Grinning with bloodthirsty excitement, Speed-O-Sound looked dead at Saitama and declared, "Watch, Saitama! I'll turn your pupil to scrap, and then I'm coming for you!"
Looking at this elite ninja with an expression of dread and anticipation, Blizzard thought, The murderous aura and combat skill that radiates off of this guy is intense! He's definitely S-Class...
Meanwhile, Shunshi was looking at Sonic with a somewhat puzzled and concerned expression, wondering, This is... weird. The first time I met this guy, I felt overwhelmed just by being in his presence. But now... I don't know. I just don't feel as worried as before... Hmm. Maybe I should lend Genos-Senpai a hand?
Lifting up his palm, Shunshi attempted to prepare a Light Ball, but only a small flicker appeared in his hand, which snuffed itself out just as quickly. This reminded the blue-eyed Hero of what had just transpired between himself and Blizzard. Due to lacking both his armor and powers, Shunshi decided to stand down for the time being, unless he was absolutely needed.
Stepping forward while patting himself off, Genos spoke to Saitama while glaring at Sonic, "Saitama-Sensei. This guy is a vindictive and annoying stalker. I will erase him, so he never comes back."
After adjusting his scarf, Speed-O-Sound chuckled and retorted, "You're too slow to erase me. You don't have the power!"
Clenching his fist at this, the vents on the Demon Cyborg's chest began to glow yellow, as he angrily asked, "At what point did I show you my power...? You LOSE!"
The very instant that Genos spoke these words, he vanished in a blur of movement. At the last possible instant, the ninja noticed that the blond cyborg had reappeared behind him. Just as Genos threw out a flurry of punches, Sonic backflipped to dodge the attack. Much to the ex-mercenary's surprise, though, the attack had been launched so quickly that he couldn't move fast enough to save his scarf from getting shredded.
The shocked Sonic used his momentum to land behind Genos, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he instantly took a leap backward to gain some distance. Unfortunately for him, the Demon Cyborg had already spun around and closed the gap between the two, ready to give out another punch.
Still a half step ahead, Sonic leaned backward and dodged another one of the fierce cyborg's attacks by the skin of his teeth. The force of the punch that the frightening cyborg had aimed for the ninja instead leveled the wall behind him, much to the shock of the attack's intended target.
As Sonic started to back-flip away, Genos turned his head to face him while thinking, Accelerate.
All of a sudden, a blur of motion that vaguely resembled the young cyborg moved behind Speed-O-Sound Sonic.
Watching this scuffle unfold, Saitama thought to himself in a somewhat interested tone, Genos is moving a little bit faster than that time me, him, and Shunshi played around. That's cool. I wonder what happened to him. Did he get new parts?
Meanwhile, Shunshi couldn't help but smile with excitement as he watched the epic showdown between his Senpai and the ninja that slaughtered the Paradisers.
Watching Genos' movements, he thought with astoundment, Holy crap! Senpai's keeping up with Sonic's moves! I knew he was amazing... But why isn't Sonic moving at full speed? He was way faster than that in the forest... Wasn't he? I wouldn't be able to follow this otherwise, right...? Hold on. Am I actually getting fast enough to follow this stuff?
Lastly, Blizzard, still on her knees, had her eyes darting around the battlefield as she thought intensely, It's no good. I can't see them at all.
Once Genos was behind Sonic, the ninja tried to flip away from him again, but the gap between the two was once closed once more by Genos, who unleashed another flurry of punches, which Sonic could do nothing against but dodge as his clothes began to get shredded by metal fists. Furious with this turn of events, Speed-O-Sound unsheathed and tried to swing at Genos with his katana. However, the young man sped up, dodged the attack, and moved behind the ninja once again. As Genos unleashed yet another flurry of punches, Sonic did his best to dodge and block the attacks with his sword.
Trying to figure out what was happening, Sonic thought in confusion and fury, Why does he keep getting behind me? Is he trying to show off how fast he is? Does this punk think he's faster than me!?
Speed-O-Sound suddenly found himself forced to stop thinking as Genos threw one last punch that actually brushed past his head. Jumping away from the cyborg in order to get to safety, Sonic felt as if he was just a small fraction lighter.
Releasing his clenched fist, Genos dropped the top-not he'd ripped from Sonic's head while coldly stating, "It looks like you have lost something."
As loose hair drifted off of Sonic's scalp, he clenched his fists and shook with anger, growling out, "Erg... Why you...!"
Dashing behind the ninja one last time, Genos announced to him, "You let your guard down, Speed-O-Sound Sonic!"
Powering up the jets running down his arms, the Demon Cyborg fired off a Machine Gun Blow and thought to himself, "I have him! There is no way for him to dodge-. Huh?" Just as Genos' fist started making contact with his opponent, Sonic evaporated into the air, as if he were made of mist.
This instinctively prompted Genos to ask, "What?" As the young cyborg attempted to piece together what was happening, four semi-translucent copies of Sonic appeared around him.
The copies began to mock the bewildered young man, each one exclaiming simultaneously, "Hahaha! You're pathetic! How's it feel to hit nothing but air?! My special footwork and fast movements create afterimages. I call it Fourfold Funeral!"
Giving off his signature bloodthirsty grin, Sonic and his afterimages each drew their swords while declaring, "I'll kill you instantly with my Scatter-Flash Slash!"
Moving so fast that he became invisible to Genos, the ninja began running in circles, creating a whirlwind of speed around the Hero.
Realizing that he could no longer follow Speed-O-Sound's movements, Genos thought, I cannot see him! Very Well. I will blast this whole area.
Opening up every jet, engine, and blaster in his arms and chest, the Demon Cyborg yelled, "Incineration-Cannons! Full power!"
Ready to engulf the surrounding area in flames, Genos was about to slam his hands onto the road and set off his blast. In the nanoseconds leading up to this, the ninja and his clones closed in on the cyborg, with their swords ready to reduce him to scrap metal.
As Shunshi tried to brace himself for the explosion, Blizzard looked on in awe and asked herself, "Is this the end?"
In the millisecond that Sonic swung his sword at his cyborg target, Genos was slammed into the ground before the blade could make contact with him, causing it to miss.
Puzzled, the assassin wondered, Did I... win...? No. He hit the ground before my blade could reach him.
Turning around to investigate, Sonic saw the Capped Baldy standing over his fallen student.
Realizing right away that he'd interfered, Sonic verbally bashed his rival, "Saving your pupil? You're too soft."
With his typical emotionless stare, Saitama explained, "I don't want explosions in front of my house. Besides, you have no reason to fight. I should've stopped Shunshi from fighting too, in all honesty. I mean, come one. Are your new parts for street scuffles, Genos? Same goes for you and your powers, Shunshi. Sonic and Blizzard are both here for me. So watch this."
Turning up the intensity of just how emotionless his face was, Saitama addressed Sonic more directly, "You're persistent, so I'll fight you seriously. Bring it on, Sonic."
Despite the blank look on his adversary's face, Sonic felt his heart skip a beat in fear from the anticipation of another rematch with Saitama.
Steeling up his resolve, Sonic forced his fears back as he raised his hands to his side and spoke back, "I've been waiting for this. I developed the ultimate technique... Just. For. YOU!"
Seeing that Monster Mask and the Demon Cyborg were intensely staring at the Capped Baldy with anticipation, Blizzard thought, Looks like they've practically forgotten that I'm here. Should I try to get out of here...? No. I can't leave Eyelashes and Mountain Ape behind.
Unphased by the odd ninja's declaration, Saitama, not even putting up a defense, encouraged Sonic, "Okay. So show it to me then."
Springing forward and unsheathing his sword yet again, Sonic used his speed to create copies of himself once more. But this time, there were far more of them, ten in total.
With a bloodthirsty passion, Sonic screamed, "Ultimate technique! TENFOLD FUNERAL!"
Surprised by this, Genos thought out loud, "Ten after-images?! He must have trained like crazy...! But..."
Stunned by Speed-O-Sound Sonic's display of supersonic speed, Blizzard thought in astonishment, His combat skills are S-Class. Since he's B-Class, Saitama stands no chance... But...
Feeling the sensation of fear that Sonic had given him when they first met return, Shunshi gritted his teeth and thought, Damn it! He's so fast! Guess that's what I get for thinking I might be catching up. He'd kill me instantly... But...
As he sped closer to Saitama, Sonic thought intensely, Whenever I think of you, I can never picture myself winning. I have to defeat you now, to move on from this, to not be trapped here forever!
Closing his eyes for a moment, Saitama softly spoke out, "Super Move: Serious Serious... Serious Side-Hops!"
In an attosecond, Saitama jumped back and forth at such an unfathomable speed that he created a wall made from hundreds of speed-clones of himself.
Due to a combination of shock, losing his footing, and the shockwaves in the air being made by Saitama, Sonic lost his breath and crashed into the wall. This destroyed all ten of his clones and left him a broken mess, lying on the street behind the world's strongest Hero.
Gathering up what little strength he had left, Sonic lifted his head up and asked, "(Gasp) What did you-?(Cough)!"
With only a hint of emotion on his face, Saitama answered, "I did sideways hops while moving past you."
Realizing just how much stronger and faster Saitama still was than him, Sonic's head slumped to the ground as he weakly proclaimed, "I'll beat you... next time..."
Taking a step forward, Genos looked down at Sonic and asked his teacher, "Is he dead?"
Baffled that his student would even ask him such a question, Saitama immediately clarified, "Of course not! He's Human! I wouldn't kill him!"
Leaping towards his Master with excitement, Shunshi exclaimed, "Holy crap, Master! That was an amazing technique! You never cease to inspire me! I promise I'll become as strong as that one day and make you proud!"
Looking at Shunshi with a bit of discomfort, Saitama replied, "Uh... Yeah. Of course, dude..." In his mind, though, Why does he get so excited so easily? And why's he gotta do it without a shirt on? If I didn't know him better, I'd think he's some kinda pervert.
Turning to look at Shunshi with a bit of annoyance, Genos was about to tell him to stop talking until he noticed that his junior's cuts and bruises had yet to heal like they normally would have.
Puzzled by this, the blond cyborg asked the dark-haired Hero, "Shunshi. Why have your lesser injuries not healed yet?"
Inspecting himself for a second, Shunshi quickly looked back up and gave Genos an answer in his usual humble tone, "Oh. When I was fighting Blizzard, she grabbed me with her psychic powers and did something that turned off my Kie. It was a pretty dumb move on her part, though, cause it also turned her powers off, and she couldn't fight back anymore. But don't worry, Senpai. I can kinda feel my Kie coming back to me. It's just slow going."
Furrowing his brow, Genos clarified, "I did not say I was worried about you. I was simply curious."
Feeling understandably dejected, Shunshi looked away and replied, "Oh... Sorry?"
Walking past his students, Saitama spoke up once more, "Speaking of Blizzard. I think it's high time I deal with her too."
Hearing this and seeing the overpowered bald figure approaching her, the Blizzard Of Hell felt as if she must be in Hell if she now had to deal with such a foe without the use of her powers.
Walking right up to her, the Capped Baldy gained a much more serious and annoyed look on his face as he pointed down at Blizzard and declared, "You don't understand Heroes. The world is full of savage villains, and Heroes show up to face them... Even if they have to do it alone. You've gathered underlings for strength, but someday you'll face a threat that's so strong that they won't be any help... (Sigh)... Factions?! Preying on newbies?! None of that matters! Don't dis Heroes that way!"
After hearing all this, Genos whipped out one of his notepads, dropped to the ground, and quickly began writing down what his wise Master had just said.
Forcing himself to hold back tears of joy and admiration, Shunshi buried his face in his arm and thought, Saitama-Sensei! You said it so much better than I ever could have! You're just so amazing!
Letting out one more sigh through his nostrils, Saitama turned back to his students, walked away from Blizzard, and said to them, "Come on guys. I'm exhausted from that, and I wanna decompress with video games. Shunshi, you can chill out with us and read manga until your powers start working again. Genos, don't give him any grief for this, okay?"
With both of them standing at attention as quickly as they could, the two disciples of the world's greatest Hero replied in unison, "Yes, Saitama-Sensei!"
As the three powerful Heroes began walking away from her, Blizzard felt fearful but also knew that this was her only chance to say something.
Finally rising back to her feet, the Blizzard Of Hell yelled over to Saitama, "Hold on!"
Turning around to look at her with mild annoyance, Saitama yelled back, "What?! What do you want now?"
Forcing herself to grin confidently, she answered, "I need to talk with you about something else... Oh. And the name's Fubuki, by the way."