Shushi, Saitama, Sour Face, and Zakos watched from one of the athlete gates while the crowd cheered for Lightning Max and Lin Lin as they entered the arena.
"It's time to begin the first battle of the twenty-second Super Fight! Lightning Max versus Lin Lin!" The Announcer proclaimed into his microphone. With those words, Lightning Max took up a basic jabbing stance.
Taking up an offensive stance where she readied her leg for a kick and used her palms to guard her face and body, Lin Lin thought over her options, It looks like he's steadying himself to perform some basic front snap kicks. Is Shunshi sure this guy is...? No, Shunshi knows what I can do and wouldn't oversell someone else. I'm sure he's a powerful fighter, even without his shoes.
With her mind focused, Lin Lin stamped her raised foot to the ground and used the kinetic force to spin-jumped through the air at her opponent.
"And it looks like Lin Lin has launched the first attack with an aerial assault!"
Once Lin Lin was near the Hero, she attempted to use her twirling momentum to hit him with a spin-kick. However, he effortlessly weaved around the attack and hit her in her torso with a reverse roundhouse kick. Lin Lin was sent tumbling towards the arena's bounds but managed to leap to her feet before she fell out of bounds.
Raising her fists as she regained her balance, the female fighter thought to herself in pain, "What the Hell was that...?! Calm down and think of something else." At that, Lin Lin widened her stance and transitioned her closed fists into open-hand claws.
Narrowing his gaze at his foe, Max thought, Is that...?
An image from a news report of Monster Mask clawing a Tiger Level monster's face-off suddenly slipped into Max's mind as he finished his pondering, Her? She's the one he's been training with...? Well, let's see just how good his skills are with someone else using them.
Max then launched himself forward at Lin Lin as she began to vibrate her hands. Max first attacked her with a midair snap-kick. However, Lin Lin managed to move just quickly enough to use one of her palms to redirect the kick. The mere vibrations from her hands, pressing against his leg, caused a palm-shaped imprint to be torn from his pants. She then tried to swipe at his pelvis with her other hand, but the Hero somehow managed to twist himself in the air and kick her across the top of her head before she could connect.
"Oh! And Lin Lin takes a practical death blow to her head, folks!"
His eye's perking up with interest at both Max's and Lin Lin's moves, Shunshi thought anxiously, Come on, I know you can keep going, Lin!
As Lin Lin stumbled back with a bleeding head, Max landed and fretted, That was a little too close. My calf won't stop shaking after touching her hand. Oh well, that last attack should've knocked her clean out... What!?
To Lightning Max's surprise, Lin Lin, although shaking, was still forcing herself to stand.
Before he could properly process this, his opponent rushed back at him and began a flurry of palm and claw strikes. The first couple managed to hit Max in his chest, taking a pair of palm and claw-shaped imprints out of his shirt and skin. The A-Class Hero quickly got his guard up, using his arms to block and parry. He quickly came to regret this, though, as she started taking the skin off of his arms.
Wanting to end this before things could turn any uglier, Lightning Max threw out a fast and powerful jab with all his strength behind it. Lin Lin countered this with a palm strike of her own, and the two of them wound up smashing each other across their jaws. Max stumbled back as a palm's worth of his jaw's skin came off, but he ultimately managed to keep his footing. On the other hand, Lin Lin fell to the ground unconscious, having been unable to take any more punishment.
Seeing that his opponent really was down this time, Max ignored the blood leaking off of him and raised his fist to the audience.
"And after one last attempt to claim victory, Lin Lin is down. It's no skin off, Max's back, but it does seem to have taken some off of his front!" Said the Announcer. The audience then erupted into cheers and boos. Some of these were aimed at the Announcer's lousy joke but were mostly aimed at Max. Max grew sad and frustrated when he was subjected to this lambasting but did his best to ignore it.
"Huh, I guess a Hero can hold his own after all. In a seed match anyway," commented Sour Face.
Turning to look at Sour Face, while holding a copy of the brackets, Saitama asked, "Huh? What's a seed match?"
As Sour Face and Zakos began to explain to Charanko what Shunshi had already heard before, said Hero started marching towards the arena with a ticked-off expression.
When the Announcer noticed an angry-looking Monster Mask walking into the arena, he awkwardly told him, "Uh, mister Monster Mask. Your fight is up next. You need to wait for these fighters to-."
Shunshi didn't let the well-dressed man finish, snatching the microphone from him, walking up next to Max and Lin Lin before shouting to the audience, "HOW DARE YOU BOO HIM! Lightning Max just won a fight against one of the top martial artists in the world! He has the right to be proud of himself! On top of that, don't any of you dare think of Lin Lin as some fragile thing just because she's a beautiful woman! She's an amazing warrior and deserves to be treated with enough respect that people won't start to boo her opponent just because he decided to treat her as his equal and fight her with all he's got! This man deserves some proper applause for his victory! Are you gonna disrespect both of these amazing warriors and not give it to him!?"
Once he'd finished with his speech, Shunshi grabbed Lightning Max's wrist and put his fist back into the air, as doctors came into the arena to pick up Lin Lin on a stretcher. For a few moments after this, there was an uneasy silence.
"When did Shunshi get such an attitude?" Asked Ishisu in genuine surprise.
"For as long as I have known him, Shunshi tends to take up a highly aggressive demeanor whenever he interacts with those who take actions he views as deplorable. Now then." As soon as Genos finished saying this, he stood up and began aggressively clapping. When she saw this, Ishisu, and the people around her, were more than a little surprised.
However, Ishisu quickly stood up alongside Genos and began to clap, too, while cheering, "Alright! Go, Lightning Max!"
With this, the people who had cheered for Max before began to applaud him even louder. Eventually, the people who had booed him now reluctantly began to clap for him as well, with some of it merely being that they didn't want to get yelled at by Monster Mask again.
Looking surprised by how the crowd had been won over, Max turned to stare at Monster Mask. Noticing this, Shunshi looked at him too and gave him a genuine smile before stepping back and beginning to clap for the Hero as well. With this, Lightning Max couldn't help but smile back before turning to the crowd and raising both of his fists into the air, earning him one last massive cheer.
As he walked past Monster Mask to make his way out of the arena, Max bumped his fist against Shunshi's shoulder and told him, "Good luck with your match. I need to go bandage up all the spots your friend wailed on." Without a word, Shunshi smirked and nodded to his fellow Hero as he made his exit.
"Holy crap! The new guy's got some balls," said Sour Face.
Nodding, Saitama emotionlessly added, "Yeah. He usually flips out like that at stuff he doesn't like."
Glaring at Charanko, Zakos confidently told him, "Just you wait. In our match, I'll take you apart and get the crowd even more excited." Saitama, disinterested as ever, paid this no attention as he watched the Announcer nervously approach Shunshi.
Tapping on Shunshi's shoulder, the Announcer asked, "Could I have that back, please?" He then gestured to the microphone that was still in the Hero's hand.
"Oh, crap. Sorry," Shunshi exclaimed as he handed the microphone over.
"Ahem. Well, that was an exciting way to help get our tournament started! But now it's time for our next match! We already have one of our fighters up here, so would Bazuzu please come to the arena as well?" Proclaimed the Announcer.
In just a few seconds after that, Bazuzu ran onto the arena, confidently raising his fists into the air as he moved, earning him some applause from a freshly excited crowd.
Grinning excitedly at his opponent, Shunshi quickly bowed and took up a stance that resembled Fist Of Flowing Water Crushing Rock, except with more curled in fingers. Seeing the excitement on his younger opponent's face, Bazuzu took up a stance similar to that of a kick-boxer.
"Now, after the little stunt Monster Mask here pulled, I'll be heading up to the Announcer's box. A replacement ref will be here momentarily. In the meantime, let's begin the match between Monster Mask and Bazuzu!" Said the Announcer just before he walked away.
Smirking, Bazuzu confidently told Shunshi, "That was a good speech you gave there, but let's see if your skills with your fists are as good as your skills with the crowd, Hero."
"Let's," Shunshi replied confidently.
Rushing Shunshi as the Hero held still, Bazuzu unleashed a flurry of punches thrown in odd hook and over-the-shoulder fashions. The blows were fast at the very least. That is to say, they were fast to the eye of an average person. For Shunshi, he had to exert little to no effort to deflect and dodge all of the attacks. Although, there was a certain glint of intrigue in the young man's eyes as he swerved and danced around the onslaught of punches.
After diverting these attacks for a few more seconds, Shunshi slipped around Bazuzu, got a reasonable distance from him, and asked, "What's up with the way you're moving your elbows and shoulders? Does it help your punches land better?"
Sweating as he caught his breath, Bazuzu confidently answered, "It's my Nuclear Explosive Fist's way of shooting out one-hit knockouts. You're pretty fast to have avoided them all like that, but you can't keep that up forever. 'Sides, you've gotta actually fight back if you want to get the win."
Taking up another defensive stance, Shunshi responded with even greater interest, "I see. It looks like you're sacrificing a bit of accuracy for a major boost in power and speed to your attacks. I wonder If I could incorporate something like that for my style."
With a vein-popping at his opponent's casual attitude, Bazuzu asked, "You know. All my fights end in ninety seconds or less for a reason. Don't think you're gonna have enough time to analyze me."
Nodding his head, Shunshi replied in an earnestly friendly tone, "I've been told. That's why I'm gonna give you the full ninety seconds to finish this before I start fighting back."
Gritting his teeth, Bazuzu growled out, "You jackass!" Before he rushed back in to continue with an even faster assault of fists that Shunshi continued to block and dodge without issue.
This pattern continued on until ninety seconds had almost passed, with Bazuzu growing angrier and angrier with each second that ticked by.
"That's it! Time to finish this with The Nuclear Fist!" Shouted Bazuzu as he jumped up to spin through the air to land his final punch.
Knowing that time was just about up, Shunshi stood there and took the blow to his jaw, rolling with it as it landed.
Bazuzu's attack made him spin around, so he couldn't immediately see how badly he'd hurt the Hero. One thing he expected was that his opponent should be down. This sense of sureness caused a cocky smile to form on the fighter's face. However, when Bazuzu looked behind himself and saw that the Hero was standing there, unharmed, his jaw dropped. He let out a shocked scream that lasted for a few seconds. When he was done screaming, Bazuzu noticed that his hand had started to swell up and turn a reddish-purple color.
Once the pain of his broken hand started to set in, Bazuzu yelled at Shunshi, "What the Hell's up with you!? I feel like I just punched a steel wall!"
Taking up an open-clawed, offensive stance, Shunshi responded in earnest surprise, "Uh... Well, you looked like you were putting a lot of effort into that last attack, so I thought I'd let it land to give me a wake-up call... I didn't think this would happen, though. I mean, I even rolled with your hit to try and keep you from hurting yourself. I didn't really realize my body had gotten that tough... Sorry?"
If it weren't for the pain he was in, Bazuzu's anger would've grown to legendary proportions. Unfortunately, he had no time to think about this, as Shunshi closed the gap between them faster than the martial artist's eyes could follow. The Hero then grabbed this fighter by the strap of his top and effortlessly threw him out of the arena.
"My word! After spending the whole fight dodging, with a single throw, we have our winner, Monster Mask Shunshi!" Declared the Announcer to an already cheering audience.
"Asshole! You don't think I'm good enough to actually fight?!" Asked Bazuzu as he struggled to pick himself up.
Walking over to Bazuzu and hopping down from the ring, Shunshi extended his hand to him and said, "No, no. I just wanted you to be conscious, cause I wanted to talk to you. You're really strong compared to a normal person, so I think you'd make a great C-Class Hero. You've got some genuinely good moves. I've just trained my body a lot harder than you've trained yours. But fighting monsters is some of the best training there is, so I'm sure you'd get stronger and be ready for B-Class in no time. You'd also do a lot of good for a lot of people. Think it over after you get your hand fixed up, kay?"
Utterly flabbergasted and infuriated by this young man's strange attitude, Bazuzu decided to accept the handshake to look good for the crowd, but quickly stormed off for the nurse's office afterward.
As he walked back into the fighter's halls, Bazuzu fumed to himself, "Who does that guy think he is?! Treating our fight like a... a... science experiment. I mean, come on. Me, a Hero? I'm not looking to throw myself at monsters for strangers, you idiot."
Meanwhile, back out in the arena's stands, after watching Shunshi's fight, Ishisu exclaimed, "Oh my God! Shunshi's gotten so much faster and stronger since the last time I saw him! And you still think your teacher's gonna win this?"
Placing his hands on his lap, Genos calmly explained, "I do not believe that display of abilities should have impressed you. That was nowhere near as fast as Shunshi has shown me he can move. And to answer your question, yes, I do. Both our Master and I are much faster than Shunshi even when he is moving at his full speed. Especially our Master."
Finding herself at a genuine loss for words, Ishisu could only ask, "Se- Seriously?"
"Yes," Genos bluntly replied with a nod.
At the same time, as Shunshi exited the arena, Suiryu watched him and thought aloud, "I guess he seems pretty tough. A real oddball, though. Well, at least it looks like the semi-finals are gonna be a little fun."
As Shunshi walked back over to where Saitama, Sour Face, and Zakos were standing, the bulkiest of the three quietly proclaimed to Saitama, "Holy crap, Charanko. Master Bang did an amazing job conditioning him in such a short time."
Having grown more than used to the credit for his work being given to others, Saitama emotionlessly responded, "Yeah, looks like it."
Folding his arms, Zakos stated, "Shame a fool like you will embarrass your dojo in our match."
Looking at the brackets once more, Saitama responded, "If you're in a seeded match, then that must mean you're weak-sauce too."
By the time Shunshi had reached them, Saitama had clearly said something else that pissed Zakos off, but the young martial artist paid it no mind.
Instead, he walked up to his Sensei and said, "Have fun with your match, S- Charanko. I'll be waiting here for when you get back."
"Shut your mouth! I'm crushing this novice," yelled Zakos.
Shunshi paid Zakos no mind, as his mind had already wandered somewhere else, as could be inferred by him sneaking peaks back into the fighters' halls.
Noticing the glances that Shunshi was giving behind himself, Sour Face decided to show his kinder side once again, reassuring his fellow fighter, "I gotta hand it to ya, Shunshi. You're handling what happened to your lady friend really well. She took some pretty nasty-looking hits in her fight, but nothing that seemed life-changing. I think she'll be out for a while, but I'm sure she'll make a full recovery."
His gaze shifting over to Sour Face, Shunshi's body language visibly appreciated this, as he responded kindly, "Thanks, but I don't think there's a need to worry. Lin Lin's tough. I'm sure she'll be hurting after that, but she'll be up and walking pretty soon."
"Will Zakos and Charanko please enter the arena?" The Announcer rang out.
Pointing at the arena, Zakos snapped at Saitama, "Come on. I'm going to kill you."
Saitama, unconcerned with his opponent's temper, compliantly followed him.
Knowing how this would play out, Shunshi's interest in this fight was only held by the fact that it was his Master heading out there.
At the same time, Genos' yellow eyes zoomed and locked in on Saitama and his opponent.
Getting a look at Saitama, Ishisu leaned over and whispered to Genos, "The guy with the party wig on is your teacher?"
"Yes. Now please allow me to pay attention," Genos whispered back.
Leaning back over, Ishisu rolled her eyes and thought, Geez, sorry... I guess I should pay attention too.
Once Saitama and Zakos got into the arena, the Announcer, who had moved up to a spectator box, yelled, "Begin!"
Zakos quickly rushed at Saitama, only to get a debilitating slap across his face that left him splayed out on the ground and unable to move.
"Whoa! Charanko is strong! Can a person really be brought down so quickly after just one slap to the face? Oh, wait, I understand now. Zakos is just too weak! Zakos had invited his girlfriend here to propose once he'd won, but it looks like all of his life plans have been flushed down the drain," the Announcer explained.
A drop of sweat fell down Saitama's face as he listened to this and asked himself, "Uh oh. I just did a bad thing, didn't I?"
After being handed a note, the Announcer continued, "What's this? We've just been informed that Zakos' girlfriend didn't even bother to show up! Looks like he dodged a bullet there, folks."
As the crowd erupted into laughter, Saitama sighed out, "Oh, good. I guess everything worked out."
While twitching in pain, Zakos weakly whined out, "That doesn't fix anything..."
"I... What the...?" Ishisu stammered at the blazing-fast victory.
"As usual, Sensei won in one hit. Unless the other fighters here are significantly stronger, it appears that he will not get to experience any martial arts until he fights Shunshi in the finals," Genos commented.
Looking over at the blond cyborg with excitement and confusion, Ishisu asked, "Wait. So you think Shunshi'll make it to the finals too? I thought you said you didn't like him or something."
Folding his arms, the young cyborg explained, "He is a student of Master Saitama, just like I am. I expect nothing less from him."
Giving off a satisfied smirk, Ishisu commented, "Well, I'm glad you at least respect him a bit."
The Demon Cyborg only responded to this with a hard-to-read grunt.
Back down by the arena, Suiryu watched as Charanko smiled at the laughing crowd.
"They don't get it. Zakos' movements weren't half bad... Looks like the semi-finals and finals are gonna be fun," thought the champion-level fighter.
"Now, it's time for the moment we've all been waiting for! Lightning Max has been fully bandaged, and it's time for Super Fight's favored fighter to step into the ring!"
Hearing this, Suiryu stretched out his arms, cracked his kneck, and thought aloud, "Well, guess it's time to try and have some fun." With that exclamation, the young martial artist began walking towards the arena.
As Suiryu walked into view of the crowd, the Announcer proclaimed, "At last, we get to see him in action again! The audience is shaking with excitement! The man himself, Suiryu, approaches the ring!" Waving his hands to the audience, Suiryu easily gained an explosion of applause and cheers.
"And his opponent, who managed a hard-fought win against Lin Lin, Lightning Max!"
While waking up the steps into the arena, Suiryu saw a bandaged Max, whose folded arms and hardened stance showed no sign of fatigue from his injuries. Unexpectedly, an almost deranged grin appeared on Suiryu's face as soon as he saw Lightning Max's glare. The sight of this star fighter's smile brought back memories of another razor-sharp grin to the A-Class Hero.
The Announcer sure is hyping him up. Is he really stronger than me...? No, I've already gotten stronger today alone. Besides, I've got a goal to stay focused on, Max thought as he focused his gaze on his current opponent.
As Suiryu pondered what Max was thinking, the Hero imposed a mental image of the Deep Sea King looming behind the martial artist.
"I can't begin to see you comparing to that monster. And if I want to be strong enough to be the kind of Hero who protects everyone, I'm gonna have to go beyond that thing. Sorry, but I've decided you should be strong enough to help me reach that point. So I'm testing a whole new move on you," Max announced.
Stretching his back out, Suiryu fired back, "Oh, so you're a Hero with his eyes on the big leagues? Well, everyone wants to be strong for one reason or another."
By now, the replacement referee had arrived, and as he raised his hand to begin the match, Max thought, Move faster, striker harder. I won't allow a repeat of Monster Mask.
As soon as the words, "Ready... Fight!" left the referee's mouth, Max dashed towards Suiryu as he failed to put up a defense. Max quickly began to perform flips to close the distance between himself and the relaxed martial artist before using one of the flips to launch himself into the air.
As he somersaulted through the air, Lightning Max stuck out his legs as he plummeted down at Suiryu and shouted, "Big Wheel Double Ax-Kick!"
However, while Max was still in the air, Suiryu had maneuvered around the Hero's attack and planted a kick of his own into Lightning's face. This kick caused an audible crack, as Max was sent skidding across the arena.
While all the other fighters, excluding Saitama, looked on in shock, Suiryu decided to comment, "By the way. The reason I sought out strength was so I could glide through life and live easy."
Just as Suiryu began to take a step away, he was stopped by Lightning Max's voice, "H- hey! I'm not done yet!"
Looking at the edge of the arena, Suiryu saw Max attempting to prop himself off of his back as blood leaked from his mouth.
Looking unimpressed, Suiryu sarcastically encouraged Max, "If you can keep going, then let's do this." This earned a few cheers of encouragement from the audience for the underdog A-Class Hero.
Shunshi chose to chime in once more as he desperately shouted, "Come on, Max! Show him what you've got!"
Just as he started to get to his knees, Max's vision blurred as he spoke out, "I... I..."
Despite his best efforts to remain conscious, the Hero collapsed back onto the ground and stopped moving. This prompted a handful of chuckles from the crowd.
"Aw, guess I got excited over nothing," Suiryu played up.
With the battle settled, Suiryu shrugged to the audience and walked off with a cacophony of cheering behind him.
Unable to follow the explosively fast motions of these martial artists, Ishisu asked, "C- could you see that, Genos? Lightning Max actually lost."
"Yes, it is quite surprising that he was able to defeat an A-Class Hero with a single kick like that. It seems like there are exceptionally strong individuals living among the masses. He may be Shunshi's greatest challenge to reach Sensei."
Ishisu grew slightly concerned at that, asking, "Wait. You don't think this guy's stronger than Shunshi, do you?"
Placing a metal hand to his chin, Genos postulated, "In terms of speed, he is a step above Shunshi. At least from what I last saw of him. Although it has been a few days since I have last witnessed Shunshi's performance, so he may have closed this gap since then."
"Only a few days...? Is that really enough time?" Ishisu asked.
"I already informed you that Shunshi's rate of growth has exceeded my own so far. You do not need to-. Hold on," Stopping mid-sentence, Genos reached into his pants pocket to pull out his ringing cellphone. After examining it, he found he was receiving multiple monster alerts from the Hero Association.
Why are there so many alerts? Many of them are here in C-City too, but the threat level is unclear. Should I tell Master? No, he is anticipating his next match. Perhaps I should have Shunshi aid me...
As Genos considered this, memories of his junior excitedly telling him and Saitama about getting an invitation to Super Fight raced through his mind.
I am sure I am capable of handling these threats on my own. I should not need to rely on Shunshi's aid for this, Genos reasoned.
As soon as Genos stood up, Ishisu asked him, "Where're you going?"
Venting out some internal heat, Genos coldly explained, "The Hero Association is alerting Heroes to multiple monster attacks. Do not worry. You are safe here. I will not allow any monsters to interrupt this tournament. I will handle them."
Just as Genos began to walk off, Ishisu grabbed his hand and said, "Hold on a sec. You said you wanted to watch this tournament to get stronger too. Give me your cell number. I'll record the fights on my phone and send them to you when it's all over."
Being genuinely surprised by this woman once again, Genos replied, "Oh... I... Very well. Thank you." With that, the two of them quickly exchanged numbers before the Demon Cyborg left to do his job.
Yes! I scored the cute guy's phone number, thought Ishisu proudly.
As the next fighters, Sneck and Benpatsu, entered the arena, the young woman hurriedly thought, Oh. I should probably actually do what I promised.
While the fight between Benpatsu and Sneck got underway, Saitama and Sour Face saw that Shunshi was upset and displayed it through constant pacing.
"You okay, Shunshi? You're not watching the fight," Saitama inquired.
Stopping in place, Shunshi tried to put on a calm face as he answered, "Oh. Sorry, Se- Charanko. I'm just annoyed at how that last fight ended."
"You watched your girl get clobbered just fine, but watching the guy who did the clobbering get mopped bugs you?" Sour Face asked.
Taking up a more serious expression, Shunshi explained, "We're all here to fight in a tournament, so if you lose, you lose. But you're still supposed to show respect to the guys you fight. But that Suiryu guy was just being a jerk when Max was trying to get back up."
Looking at the clouds, Saitama replied aloud, "Oh. I think I getcha."
Visibly embarrassed, Sour Face chimed in as well, "Oh, uh. Of course... Suiryu was completely disrespectful."
Just as these three finished their back and forth, Sour Face noticed Benpatsu collapsed on the arena's edge, just out of the corner of his eyes.
"Looks like you're up again already, Shunshi," Sour Face informed.
Taking notice of this, Shunshi commented, "Oh. That was over pretty quickly. Good work, Sneck!"
Looking over at the higher-ranked rookie cheering on his victory, Sneck pondered, First his stunt with Max, and now he's cheering for me too? What's that kid's deal...? I guess he's just another freak amongst the higher-ranked. Oh well. Guess I can probe him for info after I deal with Suiryu.
With his decisions for the immediate future resolved, Sneck left the arena as the tournament staff carried off Benpatsu.
"You this chummy with all the other Heroes, new guy?" Sour Face asked as Monster Mask finished cheering.
Pumping his fist into the air for emphasis, Shunshi explained, "Of course! I'm a huge Hero fanboy. Besides, we're all allies in the fight to protect Humanity. Why shouldn't I try to be nice to them?"
"And now for the match between the highest-ranked Hero here and the veteran voltage martial artists! Monster Mask versus Volten!"
Hopping in place as cheers began revving up, Shunshi rolled his shoulders and exclaimed, "Sounds like they're ready. Wish me luck."
"Uh, sure," Sour Face replied as Shunshi began to walk out.
As if a guy like you needs it, thought Bang's formal pupil.
"Try to have fun, dude," Saitama chimed in.
"Yes, of course, Ma- Charanko," Shunshi turned back and replied.
Out in the arena, Volten watched as his opponent excitedly made his way to the ring.
Tch. Don't act so carefree. Suiryu already showed you Heroes what happens when you face a substantial opponent. This match will just be a repeat of that, Volten thought as electricity crackled from his broad forehead.
Once Shunshi was standing parallel to him, Volten readied his fists but was surprised when the Hero bowed to him before taking up a more basic stance.
Don't let that friendly attitude of his mislead you. You saw how evasive he was in his last fight. Just make sure not to throw a sloppy punch and mess up your hand, like that fool did, Volten warned himself.
"Now, begin!" The referee exclaimed to the fighters in the arena.
As Volten was about to take a step forward, he stopped in place when Shunshi excitedly told him, "Hey, Volten. A friend of mine really hyped up your electric powers. I wanna know if it's okay to use my Kie against you, so I'll give you a free hit, so I know what I'm dealing with. It's on me if you take me out. So go all out with it and show me what you got!"
"Oh! And it looks like A-Class' number 3 wants to give the audience another showing of just how tough he is! Will Volten accept his offer?"
Volten found himself taken off guard once more by this as he asked, "Are you being serious? What's this Kie stuff you're talking about?"
Nodding, Shunshi explained, "Yeah, go for it, man! I'll show you what I'm talking about if I'm still standing."
The electrified fighter couldn't help but smile at this, thinking, A free win? Seriously? Well, I wanted to take this Hero down a peg, and it looks like that's what I'll do.
"WHAT?!" Ishisu yelled out, nearly dropping her phone as she recorded the fight.
Grabbing his hair in alarm, Sour Face asked Saitama, "What does the new guy think he's doing, Charanko?"
Unphased, Saitama answered, "It's cool. I'm like... eighty percent sure he knows what he's doing."
"Alright. Just try to brace yourself for this! Wrath Of Raiden!" Volten yelled back in an almost conniving tone.
In an instant, Volten charged Shunshi, readying a punch that had a trail of electricity running behind it. Shunshi sterned up his expression, braced his muscles and prepared himself for the hit. As soon as the sparking fist struck his face, a blinding flash of electricity exploded as the blue-eyed Hero stood there, slid back an inch, and felt as the amps raced through his body and into the ground.
Volten backed off confidently as the electricity faded, only to see Shunshi, blinking to regain his vision, but otherwise seemingly unharmed.
As he looked at this in disbelief, unable to say a word, Volten realized that he actually needed to shake off the pain his fist was in.
Rubbing his eyes as his vision returned, Shunshi asked earnestly, "Are you done?"
"Whaaaaaaaat?!" A large portion of the crowd and the Announcer boomed out in unison.
"After willingly taking the strongest attack of yet another one of his opponents, Monster Mask is still standing unscathed! It looks like A-Class' bronze metal really is no joke!" The Announcer proclaimed
Bewildered, Shunshi pondered, "If memory serves, that broken lightbulb had more kick to it back then... Hehe. Thanks for everything, Saitama-Sensei."
As the Hero thought over the blow he'd taken, Volten rushed back at this freak and tried to hit him with a roundhouse kick. However, since he was able to see once more, Shunshi easily raised his arm and blocked the hit, having no response to what little electricity Volten had left to put into the kick.
"I'll admit that you've got more speed and power behind your strikes than Bazuzu did, and your electricity adds to your attacks' effectiveness, but it's not on the same level as an A-Class Hero yet. Also, without electricity, your techniques are pretty basic. I'm sure you'd excel in B-Class, though, and I'd bet you'd make A-Class in no time," Shunshi explained as he pushed Volten's kick away.
As his leg shook in pain, the discharged Volten raised his fists and asked in frustration, "Are you making fun of me?!"
"No! Why does everyone keep thinking...? Listen, I really do think you could be a great Hero, Volten. You'd get stronger way faster than you'd think possible. I'm trying to help you here," Shunshi desperately explained.
A conflicted look formed on Volten's face at this, but he chose to push past it and state, "You said you would show me what Kie is after my attack. Well? I'm waiting."
Those words caused realization quickly hit the Hero, with him replying, "Oh, right. One second."
Standing up straight, Shunshi stretched his hands down to his sides as his body erupted in white flames.
"This is the basic form of Kie. Aside from the obvious advantage that having a flamming body gives, it also doubles up how much of a hit you can take and speeds up how fast you heal," Shunshi calmly explained.
This alone would have been enough to impress Volten and the audience, but the Hero wasn't done with the demonstration yet. In his outstretched hands, Shunshi formed two bowling-ball-sized Light Balls.
"In terms of offenses techniques, Kie allows me to form balls of light that explode on contact with just about anything."
Only a second after Monster Mask explained this, he threw one of his Light Balls dozens of feet into the air before tossing the second one up to meet it. The ensuing explosion would've been enough to level the arena if it had been pointed at the ground.
When she saw this display of destructive power, Ishisu actually did drop her phone, as she was frozen in awe. She had been home to see Shunshi use the Light Balls around the time he had first discovered Kie and had accidentally made a few new potholes in the road by their house, but this was something she couldn't even fathom.
"What... What in God's name was that?" Sour Face asked in fear.
Looking at the smoke, Saitama commented emotionlessly, "Wow. He used to need a minute or two before he could do anything like that. Maybe his training really is paying off."
Volten and countless others were shaking at this point as Shunshi doused his flames and finished, "I've got plenty of other tricks up my sleeve, but I'd rather those stay a secret for fighting monsters... You ready to keep going, Volten?"
Looking up at the smoke clearing in the sky before looking back down at his palm and the small crackles of electricity coming off of it, Volten shook his head, clasped his hands together, and bowed.
"Sorry, but I didn't come here ready to die. I'm gonna have to forfeit," Volten explained in a surprisingly respectful tone. This got him some boos and disappointed moans from the crowd. However, almost everyone stayed quiet in an understanding of the martial artist's decision.
As the audience continued booing, Shunshi tried to ensure Volten, "Hey, wait! I'd never kill a Human being! And I wasn't trying to discourage you or anything. I was just... Well, I was showing you what Kie is, but I only ever use it against monsters or super-criminals. Don't you wanna at least see how you'd do against me?"
Sighing in frustration and embarrassment, Volten rebutted, "We both already saw that my strongest attack didn't do anything to you. I'd have nothing to gain but a hospital stay if we fought." With his mind made up, the electrified fighter began to walk away.
Still feeling bad for scaring off his opponent, Shunshi hesitated for a moment before he called out, "Hey, Volten!"
With a hint of both annoyance and fear, the martial artist turned his head and asked, "What is it?"
"If you're interested in a fair fight sometime in the future, we could meet up later, and I could explain how to use Kie to you," Shunshi proposed.
Surprised by Monster Mask's personality yet again, Volten almost smiled as he responded, "I'll... give it some thought, Hero."
After Volten had left to go back into the fighters' halls, the Announcer spoke up, "Well, uh... With that, I suppose Monster Mask has won his second fight... Ahem. Mister Monster Mask. After you're done in the arena, would you please meet up with our tournament staff in the fighters' halls? There is a topic of importance they need to discuss with you."
Hearing this, Shunshi internally questioned, Hmm? I wonder what's up.
As Monster Mask left the arena, Bakuzan watched him and thought in surprise, Change of plans, I guess. Looks like I'll have to claim the strongest martial artist title from Monster Mask once he beats Suiryu. That Kie stuff'll be tricky to deal with, but I'm sure I'm still physically stronger. Maybe I'll even get a chance to beat the info on how that stuff works out of him.
Unable to contain his excited smile, Suiryu thought to himself, That... Wow! This tournament is gonna be great once I get to the semi-finals!
Looking on in shock in awe, Sneck thought aloud, "What was all that? He said he could show Volten how to do that? That's not just some crazy power the kid was born with...? I think I can see why the higher-ups are talking about moving him up to S-Class."
After Shunshi left the arena, he stopped on his way to the fighters' hall to ask Saitama a question, "Hey, uh. Do you think I went overboard up there?"
"Didn't seem like it to me, but I'm not the best guy to ask about that," Saitama nonchalantly answered.
Unsure of how he should feel about himself, Shunshi looked down and remarked, "I guess you got a point... Anyways, I'm gonna go see what they want with me."
"You do that," Saitama said as he waved his student off.
Throughout this whole conversation, Sour Face had pressed himself against the wall opposite Shunshi as he shook in fear. A sense of relief washed over the fighter once Monster Mask, ignorant of his fear, simply walked away after talking with Charanko.
A few minutes later, in the tournament's infirmary, Bazuzu was getting his hand treated. Lightning Max lay unconscious on a bed, and a freshly awakened Lin Lin was sitting on a medical stretcher rubbing her bandaged head as the staff doctor was advising her on her condition.
"Alright. You don't have any permanent damage. Just try not to let your cranium take any hits for a couple of days."
As she slowly stood up, Lin Lin dismissively responded, "Right, right. I'll be careful." Lin Lin then barged out of the infirmary without another word, paying no mind to the doctor as she tried to get the female fighter to stay.
I hope I didn't miss all of Shunshi's fights. I wanna see him use Fist Of The Impenetrable Fire Spirit... I wonder if he was able to beat Volten, Lin Lin thought as she jogged through the stadium's hallways.
Once Lin Lin strolled further along, she was forced to stop when she moved past the open door of Shunshi's waiting room. As she looked inside, her face grew flushed at the sight of Shunshi in nothing but his underwear. Her boyfriend had his arms fully outstretched as a couple of the tournament staff members were examining him with hand-held metal detectors. Standing off to the side was one of the tournament refs, holding a clipboard as he stared at Shunshi disconcertingly. All the while, Shunshi himself was trying to keep his mind off the indignity of the moment by laser-focusing on a flickering ceiling bulb.
"Okay, we're not finding anything, so I just gotta run through this with you one last time. You're not a cyborg?" The official asked.
"That's right. What I did back there is something anyone could learn to do," Shunshi bemoaned.
"And you're not carrying any hidden weapons or using any drugs?"
"No, I'm not... Wait, doesn't Mentai use chili powder to fight or something?" Shunshi asked back.
Fliping over a piece of paper on his clipboard, the official dryly explained, "It's not explicitly a weapon, so he gets by on a technicality."
The official then gave the two staff members examining Shunshi glances, only for them to shrug back at him as they came up empty.
"Alright, well, you seem to check out. So you get to keep participating," the official explained as he set aside his clipboard.
Tapping his foot in frustration, Monster Mask shot out, "Oh, geez, thanks. Can I have my clothes back now, or-?"
Before Shunshi could finish his sentence, he noticed Lin Lin standing in the doorframe, ogling him almost uncontrollably. The realization of this situation's severity hit the young Hero like a nose-diving airplane landing directly on his skull.
At that moment, all he could do was walk up to the door frame, grab the door, and shut it as Lin Lin fumbled out, "I... Uuuuh."
In the next instant, the young woman could hear Shunshi's voice yelling angrily for his clothes before he finally reemerged from the room fully dressed in his tournament gi once more.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Lin Lin attempted to break the ice, "So, um... This isn't exactly how I imagined I'd see you in your underwear for the first time... Hehe."
Shunshi was the one who found himself blushing this time, as he asked, "You... had a plan for it, Lin?"
Lin Lin felt as if she'd been kicked by Lightning Max twenty more times as soon as Shunshi asked that, frantically fumbling her words, "Oh God! No, I didn't mean- I mean, not that I don't want to-! At some point, after we'd gone out for a while, maybe! But it's not like I have a whole scheme or something...!"
The two young martial artists had found themselves in yet another awkward moment of silence after that.
Desperate to move past this, Lin Lin hurriedly asked, "So, what was the deal with those guys back there?"
A sense of relief washed over Monster Mask with that question as he sighed subtly and explained, "I gave a demonstration of what Kie is in my last fight, so the tournament staff thought I had to be cheating somehow. I just worked everything out, though, so I get to keep fighting... How's you're head doing?"
Putting her hand on her bandages, Lin Lin answered, "Tch, yeah. I'm just gonna be out of fighting shape for a few days. If I could use Kie, I bet I'd be healed by tomorrow."
"Yeah, probably. But, hey, I learned how to use Kie while meditating. So, maybe you can do that while you're recovering and figure out how to use it then," Shunshi replied hopefully.
Folding her arms as she nodded her head in amusement, Lin Lin commented, "Heh. I'm sure I will, Mr. Positive. You wanna go watch the rest of the fights?"
Walking up to Lin Lin, Shunshi put his hand on her shoulder and answered excitedly, "Yeah, let's."
While on the way there, Shunshi explained what had happened in his fight with Volten. This left his female companion surprised and disappointed at having missed the match. At the same time, the young woman felt proud of having made her boyfriend so strong.
As soon as the two martial artists made their way back out to where Sour Face and Saitama had been watching the fights, they found the bulkier of the two standing alone.
Realizing what this must mean, Shunshi approached Sour Face, tapped his shoulder, and asked, "Hey, Sour. Did we miss Sa- Charanko's next fight?" The only answer Shunshi got was Sour Face's transfixed gaze of utter shock. It was directed at Saitama standing in the arena after having sent his opponent, Bakuzan, flying with a single punch.
The black-haired Hero quickly understood what must have gone down and gave off a conflicted smile for his Master's victory.
When Lin Lin saw the mighty Bakuzan buried upside down and halfway up his body in the cement next to the arena, she felt like she was about to wet herself.
As Sour and Lin continued to tremble, Shunshi tried to tell them, "Calm down, guys. That's normal for him."
Turning around to look at Shunshi as if he'd come out of nowhere, Sour Face struggled to speak for a second before mustering out, "What? You're crazy, man. That's Charanko up there. Bakuzan must've just... just lost his footing or something."
"Ye- Yeah. That has to be it..." Lin Lin added.
Realizing the debate would be more trouble than it's worth, Shunshi put on his best performance to proclaim, "Yeah, I guess I might be overselling how tough he is. I mean, Charanko's gotten stronger and all, but this is still more than I expected." The other two easily bought into Shunshi's acting, ignoring him while they looked at Charanko in confusion and awe as he approached them.
"Hmm? Oh, you're back, Shunshi. And it looks like the bell-girl is okay too," Saitama blandly commented.
Cocking an eyebrow in annoyance, Lin Lin shot back, "What do you mean the bell-girl!? It's Lin Lin! I told you that in your waiting room."
As this banter went on, Suiryu waited alone under a different athlete gate, thinking to himself, Hmm, so he ended another battle with one attack, but the other one is letting the regs hit him with their best moves to prove how strong he is... Maybe I'll do both? I guess I'll take a look at my next opponent and decide how I want to end things then.
"Will Suiryu and Bitting Fist Sneck, please come to the arena?" The four-time champion heard the Announcer ask.
Smirking, Suiryu thought aloud, "Well, no time like the present."
As Sneck and Suiryu entered the arena simultaneously, both of them were eager to start for different reasons.
When the fight began, Sneck had a contemplative expression on his face as he made the first blow against Suiryu. However, the younger fighter effortlessly danced around the older Hero's coiling strikes, not letting a single one land on him. However, when Sneck tried to rush in for a double palm strike, Suiryu seemed almost as if he'd intentionally stopped in place. When the A-Class hit the young man with the same attack he'd taken Benpatsu down with; Sneck was blown away when he saw that not only hadn't Suiryu budged, he looked utterly unphased to boot.
"Are you done? At least Max's attack had real life to it," Suiryu asked as he stood there with no defense to his stance.
Contrasting this, Sneck upheld his snake-like stance and asked, "What was that?! Why aren't you fighting back? Are you making fun of me?"
Completely relaxing, Suiryu explained, "Well, after you, I'll be going up against Monster Mask. That's three A-Class Heroes in a row in one tournament. So, I'm kinda interested in gauging your guys' abilities. You A-Class guys get paid a lot, but so far, aside from Mr. Three, you guys don't seem like anything special. I could make a killing as a Hero if you guys can make it... But then again, you all have to take orders and spend all your time looking for monsters and criminals to fight. Sounds boring now that I think about it. Guess I'll pass on that idea."
Without dropping his guard, Sneck asked, "Mind if I ask you something? How did you get so strong? You have no sense of duty or responsibility, and you act like you've got no ambition or drive."
"Huh? You wanna know how? I've never thought about it before. When I was training, I'd either just spar with my master for fun or skip out on lessons to hang out with girls. Nowadays, I don't train at all. That's all there is to it, I guess," Suiryu explained.
Sneck's entire body, even his eyes, shook in anger as he snapped back, "I detest people like you! I'm gonna thrash you to pieces!"
Chuckling, Suiryu stopped Sneck by inquiring, "Let me ask you a question now. Why is a wimp like you a Hero? There are so many monsters nowadays that guys like you don't make a difference. Heroes or no Heroes, some people survive, and some don't. Monsters or no monsters, nature sorts out the weak."
After hearing these words, Sneck and Shunshi were infuriated.
Sour Face had taken a few steps back into the fighters' hall as Monster Mask watched this fight and shook with anger as he clenched his teeth. Even Lin Lin almost felt unsafe being around her boyfriend, as the aura of rage he was giving off seemed ready to detonate with the slightest spark. All the while, Saitama had gone to use the restroom.
"What?! Are you saying I should just let people die?!" Sneck exploded.
Closing his eyes in a sanctimonious manner, Suiryu explained, "That's not what I meant. Play Hero and fight as many monsters as you want, but in the end, it won't actually change anything. Cause if all you Heroes up and died one day, we'd still be fine."
"Who exactly is we?" Sneck demanded.
Confidently, Suiryu answered, "The strong."
In the next second, Sneck tried to refute this notion, but his cognitive functions were cut short as Suiryu rushed the A-Class in a blur of motion and roundhouse-kicked him. Afterward, Sneck laid facedown, unmoving on the arena floor.
"See what I mean?" Suiryu asked his beaten foe as the crowd cheered for him. However, one blue-eyed young woman in the audience did not join in on the cheering.
"Wow. That guy's a real dick," Ishisu commented after she had finished filming this fight and set her phone down.
Back at the athlete gate that Shunshi and company had been hanging out underneath, the young Hero's rage had only grown stronger.
"How dare he..." Shunshi muttered as his glowing white eyes stared not just daggers but greatswords at Suiryu.
"Are you okay, Shunshi?" Lin Lin asked hesitantly.
"No. Not until I break that guy," Shunshi stated quietly.
Desperate to calm him down, Lin Lin gently grabbed and held Shunshi's hand. The infuriated fire-man froze at that, looking at Lin Lin in confusion.
Smiling that he at least didn't seem angry, the female fighter explained, "You're not gonna do well if you go in there with a bad temper. Okay?"
Lin Lin's attitude brought an ease to the storm of rage in Shunshi's mind, with him responding tenderly, "Right. Thanks, Lin."
Seeing that Monster Mask was now relaxed, Sour Face let out a sigh of relief and eased up.
The tournament staff who were carrying Sneck off in a stretcher happened to go through the same athlete gate that Shunshi, Lin Lin, and Sour Face were under. As such, the three pressed against the walls to let them through.
Before they could take Sneck away, the Hero had managed to regain consciousness, raised his hand up, and told the staff, "Hey, hold on a second. I need to ask Monster Mask a question."
Wanting the veteran Hero to get treated sooner rather than later, Shunshi quickly approached him and asked, "Yes, sir? What's up?"
Sneck gave Shunshi a dead look and asked him in a voice of pain, "How did you get so strong?"
The realization that he was being asked the same question as that dishonorable man, Shunsi sterned up and explained respectfully, "Honestly, I don't consider myself all that powerful, but I worked my ass off to get to where I am. I wasn't born particularly strong. But, ever since I began training to be a Hero, I've spent every day I can, working until I feel like I'm gonna break. On top of that, I go out to do Hero work every day. Also, to be clear, I learned how to use Kie through meditation. It's something almost anyone could learn how to do."
What almost seemed like a wave of relief washed over A-Class' bottom Hero, as he asked, "Is that so? Care to give a quick explanation before I gotta go get my head looked at?"
Feeling that the mood had eased up a bit, Shunshi did the same as he answered, "Well like I said, I discovered it through meditation. If you concentrate on selfless thoughts or protecting the people you care about, you should get it eventually. And for a great Hero like you, it should be like riding a bike, Sneck, sir."
Shunshi's infectiously cheery and humble attitude got to Sneck, as the Hero couldn't help but smile as he asked, "Is that so? Hehe. Thanks, kid." With the conversation wrapped up, Sneck was finally carried away.
Watching while Sneck left, Shunshi reminisced on the Blizzard Gang and Tanktop Vegetarian as he smiled and thought, So long as he's nothing like those fake-Heroes, I'm sure Sneck can figure Kie out.
Walking up to Shunshi as he was wrapped in his own thoughts, Sour Face asked him, "You trying to psych yourself up for your match?"
Perking up, Lin Lin excitedly exclaimed, "Oh, right. Shunshi's match is up next. I finally get to see your Fist Of The Impenetrable Fire Spirit in a real fight."
As soon as she said this, the Announcer's voice rang out, "May we have your attention. Due to being frightened by Monster Mask's explosive display of power, Gatlin has chosen to forfeit his match. As such, we shall now move on to the match between Choze and Dave."
Shunshi was visibly disappointed by this, but Lin Lin's reaction was what was truly of note. She kept her happy expression as anger boiled inside of her until she eventually let out an infuriated scream. In her rage, she repeatedly began kicking the closest wall to her. However, after several kicks, her foot broke a small hole through the concrete barrier, surprising both herself and Sour Face.
In an attempt to cheer his girlfriend up now, Shunsi commented, "Wow! Looks like our training sessions really are starting to pay off for you, Lin.
Still surprised at the lack of knowledge she had of her own strength, Lin Lin chuckled nervously and replied, "I, uh... Yeah..."
Walking around the corner, Saitama rejoined with his tournament possey after returning from his bathroom break.
Noticing that the bell-girl had her foot stuck in a wall, Saitama asked, "You going after a cockroach or something?"
Not wanting to let anyone else in on her tantrum, Lin Lin answered, "Yes. That is what happened."
Before any further conversation could be had, the Announcer proclaimed, "Dave is bleeding like crazy! Choze might've actually killed his opponent this time! Regardless, he moves onto the semi-finals!"
Oh, geez, seriously?! What's wrong with that guy. Oh, wait. That means it's time for their match, Shunshi thought as he looked at his Sensei and Sour Face.
At the same time, Sour Face placed his hand on Saitama's shoulder, explaining to him in a dead-serious tone, "I never thought I'd be facing off against you in a tournament match, Charanko. A miracle sent Bakuzan flying out of the arena, but the same won't happen to me. I'll show you real martial arts! So let's do this!"
The second after Saitama and Sour Face entered the arena, and the fight began, Silver Fang's formal number two pupil was sent flying, making a hole right next to the one that had been made with Bakuzan.
"Charanko wins! And with that, we have our four finalists! Suiryu! Monster Mask! Choze! And Charanko! Expect fights like you've never seen before from here on out! Who will reign supreme here at the twenty-second Super Fight!?"