Shunshi was running along the suspended roads leading to the fortified metropolis called A-City. Riding on the Hero's back with her arms wrapped around his neck was Lin Lin.

There were few cars on these roads ever since the majority of the city had been leveled by the alien invaders, so there was little to nothing in their path. Now that all there was to A-City was the fortified town created for the Hero Association by Metal Knight, the routes leading into and out of the city were reserved for Hero Association members.

Darted all over the wasteland were the craters left behind by the shelling from the aliens' weapons.

Looking at the leveled landscape as he ran above it left Shunshi with pangs of misery. The memories of the siblings he had taken pictures of with Iain kept forcing their way into his mind, simultaneously placing rage and sorrow within him. However, before Shunshi could dwell on these memories for long or run much further, an important thought occurred to him.

Without warning, Monster Mask came to a skidding halt next to a street lamp. This caused Lin Lin to shout as she flew off of his back. As the momentum carried her, Lin Lin's ringed grip around Shunshi's neck resulted in her spinning around his head. Eventually, Lin Lin was able to reposition her grip to her boyfriend's shoulders, allowing her to stop spinning and land on the street in front of him.

After taking in a few breaths and putting her hands on Shunshi's chest, Lin Lin frantically yelled, "Wha- What the heck, Shunshi?! I almost went flying!"

Recoiling slightly, Shunshi replied, "Er, sorry, but I just remembered something... Important."

Putting her hands to her hips, Lin Lin asked, "Yeah? What's that?"

Looking over at A-City's Hero Association Headquarters, Shunshi explained, "Well, I was so excited to bring you to the Hero Association that I forgot I was supposed to keep this mission a secret." As Lin Lin gave Monster Mask a concerned glance, he clarified, "Um, to be fair, the message specifically said to not tell other Heroes about this. Just to be safe, though, do you mind waiting here while I go talk with the people who called me in until I can tell them about you?"

With both worry and mild annoyance on her face, Lin Lin responded, "Erm... Err... Fine. I'll wait by this lamp. But if you take too long, I'm gonna come storming in."

That is a terrible idea, Shunshi bluntly thought.

When speaking out loud, though, Monster Mask told his significant other, "Maybe just try asking the front desk? We're all on the same side here, after all, Lin."

Letting off a small smirk, Lin Lin replied, "I know, I was joking. This Kie stuff's made me stronger, but there's no way I'd be able to fight through all the Heroes who must be in there."

Looking at the building once more, Shunshi added, "Yeah, there's probably S-Class Heroes there too. They'd be able to tear us both apart pretty easy." Although Shunsi's voice had a lighthearted inflection to it, the words he'd spoken left Lin Lin somewhat frightened.

"Just... Be careful, okay?"

Placing his hand on Lin Lin's cheek, Shunshi told her, "I promise, but you've got nothing to worry about." The two then exchanged a quick peck of a kiss before Shunshi ran off while Lin Lin walked over and leaned against the street lamp.


After arriving at the reinforced front door of A-City's headquarters, Monster Mask saw security guards blocking the entrance who were dressed in white body armor, including obscuring helmets and who were carrying assault rifles.

During Shunshi's initial approach, the guards pointed their guns at him without saying a word.

"Hello, gentlemen. I'm the A-Class Hero, Monster Mask. I received an alert from our bosses that I was needed here."

After Shunshi introduced himself, the guards exchanged glances while speaking to each other in muffled voices that were inaudible to the Hero before them. Eventually, one of the guards pushed a button on his helmet as audio rang into his ear.

Once the audio subsided, the guard told the A-Class Hero, "Alright, head on inside. You're expected, sir."

Bowing slightly, Shunshi replied, "Thank you." He then walked past them, waited as the door's lock buzzed open, and headed inside, entering the front lobby.

A young woman staffed the lobby's desk, flinching slightly when she saw Monster Mask. If it weren't for his damaged helmet revealing his somewhat appealing face, it was obvious that his presence would have truly frightened this woman.

Smiling at her, Shunshi addressed the woman politely, "Hello, Ms. I'm here to-."

Before he could finish, the voice of a young boy cut Monster Mask off, saying, "You're here to see me. Thank you for coming, Monster Mask."

Looking down and to the left of the desk, Shunshi found the source of the voice, Child Emperor. The boy was gripping the straps of his backpack tightly while giving a pensive stare.

"Welcome, Monster Mask. I can see that you haven't had time to repair your armor since your last fight," the child Hero said with a voice filled with caution.

Ignorant of the look the S-Class was giving him, Shunshi smiled and greeted him, "Child Emperor, sir! I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Shunshi or Monster Mask. Uh, but considering that you called me here, you probably remember me to some extent... Either way, it's great to see you again, sir!"

Raising his eyebrows, Child Emperor almost felt his guard drop as he thought, Er... I was too on edge. Gotta be ready to read into his casual demeanor so I can tell if he's up to something.

"Ahem... Yes, I remember you, Monster Mask. I'm glad you responded to our summons so quickly. If you wouldn't mind, could you come with me?"

"Of course, sir. Oh! Apologies for not being able to give proper introductions, Ms. Have a nice day." As Shunshi finished addressing the young woman, he gave her a quick bow before following Child Emperor out of the room.

"Uh... You as well, sir," the woman said as she watched the A-Class and S-Class Heroes leave.

Once they were gone, the woman couldn't help but mutter to herself, "That was... weird."


A few minutes later, Child Emperor had led Shunshi several stories up and to a metal door. The frame of the door was lined with a red glowing glass that let out a faint crackling noise as Shunshi walked through it.

Once he was in the room, Shunshi could get a proper look at the make of it. The whole thing was roughly fifteen feet in diameter. The ceiling, walls, and floor were constructed from a dark gray, almost black, metal. While there was a light in the ceiling, the only pieces of furniture were a simple wooden table with four wooden chairs. The way this furniture clashed with the rest of the room made it seem to Shunshi as if they had been placed here only recently.

As he entered the room and locked the door behind himself, Child Emperor walked around Monster Mask and gestured to the table while requesting, "Please take a seat."

The smallest lump of concern grew in Shunshi's chest at the sight of this room, but his desire to trust in Heroes outweighed his worry, resulting in him doing as he was asked. Once Shunshi sat in a chair on the opposite end of the table from Child Emperor, the prepubescent Hero sat down as well, giving Shunshi an unmistakably icy stare.

Gulping unintentionally, Shunshi asked, "Is something wrong, sir...? Am I safe in guessing it has something to do with why you didn't want me telling any other Hero I was coming here?"

Child Emperor only stared for a moment before answering, "You could say that... First off, we're launching a raid on the Monster Association's headquarters soon, and we want you to be part of our forces."

Shunshi was shocked silent for a moment, with Child Emperor pausing, seemingly expecting a response.

Eventually, Shunshi was able to ask, "I, uh... Do you really think I'd be worth anything alongside you guys?"

Putting his hands together, the child genius explained, "Don't play dumb. Physically speaking, when we last met, you were as strong as a Demon-Level monster, and that doesn't even take your martial arts and miscellaneous abilities into account. Presumably, if your work record is to be believed, you've only gotten stronger since then. So, we expect you to be able to pull your weight in the coming battle."

"Uh... Yes, sir! I'll do my best not to let you down... But, um, what does that have to do with-?"

Cutting Shunshi off, Child Emperor continued, "I'm about to get to that. Put simply; we aren't sure if we can trust you."

"What?! Why would-?!"

"Calm down and listen. The biggest reason has two main parts. First, we have reason to believe we have a spy in the Hero Association, and you're one of the suspects. The second part is the Hero Hunter. He's a major criminal that's gunning for Heroes, and you've encountered him three times now and lived each time. Either you're underplaying how capable you actually are, or the two of you have some sort of plan. On top of this, you are closely connected to two of the other suspects, Silver Fang and Demon Cyborg. Silver Fang is under suspicion for possibly letting the Hero Hunter escape during their battle due to being the villain's former mentor. Considering that you're one of Silver Fang's current pupils, that adds more suspicion onto you. As for Demon Cyborg, he's a suspect due to his close association with both you and Silver Fang, as well as his mysterious past. So, now's your chance to defend yourself. Be informed that this room is completely sealed and is constructed from the same material as the outside of this headquarters, the material that survived the alien invaders' bombardment last month. If you can't give us ample reason to trust you, you'll be locked in here until the battle against the Monster Association is over. As for me, I have a way to exit this room that you wouldn't be able to make use of. And don't think about trying to call anyone. You walked through an E.M.P. as you entered this room. Your phone is non-functional now."

Once he'd heard all this, Shunshi began to sweat, both flabbergasted at this sudden information and frightened at the prospect of saying something wrong.

After taking a deep breath, though, Monster Mask recomposed himself and calmly addressed Child Emperor, "Child Emperor, sir, I can assure you that you can trust me. I know I've encountered Garou multiple times by now, but that's because I'm trying to hunt him down myself. And, if you look at the actual records for his victims, the Hero Hunter hasn't actually killed anybody. I think he's just some freak trying to prove some kind of weird point. I don't get what it is, and I have every intention of stopping him, but, well, he's not a killer. If that's not enough to convince you about where my loyalties lie, I'd hope my work record does. I've been working every day that I can to stop as many crimes, monsters, and disasters as possible. The last thing I can say for myself is... in all honesty... I'm insulted."

Child Emperor had kept a calm face up until then. However, those last words Shunshi spoke were tinged with an undeniable adversarial tone that the young boy hadn't really expected.

As Shunshi continued to speak, he stood up, knocking his chair away as he slammed his hands onto the table and spoke in a tone of absolute certainty, "All I've ever wanted since the Hero Association first formed was to be worthy of being part of its ranks. All I've ever wanted is, well... I want to be a Hero! That's my ultimate aspiration! To be a Hero who can save everyone and defeat any evil. Child Emperor, I respect you and the other Heroes of this organization more than I think you realize, but if there's one thing about myself I have the utmost confidence in, it's my quality of character, and I refuse to have it fall under doubt. I spend every day of my life trying to be a better person than the one I was yesterday, so please, believe me when I tell you that I am not a traitor!"

Once Monster Mask had finished monologuing, Child Emperor was stunned silent. After blinking in surprise for a few moments, the child Hero managed to recompose himself and collect his thoughts.

Steeling his gaze back up, Child Emperor responded, "Ahem. Thank you for that, Monster Mask. Wait here. I'll contact you in a moment, and you'll know if we trust you based on how I contact you later."

Suddenly, the floor underneath Child Emperor opened up, dropping both the boy and his chair into the opening before it closed behind him just as fast.

Pouting as he raised his eyebrows, Shunshi commented to himself, Oh... I guess that is a pretty clever way to keep me stuck in here.


In a security room located elsewhere in the building, Sekingar and another guard watched through a television as Child Emperor finished interrogating Monster Mask and dropped through the floor. Seconds after this, a hatch in the ceiling of this room opened up, with a chair, followed by Child Emperor, falling through it.

As the chair clattered to the ground, Child Emperor effortlessly landed his rear-end on it while letting out a frustrated sigh.

"So, did you get what you needed, Child Emperor?" Sekingar inquired.

Closing his eyes and scratching his head, Child Emperor responded, "Well, Monster Mask seemed pretty serious, and he brought up a good point about his work record, but that could all potentially be a long-term ploy... I'm still unsure about him for the moment, but he should be cooperative for now after the warning I gave him."

Looking back at the screen to observe the room that Monster Mask now sat alone in, Sekingar added, "Right. Regardless of whether we can actually trust him, the higher-ups want him on the mission. Hopefully, your show of discipline will be enough to keep him in line even if he is a traitor. Although, if what he's saying about the Hero Hunter is true, then that puts me at ease a bit. I guess the punk isn't as big of a threat as Sitch is making him out to be."

Joining Sekingar in looking at the screen, Child Emperor explained, "I'm not so sure about that, but the Hero Hunter's not immediately important. I'll wait a few minutes to let Monster Mask stir. Then I'll go get Uchiara and bring him to the room too, to explain the rest of what we want from him."

"Hrm. We might not want to keep him waiting for too long. If we want him to fight, we'd better get his armor fixed up. Best to start on that sooner rather than later," Sekingar contemplated aloud.

Child Emperor grimaced at that before resigning, "Ergh. I guess you're right... I do also need to get ready for the S-Class meeting in a bit." Child Emperor then let out a sigh before hopping off of his chair and continuing, "I guess I'll go get Uchiara now so we can expedite things."

As the boy-Hero unenthusiastically trudged his way out of the room, Sekingar told him, "Best of luck, Child Emperor."

Smirking weakly, Child Emperor responded, "Hopefully, I won't need it."


After Shunshi had been left in the impregnable room to wait in tense anticipation for a few minutes, the door he'd originally entered through opened up.

Walking back into the room was Child Emperor. However, accompanying the child Hero was a man dressed in a suit of semi-futuristic-battle-armor designed with a camouflage pattern. The helmet of the armor was all concealing, with a one-way glass frame around the eyes to allow visibility. In fact, upon further observation, Shunshi took note of the fact that there was not a single opening anywhere on the armor that would give a hint as to who or what was underneath it. What Shunshi could tell was that this man's whole body was shaking, either with anticipation or anger.

Speaking up as Monster Mask got out of his chair, Child Emperor explained, "Good news. We intend to trust you for now."

Doing his best to keep a calm attitude, Shunshi responded, "Uh, thank you. But, um, who's that with you, sir?"

As if on queue, the man took a step forward and placed his hand to his chest as he began talking, "It's good to see you again, Monster Mask. I'm-."

Suddenly, a metal hand extended from Child Emperor's backpack and placed its palm onto the man's chest, stopping him before he could say too much.

"Allow me to explain. Monster Mask, this is former Sargent, Uchiara, or, as you might remember him, the War King. Uchiara, remove your helmet."

Following Child Emperor's directions, Uchiara removed his headpiece, revealing the half-Human/half-monster face of the crazed Sargent Shunshi and his allies had brought down. Uchiara had a nervous yet excited look on his face as he looked at Shunshi, clearly somewhat insecure about the whole situation.

Curiosity racing into his mind, Shunshi wanted to ask what was going on but figured it would be better to stay silent for the moment and allow Child Emperor to continue talking.

Realizing that Monster Mask was waiting, Child Emperor continued, "After you turned in Uchiara, he started cooperating with our scientists almost right away. Our researchers have yet to find a way to turn him back to Human, but in the meantime, Uchiara has been making requests to fight for the Hero Association. We decided to test his loyalty in this coming battle, and we've given him gear similar to what he had when you brought him in, but we're hoping we were able to upgrade its quality. However, he made the stipulation that, if he were to fight for us, he'd want you, Stinger, and Lightning Genji to be there as well. Parol officers of sorts, I guess you could say. Alright, Uchiara. If there's anything you want to say, now's the time to say it."

Smirking in appreciation, Uchiara responded, "Thanks, young'un- Er, I mean, Child Emperor, sir."

Looking Shunshi in his eyes, Uchiara told him, "First off, I'd like to thank you, Monster Mask. If you hadn't helped me think clearly that day, I'd of become the kind of monster that'd kill my own grandson without a second thought. Thanks to you, I've at least got a chance now to become someone my boy can look up to... A Hero, like you."

Shunshi's eyes dilated at this somewhat, as he responded in a shaky voice, "I, uh... Ahem! Of course, it's no problem. Heroes are supposed to help people, after all. I gotta admit, I hadn't expected anything like this, but... Well, if you're serious about becoming a Hero, then I'm sure someone as strong as you can do it. You've got my support, at least... Not sure how the other two will feel about this, in all honesty."

Smiling wide with his razored maw, Uchiara continued, "That means a lot coming from you, Monster Mask. And just in case you were worried about it, you don't gotta be concerned about me turning wild. The researchers put a bomb in my neck just in case I turn full monster or prove I can't be trusted."

"What!? That's insane, Uchiara!" Shunshi exclaimed, his gut reaction breaking out.

Shaking his head, Uchiara replied, "No, it's a concern we all oughtta have. I was on board with the idea myself. Sides, if things go south on this mission and we get desperate, we'll be able to use the little bugger in my neck to take out whatever's giving us trouble."

Tightening his glare, Shunshi immediately stated, "There's no way I'm letting you do that. Even if I did, do you really think one bomb will be enough to take out something that could give the S-Class Heroes trouble?"

Smirking with a morbid amusement on his face, Uchiara tapped the top of his spine and insisted, "This thing is supposed to be able to take me out in the one go, and I'm a Demon-Level Threat. I'm sure it'll be able to do something."

As the two men talked, neither of them noticed the shocked look on Child Emperor's face when Uchiara mentioned the bomb in his neck. The expression of mild alarm made it clear that the S-Class himself was unaware of this precaution and had his own mixed feelings on the matter.

After letting out a frustrated sigh, Shunshi relented, "Well, let's just hope things don't come to that... Say, Child Emperor. You said Uchiara wants Stinger and Lightning Genji here too, right?"

Coming out of thought, the boy Hero confirmed, "Uh, yeah. That's right."

"Does that mean you're bringing them in to help with the battle too?"

Child Emperor gave Shunshi a hesitant look when he asked this before eventually reasoning aloud, "Well, you're going to be participating with them, so I guess I should let you in on this. To make up for the loss in combat power from Silver Fang and Demon Cyborg, we intend to bring in a number of C through A-Class Heroes as a support squad led by Sweet Mask. Since it lines up with Uchiara's request, we plan to include Stinger and Lightning Genji amongst them."

Perking up, Shunshi took up a disarming stance and suggested, "Well, why don't we just bring Bang-Sensei and Genos-Senpai anyway and bolster our forces that much more? If you feel you can trust me, then I promise you can trust-."

"Absolutely not. You're on thin ice as it is, and we simply don't feel we can trust those two at the moment," Child Emperor interjected.

Frowning, Shunshi resolved and made another suggestion, "Then... maybe you could bring in Saitama-Sensei?"

"Who?" Both Child Emperor and Uchiara asked.

Did you seriously forget about Master, you brat? Shunshi reflexively thought as he fought back an expression of infuriation from forming on his face.

Wearing a convincing smile, Shunshi explained, "You know him. The B-Class Hero I introduced you to who trained me and Genos-Senpai. The... Ugh... The Caped Baldy? I'd say he's even stronger than King. If you brought him in to participate, the battle would be over in no time."

Snapping his fingers as the memories came back to him, Child Emperor responded, "Oh, right, the B-Class. With you and Demon Cyborg vouching for him, I did put in a request for him to get bumped up to A-Class, but Sweet Mask is in charge of A-Class promotions and shot the idea down. Because of that, he only got promoted to rank 2 in B-Class. I haven't heard anything about him since then, so I kind of forgot about him... You think he's stronger than King!?"

It was clear Uchiara also wanted to say something about this, but his military training allowed him to keep his composure and remain quiet.

Seeing the doubt mixed in with the boy's shock, Shunshi decided to cut back the praise slightly and explain, "Well, he and King worked together to kill Elder Centipede, and they engage in virtual combat exercises all the time, so they're at least comparable."

"Caped Baldy interacts with King regularly? Why?!" As Child Emperor made his inquiry, he desperately read Monster Mask's face for signs of deceit.

Smiling once more, Shunshi replied, "I haven't pried into when it happened, but Master and King befriended each other sometime in this past month."

"Befriended King?! Does... does that mean you have as well?" Child Emperor asked while he began to sweat as his search for any facial hints of lying proved fruitless.

Shaking his head while satisfied that his words were getting through to the child Hero, Shunshi replied, "I'd like to, but I prefer to give Mr. King his space. We've honestly only had a handful of conversations between us... So, does this mean you'll be bringing Master Saitama in?"

Smiling awkwardly, Uchiara thought, If this Saitama's really as strong as Monster Mask says, then the kid'd be crazy not to bring him in for this mission.

For a moment, Child Emperor went into deep thought. The expression of genuine consideration on his face was obvious to the A-Class Hero and the half-monster soldier in the room. However, after a few moments, Child Emperor frowned and shook his head.

"Sorry, but out of the question. As you said, Saitama is both your's and Demon Cyborg's teacher, so we can't trust he won't inform your... Senpai about the situation. So, the answer is no."

With some blatant desperation, Shunshi pleaded, "But-."

However, before Shunshi could get another word out of his mouth, Uchiara spoke up, "But, Sir. This Hero could be an invaluable asset to the coming war. You can't just-."

"You're on even thinner ice than Monster Mask, Uchiara. Listen up, both of you; the answer is no. Now, speaking of the battle, some of our people are gonna meet you in the waiting room we have ready for you, Monster Mask. Hand over your armor to them so they can repair it for you. The other support Heroes will conference in the waiting room with you once they arrive. While you're in there, you'll have no access to phones or other means of communication, and you'll be prohibited from going anywhere else in the headquarters unless you're escorted or told otherwise. There are some couches in there, so you'll be able to get some rest while you wait."

As regret and annoyance spread across Shunshi's face, he voiced one last request, "Hrm... Fine, I'm sure Master will be there anyway if we really need him. But, uh, on the topic of communication... I'll give you guys her phone number, so could you call my girlfriend?"

Tilting his head uncontrollably, Child Emperor asked, "Uh... Why? I'm almost confident that you won't die, so I don't think you'll need to say goodbye or anything."

Waving his hands, Shunshi responded, "No, no! I'm dating Lin Lin. She's the official top female martial artist right now, and she caught me on the way here. Since she's not a Hero, I thought it would be okay to tell her where I was going, so... I did, and she came along with me. She also wants to help fight the Monster Association."

At that moment, Child Emperor's face drained of all emotion, eliciting shutters from Shunshi and Uchiara. For a moment, it was unclear how this information was sitting with the S-Class Hero or how he would react.

After a full minute of silence, Shunshi tried to ask, "Uh, Child Emperor, sir, I-."

"We'll be calling her in and interviewing her. Depending on my assessment of Lin Lin, you may or may not see her in the waiting room. Speaking of which, there is an associate waiting to escort you to the waiting room just outside. Go with them. Now, Uchiara, come with me while we wait for Stinger and Lighting Genji." Despite the calm tone of Child Emperor's words, the authoritativeness behind them cut through both the adults in the room without effort.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Uchiara replied as he got behind Child Emperor and stood at attention.

Without another word, Child Emperor left the room with Uchiara following obediently in toe. The S-class had left the door ajar as he exited, causing Shunshi to wait awkwardly, unsure if he actually had permission to leave the room.

After roughly thirty seconds had passed of Monster Mask standing still, the call of a man from outside the room motivated him to walk out to the hallway, "Sir, we're ready to escort you whenever you are."

Once he was out of the room, Shunshi saw a squad of four security guards armed with assault rifles waiting for him. Without saying anything, one of them gestured for Monster Mask to follow them, which he did without complaint.


After riding an elevator to climb a few stories short of the headquarters' roof, Monster Mask and the security had arrived in the waiting room.

The room itself was well lit and quite spacious, easily able to hold fifty or more people comfortably. Not to mention the ceiling, which easily rose twenty feet off the floor. Scattered throughout the room were metal tables built into the floor, each one having a couch on either side of them. At the north end of the room was a flight of stairs leading up to a wall-less second floor of the room, which was decorated similarly to the first. At the back of the room, however, was some sort of hangar bay. At the moment, though, there was only a single transport chopper resting within it.

Waiting for Monster Mask and his security escort was a pair of Hero Association workers, a man and a woman, except dressed in attire that seemed to blend business suits with blacksmithing gear.

Speaking up, the woman said, "Hello, Monster Mask, sir. If you'd please hand your armor over to us, we'll get to its repairs right away."

Letting loose the tension he'd had while walking with the security guards, Shunshi smirked and replied, "Thanks, I appreciate this. I was worried I'd have to take on the Monster Association with a broken suit."

Perking up, the male worker commented, "Oh, well, you're certainly friendlier than expected."

Smiling fully, Shunshi shot back as he took off his gauntlets, "You guys seem pretty nice too."

Soon, he handed all of his armor over to the workers, leaving him only in the tight-fitting clothes he had to wear underneath his armor to avoid snags.

While holding half of Monster Mask's armor, the female worker thought to herself in a pleased tone, Wow. That Hero's built pretty nicely. However, after she'd finished admiring the man, the female worker started to ogle his suit even more intensely.

After realizing just how well made it was, she commented aloud, "Woah. I can tell just from a glance that this is high-quality craftsmanship, Monster Mask."

Scratching the back of his head, Shunshi replied, "Thanks. I initially made it myself, but last month, a friend of a friend upgraded it for me. It can even take hits from some Demon-Level monsters... Hehe, I hope you guys are up to the challenge!"

Grinning, the male worker responded, "Oh-ho, don't you doubt us, Hero. We'll have this ready to go by the morning. Let's go, partner!" With that, the two workers turned and strutted their way out of the waiting room.

With those two gone, one of the guards told Monster Mask, "We'll leave you alone in here, but we'll still be standing guard just outside until we're ordered otherwise."

"Oh, uh, okay. I'll just be... in here then."

With that established, the guards walked to the waiting room's exit, leaving Shunshi by himself.

Looking at the numerous couches, Shunshi remembered Child Emperor's suggestion of getting rest and relented, "Yeah, some sleep sounds good right about now."

Making his way over to the furniture, Shunshi quickly crashed down onto one. Almost immediately, the exhaustion of fighting the Hero Hunter, Elder Centipede, and then engaging in training hit Shunshi like a tidal wave. Within seconds, the A-Class Hero's eyes were closed, and he was out like a light.


After a half-hour had passed, the main door of the waiting room opened up. Walking into the room was Lin Lin, accompanied by Sekingar.

When Lin Lin noticed Shunshi sleeping on one of the couches in the room, she couldn't help but let out a giggle.

However, her amusement quickly came to an end when Sekingar told her, "So, you'll have to stay in here until it's time for the battle. I assume you're fine with that."

Grimacing a bit, Lin Lin folded her arms and replied, "Yeah, whatever... Say, am I gonna have to stay a C-Class Hero forever?"

Without any change in expression, Sekingar responded, "If you make it through this battle and still want to be a part of the Hero Association, you can take the actual test to assess your abilities. Until then, you're at the bottom of C-Class. Even then, that's only because Monster Mask wants you here."

Scowling harder, Lin Lin hissed back, "Well, I'd better be A-Class. I took on a Tiger-Level monster myself."

"Let's hope that's true. We could use some more higher-ranked Heroes. Now, I have preparations to take care of, so I'll leave you here." And just as he said he would, Sekingar left the room, leaving Lin Lin alone with the sleeping Shunshi.

After letting out a sigh of frustration, Lin Lin walked over to where Shunshi was conked out. As she looked down at her boyfriend's sleeping face, the martial artist's own expression softened into a tender smile.

While Shunshi slept on his back, his girlfriend reached out and brushed some of his hair from his eyes before beginning to caress his face softly.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to wait here, the martial artist thought with a pleased attitude.

After only a moment of this tranquility, however, Shunshi's hand suddenly shot to life and grabbed Lin Lin's arm. Before she could properly react or even try to pull free, Lin Lin got yanked onto the couch.

While laying on his torso, Lin Lin panicked and began to yell, "Shunshi! What are you doing?! I- I was just-!"

However, when she got a proper look at his face again, she could see that Shunshi was still asleep. It was at this point that Lin Lin realized that he was actually hugging her to himself, almost like one would hug a pillow to their bodies in bed.

Her face turning red, Lin Lin was frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do. It was only after Shunshi, still, sound asleep, let out a satisfied sigh and a smile that she relaxed slightly.

While still blushing, Lin Lin resigned herself to her current fate, laid her head down on Monster Mask's chest, and thought in satisfaction, "Yeah, waiting in here will be fine. It also wouldn't hurt to get my sleep schedule back on track." After that, the female warrior relaxed and began drifting asleep as well.


A few hours later, the door to the waiting room opened once more. This time, instead of one of the security guards or other staff, the three disciples of Atomic Samurai were the ones to enter the room.

At the head of the pack was Iaian, with as stern a look on his face as ever. Behind him and to his left was Okamaitachi, the current rank 4 in A-Class after Monster Mask had taken rank 3 from her.

Okamaitachi appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties and wore her long black hair in two upward arches, split at the neck by hairpins. She was dressed in a long sweater and a skirt that went down to her ankles and carried a sword of her own at her waist. She stood about an inch above Iaian and also had a red dot on each of her cheeks.

Standing to Iaian's right was Busidrill, the current rank 5 amongst the A-Class Heroes. Bushidrill appeared to be in his mid to late thirties and kept his black hair tied back in a ponytail while having a thin beard on his face. For his clothes, he was dressed in a black samurai garb, as well as a pair of drill-shaped swords at his waist. Despite being noticeably bulkier than the other two disciples, Bushidrill was actually shorter than them, standing only at five-foot-six at the most.

None of the three knew exactly what to expect when they entered the room but had still somewhat mentally prepared themselves. Despite this, the followers of Atomic Samurai were still a bit taken off-guard when they saw Monster Mask, in civilian clothes, sitting cross-legged on the back of a woman who was doing push-ups and who was even shorter than Bushidrill.

"That was ninety-seven! Just three more!" Monster Mask shouted with encouragement. It was clear that this woman was struggling and sweating, but the look of determination on her face swayed any concerns of abuse from the other Heroes' minds.

After Monster Mask had given this woman his verbal support, she took a few sharp breaths before letting out an impassioned shout and blasting through her last three pushups. The suddenness of this actually knocked Shunshi off-balance, which caused him to fall to the ground and roll to the feet of Atomic Samurai's disciples.

While looking up at his fellow Heroes, Shunshi addressed them, "Oh, hello there. Uh, we were just working out to pass the time... Oh, crap! Sorry!"

Jumping to his feet, Shunshi quickly put his hands together, gave a bow, and said, "It's very nice to see you again, Iaian, sir. Okamaitachi, Bushidrill, it's an honor to meet you both! My name is Shunshi, or you might know me as Monster Mask."

As his fellow students looked at Monster Mask with some surprise, Iaian thought analytically, A bit more formal than I remember, but that's not a bad thing, I suppose.

Clearing his throat, Iaian spoke to Shunshi, "It's... nice to see you too, Monster Mask. See? I told you guys he was... friendly."

Glancing back and forth between Okamaitachi and Bushidrill as they both sharpened their gazes on him, Shunshi awkwardly asked, "Uh, so... Are you guys just here to wait around too or... what?"

Speaking up, Bushidrill explained, "After we arrived with Master Atomic, we learned you were here. Iaian wanted to come talk to you, so Okamaitachi and I decided to tag along to meet the guy who pushed us both down a rank. Iaian told us when you two met each other that you were polite enough. I wasn't expecting that, though."

Smirking at Shunshi, Okamaitachi told him, "Well, I guess it's not so bad to lose my spot to a looker like you. In fact... Hmm, if Sweet Mask is a ten, I'd say you're a seven or eight... Seven and a half! So, care to get to know each other better and trade Hero tips sometime?"

Shunshi was initially surprised by Okamaitachi's flirt, but easily recomposed himself and answered, "Uh... I'm flattered, but... I'm afraid that I'm..." It was at that point that Lin Lin stepped up to Shunshi's side, causing him to give her a loving glance before finishing, "I'm spoken for."

"Enough of that, Okamaitachi. What I wanna see from this guy is a match between him and Iaian," Bushidrill exclaimed.

Iaian, Shunshi, and Lin Lin were all taken off guard by that, but Iaian was quick to add, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also interested in that. We're our Masters' respective number ones, after all, but that can wait for another day. What I came here for was to... both thank you and apologize."

"What?" Shunshi asked.

Grimacing, Iaian explained, "During the alien invasion. If it wasn't for you, I might've died, and... If I had performed better that day, you wouldn't have almost died. I want to assure you I haven't squandered the second chance you gave me. I've been training relentlessly, so hopefully, we won't find ourselves in such a situation again... I can't thank you and apologize enough."

Raising his eyebrows, Shunshi replied, "Iaian... I... It's alright. You don't need to apologize. We're Heroes. It's what we do. I know you would've done the same thing for me if things were reversed."

Looking at the ground, Iaian responded, "I'd like to think I would, but we can't know for sure unless things got pretty bad. And I don't want that to happen. So, please, just accept my feelings on the matter." It was then that Iaian bowed to Shunshi.

Shunshi's face was overcome with uncomfortableness and sadness at this, as words got caught in his throat. It was only once Lin Lin jabbed him in his side that he was able to get his vice working again, getting a chuckle from Bushidrill.

"I-Uh... Alright, Iaian. You're welcome, and I accept your apology."

Straightening his posture, Iaian fixed his gaze on Monster Mask, smiled awkwardly, and extended his hand for a fist bump. Remembering how his offer for this gesture had been denied before, Shunshi, half excitedly, half embarrassed, extended his fist out to meet Iaian's.

The two Heroes gave each other looks of respect for a few seconds after this, stopping when Iaian added, "But don't expect my help again with any of that weird crap that you and Demon Cyborg do. Once was more than enough."

While Shunshi chuckled awkwardly at this, Lin Lin asked him teasingly, "What kind of weird stuff are you and Demon Cyborg doing?"

"Uh... It's a long and... weird story that I'd rather only tell in private."

Giving Lin Lin an inquisitive look, Okamaitachi asked, "So, I'm assuming this is your lady friend. Who is she anyway?"

Perking up, Shunshi gestured to Lin Lin and said, "Oh, this is-."

Cutting him off, Lin Lin answered, "My name's Lin Lin. Shunshi here calls me Lin, but only he gets to do that. I'm the world's top female martial artist. Shunshi and I have been training together, and we started dating recently, so I decided I wanted to fight the Monster Association with him. Because of that, the people here made me the newest C-Class Hero... I'm gonna be A-Class once I actually take the test! By the way. Okamaitachi, was it? I'd personally give Shunshi an eight and a half or a nine on his looks."

Pouting slightly, Shunshi told Lin Lin, "Hey. I'd give you a solid ten out of ten, Lin."

Smirking at Shunshi while blushing slightly, Lin Lin responded, "Well, thank you, and don't be all mopey. If I add your personality to the mix, you're an eleven."

Shunshi and Lin Lin then began gazing dreamily at one another's eyes, seemingly shutting out their perception of anyone else in the room.

"Hey, lovebirds, we're still here, ya know," Bushidrill remarked, snapping the pair out of the trance they'd placed each other in, both of them coughing and chuckling awkwardly.

"So, uh... Are you guys just gonna hang out in here too?" Shunshi asked nervously.

Nodding, Iaian replied, "The S-Class Heroes are in a meeting right now. So, until Master Atomic tells us otherwise, we'll be waiting here too. I hear that other lower-ranked Heroes are going to be brought in for this fight too. They'll probably meet up in here as well once they arrive. My fellow students and I will probably be out of your hair by then, though."

Seeming somewhat disappointed but hiding it with a smirk, Shunshi said, "So, I guess we'll have to find ways to pass the time then."

Stroking his beard, Bushidrill suggested, "If we're looking for conversation topics, how about you tell us what exactly you and Lin Lin were doing when we got here."

"Oh, that. You see, I have a daily workout regiment my Master has me do. Lin Lin wanted to try it too but said she wanted it to be even harder so she could get stronger faster, so I added my weight to the push-up portion."

As Shunshi went on to explain his daily regimen, he and the four other people in the room found themselves going from one conversation topic to another as the time ticked away.


About an hour into the gathered Heroes' conversation, Okamaitachi noticed a helicopter flying in from the distance and verbally pointed it out to the others, "Hey, everyone. It looks like the other backup Heroes might have arrived. If that's the case-."

Before she could finish, Atomic Samurai barged into the room.

"Hey, guys, the meeting's over. Come on. We got preparations to make," the S-Class Hero ordered as soon as he arrived.

The suddenness of his actions surprised both Shunshi and Lin Lin, even causing them to flinch slightly.

However, the three disciples had no reaction whatsoever, other than Iaian immediately replying, "Yes, Master." And with that, the three sword-wielding Heroes marched to Atomic Samurai's side.

Noticing Shunshi, Atomic Samurai smirked and inquired, "That's Monster Mask? He looks different without that armor. His physique is about what I'd expect, but I can tell from his eyes that he's a real softy. No wonder he wears that scary-looking helmet. And it looks like he brought a date to tag along. I hope your skills are as good as your looks, kid. Otherwise, you might not make it through this."

What a weirdo, Lin Lin thought as Shunshi grimaced ever so slightly.

Calming down and smiling, Shunshi greeted the samurai Hero, "Hello, sir. It's nice to meet you again, Atomic Samurai, sir." He then gave the Samurai a quick but respectful bow.

Nodding, Atomic placed a hand to his chin and commented, "Didn't try going for a handshake. Good. You're not there yet, but you're almost ready for a proper greeting from me. You'll get there soon... Speaking of your abilities. Since Bang, unfortunately, isn't here, you're gonna have to represent him in the coming battle. I wanna see if you're worthy of that, so I've got a little test for you."

Nudging Shunshi in his side, Lin Lin whispered, "What's the deal? Are you just gonna let him talk to us like that?"

While Atomic Samurai reached into his gi for something, Shunshi whispered back to Lin Lin and sternly informed her, "Don't think like that. Atomic Samurai is an S-Class Hero, Lin Lin. He's easily many times stronger than me and is a man who's saved countless people. His attitude is kinda jarring, but he deserves nothing but our respect."

The almost harsh way Shunshi said this shocked Lin Lin and might have hurt her feelings if she hadn't known him better.

Suddenly, the samurai Hero removed an apple from his outfit. Covering half the distance between himself and Monster Mask, Atomic placed the apple on the ground before covering the rest of the distance between them. Atomic Samurai then took his sword off of his waist, sheath and all, and forced it into Shunshi's hands. He then walked back over to his students, folded his arms, and smirked confidently.

"I grabbed this apple from the cafeteria to snack on, but I want you to cut it for me," Atomic explained.

"Wha-what?" Lin Lin blurted out.

Looking at the sheathed sword awkwardly, Shunshi eventually replied, "Uh... Um, if this is a test of skill, sorry to say, but I've never actually used a sword in a fight before. Closest I've ever come was swinging a pipe around once."

Waving his hand dismissively, Atomic insisted, "That's not important. This is a skill of mine, almost like fortune-telling. With this test, I can at least tell what kind of person you are and how you've lived your life. I had my students take this test, and it's how I decided to take them on. So, go ahead."

Hesitantly and wordlessly, Shunshi took out Atomic Samurai's sword while gently setting the sheath on the ground. He then took up a horseback stance while holding the sword in front of himself, hoping that this would be a somewhat proper form for sword fighting.

After looking at the apple for a solid thirty seconds, Shunshi went in for a horizontal cut while holding his breath. His technique was amateur at best, but the superhuman power behind Monster Mask's swing was enough to easily split the apple in two.

Taking in a nervous breath, Shunshi looked at the split apple for a moment and then to Atomic Samurai, unsure of how to read his expression. Monster Mask then set the sword gently on the ground before resting on his knees.

"Was that enough, sir?" Shunshi asked from the floor.

Without saying anything, Atomic Samurai walked up to his sword to reclaim it before doing the same with his sheath and walking back to his students once again.

Each clacking sound of the S-Class Hero's wooden sandals against the metal floor caused Shunshi to shiver somewhat, unsure if he'd angered the older Hero somehow.

Once Atomic Samurai was back by his pupils' side, he commented, "I see. So, you're that kind of guy... You're definitely not the type of person I'd want as a student, but I can understand why Bang would want you. Anyway, thanks for that. I'm heading out now. Let's go, gang." Without another word, all four of them then left the room, leaving behind Shunshi and Lin Lin, both of whom were extraordinarily baffled.

Walking up to Shunshi and placing a hand on his shoulder, Lin Lin asked him, "Okay, so that was really weird, right? You're not gonna tell me I need to respect that, are you?"

Blinking in bewilderment for a moment, Shunshi eventually responded, "Uh... No, you don't need to. Like you said; that was just weird."

Only a minute after this, the hangar entrance of the waiting room opened, letting in a group of eighteen Heroes, all of whom Shunshi, of course, recognized.

Among the A-Class Heroes brought in, the first three that Shunshi noticed were Death Gatling, Stinger, and Lightning Genji. After that, he saw Twin-Tails, who was Rank 12 in A-Class and a female Hero with a combat-jester theme as well as her pair of namesake twin pigtails. Next was One Shotter. One Shotter was Rank 23 in A-Class, and a male Hero with a metal sniper-patch over one eye, a bandolier of ammunition, and an extremely powerful-looking sniper rifle carried in one hand. Then there was Green and Crescent Eyebroll, two male Heroes who were Ranks 25 and 26 respectively, and who were known for teaming up with each other on a regular basis. Green had a loose-fitting, white robe on, as well as some plants on his head that seemed to be growing right out of his skull. Crescent Eyebroll wore a helmet with a glass visor and a crescent moon on its brow; he also wore a skin-tight suit with a crescent moon insignia on its chest, as well as carrying a cutlass sword at his waist. After those two was Narcissitoic, a male Hero Ranked 30 in A-Class, who was dressed in a flamboyant white suit and black pants and a rose between his lips; also of note was his absurdly long chin. Then there was Shadow Ring, Rank 33 in A-Class, and a female Hero who dressed in stereotypical black ninja garb. The last A-Class Hero present was Feather; a male Hero Ranked 35 in A-Class who dressed in a top that revealed his chest and abs, a white cape, flamboyant shoulder-coverings, a black choker, and a set of tekko kagi blades on his left hand.

Of the B-Class Heroes brought in, the first who caught Shunshi's eye was Double Hole, Rank 29 in B-Class, and a male Hero with what looked like a mechanical nose with huge nostrils strapped to his face; he also wore a red gi with an infinity logo and walked barefoot. After him was Jet Nice Guy, who now stood at Rank 50 in B-Class, and whose cybernetic body had apparently been upgraded with a sharper and more dynamic frame. Then there was Needle Star, Rank 60 in B-Class, and a male Hero who dressed in a black business suit, except with the jacket draped over his shoulders; in his hands was his weapon of choice, a spiked Morningstar on a chain. Lastly, there was Captain Mizuki, Ranked 71 in B-Class, and a tall and muscular female Hero dressed in a tight blue sports bra as well as blue tight short-shorts with the initials 'MZK' on them; she also wore three Olympic-style medals around her neck and kept her hair tied in a long ponytail with a scrunchie.

Then there were the C-Class Heroes. The first one Shunshi noticed was Strange Binding Shell, a male Hero Ranked 3 in C-Class and who dressed in rather plain clothes, aside from the various ropes he had tied around himself. After him was Food Battler Futoshi, Rank 66 in C-Class, and a pudgy male Hero dressed in red gloves and helmet, which had the letter F designed on its forehead, a black eyemask, and an orange suit with an F on it alongside a brown cape. The next Hero was Gearsper; a somewhat short male Hero Ranked 133 in C-Class who wore a white shirt and red vest, as well as a metal mask over the top half of his head. The last of these Heroes was Poison, a male Hero Ranked 300 in C-Class who wore black clothes with his name printed vertically on the torso and skull patterns running down his sleeves and his shirt collar.

Something that took Shunshi off-guard, however, was the differences in Death Gatling, Stinger, and Lightning Genji's appearances.

Stinger noticeably had some bandages on various parts of his body but otherwise seemed to be moving fine. Death Gatling had grown a five-o-clock shadow, had two extra bandoliers of ammunition, with one of them colored red, and his mini-gun seemed to have been upgraded to have a larger frame and sharper barrels. Lightning Genji, though, had a much more drastic change to his look than the other two. His almost steam-punk armor had been replaced with a more streamlined and futuristic suit of black metal with lightning bolt highlights on the torso, helmet, and limbs. The wheels of Genji's skates were lifted off of the ground on the sides of his feet, allowing him to walk normally, and the size of his suit's powerpack was now half of what it had been before. In addition, his two batons were now resting on the sides of his forearms, seemingly magnetized in place.

Jumping to his feet and perking up, Shunshi greeted the Heroes he was personally familiar with, "Stinger, Lightning Genji, Death Gatling! I'm glad to see you all here!"

Stinger was the first to greet him back, exclaiming, "Yo, Monster Mask! I see you got called in before the rest of us."

"Still getting special treatment, I see. So what's the deal with the civilian clothes? You lose your armor, or are you just feeling especially cocky?" Lightning Genji added in a tone that mixed antagonism and friendly banter.

"Nah. The people here are fixing it for me right now. I'll have it back before we all head out," Shunshi replied casually.

Looking over to his bandaged friend, Shunshi commented, "Honestly, Stinger, I'm surprised to see you already up again after the beating you took against Garou."

Shrugging confidently, "What can I say? I've been getting stronger. Sides', the hits I took weren't too bad. I'm still a bit sore, but the Hero Association really does have the best hospitals in the world. I was on my feet by the end of the night. Speaking of, I took your advice and started practicing some new techniques. I'm gonna try them out against the monsters, so get yourself ready for that!"

Gesturing to his armor, Lightning Genji added to the conversation once more, "I know you haven't asked about it, but as for me, aside from just working out, I've been working on upgrading my armor. I think I might even be able to take on a Demon-Level monster with my new gear and skills."

Stepping forward, almost looking delirious, Death Gattling held up his new gun and exclaimed, "I've been wide awake since the fight against Garou, working on this! The rate of fire on this baby is more than twice what my last gun was, and I even got my hands on a belt of explosive rounds. No one's gonna be blocking or bouncing these off themselves!"

Shunshi actually took a step back at Death Gatling's demeanor, with his lack of sleep clearly having adverse effects on his mental state.

Putting a hand on Death Gatling's shoulder, Stinger told him, "Uh, hey, maybe you should take a page outta Monster Mask's book and take a nap before the battle starts. You seem a bit nutzo right now."

Looking at the couches, Death Gatling slowly went and took a seat on one before pointing a finger and exclaiming, "Okay, fine! I'll just close my eyes for a second, but I don'... need a... Zzzzz." With his defiant remarks dying down, Death Gatling fell over and passed out on the couch without another word.

After giving Death Gatling a puzzled look, Lin Lin cleared her throat before asking, "Ahem! Shunshi, are you going to introduce me?"

It was at that moment Shunshi gained as close to a smug grin as he could get, as he put his arm around Lin Lin and said, "Oh, right. Of course, Lin. Stinger, Genji, this is Lin Lin. You know, my girlfriend I told you of before, but you both refused to believe me about? And Lin Lin, these two are Stinger and Lightning Genji, some of my fellow A-Class Heroes and friends."

"Wait, Lin Lin?! As in... He wasn't kidding?!" Stinger blurted out.

Smiling as she realized what the deal was, Lin Lin rested her head against Shunshi and asked, "What do you think?"

While Monster Mask, Lin Lin, Stinger, and Lightning Genji conversed, the other Heroes began talking.

"So I'm guessing that guy's Monster Mask. I've never seen any pictures of him with his helmet off, much less the rest of his armor. He's a lot less impressive looking without the getup," Needle Star commented just loud enough for those in his immediate vicinity to hear.

"He's built pretty well, though. He'd probably perform well in all sorts of events," Captain Mizuki added.

Folding his arms, Double Hole commented, "I don't know. His face seems so innocent, yet I can tell by the way he carries himself that he's an experienced martial artist to some level. It's bizarre."

Before anyone could talk any further, the elevator entrance to the waiting room dinged before opening up and allowing Sekingar and Sitch to walk in.

As he walked in, Sekingar greeted everyone, "Thank you all for coming. I'm-... Is Death Gatling sleeping?"

When Sekingar's attention shifted to Death Gatling, Lightning Genji explained, "He's been awake for more than twenty-four hours after having a big fight. The guy needed a nap."

Initially, Sekingar and Sitch cocked their eyebrows in unison, but Sekingar quickly accepted this, ordering, "Fine, let him rest, but we're leaving in just a couple of hours. Wake him up when it's time to go. Now, as I was saying, I'm Sekingar."

Stepping forward, Sitch introduced himself as well, "And I'm Sitch. I assume you all know why you're here?"

"Yes, sir! Today's event is S-Class support!" Captain Mizuki proclaimed.

"Uh... Right... To be precise, you will block escape routes, eliminate escaping monsters, and escort the child to headquarters once the S-Class rescues him. That's the most important objective," Sitch explained.

"I might not like the brass, but that doesn't matter now. Even if it's some big shot's kid, we'll do everything within our power to save him," Feather replied.

Hearing all this, Shunshi tried to raise his hand while verbalizing, "Uuuuuh."

However, Monster Mask went by unnoticed as One Shotter remarked, "Even though he was born into wealth, this still happened to him. I guess no one is truly safe from monster attacks. Poor kid."

"We'll save him for sure!" Crescent Eyebroll exclaimed.

Unable to contain himself any further, Monster Mask blurted out, "Wait, a child!? What!? No one told me anything about this!"

Looking at Monster Mask with surprise, Sekingar eventually explained, "Huh? Oh... Right. You didn't get informed of that detail during your... debriefing. But, yes. The Monster Association has taken hostage the son of Narinki, one of our top investors. The support team's top priority is to get him to safety."

Suddenly, Shunshi's face went dead as memories of the alien invasion returned to him.

At the same time, Lin Lin gasped, covering her mouth while declaring, "Oh my gosh! A little boy?!"

With both concern and criticism in his voice, Sitch questioned Shunshi, "Monster Mask? This mission isn't too much for you, is it?"

Suddenly, Shunshi's eyes erupted with flames. His posture took on a stance reminiscent of a bear protecting its young as he gnashed his teeth, arched his back, and curled his fingers as if they were claws.

"No... This won't be a problem for me! I already let a kid die once! I WON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN! I'll kill every monster that's there by myself if I have to!" Monster Mask roared.

Okay... Forget what I was saying about him before, Needle Star thought as all the other Heroes, aside from Stinger, Lin Lin, and Lightning Genji gave Monster Mask an almost frightened reaction.

"Hell to the yeah! Once that kid's safe, we're coming back to the battlefield! Can't let the S-Class have all the glory!" Stinger proclaimed.

Perking at that slightly, Needle Star stepped forward and inquired, "Can I ask somtin, boss?"

"Yes?" Sekingar asked back.

After blowing and popping a piece of chewing gum in his mouth, Needle Star stated, "If we're all gonna be throwing ourselves at the nest, then shouldn't we get somtin outta it? We're all gonna get big promotions from this, right?"

Without hesitation, Sekingar answered, "If that's what you're interested in, then very well. We'll make sure you're all ranked up significantly once the mission is completed." Once Sekingar said this, all the Heroes, aside from Shunshi, perked up, some even letting out excited cheers.

Captain Mizuki and Gearsper then gave Needle Star celebratory slaps on the back, only for him to shout at them, "What the heck!? That hurt!"

As Shunshi watched the small celebration from his fellow Heroes unfold, he pondered, Everyone's getting so excited over promotions when there's a child to save...? Well, I am the highest-ranked Hero here, so I guess I don't have room to talk... Huh, never thought I'd be able to say that, even if it is just in my head.

At the same time as Monster Mask, Sitch was observing these Heroes while whispering to Sekingar, "Are you sure that these guys are up to the task?"

"Yes. With Monster Mask helping them, they'll have an S-Class-level combatant on their team. Even without him, I think a few of these Heroes will be able to make S-Class one day themselves. And with the additions of Lin Lin and Uciara, this backup squad will have twenty-one members. You can't deny that they'll make a formidable shield for defending Humanity, Sitch," Sekingar said in as encouraging of a tone as he could manage.

Sitch paused at that for a moment, though, eventually responding, "Uh... Right."

As everyone calmed down slightly, Sekingar took the opportunity to step forward and explain, "There's something else of note that needs addressing before we're able to head out on this mission. Originally, Sweet Mask was supposed to lead the support team, but he has insisted on joining the S-Class Heroes in the direct assault. As such, per his suggestion, Monster Mask has been appointed the leader of the support team."

Both Sekingar and Sitch had expected some type of uproar from this news but were surprised and relieved when all they got were some murmurs amongst the Heroes. With the exception of Monster Mask, whose eyes seemed to be dilating without end.

Noticing Sitch and Sekingar's surprised looks, Shadow Ring was the one to step forward and explain, "I can see you expected something more from us, but we're dealing with an army of monsters with the life of a child on the line. We don't really care who the leader is, so long as the day is won."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Narcissitoic added while striking an eccentric pose.

"Yeah, I don't give a crap about who leads us. We just gotta win this fight," Needle Star exclaimed.

While this sentiment was shared all around, Stinger took notice of how Shunshi was frozen.

Putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, Stinger told him, "Hey, don't worry. I bet all you gotta do is take out a lot of monsters and make sure no one dies. You're the toughest one here, so you got this."

"I... You think so?"

Without even looking at Monster Mask, Genji crouched as he told him, "I'd prefer it if you were a few years older, but I can't say Stinger's wrong. You're strong, so you'll be able to handle this."

With his companions' words of support, Shunshi let out a sigh of relief and smiled at them. It was at that moment that yet another person entered the room, another one of the Hero Association's workers.

"Excuse me, Mr. Sitch," the worker said.

Turning to look at him, Sitch asked, "Yes? What is it?"

After giving Monster Mask a hesitant look, the worker leaned in to whisper something into Sitch's ear.

"I see. Hrm. I'll be back in a moment, Sekingar. While I'm gone, why don't you take those three to retrieve the super-soldier?"

"Super-soldier?" Gearsper inquired.

"Hm? Oh, yes. The military insisted on aiding us with this mission, so they sent in someone who's supposed to be a super-soldier to help us fight. He's waiting downstairs, and I just need some of you to help me escort him up here. Monster Mask, Stinger, Lightning Genji? I'm counting on you three for this."

Already aware of the secret, Shunshi calmed down for a moment and responded, "Yes, sir. You can count on us."

Folding her arms, Lin Lin complained, "So, I guess I have to stay here?"

Wincing ever so slightly, Shunshi told her, "Uh, yeah... Sorry, Lin."

"Uh... Okay?" Stinger responded to Sekingar's orders.

Despite nodding in agreement and walking over to Sekingar, Lightning Genji wondered in annoyance, Why do they need us for this?

Once all three A-Class Heroes were by his side, Sekingar told them, "Thank you. Now follow me." The four of them then entered the elevator and went down.

"A genuine super-soldier, eh? The guy better not get in our way," Needle Star complained aloud as the leadership left the room.


After going down a few floors, Sekingar and the three Heroes walked down a hallway before opening a door leading to the same kind of room Child Emperor had trapped Shunshi inside of. Sitting patiently with his hands cupped at the same kind of wooden table that Shunshi had been was Uchiara, wearing his all-concealing armor.

Looking up at the four individuals from behind his helmet, Uchiara greeted them pleasantly, "Hey there, Heroes. It's... good to see you all again."

Tilting his head, Stinger asked, "Uh, do we know you?"

"Yes, you do," Sekingar stated. "If you wouldn't mind, please remove your helmet, Uchiara."

Initially, Uchiara hesitated, but after a moment, replied, "Um... Sir, yes, sir." Uchiara then took off his headgear, revealing his monstrous appearance to Stinger and Lightning Genji.

Shunshi winced at this, fearing what Stinger and Lightning Genji's response would be. This was well warranted, as Stinger yelled, and Lightning Genji gasped and got ready to grab his batons.

"Monster Mask. Please help me calm the other two down," Sekingar requested urgently.

"Uh... Right! Guys, calm down! I know how this looks, but, well... It's not that! Sekingar, sir, can you please explain what's going on? I'm not sure I remember all the details," Shunshi requested while stepping between the anxious Heroes and the regretful monster.

Straightening his tie, Sekingar spoke, "Yes, of course. Stinger, Lightning Genji, please listen carefully."


"Are you kidding me!? This asshole busted my face!" Lightning Genji yelled.

"I'm aware, but he asked for you three specifically. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, Uchiara here has a bomb in his neck that we'll detonate if he turns on us," Sekingar stated nervously.

Gritting his teeth, Stinger proclaimed, "This guy's a monster! Of course, he'll turn us! Just blow him up now!"

Raising his hand up, Shunshi pointed out, "Uh, Stinger. We're in the same room as him."

"I think Stinger's on the right track. Let's close the door behind us and blow the fucker up!" Genji yelled.

Saddened, Shunshi pleaded, "But- but guys, he's-."

Before Monster Mask could finish, Uchiara put his hands on the table, slowly stood up, and said, "If it's alright, I'd like to say something."

In response, the enraged Heroes readied their respective weapons, with Genji snapping, "What do you want, monster!?"

"Put your weapons down, you two!" Sekingar yelled.

"Guys, come on!" Shunshi pleaded.

Uchiara grimaced at Genji's remark, clearly frustrated. Regardless, he walked around the table, stopping only a few steps from the angered Heroes.

Just as it seemed as if Stinger and Lightning Genji were ready to strike, Uchiara fell to his knees before them.

As Genji and Stinger tried to understand what he was doing, Uchiara told them, "I already told you boys that I want to be a Hero who can make my grandson proud. Monster Mask has given me his blessing. But, if you two really don't believe in me, then I don't deserve the chance. If you both really feel like I can't do this, then just take my life now."

At this, Stinger froze up. The expression of sorrow on Uchiara's face left him unable to process what actions would be best to take. However, while Lightning Genji had similar feelings, they weren't strong enough to stun him. Lightning took up a straightened posture, glaring at Uchiara with rage and uncertainty. He then lifted one of his batons up to his face, tightening his gaze on it before pressing a button. It was pressing this button that caused a small, scythe-like blade to extend out from the side of the tip of the weapon.

The second the blade came out, Shunshi tensed up and yelled, "Genji, stop! I'm not gonna let you-!"

Suddenly, the door that had been left ajar got kicked open as the two blacksmith workers came barging in, carrying Monster Mask's repaired armor with them. This shocked everyone, somewhat defusing the situation as they all turned to look at those intruding on them.

"See! Jonochie was right! He is in here," the female blacksmith exclaimed.

"Huh. Gotta give the guy more credit on his info-network," the male blacksmith commented.

Looking at Uchiara's uncovered face with anxiety, Sekingar began to sweat before stepping between him and the workers.

"What are you two doing in here?!" Skeingar demanded while praying that they hadn't seen anything.

Ignoring Sekingar, the two jumped at Monster Mask and exclaimed, "We're sorry we took a bit longer than promised, but we finally got your armor finished! What do you think?!"

They both then shoved the pieces of armor into Monster Mask's arms and looked at him ecstatically.

The Blue-eyed Hero was stunned by the suddenness of this for a moment as he awkwardly held the pile of armor in his arms.

Eventually, he was able to piece enough thoughts together to reply, "Uh, thank's guys. It looks great."

Shunshi then noticed Sekingar giving him a desperate glare, prompting him to ask, "Sorry, but we're in the middle of an important meeting, so do you think you guys could leave? I'll let you both know how well the armor holds up once the battle is over."

"Aw... Alright. But you better appreciate the craftsmanship of our work, Hero!" The woman exclaimed.

Pointing at Monster Mask, the man exclaimed, "I expect you to make good use of this and take out plenty of monsters!"

"Er... Right! Of course...! But we really do need you guys to go," Shunshi explained nervously.

"Fiiiiinne," they groaned.

The two of them then began backing out of the room, giving Monster Mask looks of anticipation as they left. After they were gone, Sekingar rushed to the door and slammed it shut.

"I swear, if those two weren't so good at their job, I'd have them fired," Sekingar grumbled.

"What the Hell was all that?" Stinger thought to himself once the door was closed.

Clearing his throat to get everyone's attention back, Uchiara said, "If we could get back on topic, I'm awaiting your call, boys."

Turning his attention back to Uchiara, Lightning Genji stopped to think while glaring at him again. After squeezing his weapon for a moment, Genji pressed the same button again, retracting the blade.

"Whatever. You'd better actually be able to help us. Now get up and get ready," Genji snapped.

While Shunshi smiled in relief at this, Stinger asked in disbelief, "Wait, are you serious, Genji?"

Folding his arms defiantly, Lightning explained, "Yeah. If he does turn on us, at least we'll get to see him blow up."

As Shunshi's positive expression faltered at Genji's comments, Stinger shrugged and commented, "I guess that works. If you're really okay with this, then I'll roll with it. You heard him, get up, Uchiara."

Despite their harsh tone, Uchiara couldn't help but chuckle slightly at those comments as he slowly stood up and remarked, "Thanks. I'd like to say I won't let ya down, but you seem to want me to blow up, so here's hoping I disappoint ya."

While Stinger and Genji walked out of the room, the former shook his head and sighed, while the latter growled with frustration.

"We're heading back to the elevator. We'll meet you there," Genji explained just as he and Stinger stepped out.

With the other two Heroes' reluctant approval, Sekingar let out a sigh of relief before looking over at Monster Mask awkwardly holding his armor.

Giving Monster Mask an amused look, Sekingar said aloud, "Come along, Uchiara. Let's give Monster Mask a moment alone to get changed."

Nodding, Uchiara marched behind Sekingar and replied, "Yes, sir."

Smirking with surprise, Shunshi said, "Oh, uh... Thanks."


Sometime after Sekingar had left the waiting room with Monster Mask, Stinger, and Lightning Genji, they had returned. However, now Monster Mask was dressed in the suit of armor he wore in the circulated images of him. This got some raised eyebrows from the Heroes in the room with less grit. In addition, walking behind Sekingar was a man in an all-concealing military-styled suit of armor. Sekingar was quick to explain that this was the super-soldier they'd left to retrieve, prompting some questions from the Heroes.

"So, what exactly makes you a super-soldier, eh?" Needle Star asked.

"Well, you see-."

"Oh! I bet you've received specialized training, right?" Captain Mizuki inquired enthusiastically.

"Uh, well-."

"He probably has mechanical enhancements," Jet Nice Guy commented.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he has some super drugs pumping through him," Poison postulated while brandishing and examining a small knife of his.

After waiting through a few of the other Heroes' speculations, Uchiara asked, "Can I talk now...? Okay, so I don't understand the science of what the lab boys did to me, but I got picked to become a super-soldier because I was already really strong. The scientists shot me up with some kind of serums and put all sorts of cybernetics all over my body. Before I went through this, they said I was as tough as an A-Class Hero. Now, they think I'm as tough as one of those S-Class guys."

"Seriously?" Feather asked with some clear doubt.

"Well, I'm supposed to be as tough as one of those Demon-Level monsters now, so I'd say it makes sense. I'm probably at least a step into that ballpark of power."

As more questions were asked, with Uchiara's 'probation officers' doing their best to keep straight faces, Sitch returned to the waiting room and immediately approached Sekingar.

"Sitch? Is something-?"

Whispering to him, Sitch quickly explained, "Silver Fang and his brother were here. They wanted a replacement for Silver Fang's broken transmitter, but they were also asking if we knew where Monster Mask is. I said we last heard reports of him chasing some monsters, but apparently, we called Monster Mask to come here while he was at a hotpot party with Silver Fang. When he left to answer our call, he told Silver Fang he was going out shopping."

Processing this quickly, Sekingar whispered back, "He didn't press any further?"

"Fortunately, no. If he had, I'm not sure what I would have told him."

"Hrm... Well, the S-Class Heroes should be ready to go in a little over an hour now. Hopefully, we'll be able to get out of here by then without incident," Sekingar concluded.

"You wanna see if you can really take on an A-Class Hero, soldier!?" Crescent Eyebroll shouted, startling the two men.

"Uh-oh," Sitch let out.

Confronted like this, Uchiara let his arms fall to his side as his fingers started twitching and cracking. In fact, if it hadn't been for his helmet, everyone would have been able to see the maddened and enraged grin on his monstrous face.

Just as Uchiara clenched a fist and began to take a step towards Crescent Eyebroll, Monster Mask sprung forward, putting himself between the Hero and the soldier faster than either of them could keep up with.

"Hey! We're all on the same team here, so no fighting!" Monster Mask ordered while pushing them apart.

Stepping back and folding his arms, Crescent grimaced while asking, "Then how do you suggest we see if he's as strong as he says?"

Shunshi was stumped at that question, simply keeping his hand pressed against Uchiara while trying to think up a solution.

After growling slightly, Uchiara recomposed himself somewhat and proposed a solution, "How's about we arm-wrestle? Me and my combat brothers did it all the time for the fun of it to see who was tougher."

Flexing his admittedly muscular arm, Crescent Eyebroll replied, "Works for me. I may not be a fist-fighter, but swinging a sword really helps to build up arm muscles."

Grinning, Needle Star stepped up and exclaimed, "Hell yeah! I'm game for this!"

"Oh! Me too!" Captain Mizuki exclaimed.

As all the more muscular Heroes got ready for the challenge, Uchiara sat down at one of the waiting room tables, put his arm on it, and confidently asked, "Alright, who's first then?"


Close to an hour later, Uchiara had managed to get through each of the Heroes who had been interested in challenging him, managing to beat each of them with varying levels of difficulty. Shunshi, Stinger, and Genji had all willfully stayed out of this, each of them with their own reasons as to why.

Looking at all the Heroes that had been beaten, Lin Lin told Shunshi, "Crap. This guy's tough."

"Yeah... I guess the people in the military did their job," Shunshi responded hesitantly.

As Uchiara relaxed back on the couch he was on after his string of victories, Needle Star gave him a frustrated glare while simultaneously grabbing his sore hand.

After a minute, Needle Star looked over at Monster Mask, yelling at him, "Hey! Monster Mask!"

Having somewhat zoned out, Shunshi replied, "Huh...!? Uh, yes, Needle Star?"

"You're supposed to be the boss cause you're the toughest one here, right? Well, then show this guy what you're made of!"

Uchiara actually sat back up at Needle Star's suggestion, his helmet hiding his excited expression.

While Monster Mask was hesitant to give an answer, Lin Lin perked up and told him, "Yeah, go for it, Shunshi! It'll be fun."

"Uh... I'm not sure that that's something I should-."

Before Shunshi could finish talking, Uchiara yelled over to him, "Ah, come on! I wanna see if I've got what it takes to out muscle ya, Monster Mask!"

With it being obvious that Shunshi was still hesitating, Genji nudged him and said, "Hey, do it on my behalf. I wanna see this guy lose. It will help me calm down."

"Er... Uh, well, alright," Monster Mask relented.

"Alright!" Uchiara exclaimed as Monster Mask began to walk over to him.

Taking a seat, Shunshi put his arm on the table without words, with Uchiara doing the same. The two then clasped hands, staring each other in the eyes. However, this was somewhat more difficult on Shunshi's part due to Uchiara's eyes being behind one-way glass.

"Three..." Uchiara began.

"Two..." Shunshi continued, albeit less enthusiastically.

"One... GO!" The two shouted in unison.

Immediately, they both began pushing and pulling on each other's hands. Very quickly into this test of strength, the metal underneath their elbows began to cave in on itself. The two were quick to grip their free hands onto the rim of the table, denting the shapes of their palms and fingers into it. After everyone watched this match go for another thirty seconds, they saw Uchiara's arm start to give way and lean over. The old soldier made one more attempt to put all of his strength into this and win, but this only ended up pushing Shunshi harder, prompting him to go all out himself. With his full strength, Shunshi managed to not only slam Uchiara's hand down but also lift him off of his seat and smash him into the metal table, breaking it.

"YEAH!" Lightning Genji, Lin Lin, and a few others cheered as soon as Monster Mask won.

"Holy crap, he broke the table. I'd need to use my spear to do that," Stinger muttered with some level of surprise but with more acceptance than anything.

As the Heroes that Uciara had out-muscled cheered for Monster Mask, the Hero in question couldn't help but crack a smile. However, Before Shunshi could enjoy the praise he was getting, he froze up a bit when he heard growling.

Shunshi looked down in a panic, seeing Uchiara slowly climbing to his feet while shaking with anger as his growling grew more audible.

Making a split-second decision, Shunshi extended his hand to Uchiara, telling him, "Here, let me help you. Damn, you were really strong. I had to go all out there."

Looking at Monster Mask's hand, Uchiara's growling slowly died down, with him eventually taking it and getting up.

After standing up and keeping a grip on Monster Mask's hand for a moment, Uchiara eventually told him, "Thanks... I have to admit. I'm a bit disappointed. Thought I might have actually had a chance at winning before we started. Almost got upset over it. Stupid of me."

Smiling behind his own helmet, Shunshi told Uchiara, "Hey, no problem. I'd probably be upset too... Mind giving me my hand back?"

Releasing his grip, Uciara pulled his hand back and told Monster Mask, "Crud! Sorry about that."

Having watched all of this unfold, Sekingar sighed as he pulled his hand away from his wristwatch and commented to Sitch, "Looks like that's all defused peacefully."

"Seems to be the case. I hope that- Hm?" Sitch inquired once his phone began to ring.

Answering it, Sitch asked, "This is Sitch. What's the situation? Mhm. Hmm? Yes, alright."

As soon as Sitch finished talking and hung up the phone, Sekingar asked him, "What's going on?"

"The S-Class are ready to go. I need to go speak with Child Emperor to organize our standard forces. You gather everyone up and meet the S-Class on the ground floor."

Nodding, Sekingar replied, "Got it. Good luck."

With that, Sitch left as Sekingar made his way to the support Heroes, addressing them, "Alright, everyone, it's time to go! Someone wake up Death Gatling, and let's move. We're meeting the S-Class on the ground floor." In response, all the Heroes individually acknowledged Sekingar, making their way out of the room.


Staying behind to wake up Death Gatling was the trio of Monster Mask, Stinger, and Lightning Genji. Lin Lin was also there, but she was simply waiting for Shunshi and wasn't helping. The three had been at it for a few minutes now, with Stinger worrying that they'd have a repeat of how Shunshi wouldn't awaken.

"Come on, man. Time to get up," Stinger said as he shook Death Gatling's shoulder.

Presenting one of his batons, Lightning Genji suggested, "He seems real exhausted. Want me to give him a quick zap?"

Getting between Genji and the sleeping Hero, Shunshi proclaimed, "No! No, I think I got this!"

"What are you gonna do?" Stinger asked while still absentmindedly shaking the snoring Death Gatling.

Without a word, utilizing his super strength, Shunshi grabbed Death Gatling underneath his armpits and lifted him and his gun into the air. After that, he began to suddenly and violently shake him.

"What are you-?" Lin Lin began to ask.

"WAKE UP, DEATH GATLING! WAKE UP, DEATH GATLING! WAKE UP, DEATH GATLING! WE'RE IN A HURRY! IT'S TIME FOR THE MISSION!"

As Monster Mask did this, both Stinger and Lightning Genji flinched and recoiled. Neither of them had expected Monster Mask to take such drastic measures so quickly, and they weren't sure what, if anything, they should say.

Fortunately for them, Lin Lin was quick to ask, "Shunshi?! What are you doing?!"

Without stopping, Shunshi explained, "There's a kid to save, and it's go-time! I don't have any patience for this right now! WAKE UP!"

And yet he thought shocking him was too much? Lightning Genji grumbled to himself.

After a few more seconds of Monster Mask's violent shaking technique, Death Gatling opened his eyes and screamed, "AGH! What's happening!? Earthquake!? Is Elder Centipede back!?"

Recognizing that the gun-wielder was awake, Monster Mask stopped shaking him and explained, "It's just me, Death Gatling, sir. It's time for the mission, and we were in a hurry to wake you up, so I started... shaking... you... Saying that out loud, I realize now just how stupid that was."

Still being held aloft by Monster Mask, Death Gatling yelled, "Ya... Ya think!? Put me down!"

"Right, sorry!" Shunshi exclaimed as he hastily released his grasp. Fortunately, Death Gatling was agile enough to land gracefully despite the suddenness of the drop.

"Grr... Never do that again! Now. Where's everyone else?" Death Gatling grumbled.

"Everybody headed down to the first floor to meet up with the S-Class. Like Monster Mask said, we stayed behind to wake you up," Stinger explained.

Letting out a groan of frustration and what almost seemed like a shiver of disgust, Death Gatling responded, "Yeah. Thanks for that... Alright, let's just go."

With that, Death Gatling started making his way out of the room, with the others quickly catching up with him and matching his pace.

As they were exiting the waiting room, Lightning Genji spoke up, saying to Death Gatling, "Hey, by the way. You slept through some important stuff, so how about I catch you up to speed on the way down?"

Looking at Genji with a neutral expression, Death responded, "Sure, that'd be nice."


With everyone having made their way to a large deployment garage on the first floor, Shunshi looked around as he saw almost all the S-Class Heroes had gathered, excluding Genos, Metal Bat, Metal Knight, Drive Knight, King, and Blast. Although, Shunshi wouldn't have been able to recognize Blast even if he was there.

Amongst the S-Class Heroes, Atomic Samurai's Disciples, Sweet Mask, and the members of the support squad had dispersed themselves and were waiting.

Shunshi was ecstatic beyond belief at the sight of so many Heroes, especially S-Class Heroes gathered in one place. It took all of his willpower to hold in his inner fanboy, something Lin Lin took notice of when she heard the sound of his armor practically vibrating. When Lin Lin saw this, she couldn't help but chuckle under her breath.

However, when Monster Mask's gaze fully fell on Sweet Mask, his excitement stopped. In its place, the phantom pain of his fragile bones being broken as he was shoved to the ground had arrived. After that came the flashes of horror as he remembered seeing the aliens that he'd promised to spare get slaughtered in an instant.

Noticing his change in demeanor, Lin Lin whispered to Shunshi, "Hey, is something wrong?"

Snapping back to reality, Shunshi responded, "Yeah, uh... No! Just anxious. Don't worry about it, Lin."

"Worrying about you is the whole reason I'm here, remember?" She shot back, half-joking half-serious.

"Heh, right. Really, though, it's nothing. Just jitters," Shunshi replied while scratching the back of his helmet.

Pouting slightly, Lin Lin relented, "Fine... For now."

With Shunshi and his entourage arriving, Child Emperor spoke up, "Alright, everyone. Now, all we're waiting for is- King! Good, you're back. Did something happen?" At the child Hero's words, everyone turned to see as King entered the room, excitement, and admiration filling nearly everyone up.

With a calm and stoic expression, King responded, "It was nothing. I just had to use the bathroom."

Shifting his gaze to look at all the Heroes who were ogling him, King's eyes lit up somewhat when he saw Shunshi amongst the crowd.

Shunshi-Bro is here!? Awesome! Everyone was wondering where he went, and he should be able to help me make my escape! King cheered internally.

Smiling beneath his helmet when he saw King, Shunshi thought, Mr. King is here?! Well, if Master can't be here himself, I guess King is the next best thing... I wonder if he knows what everyone else is up to right now.

Pointing his lollipop to the open wasteland that extended out past the garage's open door, Child Emperor exclaimed, "Alright! If everyone's ready, then let's roll out!"

At Child Emperor's warcry, all thirty-one of the Heroes that had gathered for this mission began their epic march. Amongst the march to battle, Shunshi, Lightning Genji, and Stinger had positioned themselves in a triangle formation around Uchiara, with Shunshi at the front of the formation. At the same time, Lin Lin was walking just at Shunshi's side, helping to make their formation seem more natural to everyone who was there.