The S-Class Heroes and the Support Squad had been marching for over an hour, making their way through B-City before finally arriving in Z-City.
Shunshi was more than familiar with Z-City's layout by this point and recognized that at the speed this group was moving, they were only ten minutes from the Ghost Town his Master lived in and where the Monster Association was evidently located.
Throughout the entire journey, Shunshi would notice King repeatedly glancing at him. He wondered what that was about but never had a chance to ask the greater Hero what was on his mind. Instead, Monster Mask had to maintain his formation with Stinger and Lightning Genji around Uchiara.
The only thing making the whole experience more bearable for the young Hero was that he had Lin Lin walking by his side the entire time. At that moment, the woman in question folded her arms and shivered somewhat as she slowed her pace.
"Lin, you okay? You're slowing down a bit," Shunshi asked as he and Uchiara looked at her.
As images of lizard monsters, crow monsters, and Gouketsu rushed through her mind, Lin Lin smiled and replied with drained eyes, "Ye-yeah, I'm fi-fine."
Before Shunshi could express his doubts, Uchiara bluntly exclaimed, "You're obviously scared, girl. Do monsters scare you? You sure you're up for this?"
The moment Uchiara said this, Shunshi wanted to snap at him but kept a lid on himself long enough to wait and see if Lin Lin would say something in her defense first.
As she managed to lessen her shivering, Lin Lin gulped and responded, "I... I fought a Dragon-Level Monster for Shunshi al-already. I can do this." While there was no real intensity to her voice, the way the female warrior spoke had absolute certainty to it.
Uchiara took a moment to mull over Lin Lin's words before letting out a hearty chuckle and telling her, "Well then, looks like you've at least got the spirit needed for this. Just make sure you don't get cold feet once the fighting actually starts."
"She won't. I have faith in Lin," Shunshi spoke up.
While initially surprised by Shunshi's sudden comment, the support behind his words put a smile on Lin Lin's face.
"Really now? Well, I guess we've got nothing to worry about, ha!" Uchiara exclaimed as he let out a well-meaning laugh.
As those three continued to banter, Stinger grumbled to Lightning Genji, "Man, Monster Mask's got such a cute girlfriend. And she's strong and fiercely loyal to boot...! I'm so jealous I could punch him."
"Well, if you stopped dating your rabid fan-girls and found a woman with actual character, you might find a relationship that could make it past the first date. Besides, I'm pretty sure that loyalty is going both ways with them. Is that something you think you could pull off?"
Stinger frowned at Genji's words, pretending to cry as he retorted, "Aw, that cut deep, man. Is it really so bad to date your fans when you're as popular as I am?"
Rolling his eyes, Genji pointed out, "Well, they probably expect you to be a Prince Charming. Instead, they get... You."
"Huh!? What's that supposed to mean?!"
Reaching up and patting his friend's shoulder, Genji explained, "Don't get me wrong. You're actually a pretty good pal to have and a good Hero to boot. You just... Well, with what I've seen, you're a sucky boyfriend."
The initial compliment kept Stinger's rage from truly bubbling over, but he still couldn't help but growl out, "You're starting to piss me off, Genji..."
Shrugging, Lightning Genji told Stinger, "Good. Use that on the monsters and show off what you can do. Who knows. Maybe you'll impress Captain Mizuki or something. You were just saying that you like strong women, right?"
"Mizuki..." Stinger thought aloud before grinning wryly and responding, "Yeah, maybe I'll do just that. Get a lady Hero friend of my own, just like Monster Mask's got now."
Before these two could continue with their discourse, a hand landed on Stinger's shoulder. Initially, Stinger suspected a monster had shown up early to attack him and thusly spun around to impale it with his spear. It was only when he saw the scarred face of King did the spear-wielder freeze up.
King's face had noticeable sweat on it as he looked down at Stinger and Lightning Genji. As if this wasn't intimidating enough for the A-Classers, the strongest Hero was letting out deep growling breaths as he stared them down.
With his feet barely moving underneath him, Stinger panicked internally. Wha-wha-what's King want with me?! Why's he sweating and growling?! What could make King sweat?! Is he mad?! Is he going over battle simulations in his mind?! It must be like some kind of mental universe King has for himself! I, uh, what should I do!?
Meanwhile, within King's mind, he thought between gasping for air, Oh for Pete's sake. Keeping up with you guys for so long is exhausting!
Finding the will to speak, Lightning Genji inquired, "Mr... Mr. King. What can we-we-we do for you? We didn't upset you with our talk, did we?"
Pointing in front of them, King explained between breaths, "I was- hurgh- just trying to- huuu- walked over to Shunshi. Gasp- I just walked into you guys buh- by accident and was gonna ask if- wuh- if you could please move."
"Uh, su-sure," was all Stinger could get out as he stepped out of King's way. Once King had walked past him and approached his friend, Stinger, as if pre-programmed to do so, gave a small prayer for Monster Mask.
"Hey, Shunshi." Monster Mask heard King's voice call out to him. Turning around, Shunshi saw the man in question speed-walking towards him.
While Lin Lin and Uchiara flinched at the sight of King, Monster Mask's greater familiarity with him simply elicited a smile behind his helmet. Slowing down, Shunshi allowed King to catch up with him before addressing the higher-ranked Hero.
"Hello, Mr. King. Did you want to talk about something? Um... Are you alright?"
After taking in a few deep breaths, King responded, "Uh-huh, I'm good. And yeah, I'd like to talk. Mind stepping aside with me a second?"
Faltering somewhat, Monster Mask replied, "Um, I don't know. I'm, uh... Child Emporer told me that I'm supposed to stay with the group."
"Oh, well... I guess that's-," King began to say before Uchiara spoke up.
"Monster Mask, this is King! Even in the army, we know how amazing this guy is. If he wants to talk with you, then I'm sure Child Emperor can get over you stepping away for a second if it's for his sake."
Raising his eyebrows, King tried to tell Uchiara, "Huh? You don't need-."
Once more, King was cut off, this time as Shunshi conceded, "Yeah. If there's gonna be an exception, I guess it'd be when King is involved. Alright, let's go talk, Mr. King."
Blinking in bewilderment, King thought, I... What? How did...?
King then cleared his throat and replied, "Right, uh... Yes. Let's go."
With their exchange complete, King and Monster Mask stepped away from the group and entered an alleyway.
Once they got a few steps down their path, Monster Mask leaned his shoulder against a wall and asked, "So, what's up, Mr. King? You have something you need to tell me about what Master Saitama, Master Silverfang, and the others are doing?"
"Well, um, first off... You know you don't need to call me Mister, right? We're both adults."
"Oh...! Uh, sorry, Mi- King."
"It's cool. Second, me and our other friends are meeting up to attack the Monster Association on a different front to back up Saitama-Bro. I'm sneaking off for that now. You coming with?"
Once again, Shunshi's helmet hid his expression. This time, it obscured his shock as he contemplated the sudden decision he had to make. Not to mention the short amount of time he had to make his choice before the group got too far away.
Fortunately for the younger Hero, all of his meditation training came through for him as he was quickly able to calm his nerves and think not just quickly but rationally. With his calmed mind working at full capacity, after only thirty seconds of contemplation, Monster Mask came to a decision.
"Okay, uh... I think I should stay with the group here."
Raising his brow, King asked, "Really? Uh, why?"
"Well, I'm being threatened with being kicked from the Hero Association by Child Emperor if I'm not on my best behavior, so it wouldn't be good if I just up and left. Also, I got put in charge of leading the Support Squad, so I've got responsibilities here. Also also, if our teams meet up, I can smooth things over easily with this group," Shunshi explained, talking as fast as he could while remaining coherent.
Giving off an impressed and nervous smile, King responded, "Oh... That makes sense, I guess. Well, I'm gonna go off to Saitama's place now. Cover for me if anyone asks where I went, okay?"
Standing up straight while giving King a reflexive salute, Shunshi answered, "Yes, sir, King. I'll probably see you later today."
"Uh, right... Okay, bye." After saying that, King dashed away at considerably slower speeds than Shunshi had expected.
With no other reason to stay in the alley, Shunshi turned himself around and dashed. With only a few seconds of this effort, Monster Mask returned to the marching Heroes and resumed his spot right in front of Uchiara.
Once he returned, Monster Mask's companions questioned him about where exactly King had gone. Quick enough to not arouse suspicion, Shunshi explained that King had separated from them to attack from a different angle and simply brought him aside so he could inform the others.
After Monster Mask had explained King's whereabouts, everyone continued their march and started having various conversations. Eventually, the conversation topic shifted to discussing their different combat styles.
Needle Star bragged about how he had perfect control over his spiked ball and chain. Captain Mizuki explained how she had a specially made baton from the Hero Association to fight with. After her, Twin Tail told of how she had thirty hidden weapons on her person. Eventually, as it got around to Shunshi, he explained how his fighting style combined martial arts with Kie and his spiked and clawed armor. However, this resulted in him having to give a quick lecture on what exactly Kie was.
While Monster Mask explained the concept of Kie to the group, numerous Heroes were intrigued by the concept and began considering if it was possible to apply it to their own abilities.
At roughly the time Shunshi had predicted, the group of Heroes had arrived at the Z-City Ghost Town he'd become so familiar with. All that stood between them and entering the town was a single chain-link fence with a broken padlock.
Is the Monster Association really here? This town has been like a second home to me for the past couple of months. And if they are, why hasn't Sensei found their base already? He's lived here for... Actually, I don't know how long Saitama-Sensei's lived here... Huh. All these thoughts raced through Shunshi's mind as Superalloy Darkshine, who had been walking at the front of the group, pushed the gate wide open.
"We've arrived," Child Emperor exclaimed.
Looking at all the dilapidating buildings, Twintail lamented, "This is it. The place Humanity has abandoned."
"But we're gonna take it back!" Crescent Eyebroll exclaimed.
While examining the group to make sure everyone was ready, Child Emperor noticed King's absence and asked, "Hey, where'd King go? He was right behind us."
"Monster Mask said he went to attack from a different position to take the Monsters off guard," Lightning Genji approached Child Emperor and explained.
Snapping his face to look at Monster Mask, Child Emperor asked, "What?! Are you serious?!"
Shrinking back slightly, Shunshi responded, "Well, that's what he told me."
"Huh. King's hard to predict, but I guess that's just how he is," One Shotter commented.
Scratching her head, Captain Mizuki complained, "Aw, that's too bad. I was hoping to see King fight up close."
As others commented on King's absence, Shunshi kept his obscured eyes on Child Emperor. He had expected the youthful Hero to be glaring daggers at him. Instead, Child Emperor was looking at the ground, dejection being the only observable expression he had.
Why didn't he tell me directly? Is it because I'm a kid? Child Emperor fretted as depression seeped into his mind.
After blowing a gum bubble, Needlestar stated, "Eh, even if he fights on his own, King'll raise Hell."
As everyone else had been talking, Zombieman had been taking a draw from a cigarette. While letting out a puff of smoke, the undead S-Class noticed figures approaching in the distance.
"Hey, everyone, take a look ahead," Zombieman said just loud enough for the whole group to hear.
Heeding Zombieman's words, everyone looked down the street to see an evergrowing hoard of monsters. While there was a main group of creatures marching down the street, there were more and more joining them, some coming out of alleys, some smashing their way out of windows, and even some crawling out of sewer grates.
"Looks like they brought out the welcome wagon," Zombieman stated.
As the number of monsters approaching them started swelling to over one-hundred, Superalloy Darkshine commented casually, "Whoa! There sure are a bunch of them."
Analyzing the small monster army, Monster Mask commented, "Assuming there aren't any Demons in that group, this could still take a little while, but it won't be too hard."
Dropping to a knee and pointing his rifle forward, Uchiara asked, "You think so? I ask because I have very little real experience fighting monsters."
Smiling behind his helmet, Monster Mask readied his claws and commented, "Yeah, Uchiara. If there aren't any Demons, I bet you and me could take them all on by ourselves. With everyone else here, not even counting the S-Class, this'll be overkill."
Putting his finger on the trigger, Uchiara asked with a deadpan voice, "And if there are Demons?"
"Then guys like you, me, and Stinger will have to focus on them and leave the small fry to the rest."
"Wait, me?!" Stinger asked in surprise while keeping his spear pointed at the monsters.
Without any hint of talking down to him, Shunshi replied, "Well, you handled yourself pretty well against Garou, and you said you've got new tricks up your sleeve, so yeah. I think you could go toe to toe with a Demon."
While Stinger processed this, Death Gatling stepped up to them while spinning the barrel of his gun and exclaimed, "In that case, you better count me as part of the Anti-Demon group! My new gear could even take down a Dragon, I bet!"
While the others were a bit taken off-guard by Death Gatling, Monster Mask nodded to him and said, "Alright. We'll be counting on you then."
Getting his batons ready, Lightning Genji commented, "I think my new gear is up to the task, so I'll take on any Demons you guys need me to if there are too many of them for you to fight all at once."
Striking up her usual combat stance, Lin Lin asked, "Be honest, Shunshi. What do you think I can take on?"
Sparing a concerned glance for his significant other, Shunshi told her, "Now that you've got Kie... I wouldn't recommend anything tougher than a Tiger-Level monster."
Grimacing, Lin Lin responded in understanding, "Right. I'll stay close to you just in case."
Over with Atomic Samurai, Iaian approached him while gripping his sword hilt and said, "Master Atomic, I sense them behind us too."
"Not just behind us," Atomic responded while gripping his own sword hilt.
While adjusting the sections of her blindfold that rested on her ears, Twin Tail commented, "I can hear their breathing all around us. We're surrounded."
As all the Heroes, excluding a few of the S-Class, got ready to fight, the monsters stopped just over a dozen feet in front of them. Suddenly, a bundle of grayish-black cloth fell in between the two forces.
"A dirty old rag?" Child Emperor questioned.
Suddenly, a pair of dark-gray arms with claws, and eyeballs lining them, extended from the cloth and made strange gestures with its fingers. Before anyone could understand what was happening, a set of three public transport train cars were flung through the air. They then slammed down and stacked on top of each other on the street behind the Heroes, blocking off the entrance they'd taken to the town, as well as dashing thoughts of retreat. If that hadn't been bad enough, dozens of more monsters came erupting out of the windows of the trains, truly surrounding the Heroes on all sides.
Sekingar had been standing at the back of the group and panicked for a moment when the monsters jumped out of the train.
Fortunately for Sekingar, Mizuki grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back while telling him, "Look out, Coach Sekingar!"
"Gyoro Gyoro said he wanted a fair fight! The liar!" Sekingar shouted in fear and anger.
Pulling chains attached to his fingers, Feather extended the blades on his arms a forearm's length out.
"Doesn't matter. We have to wipe them all out one way or another, so... Let's do it now!"
As all the other Support Squad Heroes got ready to fight, the gray cloth had changed shape. While the arms were still the only visible parts of the actual body, the creature under the cloth had taken on a humanoid shape while the cloth wrapped over it. On top of this, this monster had grown to a staggering fifteen feet in height.
"How pitiful..." The monster said as it began to gesture its arms and expel a ghostly aura from them. "I had expected the Hero Association to send its full force to this battle, yet this is it? Not nearly enough."
Adjusting a scanner he had over his eye, Child Emperor commented, "The number of surrounding heat signatures is at one-hundred-fifty, and it's still rising."
"There's no point in counting them, Child Emperor," Tornado Of Terror stated bluntly as she stared down the cloth monster.
"Any boys who are scared, get behind me!" Puri-Puri Prisoner exclaimed suddenly.
Raising a finger to the sky as the ground began to shake, the cloth monster commented, "She isn't wrong. The only thing worth counting is the number of corpses on your hands. These eyes on my arms are from fallen monsters. I had weak psychic powers at first, but after Lord Gyoro Gyoro experimented and implanted the eyes of my fallen brethren on me, I gained the ability to use their combined hatred to amplify my powers enough to claim revenge for them all! Feel the wrath of Evil Eye!"
As the cloth monster made its speech, three skyscrapers were torn from the ground and lifted into the air above the Heroes before being dropped just as suddenly.
"Gya! We'll never escape that!" Jet Nice Guy screamed.
However, with a simple flick of her finger, Tornado suddenly erected a barrier in the sky above the group of Heroes that the buildings shattered on and most of the debris slid off of.
"WHAT?!" Uchiara and One-Shotter yelled at once.
As he watched the buildings turn to dirt and dust on Tornado's barrier, Shunshi thought in relief, Wow... With how rude she was towards Sensei, I'd almost forgotten how incredible the tales of the Tornado Of Terror were. I'm glad Blizzard isn't this strong. Otherwise, I might not still be here... Wait, what's that?
Pointing to the sky, Gearsper proclaimed, "It's Tornado! She used her psychic power to save us! Thank you, Torna-." Before he could finish talking, some large chunks of debris that slid through the barrier fell around the group, nearly hitting numerous members of the Support Team.
However, before the debris that would have hit him got too close, Shunshi produced a pair of Burn Whips and began smashing apart anything that would have hit himself or Lin Lin.
Watching Shunshi keep her protected, Lin Lin couldn't help but yell, "What the Hell's wrong with her!? Why didn't she stop that stuff too?!"
"What are you doing, Tornado!? Protect us from all of it...! Tornado?!" Sekingar shouted.
For a moment, Tornado remained silent before asking in annoyance, "Why do I have to protect everyone? If you can't even defend yourselves, then you should just leave. You're useless and getting in the way."
As Tornado said this, as if unintentionally proving her point, a few of the S-Class Heroes sprung into action to save the Support Squad. Puri-Puri Prisoner got busy deflecting rubble from some, while Superalloy Darkshine tossed two others out of the way of a larger chunk that would've crushed them. In the process, the chunk landed on Darkshine's head, splitting in two without even causing him to flinch.
The only ones who were able to fend for themselves were Shunshi, Uchiara, Death Gatling, Stinger, and Lightning Genji.
Shunshi hadn't relented in his defense of Lin Lin, while Uchiara punched and broke the only significantly sized slab falling towards himself. Death Gatling and Genji were both simply dodging rubble, while Stinger used his spear and ability to change direction in mid-air to break three of the medium-sized chunks before landing.
At the same time as all this, Sweet Mask caught a piece of debris that was half the size of what hit Darkshine with one hand while proclaiming, "I agree with Tornado."
As he dusted himself off, Superalloy Darkshine chimed in, "Well, that's unusual for you!"
Dropping the debris behind himself with a ground-shaking thud, Sweet Mask explained, "These guys are here to lend support, not hold us back, yet only a handful were even able to defend themselves. Don't tell me that scared you all too much to move. If you guys are really Heroes, then prove it and show us what you've got."
Once Tornado and Sweet Mask made their feelings known, the Support Squad members who had to be rescued looked at the monsters surrounding them with absolute determination and grit. At the same time, Tornado and Evil Eye were standing off from one another, each one exuding a psychic aura of power.
As Tornado got ready to fight, Shunshi's concealed face grew anxious as he pondered internally and gripped his Burn Whips. So, she's not concerned about keeping collateral damage off of us...?! But that's part of a Hero's job! Argh, I can't decide who's worse, Tornado or Blizzard...! Will everyone be okay if she decides to cut loose?!
Smirking, the Tornado Of Terror asked the monster in front of her, "So, you just got your power from the remains of a bunch of runts? Gehehehe. You should really just give up now."
For a moment, Evil Eye just glared at the psychic Heroin, despite its lack of a true face, before inquiring, "Both you and your sister are espers, correct?" This earned the monster a glare from Tornado as it went on. "Well, I have a great idea. I'll rip out her eyes and yours and fuse them into me as well! That will be such an interesting experiment! Hehahaha!"
Suddenly, a whirlwind began swirling around Tornado as even greater psychic energy radiated from her. The violent winds that the S-Class Heroin was causing were so strong that it nearly knocked over the members of the Support Squad, causing Monster Mask to clench his armored fists in anticipation of the potential cataclysm.
Putting his arm in front of Lin Lin, allowing her to use it to stabilize her stance, Monster Mask told her and all others nearby, "Listen up, everyone! If Tornado keeps her fight on the ground, we'll have to prioritize avoiding the collateral if we want to survive!"
While the lesser Heroes looked at Tornado in fear, she made her fury known by proclaiming, "Fine. I'll teach you a lesson... This is what happens when you threaten me and my sister!"
As her green curly bangs covered part of her face, the Tornado Of Terror used her exposed eye and mouth to grin maniacally. She and Evil Eye then covered themselves in psychic barriers as they shot into the sky and began causing a hurricane of building scraps and other large debris to whirl around them.
Looking up at the display of esper might in wow and worry, Feather commented, "I guess you were right, Monster Mask. If she'd kept the fight down here, we'd all be goners. But now we get to see a real tornado of terror!"
"Heh. Looks like your concerns were unwarranted, though, Monster Mask," Death Gatling mocked slightly.
Releasing her grip on his arm, Lin Lin commented, "I couldn't be happier that he was."
"Agreed," Shunshi responded with a hesitant chuckle.
Noticing the Heroes who were making small talk, some monsters exclaimed, "Are those Heroes frozen up with fear?"
"They're the small fries of the bunch! Get 'em!"
At the behest of that battlecry, a hoard of monsters attacked the rear of the Heroes' formation. However, before they could get very far, five of them were stopped dead in their tracks. One had its head caved in with an iron ball thrown by Twin Tail, two more were slain simultaneously by Stinger's spear, and the other two were killed by a single bullet going through both of their skulls, fired from Uchiara's rifle.
As Twin Tail pulled out numerous melee weapons from out of her clothing, she calmly stated, "Don't underestimate us. We're perfectly capable of defending ourselves." It was then that the circus-themed Heroin quickly and flawlessly began juggling her weapons, mincing any monsters in her path.
Noticing how Uchiara and Stinger had jumped into battle, Shunshi yelled to them, "You guys got the back covered?!"
"Affirmative!" Uchiara responded while dropping to a knee behind a slab of concrete. Placing his gun on the piece of rubble to stabilize his aim, Uchiara continued firing at the pack of monsters, taking out two to three of them with each bullet.
"Oh, Hell yeah! It's time to show off!" Stinger proclaimed as he spun his spear and slashed apart three monsters that had tried to rush him.
However, the spear-wielder didn't stop spinning his weapon with that attack. Stinger started twirling his spear in front of himself so fast that it would have been imperceptive to a normal Human's eye. Suddenly, a vortex of air began getting funneled through Stinger's spinning weapon, sucking numerous monsters into the resulting cyclone in the process.
Once all the monsters were clumped together in a line headed for the spear-wielder, Stinger stopped twirling his spear and yelled, "Vortex Giga-Thrust!" Just as the wind carrying these twenty monsters stopped and they were about to start falling, Stinger shot himself forward with his full strength, spearhead first, and gauged a hole through all twenty abominations.
Once Stinger landed past the trail of gore he'd left behind, numerous monsters stepped back from him as he lifted up his spear with one hand and shouted, "Woohoo! It actually worked! Whattaya all think of that!?"
While Stinger's attack had caught some attention from his fellow Heroes, it was mostly looks of fear from monsters falling back from him that he'd acquired. While his display had impressed those that had seen it, the other Heroes were too preoccupied, having joined into the fighting, to give Stinger much attention.
With a look of annoyance, Stinger lamented, "Tch, fine. I'll just have to show off even more!" He then rocketed himself toward more monsters with his spear, taking out several of the beasts in the process.
As Stinger jumped back into the onslaught, One Shotter, having set himself up on top of a wrecked car, fired a round from his sniper rifle into the distant horizon.
"Huh, what's he shooting at?" Binding Shell asked aloud as he lassoed a monster's neck with a rope he'd produced from under his shirt.
Just then, a monster jumped at One Shotter from behind, yelling, "Dumbass! You're a sniper, but you gave away your position!" Just as quickly, though, the monster's head was blown to pieces. The cause of this was because One Shotter had flipped his gun around, pointed the barrel out from under his armpit, and fired.
"You think I can't handle close combat? You gotta be ready for anything in this line of work."
The snipper Hero then transitioned into gracefully leaping from one monster to another as he blasted them at point-blank with his high-power firearm. However, just as he finished taking out several monsters, he suddenly sprinted to hide behind the slab of cement Uchiara was on, hugging his weapon close to him as he shook anxiously.
Keeping his attention on the monsters he was blasting apart, Uchiara asked the cowering A-Class, "What happened? You were doing good out there, son."
While frantically pulling on the chamber of his gun, One Shotter exclaimed, "It's jammed! Dammit! This always happens!"
"Sounds like you either need to maintain your weapons better or get your hands on better gear. I'll cover you until you get your gun working again. Hop to it!"
Before One Shotter could start to fix his weapon, though, the road next to the A-Class bursted open with yet another monster pouncing at him. However, before the monster could even fully get out of the hole, a net of roots and vines pulled the creature back underground and tore it apart.
Looking for the source of these vines, Uchiara and One Shotter saw Green down the street, crouching down while placing his hands on the ground. As the monster's bones were expelled from the ground, Green lifted his hands up, pulling the plant life that had ripped the monster apart out of the ground and into his sleeves. The botanic Hero then slammed his hands onto the street once more, causing more roots to sprout up and entangle numerous monsters around the battlefield. At the same time, several monsters slipped through the vines and tried to rush Green, only for Crescent Eyebroll to cut them to pieces with his scimitar.
Simultaneously as Narcisistoic and Feather jumped into the fight, Lin Lin observed with astonishment at how brazenly they engaged the monsters. Despite her self-assuring words from earlier, Lin Lin found herself unable to move as the memories of being pummeled by lizard monsters and Gouketsu shot into her mind. Instinctively, Lin Lin started taking a step back towards Shunshi, only to feel his gauntleted palm rest on her back and stop her.
Leaning forward, Shunshi told Lin Lin, "Hey, I can tell just from looking, these things are pushovers. What do you say we jump into the fight and have some fun, Lin?"
Monster Mask then lightly patted Lin Lin's back and raised his fist to her in encouragement. Initially, Lin Lin blinked at her boyfriend before smiling awkwardly and returning Shunshi's gesture with her own fist.
"Alright, let's do this!" Shunshi exclaimed while rushing forward as if their fist bump had empowered him.
In an instant, Monster Mask unleashed his Burn Whips in a horizontal lash, overlayed on each other, targeting the hoard of monsters in front of the Heroes. The intense heat and kinetic force of the A-Class Hero's attack instantly burned and tore through any monsters they collided with. After the half-second passed that it took for Shunshi's first attack to finish, thirty monsters had been slaughtered. Monster Mask then unleashed a barrage of whips, taking down ten or more of the beasts with each attack.
After a few moments of Monster Mask's attack, a group of five monsters snuck through the corpses and got behind him.
"Let's see how you do if we take you by surprise, jackass!" The largest monster roared as it, and its allies pounced at Shunshi.
However, just as the monster's feet left the ground, its chest was hit by a roundhouse kick from Lin Lin's purple flaming foot. A ring of fire then spread out across the monster's body, setting it ablaze as it writhed in the rubble in agony.
"Who's this bitch?! Did she just set him on fire?!" One monster exclaimed.
"Who cares!? This chick's a runt! Dogpile her and rip her apart before she can do anything else, or we won't get to Monster Mask!" These monsters rallied behind this battlecry, and all rushed Lin Lin, claws and teeth ready to tear into her.
However, Lin Lin also rushed them, and each time a monster got near her, she would fluidly dodge out of its way while landing open-palm strikes on any parts of their bodies that they were leaving unguarded. Not only did her counterstrikes knock the monsters on their rear ends, each one caused the same kind of ring of fire to spread and engulf them, ending the fight in seconds.
As Shunshi grabbed a monster that got into melee range by the throat and broke its neck, he applauded Lin Lin, "See? These freaks are chumps. We got this, Lin!" Releasing his grip, Monster Mask threw a punch into the dead monster's torso, launching it into the next closest creature, killing that monster in the process.
"Hmm, maybe you're right. If I keep this up, you might last a few more minutes," Lin Lin playfully shot back with a smirk as she kicked away another beast.
While Monster Mask and Lin Lin watched each other's backs and massacred monsters, Uchiara continuously gunned down any monsters on the battlefield which he presumed were about to take other Heroes off guard. After taking out several more abominations, the half-monster had to take a moment to replace the clip of his firearm. Just as he began the process, three monsters leaped out at him from behind his cover as if they'd been waiting for this moment. Right when the former Sargent began to turn around to try and respond to this threat, one of the three monsters was hit with a pair of electrified batons before being smashed into the two next to it and electrocuting them all in the process.
Once the three monsters were bashed away, Lightning Genji swiveled on his skates, took a defensive stance next to Uchiara, and told him, "Hurry up and reload your gun. More are coming." As if on queue, ten more monsters rushed up on them from behind rubble.
Following Genji's orders, Uchiara took out his replacement clip, telling the electrified Hero, "Thank you for the assist, Lightning Genji. I appreciate it."
"You ruined our sneak attack, you jackass!" The monster leading the charge shouted.
However, just as the monster yelled at Lightning Genji, the armored Hero slammed the ends of his batons together, somehow merging them into one staff with a flash of blinding electricity, halting the bullrush. Once he made his staff, Genji popped out the scythe blades at both ends of it and allowed electricity to channel through them as his lightning insignias lit up. Once he was ready, Genji began twirling his weapon like a buzz-saw made of lightning as he rushed the monsters in retaliation. Once his counterattack started, Genji smashed, sliced, and shocked all but one of the monsters to death, the last of which used the corpse of one of its freshly killed allies to shield itself and slipped past the electrified Hero in a desperate dash to reach the super-soldier.
Quickly, Genji turned to pursue the monster in a desperate attempt to catch it before it reached Uchiara. Unfortunately, Lightning Genji was just a second too slow as the monster got close enough to swing a claw at its target. However, halfway through the monster's attack, it came to a sudden stop once a fist had gone through its torso, punching its heart out in the process.
With the monster dead, Uchiara swiped his arm to his side, shaking the corpse off his fist at the same time. He then took the few seconds he needed to finish reloading his gun.
Looking at a surprised Genji, Uchiara holstered his firearm and told him, "Thanks again for the backup."
Lightning Genji took a moment to collect his thoughts before he replied, "Hrmm... Stinger and Monster Mask might be having fun right now, but I remembered we have a job to keep an eye on you. That said... Did you even need the help?"
As Uchiara took aim at the enemy once again, he responded, "Of course. Taking me by surprise like that, those pricks would've gotten a few good licks off on me before I could've gotten rid of 'em on my own."
Splitting his staff back into batons, Genji let out a quiet groan before taking a defensive stance and stating, "Sure, whatever. Just don't go crazy and make me fail at my job."
Just as he started opening fire once more, Uchiara replied with a smirk hidden behind his helmet, "Of course not, soldier!"
At the same time as these events transpired, Death Gatling had been testing out his new weapon. With a rev-up time of half of what his prior firearm demanded, Death Gatling's new mini-gun unleashed a hail of bullets on the surrounding monsters, reducing numerous of them to gore and mist.
However, with the monsters' numbers getting thinned, Death Gatling rounds were coming uncomfortably close to his fellow Heroes as they fought. Just as it seemed that the gunner Hero was about to hit Narcistoic and Feather, causing them to fear that Death Gatling's tired delirium was about to be their undoing.
Surprisingly, just as Death Gatling's bullet spray was about to rain over the A-Classes, the higher-ranked Hero smiled and suddenly squeezed a handle just below his gun's barrel, causing the bullets to halt as his aim went across his fellow Heroes. Once Feather and Narcistoic were out of his line of fire, Death Gatling released his grip on the handle, and the bullets flew once again, allowing relief and surprise to wash over them.
Once he had thinned the enemy ranks sufficiently, Death Gatling pulled up his red-hot mini-gun to seise fire and thought with pride, Gahaha! My new gun has twice the rate of fire, and each bullet has twice the velocity of before! Not only that, but my control over the rate of fire is greater than ever! With this, I bet I could even surpass some of the S-Class... or at least Monster Mask.
With that last thought, Death Gatling quickly scanned his surroundings and saw Monster Mask just as he blew up over two dozen of the monsters with one of his Light Balls.
With a now blank expression, the gunner Hero had one more thought, Well... Maybe I'm not there quite yet.
A minute or two later, the Heroes had taken down every one of the monsters that had come out to attack them.
After having watched his students finish off a number of these monsters, Atomic Samurai commented, "That was underwhelming."
"I don't think it'll stay that way," Zombieman commented as he took another drag from his cigarette.
Putting his hand on his sword, Flashy Flash commented, "I've got a bad feeling about this. Those monsters were too weak."
While the S-Class Heroes talked, Stinger proudly approached Captain Mizuki and placed his spear on the ground once he stood next to her.
"Yo, Mizuki! I saw you do a good job in all the chaos," Stinger told Mizuki while looking up at the woman who had over a foot and a half on him.
Looking at him with some surprise, Captain Mizuki replied, "Oh, uh... Thanks, Stinger-Senpai. You went wild out there yourself. With how good you are with that spear of yours, you'd do great in the javelin throw."
Putting his fist on his waist, Stinger smiled and told Mizuki, "Thanks to you too! Speaking of, I saw how that weapon of yours can function like a spear. If you want, you and I could do some training, and I could help you with your polearm skills."
"Uh, hmm... Maybe? I don't know if I need to train for that. I'm more focused on my event skills and building my muscles."
Leaning on his spear a bit, Stinger pressed on, "Hey, it's worth exploring. Why don't we at least give it a shot after this is all over?"
Putting her finger to her chin, Mizuki pondered for a moment before answering, "Huh... I guess it wouldn't hurt. We can figure out a day later, but sure, I'm up for it."
Hell yeah! Stinger cheered internally.
"Then it's a date!" Stinger told her confidently.
At the same time, Shunshi put his hand on Lin Lin's shoulder as she was panting from her fights and told her, "Alright, you're doing good so far, Lin. Don't relax yet. There's probably going to be more of them later."
"Wha-?! Ugh, of course, there are," Lin Lin groaned.
Readying his cutlass, Crescent Eyebroll shouted, "Keep your guard up! More are coming!"
Standing up straight and clenching his fists, Shunshi exclaimed, "Okay, forget later! We're doing this right now!"
As Eyebroll yelled his warning, numerous more monsters came pouring up from the sewer manholes. Almost instantly, the Heroes noticed how much bigger, sharper, and more muscular these new monsters were in comparison to their prior opponents.
Getting ready to continue fighting, Feather exclaimed, "Looks like the enemies have gone up a level."
Grabbing the chain of his weapon and getting ready to swing it, Needle Star roared, "Come get some, you freaks! Fighting the Hero Association means fighting Needle Star! Time to show ya'll what that means!"
However, at the same time, a figure within the new group of monsters began throwing other monsters out of its way while shouting, "Move it! I'll take care of them all myself!"
Those Monsters that hadn't been tossed away by the yelling monster quickly stepped aside, revealing Rhino Wrestler to the Heroes as it marched towards them, shaking the ground near it with every step.
Gnashing its teeth, Rhino Wrestler exclaimed, "Orochi and the Cadres can sit on their hands! The Heroes were stupid enough to come here, so now I, Rhino Wrestler, will kill them all!"
Putting his fists up, Jet Nice Guy yelled, "That one seems way more confident! Be careful, guys!"
Taking his black business jacket off of his shoulders and throwing it on properly, Needle Star grinned as he stepped up.
"Heh. Ever since the Blizzard Gang kicked me out for in-fighting, I've been itching for a chance to show what I can do again! Now, I'll use this jackass to rise to the top!" With that declaration, Needle Star spun his spike ball and charged Rhino Wrestler.
Suddenly, the Hero's chain mace began flinging around and striking at Rhino Wrestler from all sorts of directions, as if it were alive, with Needle Star shouting, "Violence Star!"
However, Rhino Wrestler suddenly struck the spike ball with its horn, knocking it into the air, before bashing Needle Star aside.
As Needle Star crashed next to the Support Team, Rhino Wrestler commented condescendingly, "Violence Star, huh? 25 points!"
Before the spike-ball could even hit the ground, though, Needle Star grinned as Captain Mizuki leaped over the rest of the Suppor Group. Based on her trajectory, it was evident to Needle Star that Mizuki was aimed for his weapon. Pulling on the chain of his instrument in a specific way, the spikes of Needle Star's mace retracted, making it a perfect sphere.
Grabbing the sphere while she and it were still airborne, Mizuki threw it as hard as she could at Rhino Wrestlers' face, exclaiming, "Fourth event! Shotput!"
Unfortunately, the rhino monster had intercepted the ball with its horn, bouncing it back at Mizuki while exclaiming, "30 points!"
Just as the ball was about to crash into Mizuki's face, Needle Star redirected his weapon back to the ground while extending his hand up to Mizuki. At the same time, Rhino Wrestler lept at Mizuki, aiming its horn for her gut. In response, just in the nick of time, Captain Mizuki reached down and took Needle Star's hand, allowing him to pull her to the ground and out of the way just as Rhino Wrestler's horn cut through the air she had been in.
Jumping up and slapping Needle Star on his back, Mizuki told him, "Thanks."
"I told you that hurts, damn it," he complained through clenched teeth before yelling to the rest of the Support Team, "Keep back! This freak's strong!"
Suddenly, a barrage of bullets raced past Needle Star and connected with Rhino Wrestler, three of which were from One Shotter, and five more were from Uchiara. The Rhino monster was able to block all but two bullets with its horn, both of which came from Uchiara's rifle. Those two rounds connected with Rhino Wrestler's shoulders, managing to leave surface-level cuts on the monster's hide and causing trickles of blood from both wounds.
Letting out an angry snort, Rhino Wrestler stated, "15 points for the rounds from the sniper. 67 points for the automatic rifle."
"Tch! Either I'm getting too old, or the sights on this gun are crap. I was aiming for the bastard's chest," Uchiara lamented.
Gritting his teeth with anxiety, One Shotter commented, "Damn, I was going for a headshot, but that horn is way harder than I thought."
"If you can help it, don't aim for an enemy's most fortified position. Go after the weak points in their defenses. No weapon has an unstoppable offense after all," Uchiara lectured. Surprisingly, One Shotter actually seemed to take note of Uchiara's words, regardless of how reluctant he wanted to be.
As the Heroes talked, Rhino Wrestler began an inner monologue, "Day after day, I've trained. I want to become the strongest creature on Earth, the mightiest of them all. Any chance to prove that... gets my blood pumping!"
Having hyped itself up, Rhino Wrestler took a step to begin charging but stopped when it heard a voice from above shout, "Hey, ugly! Heads up!" Looking to the sky, the Rhino monster saw Stinger in the air above, spinning his spear to stay afloat.
What?! When did that one get up there? The monster questioned internally.
Thrusting his spear down, Stinger shouted, "Meteor Giga Thrust!" As the Hero descended, his body and weapon began rotating like a drill, causing him to fall faster and faster the closer he got to the beast.
In response to Stinger's attack, Rhino Wrestler thrusted upwards to parry with its horn.
Once the two attacks collided, Rhino Wrestler's feet cracked the road beneath it as a sound similar to a buzzsaw against steel rang out. Rhino Wrestler's attack was enough to deflect Stinger's assault but only just enough to slide it away instead of bashing it aside as the monster had intended. This caused the spear the cut down the side of Rhino Wrestler's body, slicing one strap of its singlet and leaving a shallow gash along its right shoulder and arm.
Once Stinger had landed, he quickly flipped to his feet to try and keep fighting. However, as soon as he stood up, Rhino Wrestler was already on him, battering the Hero with his horn. Fortunately for Stinger, he was able to react quickly enough to put his spear between himself and the monster's horn-swipe. This was enough to reduce the damage Stinger took, but not enough to keep him from getting bashed over a dozen feet away.
Gritting its teeth, Rhino Wrestler exclaimed, "74 points!"
Just as Stinger landed, Lightning Genji was the next to rush in. He combined his batons once more and began twirling his body on his skates while simultaneously spinning his staff. As he spun closer to Rhino Wrestler, the lightning insignias on Genji's armor lit up and began to crackle, before unleashing torrents of electricity that quickly encircled the armored Hero.
Once he was close enough to connect a swing from his staff, Lightning Genji exclaimed, "Voltage Storm!"
Rhino Wrestler responded to this attack quickly enough to meet it with its powerful horn. However, there was enough force behind Genji's technique that he actually pushed Rhino Wrestler back by a half foot. Even with the monster's horn absorbing the brunt of the physical power behind the attack, it still could feel the electricity flow through its body and shock it.
In response, Rhino Wrestler threw a somewhat slowed punch at Genji, connecting and sliding him back towards the Support Squad, while the monster yelled, "65 points!"
Rhino Wrestler then started charging at the Support Squad. In response, Shadow Ring rushed the monster and swung her sword along the shoulder Stinger had injured, failing to leave any new wounds in the process as Rhino Wrestler flat out ignored her attack.
The only reaction that the monster gave to Shadow Ring's counter-attack was a proclamation of, "11 points!"
"Half-hearted attacks won't do anything! Unless you've got something special up your sleeve, leave this one to the heavy hitters!" Shadow Ring shouted to her fellow Support Team members.
Pointing his minigun at the rampaging monster, Death Gatling loaded in his belt of explosive rounds and proclaimed, "Exactly! Guys like me are what's needed for monsters like this! Stand back!"
Opening fire, Death Gatling unleashed a hail of bullets, which quickly turned into a storm of small explosions. Initially, Rhino Wrestler tried to rush through the onslaught but found itself having to shield the sides of its face with its arms in order to prevent its eyes from getting hit. This slowed the monster's charge considerably but had the tradeoff of causing it to focus entirely on Death Gatling as it continued to rush forward.
While the top layer of the skin of Rhino Wrestler's arms began to get cut and bleed, it yelled, "70 points!"
As Rhino Wrestler charged through the blasting bullets, Lin Lin yelled, "Shunshi, aren't you going to do anything!?"
Watching the monster carefully, Shunshi noticed as Iaian stepped forward and answered, "Give me a second. I think they might be able to handle this freak without me... Maybe?"
When Rhino Wrestler started to get closer to him, Death Gatling gritted his teeth with anxiety as he considered unleashing his ultimate attack. However, just as Death Gatling moved to activate his minigun's Death Shower feature, he saw Iaian walking towards his bullets and frantically stopped firing to avoid hitting him.
With the bullets gone, Iaian stepped in front of the rampaging monster's path, pulled out his sword, and braced himself.
Wanting to get at Death Gatling, Rhino Wrestler shouted at Iaian, "Unless you got something good to give me, move it!"
Just as Rhino Wrestler was about to strike Iaian with its horn, the swordsman Hero used all the strength in his arms and clashed his blade against the monster's mighty horn. To the monster's surprise, Iaian not only stopped it dead in its tracks but pushed it back somewhat as his sword left a noticeable scratch in its horn.
As Iaian and Rhino Wrestler struggled with each other for a moment, Rhino Wrestler seethed out, "Erg...! Eight... 84 points!"
With that, the Hero and the monster knocked each other away with simultaneous shoves. Just as they were about to rush back in to keep fighting each other, Rhino Wrestler was hit in its face with a purple Light Ball.
Having watched Lin Lin as she took action, Shunshi saw as she instinctively produced her first Light Ball so she could help Iaian. However, instead of throwing it as Shunshi would, she pointed her palm forward as a ring of Kie pulsed out from behind the sphere, launching the orb as if it had been bounced off a spring.
Once Lin Lin's Light Ball had collided with Rhino Wrestler, instead of exploding, it seemed to melt into flames that clung to half of the monster's face. This wasn't to say that there was no force behind the attack, as Rhino Wrestler's head did recoil ever so slightly. That did not seem to be the technique's main purpose, though.
As Rhino Wrestler's face started to slowly burn, it yelled, "37 points!"
Elated, Lin Lin looked to Shunshi and asked him, "Did you see that?! I did one of those Light Ball attacks you can do!"
"Hmm. Not exactly," Shunshi commented inquisitively.
"What?! What do you mean?" Lin Lin asked, dejected.
Taking a more optimistic tone, Monster Mask explained, "Well, what I mean is, my attack has to be thrown and blows up on contact. Yours looks like it launches itself and is more about setting the target on fire. I think it's its own thing."
Perking back up, Lin Lin responded, "Oh, I guess I should come up with my own name for it then."
While Lin Lin and Shunshi conversed, Iaian continued clashing his sword against Rhino Wrestler's horn, managing to leave nicks in the horn with every other clash. Even the addition of flames to the monster's face did little to hinder either of the combatants. This exchange of attacks continued until the monster grew enraged and started wildly throwing out punches at Iaian.
"You think you can cut through my horn!? No one can, you pissant!" Rhino Wrestler yelled as Iaian dodged and deflected the punches with his sword.
During Iaian's whole fight with Rhino Wrestler, Monster Mask was making sure to keep watching, even when he was talking with Lin Lin. His intention being to make sure he was ready to help if Iaian were to start losing. This got interrupted when Shunshi suddenly jumped as he felt a hand grab his shoulder.
Initially, Shunshi believed one of the monsters that had been standing back had snuck up on him, so he spun around, ready to throw a punch. However, he stopped himself when he saw Atomic Samurai staring him down.
"Atomic Samurai, sir? What are-?"
Cutting Monster Mask off, Atomic Samurai ordered, "I want you to tag out with Iaian. I want to compare Silver Fang's top student to my own. If you do better than him, then that'll just push Iaian to better himself. Now get in there."
Processing the instructions for only a moment, Monster Mask eventually responded, "Oh, uh... Alright. I mean, yes, sir!" He then rushed in to help end the fight.
As Shunshi rushed in, Lin Lin muttered to herself, "So you go in when the old guy asks you to?"
While running and readying his Burn Whips, Shunshi lamented internally, Aw man. I wanted to leave it in Iaian's hands. I mean, this rhino guy doesn't seem that tough, and after the others wore it down like they did, I'm sure he could've handled it. Ugh, oh well.
Just as Monster Mask got in close enough to intervene, Iaian and Rhino Wrestler knocked each other back once again. By now, the monster's horn was starting to look noticeably gnarled, making Shunshi feel even more guilty for interfering before Iaian could end things.
Sending out his whips to ensnare Rhino Wrestler around its neck and torso, Monster Mask hastily yelled an apology to a surprised Iaian, "Hey, sorry for cutting in, but Atomic Samurai asked me to switch out with you!"
As Monster Mask threw Rhino Wrestler aside and into a building, a confused and frustrated Iaian looked to Atomic Samurai for clarification. In response, A-Class' Silver Medal got a patient nod from his master, confirming what Monster Mask had claimed. As a result, Iaian sheathed his sword in disappointment while looking on as Monster Mask took over the fight for him.
After climbing out of the pile of rubble the wall it had been thrown at collapsed into, Rhino Wrestler glared viscously at Monster Mask's obscured face. In addition, everyone could see just how badly simply coming into contact with the Burn Whips had hurt the rhino monster. While the purple flames from Lin Lin's attack were still trying to cook the monster's tough hide, the Burn Whips had left noticeable, and painful-looking ringed scorch marks on Rhino Wrestlers' neck and torso.
By now, Shunshi had ignited his aura of Kie as he turned off his Burn Whips and walked toward his opponent.
Snorting in fury, Rhino Wrestler charged horn-first at Monster Mask while shouting, "95 points!"
However, Monster Mask easily flowed around the attack with Silver Fang's teachings. Once Shunshi had maneuvered to Rhino Wrestler's side, he threw a precise and powerful punch into the monster's jaw, the spikes on his knuckles piercing flesh as the bones in the monster's face cracked and popped.
After taking Monster Mask's punch, Rhino Wrestler was sent tumbling across the street, stopping once it collided with the sidewalk. Getting back up, Rhino Wrestler had to quickly shake off a concussion before it could process what had happened to it. Once its mind was capable of thought again, the monster realized it had spit out several of its own teeth. Gnashing its remaining chompers, Rhino Wrestler looked up and was about to give the punch a score but stopped when it saw that Monster Mask had already jumped at it and was about to land a spin-kick.
Able to react at the last second, Rhino Wrestler positioned its horn to block the kick but was mortified when it heard and snapping noise and felt its horn fall from its face.
In the monster's mind, Rhino Wrestler was remembering the instructions that Gyoro Gyoro had given it, internally raging, Damn it, Gyoro Gyoro! You told me I was strong enough to take on even the S-Class Heroes! You lied to me, you bastard!
Once Shunshi landed, he readied a palm thrust and thought to himself as Rhino Wrestler was panicking, Well, this is as good a time to test this if this works as any, I guess.
After his palm thrust connected with Rhino Wrestler's diaphragm, the monster let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of it. In retaliation, Rhino Wrestler let out a wheeze as it threw a punch at Monster Mask, only for the Hero to flip backward out of the way.
Once he landed, Shunshi looked at his palm for a half-second, then at Rhino Wrestler, before nodding and declaring, "Alright, this fight's over."
Glaring with insane rage at the Hero that took its horn, Rhino Wrestler tried to yell at him while gasping for air, "What- buh- are you- khee- talking about!? Guck- I'm still gonna- fuh- kill you!"
Pointing nonchalantly at Rhino Wrestler's gut, Monster Mask responded, "Okay, sure. But do you wanna score that attack first?"
Looking at its torso, Rhino Wrestler started to feel as if it was having a stomach ache. This quickly turned into a burning pain, before its gut started to bulge as cracks of agonizing light began to shine through its flesh.
As Rhino Wrestler felt its organs get atomized, it weakly called out, "100... points."
The monster's body then violently blew to pieces, leaving nothing behind but the flats of its feet.
In the sky above the battlefield, the same type of flying eye-drone that showed up at the Super Fight arena was observing the battle.
Mutterings with Gyoro Gyoro's voice came from the eye-drone, seemingly panicking as it asked itself, "Wha- wha- What?! Was that...? No, it couldn't be! Are those two people using Muscle Aura?! But... But all the ancient history books I've found said that Espers wiped out all those with knowledge of Muscle Aura hundreds of years before even the Great War! What's going on here...?! Is that what Garou's new power was when he fought Orochi?"
Looking on with fear at Rhino Wrestler's demise and the one responsible for it, the monsters began shouting and questioning what to do next.
"What the Hell!? He just took down Rhino Wrestler!"
"What should we do now?!"
"I don't know!"
"He only has four limbs! If we charge him all at once, we'll overwhelm him!"
"Yeah! He's just an A-Class Hero, but he must secretly be their strongest!"
"If we beat him, we've won!"
Rallying behind this logic, a good portion of the monsters hoarded together and charged Monster Mask.
Readying himself to take them all on, Shunshi activated Fist Of The Impenetrable Fire Spirit. However, before a single monster could even reach him to activate the ability, they all suddenly split into cubes of freshly cut meat and fell to the ground. Shunshi was confused by this for a second and a half, that is until Atomic Samurai walked up from behind him and sheathed his katana.
Without even looking at Monster Mask, the S-Class Hero told him, "Consider that thanks for listening to my request. You support guys have done plenty for us so far, so leave the rest of this fight up to the S-Class."
In desperation, some of the surviving monsters shouted, "Go after the ones Rhino Wrestler weakened! We'll use them as hostages!" With that, the monsters spread out to chase after Stinger, Lightning Genji, Shadow Ring, Needle Star, and Captain Mizuki.
The ones that went after Shadow Ring all suddenly fell to the ground as soon as they charged, with Flashy Flash standing behind them with his sword drawn.
"Playtime's over. Let's get to work," the Hero Association's fastest warrior calmly declared before rushing off to slaughter more monsters.
Next, the ones who went after Captain Mizuki found themselves stopped in their tracks when Superalloy Darkshine ran at them, the power of his body simply colliding with them being enough to splatter theirs.
A few monsters tried to go after Needle Star. However, this only ended with Pig God intercepting, grabbing, and swallowing them all whole.
Of the monsters that targeted Stinger and Lightning Genji, three were disemboweled by a slash from the former's spear, while two more had their heads bludgeoned by the latter. Just then, as over a dozen more closed in on them, Puri-Puri Prisoner jumped between the monsters and his fellow Heroes.
"Step back, boys!" Puri-Puri Prisoner shouted just before a monster punched him in his face. Instead of so much as flinching, though, Puri-Puri just glared through the monster's fist.
With his rage set up, the Prisoner forced back the creature that struck him. He then unleashed a flurry of crushing punches on the hoard of monsters, smashing them all to a pulp.
With all the monsters dead, Puri-Puri Prisoner addressed the two Heroes, "Sweet Genji, I believe this is the first time we've met. And darling Stinger, this is the second time fate has crossed our paths. After my display of might just now, you should both know that there's no shame in admitting that you've fallen for me."
To Puri-Puri Prisoner's disappointment, Stinger was riding on Lighting Genji's back, despite their height difference, as the two used his skates to get away from the S-Class.
"Go go go go! I don't want to deal with that guy ever again!" Stinger yelled while frantically waving his spear around.
"Don't have to tell me twice! Sides', we need to get back to keeping an eye on the old bastard anyway," Genji responded.
As the S-Class Heroes finished off all the monsters in their immediate vicinity, the members of the Support Squad began to relax somewhat. By now, Tornado had returned from her psychic battle in the sky, having literally crushed Evil Eye into atoms with her powers.
Monster Mask, Lin Lin, Uchiara, and Death Gatling were conversing when Stinger and Lightning Genji came rushing in, the former riding on the back of the latter.
Snickering, Uchiara commented, "Well, that's an... interesting method of transport."
Getting off Genji's back, Stinger pointed at Uchiara and snapped at him, "Hey, it's fast, and it works!"
Folding his arms to magnetize his batons back into place, Genji added, "Don't judge our methods of escaping danger, War Ki-... Uchiara."
Putting his hands up to ease tension, the super-soldier replied, "Alright, alright. I was just trying to joke with you boys."
Suddenly, Stinger grabbed Shunshi's shoulders and yelled, "Dude, listen to me! I didn't think about this till now, but you gotta keep Puri-Puri Prisoner away from me!"
His helmet hid it, but Shunshi raised his brow as he replied, "Uh... Okay?"
"No, seriously! He came after me in the hospital after the Sea Folk fight, and I barely got away from him, but he's still after me!"
Speaking up, Death Gatling interjected, "Look, I'm sure you'll be fine. Besides, we were in the middle of something when you guys showed up."
Relaxing a bit, Lightning Genji asked, "Hm? What's that?"
"We were just asking Shunshi what exactly he did to blow up that rhino monster," Lin Lin explained.
Looking at Stinger as he still desperately grabbed Shunshi's shoulders, Lin Lin added, "Speaking of that whole thing... Stinger, was it?"
Loosening his grip, Stinger looked at Lin Lin and asked, "Huh? What's up?"
"Why did you let the monster know you were above it? If you'd attacked by surprise, you could've done more damage."
While Stinger froze at her question, allowing Shunshi to slip out of his grasp, Genji commented, "Huh... Ya know, I think she's right, Stinger."
Flustered, Stinger looked away and exclaimed, "Sh- Shut it! I was just trying to be dramatic and cool for Mizuki."
Perking up at that, Shunshi asked, "Huh? You like Captain Mizuki? Aw, that's so-."
Cutting him off, Death Gatling snapped, "Can we please get back to the question?!"
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Okay, so it took a lot more focus than it looked like, but what I did was make a Light Ball inside of Rhino Wrestler. See, I had to get my hand flat against the guy since I make Light Balls in my hands. That's why I went for the palm strike. And then I had to make the Light Ball the exact second I touched him."
Shuddering for a moment, Uchiara commented, "Youch. That's brutal. It's like if I put a grenade in a guy's guts while they're still alive."
On the other hand, Lin Lin was ecstatic, bouncing slightly as she cheered, "That's amazing! I never would've thought of that! I can't wait until I figure out how to do that too."
"Sheesh. You're violent, ain't cha'?" Stinger commented as he gave Lin Lin a concerned glance.
Putting on a proud front, Lin Lin retorted, "I'm a professional martial artist, so yeah."
"Well, she's not wrong. That is a clever way to use that power," Genji added.
Scratching the back of his helmet as if it were his head, Shunshi exclaimed, "Aw, come on. You guys're gonna make me blush.
Resting his free hand on his mini-gun, Death Gatling stated, "It's not that impressive. It seems like an obvious thing to try with powers like his."
"Hey, you don't need to be rude," Lin Lin shot back.
However, Shunshi put his hand on her shoulder and told her, "Hey, it's no big deal. I thought the same thing of it myself, honestly."
"Praise is nice and all, but criticism keeps ya from getting a swelled head. I used to be the result of that myself," Uchiara commented.
"I guess. But it's still- Hey, what's Child Emperor doing?" Stinger asked, cutting himself off while gesturing to the sky with his spear.
Looking upwards, everyone saw as the prepubescent Hero used jets coming out of his backpack to fly into the air. While initially, they were all confused, it became apparent once Child Emperor reached his target, some sort of flying eyeball monster. Due to the creature's white color and having been in front of a cloud, they hadn't been able to properly see it until Child Emperor used a blade on a mechanical arm from his backpack to cut the thing in half.
"Guess One Shotter and I missed one of the long-distance ones," Uchiara remarked as Child Emperor flew back down.
Once he'd landed, Child Emperor addressed all of the meandering Heroes with a megaphone produced from his backpack, "Alright, everyone, listen up, please! For anyone who needs medical attention, Sekingar brought a first-aid kit! As for everyone else, we're going to examine the immediate area to look for any monsters that are potentially still hiding! After that, we S-Class, Sweet Mask, and Atomic Samurai's students will be heading down into the Monster Association's base! Let's move, people!"
Once those orders were given, Monster Mask stretched out his arms and back before telling his companions, "Okay, you guys heard him. Stinger and Genji, you both took a hit from Rhino Wrestler, so you should both get some first-aid. The rest of us will be on monster-hunting duty till you guys catch up with us. That sound good to everybody?"
"Yep, sounds alright," Lin Lin chirped.
"Yes, sir," Uchiara responded.
"Whatever. I don't take orders from you," Death Gatling remarked as he walked off.
"Hey, wait. I don't need to get patched up. I'm fine," Stinger insisted.
However, Lightning Genji was quick to grab Stinger by one of the bandages on his back and begin pulling him away while explaining, "If you're weak enough for me to do this to you, then it wouldn't hurt to get looked over. I know I need it. My side hurts like Hell."
Fumbling to stand up, Stinger eventually pulled himself free while exclaiming, "Wha-? But I- Hey, come on. Alright, already, I'll go! Just let go of me!"
After Shunshi, Lin Lin, and Uchiara finished chuckling at the duo's display, the three of them turned to spread out and look for monsters alongside all the other Heroes.
