Chapter NINE: Threat Level Meeting
Child Emperor stood in front of the table, ready for the meeting to start.
"Thank you for attending this meeting," Child Emperor said. Class S Heroes were in attendance, all except for Blast, who never attends these meetings; Watchdog Man, who refused to leave City Q; Metal Knight, who didn't want to come (but who Child Emperor no doubt knew was watching); Metal Bat, who refused to miss another of his sister's piano recitals; Superalloy Darkshine, who stayed home; Genos, who was busy training with his master (whoever that was); and King, who was busy fighting Monsters in a dungeon of some kind.
"What's this about?" Tatsumaki asked. "All I was told was that it was about a new threat level."
"After the war with the Monster Association and the battles with several unique and powerful monsters, I decided to add another threat level to the disaster level system." Child Emperor pressed a button on his remote, showing the list of disasters. "The lowest is Threat Level Wolf, then it goes Tiger, Demon, Dragon, then God."
"We know that," Tatsumaki said, clearly annoyed at having to be there. "Can you please just skip the stuff we all already know? I know it may not seem it, but I DO have a life outside of Hero duties."
"Like what?" Flashy Flash asked sarcastically.
"If you MUST know, I'm going to a concert tonight," Tatsumaki told him haughtily.
"YOU'RE going to concert?" Flashy Flash asked with an uncharacteristic laugh and snort.
"Wait, not mine, right?!" Amai Mask asked worriedly.
"No, not yours!" Tatsumaki told him, insulted at the thought of her seeing one of his concerts. "I wouldn't be caught dead at one your stupid concerts. I'm going to see The Triple T's."
"Charanko likes them," Bang said absently. "I believe he's going tonight as well. Maybe you'll meet up."
"Don't count on it," Tatsumaki said.
"You're making the meeting longer with this conversation," Child Emperor. "And you don't think I have better things to do? I missed my Saturday morning cartoons for this meeting!"
"Could you please get on with it?" Flashy Flash asked. "As much as I hate agreeing with the witch, I also have some personal interests I intend to enjoy tonight."
"Fine," Child Emperor said. "As I was saying, with the discovery of several powerful monsters that could contend with multiple Class S Heroes, most of them in fact being needed to defeat even one of them, I decided to add a new Threat Level to the system; Threat Level: Demigod."
"What does such a threat entail?' Atomic Samurai asked.
"It's between Dragon and God," Child Emperor said. "Dragon Level Monsters are capable of halting or even destroying multiple cities, while God Level Monsters would be capable of causing human extinction."
"So what is Threat Level Demigod?" Bang asked.
"It's a threat that, while not an extinction level event, COULD set humanity several decades, if not centuries. Basically, they're strong enough to cause an apocalyptic event, but not an extinction one."
"That's quite terrifying," Bang said. "How many were part of the Monster Association?"
"Several," Child Emperor replied. "And with how many there were, they could've even been considered a God Level Threat; to be honest, if it weren't for the fact that they weren't able to work well together, we might've lost."
"I doubt that," Tatsumaki said. "I'll admit I was caught off guard, but even if I WAS defeated, we still had King at full power. Unless you didn't hear it during my fight, King was the one who initially killed Orochi, with a single attack no less. The only reason it survived was because he prioritized the other child hostage."
"Yeah, we all heard," Flashy Flash said. "I'm glad he's on our side."
"As are we all," Bang said.
"Back on topic," Child Emperor said. "The giant Esper Monster, which we now know was a fusion of the remains of Monster King Orochi and the Esper human Psykos, was able to produce an energy attack that lifted a large section of the ocean off the planet. If that attack had been aimed towards the land, it would have taken out several cities, and that was only its first attack."
"You're right," Tatsumaki said. "That's why I positioned myself high up and made sure she was facing the ocean; just in case she launched such a large attack again."
"Not only that, but some of the Monsters afterwards were equally strong, if not moreso, at least in terms of raw power," Atomic Samurai added. "Based on my own estimation, I'd say that that black splitting Monster, at least when combined into that gold or platinum version, was stronger than the Esper one."
"My scanners agree," Child Emperor. He pressed another button on his remote, showing a chart with the Monsters they fought on it. "These are the Monster Association Cadres we fought, as well other Dragon Level Monsters we each encountered. The scanners estimated their power levels, and I also listed their listed their abilities. I believe the combining Monster was actually the strongest one there, when combined at least. It's energy levels even surpassed the fusion one when it first fused into it's golden form. However, it also only had strength and speed, unlike the Water Monster and Ugmon, the latter which somehow gained acidic powers during the fight."
"That was my fault, I'm afraid," Bang told him. "I made it so that the creature would be eaten by the giant pink one, hoping it would kill it for me. Turns out all it did was make it stronger."
"I was wondering how that happened," Atomic Samurai said. "Two of the Council of Swordsmasters died to that thing thanks to its acid."
"Not to mention even Darkshine being grievously injured," Tank Top Master said. "But we can't blame Silverfang for that; he had no way of knowing that would happen."
"I don't blame him," Atomic Samurai said. "I'm just stating a fact."
"Getting back to my findings," Child Emperor said. "I believe these Monsters each qualify as Threat Level Demigod, or at the least had the capability of reaching it." He pressed the next button, showing pictures of Phoenix Man, Evil Natural Water, Psyrochi, Black Sperm in all of his forms, and Sage Centipede.
"That's a lot of Monsters," Puri Puri Prisoner said.
"We already discussed the Esper fusion, so let's go on to the next one. This is Phoenix Man, a monster capable of not only reincarnation, but resurrecting the dead, up to and including two Dragon Level Monsters, both of whom were restored to their prime state after receiving a massive electric jolt. When it first resurrected, it increased in strength by at least five times. If it managed to die enough times, it could conceivably become a God Level Threat in a matter of less than ten deaths. Fortunately, I prevented that."
"Iaian told me he feared that water Monster merging with the ocean," Atomic Samurai told him, pointing at Evil Natural Water with his toothpick.
"I thought of that as well; based on my readings, it very well could have done so. According to Pig God, it survived," Child Emperor said. "Isn't that right?"
"Yeah," Pig God said. "The fact that it survived King's special attack is quite horrifying; I was afraid it survived due to it being made of water. I ate it a few hours ago. I'm lucky it was the size of a small puddle; it still managed to pierce my body from the inside, plus it was hell getting it down."
"The fourth is the combining Monster," Child Emperor said. "The fact that King had to resort to using one of his special attacks to defeat it tells us just powerful that one was."
"Loathe as I am to admit it, that Monster was superior to even me in terms of speed," Flashy Flash said. "I won't lie, that hurts my pride quite a bit. I do feel better knowing that it took King using a special attack to kill it. Makes me wonder if he would have to resort to the same for me."
(I realize Flashy Flash's fight with Platinum Sperm was after King's attack, but I really wanted to add him into this, since he meshes well with Tatsumaki, and he's just fun to write. Just go with it.)
"The fifth is the giant centipede Monster that came out of the ground after King finished off the combining Monster," Child Emperor said. "It was far larger than Elder Centipede, who was already a high Dragon level threat. Fortunately, it lacked any unique abilities like the others, relying solely on its size, regeneration, and hard exoskeleton. In fact, if it wasn't for the size, it wouldn't be classified as one."
"So we fought five Demigod Level Threats and lived to tell the tale," Bang said.
"All but two of which required several Class S Heroes, to defeat," Flashy Flash added. "And those two required a special attack from quite possibly the strongest one among us. And one of them STILL managed to survive."
"The fact that we all survived such a battle is nothing short of a miracle," Child Emperor said. "Thank you all for coming to this meeting. I really appreciate it."
"If that's it, then I'm going home," Tatsumaki said, floating out of her seat. "I've got a concert to get ready for."
"And I have a ninja movie marathon to get ready for," Flashy Flash said, standing up.
"Ninja movie marathon?" Atomic Samurai repeated with a barely contained snort.
"I watch ninja movies, sue me," Flashy Flash replied. "They're good for a quick laugh. I find their inaccuracies and idiotic movements comedic."
The Class S Heroes left one by one, leaving Child Emperor to clean up. Once he was done, he left for home. Fortunately, he recorded all of his cartoons before he left.