Disclaimer: I do not own One Punch Man or any of the characters associated with the title. All rights belong to their respective owners.

Saitama mindlessly strolled through the streets of the decrepit City-Z, utterly oblivious to the devastating attack. There wasn't a person around to warn him about it. Aside from the sudden rumble he felt a moment ago, it was his usual daily commute... until it wasn't.

"Heh... I've finally found you..."

Saitama came to a stop and searched around for the source of the familiar voice. "Hm...?" His gaze landed on the top of the building just on the other side of the gate that separated the two cities. There was an oddly feminine-looking man glaring down at him. "... Oh, hey... Do you need something?"

"Yes... yes, I do... I need you to DIE!"

Saitama snagged a projectile the weird man suddenly shot his way. "... Hm?" He took a moment to thoroughly examine the strange little knife. He was sure he had seen it before. "That's kinda rude... Hey... have we met before?"

"Yes... we have...! Saitama!" The man spewed his name out like venom on his tongue. "I would think you'd recognize me by now!"

He certainly did, but for some reason, he couldn't exactly place his name. Looking at his get-up, it was definitely ringing some bells. 'Okay, skin-tight black suit, purple scarf, innocent smile..'

The man stared him down with a crooked smile that was the furthest thing from innocent.

"... Oh-! It's you! You're uh... speed o' man er'... lost and found or, uh... Jack o' Lantern Panic!" he tried, thinking he was successful on his last guess (which he previously called him). How he managed to remember the wrong name was a mystery.

'We've met twice already!' Through gritted teeth, he simply gave it to him, "... Speed o' Sound Sonic!"

"Oh, yeah. That's it... Hey..."

"I've been looking for you for quite some time, Saitama... today is the day you finally fall at my blade. That rumble from earlier was all I needed to find you. No one but you could have caused such a devastating blow. I had searched every city other than that dead zone of a wasteland. It makes sense that a monster like you would reside in such a-..." he stopped talking when he realized he was walking away.

"Sorry," Saitama said with a wave over his shoulder. "I've got work in a few... See ya later..."

For a moment, Sonic thought back to their second meeting. This was almost déjà vu. '... Trying to escape me again, Saitama?' The ninja jumped from the roof and gently landed right in the bald man's path. As soon as he hit the ground, he rushed him with his sword in hand, ready to split him in half at the waist. "You can't escape!"

As if he knew it was coming, Saitama flipped over his blade, avoiding the strike with ease. "Hey, what's your problem...? I told you, I have work."

Sonic narrowed his gaze, dangerously. 'Work, huh...?' He was oblivious to the uniform, it seemed, as he still thought Saitama was associated with the Hero Association. "I noticed the civilians scrambling to their little shelters. It must be something big they're running from... No matter, if I want you to fight me, all I've got to do is stir up some trouble, right? Well, in that case, try THIS!" Sonic jumped into the air with a violent spin. With every rotation, he threw out clumps of exploding kunai in every direction, destroying shops and houses in every direction.

Saitama watched him curiously, side-stepping the kunai that came his way with ease. 'The bunkers...? What's he talking about...?' That's when he looked around and noticed how barren it seemed.

Sonic finished his attack and landed on a nearby building. He cackled like a madman, staring at his "rival" with nothing but bloodlust leaking from his demented grin. "HEH-HEH-HEH! How bout it, Saitama!? Does THIS warrant your attention!?" He flung another at the building directly behind the casually dressed baldy who jumped away from the falling debris. "If you won't fight me, then maybe I should go and pay those little civilians a visit in the bunker, huh!?"

Saitama stared at him blankly for a moment before he turned and continued on his way as if nothing happened. "Okay... Just don't do anything bad." If there was an attack, he figured he should make sure the shop was locked up. Looters were a real issue in situations like this.

Speed o' Sound Sonic was seething with rage. "Saitama... you... BASTARD!" He hopped down to the ground and took off in a dead sprint toward him. "If you won't fight me, then just die already!"

With a sigh of irritation, Saitama turned around to face him with a blank expression. 'Geez, this guy's persistent... Guess if I make it quick, he'll leave me alone...'

Seeing his casually bored face only made Sonic angrier. "You...! I'LL KILL YOU!"

(WHOOOSH! BAM!)

" ... Hm?" Saitama was confused. It looked like Sonic was just suddenly flung into the wall next to him. He didn't even get close enough to touch him. "Uh... Hey, dude, you alright...? Did you trip...?"

"What are you doing out here!?"

Saitama was surprised by yet another familiar voice. He looked around until he spotted the girl from the store last night. "Oh... Hey... You again..."

Tatsumaki stared down at him with an irritated expression, confused by the situation. The Association had just informed her of a God-level threat after she dealt with a monster who had been lurking in City Z. And now, on her way, she sees this man about to be butchered by a villain. This was out of the way, but it looked like that ninja guy was taking advantage of the situation to attack random civilians from where she was flying. Instead, it's just this man, again.

"... Get to a bunker... You're not safe out here." She turned to leave before he called out to her again.

"Huh...? Is something happening?"

"It's none of your concern! I'm a hero! And I'm telling you to get to a bunker, so do as you're told!" she demanded.

"Oh... Okay then." Saitama complied and headed for the bunker by his store at a leisurely pace. There was no reason he couldn't just go home. It's not like he would die, but if the power was out, he'd have no way of knowing what was going on and nothing to do.

Tatsumaki watched him walk away for a moment before she continued on her way to City A. He was definitely a strange character.

After checking to ensure everything was locked at his store, Saitama made it to the bunker. He stood staring up at the metal doors curiously, wondering how he was supposed to get in. "Uh... hello...?" He knocked on the door a few times. After a moment or two, he went to knock again before the sound of the mechanics of the door at work stopped him. It opened up to the sight of two guys who had to be heroes if their clothes were anything to go by.

[Class C/ Rank 1/ Mumen Rider]

"What are you still doing out there? Come in, quickly!" the man in the strange orange get-up said, rushing him in. "Was there anyone else out there!?"

Saitama was confused by the urgency. City-Y seemed pretty peaceful, so far. For this level of urgency, it just felt like there should be more noticeable devastation. '... is this some sort of drill...?'

[Class C/ Rank 13/ Tank Top Tiger]

"I doubt it," the bigger man said. "Dude was probably stuck on the toilet when the alert came in."

"On the toilet?" Saitama muttered.

"It doesn't matter," Mumen Rider said. "I'm glad you made it here safely. Please, stand by and wait for the matter to be resolved. I'm sure with the combined power of the S-Class, A-Class, and B-Class as support, it won't take too long."

'Huh... that sure is a lot of heroes," Saitama mulled. '... There must be a powerful monster...'

He walked further into the bunker, and immediately, his senses were flooded by the number of people crammed inside. There had to be hundreds of men, women, and children packed inside this dome, stretching back to the back wall and even more on the next floor above. There was so much chattering going on it reminded him of the cafeterias from back in school.

After a while of searching, he found an empty bench to rest on while he waited. Luckily, it was next to the corridor that led to the bathroom, so if he had to go, he didn't have to push his way through the crowd to do so. He sat down and looked up at the television screen displaying the battle... or most of it at least.

On the screen, the camera (positioned on the helicopter) had its sights set on a battle involving many of the S-Class heroes standing against some kind of tall, dark, clay-skinned creature with two faces. There were a few A & B-Class heroes mixed in for support. It seemed the heroes were simply tiring out too fast to have any effect. It brought panic to many of the civilian viewers. The creature simply regenerated no matter what they did. He'd been sliced and diced by both Atomic Samurai and Bang; an unnecessarily nude Puri-puri Prisoner had brutally pummeled him, and yet he was still standing good as new. What more could be done...?

"Oh, man," said a civilian man standing in front of Saitama with his group of friends. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Are you stupid? It came from space. It's some kind of alien," said another.

"I know that!" the man replied in irritation. "It looks strong, though... maybe too strong. That's almost all of the S-Class heroes fighting that thing... and the attack from that ship...? All those people..."

"Yeah, well... Just wait till Tornado gets there. She'll wipe the floor with these freaks!"

"Yeah... I sure hope so... but.. what if that's not the boss?"

"What?"

The young man took a moment to think it over. "I mean... you've played alien video games before. The boss never comes out first. Usually, they send a strong right-hand man first. After you beat him, you go on to beat some other small fry, maybe one more strong one, and then you face the boss who's like... ridiculously strong."

"This isn't a game, you idiot. This is real life. Besides, it's Tornado. She's never lost to a monster, not even once."

"w-well.. what about the Sea-King? Some say she denies being the one that took it out. I mean, she had been hitting that thing with everything she had before she drained out. How c-.."

"That was just her distracting it, dumbass. She was charging up all of her power into that pebble and waiting for that Sea-Freak to let its guard down. Her looking beat up was all an act."

"I don't know... seemed real to me..."

Saitama listened with very little interest. In a room so large, all of the voices were jumbled. They were just close enough to catch his ear.

"... They sure sound desperate, huh?"

"Hm...?" Saitama looked over to see the rather big man wearing the tiger-striped tank top with his arms folded over his chest sitting next to him. When did he get there...? Was he finished with guard duty?

"Tch. For all of our sake, I hope what they're sayin' about Tornado is true... I hope she can take these things out. If not, then that's pretty much it for us, isn't it?" he said.

'... Is he talking to me?' Saitama thought, looking at him strangely.

"I know big bro is out there, fighting for us, but... maybe not even he can't... no.. no Bro can handle himself no problem. These things don't stand a chance! Oh man, maybe I should rally the other tank tops and go help out however we can...!" His eyes glanced up towards the screen to see the battle still raging on. "... Nah... we'd just get in the way... Shame... I bet there are some pretty strong monsters there... it kinda sounds fun..."

'... Okay, he's definitely talking to himself. He's not even muttering,' Saitama thought with a creeped-out look on his face. Still, his mindless blabbering got him thinking, '... Some pretty strong monsters, huh...?'

"i-It's her!" a voice called out in front of them, drawing the tank-top tiger's attention. "It's Tornado!" a round of applause flooded the area as they watched the glowing green woman stop a barrage of those deathly bombarding missiles in mid-air.

"Oh-hoh!" Tank-Top Tiger gave a giddy chuckle as he looked at the screen. "They're in for it now! Watch closely, little dude, cause y-..!" He stopped talking when he realized the bald man he took a seat next to was already gone. "Oh... I guess I'm talking to myself..."

Tornado watched the massive ship not even buckle when she sent the barrage of missiles back. She could feel an incredible presence coming from within. Perhaps another psychic...? It felt about right, but she couldn't be sure. She hadn't felt another other than her sister for quite some time. Looking down at the other heroes' battle, she grew somewhat annoyed.

"How long are you all gonna play with that pile of mud!? We've got bigger problems here, so hurry it up!" she demanded.

"We're working on it, you little brat!" Atomic Samurai spit out in frustration. "Why don't you do something about that ship?"

"Obviously! What do you think I'm doing!?" she spat back. "Just kill that thing and get inside HQ or something! You're in the way!"

"Why, you little-!" Metal Bat started to retort before he was stopped by Bang, who put his hand up.

"Understood. We will make this quick and clear out of the way." His words were more so to the others rather than Tatsumaki.

She looked at the old man for a second before floating up and away. Getting some distance, she looked around at all of the useful rubble. In the meantime, she could damage those cannons until the others got clear. The fact that HQ was still standing was all she needed to see. Clearly it could withstand a considerable blast. As soon as the others got inside, she'd just drop a meteor on this thing and destroy it in one swoop. Them piling up in a ship like this and not dispersing any ground forces only made her job easier.

It wouldn't be like last time...

'Hmph... Piece of cake...'

That's what she thought, yeah... but... there was a sliver of doubt that accompanied that solemn proclamation. That feeling from earlier left reason for doubt. She truly felt some sense of dread. That of which she had never felt before. Regardless, if she couldn't do this, then they were done for...

'... I'm the last line of defense...'

Whether they survived this invasion or not... it's all on her.

'... y-.. yeah... piece of cake...'

Saitama flushed the urinal and zipped his pants. He was luckily able to slip away from that weirdo tiger guy during the commotion of the applause. He wasn't exactly sure what they were applauding, but it was a great excuse to get out of that awkward situation. The only question was what to do now, though. He didn't feel like listening to some weirdo talk to himself all day.

When he returned, to his luck and dismay, the Tiger guy was gone, but others now claimed his bench...

'... Whelp... No biggie. I'm sure I can find another seat...' He walked around aimlessly for a while, all but ignoring the murmuring of the surrounding citizens and lower-class heroes, all gawking at the screens in anticipation.

Most of them were all but reassured by the presence of Tornado, but there was still a significant portion that saw it as nothing more than a slowing of the inevitable. They had never seen a catastrophe of this magnitude. This was beyond the level of the Sea King by a mile, and Tornado was brutally defeated back then before she dealt that final blow. (the popular belief) Would she try the same thing here? She's been throwing around discarded rubble of buildings for some time now, and it hasn't seemed to affect the ship in the slightest. Maybe this was too much for even her. There was only one outcome with no Blast that they could see here.

Oblivious to all of these conflicting views, Saitama continued aimlessly weaving through the mass of people until finally, he caught sight of a free spot on a bench toward the back wall. He was hoping it wasn't occupied as he made his way over. Once he broke through the crowd, he saw a young girl sitting on the other end. She seemed to be dressed for the occasion. She wasn't much older than eight years old. Her attire was the essence of a super fan to its truest extent. A Tornado of Terror fan shirt, bright green pants, and oddly enough, green highlights in her hair. Her mother sat beside her, speaking diligently with the woman on the bench next to theirs.

Assuming the seat was free, Saitama walked over and sat down. He partially expected the little girl to tell him she was saving the seat for her dad or something, but she didn't seem interested in him at all, so he carried on, sticking to himself. For a while, he sat there, pulling one of the magazines on the table next to him, still not very interested in what was happening on the screen.

The little girl watched her Idol with gleaming eyes, awestricken by her unrivaled heroics. Her unblinking gaze remained plastered on the most visible screen before her. With an unbreakable grip, she squeezed the plushy Tatsumaki doll against her chest. For a while, that was how they remained until the girl finally spoke.

"Wow... so cool..." she muttered in a hushed tone of awe, drawing Saitama's attention.

"Hm...?" he voiced, thinking she was talking to him.

"Tornado is the best!" she shouted out. "I wish I could be an esper too! That would be so cool! Then, I'd have really cool powers and help everyone! I could send bad guys flying no problem!"

At this point, he figured she was talking to herself, much like that Tiger weirdo, but since she's a kid, it was a little less strange to see, so he went back to his casual page flipping. For another few seconds, that was how they remained. Eventually, he was interrupted once more by the girl's voice.

"Aww! I hate when they switch it!" she groaned.

He glanced over to her and tracked her line of sight to the television that was now displaying the battle between the rest of the heroes and the clay-like creature that they just couldn't seem to defeat. Well, that didn't seem to be the case anymore. There were fewer faces on the beast now, so they must have figured something out.

The little girl next to him quickly lost interest without her favorite Hero on screen. It was interesting seeing the others, but without Tornado, she became a little more aware of her surroundings; specifically, her mom still talking and the strange bald guy sitting on her other side. What drew her attention was, without a doubt, the ridiculous light that bounced off his head. She giggled at how shiny it was. "Ehehe!"

Saitama glanced over on instinct with the sound directed straight at him. He was now staring down at the little girl who was smiling at him for some reason. ".. uh... Hello."

"... Your head is funny," she replied, with that child-like innocence, void of hesitation.

Saitama cringed at the sudden insult. He quickly calmed down soon after, rationalizing that this was a kid. She didn't know any better. "w-Well, there are a lot of people that are bald," he tried to casually inform her.

"Old people," she said.

He cringed again, much harder, gritting his teeth in irritation. "Well, a-actually some young people too! I'm not old!"

"My grandpa even has hair. He's like a hundred," she continued.

At this point, he just left it alone with a sigh of disappointment. "Yeah, well... we can't all be so lucky..."

"Why...? What happened to all your hair?"

"I uh... trained so hard it fell out," he admitted truthfully.

She made a funny face as if she didn't believe him. "What...?" Her amusement was very much present. "Train for what?"

"Oh, I used to be a hero..."

She looked at him strangely, sizing him up. "You were a hero...?" He nodded. "... How come I don't recognize you? You don't look familiar. I know all the best heroes!"

"Well, I was only a hero for a few months."

"Did you get fired?" She asked, continuing her stream of questions with little to no regard for sparing his feelings.

"No, not really... I kinda just quit," he said.

She seemed shocked by that if only a little. "What? You quit? Why would you want to quit being a hero?"

He shrugged in reply. "I don't know. It was just... kinda boring I guess."

"Boring!? There's no way... I bet you were just weak." She said. "You just couldn't fight any strong monsters because you would get beaten up real bad. That's why you quit. What class were you anyways?"

"Class C."

"Uh-huh! See, I knew it! You were just scared!" She said.

"I wasn't!" he called back. "I told you, I just started!"

"Yeah, right, you big baldy! You're just a scaredy-cat! One of those hairless ones because you're bald!"

"I'm bald, so what!?" he called out furiously.

"So, you could never be a super cool hero!" Just as she said this, the camera went back to Tatsumaki, making the surrounding crowd cheer at seeing their last hope for survival still barraging the massive ship with huge chunks of glowing debris. "Every cool Hero has cool hair! Just like Tornado! She's the coolest!"

Saitama followed her gaze and, as if the girl beside him were somehow cinematically narrating the footage, there was a close-up shot of the hero in question striking a cool pose with her hands as her hair flowed around majestically. He was almost mesmerized by its movement.

"I want to be as strong as her one day! That's why my mommy does my hair like hers every day! She won't let me dye the whole thing, though, but that's okay! One day when I'm big and strong, I'm gonna do it like that!"

Saitama calmed down amidst the cheering barrage. Watching the shine in this little girl's eyes, he reminisced about the days when he admired heroes in such a way. Long before when being a hero was truly just a hobby. Before the hero association made it a profession that anyone physically capable enough to pass the try-outs could become. He returned his gaze to the screen after a while and watched along with her...

"... Ya know, I just met her last night," he said, drawing the girl's attention again.

Understandably, the little girl's eyes lit up with a gleam that he hadn't seen yet. "Uh!" she gasped. "You met the Tornado of Terror!?"

"Yeah. Or... I think I did. Is she a little girl who glows green and floats in the air?" he asked stupidly, not even aware that he was literally describing the woman at the center focus of every screen in the building.

"SHE'S-NOT-A-LITTLE-GIRL-YOU-STUPID-EGG-HEAD! SHE'S-A-GROWN-WOMAN! WHO-DO-YOU-THINK-YOU-ARE!? DISRESPECTING-THE-STRONGEST-HERO-TO-EVER-EXIST-YOU-OCTOPUS-LIGHTBULB-BOWLING-BALL-STUPID-HEAD-!" Her string of childish insults hurled at his abnormally hairless cranium flew out with a velocity he was sure reminded him of someone. Her words were so closely woven together and babbled that he could barely catch any of them.

'Huh... Déjà vu...' he thought.

To his dismay, the crowd of surrounding people again cheered at something on the screen, covering the girl's voice from anyone but him as she was directly in his ear. "Alright-alright." He said, finally glancing up at the screen to see what the commotion was about. To his surprise, it was someone he DID know. It was that old guy Genos was occasionally talking to, Boom, if he remembered (... he didn't). His clothes were in tatters, the only thing on his body being his pants and shoes. He stood next to the crumbling man they had been facing with some sort of marble in his hand. He crushed it with a firm pinch of his fingers, inciting more cheers. "Hm...? Did they win?" Saitama wondered.

Just as he said that an announcement was made over the bunker-wide intercom:

["Through a group effort, the S-Class heroes were able to finally dispatch one of the enemy's monsters. It has not been confirmed yet, but it is believed that this creature was the leader of the enemy force. Now, all that is left is for Tornado to deal with the enemy's ship. Cities T through Y have been cleared of the immediate threat zone. It is advised that we all remain in a bunker. However, if at this time you wish to rejoin family in another bunker, you are cleared to do so. We ask that anyone doing so move toward the exit in an orderly fashion now and head straight for the bunker you wish to be... Thank you..."]

"Ah, wonderful," the woman sitting on the other side of the little girl said, standing up. "Come on, Mina. We have to join up with Grandma and Papa in the other bunker."

"Okay!" the little girl said, standing up, and latching onto her mother's grip.

Saitama thought it over for a moment. He didn't really have anyone to join up with. There wasn't anything, in particular, he had to do today aside from work. '... well... guess I'll just go home...'

Tatsumaki glanced down at the other S-Class heroes who were all standing around, relishing in their hard-fought victory. With an irritated scowl, she continued hurling things up toward the ship. "Hey! If you're done with your pathetic little fight, then get lost! You're all in the way!" she yelled.

Most of them, aware of Tatsumaki's true strength, began doing just that, but perhaps being still somewhat of a new face, one did not.

Genos stepped toward her with an incredulous look. "It would not be wise to leave a comrade to face such odds alone! We have fought a hard battle, but together, I believe we can help you handle the rest!" he said heroically... toward no one, it seemed.

"Tch, as if, you stupid robot! You're just in my way!" she reiterated. "If you want to stay, it's at your own risk!"

Genos snarled his teeth at the girl's arrogance and took another step forward. He was stopped by a hand clamping down on his metallic shoulder. Bang looked his way with a stern gaze. "Genos. I understand your will to improve. But, it is best to handle a situation with as few casualties as possible. We could all stay and fight, but there would be no guarantee we could all make it out alive. I think it is best we leave this to Tornado. Give her a chance to prove her position as the number 1 S-Class hero."

Genos grit his teeth in frustration, but relented eventually, "... I understand."

The two followed the others and darted for the safety of the Hero Association HQ. Even from the distance between them, Tatsumaki heard Bang's words. He had always been someone she respected, at least more than the others. He was like a wise grandfather of sorts. There was always some sort of wisdom behind everything he said... but that didn't mean he was always right.

'Prove myself...? Keh-! I don't have to prove myself to anyone...! If they could do a better job, then they can come out and do it!'

She stopped her barrage of pelting rubble with that thought out of the way. Looking up into the sky, she squinted her eyes. There was still that feeling of dread for some reason. Whatever it was, she didn't know, but it wasn't gonna matter in a few moments. She'd take it out in one move... Just like always...

Tatsumaki suddenly blasted into the air until she was well above the ship, staring down at the top. She crossed her arms in a display of dominance and did as she's easily done before. For a moment, it seemed like nothing. Then, the meteor came into view whisking away the clouds above. The green hue surrounding it left nothing to question.

The display absolutely floored the people watching in the bunker. Cheers of adoration and praise flew through the air in a cry of predetermined victory. Mina (Tornado's biggest fan) could hear the noise as she traveled through the crowded street, clutching her mother's hand. The bunker her father was in was nestled just on the outskirts of city Z. It seemed there were quite a few people headed this way. They were maybe a block away and could see the bunker's doors wide open. The cheers and jeers drew her interest, and she just knew it was Tatsumaki doing something incredible. 'Come on, COME ON!' she desperately thought as she and her mom continued with the flow of the people. She kept her Tornado plushy as close to her chest as possible.

Tatsumaki watched and waited for the impact that would easily tear this ship in half. There was a building tension to this particular moment, though. For some reason, it just didn't feel like this was over quite yet. There was... something... Something just wasn't right here... That's when she saw it. It came so fast that she didn't notice it until it was already ripping through the side of her own meteor. Bathed in a yellow hue instead of her green, it was much smaller and more damaging as it shot through like a commit, shattering her construct with ease. She gasped and put up a forcefield around herself before she was pelted with the fast-flying projectiles. They were coming far too fast for her to stop them. How far would they spread? She had no way of knowing.

The shockwave of such a catastrophic blast was far greater than the blast that wiped City-A clean of all its life. A deep and terribly violent rumble shook the grounds from City-A to City-Z. Saitama felt it and stopped in his tracks. He was now on his way home. He had stopped briefly by the store to ensure everything was still okay. Petty criminals often targeted stores during times like this. Luckily, this seemed to be a dangerous enough event that even the thieves and crooks were taking refuge... which was why it was strange to see that same little girl he had been speaking to in the bunker sitting on her butt a few feet in front of him, uncovered by the crowd he had been following just a second ago, all scrambling to the bunker down the block.

"... Hm...?" he hummed, raising a curious brow. '... What's she doing out here? This doesn't seem like a good time to be playing...' The girl seemed to be staring up at his head in... fear?

"MINAAA!" her mother cried out in horror, pushing her way through the crowd as fast as possible. When she made it to her, she tried to pull her to her feet, but her eyes as well found their way to Saitama's head. Surprisingly, she had a very similar reaction, only a lot more verbal. With a bloodcurdling scream, she grabbed her daughter in her arms and held her against her body, and made a break for the bunker doors that seemed a mile away at this point.

Confused, Saitama turned around to see what they were so afraid of. To his surprise, there was a very sizeable chunk of rock headed toward them, skidding down the street like a barreling bus. It was about the size of an SUV and tumbling down the street so fast it tore the ground beneath it every time it hit. The scary sight would've warranted some level of fear from anyone else. There was no chance that that woman would make it to the door with her daughter if he didn't do something... Well, not that it mattered anyway... It was about ten feet away from him and closing in incredibly fast when he turned around.

Mina watched the bald man she had been speaking to just a few minutes ago about to be absolutely steam-rolled by the massive ball of burning rock. There was no way he was getting away from it. She wanted to look away, but for some reason, she couldn't. She was frozen in shock, probably just as he was, as he made absolutely no move to run or jump away from it. He simply stood there with his hands at his sides. Those few short seconds droned out, making it feel like an eternity before it made contact, but when it did...

(BOOM!)

It hit him... but his body didn't budge... his feet skid back across the ground, entrenching into the cement, but... nothing about him moved any more than that. It looked like he was standing on a moving sidewalk with this huge rock smashed into his face. Her eyes were wide open in pure shock as she watched the bald man completely halt the momentum of that rolling death.

'... wow... he really is a Hero...' Her mother finally made it inside, just as they were shutting the doors.

Saitama pushed the steaming chunk away and stared at it with a raised brow. 'Huh... I wonder where this came from...' he thought blandly while completely ignoring the numerous rumbles from similar projectiles flying all around. "... shit... my work clothes..."

Tatsumaki looked down at the ship in surprise, more importantly at the figure that emerged from an opening in the top. It was an octopus-looking creature with black skin and glowing eyes. It appeared tentacles first, slithering out like the creature it was before it floated up above the massive ship to face her. Tatsumaki scowled at the creature with her arms crossed. Now, there was no mistaking it... This is a powerful psychic.

"Heh... I knew it!" the creature said. "I could feel a strong presence from the moment we entered this atmosphere...! You... you should just surrender now, little girl!" He spoke with confidence (more like arrogance) that rivaled her own. "Time and time again, I have proven to be the strongest mind upon every feeble little planet we've come across!"

For once, Tatsumaki didn't have the patience for banter. Visibly, her power increased, and her hair turned upwards and stuck up as if a strong wind was blowing beneath her. Her glow illuminated to an impressive degree, and her eyes were completely drenched in that green oozing power. Raising her hands, the rubble from below started arching around her like jagged tendrils, poised for the strike.

In response, the Octopus-like creature did his own little version of powering up, his yellowish glow intensifying as well. A storm of smaller pieces of debris began swirling around him like a raging tornado. The battle of the Psychics was underway.

The rest of the S-Class heroes sat in the conference room, watching the battle from the news broadcast. The footage was far from being top quality, though, that couldn't be helped, considering the distance. The blast from the meteor collision pushed the news chopper back a bit, and the sheer force of the wind emanating from the battle of minds was pushing them even further. In situations like this, the news choppers were bound to give up at one point or another when a clear shot was impossible. That would just leave them all in the dark about what was going on out there.

"If they cut the broadcast, we'll have no way of knowing if Tatsumaki needs assistance," Puri-Puri Prisoner commented, bringing that fact to light as he received treatment from one of the trauma members.

"Tch, what the hell could WE do if SHe can't handle this?" Metal Bat rightfully pointed out.

"Whatever we can," Tank-Top Hero said without hesitation. "As heroes, laying down our lives is our duty to the people. It's what's expected."

"Heh-yeah, that's when we actually stand a fighting chance," Metal Bat countered. "Going out there against that monster would be like suicide if he's on par with Tornado. Besides, we don't even know what else is in that ship of theirs."

Suddenly, Genos jumped to his feet, slamming his fist down on the table. "We can't sit here and let her fight this alone!"

"Genos... be patient," Bang said solemnly as he was getting his torso wrapped in bandages. "There are far too many unknowns. I say we wait and trust in Tornado's powers."

"I say we don't," Another voice spoke up. This one was far more mechanical than the rest. Everyone turned their attention to Metal Knight's main bot that came rolling into the room alongside their youngest member. "Child-emperor has found an opening in their ship. I have multiple combat-ready bots on their way now. Those who wish to accompany can do so. We take the fight to them while Tornado keeps this leader of theirs busy."

"What makes you think that's the leader?" Atomic Samurai questioned.

Child Emperor was the one to respond. "It's just a hunch, but from some video games I've played about alien invasions, that's usually how the story goes. There's a stronghold that is protected by the strongest warrior first and for most, then when there is a direct attack to the enemy base, the boss emerges to fight the strongest opponent. There are probably a lot of lesser enemies inside. I say it's in our best interest to take them out while they're in a contained location. If they touch ground and spread out, the rest of the bunkers will be in danger."

"Why the hell are we basing a real live alien invasion on video games? Does no one else see a problem with that?" Metal Bat muttered.

"Regardless, we can't all go," Zombieman said. "If they do so happen to jump ship while we're up there, there's gonna be nothin' stoppin' em from breaching the surroundin' areas."

"That's true," Child Emperor said, considering their options for a moment. "... I say only those who can withstand heavy firepower accompany Metal Knight and his assault unit. The others grab the remaining A-Class and B-Class heroes still in commission and head for the border of City-A and contain the threat solely here. If anything escapes, take it down."

"Tch, yeah," Metal Bat scoffed. "Well, that leaves only you and your group of death bots and... Demon Cyborg." Metal Bat said. "Is that gonna be enough to handle the entire fleet?"

"It may not be," Genos said in that perpetually heroically stoic tone of his. "But, if I know my master, he would want me to do nothing less than everything I can. He has trained me for this purpose. I will not back down when I am needed most!"

"Yeah~yeah, Atomic Samurai waved him off. "If we're gonna do somethin' we better get a move on." He stood to his feet with his blade in his hand. "Demon Cyborg, you watch your back in there. Everyone else, we have our task so... Let's get to it..."