AN: Hello! So sorry for the wait, I'm finding it harder and harder to condense these newer chapters into bite-sized chunks. I thought about splitting this one in two but decided against it. I think it flows really well as a single entry, and I think it's solid enough to hold a reader's attention, so I hope you guys don't burn out on me, here! It's a pretty action-packed read with loads of development in the areas that matter, so I really hope you enjoy it. Also, I'm introducing a new original character. I really hope they read well! Please enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to review!
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 stood on top of the helipad staring at Tatsumaki who was hovering over the edge with her arms crossed over her chest. As he suspected it would, the awkward tension between them followed their every move. She seemed mad the entire way out of the building and now was no different. "So... should we go...?"
"I can't pick you up," she said flatly, promptly turning away to leave.
"Huh?" he stopped her before she got too far. "Why not?"
"Because I can't," she spat with an annoyed huff. "Just find your own way. You're fast, right?"
"... Well... I guess so," he shrugged as he thought about it. "... but, am I too heavy or something, or-.."
Tatsumaki rolled her eyes with an irritated sigh. "I... I just can't, okay? You just... won't let me..."
"... No, it's fine. I consent or whatever."
"That's not what I mean!" she snapped back, rubbing at her temples. "Your body is just too resistant. I can't control it... I can't even lift it..." His dumb look told her that he was about to ask for further elaboration. She huffed another sigh and ran a hand through her hair. They were really gonna waste this much time? "Normally, my telekinesis is strong enough to overpower someone and move them around however I want, but if... someone is just stronger than my grip, then I can't... unless they let me... Understand...?"
Saitama looked around the clouds with a confused squint in his eyes as if he were searching for the answer. "... but, I am letting you."
"Verbally, yeah, but, you won't let me grab you. I don't know if it's subconscious or whatever, but I just... can't grab you... So you're just gonna have to find your own way there, we're wasting time." Again, she turned to leave before he stopped her.
"Well, can't you just like..."
"... What?" she demanded.
He teetered his head back and forth as if she was supposed to know what he meant, and slowly, she did.
Saitama watched as the realization spilled over into her expression. He couldn't tell, but it already seemed like she hated the idea. "... we'd get there faster..."
Tatsumaki's eyes drifted away from him as she thought it over. With a deep breath and yet another sigh of frustration, she shook her head. 'I can't believe this...'
Saitama had to squint his eyes from the rush of wind flooding into his face. He looked straight up to see the girl that had her hands hooked beneath his armpits. "Whoa... this is kinda cool."
Tatsumaki ignored him and focused on getting them there as fast as possible. If she were flying solo, a trip to City-J wouldn't have taken more than twenty minutes from the facility, but with Saitama of all people, it was hard to keep a steady pace. How could she when the one thing that has been clouding her mind for weeks was now right in the palms of her hands? She couldn't focus on flying. She couldn't focus on anything other than the conversation they just had.
'Now, I see it...'
What was that shift in his demeanor when he said that? Why was she getting a dreadful feeling that he meant something bad? Likely, because she was just verbally abusing him right before he said it... Yet, like always there was something that threw a wrench into her thought process. Even after all of that, he had the audacity to tell her that he believes in her...? She was blushing again at the thought of it all, and honestly, she didn't know which possibility was worse, right now...
And there was also one other thing that wouldn't leave her be... He said, 'If you were nicer...'
'... but I am nice...' That's how she felt, anyways. She knew she wasn't a saint, but did people really think she was mean? Was that really why no one wanted her to be the number 1 hero? Because she's not nice enough...? As far as she was concerned, there was nothing nicer than saving a life. That's why she made it a priority... but if that wasn't enough, then, '... I guess... I don't know what it means...'
"Wow," Saitama said, drawing her attention. "I can see our apartment from here..."
She followed his gaze as they passed over City-B. That wasn't even their apartment, just another complex owned by the organization, but she didn't tell him that.
"... heh," he chuckled through a bland smile, "I knew this would be better than flying in that helicopter."
Tatsumaki stared down at the top of his head.
"It's nice and all, but... It gets pretty annoying listening to those propellers all day... This, though... This is really peaceful..." She didn't respond again, so he looked up at her. She didn't seem mad anymore, but she definitely didn't look interested in talking to him, either. He watched her hair dance in the wind with an impalpable look on his face. That was the only thing he was missing here... a good set of hair... His head was getting kind of cold...
In a part of City-J not yet aware of the ongoing attack, the civilians carried on with their daily routines, completely unaware of the devastation happening only a few miles away. There were crowds of people chatting amongst themselves as they drifted carelessly down the sidewalks.
In one of those crowds was a woman wearing a hooded trench coat masterfully blending in with the masses. She didn't speak to anyone or draw any attention to herself. Despite her attempt to hide, if anyone was paying attention, they would've likely seen the panic on her face beneath her hood. She shuffled along the flow of the crowd, every so often peeking around the area as if she were diligently watching for some unknown pursuant.
Though she seemed terrified, there was also a look of interest that overcame her every time she saw something relatively normal to most. Something like a couple holding hands or... a child on a handheld gaming device... or a group of young girls giggling to themselves as they crowded around a phone... It was almost as if she had never seen these things before. She looked like a child visiting an aquarium for the first time. Everything she saw was enchanting in some odd way, but it didn't distract her from keeping her head low to avoid detection.
Soon, the flow of the crowd she was in came to a stop at an intersection. She looked around at the people nearby, wondering what they were waiting for. Maybe their destination was this corner...? She shuffled through the standstill, silently slipping by the people in her way that were too engrossed in their own lives to notice her. She had to get to the other side of the road, and she couldn't wait to do it. When she broke through the crowd and made to step off the curb, a man suddenly put a hand out in front of her a split second before a car came whizzing by.
"Whoa," he said, looking down at her. "Watch where you're goin' you idio-...!" The man's breath hitched in his throat when he was blindsided by a pair of big brown eyes.
"i-I'm sorry," she said meekly, stepping back a bit.
"... o-Oh, I'm uh... No, it's okay," he said, his demeanor changing almost immediately. "Just... be careful, ya know...? Heh..."
She smiled up at him and nodded just as a beep from nearby somehow incited the crowd to move forward all together. Why were they free to walk across the street now?
The man who helped her was like a statue, stuck in his spot on the curb watching her get swept away by the sea of bodies. The people around him just swerved by as if he wasn't even there.
The girl continued down the sidewalk with her head down, listening to the chatter of the groups around her. Still, her eyes vigilantly surveyed her entire surrounding until something else flooded her senses. This time it was a smell... a delightful smell that drew her gaze to an open-faced shop nestled in one of the buildings a few feet away.
It was a bakery with an older gentleman manning the counter, smiling as he passed a bag off to a little girl and her mother. "There you guy, little lady," he said with a kind smile. "A cookie fit for a princess!" The little girl giggled and took it from him.
"What do we say, Amaru?" her mother asked.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Heh-heh!" the old man chuckled. "Of course, your majesty! You enjoy!" He watched them leave with a kind smile before getting back to work, rearranging the premade sweets in his display case until he noticed the girl in the hoodie staring at a cupcake upfront. "Oh... Hey there, young lady! Would you like something?"
She flinched at the sound of his voice and finally looked up at him. "i-I'm sorry," she said. "I was just looking. It... smells really good."
"Heh, well thank you! These are all family recipes, passed down through many generations! What would you like?"
Her eyes returned to the cupcake she had been staring at. It was a beautiful concoction of pink frosting and sprinkles drizzled over a chocolate base. "Um... What's... what's that...?" she asked timidly.
The old man smiled and pulled it out for her. "This is one of our top sellers! It's a chocolate cupcake with strawberry icing!" He watched her face light up with joy at the sight of the delicious dessert and it warmed his heart. Grabbing a napkin from behind the counter, he cupped it underneath the base. "This was my daughter's favorite when she was a little girl, so it's always at the front of my stand! Here..."
The girl was almost locked in a trance at the sight of the treat passed her way. She gave the man a timid look when she took it. She almost seemed unsure if it was okay to accept it or not, but the old man goaded her with a kind smile. "... heh," she chuckled under her breath as she took a bite. Immediately, her taste buds were overstimulated by the sweet taste. She didn't even chew initially, instead savoring the bite on the top of her tongue. "Mmm!" she hummed a joyous confirmation.
"Heh-heh-heh!" the old man chuckled at the sight of her. "Oh, I'm so touched! It's been quite a while since anyone's enjoyed my baking that much! Don't worry about paying! That's on the house!"
"Thank you!" she replied in her sweet tone as she took another bite. She didn't understand what he meant by 'paying', but it didn't matter to her at that moment. They parted ways with a friendly farewell and she continued down the road, enjoying her treat until it was gone.
A few minutes later, she happened across another odd crowd of people blocking her path. They were all piled in front of an electronic store that had televisions on display in their windows. There seemed to be something happening. She snuck her way in so that she could see what they were watching. All of the televisions were showing news coverage of three ongoing attacks, except for one which was showing an old clip of Saitama defeating a monster.
"w-Whoa," one of the men watching said. "Kuranagi street? That's... that's not far from here."
"Should we run to a bunker?"
"What's the threat level...?"
Worried murmurs traveled around the crowd with a quickly building tension. The girl in the hoodie didn't hear a word... Her eyes were locked on the screen not related to the panic whatsoever... The channel that was showing Saitama was doing a countdown of his greatest victories, so far. She was absolutely enthralled by every clip that came up. '... One-Punch-Man... wow...'
(boom)
A soft rumble shook the crowd from its lull. Those who had been in similar situations didn't have to think twice. They darted off in the direction of a bunker, determined to make it before the nearest entrance got overcrowded. The girl in the hoodie was still locked in on Saitama's heroics. The rising sounds of panic and the rumbling of the ground all around her went completely unnoticed... until it didn't.
(CRASH!)
The girl gasped and jumped a little at the sound of an impact on the street behind her. It sounded like a car wreck, but when she turned around, it was a steaming man pulling his broken and mangled body from the indention he left in the hood of a truck. His jaw was damn near hanging off, and his right leg was twisted in the wrong direction. The entire top right half of his face seemed to have been torn off completely, but the strangest thing about it all, it looked like it was visibly healing. "... Zombieman," she said in a hushed tone of awe.
"er-..! Errrrggghhh!" the undead hero groaned, staring down the road with his one good eye. "This fuckin' thing... Darkshine, you there?"
'... I am!' a strained voice responded through his earpiece. 'I'm trying to keep it busy, but it's tearing right through me!'
"Damn it," he grumbled his reply. "... what the fuck is it looking for...? Hm...?" he turned his melting face in the direction of a girl he caught in his peripheral.
The hooded woman took a timid step back. "z-... Zombieman, are you-.."
"Hey, what the hell are ya doin'?" he questioned. "Ya know there's an attack, right? Get outta here."
"o-Oh I-.."
(CRASH!)
She was cut off by the sound of another loud impact. They both turned back down the road to see some sort of odd giant alien-like creature clinging to the side of a building. It looked like it had the body of a snake, the head of a hairless canine, and only two very long arms with two sharp talons for fingers. It had no hindlegs at all. It essentially maneuvered by dragging its massive body around with its two front limbs.
"GRAAARRRRGGGHH!" Its roar was sharp to the ear.
"Shit!" Zombieman exclaimed when the monster turned in his direction. "RUN!" He pulled his pistol from its holster with his one good arm and fired a couple of shots.
The girl stared up at the monster and watched the bullets bounce off of its cheek as if they weren't even an inconvenience. As soon as she and the beast made eye contact, the monster's entire demeanor changed from mindlessly thrashing to actively pursuant. "... no," she whispered as she took a step back.
The monster crouched against the building as if it were ready to pounce at any moment. Zombieman noticed the shift in its behavior and tracked its line of sight. '... her...?'
"GRRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" It roared as it leaped off the side of the building at an incredible speed, b-lining for the girl that turned and rounded the nearest corner.
"Damn it!" Zombieman shouted as he uselessly fired a few more shots and tried to jump in its path. Unfortunately, he didn't have a leg to stand on, so he fell flat on his face and watched the monster slither around the corner. "It's a girl!" he shouted.
'Ergh-! What?' Darkshine replied.
"It's hunting a girl!"
"... A girl?" Saitama muttered, listening in on the conversation Tatsumaki was having on her transponder.
"What girl?" she asked.
'That's unknown,' the voice of Sekingar replied. 'An unknown civilian, and the monster is incredibly fast. I know I don't have to ask you, but-..'
"We're moving," she stated firmly, ending the call and abruptly picking up the pace.
Saitama stared up at her with a lifted brow. She was suddenly much more intense-looking. The blare of the wind in his face made it hard to see, and even harder to hear, so he didn't get a chance to discuss the call. He got the gist of it, though. The monster was chasing someone, so all they had to do was kill it. Easy enough. Now, all he had to worry about was what came after. '... I hope she'll give me a ride home, too...'
"Huff-! Huff-! Huff-!" The girl in the trench coat sprinted down an alley and immediately regretted her decision when she saw there was no exit. She heard the crash of the monster slamming into a building behind her, and then she heard its booming footsteps drumming down the street. With few options, she ducked behind a garbage bin on the side of the alley and prayed for the best as she tried to slow her breathing. What could she do? Where could she go? Were there no other heroes around?
She heard the monster's body tear across the street, completely passing her alley in a scramble. Maybe it didn't see her. She could escape and make it to where she needed to be... even though she felt miles away... When everything was quiet, she pulled something from the hoodie of her jacket. A folded-up map of the cities.
"Okay, okay," she whispered, reading it over until she found something familiar. She placed a finger on a rough guess of her current position and another on her destination... all the way in City-A. "... It's... so far..." Would she be able to outrun that monster for that long...? Could she really make it...?
Suddenly, a mew from nearby caught her attention. She peeked over the top of her map and saw a little white cat sitting on the steps of the door at the back of the alley. It was staring right at her, adorably swishing its tail back and forth. Despite the situation, she was enthralled by the little creature, as if it were the first time she had ever seen one. "... heh... you're so cute," she whispered under her breath.
Before she could call it over, she gasped at the sound of a soft boom, this one much more gentle, but it still sounded like it was incredibly close... as if the monster were trying to muffle its movements.
The beast had turned back when it lost her trail. It was now right at the entrance of the alley. Its dog-like head was poised up in the air, sniffing around, trying to catch a whiff of her scent... which it eventually did. The creature's head turned down the alley with a narrowed gaze. Slowly, it started stalking forward. Despite its size, it was just slim enough to fit through the narrow way. Its two hands began clawing at the sides of the buildings as its body slithered in. The closer it got, the more potent the smell became, the more it sniffled.
The girl in the hoodie pressed up against the trash bin with every muscle in her body tensed in fear. She had a hand clasped over her mouth, holding her breath as if her life depended on it. '... Please, go away... Please, go away...!' It was close enough for her to hear its massive breaths flowing in and out of its nostrils, which only added to her growing panic. Suddenly, her gaze snapped back to the little white kitten when it started hissing at the massive creature in fear. 'No...! Please, Mr. Kitty...! Go away...!'
The monster had momentarily stopped its search when it caught sight of the aggressive little creature. It snaked its head around as if trying to get an angle on it. When the cat kept hissing, it bore its own teeth in an animalistic display of dominance. "Grrrrrrrggggghhhh...!"
The cat was not deterred. Its back was arched in a defensive position as it hissed and delivered a few pointless warning swipes to try and ward it off.
The monster reared its head back and delivered a warning of its own in the form of a roar that shook the entire alley. "RAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
The cat scurried back, pinning itself against the wall in a futile attempt to get away. The way it shrunk into itself spoke volumes for how frightened it was. It looked like it was petrified with fear, yet it still bore its own teeth and hissed its warning sounds to no end.
The creature narrowed its gaze and clawed deeper into the buildings its claws were dug into. With a steadying shimmy, it got ready to attack... but the moment it did, the girl in the hoodie darted forward and swooped the cat in her arms, masterfully leaping between the buildings, scaling her way up to the roof at an incredibly inhuman speed.
"GRAAAAARRRGGGGHHHH!" the monster roared, immediately giving chase. It clawed and tore at the buildings until it emerged up top and locked onto its fleeing target.
Like a trained acrobat, the girl was leaping from building to building, easily clearing twenty-foot gaps with ease. She wasn't necessarily moving at the speed of light, but she was much faster than an average human. Her movements were graceful as if she were dancing around the obstacles in her path.
Unfortunately, the monster giving chase had no such grace. It tore away at everything in its pursuit, and it was unnaturally quick for a creature its size. It moved with the shiftiness of a mongoose and it was closing the distance far too quickly.
Despite her panic, she couldn't help but peek back when the thunderous sounds of the monster's movements got far too close. The moment she did, the monster was already swiping at her with one of its clawed hands. Luckily for her, she had lost her footing at that very moment on the edge of the building and fell just below its grasping hand. She tucked the kitten into her chest and braced for impact, wherever that happened to be.
(... CRASH!)
She busted through a window on one of the middle floors of the next building. "Ergh-!"
The monster screeched to a halt on the edge of the roof, its gaze locking onto the broken glass dangling in the window ceil. "RAAAARRRRGGGHHH!"
The girl quickly scrambled back to her feet and continued running. This was some kind of office building, so she found herself leaping and swerving desks and cubicles in every direction. There were no walls, only windows with a great view of the surrounding buildings on all sides. It made for a terrifying experience when she could hear the monster circling around outside, but she couldn't see it.
She spun around in circles trying to get a beat on where it could possibly be coming from until the tremors suddenly stopped, leaving behind a dreadful silence. A mew from the cat drew her gaze down to the small creature she was still cradling in her arms. "It's okay," she whispered, gently rubbing her hand over its head. "You're safe, now..." The cat nuzzled into her palm purring against her warmth. She smiled and sat it down on a desk nearby. "Stay here, okay...? Someone will find you when this is all over..."
She ran to the other window, grabbing a chair along the way. "Huh-!" With all her strength, she threw the seat hard enough to break the thick glass, and just as expected...
"RAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!" the chair was snatched out of the air by the monster lying in wait.
The girl jumped out of the shattered window with a leap of faith. The monster was on its descent back down from its jump, angrily watching her glide by.
Covering her face, she crashed through another window and into the building on the other side. Without a moment of hesitation, she rolled back to her feet and kept sprinting down the hallway she found herself in. When the tremors stopped again, she slowed her pace to a hurried walk, peeking behind her every so often until she came to a stop in the center of the building.
With a few big huffs, she was able to quiet her breaths enough to hear. There were no more booms, but she wasn't stupid enough to think the monster would just leave. 'm-... Maybe if I just wait it out in here, someone will c-..'
"Don't move..."
Her breath hitched in her throat when the glimmer of a blade slowly entered her line of sight, held at her neck by someone from behind.
It was Speed-o-Sound Sonic glaring at her with a dangerous look to him as he vigilantly checked his surroundings. "How'd you find me? Who sent you? How many are there...?"
"w-... What...? i-I'm sorry, I was jus-.."
"Stop," he said sharply. "... Do you hear that? Don't turn around," he quickly reprimanded when she made the slightest twitch.
She just kept her hands up to show she wasn't a threat. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry... h-Hear what...?"
"... Hear tha-.."
(BOOM!)
Before he could even speak, the wall next to them exploded, spitting out the relentless monster that had been chasing her. Sonic lost his leverage on the girl in the confusion and quickly darted down the hall, away from the charging beast tearing its way through the narrow corridor. When he got his footing, he saw the girl up ahead, sprinting at the window.
She jumped and covered her face, plowing through the glass with great force, and he followed right after her. The next building over was a lot shorter, so they both landed on the roof across the way, and the monster followed. It was done trying to cut her off. There was a feeling of desperation behind its movements.
Sonic rolled back into a sprint with the creature right on his heels. His gaze again locked onto the girl in the hood. 'She's no civilian,' he noted, but she also didn't seem to be after him as he initially thought... if anything, he guessed that she was running from the beast behind him. His suspicions were confirmed when she peeked back over her shoulder as she ran. Suddenly, it was like the sounds of the destruction chasing after him washed away, and he was caught in the moment... She was, '... beautiful...' He could only see her face, but he couldn't describe her any other way. Her pretty brown eyes shifted from the devastation happening over his shoulder right into his own... and it was like he suddenly couldn't breathe.
With a blink, she turned back and continued running, and as she approached the edge of the building, he was expecting another big jump. Instead, she gently lifted her legs off the ground. It was more of a low hop that carried her just enough to pass the edge of the roof, but before she fell, she hooked her hand onto the ledge and swung her body straight down to the ground. Sonic took the leap to the other side and the monster came screaming off the ledge behind him.
"RAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" It roared, slamming into the sidewalk on the other side of the road.
The girl in the hoodie was already rounding the corner when the beast scrambled back to its lone limbs and gave chase. Sonic stood on the other rooftop and held his blade at his side as he watched the creature fumble around the corner. He didn't give chase... this wasn't his fight, and he wanted no part of it...
Still, he was a man, and as a man, he had no shame in admitting his attraction. '... That woman was beautiful... Who was she...?'
As fluid as a dancer, the hooded girl outpaced the quick monster with her unnatural acrobatics. In a way, her agility was cat-like, so flexible and elegant. She slipped away from the monster's snatching hands at the last moment a couple of times before she suddenly cut a sharp right that the beast wasn't ready for. It scrambled past the intersection before screeching to a halt and resuming the chase.
She looked back with a bit of relief. That little maneuver at least bought her a little room, but she couldn't keep this up all the way to City-A. Were there really no other heroes around? 'Please...! One Punch Man...! Where are you...?'
"RAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!"
She turned back not a second too late to see a truck the monster threw only feet away. With no time to think, she slid on the ground and watched it bounce right over her before hopping back into her sprint.
The monster was still charging as fast as it could drag its snake-like body. Along its way, it grabbed abandoned vehicles and launched them with no real precision, and the girl evaded every attack. With a menacing growl, it cut a corner and picked up speed as it pounced around the block.
The girl could hear its movements on the street over, and she heard when it passed her by, so she skid to a stop when it suddenly jumped out in front of her at the next intersection.
Like a stalking predator, it narrowed its gaze and sunk into a daring pose, ready to pounce in whatever direction it needed to. It was absolutely fuming, slopping drool out the side of its snarling snout.
Despite her many possible routes, the girl was frozen in her spot, locked in a stand-off with the towering monster. At that moment, it really felt like she had exhausted her options. No matter where she ran, it had a beat on her. Eventually, her luck was gonna run out, and she'd be caught. She felt further from salvation than ever before... until...
"Ugh... disgusting..."
Both the monster and the girl traced the source of the voice to the top of a nearby building, and immediately, her eyes lit up with joy at who she saw.
It was Amai Mask stuffing his hands into a pair of black gloves, glaring at the monster below. A sudden cutesy smile crossed his face when he got its attention. "You unsightly abomination. I had to cancel a concert tonight just to deal with you, so why don't you be a good little dog and die, quickly, okay...?"
"RAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!" it roared, launching a car his way. He jumped before it shattered the edge of the building.
The girl in the hood took the opportunity and dashed away from the ensuing battle. 'He's an A-Class hero! So, maybe he can beat it!' she hoped. If nothing else, he could buy her some time to gain a comfortable lead, which was really all she needed. She just had to make it to One-Punch-Man. '... He'll save me... This time, for sure...! I know it...'
Tatsumaki and Saitama finally made it to City-J, but in every direction they looked, they found no signs of an ongoing attack, and apparently, the association didn't have an update for them.
"What the hell do you mean you can't track it!?" Tatsumaki demanded.
'Exactly that,' Sitch responded. 'The creature was far too hostile for the news choppers to hang around, so they vacated the area. Zombieman was the last to see it.'
"Well, where is he!?"
'We're trying to contact him, now, and we have reason to believe that Amai Mask may be currently engaged with the target.'
"Congrats, heh," Saitama joked, quietly.
Tatsumaki looked down at him with a shake of her head.
'Unfortunately, he didn't wait to hear the full report,' Sitch continued. 'We're trying to get through to him, but he won't respond. If that civilian woman is in harm's way, Amai Mask may be unaware.'
"So, what?" Tatsumaki said. "We're just supposed to keep flying around, hoping we run into them?"
'No,' Sekingar cut in. 'From what we were able to attain from the earlier footage of its attack, the creature is not very subtle about its movements. Head to the Fumichi district, you should be able to pick up its trail of destruction.'
"Ugh," she rolled her eyes. "Whatever!" If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Now, that snobby bastard Amai Mask was likely to put a civilian in danger, and they still had very little information about where to go. What more could possibly go wrong, today?
Saitama stared up at her angry face when she ended the call. She really did have a mean way about her... but even now, he could tell it was just frustration. It seemed like they were gonna spend more time looking for the fight than actually fighting, and for this to be his day off, it kind of ticked him off a bit, too... Then again, he really didn't have anything planned, so for his day to consist of flying around the cities without having to listen to the aggravating fapping sounds of the helicopter wings... it wasn't that bad...
In fact, he kind of liked flying like this. Being an Esper definitely seemed to have its perks. Before, it just kind of seemed like all they did was throw rocks around, something literally anyone could do, but now that he saw the best in action, he had a newfound respect for it. "... Heh..."
Tatsumaki looked down at him again when she heard him chuckle. What the hell was so funny? Before she could think too much on it, her eyes traveled past his bald head to the ground when something interesting caught her eye. She immediately stopped and swooped them down to the ground.
"w-Whoa," Saitama flailed his arms when she let him go until he landed on his feet. "... uh..." Before he could ask what was going on, he saw her swoop over to a pile of debris crumbled in front of a gaping hole in the side of a building.
Tatsumaki floated over the destruction with her arms crossed. Without lifting a finger, she flung the big slabs of concrete away revealing the injured body of Superalloy Darkshine.
"er-... Ergh-!" he groaned, stirring awake at the sudden commotion. "w-... What happened...?"
"Uh... looks like you got beat up," Saitama pointed out as he walked over.
"ergh... One-Punch-Man?"
"Saitama's fine," he said. "You okay?"
The big man rubbed at his head with a wince. "I... I think so... I was jus-.."
"Where's the monster?" Tatsumaki cut him off when she lost patience. "Did you see where it went or were you too busy sleeping?"
"Huh...? It got away?"
"Obviously!" she shouted. "Why the hell do you think we're here!?"
"uh-!" Darkshine gasped when he finally took note of their situation. If the organization sent S-Class 1 and 2, then, "They... upped it to Dragon, then?"
Saitama shrugged. "I don't think so. The boss man said it was a Demon-level, right?" he asked, looking up at Tatsumaki.
"No," Darkshine stated firmly before she could respond. The look on his face was almost horrified as if he had seen something very disturbing. "... It's a Dragon-level threat... For sure!"
"Hm...?" Saitama raised a curious brow at his sudden shift in demeanor. "Why? What kind of monster was it...?"
"i-... I don't know... w-... We killed it twice, but it just kept revi-.."
"We know that already!" Tatsumaki rushed him, growing impatient at his choppy speech pattern. "What does it do!?"
"It... It's a big brute type, for sure, with claws and everything, but... That's not what made it so dangerous..."
Tatsumaki let out a big exaggerated sigh, clearly annoyed by his dramatic delivery. Saitama found it annoying himself, but he didn't overreact. He just stared at the big man with a plain face, yawning into his palm.
Darkshine thought long and hard about how to word it, but he couldn't say for sure he saw what he did. It happened so fast, and before then, it was a regular beast. It was only after he killed it the second time that it displayed a new ability... One that seemed far too unfair for a monster that size. "... It... I mean... I think it..."
"Oh my god!" Tatsumaki shouted, angrily, pacing around in the air as if she were about to lose her cool. "Just say it already! You're WASTING OUR TIME!"
(BOOM!)
"er-...!" Amai Mask recoiled at the pain that surged through his body. He was just thrown into the side of an apartment complex by the monster he was chasing. When he saw the beast zip past the hole in the wall, he pulled himself from the destroyed living room and jumped back into the chase. 'Tch-! Still trying to run, huh...!?'
For as dangerous as those bozos Sitch and Sekingar made it sound, he couldn't really see the threat. So far, all it's done is run away. Maybe he should've listened to their mission report a little more. Truth be told, he was just way too frustrated about canceling his show for something so trivial. Couldn't entertain an audience if they were all cowering in a bunker somewhere.
When the monster cut a sharp corner at an intersection up ahead, Amai Mask quickly scaled a building nearby and took a more direct route toward the sounds of its thundering steps across the rooftops. Prolonging this chase would only complicate the issue. It was just his luck that there were no news choppers around to witness what he was about to do. If he wanted to kill this thing before it broke through to another city, he'd have to get... violent... and that was bad for his public image, for more reasons than he was willing to admit.
"I'm done playing games with this slobbering mutt!" He suddenly began picking up speed at an alarming rate, and the texture of his skin started changing. It seemed like every vein in his body was starting to bulge to the surface. With a crazed look in his eyes, he jumped from a ledge, launching himself in the direction of the sounds of devastation in the distance.
From his new vantage point, he caught sight of the quick-moving beast, slithering down the street in an all-out sprint. Luckily, his jump was well-placed. He had the perfect trajectory to deal a quick shot to the filthy creature's back. There was no way it was escaping his wrath, especially after touching him with its disgusting claws.
"Hergh-! Hergh-! Hergh-!" the monster huffed and tore its way down the road with a vengeance, following the fading scent of the girl it was chasing. In its dead sprint, it was left defenseless against the incoming attack from above.
"Hrarrggghhhh!" Amai Mask shouted, chopping at the monster before it noticed him. His attack landed a bit off target and sliced through the side of what he could only guess was its stomach.
"RAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!" Immediately, the monster tumbled forward, thrashing in pain. Its sporadic flailing managed to catch the hero with a tail whip, flinging him back up toward the top of a building.
Amai Mask fell short of clearing the edge and crashed through the wall of the top floor before busting through the ceiling. He flipped through the air a few times until he tumbled across the roof with a series of painful groans. Just before he rolled off, he managed to latch onto the ledge and pull himself back up. Immediately, he ran back, determined to keep the pressure on now that he had it injured, but... when he made it back across the roof, it was nowhere to be seen...
'... What the hell...? There's no way it escaped without me hearing it...' He looked around for any sign of it, but the only trace left behind was a splotch of blood where he had sliced it open. That splotch followed its trail of destruction from where he had seen it fall, but it faded away, leaving no indication of the direction it went. "... Tch-! What a waste of my time," he spat, angrily pulling out his transponder that he had cut off on his way here. "What the hell did they say it co-..?"
(CRASH!)
Amai Mask was suddenly struck by a car that came flying from the street below. The impact shattered the edge of the building and blasted him into the air with a violent ragdoll. 'w-What the hell!?' He righted himself in the air and stumbled back into the center of the rooftop before charging forward and leaping to the other side. With a crash, he dug his hand into the brick of the building and looked around the quiet street with a searching glare. There was nothing around for blocks in either direction. Was it that annoying brat, Tornado, playing games with him...?
(WOOSH CRASH!)
Again, a vehicle was thrown in his direction a moment before he glanced away, but this time, he saw it... or rather, he didn't. "Tch-! You cheap bastard," he mocked as he landed on the road, staring across the way at seemingly nothing. "That's it, huh...? That's your big reveal? Your trump card...?" He watched as another vehicle was crushed at its midpoint and hurled his way. He jumped away from the danger and kept a lock on the empty space the attack came from. "You think you have a shot at living, just because I can't see you?" With a twisted crack of his neck, he took off sprinting with an animalistic look on his face. "That just makes it easier for me! Now, I don't have to look at your disgusting face when I tear you to shreds!"
"An invisible monster, huh?" Saitama mindlessly uttered as he followed Tatsumaki who was looking for the creature's trail when they suddenly hit a dead end. "... Guess that's gonna make it harder to find..."
Tatsumaki ignored him, frantically searching for the next clue somewhere nearby. She was hovering low to the street. Up until now, the monster had left a pretty consistent trail of destruction along the lower sides of the buildings and the roads, which made sense considering they were told that it was chasing a civilian. Other than a pile-up of cars ahead of them, there was nothing to say it had gone this way... Or if it did, it suddenly sprouted wings and flew.
"You ever fight anything invisible?"
With a frustrated sigh, she took a step back and thought about the possibilities until she registered his question. "... No..."
Saitama looked around as well... more so at the stores and whatnot. He had never been to this part of City-J. "Yeah, me neither... It's pretty weird that a monster that big has a power like that though, right?" he asked, looking at a fairly distinguishable footprint the size of a car implanted into the street.
"Sure," she replied in an obviously irritated tone.
Saitama looked up at her with a flat expression. '... huh... guess she's still mad...' Out the side of his eye, he saw something of interest. A dresser hanging partially from the side of a building in the alleyway next to him. "Uh... Maybe this way?" he pointed out.
Tatsumaki followed his gaze and immediately got back on the trail. 'Shit... an alley...?' The monster's claw marks completely tore away at the sides of the buildings, and... oddly, up to the rooftop...? Why the hell would it be up there? She quickly ascended for a better view and was greeted by its continued path of destruction. '... Was it really chasing a civilian...? Maybe running from another hero...?'
Saitama landed on the edge of the building below her and saw the damage for himself. "Whoa... I hope they had insurance..."
Tatsumaki took off, flying at a fairly brisk pace until she reached the end of the monster's rooftop trail of breadcrumbs. From her vantage point, she immediately saw where the trail continued, back on the street, but... she also took note of the single busted-out window on the glass building in front of her... and the white cat that sat in the opening, bathing itself. The only logical theory she had was that Amai Mask must've engaged the creature back in that alley. 'Stupid A-Class idiot,' she mentally grumbled. 'Couldn't even finish it when you had it cornered, huh?'
"... heh," Saitama chuckled from the edge of the building. Tatsumaki nearly took off before she heard him and followed his gaze back to the cat in the window. "I used to work in a building like that until I got fired... Funny thing is, I still don't know what we actually did..."
"You don't know what you did... at your job?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Not really... It's kinda been a long time, though, so maybe I just don't remember..."
"Why'd they fire you? Slacking off?" she snarkily guessed.
"Hm...?" He thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so... I was actually a good worker, most of the time, but... I guess it just got boring one day, and I stopped trying..."
Tatsumaki looked away from him. What was it with him and being bored? She swooped around the building to continue the search, and Saitama soon followed, jumping to the nearest building and running alongside her.
"Where'd you used to work?" he asked when they stopped again.
Tatsumaki's narrowed gaze found its way over to the next building where there was a huge gaping hole about a third of the way up. "What?" she asked, flying over to it.
Saitama continued to follow. "Uh... Your job before this?"
"... I didn't have one," she said.
"... Ever?"
"No..."
Saitama jumped the gap and stood at the edge of the hole, staring in at the apartment torn to shreds. "Oh..." He scanned the room which looked a bit strange, even in spite of its current state. There were swords, throwing stars, and other ninja-related weapons all around. "So, you were unemployed... Did you live with your parents or someth-.."
"Stop," she stated much more firmly.
Saitama physically followed her command and came to a screeching halt as if he were afraid he had triggered some trap. When nothing happened, he turned back around to see her look of either anger or confusion... he couldn't really tell. "... what?"
"... s-... Stop talking... I don't know what you're trying to do, but..." Her confidence suddenly left her under the confused look he sent her way. She couldn't articulate her words anymore. "Just... stop it..."
"Um... okay..." They stared at each other for a very awkward second until Tatsumaki floated by him to see where the newly formed tunnel led. Saitama took a moment to process what just happened before he followed her again. "... but, we were just talking, right...? Is that against the rules on missions?"
"Yes..."
"... Really...? I feel like I talk all the time."
"Not about personal stuff," she quickly said, hoping to end the topic.
'... Personal stuff?' he wondered. When had he asked something personal? Was it the job thing?
(boom)
Before he could think more about it, they both stopped moving when the tunnel around them shook at the sound of a distant blast. After a moment of hesitation, Tatsumaki blasted out of the hole and back up over the buildings until she saw a plume of black smoke in the distance. She immediately took off, firing like a bullet. Saitama would just have to catch up later.
At the source of the black smoke, the lifeless body of a monster lay face down in the middle of the road. This creature resembled an oversized bat with the torso of a man, and it was easily the size of a mac truck laid out in the middle of the street. Standing on its head was Flashy Flash who stabbed his sword down deep into its skull to ensure it was really dead.
In front of the beast's mouth was Atomic Samurai who flicked his blade clean of its black blood as he conversed through his transponder. "Yeah, it's really dead this time," he said in his usual laid-back tone. "Took of us for one hell of a ride, though. You guys are definitely gonna have to write a fat check for all that damage."
'Got it,' Sitch said. 'You said it revived twice?'
"Yup," he replied with a groan as he stretched his back out. "We cut its head off the first time and it grew back. The second time, it was in pieces and it pulled itself back together and sprouted wings... What's with that, anyway?"
'That's unclear,' Sekingar jumped in. 'It's the same behavioral pattern as the creature Tornado defeated yesterday, as well as the one that took down Darkshine and Zombieman in City-J.'
"Darkshine and Zombieman?" he asked. "Man, what the hell were they fighting?"
'Don't worry,' Sitch said. 'They're fine, and we've deployed Tornado and One-Punch-Man. They should be catching up with that monster any time soon.'
"Speak of the devil," Flashy Flash muttered behind him.
Atomic Samurai followed his gaze up to the sky when Tornado came floating down with her arms crossed. "Heh... Looks like they got turned around."
"What the hell are you two doing here?" she demanded. "Was this the monster?"
"It was ours," Flashy Flash said, side-eyeing her with his usual look of distaste. "Why are you here?"
"I thought you were in City-F!"
"This is City-F," Atomic Samurai said, raising a curious brow.
"No, dumbass," she spat. "This is City-J."
The two swordsmen looked at each other strangely before they started looking around to confirm that. "... Geez," Atomic Samurai said. "Damn thing flew us over four cities."
"Hm," Flashy Flash hummed as his mind got to thinking. "... It wasn't trying to escape, after all."
'What do you mean?' Sekingar asked.
Atomic Samurai tossed his transponder over to him so that he could explain. "You said the creature in City-J was pursuing a civilian. They have similar regenerative abilities. They attacked simultaneously."
"And it flew us right into City-J," Atomic Samurai added.
'... They're all after the girl,' Sitch summed up what he was implying.
"... Why?"
The three heroes turned to the source of the familiar new voice to see Saitama walking up as if he had been there the whole time. Tatsumaki was actually surprised to see him. '... He really is fast...'
"Hey," Atomic Samurai said in a cheery tone. "One-Punch-Man. Long time no see."
"Who is this woman?" Flashy Flash said, cutting their greeting short before it began.
'That's unknown,' Sekingar said. 'It's too soon to make assumptions, but she's obviously valuable. If it's true, that makes this a strategic attack, meaning someone is behind the scenes sending these creatures out... controlling them... If we want to find out who, and why, we better get our hands on this civilian before they do...'
Still running and masterfully maneuvering through the cluttered streets, the girl in the hooded trench coat grew more and more worried as time went on. She thought she was in the clear a few minutes ago until the sounds of the thundering booms picked up again. She wasn't even sure she was going the right way, anymore, but she was too afraid to stop. It felt like that monster was still breathing down her neck waiting for any sign of her letting up, and she still felt miles away from where she needed to be and even further from anyone who could help her... or so she thought.
"Come on, already! You said you were a mechanic!"
She slid to a halt just before she broke through to the intersection. Still huffing and puffing, she crept up to the edge of the building and peeked out to the other side of the street. There were a number of people standing outside of a bunker watching one man try and fix a door. They were all in... tanktops for some reason. All of them except for one who looked like a hero she had seen once before... Something about a bike rider of justice or something?
"Can you do it, or not!?" one of the tanktop wearers shouted.
The middle-aged man working on the mechanical door with tools from his toolbox was sweating bullets. His grip on his tools was shaky at best, and the trembling of the ground was only making him more nervous. "i-I told you! I don't know! It's... This tech is Metal Knights! I'm nowhere near his level of mechanics!"
"Then why the hell did'ya volunteer for, ya idiot!"
"t-Tanktop Tiger!" Mumem Rider stopped him. "Please, calm down!" he turned to the man with a sincere smile. "Mr. Shimura's doing the best he can. We should all support him as much as possible."
"Ah, don't gimme that crap, bike boy!" Tanktop Tiger said, shoving him aside. "We ain't got time to hold hands and sing!" He stepped up to the mechanic with a narrowed gaze. "You raised your damn hand when we asked if anyone could help! So, you wanna be a hero? Now's your chance! Fix the damn door!"
"i-I..."
(boom)
Another blast shook the ground beneath them, inciting a wave of panic from the group and the hundreds of citizens inside.
"Damn it!" Tanktop Girl shouted. "That felt closer!"
Tanktop Blackhole suddenly ran up to the mechanic and snatched him up by the front of his shirt. "You get this damn door running again! You hear me!? Get it back up and running, right now!"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa!"
"Hey, calm down!"
"Someone grab him!"
The other Tanktop members suddenly rushed in to restrain him before he harmed a civilian.
Mumen Rider sighed at their predicament as he thought of what to do. They were gonna be in serious trouble if they couldn't get the door closed. According to their last update twenty minutes ago, this bunker was smack in the middle of the danger zone. If worse came to worse, then he and the Tanktop Army were gonna have to face whatever this Demon-level threat was on their own. He had called the organization for advice a number of times, but they were being overrun with calls and couldn't give him any information other than the schematics for the door. With a hefty sigh, he turned around to survey the area for anything they could use to maybe block the entrance. That was when he saw the girl in the trench coat, timidly walking toward them.
"... h-Hey!" he called out, jogging toward her a bit so she could hear him. "Hey, come on! Get inside, it's not safe out here...! It's dangerous! There's an atta-..." Suddenly, he found his words extremely hard to come by when he got close enough to see her face.
The girl stopped in the middle of the street, thinking about continuing on. Could she really afford to stop moving? It seemed like it didn't matter if she tried to hide or not. The monster always seemed to find her. "... I... I need to make it to City-A," she informed him. "Can... you help me...?"
"... i-... i-I can... Yeah," he said, shaking out of his stupor. "Yeah, I can! I'm... I'm a hero, so... I..."
"Hey, bike boy!" Tanktop Tiger shouted from the door of the bunker. "What the hell are you d-... Whoa..."
"What?" Tanktop Blackhole uttered, drawing the gaze of the others to the girl in the street. An awkward silence suddenly flooded the area as they all stared at her. It was the only woman in their group to break the silence, and ironically, she said exactly what they were all thinking.
"...wow... she's beautiful."
(CRASH!)
The entire group reeled when something came crashing down right between them and the girl in the middle of the road. Whatever it was completely obliterated the pavement on the street, freezing the hooded woman in her spot a few feet away.
"... ergh-! You motherfucker!" Amai Mask pulled himself from the crushed road, staring back in the direction he came from. His right arm was completely crushed from the shoulder down, and there was blood streaming from his forehead, covering half of his face in a red sheen.
"Amai Mask!" Mumen Rider shouted, drawing his attention to the fact that he wasn't alone.
"Huh...?" His eyes traveled around the group cowering next to the bunker door, and it took a moment for him to process what was going on. '... Damn it... They all saw me in such a negative light... What the hell are they doing out here!?' He locked in on the civilian man with the toolbox, eagerly trying to fix the door, and realized what was going on. '... Great... now, I might have to kill them all...'
"Um... excuse me...?"
His head snapped around to the new voice right next to him, and just like the others, he was surprised by what he saw. 'w-... who is this...?'
"... Are you okay?" she asked.
The concern in those big brown eyes held him in a mental grip. He couldn't even tell if he was breathing, right now. In all of his days, he had never seen something so... divine... So exquisite. '... so beautiful...' Like the flip of a switch, his entire demeanor changed from just a few moments ago as he stood to his full height. "... Oh, heh-heh! Hey, there. Excuse my tongue. It seems I nearly lost my composure for a second."
"o-Oh," she said. "It's okay. y-.. You look hurt, though. Are you okay?"
"I am!" he replied with a cheeky grin. "I understand your concern, but you shouldn't be out here, right now. I must admit, I'm having a little more trouble than usual, but as long as I'm here, I won't let evil-doers do as they please!"
"... heh," she chuckled with a kind smile. "... right..."
"So, if you'd please make your way inside, I c-.."
"RAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
'Shit! It's too late!' He dropped that phony smile immediately and stared in the direction he came from with a piercing gaze, desperate to find any sign of the invisible foe. "Get inside, now," he demanded.
"w-What was that?" Mumen Rider asked. He had his hands up as if he intended to box whatever monster came their way.
"All of you!" Amai Mask shouted. "Get inside, right now! It's already here!" There was no time for him to be coy about it, anymore. It wasn't gonna be graceful, but he now realized he couldn't hold anything back against this monster. He had to pull out all of the stops if he wanted to protect all of these people.
"Uh-!" Tanktop Tiger gasped. "b-... but the door is-.."
"Forget it!" he shouted. "Just get inside! It won't follow you!"
The Tanktop Army members quickly did as instructed and scrambled back inside. Mumen Rider nearly followed before he remembered why he ran out so far in the first place. "m-.. Miss?" he called out to her.
The girl was searching around for the monster as well until she heard him call her.
"We should head in, now." For some reason, she still seemed apprehensive to follow him. "... It's not safe out here..."
The girl almost wanted to comply, but... she had a reason to believe that would be a very bad decision. She gasped at the sound of crunching metal from the road in front of them. Something was slowly stepping over the vehicles clogging the road, crushing the cars beneath its massive weight.
"Don't worry," Amai Mask said sweetly, drawing her gaze back. He had that smile on his face again. Aside from the blood covering half of his visage, he looked exactly like he did on TV. "... I'm gonna protect you... I promise..."
"Hrrrrrrgggghhhh..."
She turned back when she heard that low menacing growl. '... I can't... It's after me,' she thought. '... If I try and hide in there, it'll claw its way in, and... everyone will be in danger... I can't let it hurt anyone, anymore... I won't!'
"Hey!" Mumen Rider shouted when she suddenly turned and ran in the opposite direction. "Miss!"
"RAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!"
They were even more shocked when the invisible creature's destructive movements started chasing after her, but before they could recover...
"GRAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!"
(BOOM!)
ANOTHER hulking monster came falling from the sky, slamming into the building right behind the invisible creature. This one was a completely indescribable creature. Its only identifiable characteristics were its grey skin, wings, and its lone eye sitting in the middle of its head. Without a moment of hesitation, it began charging after the invisible monster and the pretty girl. Following close behind it was Genos and Drive Knight in their Tactical Combination mode, firing off an endless round of bullets along their way.
The scale of this attack just got a lot bigger, and it left Amai Mask frustrated and incredibly confused. "... What the hell is going on!?"
Saitama ran alongside Flashy Flash and Atomic Samurai as they listened in on another update from Sitch and Sekingar. Tatsumaki flew just over the top of them, waiting for directions.
'We have it!' Sekingar shouted victoriously. 'Bunker 485, directly south of your location! Both of the remaining monsters are closing in on the girl!'
Immediately, Tatsumaki blasted off, planning on leaving them in the dust, but Flashy Flash refused to let that happen. He was the touted fastest hero in the organization, after all. So, he took off at full speed and kept a keen eye on the woman in the sky...
"Hey, how far is that?" Saitama asked.
"Uh-!" Flashy Flash gasped when he turned to his left to see him running right alongside him without so much as a grimace on his face. His running form was sloppy and completely untrained, yet he was keeping up with him at top speed. '... Impossible...!' he ramped it up a bit more and slightly pulled ahead of him.
Saitama watched him pull away for a moment with a curious look on his face. 'hm...?'
(Boom!)
With a distant blast, he saw a cloud of black smoke slowly rise above the buildings. "... Oh, I think I see it." With a burst of speed, he completely passed Flashy Flash up with no effort, leaving the speedy hero in the dust.
'No...! NO!' Flashy Flash mentally panicked, putting all he had into just keeping up. It completely shattered his pride to see him pull away as easily as he did.
Atomic Samurai stopped running when the others left him behind and held his sides as he huffed and puffed. "Damn it...! I really am gettin' old...!"
Amai Mask masterfully sprinted through the ensuing destruction happening all around him. He jumped ducked and dived away from flying cars, falling debris, and the massive swings of the second monster that appeared as they all chased down the street after the girl in the trench coat. The ground was quaking at a continuous intensity with every step the two creatures took, and Genos firing off an endless stream of bullets made it so that he couldn't hear a single thing... but it was almost like he wouldn't be able to anyways...
His eyes were firmly set on the mystery woman leading the pack ahead of them. The way she looked, the way she spoke... the way she moved... He watched her maneuver through the destruction nearly as fast as him, but far more gracefully. '... Such poise in the heat of battle... such divine elegance...'
The girl in the hood vaulted over another car and peeked behind her in a quick glance that felt like forever to Amai Mask. In that glance alone, it was like he was seeing her for the very first time. "Such beauty!" He suddenly darted forward at a faster rate, again with every vein on his body popping up on his skin. He pounced around the flailing winged creature that Genos was attacking using the buildings around them, and with a vague idea of where it was, he shot at the invisible creature just feet behind her and slashed his hands all around, hoping to hit something.
Three of his blinded strikes managed to slice the beast open in some indiscriminate location. When he did, its cloak of invisibility flickered a bit but held firm in the end... So, he didn't see its attack that hit him like a speeding truck, blasting him into the office building behind him.
The girl in the hood watched it happen over her shoulder, and it only panicked her more. "No!" She kept up her pace, desperately thinking of what she could do. 'Gotta think! Gotta think, fast...! Please, think...!' That's when she saw something of interest on the street up ahead.
'Genos,' Drive Knight mentally called out through their neural connection as they swerved around the swiping hands of the creature they'd been chasing.
"What is it!?"
'It's healing faster than we can damage it. Our survivability of a continued pursuit is unlikely.'
"We can do it!" he shouted.
'We cannot. I am activating your thermal vision.'
"wh-..!" Genos nearly quested him until he saw what he didn't before. "There are two!"
'Indeed. We are underprepared for the scale of this attack.'
"We can't just give up! Master Saitama would never approve of-.."
'We are not,' he replied, confusing him. 'Look closer.'
Genos furrowed his brow and did as instructed, unsure of what he was supposed to be looking for until he saw it. "Tch-! A civilian!"
'She is no mere civilian,' Drive Knight informed him. 'Her movements are well-trained and exceedingly faster than a normal human... and she appears to be the target of these creatures.'
"Why!?"
'Unknown. It does not matter. For now, we have to split them up.'
"How do we-..!" He didn't finish his question when the woman suddenly made a bold move. She jumped up in the air as they ran and stomped down on a sewer cap in the middle of the intersection, dropping down to the streets undercarriage.
"RAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" Without a shred of hesitation, the invisible monster leaped up and plowed down on the street, breaking through almost immediately. The maneuver was quick, but not quick enough for the winged creature to follow. It tumbled over the entrance in a scramble.
'Now!'
Genos flew right at its face, pestering its vision with shots. The creature tried to evade, but they weren't letting up.
"Grrrgghhh-! GRAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!" it roared, turning away from the incessant firing and taking flight once again.
As soon as it took off, Genos made to fly after it before he was stopped.
'No, go for the tunnel.'
"Tch-! It'll get away!"
'It won't. There are three incoming human life forms, and given their speeds, I am certain one of them is Tornado. As the only ones that can see it, we must keep track of the invisible creature.'
"Understood," he said with a grimace, swooping back into the collapsed section of the road to continue a new chase.
The massive flying monster flew up into the clouds before it slowly came to a stop. Then, it began a slow descent into a nose dive, screaming back down to the city below. Along its way, it began emitting a rhythmic hum from its body that picked up in intensity the faster it went. With every hum, energy began building up along its protruding spin, traveling up to its head. It swooped down into a low and incredibly fast flight just above the buildings.
Below it, the street bubbled and boiled with every movement from the other monster. Like a creeping earthquake, the road cracked and caved in some areas, exposing glimpses of the underground chase. The flying creature neared the front of the devastation before that hum hit its peak and it opened its mouth...
The very second before it released its devastating blast, its jaws were snapped shut. The energy ripped through its snout in small fissures, tearing away at anything it touched. Tatsumaki came zooming up next to it, drawing its attention. The beast turned upward and tried to escape, but before it could she snatched one of its wings shut with a sharp clench of her hand.
"RAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" The behemoth immediately started to drop down, headed straight for the side of the street, likely to take out a few buildings based on its trajectory, but before it could, Tatsumaki grabbed its neck and dragged it back to the middle of the road where it tumbled behind the creeping cracks from underground. "ERRRGGGHHH!" With a groan, it tried to pick itself back up, but before it could, Tatsumaki came swooping by like a bullet, splattering its entire head against the road without stopping.
She looked back over her shoulder to make sure she got it before focusing on the calamity that was this unnatural earthquake. Through the chunks of the street dropping away, she could see the light of Genos and Drive Knight's combination attacks, and she could hear the frustrated groans of the invisible beast. What could she do? She couldn't just collapse the street with them in there. Plus, she didn't know where this civilian woman was. Did the creature already have her? Was it too late...?
As she pondered these questions, she didn't think twice about the monster she had just annihilated blocks behind her... so, it came as a shock when the world suddenly got a lot darker around her, and she made the startling realization that she was surrounded by its teeth, moments away from being swallowed whole. It was too late...
Too late to crush it, too late to throw up a barrier... it was just too l-..
"urgh-!" she groaned when she was suddenly tackled out of the air. Saitama was just in time, or likely a little late. He had to punch a hole through the massive teeth in his way, but he got her.
(CRASH!)
He wrapped her up in a bear hug when they blasted through the side of a building, absolutely destroying everything in their way. They flipped, tumbled, and rolled until their momentum slowed just before they broke through the last wall. When they did, he accidentally lost his hold on her as he fell back down toward the bottom of the next building over.
Tatsumaki spun with her momentum and quickly caught her bearings. As if it were by sheer instinct, her eyes zoned in on her falling co-worker. Obviously, he would've been completely fine, but by reflex alone, she reached a hand out and tried to save him... but it was at that very moment that everything seemed to collide, all at once. Every chase happening around them, every conflict came screeching to the finish.
The moment she reached, the street at the nearby intersection exploded, spitting out a flickering image of a monster poised for an attack on the girl in the hooded trench coat that was now essentially torn to pieces. Tatsumaki's gaze shifted in her direction, just as her cloak lost the last few threads holding it together... and when it slipped off into the wind, she couldn't believe her eyes...
The most beautiful face she had ever seen... big beautiful light brown eyes, and an unbelievably flattering light shade of pink in her shoulder lengthed hair... That girl was absolutely flawless in every way imaginable when it came to her outward appearance. The sort of natural beauty that transcended beyond something as complex as personal preference. She was... for lack of a better term, universally attractive as if she were literally sculpted to be the prettiest thing on this planet... She was so pretty that Tatsumaki didn't even notice that she didn't catch Saitama when he slammed into the foundation of the building with a huge blast.
(BOOM!)
The monster pinned the pink-haired girl to the wall with a victorious roar, still flickering in and out of sight. Before Tatsumaki could make a move to save her, the building Saitama fell into began toppling over. She sparred it a quick glance and immediately held it up on what was left of its base. With her other hand, she aimed for the flickering monster's head to get an instant kill shot, but before she could, her line of sight was blocked by flying debris when the other monster came screaming from around the corner, tearing off chunks of the side of the building with Genos and Drive knight's blade lodged deep in its skull, and on the other side of the road, the two combined mechanical heroes went zooming by, through the building.
The pink-haired girl held onto the claw that was pinning her up against the wall. Her brown eyes stared into the enraged gaze of the monster with absolute fear. "... Please, stop," she said gently, nearly in tears.
"Hrrrrrggghhh-!" the creature roared, pushing her hard enough to crack the wall from the pressure.
"Please!" she squeaked out. "Don't...!"
The monster's growl slowed to a deep and menacing clicking sound that she could feel in her chest. For some reason, it was suddenly letting up a bit. When she opened her eyes, there was something different... The rage in its piercing gaze was faltering. "... i-.. It's okay, now..." She timidly lifted her hands away from its claws. This was the same monster that had chased her through an entire city, seemingly hell-bent on killing her... yet, right then, it almost looked... remorseful. "... You can stop... Okay...?"
With a blink of its eyes and a small shake of its head, it growled in protest as if it were trying to shake itself from a daze. "Hrrrrrggggghhhh-!"
"No-no-no, it's okay," she quickly said. "It's okay, you're okay... Right...? You're okay, now..." With shaking hands, she reached out in front of her as if she were goading the massive beast into an embrace... and to the shock of Tatsumaki, it actually worked.
The monster timidly stared down at her palms before it shut its eyes and pushed its snout into her waiting hands like an actual dog. The girl rubbed its nose for a second, chuckling in disbelief as she released the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "... you're okay," she whispered again in her sweet and gentle tone. A kind smile settled on her face and she leaned forward, putting her forehead against its snout. "... You don't have to fight anymore..."
Tatsumaki was completely mesmerized by what was going on, otherwise, she would've popped its head already. She was essentially frozen in the shock of the moment. What the hell was going on here...?
"Whoa, that was close," Saitama said, stepping out of the destroyed undercarriage, knocking the dust off the shoulder of his cape. "That thing healed pretty fast... Hm...?" He followed Tatsumaki's gaze when he noticed the intent look on her face. From the street below, he looked up at the odd visual of a beautiful girl rubbing the nose of a monster as if it were her pet. '... Wow... Who's that...?'
The pink-haired girl raised her head and eyed the creature down. "... You're not so bad, huh...?" With a small chuckle that never passed her lips, she leaned in again and whispered one last time, her lips inches away from its nose. "... You can rest, now..." Then, for seemingly no reason, she gently kissed its snout with the softest peck of her lips...
(BOOF!)
Suddenly, the creature's head exploded in a blast of pink flower petals that shot out the back of its skull, showering the road behind it like the shot of a confetti canon. It was almost a beautiful sight to see... until the headless body of the creature stumbled back and started spraying the monster's tar-like blood all over the place before it toppled over.
The pink-haired woman fell from the creature's grip and stumbled when she landed on her feet. Gasping for air, she held a hand to her chest and tried to calm her racing heart. "Oh, my gosh... That was terrifying..." With a gasp, she turned to her right at the sound of a woosh to see Genos, still engaged in his tactical form with Drive Knight, come swooping down from the crumbling hole in the building.
Genos spared her a single look before his eyes surveyed the scene in its entirety. "... Targets eliminated," he said victoriously.
"d-... Demon Cyborg," the girl said with a smile of relief sinking in on her face. "i-... I..."
'Disengaging tactical mode,' Drive Knight said. With a hiss of steam, the mech suit he was surrounded in began transforming, disengaging from Genos's body until they were again two separate mechanical entities. Without sparring the girl a glance, Drive Knight immediately went for the carcass of the invisible monster. "I must collect a sample."
Genos nodded to him with that intense look of his still set firmly in place. "Understood..." he looked back to the girl with a scrutinizing glare. She was staring down at his missing arm. "... Who are you?"
She gasped again at the sound of his voice and flinched away from the look on his face. "i-I'm..."
"Genos? Is that you...?"
"Uh-!" the cyborg exclaimed when he saw who it was that came walking up behind her. "m-Master Saitama!"
Immediately, the pink-haired girl's body stiffened. Genos ran right by her, and she slowly turned around to follow him. Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw the yellow-clad hero...
"Did you lose an arm again?"
"Yes, Master," Genos replied, bowing at the waist. "We had defeated the creature once before, and I foolishly let my guard down. Please forgive me."
Saitama raised a curious brow. "... Nah, it's fine, dude. You just... gotta be more careful, okay?"
"I will! Thank you for your guidance!"
"s-.. Sure."
"It's you..."
"... Hm?" Saitama hummed curiously when he noticed the pink-haired woman staring right at him.
"... One-Punch-Man..." She had an odd look on her face as if she were on the verge of tears at the sight of him alone... yet there was a smile creeping its way onto her face.
"... Uh... Saitama's fine," he said, eyeing her down with a confused look. "Do I know you...?"
She was nearly trembling on her feet, and her emotions were bubbling on her face. She looked like she was a second away from breaking down, completely. "... s-... Saitama," she whispered as if tasting his name on the tip of her tongue.
"... yeah...?"
"... Saitama!" Suddenly, she darted forward and plowed her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around his body, shocking everyone watching.
Saitama held his arms up and stared down at the top of her head as she hugged him, completely confused by what was going on. He looked to Genos to gauge his reaction, but he looked just as baffled as himself. Did this girl know him somehow, or was she just some fan or something? He had met many fans before, but this was the first time someone ran up and hugged him... and he was still trying to figure out what that power was that she used to kill that monster...
"I tried to find you," she whispered into his chest, still heaving and sniffling with pure joy. "... I really tried..."
"... ooookay?" He gently patted her back with one hand, completely lost on what he was meant to do.
"But..." she picked her head up and looked him in the eye... They were inches from each other's faces... so close that he could feel the breath from her nostrils tickling his neck. "... you found me..."
"... y-... Yeah," he said, awkwardly. "... I guess so... You okay, or..."
(THOOM!)
They looked over Saitama's shoulder at the sound of another blast, partially expecting another monster, but there was none. Saitama caught the faint green trail of Tatsumaki's flight path slowly fading away. '... Damn it,' he thought. '... I never asked her for a ride home...' He turned back to the girl and gently wiggled out of her grasp. "Well, uh... Glad you're okay, but I... don't think I know who you are..."
Her joy didn't falter one bit. In fact, she chuckled and wiped the tears from her face. "Heh... Yeah, I... I didn't think you'd remember me... We met two years ago."
'... During my training?' he guessed.
"Heh-heh," she chuckled again. "... y-You had hair then, but... It's really you..."
Before he could question her further, a beep from his transponder caught his attention. "Um... hang on," he told her as he answered the call. "Yup...? Uhuh... Uh... I think so..."
Genos watched the girl who was watching Saitama as he spoke to Sitch or Sekingar, if he had to guess. '... She is an old acquaintance?' he wondered. '... Master has never mentioned someone like this... Who is she, really...? Why were these creatures chasing her...? Why is she looking at him like that...?' This all seemed very familiar... almost too familiar, like he had seen a similar scenario, not too long ago... It was a scene from one of the movies they watched. It wasn't exact, but it was damn near close... He suddenly remembered what King said about the dating simulation they had been studying. Part of the challenge was recognizing potential opportunities when it comes to love. '... Could this be a sign...? It can't possibly get any more obvious than this...'
"Uh... hang on," Saitama said into his transponder before looking back to the girl. "What was your name, again...?"
"... heh," She smiled even brighter when he looked her way. She had always hoped this day would come... and now it was here... It was clear that he didn't remember her from the last time they met, but... this time, she would make sure he never forgets, again. "... Love..."
Saitama raised a curious brow and glanced over to Genos who, again, seemed just as bewildered as him. He looked back at the smiling woman and stared at her for a long moment. "... Really?"
AN: There we go! Tell me what you think of this OC addition! And if the chapter was too long, let me know that too, and I can find some way to split it up so it's easier to read. If it's not an issue, I'll leave it be, but I promise super long chapters like this won't be a common occurrence going forward. Thank you for reading! See you next time!