She didn't know when it happened. One moment, she was fighting... The next, she felt a powerful strike to her face... And then, she was now flying through the air at what felt like terminal velocity, her blood sac completely ruptured by a building she slammed into as she was launched into the stratosphere. Her head was ringing, her vision was blurred, and the pain... It was excruciating... Fear swelled in her heart. That wasn't supposed to happen, she was strong now, she was supposed to win, why had that happened?! Desperately, she made an effort to fly, but the centrifugal force only tore her wings clean off, causing her to let out a shriek of agony. It was temporary, they would heal, but the pain was all too real! Her bug sight spotted something up in the distance... Something she was about to crash into...
It was a slow day for the second greatest hero in the association. She'd been looking all over the place for a monster attack, she didn't care if it was some weak low-level trash, she just wanted something to DO, damn it, she was so unbelievably bored!
The esper flipped over into a laying position, hands rested behind her head as a cross between a sigh and a snarl escaped her lips. With a growl, she telekinetically dispersed a field of clouds. Sad to say, she did not see a monster amongst the parted clouds to stave off the boredom. Instead, she got a faceful of sunlight, which shined brightly into her eyes. "AGH! Screw you, sun!" She barked out as she rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. After a few seconds, she could see again. She pouted, grumbling to herself as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Come ON!" She screamed to the sky. "Can something interesting happen here?!"
As if on cue, a loud booming sound from off in the distance caught her attention, and she looked to her right to see an unidentified flying figure zooming through the sky towards her at top speed.
Oh...
Before she had time to do anything, the Tornado of Terror was treated to a taste of pain as something very fast and significantly larger than she was slammed into her at full force. Whatever it was, she was being carried along for the ride by it, and the impact left her too disoriented to think, so she could only scream a string of explicit curses as she and the thing that hit her were launched high, high into the sky until they vanished in a bright twinkle.
For what felt like several hundred, no, thousand miles, the shooting star comprised of hero and monster shot through the air like a comet, passing and crashing through various mountains and structures on their trip, Tatsumaki desperately trying to keep up a barrier to prevent the worst of it but finding it difficult as the impacts disoriented her. After about twenty more seconds of flying, the pair came upon a secluded, sandy beach under a cliffside, where they crashed down with a legendary impact, sending a shockwave through the sand and causing the water itself to wave and ripple. A large cloud of sand soon fell away, revealing the pair stuck with the entirety of their upper halves lodged deep into the sand, their legs sticking up in the air, crooked and twitching in pain from the ordeal.
Just then, a massive crab scuttled by, when it noticed the two pairs of legs sticking out from the sand. Curious, it approached the two stuck women, then prodded at each pair of legs with its large claws, before pinching them together and then clamping each claw around each pair of legs.
Immediately, two muffled screams were heard from the sand, and the two pairs of legs clenched in pain at the sudden jolt of agony. The insectoid legs fell still first, given how their owner was in far too much pain to do...well, anything at all. The other pair, however, struggled and swung around with much more fervor, the crab lifted up and swung around alongside the legs. Then, a green light began to glow from under the sand, and a massive explosion was heard as yet another explosion of sand was kicked up, the cloud dispersing instantly thanks to the Tornado of Terror's psychic powers, amplified by her currently enraged state. Tatsumaki landed on the beach, patting sand off of her clothes and hair, spitting sand out of her mouth, and even a clump of seaweed. "UGH! What the HELL?!" She screamed in anger. "Stupid crabs, pinching things they shouldn't be touching!"
She looked around with a glare to see if any other audacious crustaceans would try anything funny, when her eyes stopped upon a pair of feminine, insectoid legs sticking out of the sand, still twitching in pain.
A monster.
Tatsumaki smiled. "Finally... Something to do." She said casually. She glared at the pair of legs, then telekinetically yanked the monster out of the sand, intent on seeing her next victim's face to see just what it was she was dealing with. When the creature was pulled free, she tilted her head. It was certainly more humanoid than the average monster, with a head of silver hair. Really, the only things that made it monstrous were the black and white skin, the insectoid limbs and wings and the insect eyes protruding from its head. It had a very human face and a very human figure. A rather nice figure at that, but that was besides the point. And that humanoid face in question was frozen in an expression of pain and fear. She could pick up an increased heartbeat coming from the monster's chest... Clearly it was terrified... And this fact gave her pause. It looked so scared, so traumatized, so... familiar...
...
Ugh... She'd probably feel guilty if she killed it like this...
She glowered at the monster in front of her, mentally debating with herself, trying to work out what to do... before she groaned and grabbed at her hair in frustration. "Ah, screw it, you're coming with me. See what you're like when you've pulled yourself together." She finally decided. She'd feel better about killing this thing once it stopped acting like a frightened little girl.
And so, she lifted the terrified monster up from the ground, then took off towards the city and her apartment with the insect-like creature trailing along behind her, engulfed in her telekinetic hold as she looked back at it occasionally with an unimpressed glance. Meanwhile, the mosquito girl's thoughts blurred as she processed the fact that she was once again flying through the air completely against her will. The realization, on top of everything else she had endured in the span of just a few minutes, overwhelmed her to the point of passing out.
Later...
The mosquito girl groaned in pain as she came to, her vision blurring as she tried to raise a hand to her head...
Only she couldn't move her arms.
Because they were bound by chains.
She tried to stand up.
She bumped her head.
She was in a cage.
A small black cage laid out on the floor of some unfamiliar place, forcing her in a position where she could only get about as high as her knees before smashing her cranium. Eyes wide, she began to struggle with the chains, desperate for escape.
"If you wanna stay alive, you better not try and scurry off like a snake." A haughty female voice called over. "If I see those chains even slightly loosened, you're a splatter on the floor, got it?" Mosquito Girl looked up, and she gasped in fear and recoiled when she saw a face she knew all too well. The Tornado of Terror. An S class hero. The second best in the entire business, at that. The young woman sneered. "Judging by your face, I'm guessing you recognize me. So you should know what I can do. That means you know that if you try anything funny..." The mosquito felt a sudden pressure inside her chest, and her eyes widened in horror as she realized her heart was very literally being squeezed, as a warning. She cringed, desperately wanting to clutch at her chest as she cried out and whimpered in fear and pain, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she curled in on herself to try and look as small as possible.
The sight caused Tatsumaki to falter and release the grip on her heart, her expression briefly turning to a wide-eyed frown before an annoyed glare. "Stop doing that! You're a monster! Act like one!"
The insectoid being simply flinched in response to the harsh, loud tone in her voice and let out a quiet whimper, curling into herself further. Tatsumaki's eye twitched. She didn't know whether to yell again, or use her powers to force compliance, but... she couldn't bring herself to do either. Just looking at how sad, sorry, pitiful and pathetic this thing was made her unwilling to do anything against it. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see this thing as some murderous inhuman monster. If anything, it looked like a sad wet cat! "Ugh... What is your DEAL?!" She groaned. "Do you have ANY pride?! You're not acting like a maneating monster, you're acting like a scared baby!"
It didn't respond. It just flinched and curled up even tighter than it had been before.
Tatsumaki's lips pursed into a frustrated snarl as she turned away with a huff. "Fine! Whatever! I'll just come back later when you're ready to actually be a freaking monster!" She declared. "And it better be fast, so help me, it BETTER be fast." Predictably, the bug flinched at the threatening undertone. Sneering, she left the room, slamming the door harshly behind her. Landing gently on the floor, she practically slammed her back against the wall with a frustrated groan, then exhaled through her nostrils in a fruitless effort to calm her frustration. "What the hell just happened?! I am a HERO! I'm supposed to KILL monsters! Why is it so hard for me to do anything about this clear, obvious monster right in my house?! Just because it's acting like a wimp... That should make it EASIER for me to kill the stupid thing! ...Why IS it acting like that?! It's a MONSTER! It gave in to its vices and lost its humanity! That's... That's just the way it... works... right..?"
Tatsumaki paused, her thoughts drifting to the topic of monsters... How DID they work...? She had always been taught that they were simply humans who gave into their depravity and willingly consumed a monster cell to become destructive beasts. There was no reason this one should be any different. And yet... it didn't act like a monster at all... Was it simply because it recognized her and was rightfully scared of what she could do to it?
...It didn't seem that was the case... No matter how scared, monsters never cowered or trembled like this one. They would always attack and fight regardless. This one should've struggled in those chains while madly slamming itself against the bars of the cage to break out and attack her, instead of acting scared.
Tatsumaki pulled at her hair and sighed through her teeth, groaning out loud. "I can't believe some stupid bug monster is giving me this ridiculous dilemma! For crying out loud, I'm the second greatest hero! If the rest of the association found out I was acting like this, I'd never hear the end of it!" She clenched her fists and heaved out another sigh. She needed to cool her head... Moving to the couch, she took a seat, then crossed her legs and began her daily meditation in an effort to clear her mind. Objects began to gently float all around her, as she spent the next two hours meditating her confusion away. When she was done, she opened her eyes, then set down everything that had been floating in a neat, tidy order before getting up and heading for the door. She placed an ear against it, trying to listen in on any sounds the monster might be making.
It was making a sound. It was faint, but it was there, and it sounded like it was... It was... It was crying...?
Tatsumaki's eyes narrowed in anger, and she barged into the room and used her powers to telekinetically slam the insect into the bars of her cage, pressing her into them. The monster let out a scream, and she began to thrash and wriggle to escape, her partially healed wings fluttering desperately to free her despite the pain and the fruitlessness of the cage trapping her. Tatsumaki stomped towards the cage, giving the monster a sharp death glare. "I thought I told you to start acting like the monster you are by the time I got back!" She complained. "Why didn't you listen?! You're CRYING! Monsters don't cry!"
"P-Please..." The monster choked out.
"What?!" Tatsumaki exclaimed.
"P-Please don't... Please don't kill me, please, I don't want to die, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, please don't, please stop, please..."
Tatsumaki crossed her arms with a sour expression on her face. "Right. And I bet the hundreds of people you killed begged for mercy too, right? Why should I let you off when you didn't let them off?"
"I-I only killed the one guy...!" Tatsumaki smirked. FINALLY, an excuse!
"One too many. Time to learn a lesson." She said coldly before increasing the force of her grip on the monster, who shrieked under the oppressive force of the telekinetic grip. "AAAAHHHH! NO! PLEASE STOP, PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU, IT HURTS, NO MORE, PLEASE!" As the mosquito struggled, she fluttered her wings so hard they bended and almost broke against the cage. She began to spit up blood, not from the crushing force, but from the sheer stress of the situation. Tears were pouring down her cheeks like waterfalls.
Tatsumaki took a step back, her eyes widening as she released her grip. What... What kind of monster WAS this?!
Her heart was churning... Why?! Why was a scared MONSTER making her feel this way?!
The bug's shaking grew words, and she began to panic slightly. "Now you uh... You... C-C-Calm DOWN already, just... quit freaking out!" She sputtered out, internally cursing herself for stuttering like an idiot. "Agh, crap crap crap, what do I DO?!" And then, an idea came to her mind. Exhaling through her nostrils, she closed her eyes and used her power to induce a feeling of warmth over the monster's body. The Mosquito Girl felt the warmth and almost immediately, she stopped in her tracks. Tatsumaki saw that it was working. Naturally. This was how she typically got civillians to stop freaking out during serious situations. And from what knowledge she had of bugs, she could tell this monster functioned much the same as the mosquitoes she resembled, and so, she focused more warmth onto her body.
However, this came with a different side effect. Entirely inadvertantly, the mosquito-like woman began feeling warmer and warmer and... began squirming in her chains. Small moans escaped her mouth as she shifted around, curling her legs closer and rubbing them together. Her wings lightly fluttered, her eyes squeezed shut and she bit her lip as a blush formed on her face. Tatsumaki quickly realized what was happening and blinked. 'Uh... Maybe I overdid it...?' The moans grew more intense, and Tatsumaki felt a blush of her own form on her face. "OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT!" She exclaimed as she removed the hold around the now decidedly, truly female monster. The Mosquito Girl felt the warmth disappear and breathed heavily, still blushing beet red before her eyes turned to Tatsumaki. The woman was standing with her hands on her hips, her foot tapping the floor as her eyes shifted away, her cheeks clearly a bit red themselves. There was an awkward silence that was broken only by the Mosquito Girl's breathing, and Tatsumaki did NOT like it. She cleared her throat and crossed her arms. "R-Right! Now that you've... calmed the hell down, you should be more... cooperative... and... I'll be more... lenient in turn!" She said awkwardly.
The mosquito girl remained quiet, her breathing calming down as she looked away slightly herself. Her fear had lessened significantly, and she felt much calmer, even if a bit tense. "Th-Thank you for... for that..."
Tatsumaki smirked, glad she was appreciative of her mercy. She telekinetically pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing her legs and arms and staring down at her prisoner. "All right, I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and you're gonna give me an honest answer." She declared. "Ya got that?"
"Yes ma'am..." Mosquito Girl replied softly.
"Good. Now... How the hell did you end up smashing into me like that?!" Tatsumaki demanded. "Even with those wings and whatever freaky superpowers ya got, there's no way you can fly that fast!"
"...I... I wasn't... willingly... flying..." The Mosquito Girl murmured softly. "I... I was about to kill this cyborg guy that got in my way, and... and something hit me on the face, and... I didn't see what it was, but it was really strong and it sent me flying so fast that... that it ripped my wings off..."
Tatsumaki raised a brow. "Cyborg, huh? Was Metal Knight on the scene?"
"N-No..." The Mosquito Girl denied. "It... It was... The one I fought was too human to be one of his... And I'm pretty sure one of his units would've been ripped to pieces way quicker if the doctor was right about him..."
That last part caught Tatsumaki's interest. "Doctor, huh? Care to explain?"
"The... The House of Evolution..." The Mosquito Girl explained. "I... I signed up for that because my life was pretty much ruined and he made me a monster so I could get back at the PIECE OF SHIT THAT SCREWED ME OVER AND TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME..." Suddenly, the Mosquito Girl turned on a dime, going from timid and submissive to raving angry and actually looking like the monster she was. "I don't give a DAMN about the doctor and his stupid experiments, I just wanted that worthless, scummy, good for nothing piece of GARBAGE to be dead!"
Tatsumaki nodded, mulling this new information over in her head with a hand on her chin. Standing up, she pushed the chair away. "All right. Good to know. Thanks for the heads up, I'll be back to give you food."
Mosquito Girl's eyes widened. "W-Wait! Y-You're gonna keep me here...? Just... crammed in this little tiny cage...?"
Tatsumaki scoffed. "Well I'm sure as hell not gonna let you go! I'm not about to kill you, you clearly know your place, and you gave me some valuable info, but I can't let you go because I'm not about to trust you not to kill more people, considering you literally just told me you only changed so that you could murder a guy. Soooo, no. You're staying right here where I can keep an eye on you. Like... an unwanted house guest, I guess. One I don't really WANNA keep around, I just sorta have to. I mean, MAYBE I'll get you a bigger cage and some longer chains at some point, but for now, you should get used to it, because as things are, I just plain don't think I can trust you."
Mosquito Girl flinched, a pit forming in her stomach.
"Like I said, I'll bring you food later." Tatsumaki said simply before shutting the door, leaving the insect woman alone in silence.
She curled in on herself, closing her eyes and tearing up. "Great... I finally get that asshole out of my life once and for all, and I'm STILL trapped!" She cried out. The power got to her head and she was being treated like an animal by the second strongest hero on the planet! Did she deserve this...? Why did the universe hate her so much?! She buried her face in her hands and began to sob, the pain of it all catching up to her, being far too much for her to handle.
Outside the room, Tatsumaki mulled over the information she gathered. The House of Evolution... So it seemed like a facility used to produce monsters by some mad doctor. For what reason, she didn't know. But it was her job as a hero to take care of it. So... She'd just need a location... Her brow fell flat when she realized she hadn't asked the monster about the actual location of the place. Facepalming, she sighed. "Agh, I'll solve that later..." She was feeling hungry and it was lunch time and she needed to figure out what the hell to feed the bug monster in the other room. She wasn't about to go out and get her blood, that would be weird for a hero. Meat, perhaps? She should still be able to process normal food, right?
Eh, worth a shot. Shrugging, she stood up and set to cooking.
About an hour later, Tatsumaki opened the door, approaching the cage with a bowl of steaming hot soup with meat in it. The mosquito girl saw the food and got into a kneeing position, approaching the cage to eat. "Hold up there, not yet. First you have to tell me the location of that House of Evolution." Tatsumaki said sternly.
The Mosquito Girl raised a brow. "Why didn't you ask earlier?"
"Shut up and tell me before I just throw this against the wall and let you go hungry." Tatsumaki huffed.
"It's in the forest! My old car should be there too! It's green! If you find the green car, the building will be close by!"
Tatsumaki gave a small smile. "...Thanks..." She muttered softly before sliding the bowl into her cage and walking out the door, sparing her a quick glance as she went.
Sighing softly, she allowed herself a small smile. Maybe this would be easier than she thought. Maybe keeping her as her prisoner wouldn't be an issue.
Well, she'd think about that crap later. Right now, she had a doctor to crush!
Opening a window, she flew out of her house, shooting through the sky like a green shooting star. Rapidly approaching the forest, she slid to a stop, levitating high above. Looking around, she thoroughly scanned her surroundings, eventually spotting the car the monsquito girl mentioned. If what she said was correct, then the house shouldn't be... too... far...
Tatsumaki slowed to a crawl in the sky, looking down upon a gigantic portion of the forest.
Or she would be, if the portion was actually there instead of a ravaged piece of earth that looked like it was mowed down by a steamroller with shredders attached to its wheels.
Nothing but ruined ground where she was supposed to see this doctor and his facility. And it wasn't far away from the car that supposedly belonged to the mosquito woman. Tatsumaki flew forward a few kilometers, even getting down to ground level for a better view under the trees, and yet... nothing. Not even a sign of this Doctor and his supposed House of Evolution.
Had she lied to her?
The mere possibility sent a red hot spike of rage through the Tornado of Terror. She was gracious enough to not kill her, gave her food, and she goes and lies to her?! The AUDACITY of this bitch!
Flying up, she boosted away in a sonic boom, creating a cone of air as she flew at top speed towards her house. Sliding to a stop in the sky, she flew in through the window, closing it as she landed on the floor. Sighing through her nostrils, she stomped towards the door, throwing it open and shooting a glare at the monster, who seemed to have finished her food. Before she could say a single word, her powers grabbed the mosquito girl's chains and tightened them to the point of cracking her arms, causing her to gasp and scream in pain as the chains pulled and pressed her against the cage. Fear overtook her again, as her warden glowered at her. Tatsumaki snarled. "All right, you lied! There's NOTHING there but a bunch of scorched earth! There's no doctor, there's no House of Evolution! You made it all up, didn't you?! Admit it! You pulled my nose, and after I showed you mercy!"
"N-NO! I-I PROMISE YOU I DIDN'T LIE! REALLY! I DIDN'T! I PROMISE! IT'S ALL TRUE! PLEASE, BELIEVE ME, I'M BEGGING YOU!" The mosquito girl begged desperately.
Tatsumaki bought exactly none of it.
She crossed her arms over her breast. "I did promise to give you a bigger cage and longer chains. Think I'll make good on that promise!" Using her power, she disassembled the cage before removing the chains around the monster's arms. Then, she opened a closet in the room, pulling out a bunch of parts for a different cage. The mosquito girl desperately thrashed to get up, but Tatsumaki slammed her down and held her on the floor, causing her to gasp in pain. The bottom of the cage slid under her as Tatsumaki lifted her slightly before pushing her back down against the cage. The bars came next, stabbing themselves into place on the platform, before the roof was placed over them, Tatsumaki soon releasing her hold and letting Mosquito Girl breathe. The monster shakily looked up at the new cage. It was much more spacious, the bars spread out much wider. She was pretty sure she could just shove her way out of the cage if she wished.
"So. You like the extra space?" Tatsumaki asked. "You won't get to enjoy it much." Then, the chains came in. These chains were much longer, and every other link seemed to be glowing in some unnatural way, which gave the mosquito girl a strange feeling of primal fear in her monster cells. Before she could protest, though, she was already trapped, the chains wrapping around her waist and pinning her arms to her sides. One chain wrapped around her neck, pulling her down and attaching itself to a hook on the floor of the cage, keeping her in a bowing position. Two chains wrapped around a bar behind her and snagged her wrists and ankles, pulling the insectoid limbs behind her. "These were made specifically to contain high class monster. Brought them home on a whim in case I needed them. And they come with another neat little function..." She pulled a remote into her hand, before pressing a red switch on it.
"Well, maybe another hero got there first, I don't know! All I know is that it was there, it's what made me what I am, it was supposed to be my escape, I was going to finally live my life free, and now I'm being caged up like an animal by some so-called hero that's torturing me because she's too THICK-HEADED to think maybe something HAPPENED to the place, noooo, I HAVE to be telling lies, right?! I'm just a monster, I don't HAVE feelings! I'm evil naturally evil, all monsters are, just hurt and kill me on sight, because it's not like I used to be a human or anything, nope, perish the thought, I couldn't have possibly had a reason for wanting to have some degree of strength, some... WAY TO GET CONTROL OVER MY FUCKING LIFE!" She found herself telekinetically slammed against the wall as Tatsumaki glared furiously at her, teeth bared. She laughed bitterly. "You're JUST like him... Forcing control over me because I'm weaker than you... Making me feel like I'm just some worthless little stepping stone... That little remote was supposed to hurt me, wasn't it? It was supposed to torture me, make me feel horrible, inflict pain, and you were gonna enjoy every second of it. Admit it! YOU WERE! YOU LIKE SEEING ME IN PAIN! SAY IT! SAY WHAT WE BOTH KNOW! YOU LIKE HURTING ME! YOU JUST WANTED AN EXCUSE! YOU WERE EXCITED TO COME BACK HERE AND START SMACKING ME AROUND! OH, YOU WERE JUST CHOMPING AT THE BIT FOR AN EXCUSE! I BET THE SOUP WAS JUST YOUR WAY OF GETTING ME TO LET MY GUARD DOWN! GET MY HOPES UP SO YOU COULD CRUSH THEM!" By this point, Tatsumaki had decided to use her power to telekinetically clamp her mouth shut. But the mosquito girl fought through it to keep talking. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL HE DID TO ME! I ONLY HURT ONE PERSON AND GOT ATTACKED RIGHT AFTERWARDS, YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME DAMN THING! YOU WOULD HAVE! I KNOW IT! OH, BUT BECAUSE I'M HALF BUG, I'M AUTOMATICALLY THE VILLAIN! FUCK YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE EVERYTHING! MY LIFE SUCKS! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"SHUT UP!" Tatsumaki threw the mosquito girl against the wall, instantly rendering her unconscious. The esper stood in place, breathing heavily as she looked at the unconscious insectoid. She shook her head with a scowl, then flew out the window, heading off to clear her head.
She was out for several hours, long after the sun had set. She liked the nighttime. She enjoyed the moonlight over the sunlight. It made her feel more calm and relaxed, and it helped her think. She reclined in the air, basking in the light of the full moon, closing her eyes as she let her thoughts take over. ...Did the monster have a point...? She'd taken one look at the place, saw nothing, and immediately assumed the worst of her. ...Maybe another hero DID get there first... She looked over to the woods, and sighed softly. It wouldn't hurt to take just one more look...
She arrived back at the site. This time, much calmer. She landed, searching around. Still nothing-wait... Something was there... She uncovered some dirt to reveal... rubble. Clearly from a structure. And amongst that rubble? Sheets of paper. Destroyed almost beyond recognition, aside from a few discernible words that were clearly made with some sort of scientific research in mind...
...Oh... She'd jumped the gun, hadn't she?
Her stomach lurched as she remembered what she had tried to do with that remote earlier. And for no reason at that! Ugh... She hated it when she was wrong...
She groaned, facepalmed, then flew back home. She was going to have to... To have to... APOLOGIZE... Ugh, she HATED that word more than ANYTHING...
She arrived through the window and made her way to the room. And there she was. Just sitting there. Staring off into space. Not looking at anything in particular, just... staring listlessly. She approached slowly. "Uh... hey. You. Monster girl." No response. "...Hey. Monster girl." Nothing. "...Pay attention to me, I'm talking to you!"
"What?" The response was dull and monotone.
Tatsumaki grimaced at her blunt, cold tone. Yeah... She'd messed up BIG time. And now came the really hard part...
Sighing, Tatsumaki spoke. "I'm... sorry. I went back and looked again, and I found... evidence that the place existed... You didn't lie, and I... jumped the gun... And I'm... sorry I did that... And... And then I remembered what you told me, that... that you wanted strength to get control of your life, and... I'm so sorry... I... saw you had feelings, I just chose to ignore them... And that... was a pretty... screwed up thing to do, I'll admit it..."
"...S'fine..." The mosquito girl muttered.
Tatsumaki frowned. Sure didn't feel fine to her. She took a deep breath, then sat down in front of the cage, using her powers to remove the chains binding the woman, freeing her limbs and neck. She grabbed one of the bars, then closed her eyes. "You know... A long time ago... I also wanted to get more strength..." She said quietly. "...You're not the only one here that was a lab rat... They... took me in to study my powers, they experimented on me, and they locked me up when they weren't using me, and I hated it, I wanted out, I wished I was strong enough to just... break away from it all." The mosquito girl looked up at her, seemingly intrigued. "And then one day... I got saved... By a hero... And... And he gave me the chance to become stronger... I... never wanted to be saved again... I wanted to prove that I could protect myself, and that I don't need to be rescued like some weakling... I wanted to get my own life in order too, so I didn't need to rely on others doing everything for me... Especially not my... little sister..."
A moment of silence passed between the two. "...So... I get it... Wanting to become stronger so you don't get used as a stepping stone anymore... And... since I understand you... I... need to fix this little mess I just made..." Using her powers, she disassembled the cage, fully letting the monster woman out. She stepped up to her as she looked up in surprise, then took a seat on the floor beside her. "...I'm sorry... Can you... forgive me...?"
The monster woman stared at the esper, eyes scanning her for any sign of deception. But she looked deadly serious about this... Tatsumaki slowly extended a hand towards her for a shake. She had to be sincere, since being lied to and manipulated in the past had given her bad experiences with such things... She seemed to truly mean it...She shakily lifted her insectoid hand, then gently grabbed Tatsumaki's hand in her claws. At this point, tearing her arm off would be way too easy, but... no. She didn't want that. She only became a monster for one person's death. And this woman... was not that person.
She could be trusted, because at her core, she WAS a hero.
"...I... I killed a man..." She said softly. "I... I killed..." She took a deep breath. "I... had a good life before all this, y'know... I had friends, and I had family, and I was happy... Then I met my boyfriend... And we ended up... breaking up..." She grimaced slightly. "He was a scumbag... Manipulative and toxic and... he hit me ONCE and that was it, I was out... And I thought that would be the end of it, but... he didn't let go... He... He followed me... Everywhere I went, he seemed to be there, and... he was in a HIGH position of power... He never told me much about his job, so... he might have been yakuza for all I know... Whatever connections he had, he used them to lie to my family and friends about me... Turn everyone I loved against me... Some of them mysteriously disappeared if they weren't easily fooled, until eventually, I just... didn't have anyone left... My... My own parents chased me out of their house..." She began to tear up. "So I'm just in my car... And I'm... having a cry... And then he just... forces himself in, and before I know it, he's got me pinned to the door, and he's undoing his belt, and... and..." She shivered. "I managed to kick him where it really hurts, I threw him out of my car, and I just drove, and drove, and I don't know how I ended up in the forest, I was just driving because I wanted to get the hell AWAY, and... then I saw the House of Evolution, and I was just gonna ask for help there, but... the doctor told me what he had planned, and... and he offered me a choice to be one of his test subjects, and I just went for it because I didn't really have anything else to lose... I... If it worked, I could make him pay for everything he put me through... So... That's how I ended up like this... Now I'm a monster... And... I did it. I killed him. He was devoured alive by a swarm of mosquitoes. Didn't even know it was me... I... I enjoyed it. I loved seeing the terror and pain on his face as he was eaten alive. ...Am I a bad person...? ...Maybe I am... But... I did it. He's gone, that's all that matters to me now... And... I... He can't control me anymore... He can't use me as an object, a possession..."
She buried her face in her forearm, gritting her teeth as she teared up and sniffled. Tatsumaki stared at her, eyes wide, then looked down at the ground with a slight wince, feeling even more guilty about treating her like some animal than she had before. Slowly, she awkwardly reached over and put a hand on her back, gently patting it to show her sympathy. The monster woman responded by turning to her, grabbing her off the ground and hugging her like a teddy bear as she cried into her shoulder. Tatsumaki tensed up, her eyes darting about awkwardly. She could throw her off, but she really shouldn't, but this was so weird, but she needed it, but why was she hugging her, was she supposed to hug back, she didn't know what to do!
Ultimately, she decided the best course of action was to just sit there and do nothing while the mosquito girl used her to vent her pain. Eventually, the monster stopped crying before setting her back down and awkwardly coughing, wiping away her tears as she calmed down. "Um... Thanks..."
"No... problem..." Tatsumaki muttered, rubbing her arm. A moment of silence passed. "...So... I'm not gonna force you to stay here, you can leave if you really want to, but... I really think you'd be better off staying here. I'm not gonna keep you prisoner, I think you can function just fine and all, but... most heroes are kiiiinda kill on sight when it comes to monsters. You won't be safe out there... So... I have a guest room... You can stay here, and you'll be safe."
The mosquito girl looked at her for a moment, then nodded her head. "I...don't really have anywhere to go anymore anyway... I'd... be happy to stay with you... I... I don't wanna die... Even if my old family and friends wanted to see me, they'd never recognize me like this... My house probably got sold off by now... I'll stay..."
"All right..." Tatsumaki nodded. "...C'mon... Let me... show you to your room..." She helped her up, guiding her to the guest room. "I... don't get guests...terribly...ever, so... just... do whatever you want with it, I guess... Um... Yeah..."
"It's... nice." The mosquito girl said softly, looking around at the room around her. "Um... Thank you... For someone named the Terrible Tornado, you can be pretty kind."
Tatsumaki blushed and crossed her arms, embarrassed. "Hmph! I-I only do that when the situation calls for it, okay?! I'm not losing any of my edge! ...Speaking of names, though... I never got yours. I don't wanna just call you monster girl or bug girl, so...?"
"Oh... I'm... Utsushiki. Utsushiki Mushi." The Mosquito Girl formally introduced herself.
"Utsushiki, huh? ...Wow, that doctor has a sense of humour, who would have guessed? He actually turned you into it." Tatsumaki chuckled.
"Oh? You think I'm a beautiful insect?" Utsushiki asked, head tilted.
Tatsumaki blushed and looked away. "D-Don't look so far into this! Just... Just sleep or something, I dunno!" She huffed.
"Uh... Right..." Utsushiki murmured as Tatsumaki left, still embarrassed. The bug woman giggled to herself. "I didn't know the infamous Tornado of Terror could be so adorable..." She said softly to herself. She fluttered her wings and gently landed on the bed, laying down and pulling the covers over herself. She hadn't slept in a bed like this for a good while, this was really nice... She thought back on the day she'd had.
She'd got her revenge, she'd gotten into a big fight she hadn't anticipated, she nearly died, she was imprisoned, and then she was released by the second strongest hero, whom she seemed to have befriended. It seemed like some bizarre dream, but no, it was very much real. Or... so she hoped, as Utsushiki closed her eyes and went to sleep.