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Half an Hour Prior
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"Hey, C-Class losers—!" The voice of a certain S-Class esper rang across the ruins of City A, aiming the insult at the top-ranking heroes participating in the battle. What followed was silence. Her attitude was notorious throughout the Hero Association, and many of the heroes tried their best to ignore her. Only one of the S-Class decided to voice his thoughts — a young, pompadoured delinquent that could almost feel veins popping in his head.
"We're Class S, goddamn it!" Metal Bat shouted back at Tatsumaki, waving his fist.
The esper scoffed.
"Tell that to me once that self-healing monster's dead, Mental Bat! Anyway! I took care of the cannons, so you losers stay here while I figure out a way to sink this ship, got it? Don't try following me!"
The delinquent swore he'd just popped something in his temple — the little esper seemed to have literally struck a nerve.
"Why don't you just help us deal with this regenerating freak so we can figure out a way inside together?!"
"Didn't you say you were S-Class? Go do it yourselves!"
"Wha—!"
If Metal Bat didn't know his weapon was indestructible, he would've tried smashing it on the ground. The green-haired esper was right, though. It would save them more time to split up, and it would be smart to send their strongest force to the ship as soon as possible. It was just in the way Tatsumaki said it — so self-assured and cocky — that made the delinquent's blood boil. If she so much as whispered another insult at him again, he would personally find a way to break his bat into the esper's smug little face.
Thankfully, before things could escalate, a tired old martial artist decided to intervene. Bang put a hand on the younger man's shoulder to calm him down.
"Leave her be," the old man said patiently. "We have more pressing matters at hand."
Metal Bat looked away from the annoying green-haired figure and nodded slowly ('remember your anger management lessons, Bad'), bringing his attention back to the disgusting, multi-headed monster that he didn't bother remembering the name of. Bang smiled in satisfaction, not knowing that the delinquent was actually picturing a certain green-haired esper's face on each of the creature's three heads. Metal Bat smirked, readying his trusty bat for the stress-relieving beating of a lifetime.
"Let's destroy this son of a —"
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If Tatsumaki's day hadn't been horrible enough — what with her two hour wait in the Association meeting room, the city being destroyed, and her fellow 'S-Class' teammates proving to be utterly incompetent in the following chaos — it had just gotten worse. To her disbelief, Tatsumaki found that the enemy ship was practically demolished already!
No matter which hallway the girl took, which flight of stairs she flew up, or which door she blew down — there were no living enemies to be seen. Piles upon piles of torso-less bodies oozing green blood were the only things she encountered.
And it pissed her the hell off.
Who in the world had the audacity to come aboard this ship and take care of the enemies before her?! Metal Bat? That rookie cyborg? King? The green-haired esper had no clue, but once she found out, she would destroy them.
Steeped in her own rage, the psychic was nearly caught off-guard by a red-skinned alien lizard wielding a sword and hammer in either hand. It cried out triumphantly as it jumped in from a hidden door to her left.
"GRAHHH! I AM ABURARUBA, THE SECRET FIFTH IN-COMMAND OF THIS SHIP! ARE YOU THE ENEM—AAAAAGHHGHGHHGBAGAHGB"
The symmetrically-named alien that probably had awesome powers to show off was torn asunder by the esper. She sighed in annoyance. Was anything gonna happen today that didn't end up driving her crazy?! There was absolutely no time for this!
Tatsumaki took deep breaths to calm herself down. If she was riled up, she wouldn't be able to use her powers with pinpoint accuracy, which is what the situation called for at the moment. There wasn't anything her psychic senses couldn't find — be it the boss of the lousy maze-like ship, or the idiot that boarded the place before she did. As long as it was moving, she would be able to sense it, clear as day. She sent her powers out in waves, hoping to find the insolent worm trying to beat her to the punch more than anything else.
Tatsumaki noted that the walls seemed to slightly dampen her ability to sense presences, but it wasn't anything a few stronger waves of psychic energy couldn't overcome. Without hesitation, she upped her psychic output and focused on where the energy seemed highest.
That was when she felt it.
Her powers, which could not sense anything of significance beforehand, were now sending danger signals from where the red lizard monster appeared from. Something sinister was on this ship; something eerily strong. Not just that, there was another energy, too. It was much weaker, but it was a problem nonetheless. A moderately powerful enemy psychic appeared to be on-board as well. She flew off, already having completely forgotten the mighty Aburaruba and his secret sword/hammer techniques.
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Tatsumaki had to give it to her kill-stealing opponent — he was quite efficient.
Whoever it was that killed all those enemies, it seemed that they had ended each fight in one massive blow. That narrowed the suspects down to Puri-Puri Prisoner, Tank-Top Master, Metal Bat, Watchdog Man, Darkshine, King and Silverfang.
It didn't really narrow it down that much, actually. The psychic tsked.
If a physical fighter like that was pitted against a psychic — especially of the caliber of the one she sensed — it would likely end badly for them. Tatsumaki couldn't sense the energy of the idiot that had been killing all the aliens before she did, but that was probably because he wasn't fighting at the moment.
To the esper, that was all the more reason to settle the matter. She'd finish these two before her 'rival' could even try.
The green-haired girl flew into the hidden passage at full speed, heading towards the presence she knew she could extinguish in one attack. She knew those unidentified enemies needed to be dispatched on the ship quickly, because if they showed up and fought alongside the regenerating monster down below, there would almost certainly be casualties among the S-Class.
After a few minutes of flight along the winding passageways, Tatsumaki found that the mysterious psychic's energy had skyrocketed, then disappeared. She clicked her tongue. No doubt it was the one who'd left the heaps of corpses a while ago. How a fist-fighter like that had beaten a psychic was beyond her.
Quickly, the esper changed direction, heading towards the other entity she sensed. The energy emanating from it sent a small chill down her spine. She knew she would be able to handle it — there was no monster she couldn't take down, after all — but there was something… off about it. The energy she sensed seemed not to be the full extent of the creature's power. It was being restrained somehow. Maybe it was a powerful creature that the aliens were keeping locked up as a last resort.
If a monster like that was set loose in the city below, then there would really be problems.
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"It seems a suitable appetizer has been brought to me."
An alien cyclops grinned madly as the throne room's huge double-doors slowly opened.
Boros knew the end was nearly at hand, and quite frankly, the wait had become almost unbearable. The man he had seen in the ship's surveillance system was undoubtedly the man of prophecy — after all, he had dispatched Groribas, one of his strongest men, instantly! His crew of battle-hardened pirates was decimated, and it seemed Geryuganshoop had been felled by him too, not many moments ago.
The alien's eye gleamed and his chest thrummed with quiet expectation. Although two of his commanders had just been defeated, they had the honor of being killed by the man who was his match. And soon it would be his turn to face him!
In spite of his growing excitement, the alien reminded himself to be steady. Although the prospect of battle was certainly thrilling, and he revelled in the emotions the bald earthling had brought about in him, the one-eyed alien knew misplaced excitement could lead to mistakes.
It was just his luck that there was now a way to release it — and it came in the form of a small esper girl. On the surface, it seemed that she was merely a runt — some underdeveloped creature from the planet that was likely still developing into adulthood. However, the overwhelming energy exuding from the girl spoke otherwise. The Dominator of the Universe thought he had already seen the limits of psychic powers in the planet of his underling, Geryuganshoop. After all, almost a third of his troops were defeated before he was able to grind the tentacle-ridden planet into its place. Among those in the planet's population, he had come across a particularly powerful psychic in his tentacled servant — whom he'd soundly defeated and pushed to join his band in exchange for his life.
The difference between Geryuganshoop and this small psychic was like night and day. Unlike his faithful attendant, who had been powerful due to his supreme control over the psychic energy he wielded, the small native of Earth felt more like a natural disaster. Her energy swirled around in green hues like the great storms of a gas giant, and it was unlike anything he'd seen before!
The alien could feel his core pulsing excitedly. Although he knew he was stronger, he also knew the coming fight would be far from easy.
"Before we battle, let us exchange names," the cyclops said, walking down the grand staircase in front of him. "I am Boros, leader of the pirate band known as Dark Matter, and the Dominator of the Universe."
"I don't care."
A wave of psychic energy from the esper's hands sent the alien flying into one of the throne room's pillars with a loud BOOM!, sending a large cloud of dust in the air. The explosion echoed around the hall and faded softly to either side.
As the dust settled, Tatsumaki found Boros wedged shallowly into the pillar. He seemed to be incapacitated.
Tatsumaki frowned, bringing her arms down. There was no way that this alien had been knocked out from just that — the energy she sensed before was no joke. Not even a little.
She raised her guard, ready for any sign of movement.
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Moments later, the one-eyed cyclops freed itself from the alien stone. He dropped onto the ground with a dull thunk, confirming the esper's suspicions. Boros had survived, but the shadow over his face gave Tatsumaki indication of the damage he sustained. The esper smirked. Apparently she didn't have anything to worry about, after all. Her psychic wave would have torn apart anything weaker than the strongest of Demon-Level threats and severely damaged anything tougher than that. Since the alien was still standing, then Tatsumaki had no doubt it was a Dragon level threat. Of course, it didn't matter to Tatsumaki if this 'Boros' fellow was a Demon or a Dragon, because the outcome would just be the same.
"What a worthless alien," the esper muttered. For the commander of a ship that decimated A City, he was surprisingly weak.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Tatsumaki flinched as booming laughter echoed around the room. The shadow over her enemy's face had disappeared — his slouched posture was gone, too. There was no indication that he had been fazed at all.
"What a powerful psychic attack! If Geryuganshoop was still alive, I'm sure you could have taught him a thing or two." Boros spoke as if he had not been attacked just moments ago. Large cracks dotted the alien's armor and the red cape on his back was torn, but his flesh was completely untouched.
"Tch," the green-haired esper glared at the alien, half in anger and half in shock. Was he toying with her? Did he have the actual gall to hold back against her attack?!
Questions began to spin in Tatsumaki's mind, but the esper pushed them away. There was only one thing for certain at the moment: his power was growing by the second. There was no time to waste; she had to ramp things up a bit.
The throne room rumbled with energy as Tatsumaki's body was washed with pale green light. Dozens of pillars to either side of Boros crumbled to rubble, pulled by an unseen force toward the esper and gathered around her in a whirlwind. The debris spun faster and faster, causing it to catch flame and melt.
Alight with red-hot magma and whistling with sheer speed, the room was awhirl with a storm not unlike the ones that ravaged Boros' home planet.
"How nostalgic," the alien mused.
In a split-second, he was engulfed by the storm. And everything was set ablaze.