Chapter 1: The King's Might
"...Sigh..."
"Aw, man."
"I wanna quit being a hero."
"Hyahahahaha! I am Tongue-Stretcher! I loved reptiles so much I became one!" In the middle of a busy street, a chameleon-like mysterious was causing chaos. "Fools, give birth to my brood!"
"Agh! It's a mysterious being!" "Run!" "Even five grown men can't subdue it!" "I should've stayed in bed today!" "Help! Call a hero!"
"No women will escape me! Licky-licky!" It said, turning to look at a woman, stretching its tongue towards her. The woman ran away, screaming hysterically upon noticing that she was its target, but its tongue moved at such speeds that it would catch her within mere moments. But before it caught her, someone's cap flew off right next to the mysterious being, attracting its attention.
Turning to look, it recoiled in shock, mostly due to the unexpected appearance of the man, and how close he got without it noticing him.
"Whoa, who are you?! You scared me!"
But the mysterious being's earlier shock turned into growing fear as it took a closer look at the man.
Three scars running down his left eye. Blond slicked-back hair. Piercing blue eyes that seemed to stare into your soul. A face of intimidation. An intense vibe. Every fiber of its body was screaming at it, sending danger signals, telling it to run away as fast as possible.
"Wh-what's this... intense vibe?!"
The man seemingly grew larger in front of it, making it seem puny in comparison.
"He's no ordinary man...!"
Suddenly, a rumbling sound could be heard. It was barely audible at first, but then it slowly grew into loud thumps, comparable to heavy machinery. Soon, it grew so great, the mysterious being swore it could feel the very Earth shake beneath him.
"Hey, wait, that's King!" A civilian that noticed and recognized the man then revealed his identity.
Rank 7 S-Class Hero, The Strongest Man On Earth, King.
The living legend himself, his feats were capable of making even Dragon-level threats run away in fear. He seemed like an immense giant, bearing down on all evil. Even breathing felt hard as it was suffocated by the awesome pressure radiating off his very being.
Then it realized.
How fucked it was.
"Beat up that gross dude!" "King's here! He'll kill that mysterious being!" "Can I have your autograph?" "King! King! King! King!"
As he stood, the crowd condemned him, chanting the hero name of The Strongest Man on Earth to erase it off the face of the world. But then again, it was the one to attack them first. Now that an S-Class hero- no, THE S-Class Hero, King was here...
"P-P-P-Please accept my apologies for the trouble I have caused everyone!" It said, immediately kneeling before King. Before it even thought of doing that, it was already kneeling down. It wasn't a decision made by his own thoughts. It was its instinct... of self-preservation.
"Look, it's groveling!" "It's pleading to King!" "It's sobbing!" "He DISSED you, King, don't let him go!" "He's the real deal!" "The monster's weeping, bowing, and shaking!"
The woman it attacked earlier walked up to the mysterious being, kicked it in the head, and disdainfully spat, "Lick in hell, pervert."
And at that moment, it couldn't take the pressure and lost consciousness.
The threat was gone, and everyone crowded over their savior.
"...How did this happen?"
"King! That was awesome!" "Did you come because you sensed a monster?" "Hey, don't be casual with King, that's rude!" "King's presence overwhelmed the monster!" "Hey, look at his face, he's angry! Move out the way!"
A person heard the rumbling, and asked his friend, "Hey, what's that rumbling sound?"
"Huh? Don't you know? That's the King Engine. It's the sound of the World's Strongest Man in battle mode. No monster has ever heard the King Engine and live to tell the tale."
That person then looked at the monster that fainted on the ground. "Well, except the ones that King doesn't even bother to kill, I guess."
"I'm busy. Would you move, please?" The Strongest Man on Earth said, picking up his cap, dusting it off. A simple request was all that exited his mouth. Yet, it was heard by the entire crowd as if transferred through a microphone. Such was his charisma.
"D-did you just annoy King?" "I-I'm terribly sorry!" "Can I get a handshake?" "Disperse, disperse!"
And as suddenly as the mysterious being appeared, everyone dispersed just as quickly, much to King's delight.
"Finally, they're gone. I can get back to my business." King thought.
[15 minutes later...]
"The grand total is 5,800 yen. Thank you for your purchase, please come again." The cashier said, being friendly.
As King walked out with the item he bought, he quietly said to himself, "Phew... I've bought it. The new limited-edition release of the dating simulator Doki-Doki Sisters. The tension is building. Until I get home, the anticipation will be unbearable." And like earlier, a faint rumbling sound could be heard, but unlike before, it was only faint and nearly indiscernible to those not listening carefully.
"I'll go straight home and play... Tee Hee." King said to himself, as the last 'thump' died down.
Further down the street, two people noticed who he was.
"Master, I think that is King." A blonde cyborg reported to his master.
"Who?" His master, a certain bald hero-for-fun asked.
"He was at the S-Class meeting during the alien invasion. He claims your place as The Strongest Man on Earth." Genos answered. "What is he doing here?"
And at that moment, the ground shook as someone screamed in fear.
"AHHHH!" "A monster!" "GYAHHH!" "My children's in danger!"
"A monster?" Genos said. "Master, we should-" Genos was about to suggest fighting it, but then a thought came up. "No. This is a good opportunity to see King's ability. Let us watch!"
A humongous figure landed before King, as it was revealed to be a massive robot, covered in armor-plating that was lavishly decorated, having a crown on its head, and a flowing, royal fur cape on its back. It also had a large circular wheel-like contraption on its back and a single eye on its face.
"I am G4, a Machine-God created by The Organization. You are King, the strongest hero. I will obliterate you!" The robot said arrogantly.
"Wait, that's King! The King is here!" A pedestrian that was running away said, upon turning around and noticing The Strongest Man on Earth.
"King? Then everything's under control!" "KIIIIIIING!" "Beat that thing up!" The other pedestrians, upon hearing that King was on the scene, stopped running away, opting to cheer for King, instead.
"Organization? Never heard of it. Must we do this now, though?" King sighed.
The wheel on the Machine God's back suddenly rotated, transforming into a sword, which was grabbed by G4.
"I said I came here to kill you!" G4 swung the sword down to point at King's face, blowing away his cap. Again.
"This is a test of my combat A.I, I cannot gather information if I catch you off guard! So fight me at full strength!" It declared.
"Sigh..." King looked at the giant robot without a hint of emotion. "Fine."
"Then here I come!" The robot then swung its sword upwards before swinging it back down, aiming to cleave King in half, but suddenly-
"KNEEL."
As soon as King voiced that word, a great pressure bore down upon the robot, forcing it to bend down and kneel as it missed its swing, crushing the pavement beside it.
"I was really excited for something, but then you came along and ruined my mood. And for that..."
The pressure on G4 greatly increased, creating a huge crater beneath the robot, as its hull was damaged from the sheer pressure on it. It was as if it was over 10,000 meters below sea level, being crushed by the water pressure of thousands upon thousands of tons of water. But it was above ground, nowhere near the bottom of the sea, yet the pressure came from a single order.
King's order.
"I won't be making this easy for you." King declared, walking towards the kneeling robot.
"Woooah!" "That's awesome!" "King doesn't even need to lift a finger to fight it!" "Take that, you stupid robot!" "What use is all that intelligent A.I? Not even a mentally retarded monster would think of facing off against King!"
"So that is how King fights? He seems to be utilizing a form of pressure to destroy the robot. Is this his main power?" Genos said, watching King crush the robot with pressure alone. "Or... does King simply feel that the robot isn't an opponent worth using his real abilities on?"
"G4... I can still detect a powerful energy signature from the robot. It is definitely a strong combat unit... it might even be higher performance than me, the cyborg enhanced by Dr. Kuseno, the genius scientist."
"Yet despite that, King can effortlessly neutralize it, not even needing to worry about the civilians so close to him," Genos said, looking at the civilians cheering King on.
"King... is strong."
"Huh, that's a cool ability. If I could do that, I won't even need my punches, and I could just stare monsters into oblivion." Saitama joked. But on the other hand, he'd rather not. After all, if he didn't even need to punch to defeat something, he really wouldn't be finding a challenge anytime soon. And even that 'Boros' guy wasn't much of a challenge- if a challenge at all, really. And he was the 'Dominator of The Universe'! He had such a powerful title, yet he wasn't strong enough to get him all that serious!
"Hmm. You have a nice crown." King said, picking up the crown that was on G4's head. Despite being much larger than King, the combat robot sunk so far into the ground from the pressure King exerted that its head was below King's own.
"Shame the one wearing it doesn't deserve it at all." Throwing it behind him, King stared down at the Machine God.
"Well then, you said you wanted to gather combat data, didn't you?" King said, putting a foot on G4's crownless head. "Well, here's some data for you."
"You're too weak."
Stomping down, G4's head was crushed into the pavement, the force of the impact causing a shockwave that deepened the crater G4 was in, causing cracks to run across the ground and even up the nearby buildings.
"YEAHHHHH!" "Way to go, King!" "You showed that robot, King!" "Three cheers for King!"
Ignoring the crowd cheering for him, King sighed, before saying something to himself, unheard by anyone else but Saitama.
"You just don't challenge the might of the King."