I would agree about their size except chapter 3 of the manga kind of disagrees with you, unless city B and D are so much smaller because they are so close together.
Z City Neighbors (One-Punch Man SI)
- Thread starter Streggae
- Start date
-
- Tags
- one punch man self insert
Hm... I think it would go too far to say it's a novel concept. I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple of novels with this concept. It's certainly less cliche than SI just watching at the side, which in turn is less cliche than SI trying to prove something.
That's my interpretation of the world anyway though in that case I'd like to think that the humans of the alphabet cities only operate a relatively small sphere of the super continent.
Well that certainly is true from what we've seen. Z to A city was less than a day and we've seen King take credit for Saitama fights in different cities, but he lives in Z city too. Most likely majority of A to Z cities, have small towns in their orbits too + amazing intercity public transport. A city was certainly much greater in diameter than Boros' ship and that thing was a great waste of space.
Since you are going more with the expanded manga story, are you going to use the webcomic split in hero organizations as well(seeing as how it would need a great retcon for it to sync with the manga)?
Since you are going more with the expanded manga story, are you going to use the webcomic split in hero organizations as well(seeing as how it would need a great retcon for it to sync with the manga)?
- Location
- Edmonton Alberta Canada
I've actually been enjoying this story a lot.
But for the big G-level threat.
You're bringing HIM huh?
They about to get wrecked.
But for the big G-level threat.
You're bringing HIM huh?
They about to get wrecked.
Also take into consideration that all the cities have a uniform language and culture despite the diverse ethnicities. I know ONE probably didn't think about that but it only made sense we might be looking at a HunterxHunter situation where the plot takes place in a bubble where land is concerned.
As far as the plot goes I have an ending and direction in mind but with Murata making so many damn changes and retcons I am treading carefully going forward past a certain point. I am considering using webcomic plot as a buffer but I am hoping that by that point I'd have built enough foundation to do my own thing without relying on the current canon storyline.
Glad you like the story and OF COURSE I'm bringing 'HIM' because
Funny you should mention HxH, i always thought if OPM was part of bigger universe it would be it, although not in the same time period.
Eh, I think that's a bit farfetched. HxH power mechanics are a bit too conceptual to be part of OPM's world at any point barring shenanigans of the 'Major powers' variety.
My thinking was more in line of either before or after a major world semi apocalyptical event that changes the entire globe's geography. Psychic powers being more common and versatile because humans fight each other more(hxh main story continent) if its OPM then HxH and it can work in both ways with knowledge being lost due to no need as monsters are more physical type of threat if its HxH first, then OPM. Though Mob Psycho storyline kind of skews that too.
I would have thought that the cities are the Size of irl countries considering the supercontinent... but you're the author, not me
- Location
- The ETERNAL battlefields of the apocalypse
Great story so far hope to read more of it
- Pronouns
- He
Ohh that's interesting, although Solaria's exactly what any self insert would do, start an company and become a super rich billionaire-trillionaire while staying hidden with powers.
Usually I hate multiple isekaied people, though I can accept this
Usually I hate multiple isekaied people, though I can accept this
Last edited:
- Location
- Oregon, USA
This is really really fascinating.
Story was okay, but didn't seem to be going anywhere, but the appearance of another earthling (and a hyper-stereotypical Sue at that) makes this immediately become really intriguing.
This isn't the quickest I've been hooked on a story, or the most my opinion has improved after said hooking, but I can't think of another story that beats this at both of the two, including published works.
Story was okay, but didn't seem to be going anywhere, but the appearance of another earthling (and a hyper-stereotypical Sue at that) makes this immediately become really intriguing.
This isn't the quickest I've been hooked on a story, or the most my opinion has improved after said hooking, but I can't think of another story that beats this at both of the two, including published works.
- Location
- Argentina
Great setting, we will sadly never see the Manga finished due to health issues of the author. Also a lot of asspulls since the Chimera Ant Arc.
Anyway OPM is... one of the worst settings to live. HxH is better because way less world destroying threats.
And throw any inserts you want to OPM, Saitama will win, the universe says so
Well now you've got me feeling all proud of myself but yeah I didn't want to just do a generic Self Insert, I want to do something new or at least a new take on the formula and admittedly there isn't a whole lot of ways I could do that. I'll admit when I first imagine putting another reincarnated person here it was just to spice things up but that concept evolved into something different. I wanted a contrast to Tomoro, the guy who in his past life was a fan of the series and whose first instinct is to preserve canon to get the most out of his metaknowledge and only change things he feel would create a positive impact.
On the other hand Solaria is the clueless earth normie who went the route of actually making the most of her second life without worrying about or caring for the series itself. I'm hoping to further explore the dichotomy between these two in how they handle future events, where they are similar and where they differ.
Yeah a shame about that, too bad he doesn't have 'Toyotaro' like Toriyama does so he could just kick back and only have to write the damn thing. Not gonna lie I tried reading the manga after the excellent 2011 anime but quit soon after. It felt like getting a divorce straight after the honeymoon.
Of course even with the inserts Saitama is still the strongest, the entertainment value of One-Punch Man past the first season/volume was never about Saitama getting challenged but the build towards the climax provided by the supporting characters.
verycoolname
Not actually cool
Part of the reason Yoshihiro Togashi doesn't have someone to take the reins is because he really doesn't want to let go of them. I'm sure you saw some really, really well-drawn scenes in the manga? They were probably the parts where he did nearly everything himself instead of leaving most of the work to his assistants. The man is a perfectionist and, purportedly, a bit of a control freak.
- Location
- Argentina
Why doesn't he write novels if he can't draw anymore? Is not like you can't money with them, look at Slayers and that way if he still wants to draw it would just be a few drawings by book. Also 1999 plus Greed Islands Ovas is better that the 2011 anime. Although I admit the 2011 gets better during Greed Island and the Chimera Ants Arc. I hate the Chimera Arc but is well animated.
Anyway, one of the problems is that Saitama is just one guy, he can't be on more that one place at once...
Last edited:
Chapter 4
Solaria Nova pinched the bridge of her nose in mild irritation. She had spent several hours perusing the flash drive provided to her by Tomoro Sazaki, a man claiming to be a 'reincarnated soul' originally from earth. She'd think that the man was either lying or delusional but honestly she had no choice but to believe him following that whole Harry Potter reference.
"Ugh"
A small part of her felt embarrassed by that, in her youth she had taken to assign specific aspects of her powers with words and phrases to help her focus, yes just like spells. To her younger self it seemed like a good idea, she would even go so far as to say it was even cool. The fact that the people of that era genuinely believed it to be actual magic only enabled her and now the habit was ingrained. It wasn't something she actively fought to break since most of her 'spells' were in Latin which wasn't a recognized language in this world and sounded mystical enough thus furthering their 'arcane legitimacy.'
It was fool proof!
'Then I met the one man who would get the reference.'
*Groaning noises*
And now she will forever be known to him as a walking Sailor Moon parody shouting Harry Potter spells.
*Even more groaning noises*
Oh the indignity.
Then there was the information on the flash drive itself.
They didn't bother conversing about their past lives, frankly Solaria could hardly remember it beyond a few references she kept alive through frequent uses herself and she suspected the same was for Tomoro as well. From what her decryption tools told her the information was compiled years ago and yet it could act as an overview of certain events that happened in the last month with one key difference.
One-Punch Man, Saitama, was not part of the Hero Association during these events.
And wasn't that a shock?
The strongest man in the world who proclaims to be a hero wasn't part of the premiere hero organization of this generation. Most of her shock didn't stem from the knowledge that he wouldn't have joined the association but from the knowledge that he managed to do more or less the same actions as he did as part of the association and not get noticed. Actions which include stopping at least two Dragon level monsters responsible for destroying cities and dismantling the infamous House of Evolution and that was before he would have joined the association.
Instead of One-Punch Man being the strongest man in the world, this supposed alternate universe had King who was his literal stand-in. A normal man who just so happens to have the (un)fortunate luck of being a bystander to One-Punch Man's feats and was mistakenly given credit for it. According to the information it wasn't even on purpose on the side of the hapless man since he was terrified of monsters. It was all on the utter incompetence of the Hero Association who practically press-ganged a normal man, who must have been in utter shock, into the S-Class.
The series of One-Punch Man reads like a parody and a comedy but for her this was her reality and Solaria was not amused. Solaria can be considered-no she is the most powerful woman in the world but she is also humble and knows restraint. People tend to mistake this for weakness and try to take advantage of her such as those executives on her company's board of directors who went behind her back with under the table dealings.
Unfortunately for them Solaria was never not in control and their attempts to wrest that control from her was amusing at best and irritating at worst. Her deliberate constraint would have her working within the confines of the law however she has more than enough wealth and clout to expedite any legal proceedings in her favor whenever she chooses. Hiring a private accounting firm to search for evidence of misdeeds was just an excuse to get evidence against them but she already knew.
Getting rid of said executives without interference would have been a lengthy process as they dragged on and she would have been fine with playing that song and dance but not anymore. This information demanded her priorities go elsewhere and so Solaria Nova did just that. A few calls here, a few favors there and just a sprinkle of blackmail ensured that those big fish raised in a small pond would be dumped into the ocean for the sharks. All it took for her were a few short hours to turn a lengthy procedure into a quick fix and purge all the undesirables from her company.
The only downside was that she didn't have the satisfaction of seeing the looks on their faces when they realized just how small they are compared to her. It still baffled Solaria how people could underestimate her despite all that she has managed to accomplish.
'The price of complacency'
With that done she could now prioritize the Hero Association and…God did she feel foolish for not doing so before.
"How did things fall apart so quickly?"
Solaria is the largest backer of the Hero Association, she didn't support it through Star Enterprise either but through her own private funds. When the concept was first presented to her by Agoni it stirred something inside her she thought had been snuffed out after…that incident which forced her to retire. She thought she had fully turned away from the concept of heroes and then her friend and business partner came to her about a proposition for a hero organization. The man's passion was infectious as he regaled her with the tale of a man (whom turned out to be a younger One-Punch Man) saving his grandson from a monster.
Solaria had agreed to help him and before she knew it she was the secret co-founder of the Hero Association, a silent partner to Agoni whose name was unknown. Her identity was kept anonymous to everyone but her fellow co-founder and current president of the association, Agoni. Keeping her involvement a secret had been a choice she made out of shame, the idea of even being tangentially involved in heroics after abandoning the world so long ago bothered her more than she'd like to admit.
This is why apart from providing private funding and connections Solaria stayed as far away from the Hero Association as possible. Agoni was a smart man and the passion with which he pursued this was such that Solaria felt he would be able to handle running the organization without her direct input. She wasn't wrong either because for as much of a bleak picture Tomoro's information painted the Hero Association the legit records of Agoni's leadership painted him as competent as she would expect.
If there was one flaw of Agoni that she had to point out it would be his trust in his subordinates. It wasn't that the man was naïve, far from it, you couldn't be naïve in the world of business but he was of the mind that the people under him kept to the same standards as him. He felt that in the face of their natural enemies humans would rise above their baser instincts to unite in cooperation to confront them.
It was an optimistic view as well as a strange one coming from a man who climbed his way through annals of big corporate businesses and carved out a name for himself. Regardless Agoni placed a certain level of autonomy with his subordinates trusting them to handle the specifics of operation while he focused on the more corporate aspects of running the association. That was a mistake and one that Solaria herself did not make even with her distancing from the company.
Solaria has been at this for longer than most have been alive and she'd been screwed over one time too many in this game to leave certain things up to chance. Much like what she did with Star Enterprise Solaria had ensured that there were enough backdoors open to receive information on how the company was really doing.
Solaria didn't know what she would find exactly but she knew what to expect: cover-ups for higher profile heroes, some shady dealings here and there and perhaps even money laundering considering the bulk of the associations profits came from donations. What she found after taking several days vacation to go over the updates was disheartening to say the least. In addition to the usual cover-ups, shady dealings and money launderings there was also: illegal capture and containment of dangerous monsters, poor regulations, lack of coordination, a lack of support for heroes below S-Class, executives with links to terrorist organizations and just general incompetence overall.
"What is Agoni even doing?"
She shouldn't be mad, she really shouldn't be because she knew the man, knew he would never stand for the things her agents reported and yet they happened under his watch nonetheless. Perhaps the worst part in all this was that this information was not new and it was available to her at anytime. If Solaria had just taken the time to scrutinize them then she could have seen and predicted the outcome and advised her friend, do something about it sooner.
Now the corruption had festered but it wasn't too late to do something about it now.
"Hello Agoni, yes, we need to talk"
What he's trying to get at is that he was tired and wanted a break so he took one whilst overseeing the growth of the future strongest man in the world. Was this a deliberate ploy by him, sure but the friendship the two sparked was 100% genuine. Also genuine was his attitude, Saitama may have been a legendary character in his past life but right now he was just a kid: a prematurely bald, blank faced, mostly oblivious, barely motivated slacker with declining emotions, a solid resolve and who also happens to have ridiculous levels of physical and mental strength.
The guy was like that lazy little brother or cousin you had to take care of but was endearing enough not to make it feel like a complete chore. Tomoro liked to think that he's had a positive influence on Saitama, compared to his 'canon' counterpart this one was definitely in a better place even though it would be hard to tell at a glance. People seem to forget that before he began his training Saitama was at a place where he didn't care about his life, people ran in the face of that crab monster and he stuck around because he didn't care if he got killed.
That crab monster spared him because he had the dead eyes of someone who'd given up on life. For Saitama fighting that monster made him feel alive for the first time in probably a long time. His immense strength isn't the thing that's making him lose his emotions, it's that he couldn't fulfill his passion, which was to have a fight that would make him feel alive. There are only two cures for something like this, give him a fight that could reawaken his passion or get him passionate about something else.
He distinctly remembered this aspect of Saitama being explored through King and his gaming. Ever since they met in the canon King went over to Saitama's apartment regularly to play games. Tomoro can vaguely remember commenting on those being the only times where Saitama's expression wasn't a blank face. Whether it be excitement about trying out new combos, the frustration of losing and just the general expressions of a young adult hanging out with a friend, all of those were genuine emotions expressed by Saitama outside of a battle or really just in general.
Tomoro himself as seen them too and it wasn't particularly hard to get an emotion out of Saitama, he was like an older brother figure to the man. And it might be Tomoro taking that particular role a little too seriously but it felt like he could do more to stave off Saitama's emotional decline. The problem is that Tomoro just wasn't that kind of person and doing it would come off as disingenuous and manipulative. He wasn't in the business of manipulating the emotions of his friends like that and thus despite his influence he was limited in how he could help the young man.
Sometimes he wondered if he should have allowed King to take Saitama's credit and then he remembered that day. Just two months after becoming an S-Class and following an interview Saitama's very first set of fan mail was delivered. It wasn't as outrageous in volume as it was today, just over a dozen but all of them came from the grateful people he'd saved or otherwise impressed during his heroics so far. The letter contents ranged from lauding all kind of praises to genuine thanks and well wishes.
It was the last time he'd seen Saitama so obviously happy and it made Tomoro not regret having Saitama get his deserved credit for everything he's accomplished. He may not be in it for the money or the fame but being appreciated went a long way. So no having King take his credit may work for the plot of the series but he wasn't willing to subject his friend to that kind of life.
Also he wasn't willing to subject King to the stress that came with his position in the canon. Maybe if King had the ambition or even mild inclination to become the hero people assume he was then Tomoro could have trained him but the man didn't and so Tomoro left him alone. The last time he checked up on the man who would be known as King the man had gone professional with his hobby.
The man was still known as King but his empire was the professional e-sports circuit. Tomoro shouldn't have been surprised but he was when he found an article with King's face on it while checking up on current news several months ago. The man King was an internationally famous gamer, practically a living legend in the e-sports circuit.
Basically King was living the same life he would have in canon except the monster battles were replaced with game tournaments. Tomoro also imagined that his anxiety levels were much lower than his canon counterpart and that he was also happier being able to make a living doing what he loves.
'Good for him' Tomoro thought and while it was a shame that the chances of him and Saitama crossing paths and becoming friends was slim he was happy for King.
Of course since King and gaming was no longer a viable option of staving of Saitama's decline there was only one other option available to Tomoro. Of course he could just search for something else but time was running short and he would be too busy with the 'plot' to figure out viable hobbies the two of them could do together.
Of course the two did have a 'hobby' they would both enjoy.
"…guess I've got no other choice then" Tomoro sighed.
Tomoro was going to have to fight Saitama.
He didn't know what was more unnerving, the thought of fighting against the One-Punch Man or the rising thrill he felt at the prospect.
Agoni very much doubted he was the source of her ire because since the two of them were acquaintances but he was sure that whatever caught her attention was dire. He arrived at the location in a nondescript van and was escorted by a pair of private bodyguards. Inside the looked like a generic office building complete with cubicles but it looked to be under some renovation.
They came upon a door to which one of them spoke "Miss Nova is waiting for you inside sir"
The two made way for him to pass and he opened the door to see that the room was a conference just as generic in design as the others. There was a large table at the center with office chairs, several extra ones by the walls, a projector hanging from the ceiling and a white screen hanging on the center of the far wall. Solaria was already seated in one of the chairs with a stack of folders as well as a printer present for some reason. Her eyes were glued to the screen of her device before he came in.
"Agoni" Solaria stood with a smile "thank you for arriving on such short notice."
The old man found himself returning her smile "Solaria, it's been too long."
The two acquaintances met with a handshake and Solaria's expression pinched though the mild ire was not directed at him.
"I wish our meeting was under better circumstances."
Agoni frowned "what happened?"
"As it turns out, a lot of things" with the press of a button the lights dimmed down and the projector came to life.
It didn't take long for Agoni to figure out what he was looking at and when he did he at first paled before eventually going red with indignation. Throughout the whole process Solaria regarded him with a cool expression while taking note of his reaction.
Then she added "that is not even half of what I uncovered."
Agoni was rendered shocked "I did not…" he paused to compose himself and continued "Solaria had I any idea this was happening-"
The woman raised her hand to forestall any more enraged stammering "I know you had nothing to do with this Agoni, if you had we would have a very different conversation."
Far from taking offense to the unspoken threat the man involuntarily swallowed. To distract himself from that bit of nasty hypothetical he focused on the matter at hand, his-no their Hero Association was being used as a front for corruption and illegal activity by executives and members of staff.
"We cannot allow this to continue" Solaria pointed out.
"Obviously" Agoni gritted as he glared at the hologram "I will ensure that every single one of them pay dearly for this Solaria, this I swear!"
The woman shook her head "I'm afraid that won't do Agoni."
The man recoiled lightly "what do you mean?"
Solaria interlaced her fingers "you are a good man Agoni but the fact that this" she gestured to the hologram of evidence "has happened under your watch is unacceptable"
Agoni felt a flare of indignance "are you suggesting I am responsible for-"
"Not knowingly, however it is through your negligence that this was allowed to fester" her gaze softened minutely "you are too trusting"
The hologram shifted to show documents for some of the executives who happened to be very close with Agoni himself. Reading through what he saw Agoni paled before finally slumping in his seat.
"You are right"
Agoni was an old man but this was the first time he actually felt his age. He may have been passionate about the Hero Association but the truth is that he wanted to leave it to the next generation. He had hoped Solaria would take it up but due to her own personal reasons their positions were reversed with him being the president and her being the silent co-founder.
"I am sorry"
The sudden apology had Agoni blinking "why are you apologizing?"
"We were partners, I should have been there supporting you with the actual work instead of playing around in Star Enterprise."
Agoni sweat dropped, he wouldn't call running a multi-billion dollar company 'playing around.'
"I think it's time I finally did my part as co-founder"
"Is that a wise decision for you to make at this time? From what I've heard you are also dealing with some…setbacks at Star Enterprise"
She waved his concern "the situation is being handled. What matters now is this."
"Are you sure?"
"Agoni, the safety of the world is more important than my business" she retorted sternly.
"…the prophecy"
Solaria nodded "this right here is a scandal waiting to happen and the Hero Association cannot afford the distraction" her eyes glared with a cold fury "this needs to be nipped in the bud before it ultimately gets out."
"What did you have in mind?"
And so the secret meeting between the two founding members of the Hero Association continued.
"I am G4, a Machine God created by the 'Organization.' You are the strongest Hero, One-Punch Man I have been sent to eliminate you."
Saitama gave a blank stare having already zoned out from the start of its speech. At this point he's heard so many monologues that zoning out was an automatic defense. Why do this instead of just finishing it off mid-rant? Because they were in a public area and it gave time for the civilians to clear out and give him space. Since it was ignoring them Saitama knew this was one of the rarer Mysterious Beings who was only interested in him.
"It's One-Punch Man! He's over there!"
"For real?"
"Then we'll be fine!"
"Get rid of it One-Punch Man!"
The shouts drew Saitama back from his musings and he tuned out the rest with a grimace. To make the situation worse both his hands were full with grocery bags and he didn't want to just have them lying on the street while he took care of business. Even he could finish the robot in a single punch the blowback would most assuredly scatter his bags. He'd lost more than few groceries that way and learned his lesson, never again.
It's a long shot but maybe…
"Hey you mind waiting for me to drop these off at my house?" he held up his grocery bags "I promise I'll come back and fight you after"
In response the robot drew the massive sword and leveled the blade at him. It also had the effect of blowing away his hat and hoodie bringing his shined bald head to the fore.
'Dammit I should get that thing fitted'
"I said I have come to kill you!"
Saitama could only sigh 'guess we're doing this again'
Unfortunately the title of Strongest Man in the World is hardly an uncontested one. Saitama himself has never even claimed the title either, it was more or less given to him by the Hero Association for marketing reasons. Still even if it is just a marketing ploy one does not just proclaim himself the strongest and not expect to be challenged because of it. Saitama didn't but he'd always been able to defend the title thrust upon him easily enough so in a sense everything worked out fine.
Except now you have things like this giant robot crawling out of the woodwork looking to fight him for whatever reason. The first few times had gotten his hopes up since only the strong would bother stepping up to the plate to challenge him for such a title but to his disappointment they were all lacking by his standards. And now here he was again being threatened because of the title by this robot pointing a sword at him. Unfortunately for the robot leveling a giant sword at the bald man was grounds for said bald man's uncharacteristically quiet companion to intervene.
In a flash Genos appeared grabbing the tip of the sword with one reinforced metallic hand and smashing it with the other. The giant robot was clearly shocked but before it's processors could react Genos launched his fist, literally launched it with rocket propellers opened at the forearm to deliver a devastating right hook at the robot's face, blasting it's heavy body down the street.
Saitama blinked, having honestly forgotten that he wasn't alone. In his defense he'd been going at this hero work alone for so long that he'd gone on autopilot when the robot showed up.
Still there was something more pressing he noted "was that a rocket-punch?"
Because that was kinda cool.
Genos didn't answer, couldn't answer because the robot bounced back with rocket propulsions installed on it back and stomped on the smaller Genos. Saitama watched his 'disciple' get crushed underfoot with casual calmness.
"Hey, you need a hand Genos?"
"No Master Saitama, leave this to me!"
"Are you sure?" Saitama asked but was already picking up the groceries Genos laid on the ground before he engaged.
"Yes, in order to reach the goal you have set for me I need to defeat an opponent like this with my own hands!!"
The last sentence was punctuated by Genos slipping out from under the robot, propelled by his own rocket thrusters to engage it in vicious and explosive hand-to-hand combat.
Saitama mentally shrugged at that "okay, but don't lose you hear."
"Yes, Master!"
After finding none of the crowd stuck around Saitama left and as he made his way down the empty streets, the sirens blared to life warning the civilians of the ongoing battle.
Expecting the worst case scenario he went through the current Hero Association roster as well as data from the analysts and came to a shocking conclusion, it wasn't enough. The Hero Association as it is now wouldn't be able to mitigate a worst case scenario. As if it were part of the prophecy itself there has been a sharp increase in the number of monster attacks. This month alone had a rate six times higher than the past three years since the inception of the Hero Association itself.
The current roster of heroes only number around 546 and they were already spread thin enough as is. The recent alien attack only confirmed just how unprepared they were to fight against a possible disaster level God threat. No one said anything but Sitch was one of the few people who knew for a fact that City A surviving unscathed was the work of a third party interference. Their sensors had picked up odd energy readings just before the city could be hit by the bombardment. Surveillance recorded what seems to be a barrier protecting the city and there was also the premature detonation of most of the missiles.
They already had a team investigating what happened and Sitch could only hope they manage to get new assets out of it because they were in desperate need of them. They were so desperate in fact that Sitch had little choice but to swallow his pride, numb his compunctions and used every resource at his disposal to reach out to the underworld of all places. Several calls, several bribes, several favors and several days of preparation later and every contract killer, weapon's merchant, escaped convict and mad scientist had answered the summons.
Within an afternoon the Hero Association headquarters was a den for a hive of scum and villainy. No one would ever know just how much it irked him to do this but Sitch needed to explore all avenues to stop the worst case scenario from ever occurring. This prophecy was potentially bigger than anything they as humanity would ever face. Surely the threat of extinction (and reward) would galvanize even the worst of humanity to fight for their collective survival.
It's a shame Sitch would never know because almost every single attendant was beaten into bloody unconsciousness before an answer could be given. The only ones left conscious were himself and the one who perpetrated the massacre, Garou. A young man who proclaims himself to 'worshipping monsters' had taken on a room of some of the worst criminals in the underworld as well as three high ranking A-Class heroes. And not only did he win but he also did it with apparent ease and sadistic glee.
Sitch was no stranger to violence, he may not be an active combatant but he has seen his fair share of brawls. The reason why he was given this position wasn't just because he was some pencil pushing suit but because he had been part of the military task force that quelled monster threats. This was long before the association, long before heroes, back when vigilantes were the unofficial protectors of the cities. He was the one who first made contact with Blast in any official capacity and got the hero to work with the government.
Yet despite his experience it did not prepare him for Garou. More than his brutal takedown of the heroes and criminals, Sitch could sense that there was something fundamentally wrong with that man. Even hours later and Sitch just couldn't stop thinking about it. Before then all he could do was stress over the prophecy but he had this feeling that if they don't do something about Garou then he could be a problem that would get out of hand.
Worse if it turns out that Garou himself might be the catalyst for said prophecy…
It is for this reason why Sitch had set out to find all that he could about the man named Garou. After which he would bring up setting countermeasures for him in the next meeting of executives in a few days. Unfortunately Sitch would never get the chance to contact his colleagues as he himself would receive an emergency summons and from president Agoni himself. The nature of the message was enough that Sitch deduced it was of the highest priority and was likely sent to all the executives and sponsors as well.
In the three years since Sitch has been part of the association Agoni has hardly ever involved himself with operations.
So what was going on?
'Whatever it is must be very important' as he thought about it Sitch sensed an opportunity 'I could use this to bring my concerns with Garou directly to the president himself'
Unlike with the executives Sitch knew that getting Agoni to properly recognize the threat Garou would prove to be wouldn't be as much of an uphill battle.
Sonic was on a mission and for the first in a long while it wasn't one that he was contracted to fulfill. At this point there was very little professional connotation here, this was purely a personal vendetta now. His pride had been wounded, strung up and shot to hell. Sonic has never been so thoroughly humiliated in his entire life, not even his time in the 'Village' undergoing training had seen him so incensed. And so Speed-o-Sound Sonic's self appointed mission, vendetta, crusade was to take the head of Saitama the One-Punch Man.
The memories of his defeat at the hands of this individual always brought out the worst in him, often shattering his calm demeanor into immediate suffocating bloodlust. He never thought he could hate someone so much but here he was, gunning after the proclaimed 'strongest man in the world'
'Hmph, well it won't be for long.'
Sonic never got caught up into the hype of the so-called heroes. To him they were just a bunch of weaklings running around playing it up for the public. He's more than seen enough of them get beaten down in the face of truly strong opponents to warrant skepticism on the validity of strength the Hero Association advertise in their name. So naturally when he came across Saitama during that faithful mission he didn't think much of him. Oh sure he'd heard of the man and his alleged feats of defeating opponents with a single attack (hence his name) but that didn't track with Sonic.
Then he went and got defeated by him with a single attack and in the most humiliating way possible. It forced Sonic to retreat and recover but not before swearing vengeance for the humiliation. He would not admit it out loud but Sonic was in a bit of a denial back then, the circumstances allowed him to soothe his aching ego with words of 'next time' and 'preparations' than to ever admit he was truly defeated. It was probably why the next time he happened to see the man he immediately attacked him.
In hindsight this was a terrible move on his part. Not only was he ill equipped for a battle but the area was also unfit for it. He saw this now in hindsight but at the time the moment he recognized the man in that disguise his body reacted and before he knew it a kunai was thrown and it was too late for regrets. He realized now that the proper thing to do would have been to tail him back to where he lived, scope out the area properly and come back to officially challenge him after getting his proper gear.
His and Saitama's second confrontation was…messy to say the least. Saitama blatantly ignored him for the most part, treating him like a nuisance rather than the S-Class threat that he was. His second attempt at an attack resulted in the loss of his sword and he's still not sure how that happened. He still remembered the look the hero gave him and at that point Sonic should have cut his losses and retreated.
Unfortunately before he had the time to properly think through anything that tank top wearing moron came and started treating him like a weakling. That was about as much as he could take. It was one thing for One-Punch Man to treat him with irrelevance but it was another for this nobody to do it and the crowd sticking around to cheer instead of fleeing in terror was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The worst part hadn't even been the way how the fight ended but that Sonic lost his composure enough to drag the crowd of Saitama's fans into the mix by launching exploding shurikens at them. He wasn't exactly trying to kill them and he didn't even care if his actions resulted in as much but it was still sloppy the way how he just lost his focus like that. Then in a feat of speed that still had Sonic's head spinning Saitama disappeared and Sonic felt a sharp pain in his shoulder before his vision went to black and he woke up in a prison cell with a broken face.
His arrest and subsequent stint in prison made him reflect on his life and the decisions that led him there. He was planning on breaking out but saw an opportunity when that other disgusting hero broke out. Sonic ended up following Puri Puri Prisoner out of curiosity as he wanted to see what another hero supposedly in Saitama's class could do and how he himself stacked up. The end result was clear in that despite being in the same S-Class as Puri Puri Prisoner could not be compared to him.
Perhaps that was the reason he was ranked last.
Not that it mattered as Sonic got the chance to reaffirm his place with his battle against the same monster that so handedly defeated an S-Class hero. Unfortunately he was yet again ill equipped to kill it despite possessing superior speed. He never did get the chance to finish that monster and he found out that Saitama had defeated it in a single attack. Despite the confidence in his speed and skill Sonic couldn't claim to be able to kill that monster in a single attack even with all his equipment. The admission, silent as it was brought the inexplicable realization that he wouldn't be able to beat Saitama as he is.
That is why for the past few weeks he has spent his time in the secluded mountains training himself. Through his journey he has befriended a hunter, adopted a piglet and surpassed his previous limitation to create a new sure-kill technique tailor-made to defeat Saitama. All he had to do then was find the bastard which was easier said than done. For a high profile hero like him, his address was a matter of the utmost secrecy for the same reason why Sonic wanted it.
He had to rely on his contacts in the criminal underworld and it was through them that he caught wind of a gathering of criminals at the Hero Association headquarters. The message had promised it wasn't a trap, not that Sonic cared for any half baked traps the Hero Association might have planned for the rabble. His thought process was such that they would have had to use bodyguards to protect the place and given the importance there was a high chance that their strongest hero would be present at the meeting or perhaps even live in the building itself since his address is kept secret.
In the end it was a bust and Sonic ended up leaving but at least he found another lead to look into. The man Sonic witnessed Saitama conversing with in their second encounter seemed close to the bald hero. Perhaps they were friends or close acquaintances but in either case the glasses wearing man certainly didn't act like the rest of the sheep, fawning over the bald hero. He vividly remembered overhearing them talking about getting udon and after visiting the area of that second encounter quickly found the place that sold udon in the area.
After that it was only a matter of asking about a purple haired man in a business suit and he managed to get a name. From that name he used his contacts to unearth personal information. There wasn't much but apparently most of his records had perished during a nasty monster attack almost a decade ago. Not that it was important since he got an address which itself was peculiar enough for Sonic to scope out. Though he never actually went to the direct address since he managed to find his target whilst on the way there and it took a significant amount of Sonic's willpower not to attack the bald bastard right then. He managed to stay his hand long enough to trail him back to a near condemned building in the abandoned part of City Z.
It was honestly a perfect hideout and now he knew the address of the strongest hero.
So here Sonic was a day after, returning to the apartment complex, ready to settle the score with his rival once and for all. As he arrived on top of the roof, a thought had Sonic hesitate for a moment. Just how was he going to go about issuing the challenge in the first place? His training as an assassin pointed to ambush as the obvious answer but he squashed it down. This wasn't an assassination but a formal challenge, Sonic wanted to make a point and killing him while his guard was down just would not soothe his ego.
That decision however was taken from as a voice spoke from below.
"Show yourself"
'That voice sounds familiar'
Dropping into the corridor Sonic was met with the familiar visage of the blonde cyborg 'hero' he met during that Sea King fiasco. He learned more about him through his investigation. He was Genos, a cyborg, the newest member of the S-Class and most importantly someone who is said to work close with One-Punch man himself.
"So it was a human" the cyborg muttered "what do you want?"
"I'm here for One-Punch Man. I know he's inside, bring him out here" Sonic demanded coolly.
"Are you an acquaintance of Master Saitama?"
'Master, I've never heard of him taking on any students' Sonic filed that away for now.
"I am Speed-o-Sound Sonic, One-Punch Man's rival and I am here to settle the score with him, step aside."
Sonic could see the servos within the cyborg's golden eyes whir before he spoke "I've met you before, Speed of Sound (heh) Sonic, streaker."
That comment alone sealed the cyborg's fate in Sonic's mind.
Still he wasn't finished yet and held out a palm towards the ninja where a hole glowed an ominous fiery gold "posing as master Saitama's rival, piss off freak or I'll eliminate you"
Sonic couldn't help but smirk as he retrieved two of his special shuriken "the only one who is going to be eliminated is you, wannabe sidekick."
Genos' eye literally flashed but instead of firing from his glowing palm he rushed at the ninja. The move was somewhat unexpected but Sonic never lost his smirk as he backpedaled just out of reach of Genos' rush. This isn't what he came here for but he'd be foolish not to seize the opportunity to defeat and humiliate the self proclaimed student of One-Punch Man.
It should make for a decent warm up if anything else.
And yet, this man was able to see through his feint, react appropriately and dodge his attack. The worst part was that he did all this with a smile on his face.
'Such speed'
Genos led the man away from his Master's home to behind the complex itself all the while trying and failing to land a blow.
"Hmph, not bad for that man's so-called apprentice but you're still nowhere close to my speed!"
Genos didn't let the taunt get to him like it would have even two days ago. Currently he was going at what would have been his top speed before the G4 augments which he has yet to tap into. An action that was quickly reversed as his opponent suddenly vanished from his sight.
'What?'
At the same time as that thought his sensors detected projectiles heading for his flank. He himself only saw a glint of metal before he acted with a blast from his incineration cannons. He didn't quite expect the massive explosion to engulf the area but nonetheless managed to leap away from the yield. Unfortunately Genos has still yet to pick up on Sonic's whereabouts from his first disappearing act.
Golden eyes shifted to and fro as his scanners worked themselves to pick up a signal "where is he?"
*Beep-Beep-Beep*
"Looking for me"
His sensors beeped a split second before he heard Sonic's voice coming from directly behind him.
"You should watch your back 'apprentice'!" Sonic yelled as he made to cut off Genos' head with his ninjato.
Unbeknownst to the ninja Genos gave an imperceptible smirk and intoned a single word just before the blade could reach his neck "accelerate"
Now it was Sonic's turn to be shocked as Genos seemingly disappeared from his sight just before he could behead him "what!?"
*Shine*
A golden light shined just below his vision and Sonic looked down to find Genos crouched to his knees, the palms of his metal hands showing the source of the light and turned towards him.
The ninja's eyes widened in alarm "oh shi-"
"Incinerate"
The cold metallic voice was followed by a flash of gold that flooded Sonic's vision bringing with it a maelstrom of fire and destruction. The earth shook, the wind was displaced and the air was superheated as a massive explosion covered the area destroying condemned buildings and creating a noticeable earthquake. As Genos straightened himself he did not behold his handiwork of destruction, fire and ashes. Rather he felt a wave of mild frustration because he saw at the last possible millisecond before the blast can hit the bastard had somehow managed to evade it.
'Evading a point blank blast from my Incineration Canon' Genos thought to himself 'I can no longer treat this man as just some no name stalker.'
Genos found that his Master's fame would sometimes attract idiots who would challenge him. The most recent example of which was that G4 android but before that there were also other monsters, human assassins and so forth. Genos took it upon himself to eliminate them to save his master the hassle of dealing with it himself. Most of them weren't anything to write home about and truly, up until this point only G4 had provided any semblance of a true challenge.
Speed of Sound Sonic had just made that short list. Even more the ninja provided a rather unique challenge himself. Genos can say with certainty that he's never quite fought an opponent like Sonic before. The man was easily the fastest opponent he's ever encountered and seems to rely on his speed over strength and brute force.
'To defeat him I must overcome that speed'
With that thought he began to access the power of the G4 augments, at the same time several shurikens were launched at him from seemingly all sides, detonating in an explosion that while not as massive or destructive as Genos' earlier attempts was still impressive.
*Beep-Beep*
"There" following Genos' robotic voice the cyborg blasted out of smokescreen heading in a straight line towards the ninja.
That last attack was a noticeable jump in speed from their last engagement but nothing to worry about. Aside from the jump in speed he also noted that the cyborg was being less liberal with those blasts of his. At long distance he let loose a stream of plasma that melted rock on contact, at mid distance he spammed them in concentrated bursts that explode and at close distance he augments his punches with them to produce shockwaves that carve out holes and trenches in the area. Despite the power behind those attacks and the destructive aftermath of each of those blows Sonic only found it mildly concerning.
First of all Sonic still retained his superior speed and second for all the destructive power behind his attacks they were painfully telegraphed in how predictable they were to him. It was quite clear to Sonic that for all his power Genos was not a trained fighter, more of a brawler that relied on brute force and overwhelming power. This was the type of opponent Sonic could end with but a single strike from his blade but unfortunately the cyborg bastard was tough.
In his mad rush spamming destructive attacks against Sonic the cyborg had completely forgone his defense. Sonic was quick to capitalize on this fact and has landed more than a dozen attacks on the purposefully defenseless cyborg. What is most certainly a tactical mishap became moot as it turns out Genos' naturally augmented body provided more than enough of a defense against most of Sonic's attacks.
Irritation welled up in the ninja mercenary as the metal bastard tanked yet another of his attack, blatantly ignoring the kunai that plinked off his body to attempt another heavy blow that laid destruction in the space the ninja previously occupied.
'This is like the Deep Sea King all over again'
Sonic was not a weak man but at the same time he did not put as much focus into his physical strength beyond being able to withstand the rigors of moving at ridiculously high speeds. His focus mainly lay with his speed, technique and mastery of the ninja arts. He was an assassin by trade, his targets are mostly human and the few non human targets he's come across easily fall to his blade. This was the first time he'd encountered someone durable enough to withstand most of his arsenal.
Granted Sonic has yet to utilize his ninjato but with ho destructive and tough his opponent is Sonic would rather not run the risk of losing his primary weapon unless he has an opening for a decisive end. It was an opening that his opponent was not giving up despite tanking most of Sonic's attacks. They were effectively in a stalemate and it frustrated them both even though they were doing a good job of not letting that frustration show to the other.
Sonic still retained his manic smile and Genos was a ball of focused efficiency.
Their latest engagement kicked up another massive cloud of dust and seemed to land them on a familiar street something Genos picked upon as he scanned the area.
"Chasing the rat brought me back to Master's place" he seemed to mutter to himself.
Speaking of…
"What the hell is going on over there!?" came the incensed yell of the man in question "Genos?"
"Ah, master Saitama, I am sorry for making your apartment dusty"
Sonic looked to balcony to find his target dressed in an ill-fitting shorts, hoodie and sandal combo.
"This ain't what you'd call 'dusty' Genos" he said looking over the debris and destruction of the already partially destroyed street.
"What are you even doing?"
"I am currently in the middle of a battle Master."
"Oh, really" Saitama looking intrigued hopped over the railing to land on the street with hands in hoodie pocket as he leisurely strolled towards his disciple "who're you fighting?"
"A persistent stalker"
That earned Genos a couple explosive shurikens to face as Sonic made himself known with hop that had him land crouching on a light post.
The moment Saitama saw him his response was "oh it's just Sonic"
The ninja felt his eye twitch however his attention was once again taken by his current meddlesome opponent who scoffed at the ninja's latest attack having not been moved or phased by it beyond a few new soot marks.
"Haven't you learned? You could throw a hundred of those things and it would not hurt me"
"Maybe, but you still haven't even laid a finger on me."
It was a hollow boast despite the bravado and Sonic figured his opponent knew this as well. What was the point of boasting his speed if his attacks don't even work on him? And with Saitama there he needed to finish this. Killing his disciple would be the perfect message sent to have him be taken seriously by the bald hero.
So hopping down from the light post Sonic made his declaration "watch closely One-Punch Man because after I kill your disciple, you're next!"
"Master Saitama please give me a moment to eliminate this nuisance once and for all"
"Hmph, you eliminate me? Haven't you learned?" Sonic scoffed using Genos' earlier words against him "a slowpoke like you is never going to 'eliminate' me with such miserable moves."
In response Genos' chest glowed behind his sleeveless shirt "I never revealed what I was truly capable of" then in a burst of movement that shattered the ground and created a small crater Genos vanished before Sonic's eyes again.
'What?'
Just as the thought entered his mind, long honed instincts had him contort his body into a sudden backflip just as Genos appeared at his back and swiped at him with several vicious blows, his purple scarf was lost.
"Tch" turning a corkscrew to land on his feet Sonic gasp when just as his toes touched the ground Genos was suddenly up in his face with a metal fist cocked back.
Again it was only through his rigorously trained speed and reflex that allowed him bend backwards and avoid the straight punch that might have torn his head off. Much like with his other attacks the destructive force behind the punch demolished the structure behind Sonic. Luckily at that point Sonic was already well away from the cyborg managing to gain distance or so he thought.
"…!"
Yet again he had to jerk his body away from another attack coming from his flank. This time through a series of flips he managed to put more distance from him. Sonic didn't bank on that however and just as he predicted Genos appeared behind him launching a barrage of punches. Sonic dodged each of the point blank punch and with an annoyed sneer slashed at him with his sword only to hit air as his opponent appeared behind him again.
'Why does he keep attacking from behind?' the move became less of a viable strategy and into the realm of predictability after the second time-wait 'is he showing off?' he handedly dodged another attempt at the same flank attack 'does this fucker think he's faster than me!?'
"…!"
Sonic hopped back as Genos' onslaught suddenly stopped with an outstretched fist.
'Something doesn't feel right' the ninja thought to himself.
"Here, there was this annoying thing on top your head" Genos opened his hand to drop…Sonic's topknot!
Of all the indignities Sonic has ever faced recently, that right there might have just barely topped the list, right behind his first defeat at Saitama's hands.
His rage might have just gone full circle "you little-" Genos once again reappeared behind the ninja "-shit"
"You let your guard down Speed of Sound Sonic, it's over. Machine Gun Blows!"
Sonic turned into the onslaught with barely any reaction but his thoughts were very different.
'I'm done messing around'
Genos was sure that his attacks would strike through this time yet it was not to be as his fists passed through the ninja who somehow took on the properties of a warped image. As if that wasn't enough the ninja split into four identical clones, all of them sporting that insufferable smirk of condescension.
"What the-" Genos' eyes widened in shock, his sensors couldn't tell the images apart.
"Surprised? Don't tell me you're having trouble keeping up after showing off so much before" Sonic's voice came out warped, as if he were speaking through a fan "I expected more from One-Punch Man's disciple."
Sonic took sadistic glee in his opponent's panic, it was clear to the ninja that no matter how hard he tried, he could not discern his movements. Flipping his sword to a forward grip Sonic spoke
"Through a special movement technique I am able to create afterimages as I move. Now take this Secret Technique: Four Shadows Burial!"
Like shadowy wraiths indiscernible from one another four after images surrounded Genos and went in for the kill. In response Genos seemingly gave up on tracking his movements and instead put his arm into a crossguard.
'Does he truly believe he can block my attack?' Sonic laughed at the cyborg.
At least that's what Sonic assumed at first but he realized too late that Genos' arms were cross with his palms facing outwards while his face was securely covered. That's when he shouted the words that sealed the Ninja's fate.
"Incineration…FLASH!"
"Flas-AAARGGHHH!" Sonic's eyes widened which may have been an even bigger mistake on his part as a bright light pierced his cornea turning his vision painfully white.
His attack was abruptly halted and the ninja leapt away flailing in disorientation for a bit while his head throbbed in pain. Unfortunately for the assassin he would not get any reprieve as through the ringing in his ears he heard three dreaded words shouted.
"Machine. Gun. Blows!"
And all Sonic knew was pain.
Saitama blinked back the spots from his eyes with mild irritation "that's annoying."
His vision was restored in short order and with it Saitama beheld the result of Genos' stun tactic and counterattack. There was a section of the street with relatively fresh destruction from what he assumed was the explosion he heard. Genos had a few deep slashes across his chest and arms. Sonic on the other hand fared much worst with patches of his bodysuit gone revealing the scarred skin beneath, his ninjato was broken looking more like a knife than a sword, aside from that he was had burns, bruises and a bit of blood on him.
"You bastard" the Ninja spat out panting lightly "using underhanded tricks, so much for being a hero."
Genos did not miss a beat with his reply "so long as I can attain victory it matters not what tools I use at my disposal" he held up a glowing palm "it's over Speed of Sound Sonic"
"Tch" he tossed the broken ninjato "you get a few hits in from a lucky shot and you suddenly think you've won" with a gesture three kunai and shuriken appear between the fingers of both hands "but I'm just getting started!"
The tension racked up as both fighters glared at each other with different shades of intense bloodlust and fury.
"That's enough Genos"
The tension took a dive as Saitama appeared before and casually knocked his disciple's arm down.
"Master Saitama?"
"I'll handle this"
"Saving your disciple's life One-Punch Man?"
"Not really but I've met enough annoying people like you to know that the only way to get rid of them is to do it myself" Saitama's usual blank face expression didn't change but the air around them did become thick with tension at his next words "just this once I'm going to take you serious, so come at me."
Sonic smirked though a trail of sweat did roll down the side of his face. He really wasn't in the best condition to fight right now.
'As much as I hate to admit it that cyborg hits hard and the damages to my body means I won't be able to-'
His thought was interrupted by Saitama who seemed to realize something "or maybe you want to do this another time, after you recover from that beating Genos just gave you."
Saitama's words came from a place of concern as well as good sportsmanship but unbeknownst to him they came off as condescending to the ninja.
'…fuck it, I'll kill him!'
"This is the technique that I've painstakingly crafted especially to kill you!"
"Okay"
Then with a breath he commenced it "Ultimate Technique: TWELVE SHADOWS BURIALS!"
Twelve afterimages manifested in the street, shocking Genos but Sonic could care less about him.
'The special movement technique I've developed to create this technique was already difficult but with these injuries I can only afford a short moment before the fatigue hits' even as he closes in at the man who has barely reacted doubt starts to plague his mind 'why is it that I can't imagine myself beating you? I won't be able to wipe this stain of doubt from my mind unless I defeat you here!'
With that he yelled out "this is it One-Punch Man!" his warped voice shouted as he launched kunai and shuriken.
Saitama's response?
"Super Moves 'Serious Series': SERIOUS CONSECUTIVE SIDE-HOPS"
Afterimages numbering in the dozens and looking even more solid than Sonic's own appeared enveloping the entire width of the destroyed street.
Sonic's expression twisted into a truly ridiculous expression of utter bafflement.
"WAFUH!?"
'WHAT THE FUCK!?'
Unable to abort his attack Sonic ended up passing through the row of afterimages. His own after images were torn apart as were his weapons and as for Sonic himself it was as if he was passed through a meat grinder. He felt his body battered all over, the injuries on his compounding at a far greater rate than the heavy blows dealt by the cyborg. It was only for a second but by the time Sonic passed through he could only flop bonelessly to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
On the ground Sonic looked up with a panicked expression as for the first time in his life Sonic felt lost and helpless. He had no idea what just happened, what was even going on and he tried to express his confusion but all that came out was
"What just…what did you-"
Saitama looked back at the helpless ninja with a bored expression "I just passed through while doing side hops"
Sonic felt anger flare up briefly before it ended with a hitch in his breath as a realization set in, he wasn't actually physically hit by the man.
'Shockwaves…it was the shockwaves from the movement, they were that powerful'
Sonic's heart rate spiked at the realization that he was defeated without even being touched. The power necessary to generate that much force would be staggering. Even worse was the realization of the effects of those movements.
'An infinite number of clones…even faster than me'
He couldn't defeat him, even if he were at full strength the results would have been the same, defeated in a single hit…again.
'He's too strong' the traitorous voice in his head whispered.
Despite losing strength and having his vision faded Sonic still glared at his rival, beaten but not broken.
"This doesn't…change anything….next time I'll…I'll" he trailed off seeing the look on Saitama's face.
He wasn't being taken seriously at all!
'Damn you'
With a flick of his wrist a smoke bomb was dropped.
"He's getting away!" Genos yelled "he is still within range of my sensors, beginning pursuit-"
"Nah, that's okay"
The cyborg halted in shock "but Master-"
Saitama began walking back to his apartment "don't sweat the details too much Genos, Sonic's not the worst to come after me for whatever reason, so I'll give him a break."
Saitama found Sonic to be…fresh for lack of a better term. Oh sure his first and second encounter hardly made an impression on the bald hero but this time around Saitama felt just the tiniest bit moved by the guy. To think that he spent since their last encounter actually training to defeat him, even going so far as to create techniques…
This was the first time Saitama was experiencing someone's actual earnest attempt at defeating him. The bald hero was taking a gamble or well, 'making an investment' so to speak. Saitama didn't have much hope that Sonic will be able to do it but if there is a chance that the ninja could train himself to one day fight him on equal footing wouldn't that just be great?
"Yes Master" he hesitantly agreed.
Saitama glanced at young cyborg, getting a read on him was difficult even for someone who wasn't emotionally stunted but in this instance Saitama found he could read Genos like a book, the disappointment just rolled off him in waves. The world's strongest man sighed internally, he considered Genos more as a friend than a disciple but he at least clearly understood that the younger man looked up to him as some kind of Master. Saitama didn't think of himself like that at all but he's aware that others don't share his perspective. God knows he's received enough fan letters from kids and even older adults who look up to him to acknowledge his own importance to other people.
So as reluctant as he was to accept Genos as his disciple he could at least acknowledge such a relationship. Plus Tomoro's constant nagging about it helps cement Saitama's acknowledgement and because of all these factors every once in a while Saitama felt the need to drop some kind of advice on Genos.
Now 'what would Tomoro say here?'
Tomoro has been giving Saitama advice so much that it has become easy to imagine his voice dropping knowledge on him.
"Genos"
The seriousness of his tone had the cyborg stand at attention "yes Master Saitama"
"I noticed you were moving slightly faster than the last time we played around, did you get upgrades?"
"Yes Master I-"
Before he could go into detail about it (and Saitama knew it would be unnecessarily extensive) he cut him off "but you still lost against him."
Genos voice hitched as his eyes widened in shock "n-nonsense Master I"
"Don't get me wrong, that flash attack caught him off guard but that wouldn't have worked a second time and even then" he gestured to deep cuts along his torso "he still got some licks in"
"This damage is superficial!"
"Still do you think you would have been able to take that attack he used against me?"
Saitama could practically see the gears turning "I…would have had to use a wide scale explosion but my victory would have been assured!"
"Nope" Saitama shot down "wouldn't work, he wouldn't give you the chance to make a counterattack after the first time."
Genos opened his mouth to argue but paused briefly before speaking in a resigned tone "I understand Master Saitama"
"That's okay though"
Genos' head snapped up "it is?"
"Yeah, I mean sure Sonic's going to keep coming after me but at least now you've got someone around your level who you can fight against. Sonic's definitely going to train like hell to try and beat me and you're going to have to improve if you want to properly beat him."
And just like that a fire was lit in his eyes "yes Master Saitama, I will not let you down!"
"Good" he nodded and continued to the apartment.
With his back to Genos Saitama let out a sigh of relief glad that he managed to pull it off.
'I'm really not cut out for this'
"Ugh"
A small part of her felt embarrassed by that, in her youth she had taken to assign specific aspects of her powers with words and phrases to help her focus, yes just like spells. To her younger self it seemed like a good idea, she would even go so far as to say it was even cool. The fact that the people of that era genuinely believed it to be actual magic only enabled her and now the habit was ingrained. It wasn't something she actively fought to break since most of her 'spells' were in Latin which wasn't a recognized language in this world and sounded mystical enough thus furthering their 'arcane legitimacy.'
It was fool proof!
'Then I met the one man who would get the reference.'
*Groaning noises*
And now she will forever be known to him as a walking Sailor Moon parody shouting Harry Potter spells.
*Even more groaning noises*
Oh the indignity.
Then there was the information on the flash drive itself.
They didn't bother conversing about their past lives, frankly Solaria could hardly remember it beyond a few references she kept alive through frequent uses herself and she suspected the same was for Tomoro as well. From what her decryption tools told her the information was compiled years ago and yet it could act as an overview of certain events that happened in the last month with one key difference.
One-Punch Man, Saitama, was not part of the Hero Association during these events.
And wasn't that a shock?
The strongest man in the world who proclaims to be a hero wasn't part of the premiere hero organization of this generation. Most of her shock didn't stem from the knowledge that he wouldn't have joined the association but from the knowledge that he managed to do more or less the same actions as he did as part of the association and not get noticed. Actions which include stopping at least two Dragon level monsters responsible for destroying cities and dismantling the infamous House of Evolution and that was before he would have joined the association.
Instead of One-Punch Man being the strongest man in the world, this supposed alternate universe had King who was his literal stand-in. A normal man who just so happens to have the (un)fortunate luck of being a bystander to One-Punch Man's feats and was mistakenly given credit for it. According to the information it wasn't even on purpose on the side of the hapless man since he was terrified of monsters. It was all on the utter incompetence of the Hero Association who practically press-ganged a normal man, who must have been in utter shock, into the S-Class.
The series of One-Punch Man reads like a parody and a comedy but for her this was her reality and Solaria was not amused. Solaria can be considered-no she is the most powerful woman in the world but she is also humble and knows restraint. People tend to mistake this for weakness and try to take advantage of her such as those executives on her company's board of directors who went behind her back with under the table dealings.
Unfortunately for them Solaria was never not in control and their attempts to wrest that control from her was amusing at best and irritating at worst. Her deliberate constraint would have her working within the confines of the law however she has more than enough wealth and clout to expedite any legal proceedings in her favor whenever she chooses. Hiring a private accounting firm to search for evidence of misdeeds was just an excuse to get evidence against them but she already knew.
Getting rid of said executives without interference would have been a lengthy process as they dragged on and she would have been fine with playing that song and dance but not anymore. This information demanded her priorities go elsewhere and so Solaria Nova did just that. A few calls here, a few favors there and just a sprinkle of blackmail ensured that those big fish raised in a small pond would be dumped into the ocean for the sharks. All it took for her were a few short hours to turn a lengthy procedure into a quick fix and purge all the undesirables from her company.
The only downside was that she didn't have the satisfaction of seeing the looks on their faces when they realized just how small they are compared to her. It still baffled Solaria how people could underestimate her despite all that she has managed to accomplish.
'The price of complacency'
With that done she could now prioritize the Hero Association and…God did she feel foolish for not doing so before.
"How did things fall apart so quickly?"
Solaria is the largest backer of the Hero Association, she didn't support it through Star Enterprise either but through her own private funds. When the concept was first presented to her by Agoni it stirred something inside her she thought had been snuffed out after…that incident which forced her to retire. She thought she had fully turned away from the concept of heroes and then her friend and business partner came to her about a proposition for a hero organization. The man's passion was infectious as he regaled her with the tale of a man (whom turned out to be a younger One-Punch Man) saving his grandson from a monster.
Solaria had agreed to help him and before she knew it she was the secret co-founder of the Hero Association, a silent partner to Agoni whose name was unknown. Her identity was kept anonymous to everyone but her fellow co-founder and current president of the association, Agoni. Keeping her involvement a secret had been a choice she made out of shame, the idea of even being tangentially involved in heroics after abandoning the world so long ago bothered her more than she'd like to admit.
This is why apart from providing private funding and connections Solaria stayed as far away from the Hero Association as possible. Agoni was a smart man and the passion with which he pursued this was such that Solaria felt he would be able to handle running the organization without her direct input. She wasn't wrong either because for as much of a bleak picture Tomoro's information painted the Hero Association the legit records of Agoni's leadership painted him as competent as she would expect.
If there was one flaw of Agoni that she had to point out it would be his trust in his subordinates. It wasn't that the man was naïve, far from it, you couldn't be naïve in the world of business but he was of the mind that the people under him kept to the same standards as him. He felt that in the face of their natural enemies humans would rise above their baser instincts to unite in cooperation to confront them.
It was an optimistic view as well as a strange one coming from a man who climbed his way through annals of big corporate businesses and carved out a name for himself. Regardless Agoni placed a certain level of autonomy with his subordinates trusting them to handle the specifics of operation while he focused on the more corporate aspects of running the association. That was a mistake and one that Solaria herself did not make even with her distancing from the company.
Solaria has been at this for longer than most have been alive and she'd been screwed over one time too many in this game to leave certain things up to chance. Much like what she did with Star Enterprise Solaria had ensured that there were enough backdoors open to receive information on how the company was really doing.
Solaria didn't know what she would find exactly but she knew what to expect: cover-ups for higher profile heroes, some shady dealings here and there and perhaps even money laundering considering the bulk of the associations profits came from donations. What she found after taking several days vacation to go over the updates was disheartening to say the least. In addition to the usual cover-ups, shady dealings and money launderings there was also: illegal capture and containment of dangerous monsters, poor regulations, lack of coordination, a lack of support for heroes below S-Class, executives with links to terrorist organizations and just general incompetence overall.
"What is Agoni even doing?"
She shouldn't be mad, she really shouldn't be because she knew the man, knew he would never stand for the things her agents reported and yet they happened under his watch nonetheless. Perhaps the worst part in all this was that this information was not new and it was available to her at anytime. If Solaria had just taken the time to scrutinize them then she could have seen and predicted the outcome and advised her friend, do something about it sooner.
Now the corruption had festered but it wasn't too late to do something about it now.
"Hello Agoni, yes, we need to talk"
~O~
Currently Tomoro was on his lunch break eating a bento he prepared this morning. His thoughts ranged but for perhaps the first time since he'd made contact with Saitama Tomoro felt conflicted. Mostly it was about his place in the upcoming conflict and whether or not he should remain on the sidelines. There were several reasons for why he made this decision in the first place. For one he'd been in this world for, let's say, a long time, certainly not as long as Solaria but longer than what his appearance may suggest. He'd had his own adventures in his time, his own conflicts enemies and even allies, what little of them there were and still are around.
What he's trying to get at is that he was tired and wanted a break so he took one whilst overseeing the growth of the future strongest man in the world. Was this a deliberate ploy by him, sure but the friendship the two sparked was 100% genuine. Also genuine was his attitude, Saitama may have been a legendary character in his past life but right now he was just a kid: a prematurely bald, blank faced, mostly oblivious, barely motivated slacker with declining emotions, a solid resolve and who also happens to have ridiculous levels of physical and mental strength.
The guy was like that lazy little brother or cousin you had to take care of but was endearing enough not to make it feel like a complete chore. Tomoro liked to think that he's had a positive influence on Saitama, compared to his 'canon' counterpart this one was definitely in a better place even though it would be hard to tell at a glance. People seem to forget that before he began his training Saitama was at a place where he didn't care about his life, people ran in the face of that crab monster and he stuck around because he didn't care if he got killed.
That crab monster spared him because he had the dead eyes of someone who'd given up on life. For Saitama fighting that monster made him feel alive for the first time in probably a long time. His immense strength isn't the thing that's making him lose his emotions, it's that he couldn't fulfill his passion, which was to have a fight that would make him feel alive. There are only two cures for something like this, give him a fight that could reawaken his passion or get him passionate about something else.
He distinctly remembered this aspect of Saitama being explored through King and his gaming. Ever since they met in the canon King went over to Saitama's apartment regularly to play games. Tomoro can vaguely remember commenting on those being the only times where Saitama's expression wasn't a blank face. Whether it be excitement about trying out new combos, the frustration of losing and just the general expressions of a young adult hanging out with a friend, all of those were genuine emotions expressed by Saitama outside of a battle or really just in general.
Tomoro himself as seen them too and it wasn't particularly hard to get an emotion out of Saitama, he was like an older brother figure to the man. And it might be Tomoro taking that particular role a little too seriously but it felt like he could do more to stave off Saitama's emotional decline. The problem is that Tomoro just wasn't that kind of person and doing it would come off as disingenuous and manipulative. He wasn't in the business of manipulating the emotions of his friends like that and thus despite his influence he was limited in how he could help the young man.
Sometimes he wondered if he should have allowed King to take Saitama's credit and then he remembered that day. Just two months after becoming an S-Class and following an interview Saitama's very first set of fan mail was delivered. It wasn't as outrageous in volume as it was today, just over a dozen but all of them came from the grateful people he'd saved or otherwise impressed during his heroics so far. The letter contents ranged from lauding all kind of praises to genuine thanks and well wishes.
It was the last time he'd seen Saitama so obviously happy and it made Tomoro not regret having Saitama get his deserved credit for everything he's accomplished. He may not be in it for the money or the fame but being appreciated went a long way. So no having King take his credit may work for the plot of the series but he wasn't willing to subject his friend to that kind of life.
Also he wasn't willing to subject King to the stress that came with his position in the canon. Maybe if King had the ambition or even mild inclination to become the hero people assume he was then Tomoro could have trained him but the man didn't and so Tomoro left him alone. The last time he checked up on the man who would be known as King the man had gone professional with his hobby.
The man was still known as King but his empire was the professional e-sports circuit. Tomoro shouldn't have been surprised but he was when he found an article with King's face on it while checking up on current news several months ago. The man King was an internationally famous gamer, practically a living legend in the e-sports circuit.
Basically King was living the same life he would have in canon except the monster battles were replaced with game tournaments. Tomoro also imagined that his anxiety levels were much lower than his canon counterpart and that he was also happier being able to make a living doing what he loves.
'Good for him' Tomoro thought and while it was a shame that the chances of him and Saitama crossing paths and becoming friends was slim he was happy for King.
Of course since King and gaming was no longer a viable option of staving of Saitama's decline there was only one other option available to Tomoro. Of course he could just search for something else but time was running short and he would be too busy with the 'plot' to figure out viable hobbies the two of them could do together.
Of course the two did have a 'hobby' they would both enjoy.
"…guess I've got no other choice then" Tomoro sighed.
Tomoro was going to have to fight Saitama.
He didn't know what was more unnerving, the thought of fighting against the One-Punch Man or the rising thrill he felt at the prospect.
~O~
Agoni was a busy man, being the co-founder and president of the Hero Association as well as occasionally checking on his own company from which he left to his children ensured that his schedule was ever filled. As such he hardly had the time to take on personal meetings, especially outside of his pre-approved schedule. However when Solaria Nova calls you on your personal line to demand your time for a 'talk' how busy you are becomes irrelevant, especially when it appears she sounded displeased by something.
Agoni very much doubted he was the source of her ire because since the two of them were acquaintances but he was sure that whatever caught her attention was dire. He arrived at the location in a nondescript van and was escorted by a pair of private bodyguards. Inside the looked like a generic office building complete with cubicles but it looked to be under some renovation.
They came upon a door to which one of them spoke "Miss Nova is waiting for you inside sir"
The two made way for him to pass and he opened the door to see that the room was a conference just as generic in design as the others. There was a large table at the center with office chairs, several extra ones by the walls, a projector hanging from the ceiling and a white screen hanging on the center of the far wall. Solaria was already seated in one of the chairs with a stack of folders as well as a printer present for some reason. Her eyes were glued to the screen of her device before he came in.
"Agoni" Solaria stood with a smile "thank you for arriving on such short notice."
The old man found himself returning her smile "Solaria, it's been too long."
The two acquaintances met with a handshake and Solaria's expression pinched though the mild ire was not directed at him.
"I wish our meeting was under better circumstances."
Agoni frowned "what happened?"
"As it turns out, a lot of things" with the press of a button the lights dimmed down and the projector came to life.
It didn't take long for Agoni to figure out what he was looking at and when he did he at first paled before eventually going red with indignation. Throughout the whole process Solaria regarded him with a cool expression while taking note of his reaction.
Then she added "that is not even half of what I uncovered."
Agoni was rendered shocked "I did not…" he paused to compose himself and continued "Solaria had I any idea this was happening-"
The woman raised her hand to forestall any more enraged stammering "I know you had nothing to do with this Agoni, if you had we would have a very different conversation."
Far from taking offense to the unspoken threat the man involuntarily swallowed. To distract himself from that bit of nasty hypothetical he focused on the matter at hand, his-no their Hero Association was being used as a front for corruption and illegal activity by executives and members of staff.
"We cannot allow this to continue" Solaria pointed out.
"Obviously" Agoni gritted as he glared at the hologram "I will ensure that every single one of them pay dearly for this Solaria, this I swear!"
The woman shook her head "I'm afraid that won't do Agoni."
The man recoiled lightly "what do you mean?"
Solaria interlaced her fingers "you are a good man Agoni but the fact that this" she gestured to the hologram of evidence "has happened under your watch is unacceptable"
Agoni felt a flare of indignance "are you suggesting I am responsible for-"
"Not knowingly, however it is through your negligence that this was allowed to fester" her gaze softened minutely "you are too trusting"
The hologram shifted to show documents for some of the executives who happened to be very close with Agoni himself. Reading through what he saw Agoni paled before finally slumping in his seat.
"You are right"
Agoni was an old man but this was the first time he actually felt his age. He may have been passionate about the Hero Association but the truth is that he wanted to leave it to the next generation. He had hoped Solaria would take it up but due to her own personal reasons their positions were reversed with him being the president and her being the silent co-founder.
"I am sorry"
The sudden apology had Agoni blinking "why are you apologizing?"
"We were partners, I should have been there supporting you with the actual work instead of playing around in Star Enterprise."
Agoni sweat dropped, he wouldn't call running a multi-billion dollar company 'playing around.'
"I think it's time I finally did my part as co-founder"
"Is that a wise decision for you to make at this time? From what I've heard you are also dealing with some…setbacks at Star Enterprise"
She waved his concern "the situation is being handled. What matters now is this."
"Are you sure?"
"Agoni, the safety of the world is more important than my business" she retorted sternly.
"…the prophecy"
Solaria nodded "this right here is a scandal waiting to happen and the Hero Association cannot afford the distraction" her eyes glared with a cold fury "this needs to be nipped in the bud before it ultimately gets out."
"What did you have in mind?"
And so the secret meeting between the two founding members of the Hero Association continued.
~O~
Not for the first time Saitama wondered if being recognized for his deeds was worth it. He says that now after a surprisingly quiet shopping trip got interrupted by some giant one eyed robot wearing a cape and carrying a broadsword on its back.
"I am G4, a Machine God created by the 'Organization.' You are the strongest Hero, One-Punch Man I have been sent to eliminate you."
Saitama gave a blank stare having already zoned out from the start of its speech. At this point he's heard so many monologues that zoning out was an automatic defense. Why do this instead of just finishing it off mid-rant? Because they were in a public area and it gave time for the civilians to clear out and give him space. Since it was ignoring them Saitama knew this was one of the rarer Mysterious Beings who was only interested in him.
"It's One-Punch Man! He's over there!"
"For real?"
"Then we'll be fine!"
"Get rid of it One-Punch Man!"
The shouts drew Saitama back from his musings and he tuned out the rest with a grimace. To make the situation worse both his hands were full with grocery bags and he didn't want to just have them lying on the street while he took care of business. Even he could finish the robot in a single punch the blowback would most assuredly scatter his bags. He'd lost more than few groceries that way and learned his lesson, never again.
It's a long shot but maybe…
"Hey you mind waiting for me to drop these off at my house?" he held up his grocery bags "I promise I'll come back and fight you after"
In response the robot drew the massive sword and leveled the blade at him. It also had the effect of blowing away his hat and hoodie bringing his shined bald head to the fore.
'Dammit I should get that thing fitted'
"I said I have come to kill you!"
Saitama could only sigh 'guess we're doing this again'
Unfortunately the title of Strongest Man in the World is hardly an uncontested one. Saitama himself has never even claimed the title either, it was more or less given to him by the Hero Association for marketing reasons. Still even if it is just a marketing ploy one does not just proclaim himself the strongest and not expect to be challenged because of it. Saitama didn't but he'd always been able to defend the title thrust upon him easily enough so in a sense everything worked out fine.
Except now you have things like this giant robot crawling out of the woodwork looking to fight him for whatever reason. The first few times had gotten his hopes up since only the strong would bother stepping up to the plate to challenge him for such a title but to his disappointment they were all lacking by his standards. And now here he was again being threatened because of the title by this robot pointing a sword at him. Unfortunately for the robot leveling a giant sword at the bald man was grounds for said bald man's uncharacteristically quiet companion to intervene.
In a flash Genos appeared grabbing the tip of the sword with one reinforced metallic hand and smashing it with the other. The giant robot was clearly shocked but before it's processors could react Genos launched his fist, literally launched it with rocket propellers opened at the forearm to deliver a devastating right hook at the robot's face, blasting it's heavy body down the street.
Saitama blinked, having honestly forgotten that he wasn't alone. In his defense he'd been going at this hero work alone for so long that he'd gone on autopilot when the robot showed up.
Still there was something more pressing he noted "was that a rocket-punch?"
Because that was kinda cool.
Genos didn't answer, couldn't answer because the robot bounced back with rocket propulsions installed on it back and stomped on the smaller Genos. Saitama watched his 'disciple' get crushed underfoot with casual calmness.
"Hey, you need a hand Genos?"
"No Master Saitama, leave this to me!"
"Are you sure?" Saitama asked but was already picking up the groceries Genos laid on the ground before he engaged.
"Yes, in order to reach the goal you have set for me I need to defeat an opponent like this with my own hands!!"
The last sentence was punctuated by Genos slipping out from under the robot, propelled by his own rocket thrusters to engage it in vicious and explosive hand-to-hand combat.
Saitama mentally shrugged at that "okay, but don't lose you hear."
"Yes, Master!"
After finding none of the crowd stuck around Saitama left and as he made his way down the empty streets, the sirens blared to life warning the civilians of the ongoing battle.
~O~
The Minister Officer of Justice, the title sounded as if it was made up by a child but such naming sense was par for the course when it came to the Hero Association Executives. Regardless of the name the position allowed him a certain level of authority among the executives. In essence they entrust with him important duties to be performed some mundane but others of great importance. In this case Sitch found himself in charge of making countermeasures for Shibabawa's final prophecy.
Expecting the worst case scenario he went through the current Hero Association roster as well as data from the analysts and came to a shocking conclusion, it wasn't enough. The Hero Association as it is now wouldn't be able to mitigate a worst case scenario. As if it were part of the prophecy itself there has been a sharp increase in the number of monster attacks. This month alone had a rate six times higher than the past three years since the inception of the Hero Association itself.
The current roster of heroes only number around 546 and they were already spread thin enough as is. The recent alien attack only confirmed just how unprepared they were to fight against a possible disaster level God threat. No one said anything but Sitch was one of the few people who knew for a fact that City A surviving unscathed was the work of a third party interference. Their sensors had picked up odd energy readings just before the city could be hit by the bombardment. Surveillance recorded what seems to be a barrier protecting the city and there was also the premature detonation of most of the missiles.
They already had a team investigating what happened and Sitch could only hope they manage to get new assets out of it because they were in desperate need of them. They were so desperate in fact that Sitch had little choice but to swallow his pride, numb his compunctions and used every resource at his disposal to reach out to the underworld of all places. Several calls, several bribes, several favors and several days of preparation later and every contract killer, weapon's merchant, escaped convict and mad scientist had answered the summons.
Within an afternoon the Hero Association headquarters was a den for a hive of scum and villainy. No one would ever know just how much it irked him to do this but Sitch needed to explore all avenues to stop the worst case scenario from ever occurring. This prophecy was potentially bigger than anything they as humanity would ever face. Surely the threat of extinction (and reward) would galvanize even the worst of humanity to fight for their collective survival.
It's a shame Sitch would never know because almost every single attendant was beaten into bloody unconsciousness before an answer could be given. The only ones left conscious were himself and the one who perpetrated the massacre, Garou. A young man who proclaims himself to 'worshipping monsters' had taken on a room of some of the worst criminals in the underworld as well as three high ranking A-Class heroes. And not only did he win but he also did it with apparent ease and sadistic glee.
Sitch was no stranger to violence, he may not be an active combatant but he has seen his fair share of brawls. The reason why he was given this position wasn't just because he was some pencil pushing suit but because he had been part of the military task force that quelled monster threats. This was long before the association, long before heroes, back when vigilantes were the unofficial protectors of the cities. He was the one who first made contact with Blast in any official capacity and got the hero to work with the government.
Yet despite his experience it did not prepare him for Garou. More than his brutal takedown of the heroes and criminals, Sitch could sense that there was something fundamentally wrong with that man. Even hours later and Sitch just couldn't stop thinking about it. Before then all he could do was stress over the prophecy but he had this feeling that if they don't do something about Garou then he could be a problem that would get out of hand.
Worse if it turns out that Garou himself might be the catalyst for said prophecy…
It is for this reason why Sitch had set out to find all that he could about the man named Garou. After which he would bring up setting countermeasures for him in the next meeting of executives in a few days. Unfortunately Sitch would never get the chance to contact his colleagues as he himself would receive an emergency summons and from president Agoni himself. The nature of the message was enough that Sitch deduced it was of the highest priority and was likely sent to all the executives and sponsors as well.
In the three years since Sitch has been part of the association Agoni has hardly ever involved himself with operations.
So what was going on?
'Whatever it is must be very important' as he thought about it Sitch sensed an opportunity 'I could use this to bring my concerns with Garou directly to the president himself'
Unlike with the executives Sitch knew that getting Agoni to properly recognize the threat Garou would prove to be wouldn't be as much of an uphill battle.
~O~
The Next Day…
Sonic was on a mission and for the first in a long while it wasn't one that he was contracted to fulfill. At this point there was very little professional connotation here, this was purely a personal vendetta now. His pride had been wounded, strung up and shot to hell. Sonic has never been so thoroughly humiliated in his entire life, not even his time in the 'Village' undergoing training had seen him so incensed. And so Speed-o-Sound Sonic's self appointed mission, vendetta, crusade was to take the head of Saitama the One-Punch Man.
The memories of his defeat at the hands of this individual always brought out the worst in him, often shattering his calm demeanor into immediate suffocating bloodlust. He never thought he could hate someone so much but here he was, gunning after the proclaimed 'strongest man in the world'
'Hmph, well it won't be for long.'
Sonic never got caught up into the hype of the so-called heroes. To him they were just a bunch of weaklings running around playing it up for the public. He's more than seen enough of them get beaten down in the face of truly strong opponents to warrant skepticism on the validity of strength the Hero Association advertise in their name. So naturally when he came across Saitama during that faithful mission he didn't think much of him. Oh sure he'd heard of the man and his alleged feats of defeating opponents with a single attack (hence his name) but that didn't track with Sonic.
Then he went and got defeated by him with a single attack and in the most humiliating way possible. It forced Sonic to retreat and recover but not before swearing vengeance for the humiliation. He would not admit it out loud but Sonic was in a bit of a denial back then, the circumstances allowed him to soothe his aching ego with words of 'next time' and 'preparations' than to ever admit he was truly defeated. It was probably why the next time he happened to see the man he immediately attacked him.
In hindsight this was a terrible move on his part. Not only was he ill equipped for a battle but the area was also unfit for it. He saw this now in hindsight but at the time the moment he recognized the man in that disguise his body reacted and before he knew it a kunai was thrown and it was too late for regrets. He realized now that the proper thing to do would have been to tail him back to where he lived, scope out the area properly and come back to officially challenge him after getting his proper gear.
His and Saitama's second confrontation was…messy to say the least. Saitama blatantly ignored him for the most part, treating him like a nuisance rather than the S-Class threat that he was. His second attempt at an attack resulted in the loss of his sword and he's still not sure how that happened. He still remembered the look the hero gave him and at that point Sonic should have cut his losses and retreated.
Unfortunately before he had the time to properly think through anything that tank top wearing moron came and started treating him like a weakling. That was about as much as he could take. It was one thing for One-Punch Man to treat him with irrelevance but it was another for this nobody to do it and the crowd sticking around to cheer instead of fleeing in terror was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The worst part hadn't even been the way how the fight ended but that Sonic lost his composure enough to drag the crowd of Saitama's fans into the mix by launching exploding shurikens at them. He wasn't exactly trying to kill them and he didn't even care if his actions resulted in as much but it was still sloppy the way how he just lost his focus like that. Then in a feat of speed that still had Sonic's head spinning Saitama disappeared and Sonic felt a sharp pain in his shoulder before his vision went to black and he woke up in a prison cell with a broken face.
His arrest and subsequent stint in prison made him reflect on his life and the decisions that led him there. He was planning on breaking out but saw an opportunity when that other disgusting hero broke out. Sonic ended up following Puri Puri Prisoner out of curiosity as he wanted to see what another hero supposedly in Saitama's class could do and how he himself stacked up. The end result was clear in that despite being in the same S-Class as Puri Puri Prisoner could not be compared to him.
Perhaps that was the reason he was ranked last.
Not that it mattered as Sonic got the chance to reaffirm his place with his battle against the same monster that so handedly defeated an S-Class hero. Unfortunately he was yet again ill equipped to kill it despite possessing superior speed. He never did get the chance to finish that monster and he found out that Saitama had defeated it in a single attack. Despite the confidence in his speed and skill Sonic couldn't claim to be able to kill that monster in a single attack even with all his equipment. The admission, silent as it was brought the inexplicable realization that he wouldn't be able to beat Saitama as he is.
That is why for the past few weeks he has spent his time in the secluded mountains training himself. Through his journey he has befriended a hunter, adopted a piglet and surpassed his previous limitation to create a new sure-kill technique tailor-made to defeat Saitama. All he had to do then was find the bastard which was easier said than done. For a high profile hero like him, his address was a matter of the utmost secrecy for the same reason why Sonic wanted it.
He had to rely on his contacts in the criminal underworld and it was through them that he caught wind of a gathering of criminals at the Hero Association headquarters. The message had promised it wasn't a trap, not that Sonic cared for any half baked traps the Hero Association might have planned for the rabble. His thought process was such that they would have had to use bodyguards to protect the place and given the importance there was a high chance that their strongest hero would be present at the meeting or perhaps even live in the building itself since his address is kept secret.
In the end it was a bust and Sonic ended up leaving but at least he found another lead to look into. The man Sonic witnessed Saitama conversing with in their second encounter seemed close to the bald hero. Perhaps they were friends or close acquaintances but in either case the glasses wearing man certainly didn't act like the rest of the sheep, fawning over the bald hero. He vividly remembered overhearing them talking about getting udon and after visiting the area of that second encounter quickly found the place that sold udon in the area.
After that it was only a matter of asking about a purple haired man in a business suit and he managed to get a name. From that name he used his contacts to unearth personal information. There wasn't much but apparently most of his records had perished during a nasty monster attack almost a decade ago. Not that it was important since he got an address which itself was peculiar enough for Sonic to scope out. Though he never actually went to the direct address since he managed to find his target whilst on the way there and it took a significant amount of Sonic's willpower not to attack the bald bastard right then. He managed to stay his hand long enough to trail him back to a near condemned building in the abandoned part of City Z.
It was honestly a perfect hideout and now he knew the address of the strongest hero.
So here Sonic was a day after, returning to the apartment complex, ready to settle the score with his rival once and for all. As he arrived on top of the roof, a thought had Sonic hesitate for a moment. Just how was he going to go about issuing the challenge in the first place? His training as an assassin pointed to ambush as the obvious answer but he squashed it down. This wasn't an assassination but a formal challenge, Sonic wanted to make a point and killing him while his guard was down just would not soothe his ego.
That decision however was taken from as a voice spoke from below.
"Show yourself"
'That voice sounds familiar'
Dropping into the corridor Sonic was met with the familiar visage of the blonde cyborg 'hero' he met during that Sea King fiasco. He learned more about him through his investigation. He was Genos, a cyborg, the newest member of the S-Class and most importantly someone who is said to work close with One-Punch man himself.
"So it was a human" the cyborg muttered "what do you want?"
"I'm here for One-Punch Man. I know he's inside, bring him out here" Sonic demanded coolly.
"Are you an acquaintance of Master Saitama?"
'Master, I've never heard of him taking on any students' Sonic filed that away for now.
"I am Speed-o-Sound Sonic, One-Punch Man's rival and I am here to settle the score with him, step aside."
Sonic could see the servos within the cyborg's golden eyes whir before he spoke "I've met you before, Speed of Sound (heh) Sonic, streaker."
That comment alone sealed the cyborg's fate in Sonic's mind.
Still he wasn't finished yet and held out a palm towards the ninja where a hole glowed an ominous fiery gold "posing as master Saitama's rival, piss off freak or I'll eliminate you"
Sonic couldn't help but smirk as he retrieved two of his special shuriken "the only one who is going to be eliminated is you, wannabe sidekick."
Genos' eye literally flashed but instead of firing from his glowing palm he rushed at the ninja. The move was somewhat unexpected but Sonic never lost his smirk as he backpedaled just out of reach of Genos' rush. This isn't what he came here for but he'd be foolish not to seize the opportunity to defeat and humiliate the self proclaimed student of One-Punch Man.
It should make for a decent warm up if anything else.
~O~
It was a conscious decision on his part not to unleash the fires of his incinerator canon right then. The last thing he wanted was to incur property damage on his master's and Tomoro's homes. And so Genos instead chose to use his incinerator canons as a faint to instead rush him. The action was abrupt and utilized the full extent of Dr. Kuseno's new augmentations scavenged from the remains of the G4 robot he had fought only yesterday. Thanks to it Genos was far faster than he had ever been before.
And yet, this man was able to see through his feint, react appropriately and dodge his attack. The worst part was that he did all this with a smile on his face.
'Such speed'
Genos led the man away from his Master's home to behind the complex itself all the while trying and failing to land a blow.
"Hmph, not bad for that man's so-called apprentice but you're still nowhere close to my speed!"
Genos didn't let the taunt get to him like it would have even two days ago. Currently he was going at what would have been his top speed before the G4 augments which he has yet to tap into. An action that was quickly reversed as his opponent suddenly vanished from his sight.
'What?'
At the same time as that thought his sensors detected projectiles heading for his flank. He himself only saw a glint of metal before he acted with a blast from his incineration cannons. He didn't quite expect the massive explosion to engulf the area but nonetheless managed to leap away from the yield. Unfortunately Genos has still yet to pick up on Sonic's whereabouts from his first disappearing act.
Golden eyes shifted to and fro as his scanners worked themselves to pick up a signal "where is he?"
*Beep-Beep-Beep*
"Looking for me"
His sensors beeped a split second before he heard Sonic's voice coming from directly behind him.
"You should watch your back 'apprentice'!" Sonic yelled as he made to cut off Genos' head with his ninjato.
Unbeknownst to the ninja Genos gave an imperceptible smirk and intoned a single word just before the blade could reach his neck "accelerate"
Now it was Sonic's turn to be shocked as Genos seemingly disappeared from his sight just before he could behead him "what!?"
*Shine*
A golden light shined just below his vision and Sonic looked down to find Genos crouched to his knees, the palms of his metal hands showing the source of the light and turned towards him.
The ninja's eyes widened in alarm "oh shi-"
"Incinerate"
The cold metallic voice was followed by a flash of gold that flooded Sonic's vision bringing with it a maelstrom of fire and destruction. The earth shook, the wind was displaced and the air was superheated as a massive explosion covered the area destroying condemned buildings and creating a noticeable earthquake. As Genos straightened himself he did not behold his handiwork of destruction, fire and ashes. Rather he felt a wave of mild frustration because he saw at the last possible millisecond before the blast can hit the bastard had somehow managed to evade it.
'Evading a point blank blast from my Incineration Canon' Genos thought to himself 'I can no longer treat this man as just some no name stalker.'
Genos found that his Master's fame would sometimes attract idiots who would challenge him. The most recent example of which was that G4 android but before that there were also other monsters, human assassins and so forth. Genos took it upon himself to eliminate them to save his master the hassle of dealing with it himself. Most of them weren't anything to write home about and truly, up until this point only G4 had provided any semblance of a true challenge.
Speed of Sound Sonic had just made that short list. Even more the ninja provided a rather unique challenge himself. Genos can say with certainty that he's never quite fought an opponent like Sonic before. The man was easily the fastest opponent he's ever encountered and seems to rely on his speed over strength and brute force.
'To defeat him I must overcome that speed'
With that thought he began to access the power of the G4 augments, at the same time several shurikens were launched at him from seemingly all sides, detonating in an explosion that while not as massive or destructive as Genos' earlier attempts was still impressive.
*Beep-Beep*
"There" following Genos' robotic voice the cyborg blasted out of smokescreen heading in a straight line towards the ninja.
~O~
"Tch, tough bastard' thought Sonic as he moved to avoid the retaliatory blow 'he's getting faster.'
That last attack was a noticeable jump in speed from their last engagement but nothing to worry about. Aside from the jump in speed he also noted that the cyborg was being less liberal with those blasts of his. At long distance he let loose a stream of plasma that melted rock on contact, at mid distance he spammed them in concentrated bursts that explode and at close distance he augments his punches with them to produce shockwaves that carve out holes and trenches in the area. Despite the power behind those attacks and the destructive aftermath of each of those blows Sonic only found it mildly concerning.
First of all Sonic still retained his superior speed and second for all the destructive power behind his attacks they were painfully telegraphed in how predictable they were to him. It was quite clear to Sonic that for all his power Genos was not a trained fighter, more of a brawler that relied on brute force and overwhelming power. This was the type of opponent Sonic could end with but a single strike from his blade but unfortunately the cyborg bastard was tough.
In his mad rush spamming destructive attacks against Sonic the cyborg had completely forgone his defense. Sonic was quick to capitalize on this fact and has landed more than a dozen attacks on the purposefully defenseless cyborg. What is most certainly a tactical mishap became moot as it turns out Genos' naturally augmented body provided more than enough of a defense against most of Sonic's attacks.
Irritation welled up in the ninja mercenary as the metal bastard tanked yet another of his attack, blatantly ignoring the kunai that plinked off his body to attempt another heavy blow that laid destruction in the space the ninja previously occupied.
'This is like the Deep Sea King all over again'
Sonic was not a weak man but at the same time he did not put as much focus into his physical strength beyond being able to withstand the rigors of moving at ridiculously high speeds. His focus mainly lay with his speed, technique and mastery of the ninja arts. He was an assassin by trade, his targets are mostly human and the few non human targets he's come across easily fall to his blade. This was the first time he'd encountered someone durable enough to withstand most of his arsenal.
Granted Sonic has yet to utilize his ninjato but with ho destructive and tough his opponent is Sonic would rather not run the risk of losing his primary weapon unless he has an opening for a decisive end. It was an opening that his opponent was not giving up despite tanking most of Sonic's attacks. They were effectively in a stalemate and it frustrated them both even though they were doing a good job of not letting that frustration show to the other.
Sonic still retained his manic smile and Genos was a ball of focused efficiency.
Their latest engagement kicked up another massive cloud of dust and seemed to land them on a familiar street something Genos picked upon as he scanned the area.
"Chasing the rat brought me back to Master's place" he seemed to mutter to himself.
Speaking of…
"What the hell is going on over there!?" came the incensed yell of the man in question "Genos?"
"Ah, master Saitama, I am sorry for making your apartment dusty"
Sonic looked to balcony to find his target dressed in an ill-fitting shorts, hoodie and sandal combo.
"This ain't what you'd call 'dusty' Genos" he said looking over the debris and destruction of the already partially destroyed street.
"What are you even doing?"
"I am currently in the middle of a battle Master."
"Oh, really" Saitama looking intrigued hopped over the railing to land on the street with hands in hoodie pocket as he leisurely strolled towards his disciple "who're you fighting?"
"A persistent stalker"
That earned Genos a couple explosive shurikens to face as Sonic made himself known with hop that had him land crouching on a light post.
The moment Saitama saw him his response was "oh it's just Sonic"
The ninja felt his eye twitch however his attention was once again taken by his current meddlesome opponent who scoffed at the ninja's latest attack having not been moved or phased by it beyond a few new soot marks.
"Haven't you learned? You could throw a hundred of those things and it would not hurt me"
"Maybe, but you still haven't even laid a finger on me."
It was a hollow boast despite the bravado and Sonic figured his opponent knew this as well. What was the point of boasting his speed if his attacks don't even work on him? And with Saitama there he needed to finish this. Killing his disciple would be the perfect message sent to have him be taken seriously by the bald hero.
So hopping down from the light post Sonic made his declaration "watch closely One-Punch Man because after I kill your disciple, you're next!"
"Master Saitama please give me a moment to eliminate this nuisance once and for all"
"Hmph, you eliminate me? Haven't you learned?" Sonic scoffed using Genos' earlier words against him "a slowpoke like you is never going to 'eliminate' me with such miserable moves."
In response Genos' chest glowed behind his sleeveless shirt "I never revealed what I was truly capable of" then in a burst of movement that shattered the ground and created a small crater Genos vanished before Sonic's eyes again.
'What?'
Just as the thought entered his mind, long honed instincts had him contort his body into a sudden backflip just as Genos appeared at his back and swiped at him with several vicious blows, his purple scarf was lost.
"Tch" turning a corkscrew to land on his feet Sonic gasp when just as his toes touched the ground Genos was suddenly up in his face with a metal fist cocked back.
Again it was only through his rigorously trained speed and reflex that allowed him bend backwards and avoid the straight punch that might have torn his head off. Much like with his other attacks the destructive force behind the punch demolished the structure behind Sonic. Luckily at that point Sonic was already well away from the cyborg managing to gain distance or so he thought.
"…!"
Yet again he had to jerk his body away from another attack coming from his flank. This time through a series of flips he managed to put more distance from him. Sonic didn't bank on that however and just as he predicted Genos appeared behind him launching a barrage of punches. Sonic dodged each of the point blank punch and with an annoyed sneer slashed at him with his sword only to hit air as his opponent appeared behind him again.
'Why does he keep attacking from behind?' the move became less of a viable strategy and into the realm of predictability after the second time-wait 'is he showing off?' he handedly dodged another attempt at the same flank attack 'does this fucker think he's faster than me!?'
"…!"
Sonic hopped back as Genos' onslaught suddenly stopped with an outstretched fist.
'Something doesn't feel right' the ninja thought to himself.
"Here, there was this annoying thing on top your head" Genos opened his hand to drop…Sonic's topknot!
Of all the indignities Sonic has ever faced recently, that right there might have just barely topped the list, right behind his first defeat at Saitama's hands.
His rage might have just gone full circle "you little-" Genos once again reappeared behind the ninja "-shit"
"You let your guard down Speed of Sound Sonic, it's over. Machine Gun Blows!"
Sonic turned into the onslaught with barely any reaction but his thoughts were very different.
'I'm done messing around'
Genos was sure that his attacks would strike through this time yet it was not to be as his fists passed through the ninja who somehow took on the properties of a warped image. As if that wasn't enough the ninja split into four identical clones, all of them sporting that insufferable smirk of condescension.
"What the-" Genos' eyes widened in shock, his sensors couldn't tell the images apart.
"Surprised? Don't tell me you're having trouble keeping up after showing off so much before" Sonic's voice came out warped, as if he were speaking through a fan "I expected more from One-Punch Man's disciple."
Sonic took sadistic glee in his opponent's panic, it was clear to the ninja that no matter how hard he tried, he could not discern his movements. Flipping his sword to a forward grip Sonic spoke
"Through a special movement technique I am able to create afterimages as I move. Now take this Secret Technique: Four Shadows Burial!"
Like shadowy wraiths indiscernible from one another four after images surrounded Genos and went in for the kill. In response Genos seemingly gave up on tracking his movements and instead put his arm into a crossguard.
'Does he truly believe he can block my attack?' Sonic laughed at the cyborg.
At least that's what Sonic assumed at first but he realized too late that Genos' arms were cross with his palms facing outwards while his face was securely covered. That's when he shouted the words that sealed the Ninja's fate.
"Incineration…FLASH!"
"Flas-AAARGGHHH!" Sonic's eyes widened which may have been an even bigger mistake on his part as a bright light pierced his cornea turning his vision painfully white.
His attack was abruptly halted and the ninja leapt away flailing in disorientation for a bit while his head throbbed in pain. Unfortunately for the assassin he would not get any reprieve as through the ringing in his ears he heard three dreaded words shouted.
"Machine. Gun. Blows!"
And all Sonic knew was pain.
~O~
The blinding flash temporarily disabled his vision but Saitama managed to perceive the sound of metal on skin contact as well as Sonic's grunt of pain followed by an explosion and Genos' curse.
Saitama blinked back the spots from his eyes with mild irritation "that's annoying."
His vision was restored in short order and with it Saitama beheld the result of Genos' stun tactic and counterattack. There was a section of the street with relatively fresh destruction from what he assumed was the explosion he heard. Genos had a few deep slashes across his chest and arms. Sonic on the other hand fared much worst with patches of his bodysuit gone revealing the scarred skin beneath, his ninjato was broken looking more like a knife than a sword, aside from that he was had burns, bruises and a bit of blood on him.
"You bastard" the Ninja spat out panting lightly "using underhanded tricks, so much for being a hero."
Genos did not miss a beat with his reply "so long as I can attain victory it matters not what tools I use at my disposal" he held up a glowing palm "it's over Speed of Sound Sonic"
"Tch" he tossed the broken ninjato "you get a few hits in from a lucky shot and you suddenly think you've won" with a gesture three kunai and shuriken appear between the fingers of both hands "but I'm just getting started!"
The tension racked up as both fighters glared at each other with different shades of intense bloodlust and fury.
"That's enough Genos"
The tension took a dive as Saitama appeared before and casually knocked his disciple's arm down.
"Master Saitama?"
"I'll handle this"
"Saving your disciple's life One-Punch Man?"
"Not really but I've met enough annoying people like you to know that the only way to get rid of them is to do it myself" Saitama's usual blank face expression didn't change but the air around them did become thick with tension at his next words "just this once I'm going to take you serious, so come at me."
Sonic smirked though a trail of sweat did roll down the side of his face. He really wasn't in the best condition to fight right now.
'As much as I hate to admit it that cyborg hits hard and the damages to my body means I won't be able to-'
His thought was interrupted by Saitama who seemed to realize something "or maybe you want to do this another time, after you recover from that beating Genos just gave you."
Saitama's words came from a place of concern as well as good sportsmanship but unbeknownst to him they came off as condescending to the ninja.
'…fuck it, I'll kill him!'
"This is the technique that I've painstakingly crafted especially to kill you!"
"Okay"
Then with a breath he commenced it "Ultimate Technique: TWELVE SHADOWS BURIALS!"
Twelve afterimages manifested in the street, shocking Genos but Sonic could care less about him.
'The special movement technique I've developed to create this technique was already difficult but with these injuries I can only afford a short moment before the fatigue hits' even as he closes in at the man who has barely reacted doubt starts to plague his mind 'why is it that I can't imagine myself beating you? I won't be able to wipe this stain of doubt from my mind unless I defeat you here!'
With that he yelled out "this is it One-Punch Man!" his warped voice shouted as he launched kunai and shuriken.
Saitama's response?
"Super Moves 'Serious Series': SERIOUS CONSECUTIVE SIDE-HOPS"
Afterimages numbering in the dozens and looking even more solid than Sonic's own appeared enveloping the entire width of the destroyed street.
Sonic's expression twisted into a truly ridiculous expression of utter bafflement.
"WAFUH!?"
'WHAT THE FUCK!?'
Unable to abort his attack Sonic ended up passing through the row of afterimages. His own after images were torn apart as were his weapons and as for Sonic himself it was as if he was passed through a meat grinder. He felt his body battered all over, the injuries on his compounding at a far greater rate than the heavy blows dealt by the cyborg. It was only for a second but by the time Sonic passed through he could only flop bonelessly to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
On the ground Sonic looked up with a panicked expression as for the first time in his life Sonic felt lost and helpless. He had no idea what just happened, what was even going on and he tried to express his confusion but all that came out was
"What just…what did you-"
Saitama looked back at the helpless ninja with a bored expression "I just passed through while doing side hops"
Sonic felt anger flare up briefly before it ended with a hitch in his breath as a realization set in, he wasn't actually physically hit by the man.
'Shockwaves…it was the shockwaves from the movement, they were that powerful'
Sonic's heart rate spiked at the realization that he was defeated without even being touched. The power necessary to generate that much force would be staggering. Even worse was the realization of the effects of those movements.
'An infinite number of clones…even faster than me'
He couldn't defeat him, even if he were at full strength the results would have been the same, defeated in a single hit…again.
'He's too strong' the traitorous voice in his head whispered.
Despite losing strength and having his vision faded Sonic still glared at his rival, beaten but not broken.
"This doesn't…change anything….next time I'll…I'll" he trailed off seeing the look on Saitama's face.
He wasn't being taken seriously at all!
'Damn you'
With a flick of his wrist a smoke bomb was dropped.
~O~
"Again with the dust" Saitama griped as he used his waved away the smoke.
"He's getting away!" Genos yelled "he is still within range of my sensors, beginning pursuit-"
"Nah, that's okay"
The cyborg halted in shock "but Master-"
Saitama began walking back to his apartment "don't sweat the details too much Genos, Sonic's not the worst to come after me for whatever reason, so I'll give him a break."
Saitama found Sonic to be…fresh for lack of a better term. Oh sure his first and second encounter hardly made an impression on the bald hero but this time around Saitama felt just the tiniest bit moved by the guy. To think that he spent since their last encounter actually training to defeat him, even going so far as to create techniques…
This was the first time Saitama was experiencing someone's actual earnest attempt at defeating him. The bald hero was taking a gamble or well, 'making an investment' so to speak. Saitama didn't have much hope that Sonic will be able to do it but if there is a chance that the ninja could train himself to one day fight him on equal footing wouldn't that just be great?
"Yes Master" he hesitantly agreed.
Saitama glanced at young cyborg, getting a read on him was difficult even for someone who wasn't emotionally stunted but in this instance Saitama found he could read Genos like a book, the disappointment just rolled off him in waves. The world's strongest man sighed internally, he considered Genos more as a friend than a disciple but he at least clearly understood that the younger man looked up to him as some kind of Master. Saitama didn't think of himself like that at all but he's aware that others don't share his perspective. God knows he's received enough fan letters from kids and even older adults who look up to him to acknowledge his own importance to other people.
So as reluctant as he was to accept Genos as his disciple he could at least acknowledge such a relationship. Plus Tomoro's constant nagging about it helps cement Saitama's acknowledgement and because of all these factors every once in a while Saitama felt the need to drop some kind of advice on Genos.
Now 'what would Tomoro say here?'
Tomoro has been giving Saitama advice so much that it has become easy to imagine his voice dropping knowledge on him.
"Genos"
The seriousness of his tone had the cyborg stand at attention "yes Master Saitama"
"I noticed you were moving slightly faster than the last time we played around, did you get upgrades?"
"Yes Master I-"
Before he could go into detail about it (and Saitama knew it would be unnecessarily extensive) he cut him off "but you still lost against him."
Genos voice hitched as his eyes widened in shock "n-nonsense Master I"
"Don't get me wrong, that flash attack caught him off guard but that wouldn't have worked a second time and even then" he gestured to deep cuts along his torso "he still got some licks in"
"This damage is superficial!"
"Still do you think you would have been able to take that attack he used against me?"
Saitama could practically see the gears turning "I…would have had to use a wide scale explosion but my victory would have been assured!"
"Nope" Saitama shot down "wouldn't work, he wouldn't give you the chance to make a counterattack after the first time."
Genos opened his mouth to argue but paused briefly before speaking in a resigned tone "I understand Master Saitama"
"That's okay though"
Genos' head snapped up "it is?"
"Yeah, I mean sure Sonic's going to keep coming after me but at least now you've got someone around your level who you can fight against. Sonic's definitely going to train like hell to try and beat me and you're going to have to improve if you want to properly beat him."
And just like that a fire was lit in his eyes "yes Master Saitama, I will not let you down!"
"Good" he nodded and continued to the apartment.
With his back to Genos Saitama let out a sigh of relief glad that he managed to pull it off.
'I'm really not cut out for this'
~To Be Continued~
Advance chapters available on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/streggaeworks
verycoolname
Not actually cool
Awww~ Saitama is trying hard to be a good teacher. He really is doing better.
- Location
- Argentina
Yup you can even see he likes the idea because is hard.
normal people would run when facing the crab monster, but he stuck around
your head.
His second confrontation with Saitama was
with how destructive
Love your work, really makes me reconsider reading One Punch Man again. The perspective from Sonic and the self-reflection from Tomoro makes this fanfic pop
From Chapter 1
descent
Last edited:
Chapter 5
Genos fought Sonic and that was to be expected but what wasn't expected was that he technically won the fight. At least that's what he got from the cyborg's unnecessarily detailed oral report. Sonic didn't exactly pose as much of a threat to Genos without his primary weapon. Even then Saitama still intervened before the battle could have a decisive end but again it wasn't for the same reason.
"You humored him?" Tomoro didn't have to feign the incredulity.
The bald man shrugged "sure why not, he went through all the trouble of creating a technique just to kill me so I gave him a shot."
"You mean you showed him the gap between you two by effortlessly wrecking him right?"
"Pretty much."
"Okay so obvious question, why didn't you arrest him?"
"He disappeared in a puff of smoke."
"Are you being serious?"
"Nope he's a ninja" Saitama shrugged.
"Is that what happened Genos?"
"Yes, he did release some type of smoke grenade and managed to escape in under its effects. My scanners were able to follow him and I made to give chase but Master Saitama prevented me from-"
"Oi! You don't have to tell him all of that Genos."
"My apologies master."
Tomoro gave the grumbling bald hero and unimpressed look "you know heroes generally don't let dangerous S-rank ninja assassins get away, especially when they swear bloody vengeance against them and make multiple attempts on their life."
"Nothing I can do about it until he tries again."
Saitama said this in his usual bored tone however Tomoro's eyes narrowed lightly.
"…I don't believe it" he said in mild disbelief.
"What?"
"Did you actually let this guy go on purpose?"
"What, no that would be crazy" Saitama replied not looking Tomoro in the eye.
"Yes that would be crazy and despite your questionable intelligence I don't think you're that desperate for a challenge."
"…"
"Right, so anything else happen with you guys? It's been a few days since we last saw each other."
"Well Genos needed help with finding a missing cat."
"Master Saitama the executive stated that it was classified, is it okay to share that story with Mr. Sazaki?"
Saitama waved him off "eh it's alright"
Tomoro looked between the two of them "I'm guessing that this wasn't an actual missing cat right."
"No there was an actual cat"
Tomoro blinked "is that true Genos?"
Genos has become more or less his translator for Saitama since the man seems incapable of not being oblivious.
"They were indeed monsters that were feline in nature."
"Ah, go on."
It was a risky gambit designed by Sitch who saw a sharp rise in the number of disasters befalling the world as well as noticed that the heroes within the association were spread thin with insufficient numbers and poor coordination to properly handle the increased string of disasters.
The meeting took a turn for the worst however as a fight soon broke out just after it began. A lone man, a lone young man audaciously challenged the entire room filled with heroes and criminals alike. He easily made short work of the three A-Class heroes before setting his sights on the criminals. Despite there being well over a hundred criminals in the room it became a one-sided massacre with the young man cut a swath through the assembled criminals and in the end Sitch was the only one left unharmed.
Gossip would eventually see this incident spread throughout the Hero Association and so when the President called for a meeting of the executives many thought it would be because of the incident. Admittedly Sitch wasn't too worried despite being in the center of the disaster, Agoni is a reasonable man and the minister did have the approval of the other executives before commencing the plan anyway.
That's what he thought but looking at the rarely used Assembly Hall filled with not just executives but also managers, sponsors and other affiliates of the association Sitch had the distinct feeling that this meeting wasn't about him at all. At the very least he or his incident isn't going to be the main topic of today's meeting.
"This is quite a turnout wouldn't you say Sitch?"
"Sekingar" the executive nodded to the man "that is an understatement."
The younger manager glanced about the room his cybernetic eye taking everything in "if I didn't know any better I would say that every important figure and major affiliate of the Hero Association is gathered here right now."
'You wouldn't be the only one to think that' Sitch thought 'some of these men and women I've only ever seen in reports or on a hologram in meetings.'
It was more than disconcerting.
"Why do you think the president called this meeting out of the blue?"
"I don't-"
Before he could answer the question proper Sitch was interrupted by the sound of someone barging into the room.
"Alright I'm here, so what is so important that I had to drop everything and attend this meeting?"
Amai Mask's question told in an indignant tone washed across the room plunging it in near silence. Amai Mask's position within the Association was a precarious one. Officially Amai Mask is a registered hero and acts as both the public 'face' and spokesperson of the hero Association. While this doesn't grant him significant power within the association in an official capacity, unofficially the man might as well be an executive.
Using his appearance and putting his many talents to use the man is singlehandedly responsible for 95% of all donations gifted by the public. As a hero his power and unflinching, often extremist, views on justice has earned him the top spot within the A-Class in short order. His commitment to improving the association's public image is such that he deliberately turned down the S-Class rank in order to act as its gate keeper making the only way to S-Class through him.
Because of his commitment Amai Mask has an advisory role and is consulted with whenever decisions on class promotions are made. The man, for all intents and purposes, is the perfect hero of the public. But just that as the man himself is not perfect and the personality he shows to the public is not one that is maintained away from it. Behind closed doors Amai Mask is a difficult man to deal with and has several character flaws.
Arrogant, narcissistic, overbearing and stubborn are just some of the words Sitch would use to describe Amai Mask. He also doesn't take orders well and often does whatever he thinks is best. His extremist views on justice meant that anything he deems 'evil' is summarily destroyed no matter who or what. It is for this reason why he is often left out of any reported disasters even if he happens to be in the area. His busy schedule is just a convenient excuse the smart executives use because no one likes dealing with him.
'Still his attitude doesn't seem to faze some people' Sitch noted sardonically.
Of course the 'people' whom he is referring to are, of course, the entire female population of the room. From the moment he barged in the rank 1 A-Class hero had the undivided attention of every woman in the room. Even the female executive who is aware of his true personality can't help but swoon. Sitch could have rolled his eyes at them however his attention too was taken by Amai Mask though obviously not for the same reason.
"What's this meeting about anyway?" Amai demanded impatiently.
Sitch decided to step in "president Agoni didn't specify what this was about when he called it."
"Hmph and where is the president anyway? He is late to a meeting he called all of us for?"
Murmurs went around the room as Sitch's frown deepened, Amai made a valid point. It was well past the meeting time that was set and the president has yet to even show his face. Being reminded of the fact that they were waiting for a meeting called on short notice that should have been underway already raised dissent among the crowd, most noticeably with the elites. One such elite used this pointed out fact to voice his complaint.
"Amai Mask is right" spoke a man he knew as Narinki "I have very important business to attend to today but I dropped them out of courtesy to attend this meeting because Agoni made it sound urgent" the man began to walk away "time is money and I have him wasting mine. Besides what would having my presence accomplish here? The Hero Association has been operating well without my direct input all this time!"
The business mogul's words had an immediate effect and Sitch couldn't help but to agree with them. What use is there in inviting the sponsors to this? They were all busy people, running multimillion dollar corporations and all. Most importantly they did not need nor wanted the input of civilians who, aside from providing funding, have no idea of the intricacies of the association and thus have no practical place in such a meeting.
This is most likely the thought process going through everyone's mind and the reason why no one made an effort to stop him from leaving. Though just as likely they didn't want to deal with a pompous elitist. Amai Mask was looking like he was considering following Narinki's example. Sitch wouldn't really have a problem with either of their absence but it was one thing for a big time sponsor to abandon this meeting and another matter for Amai Mask to do so.
Narinki's funding accounts for 7% of the Hero Association's operation budget so he has the leeway to get away with this much. Amai Mask on the other hand doesn't but before the A-Class hero could come to an internal decision and even before Narinki reached the doors, they were opened before him. Out stepped the president himself, Agoni whose sharp gaze briefly pinned Narinki in place.
"I apologize for my tardiness there was a bit of business that needed to be taken care of" Agoni spoke gruffly as he walked in followed by an assistant carrying a stack of folders.
Amai Mask was less than enthused with his excuse "that is not good president Agoni. What kind of example are you setting, calling such an assembly and arriving late?"
"Go easy on him Amai, the only reason why we're late is because I wanted to ensure everyone was present for this."
Following those words the unthinkable happened, Amai Mask choked on his spit and his eyes bugged out in utter shock. Such an embarrassing display had gone unnoticed however as most of the occupants in the room weren't any better off. Stepping into the assembly hall was none other than Solaria Nova, wearing a blue pantsuit and heels.
"M-m-Miss N-Nova!?" Amai Mask exclaimed.
"Hello Amai Mask"
"Wh-wh-wha" his stammering only seemed to worsen as she drew close.
Solaria met Amai's gaze with clear amusement "use your words dear."
The Idol hero blushed but did collect himself before continuing "what are you doing here?"
"I'd rather answer that question and any other while on the podium."
"Oh" he answered then just stood there as she walked by.
The former idol approached the stage which has already been prepped with two tables on either side of the podium. Agoni sat to her right while the assistant stood to her left with the stacks of folders. Once she took to the stage she tapped the microphone and receiving a clear began to speak.
"Again I would like to extend an apology to all gathered here for our tardiness. Agoni wanted to begin on time however I noticed some amongst us were running late and so I had him put off the meeting until they arrived."
She eyed Amai Mask who bashfully shrunk into his seat at her gaze.
"Now for those of you who don't know I am Solaria Nova and I am the co-founder and co-president of the Hero Association."
She paused as the room exploded into murmurs but didn't let it last long.
"Yes, yes it is all very shocking however now you all know why it was prudent I be here. I am the one who called this meeting."
She took up a remote and pressed a button. The light went low and the white platform just before the podium lit up into a hologram.
"Since its inception I've kept my distance from the Hero Association, really I have too much on my plate with Star Enterprise to take on the burden of another big corporation. I trusted Agoni with overseeing operations and he in turn trusted you all to see that the Hero Association is maintained to the highest standards."
The hologram was shifting like a slideshow, showing a variety of still images now.
"The idea was simple, ensure public safety and security. Humanity is constantly besieged by threats beyond their ability to combat and needed a rallying point for those extraordinary individuals among us to be organized. We find these individuals and provide the necessary care and equipment for them to combat threats whilst ensuring minimal casualties."
The hologram shifted again going through destroyed buildings, places with police tape, ambulances carting off heroes and so on.
"Ladies and gentlemen we are failing" she stressed "the situation is getting worse, monster attacks have become more frequent and our forces are stretched thin. We are on a knife's edge where the slightest mistake could end up causing an unmitigated disaster. Now imagine my shock when upon closer observation of the operational reports of the different branches, I find this."
The holograms changed yet again though this time it wasn't just still images, there were also videos mixed in. Said videos were in high quality clearly identifying the ones in it, had their audio cut off and much like the images the topic was of the incriminating variety.
How incriminating?
"Rampant corruption throughout all levels of the Hero Association hierarchy" she continued "clerks laundering donation money to fill their pockets, officers taking bribes, managers participating in cover-ups, executives funding illegal operations, selling Hero Association resources and private information on the black market, illegally capturing monsters to serve as exotic pets and using the heroes under the association's employ as your personal servants."
Solaria's incredulity was reflected in Sitch's expression as well as quite a few for every accusation that came out of her mouth was followed by an image or video with such high quality that it was impossible not to see the people in it. The last one was a video which featured one of the executives and the recently named S-Class hero Demon Cyborg. The video however did not have the audio cut off and video was played in snippet.
"You called me out here, I assume it is a personal request" spoke the S-Class hero.
"The creature I secretly held as a pet ran away. Please get rid of it."
Demon Cyborg's shock was reflected by Sitch and quite a few in attendance.
"Did you take a monster previously defeated by a hero-"
"I will regret it after this is over"
The video cut off to images of a very dead monster, it was massive and there were several of them. What caught Sitch's attention was the disaster level, it was Demon. The images changed again this time to destruction as well as several heroes being carted off in a special ambulance provided by the Hero Association.
"As you can see this is often the result of when fools let their greed overcome their common sense. We have quite a bit of them in attendance and if they believe we will allow them to run rampant in this organization then they are sadly mistaken."
As she said this the assembly doors opened and several government types unaffiliated with the Hero Association came in.
"I have already taken the liberty of handing over the evidence of your crimes to the proper authorities. These gentlemen will be taking custody of the accused. Please cooperate so that we may eventually continue this meeting and to those who are taken: on behalf of the Hero Association we no longer have need of your services."
Of course kind words would do nothing to calm down the men and woman who are facing imprisonment.
"You can't do this!"
"Unhand me!"
"Do you have any idea who I am?"
"I'll have your head for this Nova!"
"For those who insist on not cooperating I will remind you that you are also in the presence of the number one A-Class hero who can and will assist these officers in any way he deems fit."
A few eyes turned to Amai Mask who sat with one leg crossed over his knee and held a decidedly neutral expression. He was the picture of perfection, like an art piece come to life. Though if one were to look closely they would see veins of concealed effort creeping up his neck, his folded hands gripped his biceps tightly and his aura was that of a caged beat ready to lash out at a moment's notice."
The regular employees didn't want to deal with the top A-Class hero but the executives' fears were even more profound. Amai Mask was holding himself back to the point where he didn't even so much as comment on the proceedings. His sharp golden eyes were reminiscent of a predator and they pinned the unruly the moment they started to act up rendering them frozen in fear.
Once they were kept in check Amai Mask directed his attention to Solaria and gracefully inclined his head. He received a beatific smile in return and the tension wrapped around his muscles released, visibly calming him.
"I don't believe it" he heard Sekingar speak beside him "this…this is going to change everything."
"Yes" Sitch nodded his gaze sweeping across the room where employees, sponsors and executives were being read their rights and arrested.
Then his eyes found the woman responsible for it all and she smiled at him.
Sitch took a breath, unlike most men he was not as susceptible to her charms but he will give her this
"Change is not a bad thing right now."
Tomoro almost didn't believe it the first time he saw it but it is right there on the screen. The Hero Association was going through some kind of overhaul and it included firing a lot of their employees. Tomoro would bet his life's savings that Solaria Nova had something to do with it. Briefly he thought of just calling her and asking but thought better of it and instead waited until he arrived home to do some snooping around the various Hero Association forums.
Even if she managed to keep her name and the details away from the press there is no way something as huge as this would be kept completely under wraps. Someone knows something and they more often than not post the secrets on certain forums, it's just a matter of differentiating the facts from the fictions.
'What is she hoping to accomplish with this?' was the question he wanted answered.
It didn't take him long to find said answer and it came with the words former Hero Association employee combined with arrested, incarcerated, found guilty of, suspected of and so on.
"So that's what she's doing."
He knew that the woman would act on the information he gave her. She has both the resources and inclination to do that but Tomoro would never imagine that she would act so soon and would be so…overt. It was definitely more than what he would have done on such short notice.
"I underestimated her."
That would be an understatement since Solaria was apparently cleaning house in the Hero Association. There were more than a few hints in the original story that the Hero Association was corrupt along with being incompetent and that was something the Web Novel got into after the Monster Association Arc but Tomoro never got to finish it before he reincarnated.
'Not that it matters now, she just went and completely upended an entire arc before it even began.'
Tomoro wasn't too shaken up about that, he was concerned with the fact that this was basically Solaria's opening move. If her opening move is weeding out the corruption in the Hero Association then what is she going to get up to in the future? When he thought about it Tomoro didn't have as much time as he thought he did. The prophecy is set to take place in a couple of months which meant he would be fighting against him before the year ended.
"What am I doing?"
The world might end in a few months, hell the world is going to be turned on its head in a few weeks and here he is sitting around, working an accounting job.
'Should I be more proactive?'
And there's the rub.
If someone else were in his shoes then they might have used their meta-knowledge to abuse the hell out of the situation. Thing is Tomoro was like that once upon a time, he exploited the hell out of One-Punch Man lore to get to where he is and…let's just say things didn't work out well for him. So now here he is banking his and everyone else's survival on a single man.
Overseeing Saitama's growth from some guy in a tracksuit to arguably the most powerful being in the universe was admittedly reassuring to him. Tomoro deliberately went passive, settled into a lifestyle and now he found himself reluctant to go active again. He enjoyed the peace and quiet that comes with domestic life and he would not part with it so easily.
At the same time he knew 'this isn't going to last.'
There are so many things coming up in only a few days like Garou, the Monster Association attacks, the Super Fight, the…
"Suiryu" Tomoro cursed "I completely forgot about him!"
A check back to the information he had confirmed that Saitama was supposed to unwittingly convince Suiryu to become a hero during the Super Fight tournament. He was also supposed to save him from Bakuzan and kill Gouketsu.
"Damn, this just got more complicated" he paused "maybe I can still convince Saitama to attend the tournament"
But the only reason why he attended in the original story was because Garou got him interested in martial arts. Bang's student who foolishly challenged Garou and got beaten was there to conveniently give him a ticket to participate as well.
Speaking of tickets…
"Would I even be able to get one?"
…the answer is no.
The Super Fight Tournament is very popular and is the main attraction in C City. Tickets are sold out within days of being available and the tournament is scheduled not too long from now.
"This is fine" he spoke to himself hastily "the tournament itself isn't so important, as long as Gouketsu and Bakuzan die then it should be fine."
But then Suiryu won't become a hero or at least have heroic inclinations. He'll just be a playboy slacker who happens to be a martial arts prodigy.
"…we might need him" Tomoro realized.
From his notes on the subject of Suiryu, Tomoro thinks that in terms of skill he might be even better than Garou pre-monsterization. He was able to become an S-Class level master martial artist on pure talent alone while mostly just slacking off, flirting with girls and doing Super Fight Tournaments for the money. Garou got where he is now through diligent training and fighting anyone and everyone with a bit of skill to hone his techniques. Tomoro could go out on a limb and say that his travels didn't even amount to much since he didn't even use his martial arts until he fought Tank Top Master. Garou only really started to advance when he went up against stronger opponents that forced him to adapt until monsterization kicked in.
Suiryu has the potential to become a serious asset in the future. Hell with the right training and motivation the guy could even be on par with Garou.
"I'm getting ahead of myself" Tomoro mumbled to himself.
Whatever talent Suiryu has won't matter in the short future. Garou's progression is insane and thinking Suiryu could keep up by himself is just unrealistic.
'At least not by himself but if he had a teacher…'
Bang would be able to whip him into shape but then Suiryu would have to be inclined to seek him out which was improbable.
So where does that leave him?
Tomoro took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, all this planning was becoming tedious. Tomoro was never any good at these kinds of clever manipulations. He's the type of person who prefers to commit to a single task not matter the difficulty. It's the reason why he's here with Saitama as opposed to doing a million other things simultaneously. This kind of 4d chess moves wasn't for him
"I'd rather just go to the damn tournament and take Saitama's place" he griped in frustration before catching himself.
'Is that even an option?'
Tomoro hesitated "would it work?" he wondered before scoffing to himself "of course it would, if Saitama can bumble his way through it then I can have the same effect."
He knew the reason why he was hesitating though, this would be his first time directly involved with the 'plot' and influencing events on such a large scale.
"Time to nut up or shut."
He just needed to make a call.
'It has been a while since I used telepathy so extensively' hence the mental drain.
It's not exactly easy to do a subtle deep mental scan of dozens of people. She had to do this whilst maintaining a persona and under their combined scrutiny. Luckily she was an award winning actress who hasn't lost her touch. On a serious note she already made contingencies and is continuing to make adjustments for any form of retaliation or escape from persecution by the wealthier ones.
The different agencies investigating will find a continuous stream of incriminating evidence generously gifted to them at different intervals. The assets of the accused will be seized and their accounts frozen pending the investigation. The corrupt politicians, judges and various bureaucrats willing to take bribes or allied with them will be pressed not to lend their aid. The former executives and wealthy sponsors will soon find their money and connections useless and be at the mercy of the justice system they can no longer abuse.
"Such is the faith of those who cross Solaria Nova" she smirked sardonically to herself.
While this was indeed a victory for her and the association there was still much more work to be done. The Hero Association has more problems than rampant corruption. There needs to be some serious changes in policy with regards to how they handle disasters and taking care of their heroes. Then there are the future events like Silver Fang's rogue former student, dealing with the Monster Association and the prophecy that is most likely referring to him.
At the reminder Solaria raised a wet hand to her temple, all of this is supposed to happen within the year.
"If I only knew about this sooner"
She blamed Tomoro for that and while she does understand his point of view in sticking to One-Punch Man with his strength and knowledge Tomoro could have done much more to prepare the world for the coming calamity. He didn't however and the reason behind his not taking these necessary steps was so he can maintain his fragile knowledge of future events.
"Damn that man and his passiveness" Solaria scowled.
Just then her phone rang and with a gesture it appeared floating before her.
"Speak of the devil."
She accepted the call and put him on speaker, keeping the phone afloat and began to wipe down her skin with a bath sponge.
"Mr. Sazaki, I was just thinking of you."
"Miss Nova, is this a bad time?"
"No, I am currently taking a nice relaxing bath."
"…I can call back."
That is adorable.
"Nonsense, this is actually a good time, I am expected to be very busy this week. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? I take it you have seen the news?"
"I have, you sure didn't take your time or pull your punches."
"Time is not something we have the luxury of unfortunately. I saw an opportunity to weed out the malcontents in one fell swoop and so I did. I recall you were the one to suggest I clean house remember."
"Fair enough but that's not the reason why I called"
"Oh?"
"Do you have any plans for the Super Fight Tournament?"
Solaria frowned "not presently."
"Can you get me a ticket to the tournament?"
"You're going to attend?"
There was a beat of silence "I want to participate."
Solaria blinked in mild shock and some confusion though it did not bleed into her amicable tone "really, you?"
"One of the Monster Association's strongest is going to try recruiting the fighters. I can guarantee only the strongest among the S-Class can fight him."
"I am aware and I am grateful for the assistance but that still doesn't explain why you need to participate."
"It's for personal reasons. Can you get me a spot or not?"
'Now I'm even more curious.'
"Hm, it's hard to say. Don't they reserve the positions for fighters beforehand?"
"Not a problem, bang's current student is going to challenge Garou and end up hospitalized so I can take his spot."
"If that's the case then I very well may be able to do just that though it will take some time."
"I understand, thank you."
He hung up leaving Solaria in silence once more and the thought occurred to her 'he's hiding something.'
They both have their secrets but what would compel him to enter a martial arts tournament?
"If you're a magical girl parody then I'd be a Dragon Ball parody…"
She vaguely remembers the popular anime series from her past life. What she does know is that there exists a show that is very similar to it. That particular show places a heavy emphasis on fighting, martial arts, tournaments and bombastic battles, the typical shonen affair. If he's identifying himself as a 'parody' of such a thing then he is implying he is a martial artist.
'And if that is true I can't imagine a man of his strength would be an unknown.'
With a thought she accessed the phone still floating before her. It rang for a moment before the sound of young woman picked up.
"How may I help you Miss Nova?"
"Do you remember those 'anomalies' you observed on Tomoro Sazaki's profile?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Follow through with your investigation into them and send the information to my private server."
"It will be done Miss Nova."
Solaria hung up, dismissed her phone and closed her eyes to enjoy the rest of her relaxing bubble bath.
They reacted by hosting a press conference and it was here that Solaria Nova revealed her ties to the Hero Association. Not only was she the previously unidentified co-founder and one of the secret benefactors but she will also be taking an active role in the Hero Association. She named herself the new director of operations and went on to address some of the pertinent questions held by public in a Q&A session.
In this session she confirmed the rumors surrounding the mass firing of Hero Association staff that it was basically her cleaning house. Every single individual that was fired had participated in, benefitted from or otherwise kept quiet on their knowledge of illegal activities done within the association using its resources. Naturally she could not disclose any specifics on the matter due to the pending investigation but at that point it was a non-issue.
The damage was already done, the public was in an uproar with many critics, analysts and theorists taking to news stations, interviews and forums to air their grievances. To Tomoro the whole thing blew up into a fiasco but funnily enough people seem to be just as if not more focused on Solaria taking an active role in the Hero Association than the scandal surrounding the illegal activities of its dozens of former employees.
Tomoro wasn't even sure if this was part of the plan or people were just that interested in the actions of the woman herself. According to at least half a dozen forums Solaria's cult was making moves with members looking to fill in the vacant spots now in the Hero Association. Aside from that new information on the low profile cases were being leaked. It seemed a lot of information was being 'leaked' to the press to keep this momentum going.
It was frankly out of control and Solaria struck him as someone who wouldn't let things get out of hand like this which leads Tomoro to believe that this whole fiasco was very deliberate and really the end goal was pretty obvious to him. With the media and the public distracted with the scandal and snooping around Solaria's business people seem to conveniently overlook that during all this more than a dozen or so Heroes were put in the hospital by the 'Human Monster' Garou.
Tomoro understood the reasoning behind wanting to create a smokescreen to cover up Garou's actions. This was a pivotal moment for the Hero Association with such a huge change and they couldn't have Garou undermining their genuine attempt at changing things for the better by highlighting the fact that they are failing to apprehend a lone young man who is sending scores of Heroes into the ICU. Despite the knowledge that came from this realization it all still felt excessive to him.
'Best not to think about it' is what he thought but it's been several days, the Super Fight Tournament is literally tomorrow and he hasn't heard from Solaria since he asked her for the ticket.
If she doesn't come through then he'll be forced to steal Charanko's ticket, wear a wig and impersonate him in the tournament. The very idea of pulling off something so 'Saitama' made him physically ill but it was an unfortunate option if he wanted his plan to succeed. His thoughts hovered on the idea until the very day before the tournament on a Friday just before he got off work.
*Bzzt*
Taking out his phone he found to his relief a text from Solaria.
Mahou Shoujo: Been busy all week.
Tomoro sighed in relief "cutting it close but I'll take it."
Tomoro: I understand, did you get it?
Mahou Shoujo: I have it but you'll have to pick it up.
Tomoro: Where?
The place she texted was somewhere in the heart of Z City's Entertainment District and he even posted a time.
Tomoro: I'll be there
Mahou Shoujo: It's a date
"Wait what?"
Mahou Shoujo: And wear something nice
"…she's not serious is she?"
Turns out she is serious.
"I'm so glad you could make it~" greeted Solaria whose now bright blonde shoulder length hair came down in curls at the tips. She also wore lip gloss and diamond earrings.
Tomoro felt his eye twitch lightly at the woman standing before him. It was such a bizarre dichotomy that he felt he needed to ask the most obvious and pertinent of questions.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you think?"
Well currently the two of them were standing in the middle of Z City's Entertainment District' amongst a crowd of passersby. She was wearing a short blue long sleeved party dress whose length only barely passed her inner thigh, has a large enough cleavage window that it's a mystery as to whether she's wearing a bra and is so tight that it might has well be a second skin.
So in answer to her question of what he thought she was doing there is only one answer that came to mind.
"Disturbing the peace."
The woman laughed melodically at his words "you're exaggerating."
He gestured around to which she noted that literally every man in the vicinity was giving her furtive looks. One guy walked into a lamp post, another tripped over his feet and another got slapped by his date who then stormed off.
Tomoro looked back at Solaria with a raised eyebrow.
"Well at least they know how to compliment a lady, unlike you" she added with folded arm glare and hip cocked to the side.
Tomoro internally sighed "you look…nice"
It was a generic compliment that was ultimately meaningless and they both knew this.
Solaria shook her head "you are really bad at this."
"Noted, now can you-"
"Here, let me show how it's done" she interrupted "my, you are looking very handsome tonight Tomoro~"
The man blinked "what are you-"
"I especially like that you lost the glasses."
It was true, for this meeting Tomoro did not bring his glasses. He counted it as a work disguise and so he hardly ever wears it outside of going to work or his neighborhood. The latter is because he didn't want to raise a fuss given that he still looked like a gangster without them. He also let his hair down and wore an open purple jacket over a white t-shirt, black jeans and purple sneakers. All this made for an appearance that was far removed from his usual professional business look.
"Thank you?" he replied back awkwardly.
"You are welcome" she then linked her arms around one of his and half dragged him along "now come, we have much to do tonight."
"Where are we going?"
"Why, to commence our d.a.t.e of course."
"What?"
"Date Tomoro"
"Miss Nova-"
"Please, call me Star tonight."
This was getting ridiculous.
"Alright 'Star' tell me what this is all about or I'm cutting this 'date' short."
Solaria sighed "look I won't lie to you Tomoro, this past week has been…trying and it will only get worse with tomorrow kicking off the Monster Association fiasco. Is it wrong for me to want to blow off some steam before that?"
Okay that was understandable but "why are you dragging me into it?"
"Because you seem like someone who could use some fun in his life."
"I have fun" he grumbled.
"Oh really, and what do you do for fun?"
"I don't have to answer that."
She gave him a pitying look "that's sad."
"And I know this was not caused by your concern over my well being."
He stopped in the middle of their walk. He did not move an inch even with the mild pressure of Solaria's telekinesis attempting to push him along.
The woman frowned "must you be so stubborn?"
"Solaria I don't care what you do on your own time and you shouldn't care what I get up to. We're both trying to save the world so our interests align but we're not friends" he told her straight.
Solaria stared at him for a moment "you are…without a doubt…the absolute worst Mr. Sazaki."
'Here we go'
"I mean here I am a young, wealthy and beautiful woman offering a token of friendship with the opportunity of more and you reject me?"
The accusation would have been more devastating if not for the genuine smile of amusement on her face.
"I must say this is a first for me."
"Obviously you just haven't met the right people."
"Oh well, if you won't humor me then I suppose I might as well drop some of the pretenses."
This caught Tomoro's attention as he eyed her "so you do want something."
"Of course I do" she confirmed "I was willing to let us have some fun before getting down to business but since you are apparently incapable of doing so I might as well skip it."
"What do you want?"
"I want information Tomoro."
"I have literally given you everything I know."
"Yes, but so far I know nothing about you."
"Didn't you do a background check on me?"
"I certainly did and I find that there isn't much about you. You simply appeared five years ago to take online classes for a degree and that was it. No family, no friends, no digital footprints and admittedly high quality forged documents. It made me curious."
"You should let it go" he spoke lowly.
"I would however I did not build my empire on blind trust. Given how invaluable your information has been I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt however I was able to find something after a thorough investigation."
"Solaria-"
"Shiva."
"…"
"What does-"
"Shut. Up."
He spoke with no inflection or intent however the Esper felt a chill run down her spine.
"For someone harping about friendship, you have a stupid way of going about it. I've been nothing but straight with you since the moment we met. I told you everything you needed to know and a damn good more than what you didn't just to be thorough. The only thing I ask for is a ticket to a tournament so I can help instead staying inactive like I've been doing for years. And what do I get for that? You attempting to drag me along on some asinine misadventure for your own amusement, blackmail and snooping around into my past that is best left buried. If this is what I have to look forward to in working with you Solaria then I'd rather just go back to how it was before I met you."
"You are right, I was out of line."
Tomoro looked at her but she didn't meet his eyes "can I have the ticket now?"
"Of course" she pulled the ticket out of somewhere but didn't immediately hand it over "I still want to know why you intend to participate in the tournament."
He glared at her.
Solaria rolled her eyes "I am the director of operations Tomoro. If you're going to be in C City I need to make adjustments to the plans put in place for dealing with the invasion tomorrow."
She got him there.
"I want to sway Suiryu to our cause" he finally admitted.
Solaria frowned "the Super Fight champion?"
"He's a genius that might be on par with Garou but right now he's just a lazy playboy coasting off his prodigious talents."
"Is he worth it?"
"Look at it this way, he's easily S-Class just by being a lazy playboy, imagine if he actually trained properly?"
Solaria thought on that a moment 'having another S-Class hero join our ranks would be good.'
"I take it you will be the one to train him."
"If things go to plan yes."
"Okay" she handed him the ticket "I trust you."
He took the ticket and pocketed it with a nod.
"If it's any consolation I did not find much information on 'Shiva' other than unsubstantiated rumors."
"…good."
He began to walk away however he was stopped by Solaria who held onto his arm "there is still one matter to deal with. Actually it is the main reason why I even invited you here at this time."
Tomoro suppressed a groan "what is it?"
In response Solaria nodded her head to the side.
Tomoro glanced to his right just in time to see the odd sight of a young fierce looking man with golden eyes, silver done up in two prongs wearing a ripped black shirt, white martial arts pants and slippers. The youth had two tears in his shirt and a cut on his cheek that looked recent.
'Garou?'
And as he saw the unmistakable form of the one of the main antagonist he suddenly remembered what this is.
'Wasn't he supposed to encounter Saitama?'
Except since Saitama isn't as close to Bang as he was in the original story he didn't meet Charanko and so he wouldn't visit him in the hospital and get the ticket which wouldn't give him a reason to visit the district to get a wig to impersonate the guy.
His thoughts were then interrupted by Solaria "if your information holds true tonight is to be the night where he encounters One-Punch Man and is summarily knocked out until tomorrow."
"Yeah."
"This presents a problem" Solaria lamented "I would prefer if that boy doesn't continue hospitalizing more heroes throughout the night and since One-Punch Man is not here…"
She trailed off meaningfully to which Tomoro blinked and dumbly pointed at himself "you want me to be Saitama's stand-in?"
"Think of it as practice for tomorrow."
'Whatever' he thought at her words 'a quick tap on the shoulder should-'
"Let's make this more exciting~"
"What?"
If he did not like the sound of those words then he definitely hated what came next.
"Ahem-KYAAAH, isn't that the 'Human Monster' Garou!?"
That gained the attention a few people, most importantly it gained the attention of the man himself.
"Quick, do something. Aren't you supposed to be some big shot hero?"
…is this woman for real?
He almost asked the question but his attention was taken by another voice.
"Big shot hero, eh?"
'God dammit'
The moment his eyes landed on the silver haired youth he ducked down to avoid a fist to the face. The movement was so sudden it was as if he teleported to the human eye. Garou was already reacting to the sudden movement however not even his perception was fast enough to keep up. Tomoro appeared behind the now wide eyed young man and slammed both his fists into the sides of his temple. Garou could only let out a gurgle of shocked pain before his eyes rolled up and he collapsed in the street.
And just like that Garou the 'Human Monster' was defeated.
"That was anticlimactic" Solaria lamented in the brief silence that followed.
'Why is everything silent?'
It wasn't that the crowd was silent but that they weren't even paying attention to them.
Noticing his observation Solaria spoke "I made it so that the people around us ignore our presence, can't have them making a fuss about this.
"And yet you had no issue making a fuss yourself. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I was bored" she half shrugged.
Tomoro stared at her and it began to dawn on him who he was dealing with. People are funny when they set goals for themselves it usually falls within the realm of possibility but sometimes they set impossible goals either as part of their own delusion or deliberate motivation.
But what happens when you achieve the impossible?
Saitama became the strongest man in the world and the crushing loneliness of being at the top would have slowly killed him from the inside. Usually when one achieves a goal they move on to the next because life is like a journey and the end is death. In Saitama's case the man couldn't set another goal for himself because fighting is the only thing that made him feel alive. Before he ever saved that kid from the crab monster he was listless and borderline suicidal.
He can't do anything else because even before he became One-Punch Man there was literally nothing for him to live for.
Unlike Saitama, whose rigid disinterest in almost everything outside of getting that high on a good fight, Solaria faces a completely different issue, that of excess time. When one is functionally immortal they literally have all the time in the world and she hasn't been idle in putting that time to good use. She was a hero who became arguably the most powerful esper in the world and one of the strongest beings on the planet. She built her empire through a series of books she herself wrote as her own memoirs and turned a small company into a trillion dollar mega-conglomerate.
Her many talents are validated by her numerous awards and public recognition. Even her vanity is validated by public opinion and the literal largest cult of simps in the world calling themselves her fans and numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Really Solaria has achieved the impossible several times over and in the span of several lifetimes. There is no doubt that Solaria is at the peak of her success or maybe she has been for a while and the high of achievement has passed.
So what's next for her?
Tomoro knew the answer to that, it's basically Saitama's life story and even if they are vastly different people the trend would remain the same. Unless she moves on to the next goal then the only thing Solaria can look forward to is…boredom, mind numbing boredom.
At least that would have been the case until he showed up and suddenly things were looking exciting again.
"I mean here I am a young, wealthy and beautiful woman offering a token of friendship with the opportunity of more and you reject me?"
The smile she kept was a red herring and he should have been paying attention to her eyes. For all her renowned acting skills and mental prowess the eyes are called 'windows to the soul' for a reason. And what Tomoro saw in those eyes was a subtle kind of desperation. She was genuinely trying to be his friend in her own odd way and he basically threw it in her face.
He shook his head "damn."
"You have been staring for a while now" Solaria piped up with a curious smile.
…it occurred to Tomoro that Solaria Nova wouldn't act like she does now with anyone. If she did then this side of personality would be more widely known.
'Is this what she's like in private?'
Must be, he didn't see the reason why she would act like this otherwise, it hardly portrayed the public image she built up so far. The woman before him was vastly different from the one he met under the pretense of business.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about you, hence my migraine" he grunted dragging the unconscious Garou by the collar and tossing him on a pile of trash.
"You're just going to leave him there?"
"He's a big boy" Tomoro waved off "let's go."
"Go where?"
Tomoro looked to her "I don't know, you're the one who planned this 'date' I was just supposed to show up."
Blue eyes widened and twinkled in mirth "well, well could it be that the indomitable Tomoro Sazaki has become one more amongst the legions of men to fall for my charms?" She punctuated this with a flip of her hair.
His reply was a dry "don't flatter yourself, I don't go for the high maintenance types."
Solaria linked their arms as they walked.
"Oh please honey, I'm rich I 'maintain' myself. Your job is just to stand there and look pretty."
"I'm already starting to regret this" he half groaned.
"See, it's not so hard. The brooding deadpan really brings out your best features."
"Please stop."
In the end Tomoro actually did enjoy himself and the two parted on better terms having become friends. He made a half hearted promise to hang out after they deal with the coming events.
"You humored him?" Tomoro didn't have to feign the incredulity.
The bald man shrugged "sure why not, he went through all the trouble of creating a technique just to kill me so I gave him a shot."
"You mean you showed him the gap between you two by effortlessly wrecking him right?"
"Pretty much."
"Okay so obvious question, why didn't you arrest him?"
"He disappeared in a puff of smoke."
"Are you being serious?"
"Nope he's a ninja" Saitama shrugged.
"Is that what happened Genos?"
"Yes, he did release some type of smoke grenade and managed to escape in under its effects. My scanners were able to follow him and I made to give chase but Master Saitama prevented me from-"
"Oi! You don't have to tell him all of that Genos."
"My apologies master."
Tomoro gave the grumbling bald hero and unimpressed look "you know heroes generally don't let dangerous S-rank ninja assassins get away, especially when they swear bloody vengeance against them and make multiple attempts on their life."
"Nothing I can do about it until he tries again."
Saitama said this in his usual bored tone however Tomoro's eyes narrowed lightly.
"…I don't believe it" he said in mild disbelief.
"What?"
"Did you actually let this guy go on purpose?"
"What, no that would be crazy" Saitama replied not looking Tomoro in the eye.
"Yes that would be crazy and despite your questionable intelligence I don't think you're that desperate for a challenge."
"…"
"Right, so anything else happen with you guys? It's been a few days since we last saw each other."
"Well Genos needed help with finding a missing cat."
"Master Saitama the executive stated that it was classified, is it okay to share that story with Mr. Sazaki?"
Saitama waved him off "eh it's alright"
Tomoro looked between the two of them "I'm guessing that this wasn't an actual missing cat right."
"No there was an actual cat"
Tomoro blinked "is that true Genos?"
Genos has become more or less his translator for Saitama since the man seems incapable of not being oblivious.
"They were indeed monsters that were feline in nature."
"Ah, go on."
~O~
The Hero Association's main headquarters was abuzz with activity. Just a few days ago a secret meeting orchestrated by Minister Officer of Justice Sitch took place. Including Sitch those in attendance included three A-Class heroes: Heavy Tank Fundoshi, Blue Fire and Magic Trick Man who acted as bodyguards. This was because the rest of the individuals in attendance were criminals, contract killers, mad scientists, weapons merchants and escaped convicts. They were invited under treaty with the intention of using them as contracted mercenaries working for the interest of the Hero Association.
It was a risky gambit designed by Sitch who saw a sharp rise in the number of disasters befalling the world as well as noticed that the heroes within the association were spread thin with insufficient numbers and poor coordination to properly handle the increased string of disasters.
The meeting took a turn for the worst however as a fight soon broke out just after it began. A lone man, a lone young man audaciously challenged the entire room filled with heroes and criminals alike. He easily made short work of the three A-Class heroes before setting his sights on the criminals. Despite there being well over a hundred criminals in the room it became a one-sided massacre with the young man cut a swath through the assembled criminals and in the end Sitch was the only one left unharmed.
Gossip would eventually see this incident spread throughout the Hero Association and so when the President called for a meeting of the executives many thought it would be because of the incident. Admittedly Sitch wasn't too worried despite being in the center of the disaster, Agoni is a reasonable man and the minister did have the approval of the other executives before commencing the plan anyway.
That's what he thought but looking at the rarely used Assembly Hall filled with not just executives but also managers, sponsors and other affiliates of the association Sitch had the distinct feeling that this meeting wasn't about him at all. At the very least he or his incident isn't going to be the main topic of today's meeting.
"This is quite a turnout wouldn't you say Sitch?"
"Sekingar" the executive nodded to the man "that is an understatement."
The younger manager glanced about the room his cybernetic eye taking everything in "if I didn't know any better I would say that every important figure and major affiliate of the Hero Association is gathered here right now."
'You wouldn't be the only one to think that' Sitch thought 'some of these men and women I've only ever seen in reports or on a hologram in meetings.'
It was more than disconcerting.
"Why do you think the president called this meeting out of the blue?"
"I don't-"
Before he could answer the question proper Sitch was interrupted by the sound of someone barging into the room.
"Alright I'm here, so what is so important that I had to drop everything and attend this meeting?"
Amai Mask's question told in an indignant tone washed across the room plunging it in near silence. Amai Mask's position within the Association was a precarious one. Officially Amai Mask is a registered hero and acts as both the public 'face' and spokesperson of the hero Association. While this doesn't grant him significant power within the association in an official capacity, unofficially the man might as well be an executive.
Using his appearance and putting his many talents to use the man is singlehandedly responsible for 95% of all donations gifted by the public. As a hero his power and unflinching, often extremist, views on justice has earned him the top spot within the A-Class in short order. His commitment to improving the association's public image is such that he deliberately turned down the S-Class rank in order to act as its gate keeper making the only way to S-Class through him.
Because of his commitment Amai Mask has an advisory role and is consulted with whenever decisions on class promotions are made. The man, for all intents and purposes, is the perfect hero of the public. But just that as the man himself is not perfect and the personality he shows to the public is not one that is maintained away from it. Behind closed doors Amai Mask is a difficult man to deal with and has several character flaws.
Arrogant, narcissistic, overbearing and stubborn are just some of the words Sitch would use to describe Amai Mask. He also doesn't take orders well and often does whatever he thinks is best. His extremist views on justice meant that anything he deems 'evil' is summarily destroyed no matter who or what. It is for this reason why he is often left out of any reported disasters even if he happens to be in the area. His busy schedule is just a convenient excuse the smart executives use because no one likes dealing with him.
'Still his attitude doesn't seem to faze some people' Sitch noted sardonically.
Of course the 'people' whom he is referring to are, of course, the entire female population of the room. From the moment he barged in the rank 1 A-Class hero had the undivided attention of every woman in the room. Even the female executive who is aware of his true personality can't help but swoon. Sitch could have rolled his eyes at them however his attention too was taken by Amai Mask though obviously not for the same reason.
"What's this meeting about anyway?" Amai demanded impatiently.
Sitch decided to step in "president Agoni didn't specify what this was about when he called it."
"Hmph and where is the president anyway? He is late to a meeting he called all of us for?"
Murmurs went around the room as Sitch's frown deepened, Amai made a valid point. It was well past the meeting time that was set and the president has yet to even show his face. Being reminded of the fact that they were waiting for a meeting called on short notice that should have been underway already raised dissent among the crowd, most noticeably with the elites. One such elite used this pointed out fact to voice his complaint.
"Amai Mask is right" spoke a man he knew as Narinki "I have very important business to attend to today but I dropped them out of courtesy to attend this meeting because Agoni made it sound urgent" the man began to walk away "time is money and I have him wasting mine. Besides what would having my presence accomplish here? The Hero Association has been operating well without my direct input all this time!"
The business mogul's words had an immediate effect and Sitch couldn't help but to agree with them. What use is there in inviting the sponsors to this? They were all busy people, running multimillion dollar corporations and all. Most importantly they did not need nor wanted the input of civilians who, aside from providing funding, have no idea of the intricacies of the association and thus have no practical place in such a meeting.
This is most likely the thought process going through everyone's mind and the reason why no one made an effort to stop him from leaving. Though just as likely they didn't want to deal with a pompous elitist. Amai Mask was looking like he was considering following Narinki's example. Sitch wouldn't really have a problem with either of their absence but it was one thing for a big time sponsor to abandon this meeting and another matter for Amai Mask to do so.
Narinki's funding accounts for 7% of the Hero Association's operation budget so he has the leeway to get away with this much. Amai Mask on the other hand doesn't but before the A-Class hero could come to an internal decision and even before Narinki reached the doors, they were opened before him. Out stepped the president himself, Agoni whose sharp gaze briefly pinned Narinki in place.
"I apologize for my tardiness there was a bit of business that needed to be taken care of" Agoni spoke gruffly as he walked in followed by an assistant carrying a stack of folders.
Amai Mask was less than enthused with his excuse "that is not good president Agoni. What kind of example are you setting, calling such an assembly and arriving late?"
"Go easy on him Amai, the only reason why we're late is because I wanted to ensure everyone was present for this."
Following those words the unthinkable happened, Amai Mask choked on his spit and his eyes bugged out in utter shock. Such an embarrassing display had gone unnoticed however as most of the occupants in the room weren't any better off. Stepping into the assembly hall was none other than Solaria Nova, wearing a blue pantsuit and heels.
"M-m-Miss N-Nova!?" Amai Mask exclaimed.
"Hello Amai Mask"
"Wh-wh-wha" his stammering only seemed to worsen as she drew close.
Solaria met Amai's gaze with clear amusement "use your words dear."
The Idol hero blushed but did collect himself before continuing "what are you doing here?"
"I'd rather answer that question and any other while on the podium."
"Oh" he answered then just stood there as she walked by.
The former idol approached the stage which has already been prepped with two tables on either side of the podium. Agoni sat to her right while the assistant stood to her left with the stacks of folders. Once she took to the stage she tapped the microphone and receiving a clear began to speak.
"Again I would like to extend an apology to all gathered here for our tardiness. Agoni wanted to begin on time however I noticed some amongst us were running late and so I had him put off the meeting until they arrived."
She eyed Amai Mask who bashfully shrunk into his seat at her gaze.
"Now for those of you who don't know I am Solaria Nova and I am the co-founder and co-president of the Hero Association."
She paused as the room exploded into murmurs but didn't let it last long.
"Yes, yes it is all very shocking however now you all know why it was prudent I be here. I am the one who called this meeting."
She took up a remote and pressed a button. The light went low and the white platform just before the podium lit up into a hologram.
"Since its inception I've kept my distance from the Hero Association, really I have too much on my plate with Star Enterprise to take on the burden of another big corporation. I trusted Agoni with overseeing operations and he in turn trusted you all to see that the Hero Association is maintained to the highest standards."
The hologram was shifting like a slideshow, showing a variety of still images now.
"The idea was simple, ensure public safety and security. Humanity is constantly besieged by threats beyond their ability to combat and needed a rallying point for those extraordinary individuals among us to be organized. We find these individuals and provide the necessary care and equipment for them to combat threats whilst ensuring minimal casualties."
The hologram shifted again going through destroyed buildings, places with police tape, ambulances carting off heroes and so on.
"Ladies and gentlemen we are failing" she stressed "the situation is getting worse, monster attacks have become more frequent and our forces are stretched thin. We are on a knife's edge where the slightest mistake could end up causing an unmitigated disaster. Now imagine my shock when upon closer observation of the operational reports of the different branches, I find this."
The holograms changed yet again though this time it wasn't just still images, there were also videos mixed in. Said videos were in high quality clearly identifying the ones in it, had their audio cut off and much like the images the topic was of the incriminating variety.
How incriminating?
"Rampant corruption throughout all levels of the Hero Association hierarchy" she continued "clerks laundering donation money to fill their pockets, officers taking bribes, managers participating in cover-ups, executives funding illegal operations, selling Hero Association resources and private information on the black market, illegally capturing monsters to serve as exotic pets and using the heroes under the association's employ as your personal servants."
Solaria's incredulity was reflected in Sitch's expression as well as quite a few for every accusation that came out of her mouth was followed by an image or video with such high quality that it was impossible not to see the people in it. The last one was a video which featured one of the executives and the recently named S-Class hero Demon Cyborg. The video however did not have the audio cut off and video was played in snippet.
"You called me out here, I assume it is a personal request" spoke the S-Class hero.
"The creature I secretly held as a pet ran away. Please get rid of it."
Demon Cyborg's shock was reflected by Sitch and quite a few in attendance.
"Did you take a monster previously defeated by a hero-"
"I will regret it after this is over"
The video cut off to images of a very dead monster, it was massive and there were several of them. What caught Sitch's attention was the disaster level, it was Demon. The images changed again this time to destruction as well as several heroes being carted off in a special ambulance provided by the Hero Association.
"As you can see this is often the result of when fools let their greed overcome their common sense. We have quite a bit of them in attendance and if they believe we will allow them to run rampant in this organization then they are sadly mistaken."
As she said this the assembly doors opened and several government types unaffiliated with the Hero Association came in.
"I have already taken the liberty of handing over the evidence of your crimes to the proper authorities. These gentlemen will be taking custody of the accused. Please cooperate so that we may eventually continue this meeting and to those who are taken: on behalf of the Hero Association we no longer have need of your services."
Of course kind words would do nothing to calm down the men and woman who are facing imprisonment.
"You can't do this!"
"Unhand me!"
"Do you have any idea who I am?"
"I'll have your head for this Nova!"
"For those who insist on not cooperating I will remind you that you are also in the presence of the number one A-Class hero who can and will assist these officers in any way he deems fit."
A few eyes turned to Amai Mask who sat with one leg crossed over his knee and held a decidedly neutral expression. He was the picture of perfection, like an art piece come to life. Though if one were to look closely they would see veins of concealed effort creeping up his neck, his folded hands gripped his biceps tightly and his aura was that of a caged beat ready to lash out at a moment's notice."
The regular employees didn't want to deal with the top A-Class hero but the executives' fears were even more profound. Amai Mask was holding himself back to the point where he didn't even so much as comment on the proceedings. His sharp golden eyes were reminiscent of a predator and they pinned the unruly the moment they started to act up rendering them frozen in fear.
Once they were kept in check Amai Mask directed his attention to Solaria and gracefully inclined his head. He received a beatific smile in return and the tension wrapped around his muscles released, visibly calming him.
"I don't believe it" he heard Sekingar speak beside him "this…this is going to change everything."
"Yes" Sitch nodded his gaze sweeping across the room where employees, sponsors and executives were being read their rights and arrested.
Then his eyes found the woman responsible for it all and she smiled at him.
Sitch took a breath, unlike most men he was not as susceptible to her charms but he will give her this
"Change is not a bad thing right now."
~O~
MASS LAYOFF AT THE HERO ASSOCIATION!
Tomoro almost didn't believe it the first time he saw it but it is right there on the screen. The Hero Association was going through some kind of overhaul and it included firing a lot of their employees. Tomoro would bet his life's savings that Solaria Nova had something to do with it. Briefly he thought of just calling her and asking but thought better of it and instead waited until he arrived home to do some snooping around the various Hero Association forums.
Even if she managed to keep her name and the details away from the press there is no way something as huge as this would be kept completely under wraps. Someone knows something and they more often than not post the secrets on certain forums, it's just a matter of differentiating the facts from the fictions.
'What is she hoping to accomplish with this?' was the question he wanted answered.
It didn't take him long to find said answer and it came with the words former Hero Association employee combined with arrested, incarcerated, found guilty of, suspected of and so on.
"So that's what she's doing."
He knew that the woman would act on the information he gave her. She has both the resources and inclination to do that but Tomoro would never imagine that she would act so soon and would be so…overt. It was definitely more than what he would have done on such short notice.
"I underestimated her."
That would be an understatement since Solaria was apparently cleaning house in the Hero Association. There were more than a few hints in the original story that the Hero Association was corrupt along with being incompetent and that was something the Web Novel got into after the Monster Association Arc but Tomoro never got to finish it before he reincarnated.
'Not that it matters now, she just went and completely upended an entire arc before it even began.'
Tomoro wasn't too shaken up about that, he was concerned with the fact that this was basically Solaria's opening move. If her opening move is weeding out the corruption in the Hero Association then what is she going to get up to in the future? When he thought about it Tomoro didn't have as much time as he thought he did. The prophecy is set to take place in a couple of months which meant he would be fighting against him before the year ended.
"What am I doing?"
The world might end in a few months, hell the world is going to be turned on its head in a few weeks and here he is sitting around, working an accounting job.
'Should I be more proactive?'
And there's the rub.
If someone else were in his shoes then they might have used their meta-knowledge to abuse the hell out of the situation. Thing is Tomoro was like that once upon a time, he exploited the hell out of One-Punch Man lore to get to where he is and…let's just say things didn't work out well for him. So now here he is banking his and everyone else's survival on a single man.
Overseeing Saitama's growth from some guy in a tracksuit to arguably the most powerful being in the universe was admittedly reassuring to him. Tomoro deliberately went passive, settled into a lifestyle and now he found himself reluctant to go active again. He enjoyed the peace and quiet that comes with domestic life and he would not part with it so easily.
At the same time he knew 'this isn't going to last.'
There are so many things coming up in only a few days like Garou, the Monster Association attacks, the Super Fight, the…
"Suiryu" Tomoro cursed "I completely forgot about him!"
A check back to the information he had confirmed that Saitama was supposed to unwittingly convince Suiryu to become a hero during the Super Fight tournament. He was also supposed to save him from Bakuzan and kill Gouketsu.
"Damn, this just got more complicated" he paused "maybe I can still convince Saitama to attend the tournament"
But the only reason why he attended in the original story was because Garou got him interested in martial arts. Bang's student who foolishly challenged Garou and got beaten was there to conveniently give him a ticket to participate as well.
Speaking of tickets…
"Would I even be able to get one?"
…the answer is no.
The Super Fight Tournament is very popular and is the main attraction in C City. Tickets are sold out within days of being available and the tournament is scheduled not too long from now.
"This is fine" he spoke to himself hastily "the tournament itself isn't so important, as long as Gouketsu and Bakuzan die then it should be fine."
But then Suiryu won't become a hero or at least have heroic inclinations. He'll just be a playboy slacker who happens to be a martial arts prodigy.
"…we might need him" Tomoro realized.
From his notes on the subject of Suiryu, Tomoro thinks that in terms of skill he might be even better than Garou pre-monsterization. He was able to become an S-Class level master martial artist on pure talent alone while mostly just slacking off, flirting with girls and doing Super Fight Tournaments for the money. Garou got where he is now through diligent training and fighting anyone and everyone with a bit of skill to hone his techniques. Tomoro could go out on a limb and say that his travels didn't even amount to much since he didn't even use his martial arts until he fought Tank Top Master. Garou only really started to advance when he went up against stronger opponents that forced him to adapt until monsterization kicked in.
Suiryu has the potential to become a serious asset in the future. Hell with the right training and motivation the guy could even be on par with Garou.
"I'm getting ahead of myself" Tomoro mumbled to himself.
Whatever talent Suiryu has won't matter in the short future. Garou's progression is insane and thinking Suiryu could keep up by himself is just unrealistic.
'At least not by himself but if he had a teacher…'
Bang would be able to whip him into shape but then Suiryu would have to be inclined to seek him out which was improbable.
So where does that leave him?
Tomoro took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, all this planning was becoming tedious. Tomoro was never any good at these kinds of clever manipulations. He's the type of person who prefers to commit to a single task not matter the difficulty. It's the reason why he's here with Saitama as opposed to doing a million other things simultaneously. This kind of 4d chess moves wasn't for him
"I'd rather just go to the damn tournament and take Saitama's place" he griped in frustration before catching himself.
'Is that even an option?'
Tomoro hesitated "would it work?" he wondered before scoffing to himself "of course it would, if Saitama can bumble his way through it then I can have the same effect."
He knew the reason why he was hesitating though, this would be his first time directly involved with the 'plot' and influencing events on such a large scale.
"Time to nut up or shut."
He just needed to make a call.
~O~
Solaria released a sigh of content as she dipped into the bath. Today was mentally draining, for all the confidence and boldness she displayed Solaria was very conscious of the repercussions of her actions. She revealed the criminal activities of some very important and politically dangerous people, humiliating them before their peers and painted a target on her back. That was the idea of course and Solaria knew the dirty secrets of everyone who attended the meeting now. They may be able to cover their tracks physically and electronically but none of the people in that room can protect their thoughts.
'It has been a while since I used telepathy so extensively' hence the mental drain.
It's not exactly easy to do a subtle deep mental scan of dozens of people. She had to do this whilst maintaining a persona and under their combined scrutiny. Luckily she was an award winning actress who hasn't lost her touch. On a serious note she already made contingencies and is continuing to make adjustments for any form of retaliation or escape from persecution by the wealthier ones.
The different agencies investigating will find a continuous stream of incriminating evidence generously gifted to them at different intervals. The assets of the accused will be seized and their accounts frozen pending the investigation. The corrupt politicians, judges and various bureaucrats willing to take bribes or allied with them will be pressed not to lend their aid. The former executives and wealthy sponsors will soon find their money and connections useless and be at the mercy of the justice system they can no longer abuse.
"Such is the faith of those who cross Solaria Nova" she smirked sardonically to herself.
While this was indeed a victory for her and the association there was still much more work to be done. The Hero Association has more problems than rampant corruption. There needs to be some serious changes in policy with regards to how they handle disasters and taking care of their heroes. Then there are the future events like Silver Fang's rogue former student, dealing with the Monster Association and the prophecy that is most likely referring to him.
At the reminder Solaria raised a wet hand to her temple, all of this is supposed to happen within the year.
"If I only knew about this sooner"
She blamed Tomoro for that and while she does understand his point of view in sticking to One-Punch Man with his strength and knowledge Tomoro could have done much more to prepare the world for the coming calamity. He didn't however and the reason behind his not taking these necessary steps was so he can maintain his fragile knowledge of future events.
"Damn that man and his passiveness" Solaria scowled.
Just then her phone rang and with a gesture it appeared floating before her.
"Speak of the devil."
She accepted the call and put him on speaker, keeping the phone afloat and began to wipe down her skin with a bath sponge.
"Mr. Sazaki, I was just thinking of you."
"Miss Nova, is this a bad time?"
"No, I am currently taking a nice relaxing bath."
"…I can call back."
That is adorable.
"Nonsense, this is actually a good time, I am expected to be very busy this week. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? I take it you have seen the news?"
"I have, you sure didn't take your time or pull your punches."
"Time is not something we have the luxury of unfortunately. I saw an opportunity to weed out the malcontents in one fell swoop and so I did. I recall you were the one to suggest I clean house remember."
"Fair enough but that's not the reason why I called"
"Oh?"
"Do you have any plans for the Super Fight Tournament?"
Solaria frowned "not presently."
"Can you get me a ticket to the tournament?"
"You're going to attend?"
There was a beat of silence "I want to participate."
Solaria blinked in mild shock and some confusion though it did not bleed into her amicable tone "really, you?"
"One of the Monster Association's strongest is going to try recruiting the fighters. I can guarantee only the strongest among the S-Class can fight him."
"I am aware and I am grateful for the assistance but that still doesn't explain why you need to participate."
"It's for personal reasons. Can you get me a spot or not?"
'Now I'm even more curious.'
"Hm, it's hard to say. Don't they reserve the positions for fighters beforehand?"
"Not a problem, bang's current student is going to challenge Garou and end up hospitalized so I can take his spot."
"If that's the case then I very well may be able to do just that though it will take some time."
"I understand, thank you."
He hung up leaving Solaria in silence once more and the thought occurred to her 'he's hiding something.'
They both have their secrets but what would compel him to enter a martial arts tournament?
"If you're a magical girl parody then I'd be a Dragon Ball parody…"
She vaguely remembers the popular anime series from her past life. What she does know is that there exists a show that is very similar to it. That particular show places a heavy emphasis on fighting, martial arts, tournaments and bombastic battles, the typical shonen affair. If he's identifying himself as a 'parody' of such a thing then he is implying he is a martial artist.
'And if that is true I can't imagine a man of his strength would be an unknown.'
With a thought she accessed the phone still floating before her. It rang for a moment before the sound of young woman picked up.
"How may I help you Miss Nova?"
"Do you remember those 'anomalies' you observed on Tomoro Sazaki's profile?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Follow through with your investigation into them and send the information to my private server."
"It will be done Miss Nova."
Solaria hung up, dismissed her phone and closed her eyes to enjoy the rest of her relaxing bubble bath.
~O~
Several days went by with the Hero Association continuing to dominate the headlines as more is revealed on the circumstances surrounding the decision to fire a rather large percentage of their staff. There was further controversy as it was observed that most of these individuals were indicted in some form. More news outlets picked up on this which raised a lot of questions and clamors for answers and the Hero Association had no choice but to react.
They reacted by hosting a press conference and it was here that Solaria Nova revealed her ties to the Hero Association. Not only was she the previously unidentified co-founder and one of the secret benefactors but she will also be taking an active role in the Hero Association. She named herself the new director of operations and went on to address some of the pertinent questions held by public in a Q&A session.
In this session she confirmed the rumors surrounding the mass firing of Hero Association staff that it was basically her cleaning house. Every single individual that was fired had participated in, benefitted from or otherwise kept quiet on their knowledge of illegal activities done within the association using its resources. Naturally she could not disclose any specifics on the matter due to the pending investigation but at that point it was a non-issue.
The damage was already done, the public was in an uproar with many critics, analysts and theorists taking to news stations, interviews and forums to air their grievances. To Tomoro the whole thing blew up into a fiasco but funnily enough people seem to be just as if not more focused on Solaria taking an active role in the Hero Association than the scandal surrounding the illegal activities of its dozens of former employees.
Tomoro wasn't even sure if this was part of the plan or people were just that interested in the actions of the woman herself. According to at least half a dozen forums Solaria's cult was making moves with members looking to fill in the vacant spots now in the Hero Association. Aside from that new information on the low profile cases were being leaked. It seemed a lot of information was being 'leaked' to the press to keep this momentum going.
It was frankly out of control and Solaria struck him as someone who wouldn't let things get out of hand like this which leads Tomoro to believe that this whole fiasco was very deliberate and really the end goal was pretty obvious to him. With the media and the public distracted with the scandal and snooping around Solaria's business people seem to conveniently overlook that during all this more than a dozen or so Heroes were put in the hospital by the 'Human Monster' Garou.
Tomoro understood the reasoning behind wanting to create a smokescreen to cover up Garou's actions. This was a pivotal moment for the Hero Association with such a huge change and they couldn't have Garou undermining their genuine attempt at changing things for the better by highlighting the fact that they are failing to apprehend a lone young man who is sending scores of Heroes into the ICU. Despite the knowledge that came from this realization it all still felt excessive to him.
'Best not to think about it' is what he thought but it's been several days, the Super Fight Tournament is literally tomorrow and he hasn't heard from Solaria since he asked her for the ticket.
If she doesn't come through then he'll be forced to steal Charanko's ticket, wear a wig and impersonate him in the tournament. The very idea of pulling off something so 'Saitama' made him physically ill but it was an unfortunate option if he wanted his plan to succeed. His thoughts hovered on the idea until the very day before the tournament on a Friday just before he got off work.
*Bzzt*
Taking out his phone he found to his relief a text from Solaria.
Mahou Shoujo: Been busy all week.
Tomoro sighed in relief "cutting it close but I'll take it."
Tomoro: I understand, did you get it?
Mahou Shoujo: I have it but you'll have to pick it up.
Tomoro: Where?
The place she texted was somewhere in the heart of Z City's Entertainment District and he even posted a time.
Tomoro: I'll be there
Mahou Shoujo: It's a date
"Wait what?"
Mahou Shoujo: And wear something nice
"…she's not serious is she?"
~O~
Later That Night…
Turns out she is serious.
"I'm so glad you could make it~" greeted Solaria whose now bright blonde shoulder length hair came down in curls at the tips. She also wore lip gloss and diamond earrings.
Tomoro felt his eye twitch lightly at the woman standing before him. It was such a bizarre dichotomy that he felt he needed to ask the most obvious and pertinent of questions.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you think?"
Well currently the two of them were standing in the middle of Z City's Entertainment District' amongst a crowd of passersby. She was wearing a short blue long sleeved party dress whose length only barely passed her inner thigh, has a large enough cleavage window that it's a mystery as to whether she's wearing a bra and is so tight that it might has well be a second skin.
So in answer to her question of what he thought she was doing there is only one answer that came to mind.
"Disturbing the peace."
The woman laughed melodically at his words "you're exaggerating."
He gestured around to which she noted that literally every man in the vicinity was giving her furtive looks. One guy walked into a lamp post, another tripped over his feet and another got slapped by his date who then stormed off.
Tomoro looked back at Solaria with a raised eyebrow.
"Well at least they know how to compliment a lady, unlike you" she added with folded arm glare and hip cocked to the side.
Tomoro internally sighed "you look…nice"
It was a generic compliment that was ultimately meaningless and they both knew this.
Solaria shook her head "you are really bad at this."
"Noted, now can you-"
"Here, let me show how it's done" she interrupted "my, you are looking very handsome tonight Tomoro~"
The man blinked "what are you-"
"I especially like that you lost the glasses."
It was true, for this meeting Tomoro did not bring his glasses. He counted it as a work disguise and so he hardly ever wears it outside of going to work or his neighborhood. The latter is because he didn't want to raise a fuss given that he still looked like a gangster without them. He also let his hair down and wore an open purple jacket over a white t-shirt, black jeans and purple sneakers. All this made for an appearance that was far removed from his usual professional business look.
"Thank you?" he replied back awkwardly.
"You are welcome" she then linked her arms around one of his and half dragged him along "now come, we have much to do tonight."
"Where are we going?"
"Why, to commence our d.a.t.e of course."
"What?"
"Date Tomoro"
"Miss Nova-"
"Please, call me Star tonight."
This was getting ridiculous.
"Alright 'Star' tell me what this is all about or I'm cutting this 'date' short."
Solaria sighed "look I won't lie to you Tomoro, this past week has been…trying and it will only get worse with tomorrow kicking off the Monster Association fiasco. Is it wrong for me to want to blow off some steam before that?"
Okay that was understandable but "why are you dragging me into it?"
"Because you seem like someone who could use some fun in his life."
"I have fun" he grumbled.
"Oh really, and what do you do for fun?"
"I don't have to answer that."
She gave him a pitying look "that's sad."
"And I know this was not caused by your concern over my well being."
He stopped in the middle of their walk. He did not move an inch even with the mild pressure of Solaria's telekinesis attempting to push him along.
The woman frowned "must you be so stubborn?"
"Solaria I don't care what you do on your own time and you shouldn't care what I get up to. We're both trying to save the world so our interests align but we're not friends" he told her straight.
Solaria stared at him for a moment "you are…without a doubt…the absolute worst Mr. Sazaki."
'Here we go'
"I mean here I am a young, wealthy and beautiful woman offering a token of friendship with the opportunity of more and you reject me?"
The accusation would have been more devastating if not for the genuine smile of amusement on her face.
"I must say this is a first for me."
"Obviously you just haven't met the right people."
"Oh well, if you won't humor me then I suppose I might as well drop some of the pretenses."
This caught Tomoro's attention as he eyed her "so you do want something."
"Of course I do" she confirmed "I was willing to let us have some fun before getting down to business but since you are apparently incapable of doing so I might as well skip it."
"What do you want?"
"I want information Tomoro."
"I have literally given you everything I know."
"Yes, but so far I know nothing about you."
"Didn't you do a background check on me?"
"I certainly did and I find that there isn't much about you. You simply appeared five years ago to take online classes for a degree and that was it. No family, no friends, no digital footprints and admittedly high quality forged documents. It made me curious."
"You should let it go" he spoke lowly.
"I would however I did not build my empire on blind trust. Given how invaluable your information has been I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt however I was able to find something after a thorough investigation."
"Solaria-"
"Shiva."
"…"
"What does-"
"Shut. Up."
He spoke with no inflection or intent however the Esper felt a chill run down her spine.
"For someone harping about friendship, you have a stupid way of going about it. I've been nothing but straight with you since the moment we met. I told you everything you needed to know and a damn good more than what you didn't just to be thorough. The only thing I ask for is a ticket to a tournament so I can help instead staying inactive like I've been doing for years. And what do I get for that? You attempting to drag me along on some asinine misadventure for your own amusement, blackmail and snooping around into my past that is best left buried. If this is what I have to look forward to in working with you Solaria then I'd rather just go back to how it was before I met you."
"You are right, I was out of line."
Tomoro looked at her but she didn't meet his eyes "can I have the ticket now?"
"Of course" she pulled the ticket out of somewhere but didn't immediately hand it over "I still want to know why you intend to participate in the tournament."
He glared at her.
Solaria rolled her eyes "I am the director of operations Tomoro. If you're going to be in C City I need to make adjustments to the plans put in place for dealing with the invasion tomorrow."
She got him there.
"I want to sway Suiryu to our cause" he finally admitted.
Solaria frowned "the Super Fight champion?"
"He's a genius that might be on par with Garou but right now he's just a lazy playboy coasting off his prodigious talents."
"Is he worth it?"
"Look at it this way, he's easily S-Class just by being a lazy playboy, imagine if he actually trained properly?"
Solaria thought on that a moment 'having another S-Class hero join our ranks would be good.'
"I take it you will be the one to train him."
"If things go to plan yes."
"Okay" she handed him the ticket "I trust you."
He took the ticket and pocketed it with a nod.
"If it's any consolation I did not find much information on 'Shiva' other than unsubstantiated rumors."
"…good."
He began to walk away however he was stopped by Solaria who held onto his arm "there is still one matter to deal with. Actually it is the main reason why I even invited you here at this time."
Tomoro suppressed a groan "what is it?"
In response Solaria nodded her head to the side.
Tomoro glanced to his right just in time to see the odd sight of a young fierce looking man with golden eyes, silver done up in two prongs wearing a ripped black shirt, white martial arts pants and slippers. The youth had two tears in his shirt and a cut on his cheek that looked recent.
'Garou?'
And as he saw the unmistakable form of the one of the main antagonist he suddenly remembered what this is.
'Wasn't he supposed to encounter Saitama?'
Except since Saitama isn't as close to Bang as he was in the original story he didn't meet Charanko and so he wouldn't visit him in the hospital and get the ticket which wouldn't give him a reason to visit the district to get a wig to impersonate the guy.
His thoughts were then interrupted by Solaria "if your information holds true tonight is to be the night where he encounters One-Punch Man and is summarily knocked out until tomorrow."
"Yeah."
"This presents a problem" Solaria lamented "I would prefer if that boy doesn't continue hospitalizing more heroes throughout the night and since One-Punch Man is not here…"
She trailed off meaningfully to which Tomoro blinked and dumbly pointed at himself "you want me to be Saitama's stand-in?"
"Think of it as practice for tomorrow."
'Whatever' he thought at her words 'a quick tap on the shoulder should-'
"Let's make this more exciting~"
"What?"
If he did not like the sound of those words then he definitely hated what came next.
"Ahem-KYAAAH, isn't that the 'Human Monster' Garou!?"
That gained the attention a few people, most importantly it gained the attention of the man himself.
"Quick, do something. Aren't you supposed to be some big shot hero?"
…is this woman for real?
He almost asked the question but his attention was taken by another voice.
"Big shot hero, eh?"
'God dammit'
The moment his eyes landed on the silver haired youth he ducked down to avoid a fist to the face. The movement was so sudden it was as if he teleported to the human eye. Garou was already reacting to the sudden movement however not even his perception was fast enough to keep up. Tomoro appeared behind the now wide eyed young man and slammed both his fists into the sides of his temple. Garou could only let out a gurgle of shocked pain before his eyes rolled up and he collapsed in the street.
And just like that Garou the 'Human Monster' was defeated.
"That was anticlimactic" Solaria lamented in the brief silence that followed.
'Why is everything silent?'
It wasn't that the crowd was silent but that they weren't even paying attention to them.
Noticing his observation Solaria spoke "I made it so that the people around us ignore our presence, can't have them making a fuss about this.
"And yet you had no issue making a fuss yourself. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I was bored" she half shrugged.
Tomoro stared at her and it began to dawn on him who he was dealing with. People are funny when they set goals for themselves it usually falls within the realm of possibility but sometimes they set impossible goals either as part of their own delusion or deliberate motivation.
But what happens when you achieve the impossible?
Saitama became the strongest man in the world and the crushing loneliness of being at the top would have slowly killed him from the inside. Usually when one achieves a goal they move on to the next because life is like a journey and the end is death. In Saitama's case the man couldn't set another goal for himself because fighting is the only thing that made him feel alive. Before he ever saved that kid from the crab monster he was listless and borderline suicidal.
He can't do anything else because even before he became One-Punch Man there was literally nothing for him to live for.
Unlike Saitama, whose rigid disinterest in almost everything outside of getting that high on a good fight, Solaria faces a completely different issue, that of excess time. When one is functionally immortal they literally have all the time in the world and she hasn't been idle in putting that time to good use. She was a hero who became arguably the most powerful esper in the world and one of the strongest beings on the planet. She built her empire through a series of books she herself wrote as her own memoirs and turned a small company into a trillion dollar mega-conglomerate.
Her many talents are validated by her numerous awards and public recognition. Even her vanity is validated by public opinion and the literal largest cult of simps in the world calling themselves her fans and numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Really Solaria has achieved the impossible several times over and in the span of several lifetimes. There is no doubt that Solaria is at the peak of her success or maybe she has been for a while and the high of achievement has passed.
So what's next for her?
Tomoro knew the answer to that, it's basically Saitama's life story and even if they are vastly different people the trend would remain the same. Unless she moves on to the next goal then the only thing Solaria can look forward to is…boredom, mind numbing boredom.
At least that would have been the case until he showed up and suddenly things were looking exciting again.
"I mean here I am a young, wealthy and beautiful woman offering a token of friendship with the opportunity of more and you reject me?"
The smile she kept was a red herring and he should have been paying attention to her eyes. For all her renowned acting skills and mental prowess the eyes are called 'windows to the soul' for a reason. And what Tomoro saw in those eyes was a subtle kind of desperation. She was genuinely trying to be his friend in her own odd way and he basically threw it in her face.
He shook his head "damn."
"You have been staring for a while now" Solaria piped up with a curious smile.
…it occurred to Tomoro that Solaria Nova wouldn't act like she does now with anyone. If she did then this side of personality would be more widely known.
'Is this what she's like in private?'
Must be, he didn't see the reason why she would act like this otherwise, it hardly portrayed the public image she built up so far. The woman before him was vastly different from the one he met under the pretense of business.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about you, hence my migraine" he grunted dragging the unconscious Garou by the collar and tossing him on a pile of trash.
"You're just going to leave him there?"
"He's a big boy" Tomoro waved off "let's go."
"Go where?"
Tomoro looked to her "I don't know, you're the one who planned this 'date' I was just supposed to show up."
Blue eyes widened and twinkled in mirth "well, well could it be that the indomitable Tomoro Sazaki has become one more amongst the legions of men to fall for my charms?" She punctuated this with a flip of her hair.
His reply was a dry "don't flatter yourself, I don't go for the high maintenance types."
Solaria linked their arms as they walked.
"Oh please honey, I'm rich I 'maintain' myself. Your job is just to stand there and look pretty."
"I'm already starting to regret this" he half groaned.
"See, it's not so hard. The brooding deadpan really brings out your best features."
"Please stop."
In the end Tomoro actually did enjoy himself and the two parted on better terms having become friends. He made a half hearted promise to hang out after they deal with the coming events.
~To Be Continued~
- Location
- Some corner of the Milky Way
The most important job of all!
Wrangling bored superheroes!
Wrangling bored superheroes!
- Location
- Argentina
Thankfully he himself is quite powerful.
- Location
- United States
Shiva... a super secret organization?