streggaeworks
patreon
Z City Neighbours Chapter 11
🕑 Added 2022-06-02 20:52:44 +0000 UTCBecause of Glasses’ quick thinking along with the liberal use of tasers he and Needle Star along with their teams were able to safely incapacitate their brainwashed comrades while Fubuki kept the monster preoccupied. It seems without her reinforcing their brainwashing by giving them frequent commands it starts to lose its effect and her victims become more like shambling zombies. Because of this most of the brainwashed members of the Blizzard Group got off with relatively minor injuries that should only take a day or two to recover from.
Unfortunately the same could not be said for Glasses himself who along with Needle Star not only received attacks from the Demon level monster but was also subjected to the not so tender mercy of the 2nd ranked S-Class hero. Because of that both Blizzard Group executives will remain hospitalized for several days. As for Fubuki the wounds she suffered at the hands of the monster were inconsequential and would not impede her combat effectiveness. The consensus shared by everyone however was that they all needed to rest and recover.
Normally Fubuki would agree but there were just too many things going on for her to call it a day just yet. After her fight she found out that the monsters had somehow launched a coordinated global attack on all the major cities and that there are rumors spreading of all these monsters being part of an organized group. Fubuki could somewhat corroborate this story since she overheard that monster mention that they wanted to take Fubuki as a hostage to be used against her sister.
Who are ‘they’?
The City T branch of the Hero Association had no idea what was going on and her contacts at the Hero Association HQ weren’t answering her calls. It seemed everything was on lockdown but there was no doubt her sister would have a better grasp of the situation but after their last encounter Fubuki wasn’t about ask her for help. So instead she turned to the other dominant female presence in her life.
For this Fubuki retrieved her ‘personal phone.’ The one that was created with special high end hardware complete with a DNA scanner, programmed with special custom made software and ran on a secure private network that only two other people in the whole world were part of. Such was the precaution taken to ensure that no third party gains access and learn of the Psychic Sisters’ greatest secret.
Public records will show that the two sisters were orphaned when their birth parents died in a monster attack. Shortly after being adopted their foster parents were arrested for child endangerment and human trafficking among other offences. On record the two sisters went into a private orphanage where they stayed until the older of the two made her public debut as a hero.
In reality Tatsumaki and Fubuki were adopted for the second and last time by none other than Solaria Nova. Due to her high profile status extreme measures were taken to keep the adoption a secret. One can only imagine the kind of attention it would garner to find out that the Solaria Nova was not only a single mother of two but that her adopted daughters were the famous Psychic Sisters.
Neither of the three wanted to have that kind of publicity and Fubuki herself did not want to have her mother’s name associated with her while she was in the middle of establishing her own corporate empire. It goes doubly now that it was revealed Solaria was a founding member of the Hero Association and its new director of operations.
Fubuki didn’t want to rely on her mother’s support but desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus it wasn’t as if she was asking for a favor she just wanted to know what was going on. Not that her reasons mattered since she wasn’t able to make the call anyway due to there already being an unread text message waiting on her phone.
The text read: check your spam folder xoxo ;) – Mom.
Rolling her eyes at the text Fubuki did as she was told and checked her personal e-mail spam folder. For security reasons in the rare chances when Solaria needed to send an e-mail she does so in a way that the message gets flagged as spam so even though Fubuki checks her e-mail every day she would never see the message because who the hell does regular checks of their spam folder?
It wasn’t hard to find the one she was looking for behind all the messages of fake contest winnings, bogus court cases, foreign royalty scams, false insurance claims and the like mainly because it says “FOR MY BUKI” in all caps with emojis.
…she does that on purpose too.
With a sigh she opened it up and began to read the message.
Dear Buki,
By now you should have already encountered and hopefully repel a monster invasion.
Just by reading that first sentence Fubuki straightened up, especially since the date for when the e-mail received was yesterday.
What I am about to tell you should not be shared with the Hero Association nor the members of your group. I’ve already informed Tatsu of my plans and I would have given you a proper heads up but somebody refuses to establish a connection with us.
Fubuki couldn’t help but scoff at that. She spent a significant amount of her time and energy getting away from the two overbearing women that make up her family so why would she go and give them access to her mind?
Recently I have made a new acquaintance and he has brought to my attention two significant nuggets of information most dire. First and most immediate is evidence that gives proof of a very powerful monster who has amassed an army with plans to challenge the Hero Association and ultimately wipe out humanity itself.
Well if it didn’t before this certainly had Fubuki’s full undivided attention now. The idea of monsters cooperating was not a novel one but for one to amass an army large enough to challenge the Hero Association? If she was told this yesterday she would have wrote it off, not so much now.
My acquaintance has also confirmed that within this Monster Association are several Dragon level monsters acting in roles of leadership with most of them recruited specifically as counters for the S-Class Heroes.
Fubuki gritted her teeth, the more she read the more she felt like she was going down a rabbit hole.
‘I wanted to know what was going on but this is just…’ she trailed off
She didn’t want to admit it but Fubuki didn’t see how giving her this kind of sensitive information would help. Was it just to keep her in the loop? If so then she appreciated it but this seemed like the kind of thing to be discussed in a meeting room with the executives or the S-Class heroes themselves.
Don’t worry for I have come up with a plan to destroy the Monster Association.
‘Good’
If you are reading this then my plan to be captured by the Monster Association as a hostage worked as intended.
“…”
And at that point Fubuki had to massage her forehead to stem the oncoming headache. She shouldn’t be worried about Solaria’s safety, really if anything she should pity the monsters but at the same time how could she not worry for her? What daughter wouldn’t worry about their mother deliberately putting themselves in danger?
The executives should be planning an assault on the Monster Association’s base and I am sure Tatsumaki will not allow you to participate. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about that.
Fubuki gritted her teeth in annoyance as this wasn’t first time her sister will hinder her progress. Part of the reason why Fubuki’s ascendance up the rankings had been such an uphill battle was due to Tatsumaki’s interference. Her sister seemed incapable of believing that Fubuki wasn’t that scared little girl that needed her protection anymore. Much like with the monster earlier should Fubuki sustain a certain amount of damage against an enemy then Tatsumaki will appear and blow the perpetrator away no questions asked and no cares given.
It is why the credit for a lot of her victories against monsters with high threat levels was shared with Tatsumaki. It was so ridiculously bad that Fubuki could not even spar with her executives seriously.
And Tatsumaki once had the gall to call her weak and that the Blizzard Group was holding her back. Such hypocrisy, that the woman telling her to become stronger actively prevents her from becoming strong. How is Fubuki to grow, develop and become strong when Tatsumaki continues to coddle her?
Tatsumaki was wrong on both counts. Fubuki was strong and she proved it with her ascendance up the ranks of A-Class. Her group has also grown along with her as they are far from the barely skilled men who could only achieve victory against low threat level monsters through overwhelming them with numbers. Now they have become the main defenders of City T, keeping the streets clean and the people safe with only the occasional outside assistance. Tatsumaki was too stubborn to ever take back her word but the fact that she no longer calls Fubuki or her group weak was a victory in its own right.
Unfortunately even if Fubuki proved herself Tatsumaki would never allow her to participate in a raid against the monsters’ base. And if there are really multiple Dragon level monsters within then Fubuki couldn’t exactly blame her either. Fubuki understood her sister was only concerned for her safety but Fubuki refused to be sidelined. If nothing else she wanted to find that S&M monster and finish her off for what she did to her men.
Shaking her head Fubuki continued to read.
Now since I am sure you won’t let your sister keep you away from this.
‘Damn straight.’
I propose a compromise. My acquaintance is also planning to infiltrate the Monster Association at the same time as the Hero Association. Meet with him and if you can convince him to allow you to tagalong then I will keep Tatsumaki off your back when all is said and done.
Part of Fubuki bristled at the idea of needing to convince some stranger of her worth but in the end pragmatism (and a bit of desperation) won against pride. If Solaria was vouching for this man then clearly he must be very capable. Solaria may have been more subtle about it but in truth she was even more protective and overbearing than Tatsumaki was with her.
Plus if what Solaria wrote held true then there were multiple Dragon level threats she may encounter. And if she manages to prove herself useful in aiding the Hero Association then this may just be what she needed to get into the S-Class!
As for the others ‘Eyelashes, Mountain Ape and Lily can still take part in the Hero Association’s raid.’
At the very least she will use her connections to ensure they get chosen for this. She wasn’t sure about Needle Star and Glasses since they would need more time to recover and the raid hasn’t even been announced yet.
A name and address was given along with the final words from her mother.
P.S. the pass phrase is my mother sent me and if he asks ‘who’ then give him my name.
Fubuki raised an eyebrow “really?”
Having a pass phrase she can understand but sometimes Fubuki wonders how a woman who passes herself off as a professional business woman to the public can be so juvenile in private. In any case Fubuki looked up the address she was given and found that it was a previously listed apartment complex in City Z specifically it was in the infamous Ghost Town of City Z. She recognized it as the place that was an alleged hotspot for monster activity some months ago.
Night had fallen some time ago which came as a mild shock to her but sealed her decision to save her visit to City Z for the next day.
~O~
The Next Day…
Someone leaked details pertaining to the wide scale monster attacks the previous day. News outlets, internet sites and television stations have pounced on this bit of juicy information like a pack of starved animals and are now reporting on the details for the whole world to see. The entire world was now aware of the Monster Association, the crimes they’ve committed during their attack and the apparent failures of the hero association.
Some of the highlights of their crimes include:
Causing the destruction of City S,
Massive collateral damage and civilian deaths in most cities,
Defeating scores of heroes some of which can be corroborated with eyewitness testimony and footage,
Breaking all the vicious criminals out of the Smelly Lid Prison,
Turning humans into monsters,
Infiltrating the Hero Association HQ and murdering one of their executives,
And finally kidnapping Solaria Nova.
Each and every one of these crimes was a major failure for the Hero Association but the abduction of Solaria Nova hit the hardest. Not necessarily because of the woman’s fame though that certainly contributed heavily to the public outcry (especially her cult) but because the woman had commenced something of a revolution within the Hero Association by ending a majority of the internal corruption and was on the path to putting the organization back on the right track.
Now she was being held at the mercy of monsters.
Fubuki couldn’t say she blamed the public for their response to this news. Finding out about the Monster Association only a day beforehand did not prepare her for the details of what they got up to during the attack. In fact much like a great deal of the public the crimes listed deeply unsettled her more so now that she knew what their ultimate goal was.
“I hope this associate of yours can help” Fubuki grumbled.
Whether or not this Tomoro Sazaki was part of the Hero Association she could only speculate but she was sure he wasn’t a regular civilian.
Currently Fubuki was in the Blizzard Group’s private car on her way to City Z. It was not a short journey nor was it a boring one either. As one could imagine following a global monster attack and the subsequent reports of a Monster Association making the rounds both the environment and the people were in pretty bad shape. The destruction and wreckage were still being cleared out but she noticed some places were trying harder than others to get things back to normal.
Human outrage was at an all time high while morale was at an all time low and this wasn’t helped by the Hero Association’s silence on the matter. Even Sweet Mask was keeping a low profile having seemingly disappeared after his concert was attacked by monsters specifically targeting him. He managed to defend the civilians and kill the monsters of course and he allegedly did so without breaking his performance.
…was it mentioned how unfair it was that he was the number one A-Class hero?
In any case with the Hero Association’s silence tensions were running high. Fubuki could only hope that they handled it before things get worse. The last thing they need right now was dealing with large scale on top of everything else. After both the attack and the Hero Hunter’s rampage before that heroes were a scarce resource at the moment.
Speaking of which…
‘Is the Hero Hunter working with the Monster Association?’
She found it suspect that a human would declare himself a monster and start targeting heroes a scant few days before a monster led organization launches an attack against the Hero Association. With news of the Monster Association having the ability to turn humans into monsters the Hero Hunter’s motivations become more transparent.
‘He wants to be a monster and join the Monster Association but has to prove himself…?’
It’s a theory that kept circling in and out of her thoughts until she arrived in City Z. Immediately the first thing that stuck out to her was the lack of destruction. Not to say that there weren’t some collateral damage but compared to the other places she passed through City Z for the most part was comparatively unscathed.
‘Maybe the rumors are true and One-Punch Man operates out here.’
She knew from the Hero Association forums that both One-Punch Man and Demon Cyborg responded to the attacks here and managed to quell it in a rather short amount of time but seeing the results for herself was humbling to say the least.
‘Compared to them I…’ she shook her head.
“No, no I did well enough given what I have.”
The notable collateral in City T was caused by Tatsumaki more so than herself, the Blizzard Group or even the monsters. Plus there were no civilian casualties which was one of the first things she checked after leaving the hospital. That was a win and she would not let thoughts of two S-Class heroes’ accomplishments deprive her of that. Comparison is the thief of joy after all
Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly “I will get there eventually.”
Fubuki soon arrived at the restricted area complete with a fence and locked gate to keep people out. Unfortunately the gate wasn’t large enough for a vehicle to pass through which meant she would have to walk the rest of the way. Inconvenient but if she was being honest Fubuki didn’t like the idea of driving her expensive car through that place even if the vehicle was armored. After exiting and locking the car all it took was a simple flick of her finger to open the padlock keeping the gate locked and continue on her way.
Several short minutes later she found the apartment complex and after climbing up the stairs to the second floor she passed by a door only to realize that it was occupied. Unlike all the rooms she passed by thus far this one looked as if it was actually being maintained.
‘Do people actually live here?’
She thought the area was just a convenient place for meetings but if someone actually lives there then it wasn’t any of her business. She shook her head while continuing down the short corridor until she arrived at the other occupied room and pressed the door buzzer. After a few moments the door was opened and she was greeted by a not too older man with sharp violet eyes and short purple hair brushed down to frame his face. He looked surprised to see her and she didn’t blame him all things considered.
“Are you Tomoro Sazaki?”
“Yes, and you are?”
“A-Class rank 2 hero Blizzard of Hell” she introduced formally.
“Right Fubuki, I’ve heard of you. Is there something I can help you with?”
Taking a moment to prepare herself she spoke the pass phrase in a deliberate tone “my mother sent me.”
In response she received an expression of confusion form the man “and why should that matter to me?”
“My mother is Solaria Nova.”
The man furrowed his brow, gave her a once over and his expression turned deadpan “you are Solaria’s daughter?”
“Yes.”
He released an exasperated sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose “of course you are because why not?” when he gazed back at her it was with tired eyes “why are you here?”
“You have information on the Monster Association. You know where there base is.”
“So does the Hero Association.”
“You are planning to infiltrate it.”
“And what if I am? Is this a ‘cease and desist’ order?”
“No, I want to help.”
“Why? I’m pretty sure the Hero Association is planning to do the same thing and they will need your presence more than I would.”
“Certain circumstances will prevent me from participating in the Hero Association’s raid.”
“Those circumstances wouldn’t happen to be a certain S-Class esper would it?”
Fubuki chose not to answer that and instead asked “will you let me accompany you or not?”
“You’re going to try and participate in this no matter what answer I give aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” he pressed “hoping to score enough points to get into S-Class?”
The A-Class hero flinched both at the words that more or less hit home as well as the expression he gave her.
“What business is it to you?”
“I can only guess that your mother wanted you to come here because she knows you are both stubborn and dumb enough to get involved with this regardless of whatever warnings she or anyone will give you. They’re warning you for a reason, this is way out of your league.”
“Do not” she spoke with an undercurrent of barley concealed power “presume to know anything about me or my motivations. I only came here because mother seems to trust you but if you aren’t going to help me then-”
“Help you” the man interrupted with a laugh “girl, do you even know where the Monster Association base is? Do you even have an inkling of what is in it?”
“Dragon level monsters right?”
“Did Solaria tell you that?”
“What’s your point?” she was getting weary of this conversation.
“The Monster Association base is underneath this place” he gestured out to the ruins outside “as in the base encompasses almost the entire space of this ‘Ghost Town’ and goes about ten times as deep” he further revealed “you can take a trip down any sewer hole in this place and you’ll end up wandering into the base.”
Before she could even think to formulate a response he continued.
“And even then good luck after that because it’s not just Dragon level threats in there” he continued “you also have twice as many Demon level monsters, dozens of Tiger level monsters and scores of Wolf level monsters that make up a fighting force of hundreds. That’s not even mentioning the place is built like a maze, filled to the brim with traps and monitored by a Dragon level psychic monster. Now tell me with that information in mind what do you plan to do?”
Fubuki kept silent in shock, she knew the answer but would never admit it before this man.
“I-AAARRRRGGGHHH!”
But before she could retort her world suddenly exploded in pain and a blood curdling scream ripped from the esper’s mouth as she clutched her head. The sensation of spikes jabbing into her skull was very vivid, too vivid to have been an illusion.
Then she blacked out.
~O~
Tomoro held the unconscious body of Fubuki in his arms, having employed a simple knockout technique when her powers started to act up in tandem with her…episode. One moment she was fine and the next she was screaming her head off for apparently no reason. Except that wasn’t the case and as his gaze turned to the side his senses reached out.
“What. The hell. Was that?”
He felt Solaria’s energy desperately flare up like the sun going supernova before being snuffed out. If it wasn’t for him being familiar with her along with how unique her life force was then he wouldn’t have been able to even find her. The woman was at a very low percent of her usual power output rendering her at the same level as a civilian which was not good. Being a civilian in a den filled with bloodthirsty human hating monsters was not a good thing.
He has half a mind to go down there himself but wasn’t stupid enough to risk it even if he couldn’t sense anything that could pose a threat to him. Really though, the woman used herself as a hostage for what he could only guess as her not wanting to endanger civilians but ended up being an actual endangered civilian herself.
“Your mom is a pain in the ass” he spoke to the unconscious esper currently laying on his futon before looking away “and speaking of pains in the ass” he paused as he sensed a tremendous amount of power headed his way “scratch that your whole family is a pain in the ass.”
Whether she was drawn by what happened to Solaria or Fubuki didn’t matter. What did matter was that he had Tatsumaki's unconscious sister on his futon in the shadiest part of the city. If she blows her top and starts ripping the area apart then she will ruin everything.
“Shit just got real”
The stakes are now even higher than they were in the original story and Tomoro will be god damned if he let that woman-child ruin everything with a psychic temper tantrum. If things get dire and she can’t be reasoned with then he’s prepared to pacify Tatsumaki himself. Then after applying some ‘amnesia therapy’ via his fists he’ll dump both sisters back at the Hero Association HQ.
“This would go a lot smoother with Saitama here.”
For a moment he pondered this because Tomoro didn’t really know what Tatsumaki and Saitama’s relationship was like. In fact the same can be said for his relationship with the other S-Class heroes save for Genos.
“I should ask him about that after this” or maybe he’ll get to see the relationship dynamic in the upcoming battles.
After retrieving a piece of paper and scribbling a note he folded it and tucked it securely on Fubuki’s person before making his way outside to greet his incoming guest.
~O~
She felt it all the way from her apartment building in City A. As clear as day, the comforting presence that has always been in the back of her consciousness for almost two decades was suddenly severed. That alone caused her some alarm because Solaria would not sever her telepathic connection unless under certain conditions and this did not seem like it was a voluntary severance. Then for a brief moment the connection was reestablished except instead of the ‘subtle click’ like a plug going into a socket it felt like someone took a battering ram to her brain.
Then came the pain.
It has been a very long time since Tatsumaki was hurt. Not since her childhood has the petite esper been subjected to pain worth mentioning. Even then she has never experienced a sensation as visceral as having spikes being shoved into her skull. The sensations and imagery were too vivid to have been caused by psychic backlash though that was certainly in there as well. No what Tatsumaki experienced was more than that and if she scrutinized the moment looking beyond the pain she could make out blurry images to go along with the sensation.
This was a memory, a brief yet agonizing memory of her adoptive mother before her presence was snuffed out.
Tatsumaki didn’t know when she took to the sky. She must have gone through her apartment roof to get airborne. She didn’t care as her attention was focused on making it to where she last sensed Solaria’s presence. Tunnel vision and an intense focus had her cover most of City A and City B in a straight line in a matter of moments. She broke the sound barrier several times over to get that speed but the closer she got the less sure her destination became.
It didn’t matter. If it came down to it Tatsumaki was willing to rip the entire city out of the ground and shake it upside until something got loose. Such thoughts however were put on the backburner as once she got within close proximity of the area she picked up another familiar psychic presence in the vicinity.
‘Fubuki!’
The thought of her sister being anywhere near where their adoptive mother was seemingly murdered was enough to make Tatsumaki absolutely livid.
*BOOM*
She entered the scene with a crack splitting the sky and psionic enhanced shout that rattled the entire neighborhood.
“FUBUKI!”
“Hey!”
The esper looked down to find a man looking up at her “your sister-whoa!”
The moment the words left his mouth she used her power to pull him towards her until they were inches apart with her green aura flaring and her glowing emerald eyes glaring into his own purple ones.
“Where is she!?”
Grunting at his body being kept in stasis by her power he answered “she’s currently sleeping.”
She squeezed his body just a bit, enough to make a civilian uncomfortable but Tatsumaki noted a slight bit of resistance.
“What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything. She showed up at my doorstep, we started talking and then she started screaming her head off until she collapsed.”
‘The psychic backlash’
Tatsumaki almost lost herself in the brief sensation and she was almost two cities away. Fubuki was much weaker than her mentally and was literally right on top of the source when it happened.
‘She would never be able to handle something like that and get out unscathed’ Tatsumaki thought frantically.
Her gaze shifted to where she could sense her sibling and reached out to rip the roof off the apartment and pull her sister to safety. Once she got Fubuki to the Hero Association HQ she was coming back to tear this place asunder.
“One-Punch Man won’t like you destroying his property!”
Tatsumaki actually paused at hearing the name of that baldy. Her eyes narrowed at the man “what did you say?”
“This is One-Punch Man’s place and he won’t like you messing it up.”
No one knew where One-Punch Man lived. He once bought an apartment some time ago but the address was leaked and he ended up leaving after some incident with some rowdy fans.
“Who are you?”
“I’m his neighbor, Tomoro Sazaki.”
His introduction sparked a memory and he now had her undivided attention. Giving him a once over the esper spoke “you’re the ‘acquaintance’ Solaria kept talking about?”
“She told you about me? Of course she did, she told your sister about me too.”
Tatsumaki wasn’t surprised about that but at the same time she didn’t like the idea of Fubuki knowing some of the information her and Solaria shared in their telepathic conversations.
“What did Solaria tell you about me?”
“She says you have information about the Monster Association.”
“That I do” he nodded despite still being wrapped in her psychokinetic stasis hold.
She did not fail to notice that.
“Why was Fubuki visiting you?”
“We hadn’t exactly gotten to that part before whatever happened occurred. By the way what was that all about?”
She wouldn’t have divulged such information normally but the way how Solaria went on about this man it was clear she trusted him implicitly which was not something she did without reservations. After a moment Tatsumaki decided to give this man the benefit of the doubt, especially since he was supplying them with intel on the Monster Association.
“Something happened to Solaria. I don’t know what but I can’t sense her psychic signature” her teeth grit as her hands clenched into fists.
“Hold on” he interrupted and Tatsumaki saw that he had his eyes closed.
“!” she felt something wash over her eliciting an involuntary shudder.
Tatsumaki couldn’t put a description to that sensation but she knew it came from the man in her psychokinetic grip.
“What are you doing?”
His eyes snapped open “good news, your mother is still alive.”
Tatsumaki almost drew in a sharp breath “and how do you know that?”
“I can sense her.”
“Bullshit” she practically snarled “I can’t feel a damn thing!”
And up until a few minutes ago she was telepathically linked with the woman.
“That’s because I can sense life energy and I am very good at it so believe me when I say with certainty that your mommy is still alive.”
*Squeeze*
“Ah”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“Noted, now based on what I’ve gathered whatever the Monster Association did managed to seal her psychic powers.”
This time Tatsumaki did draw in a sharp breath “impossible.”
“No such thing” Tomoro countered drawing an angry glare from her but the man was unperturbed which raised her heckles just a little bit more “hey since we confirmed I am not your enemy you mind putting me down?”
She complied and released her hold on him…over 60ft in the air. If he was a regular civilian then she would have caught him before he went splat but the man landed lightly on the street just outside the apartment building.
Folding her arms with an harrumph Tatsumaki floating down to his level “after I get my sister you’re both coming with me to the Hero Association HQ”
“I’ll pass” he waved off.
“I wasn’t asking permission” she scowled.
“Then I won’t beg forgiveness” he drawled “if it’s information you want then Child Emperor should be getting an encrypted e-mail with all the relevant information later today. There’s no reason for me to step foot in that place.”
“I don’t care what you think you’re coming with me!”
Her words left no room to argue and for a moment his eyes were downcast as he sighed in seeming resignation. Yet Tatsumaki felt herself become even more on guard as the man leveled her with a look.
“You’re really starting to test my patience.”
Taking that as a challenge Tatsumaki looked down at him with false cheer “am I? And what pray tell are you going to do about it?”
“…I’m not fighting you Tatsumaki.”
A mix of vindication and mild disappointment welled up inside the petite woman “then you’re smarter than you look.”
With a gesture he was enveloped in her emerald psionic power and was about to be taken when he suddenly broke free.
“That’s enough of that” he grumbled.
Tatsumaki’s eyes only widened for a bit before she attempted to reapply her hold over him. The key word being ‘attempted’ but no matter how much she tried her psychokinesis did not even so much as brush against him before it was broken, no destroyed.
‘How is he doing that?’
Tatsumaki didn’t feel any kind of psychic based resistance that could be responsible for this. She couldn’t sense anything that could be responsible for this and any attempt to interact with him using her powers resulted in her psionic energy simply disappearing before it could even touch him.
“What is that?”
She halted her attempt as she tried to get a read on what exactly she was sensing from him.
“Don’t look too deep into it” he interrupted.
Tatsumaki met his gaze and for the first time she realized just how deep his eyes were.
Blinking a bit she scowled at him “whatever, take me to Fubuki.”
“Right this way your majesty” he gave a mock bow to which Tatsumaki turned her nose up at him.
Hopping to the second floor corridor and opening the room door. Tatsumaki followed and found the apartment cluttered with boxes and half packed things.
Needless to say she was unimpressed “this place is a mess.”
“You caught me in the middle of moving. I have a feeling this place isn’t going to survive what you do to the Monster Association.”
“So the base is here?”
“We are literally on top of the damn thing.”
Tatsumaki momentarily looked down. Her connection with her sister and adoptive mother notwithstanding Tatsumaki did not have the same kind of talent with telepathic aspect of psychic ability as she did with psychokinesis. If there wasn’t an anchor for her to latch onto then it took a minute of concentration for her to locate psychic signatures.
“Don’t even think about going down there” at her sharp gaze he continued “if they manage to suppress Solaria’s powers then she really is a hostage-”
“I know that!” she snapped “I wasn’t thinking about going into the base, I was trying to see if I can sense them” after a moment she let loose a growl of frustration.
“No luck?”
“…no” she growled.
“Generally speaking they dug themselves deep enough that the earth acts as a natural shield against most forms of detection. Unless it’s a custom built sensor or your sensory skills are a cut above the rest you won’t really be able to sense them. They wouldn’t be able to build a base under the city without anyone noticing otherwise.”
“Then how are you able to sense them?”
“My sensory skills are maximum.”
Ignoring that it explains why Solaria’s presence became less accurate the closer she got to the city.
Fubuki was enveloped in a psychic bubble and lifted outside “I’ll let you off for now.”
“How magnanimous” he drawled.
Once outside she floated up to look down at him with a scowl “you better send that information by the end of the day or-”
“Your mother once held me at sword point” he interrupted.
Tatsumaki blinked at the sudden segue “what?”
“She thought I had a hand in the alien invasion that happened a while ago” he continued unabated “so she used her powers to trap me in a wall, manifest a sword and hold it up to my neck.”
‘That sounds like her’ Tatsumaki thought but still.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“If a pissed off Solaria holding me at sword point wasn’t able to intimidate me then youcertainly won’t be able to.”
“…”
For a long moment Tatsumaki stared at the man. She was incensed at his words, at his complete lack of weariness towards her and most importantly she was angry at the utterly unimpressed look he continued to give her. She didn’t like it, she felt like he was challenging her and Tatsumaki felt the urge to accept it to show him the error of his thoughts and put him in his place. She could not do so however, not with her sister unconscious beside her and not with the uncertainty of Solaria’s condition. All she had to go on was his word but he looked and sounded sincere enough that it earned him some points with her.
“You’re lucky she trusts you” she thought before turning around and blasting off into the morning sky.
To her consternation she felt that same unknown energy washing across the area, dampening the effect of her breaking the sound barrier so close.
“Tch.”
~O~
“Brat” Tomoro scoffed.
If he hadn’t used his power to shield the apartment then she could have destroyed all the windows in the complex at the very least. Walking back inside he could only thank whatever primordial deity watching over him that the encounter didn’t devolve into a fight and that the apartment was left unscathed. It wouldn’t take much to beat Tatsumaki in his opinion but why make an enemy out of one of the biggest players a day or two before they had to work together.
‘And we’ll have to work together if we want to save Solaria’ he paused ‘if she even needs saving.’
For all he knew this could be part of her plan. She certainly seemed crazy enough to do it especially since she was acting as Fubuki and Tatsumaki’s mother. Solaria definitely would have known about Psykos and the esper just as likely could have known of her before she went crazy. Clearly with Solaria being a bigger fish than Tatsumaki she didn’t bother taking any chances with her unlike what she did with Tatsumaki.
His ponderings were then interrupted by the arrival of Saitama returning from taking out the trash. Tomoro could have definitely taken care of that but it was the principle of the matter. It was Saitama’s trash and he’s gotten a bit lazy having Genos around. A lesson needed to be taught.
“I’d ask how your trip was but it looks like you took out more than just the trash.”
Saitama opted to wear his uniform in case he had to respond to any attacks while he was out which was smart. And as it turns out he had excellent foresight…or just bad luck.
“Yeah, we ran into a couple of monsters along the way.”
Giving him a once over Tomoro found that both his face and costume were stained with blood and the odd scuff marks.
“How many monsters are we talking about?”
“I don’t know” he scratched his head “a bunch?”
“Give me a ballpark estimate.”
“A couple dozen I think. I wasn’t really paying attention to their numbers but there were a lot.”
“You didn’t leave a couple dozen monster corpses lying around somewhere did you?”
“…”
“Didn’t I give you a warning about the health hazard of leaving random monster corpses lying around?”
“I’ll get Genos to take care of it when he comes back” he waved off.
“See that you do. No need to leave this place even more unsanitary than it is.”
Saitama gave the purple haired man a scrutinizing look “why don’t you do it? I saw you make that one monster disappear.”
“It’s the principle of the matter. It’s your mess so you clean it up.”
“Whatever.”
Tomoro wanted to teach a lesson with this little excursion but it wasn’t necessarily for Saitama. His gaze turned to his tagalong for this excursion standing more than arms length behind Saitama was a pale woman with a pink heart on her forehead and long blonde hair with a flower placed in it. She wore a black mask over her mouth, white dress shirt, leather gloves, a black skirt and thigh high boots. She could have passed for a normal if eccentric young woman if not for her eyes which were a shade of pink and black sclera denoting her inhumanity.
“And how was she?”
~O~
Do-S couldn’t help but flinch when he, One-Punch Man, looked over his shoulder to regard her. His face still held the same bland disinterest she has come to know as his default expression. Thankfully he only spared her a glance before addressing the other man.
‘No, monster’ she thought in regards to both men.
“She’s alright” he shrugged.
“Really? She didn’t give you any troubles did she?”
She started to sweat a bit but her fears were alleviated when One-Punch Man shook his head.
“Nope, she kept quiet and out of the way.”
The man smiled at her causing her hands to clench and unclench in worry.
“Good.”
One-Punch man looked down at his suit seeming to realize his messy predicament and sighed “I need to change.”
“You do that.”
“Yeah, yeah” he waved him off.
The bald hero entered his apartment leaving Do-S alone with him.
“You coming in or what?”
Without waiting for her reply the man entered his own room which as of last night was now also her temporary accommodation. If it wasn’t already obvious Do-S was in quite the difficult predicament and it all started when she made the foolish decision to attack a random human roaming the abandoned streets of a ghost town alone after a global monster attack.
Last Night…
“Now, what should I do with you?”
Fear is a tool much like any emotion it can be used to ones benefit provided that they know what they are doing. As a personal rule Do-S does the minimum amount of engagement against an enemy unless it couldn’t be helped or if she’s sufficiently motivated. That is why a great deal of her battles are won through quick thinking, clever maneuvering and a healthy dose of psychological warfare. Do-S has specifically trained herself to read and manipulate emotions of her opponents to employ psychological tactics for their maximum effect.
Not every battle fought results in a victory and Do-S knew her own limits well enough to know when to cut her losses when the situation wasn’t salvageable. Case in point she was being confronted with a human who was clearly out of her league. She was at his mercy, not the first time this has happened rare as those were but Do-S knew exactly what to do.
On her knees before this human Do-S’ entire demeanor and posture changed to meek and pathetic. The fear in her eyes was not fake, didn’t need to be and neither was the quivering that wracked her body. For all intents and purposes Do-S had become a cowering young woman. To cement this course she would have raised her hands in surrender however the presence exuded by this man was so oppressive that she had not the strength to lift a finger.
“I-I surrender” she stuttered with cold sweat pouring down her face.
The man looking down at her did not react. Do-S couldn’t see a single change in his expression as he regarded her as if she were a particular interesting specimen. Not quite malicious yet clearly not kind either.
“What’s your name?”
“D-Do-S sir” she answered and after a moment she was rewarded with a cessation of the oppressive force causing her to gasp in relief though that relief was short lived as the man folded his arms and continued his line of questioning.
“You’re part of the Monster Association aren’t you?”
“N-”
The denial was caught in her throat as her instincts screamed at her not to say the words. She also caught the subtle squinting of his eyes that told her a single phrase, don’t lie. She wanted to deny it if only because after today that organization was persona non grata for any human. Could he discern truth or lies from her words or did he already know the answer? If it was the former Do-S was confident in her acting skills even under duress, after all she has fooled many heroes and monsters before but if it was the latter then this was a test and if she failed she would most certainly lose her life.
In the end she decided not to take any chances with his charity and hesitantly told him the truth.
“I…I am” she admitted.
“You actually told the truth” he commended “now I feel that it’s only fair that I be truthful as well. See this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered someone from your Monster Association. Do you happen to know a monster by the name of Gouketsu?”
Do-S felt a pit form in her gut, of course she knew who he was.
“Y-yes…”
“He seemed like someone important. What position did he have in your organization?”
“H-he’s a Cadre.”
“Well he’s dead now” he admitted much to the monster woman’s horror.
Skeptism was a natural response after hearing such a claim, after all Do-S has seen Gouketsu around the base. If Gyoro Gyoro was Orochi’s right hand then Gouketsu was undoubtedly his left. Needless to say he is one of the most powerful monsters she has ever encountered and his presence was second only to Orochi himself which was no small feat.
“P-p-please spare me…”
“See, the problem with that is I don’t really have any incentive to do that. How many people have you killed during your attack I wonder?”
“I never killed anyone!” she refuted.
And not for a lack of trying but Do-S’ mission involved causing mayhem, procuring fodder for their forces as well as a hostage.
“You’re telling the truth” he sounded mildly surprised “but then you attacked me and if I’m not mistaken tried to make me your ‘love slave’? I can only imagine that involves some mind control ability. I can’t let that go.”
‘Shit-shit-shit’ Do-S’ mind raced a mile a minute
“I-I’ll become your slave!”
“…I’m not interested in having a slave” he deadpanned before pausing to think it over for a few seconds.
Those seconds were the longest in Do-S’ life.
“But since you’re putting servitude on the table I am willing to take you on as a subordinate. How loyal are you to the Monster Association?”
“I’m not” she answered promptly.
“You seem like the type that is only loyal to yourself” he observed correctly “I won’t disparage you for it neither will I threaten your life provided you follow my orders” he held a hand out to her.
Now resigned to her fate Do-S accepted the offered hand “I understand.”
“Cheer up” he pulled her up to her feet “I don’t plan to keep you as a subordinate for long. After the Monster Association is dealt with you are free to go.”
“R-really?” she was naturally skeptical of that despite common sense dictating her not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“It’s a deal” the grip on her hand tightens “and it goes without saying if you go against the terms set or opt to get out early then” he trailed off raising his free hand to the side of the building and with a single tap of his finger the entire building and everything in it was reduced to dust particles that got caught and swept away in the night breeze.
Do-S choked on her saliva at the action with the fear for her life reaching an entirely new level.
“I think that speaks for itself don’t you?”
“Y-yes!”
“Good now first order of business getting you cleaned up you smell like blood and sweat.”
Present…
After that she followed him back to his home like a dog where she got the second biggest shock of her life when she came face to face with One-Punch Man of all people. For the last time that day Do-S believed her life was at an end however once Tomoro explained that she wasn’t a threat the man hadn’t looked at her twice since. As for Do-S once she got her heart rate under control once she found One-Punch man to be supremely underwhelming as a person. A bland looking bald headed slacker of a man with an equally dull expression.
One-Punch Man was about as far removed from his ‘mythos’ as can be. It was to the point where she wondered if the man was a fraud. Tomoro noticed her having such thoughts and pretty much confirmed them by stating the Hero Association tended to blow up a hero’s achievement in order to generate more goodwill and revenue through investments and donations.
That was a trap and it was only now Do-S realized that Tomoro had only stated that the Hero Association manipulates the media to build up their heroes in the eyes of the public. He did not confirm that One-Punch Man was a fraud and she found out the truth of the matter when he had her accompany the man to take out the trash. Mortifying as it was to do such a thing it only got worse as the duo came across a massive group of monsters who were drawn to City Z due to the exploits of the Monster Association being reported in the news.
Monsters are inevitably drawn to each other especially in large groups so their presence wasn’t totally unfounded. It was just very inconvenient however especially when they recognized her as a monster traipsing with a human. For a single moment Do-S thought about betraying Tomoro but that moment lasted for as long as it took One-Punch Man to swing his fist. Now these monsters were nothing to write home about for the most part but there were many of them, dozens in fact.
Yet it only took a few moments for One-Punch Man to dispatch them. An entire horde of monsters reduced to bloody lumps of meat by a single human in mere moments. Scarier than the outcome was the casual way how he did it and you know what happened after he did it?
“Where did all those monsters come from?” The man then turned to a shell shocked Do-S with confusion on his face “you think they were after me?”
It was such a stupid question that Do-S felt her incredulity rise to match her fear. Regardless if there was one lesson she learned from her brief time with both the bald hero and the mysterious man called Tomoro it was to never judge a book by its cover. She was so used to encountering humans and monsters that make an effort to show off their strength or exude a presence of power that she never thought that there could exist powerful people who choose to remain innocuous.
For example two of the most powerful humans she’s ever met were living in a crappy apartment going about their days as if they were ordinary people. She assisted One-Punch Man with taking out literal garbage and was now helping Tomoro pack his belongings into boxes because he was moving.
Life it seems really can be stranger than fiction.
~O~
Fubuki came to with a groan. Her hand went to massage her temple while her eyes fluttered open to view a sterilized ceiling.
“What happened?”
“You got hit with a psychic backlash and fainted.”
“I remember” the specific memory had her flinch from phantom pain.
“What were you doing in City Z?”
Fubuki glanced at the side to see her sister floating above her with a scowl on her face.
Fubuki took a moment to sit upright and gather her thoughts before replying “I was following a lead with the Monster Association.”
“Why?”
“I want to know what is going on.” She answered with a scowl of her own.
“Well don’t bother going there again. The Hero Association is doing a raid against the place in two days” her eyes narrowed “you are not going.”
“You can’t just-!”
Fubuki’s words were caught in her throat when Tatsumaki gave her a look.
“They did something to Solaria, suppressed her powers somehow. That psychic backlash was her way of warning us” Tatsumaki deduced
Fubuki recoiled at the news “th-that’s impossible.”
“I don’t know what they have down there but if they managed to catch Solaria” she shook her head “I’m not taking any chances with you.”
“I am not a child anymore Tatsumaki!” Fubuki roared.
“I. don’t. care” the S-Class esper declared “I already talked it over with Sekingar and Sitch. You aren’t going to be part of the raid.”
“Y-you-”
“Go back to City T, visit your fan club in the hospital and keep your head down” the older petite woman turned away “let your big sis handle this. I’ll destroy the Monster Association and bring mom back home too.”
And with her piece said Tatsumaki left Fubuki in the private wing of the Hero Association’s hospital. Incensed, frustrated and feeling completely helpless Fubuki was stuck. She wanted to lash out, to do or say something but the time for that has passed. For all her bravado and wants of independence when it came down to it she could not muster the courage to go against Tatsumaki. She felt useless and it made her stomach turn especially now that their adoptive mother was in genuine danger.
“Dammit!” her fist clenched the bed sheets and wrung them.
But it was through this movement that she felt something off with her wrist. Pulling down the long sleeves of her dress she saw that underneath her expensive watch was a folded piece of paper. Pulling out the paper she unfolded it and read the message before releasing a breath and lying down.
There was never any doubt in Fubuki’s mind that Tatsumaki wasn’t going to allow her to take part in the raid. Underneath all the stubbornness a part of her agrees with her sister but things have changed. Solaria was not playing at being a hostage anymore, her life may be in genuine danger and while Tatsumaki may be more justified in keeping her out of the conflict Fubuki can say without a sliver of doubt that there is nothing that will keep her out of this.
And with this note she now had a means of taking part without her sister hounding her and…and…
“Shit, I left the car back in City Z.”
~To Be Continued~
