Target Locked On! || One Punch Man: Sonic Fanfic

Chapter 23: A Mother's Fury

Chapter 23: Mother's Fury

Saitama's POV

"We need a plan to save Kuki!"

"Let's just burst in~!" I said, raising my fist with an amused smile.

"What? No! We need to plan this carefully!" Sonic argued.

"I think he's right," Akane chimed in. "We need to think this through." Genos coughed, gaining some attention.

"Bursting in is actually not a bad idea. Sensei had done it plenty of times before." His chin was resting on his hand. Everyone reconsidered his opinion. There was a brief moment of silence until someone spoke.

"That's not going to work."

We all turned to the owner of the voice.

"Tooru?" Sonic was able to mumble his name.

"What do you mean by that?" Yumi asked, stepping forward. Everyone eagerly waited for an answer.

"Well," Tooru started. His eyes were shifting from side to side. It was obvious that he was hesitant to spill the beans, but something is urging him to tell it. His mind was full of confusion who his allies were at that time. But only he knows what his boss could do to Kuki.

"You see. My boss," he gulped. "She's someone not from this world."

Not from this world huh?

And he evidently mentioned his boss as a 'she' which means his boss is a woman..

But I don't know anyone that hated Kuki.

Tooru told us that we can easily tell who the enemy is if we truly know Kuki. It's still a mystery why he didn't tell us directly who the enemy is, but it is enough information to help us.

Unfortunately, I and the others got split up right from the start when we entered the building. I could feel the ground and walls moving, and I've seen some of the walls more than 5 times now.

I just hope everyone's alright. I should just relax. For now, I'll plan my one week schedule while walking in this never-ending path.

Yumi's POV

We accidentally got split up from the start. Good thing Mrs. Akane's with me. These walls just don't make any sense. We've been running for a while now, and it seems that this building is huge or that we're just running in circles.

We ran for a long time before stopping into a halt. A silhouette appeared before us.

"Who are you?" I shifted to my fighting stance, the same for Mrs. Akane.

The person came closer, while I kept my guard on. It stepped closer, out of the darkness. Then we dropped out guard down.

It was Kuki!

"Kuki?!" Mrs. Akane went past me quickly and jumped on Kuki. Her eyes welled up with tears. I just stood there smiling at the scene, watching them quietly.

"I'm so happy to see you! Are you okay? Did they experiment on you? Injected you?!" Mrs. Akane said with deep concern, checking Kuki from top to bottom.

"Don't worry about me, mother," Kuki smiled gently.

Mrs. Akane's face slowly turned into a frown. She stood there, staring at Kuki with a vacant expression.

It was then my turn to talk to Kuki. I walked in front of her and smiled. "Hey, I know you guys are having a reunion but I think we should be going," I pointed my thumb behind me. "We've been running for a while and we think the walls are moving. And we need to find where are the others too." She nodded.

"Alright, Yumi. Lead the way," she said cheerfully. How can she be so happy with all the situation? I took a quick glance at her. She was looking at me with these eyes.. I can't tell what she's thinking, but her eyes tell something... dangerous. Shrugging it off, I was about to walk when Mrs. Akane grabbed my wrist.

"Mrs. Akane?" I asked, confused.

"... Kuki," she mumbled. All I could make out was the last word.

"Kuki? She's right here." My eyes turned to look at Kuki, who, for one second, I caught smiling slyly. When I blinked, she was facing the other direction. I put an ear closer to Mrs. Akane. She tightened the grip on my wrist.

"That's not Kuki," she growled. My eyes scanned the aqua haired girl in front of us once again. I was about to say something when Mrs. Akane spoke sternly.

"She never calls me 'mother'"

Letting go of the wrist, her eyes gleamed in fury as a ball of fire ignited on the palm of her hand, and threw it at 'Kuki'.

I swear, for a second I could see a faint smirk on Kuki's lips. The fire hit her, and it caused smoke to appear. The room was filled with smoke and debris were falling and flying everywhere.

I covered my eyes with my arm, squinting to keep my guard on.

What the hell is happening?

My mind was full of questions. Questions like 'How come that isn't Kuki? What's with Kuki? Where are the others?'

My senses came back when I felt something hit me on my back. I stumbled forward, almost hitting my head on the wall. It was still full of smoke when someone swung their leg at me. This time, I was able to catch it. I pulled them and smashed their head into the wall, creating a huge crack.

"Mrs. Akane!" I called out her name.

Finally, the fog cleared out in moments.

"You.." I pivoted to the direction of the voice. Mrs. Akane was holding the wrists of the aqua-headed girl above her head, pinning her to the wall. "Where is my daughter?" Her voice sounded menacing and forceful, growling on each word. I quickly stepped beside her.

The girl in front of us cackled loudly, sending chills down my spine.

Who is this? I thought to myself.

"Dunno. She's a lifeless little puppet now. In fact, she might've been getting crushed by the walls as we speak right now." Once again, she snickered darkly.

Akane's POV

"Dunno. She's a lifeless little puppet now. In fact, she might've been getting crushed by the walls as we speak right now." My heart sank at her words. It can't be. I know it's not true, but something inside me boiled.

Releasing a battle cry, I send punches at her. But she quickly slithered out of my grip, dodging my attacks. I ignited a ball of fire in my hands and threw it at her. As it was in mid-air, she smiled and made a motion with her hand. The hot, blazing ball quickly turned into an icy, frigid frost.

"Can't you see? I am Kuki, but stronger! But I prefer being called Mizu." A dark smiled formed on her lips. Chilly gusts of wind suddenly blew at us, making everything it hit turn into frost. It was cold, painfully cold.

I noticed Yumi in the corner of my eyes, fighting off the hail storm-like weather. Then, I used my powers to oppose hers. The heat started to eat away the coldness.

"Yumi," I mumbled. "Get some help, I'll hold her off." I saw the pain in her eyes.

"No! I can't leave you—"

"Yes you will, that's an order!" I commanded. She sent me a warm smile.

"Yes, ma'am!" Then she ran the other direction.

"Oh no, you won't!" Mizu, aka the Kuki I'm fighting, fired sharp frozen ice, targeting Yumi.

It melted away when it passed through my shoulder, catching Mizu's full attention.

"I'm the one you're fighting right? Now let's see your best shot!" Determination laced in my voice.

She cocked an eyebrow, her dark smile never faltering. "Feisty are we?"

"As fiery as my fire," I retorted, snickering.