Ryo clung onto Saitama's back as Genos and Saitama ran at full speed to the House of Evolution. She had to tuck her head down to keep her mouth and eyes from being warped due to the wind. This wasn't the first time she had used Saitama as a mode of transportation, nor was it the first time Saitama had willingly brought her into a possibly dangerous situation. Genos was clearly confused by their relationship.
"Why exactly are you coming along, Ryo?" Genos asked, hardly audible over the whipping wind in her ears.
"I'm not going to let you guys go out and have fun while I'm stuck at home!" she shouted in Saitama's ear.
"Yeah, how about you don't talk until we get to the place," Saitama requested. "You don't have to worry about her Genos, she'll be fine."
After four hours of a dead sprint and a brief moment where Genos had to fight off an aggravated bear, they arrived where the Gorilla had pointed them towards. "This is the House of Evolution," Genos announced. It was a tall white building with at least eight stories.
"Man this will take all day," Ryo sighed, using her hand to block out the sun as she looked up at the building.
Without a word, Genos squatted down and activated his firearms, blowing the building to bits. Rough wind whipped around Ryo, she had to pin her dress down to keep it from rising above her hips. But she was awestruck by Genos' destructive capabilities, she stared with a gaping mouth at the crater he had created.
"Wow!" she cried with a bright smile. "That's a cyborg for you!"
"What gives man?" Saitama asked, bewildered by his actions.
"What?" Genos asked, letting his arm blaster cool down. "I thought this was the most efficient way to dispose of them."
"Sure, but they must have made preparations," Saitama mumbled. "That was mean of you."
Ryo looked around the destroyed area and saw a suspicious-looking metal door. "Hey, no worries Saitama, looks like there's more."
Saitama peeled back the metal with ease. "Looks like it goes underground."
Saitama and Genos led the way, creating a protective wall in front of Ryo. Genos was still questioning why Saitama would bring a civilian, but if his master believed her presence was necessary, he would guard her too.
The underground base was wide and white. Ryo walked behind Saitama out of habit and looked around with wide eyes. She was sure glad she came along. Getting to see Genos go all out, and now she was hopefully going to see Saitama fight the biggest and badest monster the House of Evolution had to offer.
"This underground base sure is spacious," Saitama said with a smile. "I'm getting excited."
"I'm picking up lifeforms ahead," one of Genos' systems was beeping loud enough for Ryo to hear. "All the same? Are they clones?" Genos suddenly stopped, alerted to a new threat. "Master! Two Life forms are headed this way!"
Saitama pushed Ryo directly behind him and Ryo looked over his shoulder at the two assailants. One of them was a huge dung beetle and the other person seemed to be a human in a rough-looking state, bleeding all over and he was being carried by his head by the dung beetle.
"Oh, there they are!" The beetle belted loudly. "There are three. Which one is it?"
The man being held struggled to speak. "Ung, the man on the right!"
The beetle sniggered. "Then we don't need the one on the left!" Genos never had a chance to move and the beetle smashed him into the wall.
"Genos?" Saitama asked calmly, while Ryo stared in horror at his contorted position. Genos' head was stuck in the wall and his body hung limply. The bug slid past Saitama and Ryo and towered over them. "What the... Hey!" Saitama called trying to get Genos up.
"I am Carnage Kabuto," The beetle bellowed. Ryo stared up at him, her knees shaking, Saitama, however, continued to stare at Genos, hardly interested in what the beetle had to say. "I've got a battle test room! Let's fight there!"
"You hung Genos like a bad modern art piece. Fights on!" Saitama announced.
While Carnage Kabuto and Saitama took off for the battle room, Ryo pulled Genos out of the wall. "Are you okay?"
"Twice now," Genos grumbled, allowing Ryo to help him up.
"Huh?" Ryo asked.
"I will not be bested by these people twice!" Genos shouted, suddenly taking off down the hall, going after Kabuto.
Ryo sighed. "Why are all the cute ones crazy?" She ignored the dead looking doctor laying on the ground and followed after Genos.
By the time she caught up with the others, Genos had launched into a full-frontal attack, she heard Genos shout "Machine Gun Blows!" before going all out on Kabuto. But the thing was that Kabuto seemed unbothered. Just as Ryo predicted, Kabuto hit Genos with one strong punch, ramming the boy into the ground, shattering parts of his mechanic exoskeleton. Genos bounced off the ground and thankfully Saitama caught him easily.
"You lose." Kabuto announced.
"Your face is all broken!" Saitama yelled worriedly.
Ryo ran up to her friends and helped Saitama lower Genos to the ground. Genos was mumbling, trying to speak. "He... I..."
"Don't push yourself," Saitama requested, but it fell on deaf ears.
Genos rose his hand and his eyes lit up as a great blast ejected from his hand. Ryo was thoroughly amazed. But it still wasn't enough. Kabuto literally blew the blast away with his breath. Hot residue blasted back at the trio. Ryo's hair was whipped around her head and black soot covered her face and ruined her outfit.
Saitama looked over at the two and gasped. "Ryo, Genos! Are you okay?!"
Ryo nodded and Genos said, "Y..yes."
"No, you're not!" Saitama demanded. "That head is not right!"
Ryo looked at Genos. His hair was a frizzy afro and when she touched her own hair she sighed at the tangled mess it was in.
"Why you," Saitama growled, clearly worked up by the show Kabuto had given him. "I'm looking forward to this!"
Ryo was excited too. Surely after a spectacle like that, Carnage Kabuto would prove to be a worthy fight for Saitama!
"Take care of Genos, Ryo." Saitama stood and stalked toward Kabuto
"Bring it on Egg Head!" Kabuto mocked. "Gimme all you got!"
Saitama was going to win. Deep down Ryo knew it. But she was hoping with all of her heart that maybe, just maybe Carnage Kabuto would be able to withstand just a single punch from Saitama.
"I know... I know!" Kabuto teased. "You're supposed to be strong!"
"Don't disappoint me now," Saitama warned. "You're the strongest weapon this place has, right? You're clearly different from those guys this morning. You're positively brimming with confidence."
Kabuto didn't even reply, he immediately whipped around Saitama for an attack from behind. He was almost too fast to see. Ryo saw the look on Saitama's face and a shiver went down her spine. She hadn't seen a scarier look on his face. Kabuto seemed to agree.
The massive bug didn't even land the easy hit, instead retreating a great distance away from Saitama. The giant beetle pinned himself against the wall, shaking in his shell.
"What are you doing?" Saitama asked.
The look on the beetle's face told Ryo everything. He was terrified. He sensed Saitama's ability and knew he was outmatched. "Damn," she said disappointedly, changing from her tense kneeled position beside Genos, to calmly sitting with her legs crossed. "Another let down then.
"Shut up human!" Kabuto shouted at her. "And you!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Saitama. "HOW DID YOU GET SUCH POWER?!"
Genos seemed alarmed at the monster's accusation, but Ryo just let out a long sigh of disappointment.
"So you want to know too, huh?" Saitama realized what he had to do. "Okay fine. Genos you listen up too!"
Genos seemed to have a revelation and he struggled to stand up. Ryo watched him from her seated position, curious about what he was going to do.
"Listen up." Saitama started. Ryo watched him with a bored look, knowing how this was going to end. "What matters is continuing this hard training menu." Ryo knew that everyone in the room was certainly questioning what kind of training could lead to having the power of a god. "You must stick with it, no matter how hard. I was able to get this strong in three years. One hundred push-ups! One hundred sit-ups! One hundred squats! And a ten-kilometer run! Every single day!"
Ryo rolled her head back as Saitama continued to describe his harsh but simple training schedule, knowing full well none of it could apply to Genos or Kabuto. The two of them could survive forever under his regime.
"One year later I noticed a change!" Saitama seemed to struggle with the next part. "I was bald! And I'd gotten stronger! In other words, you have to train so hard you lose all of your hair. That's the only way to get strong." His next few words did catch Ryo's attention, he spoke with more passion than she had heard him say in years. "If you're fiddling around with a 'New Humanity' and 'Evolution' you'll never make it. Human strength lies in the ability to change yourself!"
Ryo clapped her hands at his moving speech, but when no one else joined in she stopped, waiting to see who would speak first.
"Master," Genos started, filling the tense air with his equally strained voice. "You are so... Full of crap!"
Ryo pursed her lips and let a little "Woah," leave her lips.
"That is just regular strength training! It is not even that hard!" Genos shouted. Ryo tossed the idea in her head, but 100 push-ups sounded pretty hard to her. "I must become stronger! I didn't come to you for jokes! Your strength is clearly from more than just physical training! I want to know what it is!"
"Genos," Saitama spoke bluntly, "Say what you will, but there isn't anything else."
Genos gasped, he looked to Ryo for any kind of confirmation, but she just shrugged. As far as she knew, the regime Saitama had just said was the only thing he did to become that strong.
Kabuto finally spoke. "Oh, I see how it is..."
Genos and Saitama seemed alert by him suddenly re-entering the conversation. Ryo had a feeling she should be worried about him too, but she just lazily looked over her shoulder at him.
The man who Ryo had presumed to be dead shouted from the entrance. "Carnage Kabuto? Don't do it! Are you going to fly out of control again?"
"Who's he?" Ryo asked Genos.
He curtly responded with, "The doctor behind the House of Evolution."
Kabuto shouted again pulling their attention back to the beast. "Fine don't tell us your secret! You're not stronger than me anyway." Kabuto's body started to transform before their eyes, turning into a brand new monster. Still not feeling any sense of urgency Ryo stayed seated beside Genos. "Now you're making me mad, so I'm going to kill you, little by little!" Kabuto shouted "Carnage mode!" telling Ryo this was his 'special move'. "When I'm like this I lose all reason for a week! My fighting instincts stay on edge. After I kill you, I'll head into town, and rampage until next Saturday!"
"Saturday?" Ryo asked aloud.
Saitama seemed utterly shocked, completely unable to move as Kabuto shouted, "If you're a strong hero, then stop me!" Kabuto landed a harsh punch to the center of Saitama's face, one that Saitama didn't even bother to block. Saitama continued to let Kabuto beat him, mulling over what Kabuto had said.
"Until next Saturday" rang in Saitama's ears.
Ryo heard Genos mumble, "Master?" and a smile spread across her face. Even knowing Saitama had nothing to truly offer him, Genos was still going to follow Saitama. Surely having a disciple would give Saitama something to do.
Ryo got to her feet and patted the dust off her dress. "Just give him a minute, he's still working through it."
"Through what?"
Saitama then suddenly hit back, destroying Kabuto in one punch, as per usual. Distraught Saitama shouted, "Today's bargain day at the supermarket!"
"Through that. Today is Saturday." Ryo said, walking to where Saitama sat, wailing at the missed deals.
"Master!" Genos yelled, running past her to Saitama's side.
Ryo sighed. "I bet they have some great deals on Kombu."
"Don't say that!" Saitama bawled.
"Master, Ryo," Genos spoke ominously. "If we hurry, we could make it back before the supermarket closes."
"Do you think?" Ryo asked.
Saitama scurried to his feet. "Let's go then!" He took off before Ryo could stop him.
"Wait Saitama! You're my ride!" She shouted after him.
Genos then squatted in front of her. "Hop on, we can catch up."
Grinning, Ryo did as she was told. Today was such a great day, getting to ride a cyborg!
Eyo! Four hearts in just three days! I didn't finish this chapter that night.... sorry!
But thanks to the corona quarantine ill be home 24/7 so expect updates!
Also, I'll be going off the manga, not the anime cuz it's easier. I might add a little bit of Anime scenes but I doubt it. Thank you guys so much!!!