The Hero Hunter was lying unconscious in a dark and damp, stone cell. Garou was laid out on a poorly maintained bed, similar to those used in prisons, and was dressed only in his damaged pants. The only other thing to decorate this cell was a small stone table next to the bed's head.
Suddenly, Garou's eyes shot open on his bandage-covered face as he thought in a slight panic, 'Augh! My body feels like shit! What the Hell happened!? Where am I?! I- Wait... I was fighting all those Heroes... The old fart.... After that, the phoenix asshole interrupted and kidnapped me.'
Sitting up, Garou winced and asked himself, 'Why the fuck am I in so much pain?! I thought I was healing faster now or something. Shit! My throat's dry as a rock, and my stomach feels like it's eating itself! I need to get some water and eat something.'
Climbing out of the unkempt bed, Garou noticed the table next to him. On it, there was a note that he swiftly picked up and read the contents of.
"Hero Hunter, you are in the Monster Association headquarters. You're safe here. You can rest here for as long as you need, but please come talk to our leadership as soon as possible."
The very instant he finished reading this, Garou tore the paper apart. He then looked around the room in hopes of finding some new clothes to replace his missing and tattered ones but only found a pair of pants and shoes. Annoyed, he quickly got changed before walking to his cell door and kicking it down.
Walking out of the cell, Garou examined his surroundings and saw that he was in a gray and black stone hallway. While making his way through this structure, Garou found himself reaching one turn in the halls after another. Just as the Hero Hunter began to wonder if these halls had no end, he heard desperate screams that sounded like they were not much further away.
Following the noise, Garou quickly came upon the open entrance to a room. Peaking around the corner, the Human Monster saw a group of Humans in mechanical suits of white and black armor. There were five men and two women, all seven of whom were on their knees, crying like children and begging for their lives.
The circular room itself had a ceiling nearly two-hundred feet off the ground. Lining the walls were podiums filled with hundreds of various hideous monsters who were all cackling, taunting, and threatening the Humans.
"Please don't eat us! Just let us go! We surrendered!" The largest of the Humans pleaded.
"Let me eat them!" "Tear them piece from piece!" "How about we cut them into even pieces and divide them equally among-?" "I want flesh! Give them to me!" The numerous monsters exclaimed.
While the monsters made their ruthlessness clear, the other armored individuals broke down, groveled on the floor, and screamed, "AAAAHH! WE DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE NO!"
As Garou watched these people cower, he wondered, "Did these idiots try to attack the Monster Association? They don't look like Pro Heroes."
Even as these people threw away their pride and begged for mercy, another monster that was sitting by itself on the lowest podium to the ground asked, "You want us to spare you all? Yet you were the ones to invade our base and even killed two of our soldiers. You must know we can't just let you leave after that."
The monster that spoke was tall, fat, and had skin like white clay. In the center of its face was a single, veiny, large eye, yet there was a complete lack of a mouth underneath. It had clumsy-looking segmented arms, with two smaller ones where nipples would have normally been. Lining the monster's oval-shaped head was a ring of more of these same arms that seemed to be acting as antenna of sorts.
Despite not having any oral cavity to speak of, words still came from its head as if this were no issue at all, "Whoever hired you outfitted you all with some high-quality gear. The least you could do is put up a fight until the bitter end. Just about everyone here loves toying with prey that fights back."
"Guh. It's all that robot's fault. Shit! If that thing hadn't shown up, we could've escaped," the lead mercenary complained as he glared at a robot standing beside them that was styled after samurai.
"Hehe, yes. It looks like our advertising paid off. Thank you for this gift. I'm pleased that such promising recruits are still showing up," the one-eyed monster exclaimed.
The samurai robot, gesturing to the Humans, responded, "I came across them on my way here. It seems bringing them to you was a good way to audition."
Raising its arms, the monster replied, "Indeed. Of course, you pass. Would you care to share your name?"
"I am Machine-God G5. I was sent by The Organization to assist the Monster Association. Would you share your name in return?"
"Hmm. I am Gyoro Gyoro. However, what is this Organization? How did we know our location? Can I speak to your boss?"
When asked this, G5 gave no response, allowing for an uneasy silence to build in the room.
"Hrm, well, I guess that's just how it is. We can talk about it later. Regardless, welcome to the Monster Association," Gyoro Gyoro conceded.
As Garou continued observing this scene, he heard a voice in his mind, shocking him.
You can stay hidden for a little longer, Hero Hunter.
What was that?! Some kind of voice in my head...? Telepathy?! Garou thought.
While the Human Monster processed this, Gyoro Gyoro shifted its attention back to the mercenaries and loudly questioned, "Now, what to do with the invaders? Should we eat them, monsterize them, or-?"
"ARRG! FORGET THIS! FIRST COME FIRST SERVED!" A goblin-like monster shouted at it, and two others jumped from their podium at the Humans.
Half-heartedly, Gyoro Gyoro interjected, "Oi, don't act on your own."
However, before this trio of monsters could get very far, all three of them were suddenly hacked into pieces.
"If it's first come, first served, then I want all of them!" A humanoid monster with swords for hands declared. This monster had moved so quickly that only the Demon Level Threats and higher had been able to keep track of it as it raced ahead of the other three monsters and reduced them to mince-meat.
Taking as close of a look as he could at this monster, Garou recognized it as the Royal Ripper, the monster he found in the Hero Association Almanac with Tareo. If his memory served him correctly, he recalled this monster being a Demon-Level Threat.
While extending one of its blade arms into the lead mercenary's face to begin leaving cuts on it, Royal Ripper asked, "You don't mind, right, Gyoro Gyoro? I'm almost at my limit here! I can't hold back my impulses anymore... I want to hear people scream. I feel like I'll go crazy if I don't!"
However, stepping forward, G5 interjected, "If I may throw my opinion into this; the battle suits that these people are wearing are quite powerful. I would estimate that if there were no Demon Level and above fighters among us, then it would require a joint effort of dozens, possibly over one-hundred, of us to stop them. I believe it would be best if we made use of them. However, according to my scans, the suits are designed specifically for each of these individuals. There would be no one else who could use this armor aside from them."
Perking up slightly, Gyoro Gyoro asked, "Hm, interesting. Are you suggesting that we make them fight for us?"
"No, No! Look at these kids! They're too scared to fight against the Heroes! That would be too cruel. It's best if they die right now, right!?" Royal Ripper exclaimed.
As the psychotic monster raised its blade to begin slaughtering, a thorny whip suddenly lashed out and wrapped around it. Turning to see who was interrupting it now, Royal Ripper saw a curvaceous, blond-haired woman dressed in a scanty, spike-covered, dominatrix outfit, including a leather mouth-guard. However, the black heart imprint on her forehead, as well as her black scleras, made it clear that this was no woman but a monster.
While pulling on its whip and smiling with its eyes, the monster woman exclaimed cheerfully, "Don't worry. I'll handle this. I can discipline them and make them mine."
"Royal Ripper, stand down. Let Do-S handle this," Gyoro Gyoro ordered.
With that command given, Royal Ripper lowered its blade arms and began staring at the floor. Despite its obedience, the killer monster's body was visibly shaking from head to toe.
Looking at Do-S with desperate fear, one of the mercenaries asked, "Discipline? What do you mean?! Please just let us go..."
Lashing its painful-looking whip at all the Humans, Do-S exclaimed, "Silence!"
After being struck by the monster's weapon, the Humans' eyes bulged as their pupils became heart-shaped. Suddenly, the white sections of their suits cracked before shattering off as the black sections bulged as if they were swelling muscles.
As the newly brainwashed mercs let out roars of devotion and madness, Do-S cooed, "How interesting. I'm ecstatic to have such wonderful slaves."
"If I may ask a question," G-5 spoke up, waiting for others to pay attention to it before it continued, "Lord Gyoro Gyoro. Are members of the Monster Association allowed to kill each other?" Notably, as the robot asked this question, it glanced at Royal Ripper as the monster let off a killing aura glare at it.
"Well, given our nature, it can't be helped if it occasionally happens. That being said, it's still discouraged. If someone here starts going wild, we can't rightly ignore it. We want to keep our forces up for the coming battle after all."
Looking as if it were about to blow, Royal Ripper hissed out, "... Hehehehe. I smell... another Human." Lowering the tips of its blades to the ground, the monster began to pace while cutting through the stone floor and continuing, "I've sensed it for a while now. Come out."
Without hesitation, Garou stepped out from around the corner and strolled into the massive room. As he walked, the Hero Hunter's senses sharpened to their absolute height, ready for any of these monsters to jump at him.
For reasons he couldn't put his finger on, perhaps fear or rejection of reality, Garou had consciously ignored the largest monster in this room up until now. Some sort of gargantuan monstrosity sitting on and taking up an entire side of the room. It was no wonder it took up that entire area, for if it stood up, this beast could easily stand well over one-hundred-sixty feet tall. It had the general outline of a Human; however, the joints and limbs of its gray and purple, stone-like body were not segmented the way a typical organism's would be. Instead of connecting skin, it seemed as if every area with a joint was vomited out by a series of draconic, razor-toothed maws. Covering the majority of the creature's body was a huge, dirty-white cloak that seemed to be growing out of a purple flesh-nub in its chest. Its face was like that of a Human's, but its complexion was more stone-like there than any other part of its body, giving the impression that this monster couldn't even move its statuesque face, save for a few cracks around its circular mouth. Lastly, as if a crown had grown from its skull, a ring of curved horns protruded from the monster's head.
As Garou diverted his focus away from this titan, Gyoro Gyoro focused its eye on him and greeted, "Hello, Garou. You woke up rather quickly."
Once the Hero Hunter's identity was made clear to the room, all the monsters began to speak up once again, "So that's the Hero Hunter." "Sweet! I'm a big fan of his!" "He got carted here after getting hurt and even got fixed up. No fair!" "Yeah. Why is Lord Gyoro Gyoro giving a Human special attention?!"
"Silence! Lord Orochi and I have important matters to discuss with the Hero Hunter!" At that, a hush took over the room.
Drifting his gaze back over to the colossal creature, Garou wondered internally, 'Orochi? Is that this big bastard here?'
Dividing his attention between Orochi and Gyoro Gyoro, the Hero Hunter asked, "What exactly do you guys want with me?"
Gyoro Gyoro was still the one to talk, answering, "The Monster Association currently consists of roughly five-hundred members. Our numbers just about match the Hero Association's. Unfortunately, after our invasion, we now only have thirty members at the Demon-Level or higher. Even so, the advantage in the coming war is still clearly in our favor. However, as you just witnessed, we lack coordination. Our leadership is too few. As such, I'd like you to become one of our Cadres to assist with this problem."
Stepping out from the crowd of monsters, a short creature made its presence known. It couldn't have stood any taller than three feet and resembled a scrawny man in a black body-suit with a large antenna on its head, and only its ugly, white face exposed.
"You're making him a Cadre right away? You really are playing favorites," the tiny creature accused.
"Of course, he's the perfect person for this. He's an incredibly strong person that wants to topple the Hero Association. He doesn't just have the power, but the resolve as well. He's even gone after S-Class Heroes, ready to take them out at the risk of his own life. However, Monster King Orochi has one condition. We aren't yet sure of your allegiances, so we need you to prove to us that you're a real monster."
Looking unamused, Garou asked, "You want me to grow horns or something?"
"ONE DAY." A deep, booming, growling voice spoke. Turning around with the slightest hint of fear, Garou looked as a voice came out of Orochi's unmoving mouth.
"YOU HAVE ONE DAY TO BRING ME THE HEAD OF A HERO. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO."
The next monster to speak up was a creature that seemed to be a fusion of a body-builder and a beetle.
"That's the easiest way. If you can kill Heroes without hesitation, you're an excellent monster." The beetle man's voice was laced with tones of encouragement and comradery. It was clear by the way this monster talked that it viewed this as a way of becoming chummy with the Hero Hunter.
Refortifying his expression and posture, Garou responded, "If you want bodies, shouldn't the ones Elder Centipede finish off work?"
However, Phoenix Man was next to speak, cutting down this idea by explaining, "I'm afraid not. Elder Centipede was defeated. All those Heroes you were fighting survived."
For a moment, Garou froze. His face was unreadable as he processed the information provided to him. However, he was eventually able to make a request.
"Fine. Give me something to cover up with. My body stands out too much as it is now."
~~~
It was the evening after the monstrosity known as Elder Centipede had been slain. Saitama and his entourage had made their way back to his place, with everyone but One Punch Man, Spider-man, and King having to nurse their wounds.
Bang was laying on the floor and treating his back, which he'd thrown out in all the action, with acupuncture needles. At the same time, Bomb was stretching and massaging his legs, attempting to treat his aching knees from all the running and carrying he'd been doing. Fubuki was simply wrapping bandages around every inch of her hands as they were wrapped around her fingers so she can still be able to clench, move, and flex them,
Genos was keeping himself busy by repairing the toilet in the bathroom.
Lastly, King and Saitama were passing the time by playing a handheld game against each other.
Fubuki approached Bomb and bowed while asking him, "Bomb, if you are willing and able, I'd like to ask for your aid with some light training."
Glancing at his little brother's newest pupil, Bomb asked back with bewilderment, "What's that about, young lady? And don't you need to sit and rest? You nearly died back there."
"Fubuki, what's this about?" Bang added while lifting his head.
Lifting her face up, Hellish Blizzard explained humbly, "Well, with the Monster Association still being a threat, I'm too antsy to sit around. I want to improve on some things I'm lacking. Besides, I heal fast. I'm good at training already."
Sparing a moment's notice, Spider-man thought, 'Already? Huh. Fubuki used to need days. Unless she's self healing with her esper abilities."
"I'm just going outside to practice for a bit. If you aren't in the mood to help, that's fine. I can continue to train on my own," Fubuki explained.
Stroking his beard, Bomb gave Fubuki a ponderous expression before telling her, "Hrm... Well, I'm curious to see what type of training my brother's student does on her own. I'll supervise you, but my knees are killing me, so don't expect me to take a physical role."
"Really?! Thank you so much."
Climbing up on cracking knees, "Alright, cool it, young lady. Now, let's go see what you can do."
~~~
A few minutes later passed by as Spider-man was hearing shouts from outside the apartment complex.
"No, no, no! You need to make sure to rotate your whole arm while you do it! How else do you expect to pull off my techniques?!" The geezer shouted like a drill sergeant.
As she sweated profusely and performed one clawing strike after the other, Hellish Blizzard muttered feebly under her breath, "I mean, I never asked you to teach me your techniques off the bat!"
Even though Bomb was able to hear that just a little he was actually impressed with her ability to quickly adapt to techniques so fast. Truly a prodigy.
An hour later Fubuki was practicing breathing exercises and asked Bomb, "So, if I can pull it off correctly, I can be able to go up to my full potential? I guess Bang was right when he called this Awakening Breath."
Resting on his side, Bomb responded, "Right? If my little brother had gone through with fighting that centipede thing with this technique, then he might be a goner at the age we're at. Speaking of, this is my brother's technique, so I'm not entirely sure if I'm teaching it to you correctly, so be careful. Then again, with how well you heal, maybe Awakening Breath's damage won't be a problem for you."
"I can only hope. Alright, well, if you want, you can head back inside, Bomb. I'm just going to keep practicing what you've shown me for a little more. Or practice it on a few monsters along the way."
~~~
Fubuki was now explaining how everything went down after she had knocked out Spider-man, telling them how the discussion went down with Garou, the whole fight with the other 8 heroes from the start to the end, saving Garou and Tareo's life from Death Gatling, the battle with Elder Centipede, "The hero hunter just wants to seek equality since the hero are always the ones who win in the end, Garou only wants to turn the tables around to become the symbol of "Absolute Evil" to straighten the world out where the people even heroes look in despair seeing how the monster wins in the end instead of the heroes, they way it will make the entire world go against him. When I nearly had the chance to turn in Garou, he was concerned for Tareo's safety before himself. That says a lot about him showing that he's not truly evil at heart. Now the reason for why he chose this path to become a monster in the first place is still unknown."
Spider-man clears his throat to say something, "There goes a saying. 'As kids, we love the heroes but as adults we understand the villains.' I'm guessing that Garou at a young age, his perspective was reversed. The villains always get taken down while the heroes continue to be popular and thrive. Some villains that I've encountered were misunderstood before I actually knew the real them. Flint Marko, a man who fell into a super collider, his entire body was able to morph and shape-shift into anything made from sand, he did a few robberies and bank heists like how he normally would when he was human but the more I learned about him as time passed by, he was doing it because he wanted to help his daughter, Penny who had a sick illness. I chose to do the right thing in the end to help him. I needed help from a few doctors and scientists in making a cure out of my radioactive blood to counteract Flint's daughter's illness and it worked in the end. After that we stopped being enemies. Good and Evil can't always exist without one another while Garou in between both sides when you really think about it. If Fubuki had not been there at all, Garou would've protective that kid from harm's way despite the Heroes not knowing of his presence."
After the heroes around the room had just listened to his story they were actually surprised by it. It showed that most of Spider-man's villains weren't necessarily all that bad at heart. They think that Garou might have the ability to do the same.
"Our enemy is a large organization of what used to be lone wolves," she mumbled softly, "They're likely to work under a powerful boss, we have to work together!" she finished as she stared at Spider-man with worry.
Band stirred as he moved his whole body to face them. "I agree with Miss Blizzard here, the Monster Association might be very dangerous, and things could get worse if Garou joins them. Or in any case, if he does possibly possess a change of heart, he'll go against the Monster Association as well, lending us a hand."
"Yes, and if they're at the same caliber as the monster Elder Centipede, we might all be in trouble," added Bomb with a face twisted due to his worry. "It's best if you retire if they have more monsters like that Bang."
King noted what everyone was saying before he frowned as he looked at Saitama. "It looks like the Hero Hunter you wanted to meet was also at the scene...we just missed him."
"Yeah, I know. Man, I really wanted to meet him." Saitama choked as he lowered his head in sadness.
"When I rescued one of the martial artists at Super Fight, Suiryu told me that heard Goketsu mention that the Monster Association is in City-Z. Here of all places." Spider-man suddenly stood up, preparing to go out. As everyone stared at him in shock as he began to walk towards the front door.
"Spider-man, do you know of Garou's whereabouts!?" Genos asked, impressed.
"No, but I'll search for him, and when I do, I'm going to see what he's made of. Even though Fubuki already had a talk with him just like how I would've, I'm still curious about his level of skill."
Before Spider-man could walk out, Fubuki stood up as well. She was frustrated that no one was either not doing anything, or unable to do anything, and now Spider-man was going out when things were getting very dangerous. She frowned as she questioned herself why he was so reckless all the time. She understood that his powers were no joke, both regular and cosmic but still... someone had to watch over him, and who should do it other than her?
"I said it once, I'll say it again. You're not coming."
"Why can't I go with you?!" she asked Spider-man angrily.
"You said it yourself, it's dangerous, I don't want you getting hurt. Need I remind you that you just came back from fighting a dragon level threat monster."
Fubuki glared at his sudden decision to limit her. "You are not my babysitter Spider-man, I'm older than you, and I've already decided to go with you. You made me believe I could get stronger, now you have to deal with me fighting stronger opponents if you want to see me grow!"
Spider-man sighs, "Fine. But if we run into Garou. I'll fight him first."
"Oh yeah that reminds me. I'm going out too, I need to get some hotpot ingredients." Saitama said as he went to his closet to put on his hero suit as Spider-man and Fubuki exited the apartment.
Bang had an eye open as he stared at the leaving pair of heroes. "Seems Miss Blizzard really does have a liking to Spider-man, truly a magnificent hero at heart. I'm more surprised that she was somewhat able to figure out Garou." he chuckled. He then let out a yelp as Bomb stuck a dozen needles in his back in an instant.
"Best let them be," scolded Bomb as he plucked a needle from Bang's back. "We're much too old to be bothering the youngsters. They're in their prime years after all!"
As they began coughing and laughing softly, King watched as a shaky smile appeared on his face. 'They're pretty amazing together aren't they.' he thought as he continued playing his video game.
~~~
"Can we start off with a side order of fries?" Spider-man asked as Fubuki touched his hand. As she did so, Spider-man's red eyes shifted from a serious glare to a shocked look almost like a lost puppy as his attention shifted to Fubuki. Startled, Fubuki pulled her hair back momentarily before touching it again. Spider-man's eyes went serious as soon as she removed her hand, but as she touched his hand again the puppy eyes returned. Fubuki continued to remove and place her hand on his, getting a reaction out of him while the waiter watched in stunned silence.
As the waiter walked away he couldn't help but scratch his head as he stared at the odd couple. "Why do I always have to serve the weird customers?" he wondered.
Meanwhile, Fubuki continued to amuse herself by touching Spider-man's hand and removing it as she stared at his facial expressions. She began smiling at herself before she removed her hand completely as she got to business.
"So how do you think you'll ever deal with Garou?"
"It's tough to say but he's a questionable man. We know he wants to be the symbol of absolute evil to the entire world, yet the only ones capable of standing up to him are Saitama, and me. He can't necessarily be absolute evil if either of us are going to be there to completely foil his plan. Garou has a soft spot for kids when you mentioned that was concerned for this kid Tareo. He's not an evil person. Has a sense of morality. Wants to become his own villain for a cause that only he's determined to see done. That pretty much sums him up."
"Yeah, but the hardest part would be finding him when we head to the monster association. There's also been reports saying that one of the Hero Association's executives' children was kidnapped and taken hostage. A strike force was sent to infiltrate but they've lost contact."
"Damn it all. We'll most likely deal with strong threats that are demon and dragon level. Hard to believe they were right underneath us the whole time."
"Yeah, hard to believe it either. Even so, do you think Garou might actually be able to become a monster, well by appearance is what I mean, without having the need to take a human life?"
"I think it's possible. A lot of people go through random transformations here and there. Saitama told me about his first monster kill, which was named Crablante, once a man who turned into a crab monster…just by eating a lot of crabs. Killed a bunch of people just making fun of his appearance alone."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, I had a hard time believing it but Saitama is an easy guy to talk with. The guy is an open book."
"He really is. Can't imagine losing all of your human emotions being too strong."
"It could happen to anyone once they realize they have too much power."
"You have too much power."
"Well I like to think that my Cosmic powers are like an on and off switch. Saitama in his case, his strength is like a…broken switch? No matter how much he tries to hold back it'll still be very deadly once he lands the hit."
"Didn't really think of it like that."
The waiter came back with a side order of fries, "Here are your fries."
"Thank you." Spider-man said to the waiter. He pushed the plate, "Want the first fry?"
Fubuki giggled, "Aw, still the sweetheart I know and love."
Spider-man chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh come on."
Fubuki bites half the fry, "I can tell your blushing under the mask."
"W-what no I'm not." Spider-man said, trying to deny it.
Someone screamed, "WAIT COME BACK, WE HAVE A DINE AND DASHER!"
Fubuki jumped as Spider-man tried to shoot a web to the dine and dasher but barely missed the runner by a hair.
"Sorry Fubuki! There's a Dine N' Dasher! I have to catch him! I'll pay you back!" he yelled as sprinted after whoever ran away.
Fubuki smiled after her shock subsided. Spider-man was willing to stop a criminal even if it meant interrupting a date. 'A true hero at heart like always!' She thought.
~~~
Meanwhile, Garou had stopped running long ago after leaving the restaurant behind. He patted his satisfied stomach after having eaten all the food they offered back at the restaurant, and now that his hunger was gone, he was free to think again. He wore a black, long sleeve shirt that was stuck to his body, showing his defined and trained muscles out to the world. He also still had his black martial arts shoes and black pants that made him appear like a shadow at night, the street lamps being the only thing that made him visible in the dark. His head was pounding as he remembered what had transpired after he woke up after his fight with all the heroes the earlier that day. He had woken up in an old bed in an underground tunnel system, and after listening to voices in a large cavern-looking place, he had stepped out only to be surrounded by monsters. There had been countless monsters, but what had really stuck with him was the giant horned humanoid being that loomed behind him. It had given him the "opportunity" to kill a hero in less than one day if he wanted to have an opportunity of joining their operation. He scoffed at the idea.
"I'm not gonna listen to those clowns," he thought, "what kind of logic is that? So I have to kill a hero for their approval? That would make me a hero killer... but I just want to strike fear into the hearts of others even when I'm not there... ugh my head hurts." He continued walking down the abandoned streets of city Z before hearing yelps and laughter. As he looked down, he was surprised to see the ugly kid he had been with when he fought the heroes... he was getting bullied by a group of kids...
He felt his jaw clench with bubbling anger as he looked at what was happening. "CUT IT OUT!" he yelled as he clenched his hand into fists. The kids who were bullying the ugly one, looked up in fear as they saw a dark figure looking over the pier as he looked at the street he was on. As they looked around, they saw that the entire area around them was consumed by darkness, the only being around was the figure above them who seemed to drill into their beings with just his sight. As they ran away, Garou jumped down as he approached the kid who lay on the floor crying.
"Yo, what a surprise we met twice on the same day... I feel sorry for you," Garou said softly as he stood in front of the kid. "You're not doing yourself any favors by crying."
"U-uncle?" the kid responded as he continued to cry.
"I'm not your uncle, I'm only 18!" snapped Garou as he beat his chest. He started walking again as he shoved his hands into his pockets, it's getting late, monsters are gonna start popping out."
The kid struggled to get up before running up to Garou. As he grabbed on to the back of his shirt, the kid continued to tug on it until Garou looked at him with pity.
"U-uncle I-I-I'm sorry I ran away... I saw all the heroes attack y-you," sobbed the kid as he looked up at Garou. "It- it must have been a misunderstanding! You and Blizzard saved me! You must be a hero-" he stopped as he saw Garou's eyes bulge with anger. Although he could not see his normal eye from the shadow, the bloodshot one was clearly visible as it glared at him.
"Stop!" he hissed, "that got me stick to my stomach-"
"Hey, Dine and Dasher!" yelled Spider-man as he walked up to Garou. "Don't be a cheapskate and leave without paying for your food!" Spider-man walked past Garou as he continued walking, his face hidden in the dark except for the red eyes. "I'll let you off with a warning! Next time you might not be so lucky"
As he continued to walk away, Garou clenched his fists as he looked at Spider-man who was getting farther and farther away, "Brat, who is that?"
"Uh, that's Spider-man." Tareo answered.
The veins in his forehead were prominent as he began to walk behind Spider-man.
'Are you kidding me!?' He thought as he started to walk faster and faster as he began to catch up to Spider-man. 'First the Monster Association pitied me, told me that the old geezer and his gang survived, and gave me an 'opportunity' to become one of them! And now Spider-man decides to 'let me go' out of the goodness of his heart!? I know I've fucked up if even low-life heroes take pity on me! I lack determination, my feelings of relief after hearing my old sensei surviving have made me understand this…' He finally caught up to Spider-man.
"Hey!" He snarled as he raised his fist. Before he could even react.
Spider-man slammed his fist back into his face casually, sending him flying. Spider-man blinks in surprise as he looks behind him seeing the man he accidentally knocked out.
"Oh whoops, sorry!" Spider-man walks up to Garou, pressing two fingers on his neck as he feels his pulse, "Wait, he's fine. Just unconscious. Phew." He sighs in relief as he jumps up to web swing away.
~~~
Garou woke up a while later, he was surprised to see it was even darker outside... 'Did I pass out?' He thought as he noticed the kid in front of him. He started trying to ask him what had happened, they both stared at each other in silence as they heard a blade being dragged on the floor. Garou immediately got up as he snapped his head to attention at the two High Demon-Level monsters who walked in front of him, Royal Ripper and Bug God.
Royal Ripper appeared to be a human, he had long matted hair and crazy eyes...but that's where all the similarities to a regular person ended. His appendages were wrapped in bandages, making his face the only visible piece of skin. And where his hands should have been, two long and sharp blades glinted in the moonlight as he stared at Garou. Bug God stood next to him, and he was a hulking and more muscular one of the two. He was like a large beetle, but with muscular bug appendages, but his eyes showed clear signs of intelligence. As they both continued to draw closer to Garou, he stood up and placed the kid behind him with a protective hand.
"That simply cannot do..." hissed Royal Ripper as he brandished his two blades while looking at Garou with Killer intent. Out of the two monsters, he seemed to be the one that was the most eager in getting his hands bloody. "I've been watching you this whole time," Royal Ripper continued, "first you save this kid, and then you get beaten by that hero..."
"It's clear that you're not a monster, and you have yet to abandon your humanity," added Bug God.
Royal Ripper's face perked up, and despite having a mask of bandages, it was clear that he was smiling as he stared at the kid. Garou, noticing this, yelled at him to run away as he took a stance and faced both monsters. As Royal Ripper and Bug God glared at Garou, they began rushing forward as Garou simply waited for them. Seeing what was about to happen, the kid finally mustered the courage to use his legs and run away. Before he could make it more than 200 meters, his foot was caught by a slimy appendage as he was dragged back.
~~~
The home of Saitama was bursting with anticipation.
Eight figures, Saitama, King, Bang, Bomb, Genos, Spider-man, Fubuki, and Kuseno, were gathered around a hot pot, waiting for it to finish cooking as delicious scents wafted off of it. Each of the individuals had a bowl and a pair of chopsticks in their hands, ready to make use of both.
While everyone else was anticipating the meals they were about to enjoy. Suddenly, as the pot began to boil, Saitama thought to himself, 'It's ready.' With that, he lifted his chopsticks.
However, much to his confusion, everyone else had done the same, as if to race him.
Instantly, as all the superhuman individuals thrusted their chopsticks into the hotpot, food quickly began to fly everywhere. Very quickly into this carnage, a stray hand glanced by King's face, knocking him out.
With his gourmet hotpot flying around his home, all Saitama could do was internally scream in rage.
As pieces of food were in the air, Blizzard noticed a piece of the beef and used her powers to bring it over to herself. However, as soon as she was about to snatch it out of the air, Genos swiped it away first.
"What do you think you're doing with Master's meat!?" The Demon Cyborg asked with a bloodthirsty tone.
Spider-man sends a glare at Demon Cyborg, "Speak to Fubuki in such a manner again, I will obliterate you."
Glaring back at Genos, Blizzard questioned, "Demon Cyborg. Are you two truly satisfied working under Saitama?"
While swiping as many pieces of tofu as he could to fill his bowl, Bang made an attempt to broker peace, "Come now, you three. A hot pot is about sharing in harmony."
"Stop taking all the tofu!" Bomb yelled.
Suddenly Fubuki looked down at her hands to find a bowl full of cabbage and beef was presented in front of her.
"Thought you might still be hungry since our date was canceled due to the Dine and Dasher." Spider-man exclaimed in the coolest-sounding voice he could muster.
"And as for you, Silverfang." Just then, Spider-man dramatically presented his chopsticks to Silver Fang, each one having two pieces of tofu skewered on them.
"As any hero of your caliber and dedication. As such, I made sure to grab whatever you couldn't, consider it as thanks for helping Fubuki continue to grow."
Both of them feeling somewhat overwhelmed by Spider-man's sudden demeanor shift, the two took their allies' offerings into their hands without thinking.
Looking from the chopsticks to his ally, Bang asked, "Um, Spider-man? What are you going to eat?"
"Yeah come to think of it, I noticed that you didn't eat anything at all today since I saw you this morning." Saitama said.
Spider-man declared, "You don't need to worry about me. I... I'll simply use my cosmic powers to stop my hunger since I don't need to eat."
With her jaw having dropped, Blizzard wondered, 'What...? Seriously he's been starving this whole time and yet he still puts others before himself?'
At once, both Bang and Fubuki looked deathly serious at Spider-man and told him, "Spider-man! That's clearly not healthy!"
When confronted with this response, Spider-man shot his eyes open, frowned, and asked, "Huh?" When he saw Fubuki's death glare he shrunk at her gaze. Even if he were to go into Cosmic form, he would still shiver at the sight, 'Wow, she is beautiful even when she is angry.'
Silverfang then put the chopsticks back in Spider-man's hands while giving him a stern glare.
"Eat something nutritious, or your body will give out on you before you even reach your prime, young man!" Bang exclaimed while grabbing at his aching back.
Saitama then put over half of what was in his own bowl and handed what remained to Spider-man.
As Spider-man gave Saitama a confused and grateful look, One Punch Man asked him, "Seriously, dude. Why didn't you say you weren't eating?"
A look then reappeared on Saitama's face as an idea occurred to him.
"Okay! While Spider-man gets what he needs to eat, everyone else, stop mooching off me and go home already," the world's strongest Hero exclaimed with a smile.
Swallowing some of the food she'd gathered, Blizzard exclaimed, "What come on Saitama, we're having a good time here. No need to be pushy. Besides, I'm not going anywhere as long as Spider-man is perfectly healthy and fine. Afterwards, the both of us can head next door and rest…Or practice a few new techniques."
Fubuki could simply wink at Spider-man who had already been scarfing down food as fast as he could when Fubuki made her remark. Thankfully everyone else was oblivious to what Fubuki meant by that. Not knowing they were oblivious, Spider-man tried to speak up to clear things up as fast as he could but instead broke out into a coughing fit as cabbage and beef clogged his airway.
Clenching his metal fists, Genos glared at Blizard and exclaimed, "How dare you call Master Saitama pushy! I believe it is time that I eliminate you!"
"Sorry old habits die hard, toaster." Fubuki replied.
Panicked, Saitama turned to his top student and shouted, "Genos, stop! You'll break stuff!"
As all the shouting went on, everyone seemed as if they were oblivious to Spider-man's wheezing as he writhed on the floor and punched himself in his chest in a desperate act of survival.
Placing a hand on Genos' shoulder, Dr. Kuseno told him, "Genos, stop that. That's not like you."
"Yes, Dr. Kuseno," the blonde cyborg replied immediately.
Smiling at him, Kuseno continued, "Regardless, it's nice to see this side of you. Sitting down, enjoying a hot pot, and being able to speak openly with friends."
Looking to his surrogate father, Genos responded, "Doctor... This she-devil is no friend of mine."
Grimacing, Blizzard commented, "Well, that's rude. Besides, I can take you on, no sweat."
"I mean, you and Ms. Fubuki here are co-workers after all, right?" Kuseno questioned.
Shaking his head, Genos explained, "We are co-workers, yes. But that is very different. While I still find Spider-man very incredible, much like Master, after recent events, I have been forced to admit to myself that I do care for him to the extent that I could consider us friends."
'He's never disagreed with me so fiercely... I suppose that's good too. Shows that he's growing,' Kuseno thought to himself.
Suddenly, another smile appeared on the old man's face as he asked, "Wait, so you've been able to truly make friends? I'm so happy to hear that, Genos. I'm sure Spider-man is relieved to hear that as well."
Unfortunately, as Genos and Kuseno discussed this, Spider-man had finally managed to dislodge the blockage in his windpipe. This distracted him from hearing as Genos made at least a small acknowledgment of their bond.
Despite him now gasping for air on the ground, there was still no one who noticed the entire ordeal Spider-man had just been through.
"I-I swear... I could see the light…and May... for a minute there," Spider-man wheezed to himself.
As the spider-themed hero crawled off the ground, the party's conversations continued, with Genos snapping at anyone who tried to ask Saitama or Kuseno for anything. Before Spider-man could join back in with the talking, he took notice of the fact that King was on the ground as well.
Cocking a red eye, Spider-man addressed the room, "Uh, guys? Does anyone know what's wrong with King?"
Shifting his sitting position to turn around, Saitama asked, "What? Hey, King, what are you doing?" Getting up and walking over to him, Saitama continued, "Hey, dude. You can't sleep here. Hey...! Is he dead?"
"I still detect life signs from him, Master. I believe King is simply unconscious, though I could not tell you why," Genos reassured.
As Genos said this, Spider-man had made his way back to the table and shoved down everything left in his bowl.
~~~
In an empty street where Spider-man had previously encountered the dine and dasher, a figure lay on the floor, soaking in a large puddle of his own blood.
Garou had pushed the kid behind him... he had engaged the monsters at the same time...he was on the verge of attacking them after memorizing their own attacks... the kid got caught by a sludge monster, and then... Garou's eyes snapped open as the memories bubbled back to the surface. His body quivered and he struggled to get up as the blood that lay around him stuck to his body and slipped off as he got up.
"Why did I fall asleep!? It hurts... OWOWOWOOO..." Garou finally managed to stand up as he tried to remember what had happened. As he looked up, a fool mun greeted him, the light reflecting off his pool of blood as he stared down at it. "I remember losing to the monsters... I looked at the kid as he got captured and at that moment Royal Ripper sliced my back and they both began to pound me into a pulp... but why am I not dead?" he wondered.
His eyes opened wide as he looked around him. The brat was nowhere to be seen! Had they taken him? "It doesn't concern me," he concluded, "I gotta stop my bleeding first..." he looked down at his clothes as he started patting the spots where he had felt his injuries. After realizing no blood was coming out, he looked at his body in confusion. "it stopped already? The clothes have completely stuck to my wounds... and they've hardened to the point where I can't even take them off..."
Garou cracked his neck and stretched his muscles as he felt his energy return. As he looked up at the moon, he snapped his head back down, a mask of determination coming onto his face as he stared off into the distance. It was time to pay the Monster Association a little visit.