The Finale of the Dark Matter Thieves Arc, right before we transition into the Resort Arc (probably where I'm gonna make the biggest relationship move because y'know it's a classic move from these fanfictions but also because it does work really well. I just think it works best for their characters in terms of the canon and just how they work).
Anyways, everything's starting to look pretty good. Rehearsal is oddly smooth, learning my lines just fine, and so is school. I'm enjoying it and *totally* enjoying losing all hours of sleep possible to make it through all honors courses! Totally! Yeah! Woohoo!
But, yeah, hope you enjoy the chapter!
Initial Release Date: February 26, 2020
~~~~~
How long has it been since I have come across a worthy opponent? How many years have I been led on this journey? How much more does one have to wait until their culmination comes in the form of their dream, the form of their desire?
I suppose there is little hope to be had now. While Groribas was strong, I too could realize at first glance that he was nowhere near me, let alone my species. When I had heard from Geryuganshoop that an intruder had defeated him, I admit that at first, I was slightly intrigued; alas, I still know that hope is futile.
My crew, too, has lost most of their hope. They think me an idealistic fool, chasing a dream they feel has no end, a tunnel in which light will never enter.
This is still my only hope. I, while not generally trusting in mystical forces beyond that of the universe in my grasp, was rather quick to learn about this...type of 'fortune teller,' who had made multiple accurate descriptions of others prior to my arrival. Supposedly, anyone who had gone to her, whether or not they wanted their future to come true, it played out exactly as she said it was. Naturally, as the leader of the Dark Matter Thieves, one of the most notorious organizations in the universe, I decided to see for myself the credibility of this teller; the likelihood that anyone would even be able to stop me was slim to none.
I had heard millions of times over from my crew, from the crew's quarters to the artillery management to even my most powerful generals between Melzargard, Groribas, and Geryuganshoop, that this mysterious teller was constantly travelling. What a wonderful convenience, clearly. Her fame was as well known as her mystery. While billions have told tales of the mysterious teller, only a handful had a firsthand encounter.
I first regarded it as a little side quest, something that could be searched for in the meantime whilst I had my own aspirations, building my own regime while looking for my own worthwhile opponent. Yet, as time passed, before I realized it, this search slowly spiraled into a mad hunt for the teller; I had sent out thousands of my men to search for this mysterious teller, in multiple galaxies, multiple planets, everywhere in search of this teller.
Lo and behold, it was Geryuganshoop who had caught tale of her arrival in a planet only 27 ekorrs away from where I was finishing up upgrades on the war queen that is Komatsky, named after the god of power of my species.
And in an instant, Komatsky's upgrades were top priority, as we had been searching for this teller for what might have been eons. Following the lead that Geryuganshoop had found, it was the first time that any of our leads had a solid trail. Fortunately, it was also the one that had yielded a result.
When I found her, she appeared to have this aura, one befitting of a goddess, beauty radiating and yet power flourishing at the same time. In a sense, it did seem like the rumors were true: she had been blessed by a supernatural force with the ability to look into an individual's future.
And what do I ask? I had been pondering that for centuries, and had been prepared quadrillions of times over.
"Will I find the one who can quench my thirst for combat?" I asked. Quite the opposite of colloquial, mind you; it reminded me of an ancient pretentious philosopher I had heard about during my strenuous studies in adolescence: Socrates, if I recall correctly.
"In time, Boros," she whimsically whispered. "You will find one who is your equal and provide you a battle of which you shall always recall fondly.
"Yet, for this journey to your dream, I warn you..." That was the catch part that most of the Dark Matter Thieves never kept up with. The mere thought of a drawback was enough to catch my ire, yet I relented an attack on what seemed to be one who wielded pure wisdom. "It will be a strenuous journey. You must search first, from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, for this individual. They will be fighting for their species, their own dream, and for their loved one; you must be prepared to find this individual in a time when the world that they live in is in a crisis."
That was an encounter well over two centuries ago. I had been ravaging entire galaxies, ridding this universe of species I found either inept in combat, or choosing to make those with potential my own soldiers. Whether or not the teller implied a peaceful route, she seemed to be accepting of who I was. It was as if she knew precisely everything I've done, every crime I had committed, and still gave me a lead to my only goal. For a reason unbeknownst to me, she said it in a way that I chose to take to violence, despite her seemingly infinite wisdom. Strange, I know, but it seems the path of knowledge cares not about morality.
Galaxies have been left in my wake, but this? This may be the day. I may have lost hope in most other things, but I still hold hope that perhaps one day, I will be able to find the one who stimulates my need for battle, one who challenges my very will to live.
Perhaps, one day, the power of this feeble love for others and this feeble empathy for one's own species over their own survival will prove its merit.
And perhaps, one day, this prophecy the teller forged will be fulfilled.
~~~
How long has it been since I've felt that rush when I fight monsters? Three years? Feels like thirty if you ask me. Every single time I think I might be fighting something cool, it just ends up being...boring, like when I had a cool dream once fighting this thing called the Subterranean King, and then when I fought it in real life.
I haven't really had that rush for battle since then. I mean, I guess I had in that dream, but does it really count? Probably not.
Not to be mean to the people I know, though. Genos is getting pretty strong, Fubuki's pretty impressive, and the other S-Class heroes look like they can hold their own.
Except Pure Prison...whatever that hero name is supposed to mean.
Tats, too. She's super strong, and pretty funny too. Maybe she was like me one day, y'know, fighting to find something strong enough to fight, and maybe she got it. Maybe she ended up fighting the thing that made her burst out in excitement when she fought the Vaccine Man, and maybe overexerted herself.
Nah, that doesn't make sense for Tats. She likes finishing everything off quickly and then if they survive, then maybe she'll be intrigued in it. And maybe that's why she's more cheery than when I first met her. She seemed really aggressive towards me then.
So, maybe when she fought Vaccine Man, she was happy for once. Maybe she found what made her happy, and what really mattered. Who knows. I mean, I'm happy for her, for sure. I'm glad that she fought something strong enough to spark that love for fighting again, something that reminded her why life is precious or whatever. I haven't really got a reason to believe whatever pretentious stuff I'm saying anyways.
Maybe I'm just jealous or something. Am I? Who knows. I don't even think I've felt much of anything except when there are sales or when I'm around Tats. I know, weird with Tats and not Genos or Fubuki, but I think she's easier to tease. Besides, I know for a fact that sales are really important even if I am an S-Class hero.
Well, I mean, I think that the last time I really had enjoyed fighting was maybe a few weeks before I had gone bald. I was getting stronger and all, and working out was actually becoming easier, and fighting other monsters was still fun.
It's been what now? A year and a half since I've gone bald? And here I am, one of the apparent strongest heroes in the organization, being in there for a few months now. And nothing new's come along. The Deep Sea King, that one ninja dude, everything that's gone on, and it's all so...
Boring.
Even Vaccine Man, who was reported as the strongest thing that we've fought that's been registered so far, just died in a punch. Something that made Tats tired, something that made probably the strongest person I know lose, just died from one punch.
It's so...weird that everything's going on like this. Even this alien ship, something that probably came from an entire galaxy away or something, just isn't doing anything. I've been punching everything I've come across and they've all just splattered against the wall. The only thing that hasn't completely exploded into bits was that plant-human-monster guy, and his head still went out in one punch.
Well, I think that's something not a lot of people can really relate to. I mean, almost everyone's got their own passion. Acting, sports, even math for some people. But I feel like not a lot of people have ever...lost that passion. Just up and lost their will to do the thing they loved. And honestly, I feel like that's even worse than not being able to do the thing that you love every day.
Loving something to the point that you give your all to it, waking up every day looking forward to it, and then one day, you just wake up and don't feel like doing it, not even enjoying it, it's weird.
And, it's even weird for me to think about things this deeply. It's like I've just been doing things so monotonously that I'm not even me. Am I? With how rare I really feel any emotion?
I really need to find something that'll make me feel really happy again. Something, somewhere, someone. Anything would work at this point. It's just so boring to do things in such a continuous way that doesn't seem like it'll get anywhere.
And now I'm here, running around in an alien ship destroying anything I come across, and I haven't even come across the leader of this place. I'm here because I met Tats, met Genos, became a professional hero even though it's just a habit, and now I'm here because of this future teller who can only predict disasters. And of course, her prediction isn't even specific enough to say whether or not this is even the real threat.
I mean, the Sitch dude did consider this thing something really important, calling it an entire prophecy of some sorts, but of course I wouldn't just stay in the Hero Association building for six months. That's just boring and plain and I wouldn't even get to fight anything. Tats and Genos would probably get really bored and annoyed with how long they'd be waiting instead of doing something.
Well, maybe the monster-enemy thing in the prophecy will be the fight I want to fight.
~~~
"Well, well, well," Tornado taunted Melzargard, "The cannon fire will do what now?" As the thousands of gigantic bullets flew back up into the ship, causing multiple explosions and tons of shrapnel to fly, she smirked at the monster whilst slowly lowering. As the last of the bullets crashed against the ship's hull, she clicked her tongue in satisfaction at the monster, who just realized how unlikely it was for him to beat her.
"Miss Tatsumaki!" Genos called out, sprinting towards her with Fubuki trailing behind him. "Is there any update on Sensei?"
She shook her head, "Nothing yet, Cyborg. What about you guys? Anything going on? Find anyone?" At she end, she lightly grunted as she sent entire skyscrapers' worth of debris up to the ship to cause more damage.
"Not really, Sis, but we did find...something," Fubuki continued carefully, unsure how to phrase it. "You see, what we did find was a message. While we were still inside the Hero Association headquarters, Genos came across a message that was stored in some file cabinet but was shaken."
"And? What did it say?" Tornado asked, curious yet impatient while hurling more buildings.
"The Monster Association is coming."
Tornado whirled around at the mention of the 'Monster Association', "What?"
"Apparently, the reason that City Z is so infested with monsters and why nobody lives there is because of this Monster Association, designed to be the antithesis of humanity's existence. I believe that their leader, while unknown, is competent enough to form strategic attacks and to communicate with humans competently. Furthermore, it is theorized that they may be behind the recent surge in monster sightings," Genos explained, looking at both the alien ship and the heroes fighting down below.
"And according to the file, the Monster Association's also supposed to be planning an attack on some important figures in the Hero Association as a way to lay waste to the world, and apparently is in possession of some extremely powerful monsters, their elite force nearly completely comprised of Dragon-Level Threats," Fubuki finished, on guard. She couldn't believe that the Hero Association was withholding that much information from them.
"Damn it, of course they didn't tell any of us," Tornado grit her teeth. "They know that the Baldy lives there and is practically containing it all on his own since he just walks around killing any monster he sees. They don't even think it's that big a concern yet, but wait till they see whatever bullshit that Monster Association is planning."
As the three of them continued to converse, with their own individual attempts to damage the ship, the battle on the ground transpired. With each swing of Melzargard's hammer, his power seemed to exponentially increase.
I may not be able to beat that short brat over there, but I can definitely take on these enemies! Lord Boros can take care of her when he comes down here after the ship does the work! Melzargard assured himself as Atomic Samurai took another swing at the monster.
"Hm, you seem to have helped me, actually," a familiar voice called out, accompanied with the cracking of elder joints. "I suppose I should repay you for your kindness."
"You live?!" Melzargard turned to the source of the voice, already knowing who the voice belonged to. It was none other than that of Silver Fang, who had clearly survived the monster's blow. Even though he had been sent flying, his muscles and body seemed to be in perfect condition, suffering seemingly no damage.
"Hey. Pay attention," the dark voice of Atomic Samurai called out. Before Melzargard could even react, hundreds of thousands of sword swings cleaved straight through his body. Miniscule cubes of the monster's flesh split apart, floating into pieces with the marble somewhere in the massive piles of tiny clumps.
"Insolent Buffoon!" Melzargard taunted once more, beginning his reforming process.
"Hm, I suppose you did not think this one through," Silver Fang calmly stated, walking up to the reforming Melzargard. "You always move your central organ around to minimize the probability that any of us make contact. I respect that. However...
"Your regeneration always begins with your head, so that's where it should be right now," he stated, jamming his hand deep within the tornado of connecting flesh to grasp the marble. "After seeing it so many times, even a monkey could figure it out." Reaching back, proving his theory, the red marble was right between his fingers, as his arm was surrounding the partially regenerated forehead of Melzargard.
"Checkmate."
Before any scream of retaliation could come, before any last words could be said, the marble was crushed, and the last of Melzargard was seen then.
"Wondrous performance, everyone!" Puri Puri Prisoner complimented, chuckling proudly.
"Oi, Silver Fang, don't steal my kill next time," Atomic Samurai jested, sheathing his sword once again.
"Piece of crap," Metal Bat spat at the sludge-like corpse of the monster. "Well, now that's done with, but the real problem is: how are we gonna deal with the flying ship up there?"
"Well, it looks like Tornado's already done a lot of damage to it, but I'm unsure if there's anything else that we could do to help out," Silver Fang sighed. "I hate to admit it as much as I hate feeling useless in these scenarios, but I feel it would be best to leave the task up to her."
"Well, what about the new S-Class heroes? Genos...and...what was his name again?" Puri Puri Prisoner questioned, unsure of who had recently joined their ranks.
"Saitama," Atomic Samurai informed. "Well, Genos is assisting Tornado in damaging the ship in the company of Fubuki. I don't even think I've seen the baldy ever since we started to head outside. Any of you?"
As the heroes shook their heads, Metal Bat complained, "If he even thought about ditching now, I'll have to introduce him to my bat!"
"Do not fret, colleagues," Bang assured. "If anything, I am near certain that he may be inside the ship taking care of the enemies on the inside.
"And before you have any further concern, I can assure you that he is powerful; being the one finally able to break the meteor into shards when even Tornado struggled to destroy is a feat in of itself," he finished, gazing up at the ship.
"I suppose that if there is anyone who will prevent the prophecy, it would be him."
~~~
Uh oh. I'm lost. I really don't know how to get out of here.
Maybe I can punch my way out? I mean, I've been punching everything in here and it's all been destroyed, so maybe if I just keep punching in one direction, I'll either find the boss of this place or make a hole where I can just jump out of.
Hey! Don't go any further! Exit immediately!
"What? I thought I heard a voice in my head...that's weird," I comment, scratching the side of my head in confusion. I don't think that voice is anything I'd come up with, so that's a bit weird.
I guess I should talk to the thing if I'm going a bit crazy, "I can't! I don't know how to find my way out, even if I wanted to!"
W-Wait, really, you'll leave! T-Then I'll guide you! Just keep heading the way you're going! The voice directed me, and I just jogged along the hallway, which seemed like it didn't have any monsters in it. Maybe they all evacuated or something, like the cities do.
"There's this fork in the road! Where do I turn now?!" I questioned, pretty stupidly. I mean, it probably looked pretty stupid since it looked like I was actually willing to just up and leave without doing anything else useful in this ship.
Take a right now! The voice continued, really optimistically. Poor guy, especially since I was just gonna do the opposite. As I turned to the right, a really sadistic smile came onto my face.
"Guess I'll go left," I shrugged, and began to jog down the hallway. As the voice kept blubbering about turning the other way, really panicked and all, I came across a door. Well, there's only one thing to do now, I guess.
I just threw another punch at the annoyingly big door, and realized then that it reminded me of this game...what was it again? Dim Soul? Well, whatever it was, it quickly just vanished from my mind as I nearly went blind from how bright the damn monitors in the room were. It was just an entire wall filled completely with monitors, and blue tentacles wiggling around.
I mean, there were other monsters in the room, but the only one that I noticed was the gigantic blue octopus thing that was in the center of it all, watching the monitors before turning around to look at me. He gasped, and I just blinked in response, as if these monitors totally didn't allow him to see the fact that I was the surprise intruder.
Total surprise.
"Y-You're not supposed to be here," the octopus stammers. Wait a minute, that's the voice that I was hearing earlier! That's what was guiding me out of here! I mean, it's not as disgusting as some of the other monsters I've seen.
"So are you the boss of this place? Since you seem to use like telekinesis or something? Cause there's this girl down there that I know that can do the same thing," I ramble, nearly yawning. Weirdly enough, the last thing's what seems to upset the monster as he tries to be intimidating. He just begins to loom over me, his yellow eyes glowing brighter and the room seeming darker as his tentacles begin rising and blocking the light from the monitors.
"I am Geryuganshoop!" The octopus declares, his voice much more distorted than it was before. Why is that? Why does ever monster just transform, but when they have a much huger size, their voice doesn't change but just gets a bit more distorted and not deeper?
"Geryuganshoop, right-hand man to Lord Boros, leader of the Dark Matter Thieves and Conqueror of Worlds!" He just shouts at that point, and objects start floating in the air. The ground suddenly starts creaking, and the other monsters in the room with us just start falling to the floor. Why's he doing this? Did I offend him or something?
"I am the MOST POWERFUL TELEKINETIC BEING IN THE UNIVERSE!" He belts, and it's then that I realize something; he's insecure, and he wants to make sure that I 'know' that he's more powerful than Tats or whatever.
The ground cracks from underneath me, and even though I don't feel any force on my body, gravity's getting stronger. I can just see it, from how weird vertical lines are popping up out of nowhere like in a cartoon, the monsters are being crushed into some weird slime, and the ground is just breaking downwards as this octopus keeps trying to crush me like it did all the other monsters.
"Telekinetic Shower of Rubble!" He calls out, lifting up a bunch of the rocks and debris around me even though he was the one who caused this destruction to his own ship. "With my own powers, I can eliminate the factor of friction and launch all these objects towards you at near-light speed, guaranteed to pierce through your body as if it was water!"
Doesn't seem like these pebbles are doing anything to me, but okay. I just wait out the windy rocks that are flying around me, and I think three of them even make contact with me.
I sigh, taking a step forward after I see him huffing and then gasping in surprise after seeing that I survived his tornado of kindergarten slingshot ammo as I pick one of the small rocks up, "You can't just throw rocks willy-nilly like that. You're probably not gonna hit anyone like that. You gotta aim, like this." I glance at the rock, then at him, and sling the rock right between his eyes, instantly splitting it in half.
Uh? He's dead already? Wasn't he supposed to be powerful? I start to blink a bunch of times, then carefully step over the guy's corpse. I don't think it would be best to get my shoes all muddy; those would take absolutely forever to clean up in the laundry.
Well, I guess it doesn't matter since a bunch of the monitors are falling apart to show that there wasn't even a wall there, just an endless supply of monitors. I see this weird purple light shine in from the next room, with a whole ton of pillars and what looked like a throne at the far end.
Walking into the room, getting closer to that weird-looking throne, I start seeing a monster up there. Must be the leader of this ship. The room itself is huge too, just like the throne. The pillars are filled with these weird carvings and go up to God-knows-where.
"So you've finally arrived," the guy from the throne says calmly.
~~~
This man who stood in front of me. I had no idea at the time, yet I had a small inkling of his power just at first glance.
I'll be the first to admit, this man, he wasn't exactly whom I'd expect to wield unending power like I used to. In fact, I half-expected the warrior to be this gargantuan figure wielding weaponry, and having some sort of telekinetic power.
Or at least for the warrior to have hair. Though, as I've mentioned before, my various studies in multiple fields have taught me multiple things, and the one that has proven to be most useful in battle? Well, it's quite clear.
Never underestimate your enemy, no matter how strong or weak they are. That is the greatest factor of loss in war. Proven time and time again, from the largest intergalactic wars to small, local events. A lesson that all should heed, and one that I held close. A mantra, of sorts.
Once I rose whilst he walked closer, the power that emanated from him increased tenfold, and with each step, my senses were nearly awakened. I needed no moment of deliberation, no time to think. My instincts were blaring, a cacophony of signals yelling to be wary, to make peace, and it was exhilarating. I knew then that this man right here?
He was the man foretold when I spoke with the teller.
"So you've finally arrived," I spoke, my bloodthirst nearly getting the better of me then. Looking back, I should've known then that holding back at all, not going into my strongest form, was unwise. Perhaps I could've enjoyed it more then, though I still hold little regret for my decisions.
"You have defeated my subordinates, Geryuganshoop and Groribas most splendidly!" I congratulated him, rather impressed. "And if you were to come into contact with Melzargard, I am certain he too would be little match for you; multiple of your allies on the ground seemed to have had severe trouble with him, but eventually eliminated him. I doubt you would have had that same struggle."
As I walked down to him, he seemed rather bored. He was in the same predicament I was in, and I was prepared to give him a fight that would satisfy both of our bloodlusts. The desire to fight resonates deep within both of us, and I am prepared to fulfill my destiny, whether or not the fight leaves him standing.
"Before we fight, allow ourselves an introduction," I stopped in front of him, restraining my power to speak. "I am Boros, leader of a band of thieves known as Dark Matter. We're, as one could say, rather notorious for intergalactic crime. I am well-known through two aliases: Conqueror of Worlds, and Dominator of the Universe."
"I'm a hero for fun," the bald man introduced calmly. "Saitama. Look, I don't know what exactly you want, but you've wrecked a city here. Can't let you get away with that, so what are you looking for on Earth?"
I chuckled, "So...you wish to know what I want?" I stared at him, awaiting his response. Once he nodded, I leaned my head slightly downwards, closing my eye and reminiscing.
"There was this prophecy." I could feel his surprise, as if he was familiar with the concept. Perhaps he too, had been introduced to this concept of a prophecy as I had been. We may not be so different after all.
"Nobody in this universe was left to challenge me, so I was bored," I began. "I had been searching for battle, while my crew was searching for riches. Wealth. Satisfaction in the universe. And yet, none had come.
"The details of the adventure to her will be kept short for reasons, but there was this beautiful teller, one who seemed to be blessed by a goddess of wisdom. After what seemed like eons, I was finally able to track her down and ask her the question that plagued me most: Will I find the one who will quench my thirst for combat?
"And in response, she affirms my suspicion, and cryptically informs me that I must traverse light-years to find this battle, one that would likely be faced with hardship, suspicion, and especially boredom considering the circumstance. That was 20 years ago, and here I am, on your planet.
"I have fought countless battles and brought endless civilizations to their knees, and yet, I have never come across one who emits this aura of power as you do," I slowly finish. "So, you have been what I have been waiting for! Come! Bring forth your power so that I may crush you at your strongest!"
Before I knew it, I had been sent back, propelling at an alarming rate into one of the pillars, nearly stuck there. I heard a crack from my suit, and at that point I knew that his power was unmeasurable, unattainable by lesser warriors.
"Are you stupid? You can't just go killing everyone just because you're bored. Not even the worst telemarketer would come up with a campaign like that," Saitama lectured, keeping his fist up which was the culprit of my sudden knockback.
As I fell out of the hole, I could feel the rest of the suit crackle under the force applied to it, slowly crumbling to the ground until it had fallen off. My eye widened slightly in realization, before I recalled what was about to occur.
"You..." I chuckled, my soul pounding and my excitement unmatched. "You have broken the suit which restrained my unlimited power..."
"Impressive. Now, witness power unheard!" I exclaimed, feeling my metamorphosis take hold. As my exterior seemed to mutate and change color, I felt extreme energy surge through my body, my muscles suddenly feeling vigintillions times more powerful than they had before. I was even able to see the massive burst of energy erupt in lightning, shockwaves, and booming cracks of energy being dispersed into the newly-crowned battle room. My hair was clearly growing longer, and streams of energy were visible on my exterior.
"Now, come, Saitama! Duel me and fulfill this destined prophecy!"
~~~~~
Hey, folks! I'm pretty sure that this is a writing style that seems a bit different than what I usually have! That's kinda because I tried to make this chapter a bit different since it's a bunch of lead-up to the battle between Saitama and Boros, which I'm also gonna write in a different way since I'm bad at writing general action! (I mean, have you read how I described the battle between Puri Puri Prisoner and the Deep Sea King? C'mon. I'm not the best writer with action.)
Anyways, did you guys like the writing style? I think the hardest one was trying to write from Saitama's perspective before he came across Boros, especially since it was in present tense. I'm so used to writing in past tense that present tense just seems...weird.
Also, I hope that my implications about the similarities and differences that Boros and Saitama have is shown, because I really tried to imply that with the perspectives, how I wrote them, and their experiences coming to this point here.
And lastly, I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! I loved writing it, and I hope that you guys like reading it! If there's anything that can be fixed, whether it be a plot hole, grammar, or how the story goes, please tell me! (Thanks to that one person who caught a mistake in one of the chapters regarding Saitama already being an S-Class hero.)
So, yeah, thank you all so much, and see you in the next chapter!
Sincerely,
SpiritBloodDragon