บท 54: Preparations
Fubuki: "Lily, it's me" I said as Lily opened the door to our place immediately when she heard me calling her name
Lily: "Fubuki-sama! You're back! Oh. What happened with Tatsumaki-san?" She said as I entered the house, laying the still unconscious Tatsumaki on the couch gently with Lily following behind with a bit of concern present on her face
Fubuki: "Let's just say she had an altercation with my boyfriend"
Lily: "Oh" She said in a surprised tone
Fubuki: "And no, we had to stop her before things would go out of hand, luckily, we did minor damages to her. I healed the damages in hoping for her to wake more quickly" I reworded my statement, making Lily nod her head
Lily: "Should I get you and Tatsumaki-san something to drink?"
Fubuki: "Not yet, let's wait for her to wake up. I still need to address the situation with her so that she would calm down. And also, drop the sama" I said to her as Lily couldn't help it, she has been calling me by that ever since day one, and I can't blame her for that since she's used to it, but I think it's time for a change now. The Blizzard Group is now forever gone so it only makes sense to drop the formal calls
Lily: "I understand, Fubuki-sama" 'I guess she really can't say anything else' I thought. Lily sat next to Tatsumaki to look out for her while I sat down on a different seat as we waited for her to wake up so that I could quickly have a word with her about the recent situation that led to her getting unconscious by him in the first place 'I sure hope she'll be somewhat nicer to him. I don't want to force her to be nice of course. I'll just give her my reasonings for now' I thought as I yawned a little, feeling a little sleepy 'I was about to sleep in his place, though she arrived to ruin such a wonderful moment alone between us in his own place >_<'.
After not long. Tatsumaki started to move around a little. Lily noticed the movement of Tatsumaki as she called me saying that Tatsumaki is about to wake up. I walked up next to her, sensing that she's about to open her eyes at any moment now
Lily: "She started to move a little" She said as I looked at her, and then I caught her moving
Fubuki: "That was quick" I said as both of us waited for her to wake up. And after a not-so-long wait, she finally opened her eyes. Slowly blinking to get her vision back
Tatsumaki: "U-ugh"
Fubuki: "Are you okay Nee-san?" I asked. Making Tatsumaki jump a little when she heard me. She tilted her head to her right side to see me hovering over her
Tatsumaki: "Fubuki? Is that you?" She said slowly
Fubuki: "Yes"
Tatsumaki: "What happened?"
Fubuki: "You were taken down by him" I said, getting straight to the point as she was surprised to hear that
Tatsumaki: "What do you mean?"
Fubuki: "You we're sadly defeated"
Tatsumaki: "What? But how?"
Fubuki: "He's just like me, but more powerful"
Tatsumaki: "What do you mean by that" She said 'I think It's time to explain everything to her then' I thought as I started to explain to her how he beat her with no difficulty whatsoever
Tatsumaki: "He's also an Esper right?"
Fubuki: "Yeah, did he tell you?"
Tatsumaki: "Yes, when we were outside, I asked him about that and he said he was an Esper. I'm sorry I came in there and busted your moment. I just didn't believe it at first and I acted recklessly out of my own will"
Fubuki: "It's fine, you were just being a good big sister to me. Besides, I forgot to tell you about him anyways so that could be my fault"
Tatsumaki: "Are you sure? I really messed up your time with him. I should be the one taking care of you but I guess it's the opposite"
Fubuki: "As I said, it's fine. I'm more worried about you than him anyways" I said. Making Tatsumaki raise an eyebrow at to what I just said
Fubuki: "And no, not like that. He's, well, you know, strong and so I don't have to worry that much for him" Tatsumaki nodded. Feeling less guilty, though what she did to her own little sister was still wrong in her eyes
Tatsumaki: "When you go back to him, tell him I'm sorry" She said. Getting a surprising face out of me 'I never thought she could apologize immediately to him. Did I really influence her a little too much? I suppose that's not a bad thing at all'
Fubuki: "Oh. Well I can do that"
Lily: "Fubuki-san, Tatsumaki-san. Drinks are here" Lily suddenly said as she brought in two hand-made coffee. From the smell alone gets me and Tatsumaki feel excited
Fubuki: "Thanks for the drinks, Lily. How about you? You deserve something to drink as well"
Lily: "Don't worry about it Fubuki-san. And besides, you're like the only person to drink coffee in this time anyways"
Fubuki: "Well if you say so" I said as Tatsumaki sat up straight and grabbed one out of the two drinks that Lily was holding, thanking her as Lily nodded in appreciation. I grabbed the one that was coffee as I sat next to Tatsumaki. Both of us happily enjoyed our beverage.
A few minutes later.
We both finished our drinks in peace as Lily grabbed the two empty cups, taking them into the kitchen to clean them up
Fubuki: "Do you feel fine now?" I asked her
Tatsumaki: "Yeah, thanks for the drink Fubuki. I should go back now"
Fubuki: "No worries. Come by here often, maybe you could talk to him personally so that you both could forgive each other"
Tatsumaki: "I'll try, but no promises" Tatsumaki floated up in the air and gave me a goodbye hug. I hugged her as well as she left the house in a hurry for some reason 'It should be that this time. The Hero Association has called her and the others to come to the HQ'
Lily: "Is Tatsumaki-san all good now?" Lily asked me as I nodded
Fubuki: "Yeah. I'll be going away again. We still have something urgent to talk about"
Lily: "I'll keep an eye out here then Fubuki-sama"
Fubuki: "I know you will, bye Lily" I stood up and exited the house. My body around me glowed a bright green aura as I started to fly my way towards his apartment 'It's still quite early huh. I guess I have some time' I thought while making way to City Z.
===
Meanwhile at the Hero Association HQ
"It sounds unbelievable, but this is something only he'd be capable of defeating such a monster of a creature..." Said one of the higher-ups in the Hero Association
"We got blessed that King is in our side. Without him, we're most likely at a big disadvantage against the Monster Association" Said another one
"But, about the Hero Hunter. We assigned Silverfang to take care of the situation regarding the Hero Hunter. But he, unfortunately, failed to do that. How will you deal with him Sitch? We can't let him just continue hunting our heroes, or else. The Hero Association will stop functioning entirely and we'd be losing heroes in the upcoming fight with the Monsters" Said another higher up to Sitch who was sweating a little bit. Thinking that Silverfang should've solved his situation with his former top disciple already
Sitch: "I'm going to classify him from now on as no longer a human, but a monster. If he shows up again, I'll signal a threat level "Dragon" and send an appropriate amount of heroes to deal with him"
"But isn't he still human? Another human that could even go up against our S-class heroes is pretty hard to believe to say the least. But he was able to defeat Tank-top Master and was able to survive Genos, Bang, and his brother so that tells you that he can at least stand on his own before he gets overwhelmed"
"And Isn't it just that you're strategy of yours failed by sending some of our A-class heroes to finish him off?" Said another one to Sitch 'I guess they still see our heroes as good of their own, though I can't blame them' Sitch thought
Sitch: "Silverfang's failed attempt to finish off Garou despite having him tracked down with Genos and his brother by his side was unexpected. I have faith in all of their ability, especially Bang's. But they still we're able to severely injure Garou, and the result of that is that Garou will most likely not participate in the opposing side when the time comes for the final battle against the Monster Association. A positive outcome that we should consider in our minds" He said to the people present in the room
"That's it. It's time to call Blast! He's the top hero and yet he's inactive in doing hero work, and we know nothing of him besides his name! Ridiculous I say!"
Sitch: "Look, it's not possible for us to order Blast around. He won't come in any hero situation unless he has complete freedom of what to do. He refuses to be restricted and hates to stand out. Which is a reason that he won't tell us his background and identity in any of our forums and even the Hero Catalogue. But, he is still valuable enough to earn this special 'Treatment'. But when humanity is really on the verge of extinction. Then he will gladly show himself to save the day"
"What nonsense is this!" A sudden voice echoed towards them as the door opened, revealing the Hero Association's owner entering the meeting area. Making everyone surprise at his sudden appearance out of nowhere
Narinki: "It's now!!! That time is right now!!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as everyone in the room sat up and went over next to Narinki, greeting him like they didn't just hear him shouting
"Mister Narinki-
"Do you not understand that!!! The monsters took my son! You should've brought in another hero to accompany Metal Bat in defending my son!" He interrupted the person. Shouting at him as the people we're now sweating bullets
"Please calm down Mister Narinki. I-
"It's already been 24 hours when he was kidnapped and you still haven't launched an attack!!!" He shouted and interrupted the person again. Though suddenly. A hand was brought in front of the two as they stop to look at the person who suddenly brought their arm in front of them
"You have my word. We will save him. At this very moment, we are rushing to locate the exact position of the Monster Association's home base. We all here understand what you're going through but please be patient. You will only have to wait for a bit longer to ensure our success in retrieving your son" A man said to Narinki as he looked at the person. The details he saw from the man we're his very noticeable cyborg mechanism on his right eye, other than that, he doesn't really know who he is except for him being a higher up in the Hero Association or in an assigned position in the Headquarters, which he can tell based off of his suit
Narinki: "...Who are you?"
Sekingar: "My name is Sekingar. The commander of the rescue mission. It's nice to meet you" He politely introduced himself and greeted Narinki as he nodded. Though suddenly, Tatsumaki, Darkshine, and Pig God appeared right before them
Tatsumaki: "You better have something planned out, or else I'll just do it myself. And I just got out of a certain situation so bring me the details to the enemies base so that I could get a breather before going with your plans. Or you still haven't thought of one yet?" She said to Sekingar
Sekingar: "We have. But now, Child Emperor is working on finding the Monster Association's hideout. If he finds it, then we will put our plan into action. Please follow me real quick to another place so that we can continue our talk about the situation. Excuse us real quick Mister Narinki" Sekingar lead them real quick on the other side of the room away from Narinki and others so that they won't be disturbed for awhile
===
With Child Emperor and the other Staff Members
Child Emperor: "I've sent multiple scouting robots to dig around the tunnel that Elder Centipede made from his appearances like to where Metal Bat was with Narinki's son and the most recent one is with King, Bang, and Genos. I've got about 3 days to work on this right?" Child Emperor asks the multiple staff members that we're with him in the room while simultaneously controlling one of the robots that he has sent to investigate the holes that Elder Centipede made
"We've only got 2 days left for you to be able to track down the Monster Association's base so that we could prepare and gather the rest of the heroes and start to leave once we've got the location, Child Emperor" One of the staff members said to the kid prodigy 'Ugh...I guess no sleep for me then *Sighed*' He thought. Thinking that he will be tired by the time he finally finds the Monster Association's place.
===
Tatsumaki: "Let me guess. It's somewhere in Ghost Town of City Z? If it is. Then I could just simple destroy the whole place right now" Tatsumaki said to Sekingar
Sekingar: "They have hostages, and I plead you to please handle this situation with care Tatsumaki- san so that we could save the people who we're kidnapped before you can destroy their base" Sekingar said to Tatsumaki. Thinking that if Tatsumaki went and just destroyed the Monster Association's base without rescuing the hostages. Then there will be a lot of heated discussions against her actions and he doesn't really want it to go there. And Besides. An angry Loli would be a huge pain to deal with, especially when she's the, quote, "Strongest" Esper out there *Cough* *Cough*
Tatsumaki: "The monster's way of attacking and display of tactics is rather annoying. But they have to in order to at least survive for as long as they can before they die to their inevitable death. And with me being S-class ranked 2, then that must clearly mean that they have fear when facing me head-on, well. if they have heard of me which I doubt since all monsters are dumb when it comes to other things except for fighting, and they can barely do that anyways. Which makes it more easier to infiltrate the place"
Sekingar: "I just hope you don't underestimate your opponents. It could lead to an unexpected turn of events that will potentially have you killed"
Tatsumaki: "I'm confident in myself that I won't get killed by some random monsters. And I know not to underestimate anything anymore, well, maybe. And don't say where I learned that from. Oh, and can you stop sugar-coating every enemy that you say to us? What's the point in it anyways. And did you call us here just for nothing but a quick warning?" Tatsumaki said as suddenly, Sekingar closed his eyes and opened them a second later. Revealing a hologram appearing in front of them that was coming from his mechanical eye. And the one that was present in the hologram was none other than Drive Knight, who mind you, was in like a steed robot or something, with his upper body on the front and the bottom is a body of a horse or something resembling a horse. Tatsumaki was startled by that, the others didn't but they were still surprised a little bit as they focused their attention to the hologram of the four-legged horse, Drive Knight
Sekingar: "Look. The truth is that yesterday. Drive Knight went on his own to find out the base operation of the Monster Association. We tried to stop him from going to Ghost Town too early but it was too late"
Darkshine: "Why did he go alone?" Asked Darkshine while Pig God was just listening and eating next to Darkshine and Tatsumaki
Sekingar: "He was being over-confident that he can find it by himself. I can understand that since he hasn't felt defeat in any battle that he has been in. But last night, we lost signal of him from his transmitter. Our only conclusion is that Drive Knight was defeated. We couldn't think of anything else besides that" He said to three of the S-class heroes as Sekingar disabled the hologram
Tatsumaki: "Hmph. Then that adds more reason to assemble this team already that you have planned out so that we can finish this as soon as possible. When are the others coming?"
Sekingar: "The Monster Association gave us 3 days to prepare. And if they surely are true of their words, then we still have time. I'm sure the others will come here anytime now when they have done their own preparations for the fight. We just have to wait for them to arrive. Though Metal Bat will probably not come with us since he had just suffered a trip to the hospital after fighting two Demon Level threat monsters that he managed to win. But that came with some injuries that led to Mister Narinki's son getting captured by other monsters that Metal Bat didn't see. It was mostly the other heroes that arrived to help Metal Bat that caused that to happen, but we let it slide since their intentions were unintentional. He also fought Garou the Hero Hunter, though, with his injuries from the battle that he had just won, he was ultimately defeated by Garou. Good thing his little sister was there to stop the fight, if not, then I don't know what the Hero Hunter could've done with Metal Bat. Though he is recovering at a surprisingly high rate, it's still quite impossible for him to fully recover in three days. But I'm guessing he'll be right as day sooner than we all had anticipated, and maybe he could join us in the infiltration if the battle between The Hero Association and Monster Association will last that long. But that's beside the point. It is now only a matter of time before the rest will arrive".
===
Somewhere in City W
"Hmm..." Mumbled out a mysterious person while he was walking the streets of City W. After a few moments, his eyes landed on a building that he has been looking for
"Look's like this is the building that I have been looking for. Now I've got him" Said Zombieman
===
Back in the Hero Association
Atomic Samurai: "Stay on standby? What? Why?" Asked Atomic Samurai to Darkshine with his disciples behind him as they had just arrived at the Headquarters. They we're met with Darkshine the moment they entered to where they were supposed to go. Darkshine told Atomic Samurai the current situation as he was surprised
Atomic: "They took a child hostage?" He said quite loudly than he normally does
Darkshine: "You didn't know about that Atomic Samurai? Oh, and you smell like bad blood"
Atomic: "That's because we've been trying to find monsters all day since yesterday. Going to different places in hopes of finding a lead towards the Monster Association's base. And, we were unfortunate that we haven't found it yet"
Darkshine: "Well. They did say that Ghost Town in City Z is probably where the Monster Association's hideout resides"
"You knew already?!" Said the disciples of Atomic Samurai
Atomic Samurai: "So that's where they are hiding. If it's a normal frontal assault, then it'll be quite a day. All of you rest while you still can" Atomic Samurai said to his pupils as he got a nod from Bushidrill as Iaian replied with a yes
Okamaitachi: "I'll go take a shower then" Okamaitachi turned around to leave, but then the door opened as Amai Mask appeared, making all of them turn around to look at him 'Oh My.' Thought Okamaitachi while looking at Amai Mask with a little blush
Amai Mask: "I heard that the Assault team is going to be composed of elite members only. I wonder why are these people here then if that's the case. This isn't a gathering so maybe you could've thought twice before bringing along your crew of yours, Atomic Samurai. It will be quite a burden if they are only going to do is be used as hostages and probably shields for us. Do you really plan on making this more tiring than it has to be? If so, then you should rather commit them into. Seppuku" He said as Iaian, Bushidrill and Okamaitachi could only listen to the devastating statement that Amai Mask had just said to them
Darkshine: "Hey hey! Amai Mask!..." Darkshine said as to try and stop Amai from causing any more unnecessary situations between Atomic Samurai and his disciples
Atomic Samurai: "Are you going too, Amai Mask?" He said to him, not faced by what he had just said to his three pupils
Amai Mask: "Of course I will. These monster's ruined my concert by barging in out of nowhere while I was on stage"
Atomic Samurai: "Is that so huh? Well, my disciples here are quite strong so don't worry that much. I'll let them look after the little yaoi manga idol boy if he gets in some trouble"
Amai Mask: "Oh? Even to this day, people still underestimate my capabilities. The reason why I stay in A-class is that I can manage myself better there. And if you think that's a pathetic excuse then let's put it this way. I'm stronger than you" He said as the last part hit Atomic Samurai like a sword in a chest as he slowly walked in front of Amai Mask with a happy and not so happy expression, you know, where the people have that expression, yeah
Atomic Samurai: "HMMM? Yes. I see I seeeee" He couldn't help but let out a sarcastic yet angry tone towards Amai's words to him
Iaian: "Sensei! Please manage your anger!".
===
Puri Puri Prisoner: "Are you really sure? You're just letting me walk out of the front door like that Chief Warden?" Said PPP to the Chief that was keeping an eye on the prison to where bad people reside. Yeah, I thought I'd give an explanation since I don't know, maybe you just don't know what a prison is
Chief: "See. Some special circumstances need special measures above the legal system. And mind you that every time you broke out of prison just to go and do hero work, was illegal. I don't understand how the Hero Association treat's you this way. But this only time. I'm letting you out without much thought. Oh, and there's also one single monster that resembles a cat, if not A cat, who barged into the building and captured the prisoners, turning them into monsters and taking them away into someplace. Our staff's lives we're gone when they were trying to stop the thing. And you're a hero when you're not in jail so please if you could, avenge them"
Puri Puri Prisoner: "Do not worry Chief. I'll handle the monster that caused the chaos in here." PPP stepped out of the front door as he was about to make his way to the Hero Association, but then-
"Boss! Wait up!" A prisoner shouted from behind him as PPP turned around to meet the man that was holding some sort of fabric
"I knitted you a sweater. If you have the time, please consider wearing it." PPP grabbed the sweater as he held it tight in his chest, looking at the prisoner who made it for him with a smile of joy. Lol
Puri Puri Prisoner: "Thank you, this motivates me even more. When I come back, I'll be bottom *wink*".
===
With Child Emperor
Child Emperor: "Can...you all leave me be for a little bit? I can't really focus doing this while being watched"
"Alright then" All of the staff members started to make their way out of the room to leave Child Emperor alone so that he can focus on finding the Monster Association's hideout without much disturbance
Child Emperor: "I'll tell you when I receive their location" He said to them before they left the room. Once they were now gone, Child Emperor quickly called Metal Knight
Child Emperor: "Metal Knight. Please respond. I can tell that you're pretending to be away"
Bofoi: "What is? I'm currently eating breakfast, and it's past noon"
Child Emperor: "I'm wasting my time here in finding the hideout of the Monster Association. But you know the location of it yes? Can you please tell me where it is or it'll soon be too late! Or do you plan on letting all of the hostages get killed?" He said to Bofoi as an uncomfortable silence went into their conversation until a few moments later, Bofoi answered back
Bofoi: "If I don't tell you, then I'll be left responsible for killing the hostages. If I tell you, then I'll be glad to send all of you into your doom along with the hostages. I'm making the right call right now for my own beliefs" He said as Child Emperor was sweating badly, thinking that he needed to pursue Bofoi in some way for him to tell the location of the Monster Association
Child Emperor: "There is one more option available for you! And that's the option of joining us in the raid! And what happened with the unit "Metal Knight" and why are you so afraid? Can you tell me who at least managed to destroy it?" Another flood of silence wavered around the room until Bofoi decided to talk again and tell Child Emperor what happened to "Metal Knight"
Bofoi: "I heard that the one who did it is called by the name of 'Monster King' Orochi. I don't really have a good clue about it but I do know that I was pierced by one, out of many tentacle-horns that it has. It pierced through the arm and continued through the entire body. The self-destruct mechanism didn't even activate because it was destroyed so fast. I'm not entirely worried or afraid of the Monster Association. There are others that are filled with 'Evil' intent" And he continued on saying that "Don't trust anyone but yourself" and "Accumulate your power and preserve it, Child Emperor" as their call ended there. Child Emperor leaned back on to his chair and concluded
Child Emperor: "Just a waste of valuable and crucial time. I need to find the Monster Association's base soon" He groaned out, feeling that he really needs to get that location as soon as possible, or in short, Asap.
===
Narinki: "Now all of you listen up! Since the Hero Association is useless right now! All of you need to go to the abandoned place on City Z to save my son who's practically in hopes of someone saving him! Find the Monster Association's base and destroy every worthless monster you see and rescue my son Waganma! The battle suits that all of you are currently wearing are secret weapons that I got from a place that I cannot say! These suits are enough to surpass those 'Professional' heroes! Use these suits to their maximum capabilities! And if you succeed! You'll be paid astronomically!" Narinki said to his private squad that he had created who's only purpose is to save his son, Waganma from the hands of the Monster Association as all seven members of Narinki's private squad, left to go Ghost Town in City Z
"Let's go"
"Hai!".
===
*Knock* *Knock*
Saitama: "Come in. You know you don't have to knock" I said as the door to my apartment opened, revealing Fubuki as she closed the door behind her and entered the living room. Once she was there, she saw me looking at her as I was sitting down on my sleeping mattress
Saitama: "Is Tatsumaki awake?"
Fubuki: "Yeah, I managed to have a word with her before going back here"
Saitama: "Will she still get mad?"
Fubuki: "Of course she will"
Saitama: "I was not hoping to hear that"
Fubuki: "Don't worry too much, it's only going to be a subtle, verbal fight soon when you and her meet again. And besides, you're not afraid of her right?"
Saitama: "Of course not, I just don't want to deal with her, especially since she's you're sister"
Fubuki: "Understandable, but right now..." Fubuki walked in front of me and grabbed my arm as she pulled me up from my sleeping mattress
Saitama: "Huh? Why'd you do that?
Fubuki: "Let's go for a walk" She said as she wrapped her two arms around my arm that she just pulled
Saitama: "In this time? It's like noon or something"
Fubuki: "Does it bother you?"
Saitama: "Oh..."
Fubuki: "I thought so, now come on, a little walk couldn't hurt. Or do you want to stay here with me alone if you want to..."
Saitama: "Okay okay, let's go for a walk. But I thought you'd tell me what am I going to do?"
Fubuki: "I'll tell you while we're walking"
Saitama: "Where are we going anyways"
Fubuki: "You'll see" She said as we walked out of my apartment, and once we were outside, we started to walk the pleasant streets of City Z. I think Fubuki just wanted to hang out, but either way, I can't wait to hear what's in store in the upcoming events. And since that Fubuki insisted me to go out for a walk with her, it's quite nice that she decided to take it outside to tell me the upcoming events while we are walking to, I don't know anymore, probably somewhere that she knows and I don't. We could've just stayed in my apartment, but I have a feeling that it will lead into some scenario...
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