Two years ago, after his dismissal from the old Bang’s dojo, Garou set out on a journey to seek out other martial arts masters in a bid to learn from and master their techniques adding them to his own to eventually create his own unique martial arts. The results of his time in this regard bore fruit as it turns out the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist was the perfect base for him to learn other forms of martial arts. After years of roaming the world he ended up amassing quite an arsenal of different styles such as:

Tiger Fang True Fist

Poisonous Ogre Fist

Purgatory Abyss Fist

Lone Fist of Prosperity

Pressure Point Killer Fist

Lake-Breaking Ice River Fist

Ultimate Fist of the Yatagarasu

Fool’s Path Mountain Range Fist

Eight new martial arts styles learned within two years and at the end of the day he’s resorting to the one he started with. Garou supposed it only made sense since unlike the rest of the styles he learned Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist was a superior martial art created by a true grandmaster whereas the others are largely ineffective and gimmicky monstrosities being peddled by weaklings pretending to be masters.

Near the end of the first year on his journey Garou came to terms with the fact that he may never find another grandmaster in the same realm as the old man and so rather than joining dojos to learn techniques he began attacking them instead. This turned out to be the right call since by that point his analytical abilities had been honed to a fine point enabling him to memorize his opponent’s moves. Now he didn’t have to be taught he just needed to fight and he’s been going around challenging every and any martial artist and dojos he’s come across ever since.

He won all his battles but it did not escape him that his opponents proclaiming themselves to be ‘masters’ were anything but and he was never able to find an actual master martial artist he could genuinely learn from. Even the touted Super Fight Tournament could not give him the challenge he craved especially since the ones he was after, Suiryu and Bakuzan, hadn’t bothered to participate. The prize money was much appreciated though and helped with his expenses immensely.

Meanwhile his search to find true martial arts masters continued to be fruitless and he knew the reason why. The old man told him about the incident with a master that turned the entire world of martial arts on its head. A man named Shiva rampaged across the world defeating or killing every true master at the time until he became the undisputed king of martial arts. Ever since that incident the surviving grandmasters hid themselves away in fear. As far as he knows Bang and Kamikaze (Atomic Samurai) are the only grandmasters who went public.

Garou held a deep respect for the man named Shiva but at the same time he was annoyed because with the grandmasters hidden away he was stuck with second and third rate nobodies to draw skill from. He gained a bit of infamy as a dojo crusher something he would scoff at but eventually he felt he was ready to begin his grand undertaking. Garou expected to face a diverse array of opponents in the Hero Association but so far except for a couple of gimmicks and whatever Watchdog Man is supposed to be all the heroes are just your standard brawlers.

He hasn’t met a hero who uses martial arts as more than just a gimmick for their image.

Until now…

“Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist!”

“Void Quake Tiger Fist!”

Two martial artists collide with two attacks from their signature styles. One a young man weaving his hands in intricate patterns to deflect, redirect and attack his opponent in the same breath. The other a young woman of the same age throwing what appears to be a simple straight punch, though looks can be deceiving as only someone with a keen eye would notice the slight distortion effect around her fist. Garou was one such person but he paid little attention to this detail confident in his skills and ability to see his attack through.

And why shouldn’t he be?

He fought and defeated two S-Class heroes with these skills so surely a single unknown girl will just as easily be overcome right? This was his general thought and his confidence was unwavering so imagine his surprise when his hand, which was going to redirect her fist, was violently rebuffed and she continued to onwards breaking through his defenses until.

*WHAM!*

“GAH!” Garou spat up blood as Suiko’s fist struck his gut with a twist.

Gritting his teeth he twisted his arms around her own like a snake to hold her in place then raised his leg to knee her in the face. Or he would have had she not preemptively heavy stomped his foot with enough force to break the ground and drawing a groan from taller man.

“Ah-OOF!”

His cry of pain was cut off by a follow up head butt that drew blood from his nose and dazed him. After that Suiko took a deep breath placed both palms on his chest and with a breath she pushed.

*Boom*

Garou flew for a moment but managed to recover after only a few dozen feet. Once he did he regarded the woman before him with critical eyes.

‘What the hell was that?’

Garou has encountered practitioners of a variety of martial arts in his travels but none were like this. His Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist, touted as the ultimate defensive martial art was completely useless.

‘Her fist was like a piercing drill! What kind of martial art is that?’

No more thoughts were registered as the woman charged at him with a quickness that almost caught him off guard. Almost but not quite and he was able to meet her in the middle. And beyond her ability to somehow break through the Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist she was also physically strong, fast and incredibly skilled. In any other circumstances she would have been the perfect opponent to cut his teeth against but not here.

Garou had a mission to accomplish and this woman was only a distraction. Also the sickness that had plagued him earlier that day wasn’t getting any better. In fact he felt himself getting progressively worse as time went on. It was only through sheer force of will that Garou was even still on his feet let alone fighting against another skilled martial artist.

‘Dammit, if I was in better condition she would be more manageable’

For as strong as this girl was she wasn’t as strong as Metal Bat or even Tank Top Master. Not that she didn’t compensate with her skill and combined with his flagging health meant she posed a legitimate threat to him. And yet despite the direness of the situation Garou couldn’t help but plaster a smile on his face.

“Something funny?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Garou used a finger to block a nostril and blow blood out the other “I’m just happy I finally found someone who can put up a decent fight.”

If only she was a hero but Garou can work with this too.

“Wish I can say the same for you” Suiko shot back wiping the smile off his face.

“What?”

“You’re sick aren’t you.”

“What about it?”

“It’s not going to be much of a fight since you’re not at your best.”

“None of the heroes thought that when I put them in the ground.”

“I’m not those heroes.”

‘No you’re not.’

The two adopted their stances however Garou decided to switch tactics and as they entered another clash Garou was on the defensive.

‘This is perfect! Just need to analyze her moves. There we go, just like that!’

Meanwhile Suiko immediately noticed the change. As time went on the fewer hits she managed to score against him and it only took her a moment to realize what was happening and disengage with a curse.

“Shit!”

“Figured it out eh? But it’s too late” Garou smirked and put a finger to his temple “I’ve already analyzed your movements. You won’t be able to lay a single hand on me now.”

Suiko scowled at his cocky attitude “wanna bet?”

Garou’s smirk grew wider in its maliciousness “take your best shot.”

Suiko leapt forward with a flying kick which Garou ducked and lashed out with an arm hooking his forearm around her leg causing her to jerk forward into what would have been a face plant had she not stopped her fall with her hands. Instinctively she flipped away just in time to avoid a sweeping kick to her side. Flipping to her feet Suiko narrowly managed to avoid a right cross only to falter against his follow up back fist. Despite twisting her body to minimize the damage of the blow it was still strong enough to disorient her something Garou took advantage of by pulling her into a standing arm lock from behind.

“I told you-” Garou attempted to taunt only to be abruptly interrupted when Suiko took a deep breath before launching herself backwards.

The movement was so unexpected and sudden that Garou loosened his grip on her arm to avoid putting any more strain on it. Still he block her attempted attack(?) by using his free arm. Now bracing against her back he had enough room to easily jerk his head to the side to avoid her attempt at head butting him. As her failed attempt had their faces intimately close together Garou was able to spy the devilish grin on her face just before he felt her free hand clamp onto his forearm.

‘What the…?’

But before he could finish the thought Suiko, in an amazing feet of flexibility and strength did an axe kick in a way that guaranteed her foot would reach over her shoulder. Garou only saw the tip of her shoes before jerking his head back to avoid it. Unfortunately for him that was what she was counting on and the moment he leaned back Suiko capitalized on the action by adding momentum to the lean turning it into stumble that left him a bit off a balance since their hands were still locked around each other’s forearms.

In the next instance Suiko leapt using her still planted foot and Garou found his arms suddenly lifted above his head. With a midair corkscrew turn Suiko managed to twist her arm free from Garou’s clutches, kick off his shoulder and back flipped to a nearby tree where she immediately bounced off with such force that the tree broke in half and front flipped into a heel drop.

Void Meteor Heel Drop!

Garou hastily brought up his forearm in an overhead block and almost regret it. The heel drop was so devastating he felt it through his bones, his knees buckled as the force cratered the ground beneath him for at least a dozen meters. Gritting his teeth he uncrossed his arms and kicked her mid air but before she raised her guard up to block the worst of the impact. The blow sent her flying to the side where she gracefully landed on her feet with a grin.

“You were saying?”

Garou said nothing, the smirk on his face was thoroughly gone and as he shook the feeling back into his hands he assumed a familiar stance.

“This again?” spoke Suiko though there was no mistaken the weariness both in her voice and body language.

If he wasn’t serious before he certainly was now and yet Suiko just couldn’t get that grin off of her face.

‘I can feel it, this next engagement will end it.’

She gave the universal come on motion and Garou responded by blitzing her to which Suiko stomped her foot into the ground “hyaa!” and with a yell kicked a massive cloud of dirt towards him.

Garou was too committed to dodge the action however unfortunately for Suiko if she thought it would dissuade him she was wrong as with a click of his tongue his hands lashed out redirecting the dirt before it ever reached his face. Not that it mattered for she already figured it wouldn’t work, she only needed the distraction. Suiko had disappeared with his attention momentarily taken away from her however he became alerted to nearby noises and the ground shaking.

It was Suiko who had literally stomped a half circle around the young man and was poised to attack. Seeing this Garou turned to face her and at the same time she released her attack he did his counter.

“VOID REVOLVING TORTOISE FIST!”

“WATER STREAMING ROCK SMASHING FIST!”

As the two techniques clashed Garou couldn’t help but mentally equate this scenario with the one he experienced against Metal Bat the day prior. Both the S-Class Hero and Suiko were delivering a rapid combo attacks while spinning like a top but that’s where the similarities end. Metal Bat had just been flailing around however Suiko was executing near flawless rapid punches all aimed at his vital points with the skill of a master. Unfortunately the other disparity between her and Metal Bat was strength and power.

Suiko may have been the more skilled fighter but the S-Class Hero was much stronger and it showed. Now that he had an understanding of Suiko’s martial arts Garou had a better time countering her attacks. Eventually much like with Metal Bat the momentum began to ebb and Garou found the opening for a counterattack but instead of finishing her off like he did Metal Bat he decided to do something different just to test something out.

So as Garou redirected the last of Suiko’s attacks leaving her open Garou smirked and took a single stomp forward while cocking his fist back. The motion was immediately becoming familiar to her. Garou actually saw her eyes widen in shock and could make out the words mouthed on her lips before he let his attack loose.

“No…”

“Void Quake Tiger Fist!”

Garou’s fist was planted right in Suiko’s gut causing the young woman to cry out in pain and shock while coughing out blood. In the next moment Garou heaved and she sent barreling through a tree before skipping along the grass and slamming into another tree.

Garou held his position for a moment before slowly exhaling “and that makes 100.”

Technically she wasn’t a hero but she held clear aspirations to be one if she was hanging out with two of them.

And speaking of…

“I’ll get the other two and call it a day for now-urgh shit, if I make it that far.”

He’d been pushing himself for pretty much the entire time since he left the safe house but up until now it had been relatively easy victories. That fight might have just pushed him over the edge. He felt like keeling over then and there but he persevered.

‘Screw it, I’ll come back for those two later.’

All in all it wasn’t a bad hunt for the morning. Crossed off a couple of A-Class from his list, hit the 100 mark, got a decent fight and a new (and useful) martial art out of it.

‘Void Fist, that sounds familiar, pretty sure I heard the old man talking about it at some point’ which was a ringing endorsement to him.

“Urgh.”

The sound of movement alerted him and he looked on in mild bewilderment as the girl dragged herself on her forearms.

‘She can still move after that?’

That cinches it if she was a Hero she would definitely be S-Class or close enough. She wasn’t as strong as Metal Bat or Tank Top Master but was miles ahead of any A-Class he’s fought and he’s pretty sure she could give Tank Top Master a run for his money.

“Y-you” she gurgled blood dripping from her lips “that move...how?”

Garou allowed the smirk to return “I told you before. I know all your moves now.”

Pulling herself to one knee she gave him a furious glare ‘bullshit! You can’t just watch someone do a technique and then copy it just like that!’ she internally raged.

And yet that was exactly what he did because otherwise he would have had some experience in practicing the Void Fist which was impossible since her grandfather, the original creator, only ever thought her and her brother. And this leads Suiko to conclude that Garou must have been some kind of prodigy like Suiryu and that right there, that was

“Such…bullshit…”

Garou rolled his eyes and went to leave.

“Wait”

“I suggest you stay down lady” he warned “I was already iffy about wasting my time on someone who wasn’t a hero so don’t make this any worse.”

Suiko felt a shiver run down her spine at the look he gave her and stayed stock still even as he left the park. When he left her sight Suiko let out a curse and slammed her fist into the dirt. She did this several times until the anger subsided and the adrenaline drained causing her to lean back on the tree.

“I lost…”

It was her first battle against a legitimate martial artist, a wanted criminal at that, and she lost. Worse yet she understood just how outclassed she was by the fact that he defeated her while clearly going through some kind of sickness. The fact that he allegedly took out two S-Class heroes had very little bearing on how she felt.

“This sucks.”

No wonder her brother looked like a kicked puppy when he came in yesterday. This was her first taste of defeat in a real fight and she hated it with a passion. Eventually she paused and inhaled only to start coughing.

“Ow, something’s definitely broken” she grunted before shakingly getting to her feet.

Make no mistake Suiko was absolutely livid she had lost and especially in the manner she did, having her own technique used against her. At the same time she took this as a learning experience and will use it to become stronger.

Another cough this time with flecks of blood mixed in.

‘Right first get checked into a hospital then it is back to training.’

The Hero Hunter may have won this battle but he is far from winning the war he just started.

~O~

Suiryu can admire the organizers for the Super Fight. The stadium was utterly destroyed along with the nearby section of the city, people were in a panic about the Monster Association and it was looking like society was about to collapse and yet they still thought it prudent to not only give him his prize money but also his trophy. Honestly he thought the trophy was a lost cause considering he left it in the hands of civilians during a mass evacuation. He didn’t think it a priority but they did and now he was the owner of a fancy trophy and a suitcase full of money.

Looking at the two objects now Suiryu never felt as underwhelmed by them as he did now. He may not know what the future held for him now but it’s safe to say that tournaments were no longer a willing part of it.

“Suiko is not gonna like that” he mused thinking of his sibling.

The last time he entertained the idea of not bothering with the tournament scene he was given a lecture as well as an in depth look into their finances. The only reason she let it go last time was because they were well off at the time and with her apparently pursuing a career in heroics they would not be hurting for money for a while yet.

Speaking of her decision Suiryu still didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand she’s a big girl and he knew she could take care of herself but on the other hand the idea of her facing off against monsters on Gouketsu’s level utterly terrifies him. The fact that she chose to go ahead with this decision during all this nonsense with the Monster Association only fueled his concern. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything he could reasonably do about it besides warning her of the potential dangers involved.

“What a mess” he sighed to himself.

On his way out of the City C he received a call on his cellphone.

“Hello?”

“…”

“Yes this is he.”

“…”

“What?” he straightened up “how?”

As the person on the other end of the call spoke Suiryu scowled “I’ll be right there.”

In the next instant Suiryu leapt away at top speed.

~O~

“We’re too late” Stinger pointed out and it was all Death Gatling could do not make a snide remark.

His frustration with the situation was affecting him and he refused to take it out on the younger hero. They failed to intercept Garou before he could wreak havoc in City H and now not only were two more heroes out of commission but a civilian got caught in the crossfire. According to Mushroom and Horse-Bone she wasn’t any ordinary civilian and was in fact a skilled martial artist in the same vain as Silver Fang. She was also an aspiring hero who couldn’t take the tests due to the current situation.

She was given deputy status by the City H Hero Association branch and allowed on patrol with the two heroes. That’s why she was even present when the Hero Hunter confronted them. Despite both their claims of the girl’s strength being equivalent to an A-Class Hero Death Gatling did approve of them leaving her alone. It is already well known that the Hero Hunter has defeated several prominent A-Class heroes and an S-Class hero already. In the end she was defeated and Garou went ahead with hunting the two heroes who called it in before leaving without a trace.

There was nothing left for Death Gatling and Stinger to do now but conduct an interview with the three and hope for something. One thing Death Gatling noted was that unlike the two heroes the girl looked relatively less harmed. In fact so far she was the only person to even remain conscious after an encounter with the Hero Hunter.

Was that a testament to her strength or something else?

Of course this was all relative as she was still bruised, bandaged and nursing what appears to be several rib fractures at the very least. Another thing he noted was that the girl was younger than Stinger looking barely out of her teens. The questioning he conducted revealed a few important details about Garou to the two heroes. First Garou seemed to only be interested in heroes and was reluctant to fight the girl because she wasn’t an official one. It seemed her provocation forced his hand in this particular confrontation.

The most important detail discovered however was that Garou was currently afflicted by some kind of illness. He didn’t know how to feel about that because on one hand from the way it was described the Hero Hunter was weakened but on the other hand despite his weakness he was still able to fight and defeat several A-Class heroes earlier that day.

“If you’re going after him you’re gonna need a lot more guys” the girl advised with a serious tone.

“Noted” Death Gatling replied in a curt tone though Stinger was much more courteous about it.

“Don’t worry about us, we know what we’re doing.”

Suiko held up her arms “I’m just saying, he said he beat Tank Top Master and Metal Bat so you know…be careful.”

That put a damper on Stinger reassuring façade though now he looked mildly confused “he told you he beat Metal Bat?”

Suiko nodded “said he did it yesterday.”

“But that’s-”

“Thank you for your time young lady” Death Gatling interrupted “if you’ll excuse us” and without another glance the A-Class hero exited the room.

Stinger offered his thanks as well before leaving to catch up to his partner “what she said about Meta Bat-”

“I know.”

Metal Bat was beaten by Elder Centipede and a group of monsters that ambushed him while he was protecting a V.I.P. At least that was the official story the Hero Association put out publicly and shared in its in-house information network.

“You think they lied?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“But why?”

City S was destroyed by Elder Centipede and One-Punch Man ended up saving the heroes and a civilian that was unfortunate enough to be caught outside during the Dragon level monster’s rampage. At the same time they lost arguably their most important executive who was now being held hostage by the enemy.

“To save face.”

“What?”

“Think of it like this the Hero Association is facing major backlash because of the Monster Association attacks. Their public perception of them is at an all time low. Now imagine if it gets out that during this crisis another known criminal element managed to beat one of their precious S-Class heroes.”

“It’ll add fuel to the fire” Stinger nodded in understanding.

“Garou has been a long standing problem for the Hero Association for a while now. The first time he showed himself he caused that commotion at HQ and I heard Sitch wanted to mobilize everyone in order to take him out but Silver Fang managed to convince the executives to hold off on it so he could take care of Garou himself.”

“That” Stinger shook his head “how do you know all this?”

“It pays to have contacts Stinger. In any case, this mess with Garou could have been handled long before it escalated to this but because the executives bowed to the whims of an S-Class hero here we are.”

Down a majority of the heroes at a time when they were needed the most with Garou still at large and incapacitating more of them every day.

Stinger gripped his trusty weapon tightly “we need to find him.”

“I know-” Death Gatling cut himself off, his posture went rigid and his teeth grit behind his lips.

Beside him Stinger gasped at the sight of whom just so happened to be standing in the lobby of the hospital “S-Silver Fang!?”

It was indeed the 3rd ranked S-Class hero and the subject of their conversation. The older hero’s head quirked up upon hearing his name and he turned to regard the two A-Class heroes. Silver Fang was a deceptively frail looking old man with a hunched posture and both hands behind his back.

“Are these two young men acquaintances of yours Bang?” spoke the S-Class hero’s companion who was also an elderly man with a balding head and thin long beard.

Both of them were individually older than the two A-Class heroes’ age combined and yet there was no doubt in Death Gatling’s mind that they weren’t fighters of the highest caliber.

“Not personally” the aged hero replied “though I do know of them. You are the A-Class heroes Stinger and Death Gatling.”

“Yes sir!” Stinger replied enthusiastically while Death Gatling gave a stiff nod.

Death Gatling would rather not spend time associating with the to elders but unfortunately his partner was star struck by the S-Class hero.

“Are you also responding to the distress call regarding the Hero Hunter?”

Death Gatling saw it, a sharpness entered the old man’s kindly gaze “yes, have you heard anything about that?”

Before Stinger could blab something unnecessary Death Gatling stepped forward “the Hero Hunter already left by the time we got here.”

“I see” Silver Fang sighed “we were informed that he attacked a civilian girl, is that true?”

Death Gatling unfortunately took some time to formulate a response which gave Stinger the opportunity to butt in.

“Don’t worry Suiko is an aspiring hero and gave as good as she got with her martial arts.”

“She’s a martial artist?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you happen to know what kind of style she uses?”

“I think it was called Void Fist.”

At that the two old men shared a look “brother.”

“Looks like your old student found Suicho’s successor” the man now identified as Silver Fang’s brother commented.

The S-Class hero nodded to his siblings before directing his attention to the heroes “thank you for your time, I won’t hold up you two anymore so if you’ll excuse me.”

“Sure thing” Stinger nodded respectfully before the two elders passed them by. The younger A-Class hero could only look on in awe as they left “wow, did you know Silver Fang had a brother?”

“…”

Stinger turned to see that Death Gatling was no longer beside him. The older A-Class hero was exiting through the hospital doors.

“Hey wait up!” when he caught up Stinger found himself pinned by a glare from the older A-Class hero “w-what?”

“You-”

Death Gatling was cut off by the sound of his communicator going off. It wasn’t the Hero Association communicator something Stinger noted.

“What’s that?”

“Private communicator”

“Why do you have a-” Stinger cut himself off once he noticed Death Gatling’s eyes widened with shock and urgency.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone spotted Garou.”

“Really, that’s amazing! Where is he?”

Death Gatling barely heard him, too wrapped up in his own thoughts. He sent a message towards the hero who spotted Garou a B-Class hero named Shooter an archer who was an expert long distance marksman. The hero was as effective as a sniper despite using the bow and was one of the few heroes Death Gatling trusted to tail Garou from a safe distance.

“He’s tailing him right now. He hasn’t reached his hideout yet but from the looks of it Garou’s headed for City-R.”

*WHOOSH*

Just then a gust of wind blew through the area causing Stinger to jump “what the heck was that?”

Death Gatling’s eyes narrowed ‘it almost looked like-no no time for that’

Shaking his head Death Gatling began walking away “doesn’t matter, we’re leaving.”

~O~

Suiryu arrived at the hospital in a burst of speed with trophy and suitcase full of prize money in hand and strode through the lobby directly to the reception desk. Ignoring the way how the woman blushed at him he spoke with all the sternness of a worried older brother.

“I’m here to see Suiko.”

“O-oh um and what relation are you?”

“I’m her brother.”

After getting the directions to her room Suiryu thanked and left following the directions until he came upon the room. As he got closer he could hear voices through the door that was left ajar. A moment of listening had him identify two additional voices alongside his sister who was talking rather animatedly. Opening the door Suiryu was met with the sight of his sister laying bandaged in the bed speaking to two elderly men one of whom was familiar.

“Oh hey bro” Suiko greeted “guess who came to visit?”

Suiryu ignored the two martial arts grandmasters for the time being to address his sibling “I leave you for a couple of hours then I’m getting a call about you being in the hospital because you got into a fight with a criminal. I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one.”

“I was being responsible” Suiko defended “and what kind of hero would just let a criminal go anyway?”

Suiryu put down his trophy and suitcase with a sigh to look to the two older men who were content with letting the two siblings have their byplay.

“Master Bang, Master Bomb” the man bowed lightly.

Bang of the Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist was easy to recognize given how prolific a public figure is. His older brother however was not as well known to the public however Bomb of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist was every bit the prolific and skilled grandmaster his younger brother was in the world of martial arts.

“So you are the successor to the Void Fist” spoke Bomb as he stroked his beard.

Suiryu could feel the man taking his measure and he could more or less predict his next words ‘here it comes.’

“You have been slacking in your training.”

‘I know.’

“But not for long I assume?” added Bang causing Suiryu to look at the aged grandmaster.

“No sir” Suiryu replied.

“Your sister was just telling us about her encounter with my former student.”

“Former student?”

“Turns out the Hero Hunter was once master Bang’s student” Suiko supplied “which explains why I lost against him even though he was sick.”

“Wait, he was sick?” Suiryu questioned with mild shock.

Suiko was no slouch so for someone to beat her is commendable but the fact that they were apparently sick as well sounded hard to believe.

“Apparently, it may have been a consequence for attacking Watchdog Man” Bang commented.

‘That name sounds familiar.’

“Wait” Suiko turned to the old hero “he attacked another S-Class hero yesterday?”

“Yes and from what I heard he was promptly beaten and forced to retreat.”

“Huh, I guess that must’ve happened after he beat Metal Bat”

“What about Metal Bat?” Bang questioned.

“He said he beat Metal Bat yesterday.”

“Metal Bat was defeated by a Dragon level monster that destroyed City S in its rampage” the hero paused “at least that is what we were told.”

“I don’t know what to tell you” Suiko shrugged “he seemed pretty smug about it. I don’t think he was but is there any chance he could be lying?”

Bang shook his head “Garou is a lot of things but he would not lie, especially about something like this.”

‘Garou? Where have I-isn’t that the guy those two heroes were talking about?’

“Seems your Hero Association is keeping things from you Bang.”

The S-Class hero could grunt in acknowledgement “thank you for your time young lady.”

“It is no problem sirs-oh there is one thing I’d like to ask if it isn’t any trouble.”

“Go ahead.”

“What can you tell us about the man named Shiva?”

Suiryu started eyes widened at his sister’s question that came from out of left field. He wasn’t the only one either as both grandmasters looked taken aback by the question.

Bang recovered quickly “your grandfather told you about him.”

Suiko nodded “a little but I’m mostly asking because my brother met a man calling himself Shiva in the Super Fight tournament.”

Now all eyes were on Suiryu and damned if he didn’t feel small under the weight of their gazes.

“Impossible” Bomb shook his head “I don’t who it is your brother encountered but it couldn’t be Shiva.”

In contrast to his brother Bang looked more contemplative “now brother let’s not dismiss this just yet.”

“You can’t be serious Bang even if Shiva was alive I can’t imagine he would be interested in such a tournament.”

“Why don’t we let the young man explain the situation first then” Bang acquiesced and his brother agreed.

And so under the scrutiny of three skeptical martial artists Suiryu gave an abbreviated version of his encounter with the man calling himself Tomoro Sazaki and all he witnessed of him. By the end of the tale both grandmasters looked shaken.

“It’s him” Bang spoke.

“Impossible” Bomb still denied “it must be a descendant, his grandchild perhaps.”

“In either case this person is clearly connected to him. He even knows that technique.”

“Gouketsu called him Shiva” Suiryu interrupted “and Tomoro acknowledged it and they both acted like they met before when Gouketsu was still human.”

The two brothers shared a troubled look.

While he wasn’t as famous as the two of them now Gouketsu was a well known and renowned master in the past. It was also well known that Gouketsu’s father counted amongst the first of Shiva’s victims and the man was a survivor himself.

“Could the effects of monsterization affect his perception?” Bang tossed out.

“I don’t know” Bomb answered then let out an explosive sigh “this is all such a mess.”

Suiryu had not been particularly thinking about Tomoro for a long while now but faced with such scrutiny he began to question his validity and so made a decision.

“I-we are planning to visit him later today. If you want you can come with us.”

Another look was shared between the two with Bomb stating “I am very interested in meeting that man’s supposed successor.”

“I admit I am very curious as well but we need to find Garou before he does anymore damage” Bang gestured to the bedridden Suiko.

“About that, he’s probably in City R” Suiryu informed catching all their attention.

“How do you know that?”

“I overheard two heroes talking about it while I was coming in.”

Bang thanked Suiryu for the information and the two left but not before Suiryu gave them Tomoro’s address which should be alright considering he was moving out of the place.

When they left Suiryu took a seat “did I do the right thing?”

“What do you mean?” Suiko asked.

“Telling them about our meeting with him.”

“Eeh” she made a so-so gesture with her hand “maybe?”

“I really hope this works out” Suiryu whispered to himself.

~O~

Garou can say for certain that he definitely overdid it. Despite being able to more or less move his body how he liked during a battle once that adrenaline high wore down he was faced with the reality of his situation. A reality he made much worse with his hero hunting earlier. He stepped out of the base ready and willing to take on the world but now he was dead on his feet. Right now all he wanted to do was collapse on the couch drink several bottles of water and rest up for a bit

‘I’ll restart the hunt later tonight or whenever I wake up.’

That was the plan however the moment his base came in sight he saw that the door was open and there sounds coming from within. Once again Garou willed the fatigue away in order to address the situation at hand. Without any more preambles Garou entered his base ready to forcefully evict whoever was dumb enough to enter only to freeze up when instead of a hero he caught four kids rummaging through his stuff.

“What the-what the hell do you think you kids doing in here?”

Their reaction to seeing Garou went as expected.

“EEK!”

“It’s him!”

“What do we do?”

“RUN!”

And with that one of them pushed another kid into Garou causing him to instinctively side step the boy while the others used the distraction to run away. Garou watched the three kids run at a genuine loss for words.

‘What was that all about?’

Shuffling made him turn to the unfortunate kid who almost got shoved into him. For some reason it drudged up memories of the past where a young Garou was being shoved into the dirt by his so-called friends.

Shaking his head of those thoughts Garou spoke up “hey kid, are you okay?”

Said kid spun around to face him with a terrified expression causing Garou’s eyes to narrow lightly

‘This kid looks familiar-wait a minute.’

“Hey, aren’t you that brat who was reading the Hero Catalogue?”

“Eh you’re that monster loving old guy.”

“I’m not old” Garou deadpanned “what are you kids even doing out here?”

“W-well um…” the boy muttered before trailing off into incoherent mumbles.

“Speak up kid!”

“Eek!”

Well that didn’t work as intended since now the kid was crying.

Garou almost rolled his eyes and plopped himself on the couch “relax I’m not gonna hurt you or anything.”

Reaching for a bottle of water Garou unscrewed the cap and guzzled the entire thing down in a few gulps.

“Much better” his attention turned back to the kid who was now sitting on his knees before him “hey what’s your name?”

“T-Tareo sir.”

“Okay Tareo” leaning forward Garou rested his arms on his knees “use words. What were you kids doing here?”

“Um, this was our base.”

“Base?” looking around the place “you and your friends hung out here?”

The boy nodded “yes sir.”

Garou leaned back on the couch resting his head on the backrest. Garou may not be a hot topic for news reporters at the moment but the Hero Association did put a bounty on him.

‘If those kids blab about me then the cops or heroes might show up.’

“Um…”

“What?”

The boy flinched “y-you need leave…please.”

Garou raised an eyebrow “and why should I do that?”

The kid was in tears again.

“Jeez stop crying kid it’s pathetic”

“B-but…you…”

“It’s not like I’m planning on living here. I’ll get out of your hut after I take a nap. You won’t see me tomorrow.”

“Oh…” he hesitated

“Well now you know so scram kid.”

“O-okay!” he got up only to fall back down “ow.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Garou leaned forward to see that the boy had a scraped knee most likely from when he fell after that one kid pushed him “it’s just a scratch.”

“It hurts” the boy sniffled.

“Wuss” Garou grumbled before reaching over to his first aid supply and pulling out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a band-aid.

Garou had no idea what the kid saw but it must have been something since he started to cry again.

“Knock it off with the crying already!” he shouted in frustration.

He wanted to get some sleep to recover not deal with this crap. Surprisingly the boy managed to comply and keep in the tears that prickled the edge of his eyes. He even managed to keep in a yelp from the alcohol hitting his scraped knee. After applying the band-aid Garou frowned, for some reason the memory of Tareo getting pushed by that kid as a distraction kept coming up.

“That was real shitty what that kid did to you” Garou spoke as he stood up from his kneeling position “they always treat you like that?”

It was just a hunch but the boy’s silence was telling.

“Tch, they do don’t they? Doesn’t that bother you? Aren’t you sick and tired of putting up with that?”

“…yeah.”

The more he looked at him the more Garou could almost see a younger him and he didn’t like it.

“Hey I’m gonna tell you something. If you don’t want them to boss you aren’t anymore all you need to do is get stronger.”

In his childhood Garou was always bullied, always being bossed around and he didn’t know why. He had no one to tell him things like this and he only found out later that all he needed to do was get stronger.

Tareo’s response “but…isn’t that obvious?”

“…”

Garou stared at the kid for a moment before abruptly breaking out in laughter.

“Of course! It is obvious hahahahahaha-ugh ow it hurts to laugh hehehe.”

“Um, mister-”

Garou shook his head “that was funny. Thanks kid I needed that.”

“You’re…welcome…?”

“Now get out of-” Garou cut himself off as his gaze went to certain direction.

‘Killing intent and it’s not just one. Am I being surrounded?’ from what he could tell that seems to be the case ‘change of plans.’

“Hey kid, in exchange for treating your wound, how about you loan that hero catalogue.”

“Eh, my hero catalogue?”

“Yeah, it’s important” he said somewhat urgently.

“Um, okay” Tareo for the back of his shorts and produced the book “here.”

The book looked different from the one he first saw him use. For one it was thicker and had a different color hardcover “is this the latest edition?”

“Uh yeah, I got it yesterday.”

‘Good.’

As Garou flipped through the pages he began rattling off questions “does it have all the heroes in the registry?”

“No it’s mostly just B-Class and A-Class heroes.”

‘Well those are the only heroes I’d need to worry about.’

Stopping at a random page Garou noted something “they have info about how the heroes fight? Like special moves and abilities?”

“Not all of them. Some heroes publish lots of stuff about themselves for fan service but others just say no and don’t do that.”

“Hmph”

‘Then they’d be smart’ closing the book Garou used his finger to poke a hole in the metal wall and looked through the makeshift peephole ‘let’s see what I’m working with.’

Meanwhile Tareo looked on confused “hey mister what are you doing?”

Ignoring the boy Garou looked through the peephole ‘four at the front.’

A-Class Rank 8 Death Gatling, A-Class Rank 10 Stinger, A-Class Rank 19 Lightning Max and A-Class Rank 39 Biting Fist Snek.

Going to the side of the hut he poked another hole to see ‘two at the side’

A-Class Rank 27 Smile Man and A-Class Rank 36 Chain N’ Toad.

‘And two at the back’ another hole was made at the final two heroes were found.

B-Class Rank 99 Shooter and B-Class Rank 43 Gun Gun.

‘Eight in total huh’ normally he would win easily but at the moment Garou was almost dead on his feet ‘at least this catalogue has lots useful info. I need time to come up with a plan’

Unfortunately for Garou he would get that time as the heroes forwent their element of surprise in favor of calling him out with shots fired in the air for added effect.

~O~

“Come out now Hero Hunter you must already know we’re out here!”

In the interim silence Snek could not help but admire what was being done here. He couldn’t remember the last time he was involved in an actual coordinated team-up that wasn’t spur of the moment. What was even more awe inspiring was the fact that they were all assembled by someone most would least suspect to want to work with others. At least for those who did not know the man personally.

‘This is quite the team you’ve assembled Death Gatling.’

Death Gatling the 8th ranked A-Class hero. Snek would never admit it but he felt more than a little jealous towards the man. The two of them joined the Hero Association around the same time. In fact they met each other during the tests but would not be officially introduced until a week later. Even back then the man gave off a brooding near anti-social vibe despite the fact that he was one of the friendliest heroes he’s ever met if not a little standoffish.

He remembered Death Gatling being very critical of certain practices the Hero Association held especially the ranking system. Death Gatling actually saw the long term detriments of what a system like that would do to heroes and attempted to rally them towards getting the Hero Association to change it. Snek was ashamed to say that he ignored Death Gatling’s call to arms (much like most heroes did). He was young back then, people cheered when he defeated monsters and saved the day and he was getting paid well for it. He learned never to bite the hand that feeds him and he saw the rankings as just another challenge to boost his ego.

Oh if only he could go back in time and slap his younger self upside the head.

After his failed attempt at getting the Hero Association to change Death Gatling laid low. The hero became more standoffish and barely spoke to any of the other heroes at the time. He worked alone and did not particularly care for public sentiment. He did his own thing and from what Snek observed he treated heroics like a job. It worked in his favor because years of work had him climb the ranks to the 8th place of A-Class. Meanwhile Snek ended up stagnating and was now at the literal bottom of that same class.

This was the first time in years since Snek even had a proper conversation with the man. He was sure after what happened back then that he was not Death Gatling’s first choice. In fact he wasn’t Death Gatling’s choice at all. Lightning Max was the one to recommend the aged hero for this operation. He was the outlier here as the other heroes present were either the ones who stuck with him all those years ago or ones who hadn’t joined the Hero Association until after that incident.

Snek could tell there was some lingering resentment in Death Gatling and Snek didn’t hold it against him. They were friends once and Snek essentially abandoned him when he needed him the most due to his own selfishness.

“Fine, I’m coming out!”

The shout interrupted Snek’s thoughts and he tensed as the hut opened to reveal a young man.

“So that’s the Hero Hunter” he heard Max mumble

Some would no doubt be taken aback by his age but Snek knew better especially in recent times, age truly was just a number.

Refocusing on Garou the young man closed the door behind him and spoke “don’t shoot at the hut.”

“You seem pretty subdued, are you going to surrender?” questioned Stinger with a cocksure smile.

Garou returned it with a smirk “what are you talking about? I still need a place to sleep after I take you guys out.”

“You say that but you’re not looking too good yourself” countered Death Gatling “you really are sick.”

Pretty much everyone can see it plain as day. The labored breathing, bloodshot eyes and cold sweat were dead giveaways.

“What, are you taking pity on me?”

“Just making an observation” Death Gatling retorted “we will capture you and escort you to the Hero Association where you will tell us your motives and accomplices” after his declaration he leveled his mini gun at the youth.

“Accomplices?” there was anger in his voice “don’t tell me you think I’m working with the Monster Association.”

“You deny it?”

“Deny? He…hehe…hehehehehehe…HAHAHAHA!”

In response to his maniacal laughter the others went into stances leveling their weapons at him to which Garou continued his unhinged laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Stinger exclaimed.

“I don’t know anything about accomplices but as for motives” he leapt up atop the roof of the hut to look down at them and after a deep breath yelled.

“Listen up heroes! I am Garou the one who will become the symbol of fear the absolute evil of this world!” taking a moment to inhale he screamed “AND WHETHER YOU’RE A HERO OR A MONSTER ALL OF YOU ARE NOTHING BUT FODDER FOR MY GROWTH!”

…insanity, it was utter insanity what this young man was saying and yet…

‘Those eyes’

Snek felt his fist clenched at the sight of his expression. There was an unmistaken pressure emanating from that young man and for a brief moment Snek felt like he was facing down the Deep Sea King again.

“Take him down! It doesn’t matter if you cripple or maim him but he cannot be allowed to leave this place unscathed!”

Snek could see Death Gatling’s orders drew some looks from the other heroes, noticeably the younger ones but Snek understood why Death Gatling said this.

‘He’s seeing the same thing as me’

For a brief moment Snek met the scarred hero’s eyes and a sharp nod passed between the two. It didn’t matter what past grievances the two had, before everything they were both heroes whose job was to protect the public from monsters. Right now at this moment Garou may not physically be a monster but he was most definitely a monster in the way that counted.

Said ‘monster’ chuckled darkly as he assumed a stance. His body lowered to where it’s almost on all fours, his fingers bent to mimic claws and his yellow eyes scanned the gathered group of heroes like a predator would its prey. And as he assumed this animalistic stance five words left his mouth that kicked off the battle.

“Let the hero hunting begin!”

~To Be Continued~