The massive steel doors scraped open allowing the diminutive man known as Dr. Psycho to enter. Inside the room was a spacious laboratory filled with equipment, sensors and monitors of the medical variety.

“Even with the loss of most of your motor functions, your body filled with enough drugs to render a Dragon level monster comatose for a year and your body sealed inside a room designed to render even your protégé powerless you still somehow found a way to bypass these limitations and make contact with the Hero Hunter” the doctor spoke with a smile

“…”

He took a seat with one leg cross over the other he continued “I must say you are a very tenacious woman, Solaria Nova.”

Several feet across from him Solaria Nova sat behind reinforced glass in a high tech metal room. She was strapped to a chair wearing an advanced collar and cuffs both glowing with blue lights. She also wore a metal crown with spikes that seem to pierce through her skull if the dried blood was any indication. The woman was slumped in her chair, her eyes open but unseeing and she appeared to be for all intents dead to the world.

“…”

“Fuhrer Ugly wanted another session with you” the doctor spoke conversationally “I managed to persuade him to postpone it until later. He seemed quite impatient and I don’t believe I can put it off again at least not without the proper motivation.”

“…”

He let the words hang in the air for a moment before his amicable expression gained a dangerous edge “I’m willing to play this game for as long as you want ‘Solaria’ however you don’t have much time.”

“…”

He scoffed “the silent treatment? And you were so talkative before. You’re not fooling anyone Solaria I know you’re far from being broken yet.”

“…”

When he was again met with silence he sighed “clearly I do not have the necessary tools to pry open your mind and make you pliable to my demands” then a smile stretched across his face almost unnaturally so “but thankfully a useful tool will be arriving very soon.”

“…”

“Still nothing?” the man questioned confused “are you even listening?”

“…”

Dr. Psycho narrowed his eyes in suspicion before taking out a small controller and pressing a button. In response an electrical discharge came from the metal crown jolting the woman whose eyes gained life.

“HUH WHA-oh it’s you” the woman went from shocked and confused to disappointed all in the span of several seconds.

The doctor scowled at her behavior but only briefly before he gave a charming smile “welcome back Solaria I was starting to think I had finally broken you.”

“It will take more than torture to break me doctor” she answered pleasantly.

“Quite.”

“At least you’re no longer foolish enough to attempt a telepathic assault. How is Psykos doing by the way? I hope she didn’t hurt herself too badly” she spoke with concern.

The man could not help the internal wince at that reminder. Once they had her captured and depowered Dr. Psycho and Psykos had attempted to delve into the woman’s mind believing that she would not have much if any kind of defense against their intrusion in her depowered state.

How wrong they were.

“She will live” the doctor spoke dismissively.

“Good, I really do feel bad about that.”

It was a testament to the woman’s talents that Dr. Psycho didn’t know if she was being genuine or not, he’s learned not to take anything about this woman at face value.

“But she really does overestimate herself.”

“That, we can agree on.”

When infiltrating Solaria’s mind was brought up the esper (through her meat puppet) had insisted on joining him against his wishes. Dr. Psycho was a master of the mind arts with decades of research and years of experience under his belt. Psykos despite being prodigious with her abilities was in truth an arrogant upstart with self thought training that was rudimentary at best. In the end the experience proved too much even for him who has decades of experience traversing the minds of men and monster alike. As for Psykos well let’s just say Gyoro Gyoro had to lay low for the rest of the day.

“So it seems I’ve missed your earlier monologue” Solaria interrupted his thoughts with a cheeky grin “what’s on the agenda for today? More experiments or another meet and greet with my ugliest fan?”

Dr. Psycho kept his reaction muted, she was taunting him with the fact that none of those seemed to work on the woman. Oh sure her appearance now was a far cry from as pristine as she entered. Her clothes were filthy, her body was littered with bruises while drying blood was smeared across her skin, soaked in her clothes and caked in her hair. Her general appearance was haggard from pain and fatigue brought on by the aforementioned experiments.

Yet despite her numerous injuries and the pain he was subjecting her to via the continuous electrical discharge from the metal band around her head she seemed eerily unfazed by her situation. She still kept up that cavalier attitude and seemed determined to push the limits of his patience. To his dismay it was working and even now he wished for nothing more than to-

“You have that look in your eyes doctor” Solaria commented “will you finally be harvesting my organs?”

At that he fixed his expression to where it was a blank mask as he met her amused gaze. Dr. Psycho was a lot of things but above all else he was a scientist dedicated to the study of Psionic energy. Some would call it an obsession but he didn’t care Dr. Psycho believed that this multi-dimensional energy held the secrets to human evolution and that through the study and understanding of its connection to humans it would enable humanity to ascend into godhood.

A wild theory to be sure but he held it for a long time until he found the proof that vindicated all his research in the woman before him. The truth is he knew about Solaria for decades, back when she was known as ‘Meteora’ and after some time he found out about some of her other aliases chief among them being ‘Sailor Star.’ Dr. Psycho was old enough to remember a time before that insipid television show first aired that there were stories floating around of a figure simply known as Star or as he’d like to call the hero that the world forgot.

Dr. Psycho was once among those who had forgotten this legendary figure until his operation. What was supposed to be a complex procedure that would grant him the ability to utilize psionic energy also ended up releasing previously locked away memories. Imagine his surprise when he suddenly remembered this legendary figure and imagine his further shock that the only reference to said figure were a series of novels claiming to be memoirs, a manga series and an animated children’s program.

The fact that the materials covered several instances that he himself remembered proved their legitimacy. From there he began his private investigations into the author of the original books and her descendants. His interest in the forgotten hero was very much a personal one since in order to facilitate a targeted global memory manipulation one would have to be a very powerful psychic. It wasn’t until an incident where one of his research labs containing, at the time, his most promising test subject that he connected the dots.

The author of the memoirs was the forgotten hero and so were her ‘daughter’ and granddaughter. The same woman has been masquerading as her own descendants across generations, profiting from publicizing her own adventures and using it to build her own global business empire. Now as the latest incarnation ‘Solaria Nova’ she sits at the top as the wealthiest and most powerful woman in the world.

When he found this out Dr. Psycho laughed.

Following an incident where his facility was destroyed by the hero Blast where he barely managed to escape with his life the doctor came into contact with a certain individual and through them he learned the truth depth of his ignorance. Solaria Nova was not just the most powerful esper to have ever existed but if espers presented the potential for humanity to ascend to a higher form of existence through psionic energy then she was that potential realized in physical form.

As someone who dedicated himself to the study of psychic powers and their relation to sentient beings Dr. Psycho was, among other things, a biologist and seeing as Solaria was the most powerful esper in the world her biology was definitely worth studying. The results he found from the numerous tests made him admit that he underestimated this woman and it was frankly a miracle that he was able to capture her as he did.

As someone who dedicated himself to the study of psionics Dr. Psycho has also developed several technologies able to inhibit an esper’s connection to psionic energy rendering them powerless. Psykos herself was weary of them as they could even be used to subdue Tatsumaki. Solaria on the other hand, despite being subject to almost every method of psionic inhibition, possessed such a powerful mind and psionic connection that she was still able break through them and establish a telepathic link with another.

Even in a specially made room wearing a crown with spikes drilled into her head giving off electrical pulses and enduring the pain of torture she could still utilize her abilities. At this point Dr. Psycho refused to acknowledge her as human despite what the tests results showed because she was so much more than that. Solaria Nova was not only 100% human but in fact on a genetic level she was the most perfect human.

Dr. Psycho knew that the answers he was looking for would be found if he could just cut her open and explore at his leisure. Unfortunately he could not do that for several reasons chief among being that Psykos would not allow it as she held an immense grudge against the woman and wanted (or rather needed) to inflict her own brand of revenge on her to be satisfied.

Not that he cared much for the orders of that blue haired upstart but studying Solaria could be the most monumental achievement of his life and would need to be done in his laboratory. Dr. Psycho did all that he could turning what was formerly a hole in the ground into a proper facility however he still considered it shoddy compared to his personal laboratory.

Even then when he first got his hands on her to collect his samples he was so-so tempted to get his tools and delve inside to explore however just as soon as the thought entered his mind a spike of apprehension did as well. At first he thought it was Solaria herself attempting to influence him which it just might be however there was no denying his instincts at that moment and it told him proceeding with his impulse would be a mistake he would very much come to regret.

So in the end he told her “no.”

He’s already collected enough from the woman including: blood, saliva, skin samples, hair follicles and even spinal fluid. Her mind may have been a steel trap kaleidoscope however her body was as defenseless as any human and he was quick to take advantage of this.

In response to his answer Solaria gave a disappointed expression “not in the mood anymore? That’s a shame it’s not often that I have a man inside me.”

“…”

Dr. Psycho came to find that her body wasn’t the only thing peculiar about the woman. He built a psyche profile based on the two of her public personas namely ‘Meteora’ and ‘Solaria.’ From his findings he concluded that she was a woman who was used to being in charge and getting her own way whether through her charms, her wealth or in the rare occasions through force.

He would think that being kidnapped, stripped of her powers then having her body violated through his experiments would make her at the very least angry, vengeful, fearful or at the very least perturbed by her defenselessness but this was not the case. There was never a moment when the woman did not seem to be in control of herself or even the situation. It was not bravado nor was it ignorance but confidence and it made him weary.

Since Psykos did not care for her physical or mental well being Dr. Psycho was allowed to indulge himself and so he did for the better part of the day. His weariness coupled with his annoyance at her chevalier attitude caused him to go out of his was to break this seemingly unfounded confidence. It was why collecting DNA samples, doing a stimulus assessment and creating a psyche profile escalated into invasive experimentation, physical torture and attempted psychological torment.

He wanted to enjoy the catharsis of putting this woman’s unfounded confidence in the grave however no such catharsis ever came. Solaria despite enduring enough physical and mental trauma to drive most humans and even monsters to insanity did not break. She was still the same annoyingly chatty, inquisitive and charming woman she was. Not even Fuhrer Ugly and his perverseness fazed her and in fact she managed to endear herself to the monster in such a way that Dr. Psycho feared she might just charm him enough to break her free.

That is the real reason why he didn’t allow them to meet again.

Her behavior led him to develop three theories as to what was happening here:

First theory is that Solaria did break and this was her way of coping with the situation which sounded plausible however (and begrudgingly) he doubted it. Dr. Psycho knew what coping looked like and that woman was far too self aware to be delusional.

The second theory was that she just did not care about the situation or what was being done to her. This theory had some weight considering when he and Psykos managed to spring their trap and place the inhibitor crown on her head to destabilize her connection to her powers her first reaction upon seeing a gloating Psykos (as Gyoro Gyoro) was to greet her like an old friend or rather like a relative they have not seen in a long time and enquire about her health.

Then there was the third theory which was that the current situation genuinely did not warrant any kind of concern from her. Naturally this theory was the most worrisome of the bunch and it did not bode well that he can see this being more of a possibility than her being very nihilistic or delusional. It was his instincts telling him this that even while he technically had all the power over her he was in fact being lured into a trap.

Even now as he stared at the woman’s bruised and scuffed yet smiling face he could not help but feel unnerved. This in turn made him annoyed and the urge to wipe that infuriating smirk off her face began to build until…

“The other heroes should be arriving some time tomorrow.”

“So you only have a day left then, hmm?” she half teased

Ignoring her he continued “Psykos wants to personally deliver Tatsumaki’s corpse to your feet.”

At this the woman sighed “that girl, honestly there are better ways to impress me.”

“Do you believe she has a chance?”

“No but then again I doubt it would be a fair fight.”

“True yet you don’t seem very concerned by the prospect of your ‘daughter’ dying.”

“I’m confident enough in her abilities to bypass any traps.”

“And yet you yourself were caught in one of said traps.”

“Was I though?”

“…”

*Press*

*BZZT*

“ARGH!”

Solaria yelled out in pain as the spikes lodged into her skull began discharging a continuous pulse of electricity. After several seconds the pulse ceased however Solaria’s body was still wracked with spasms.

“Even if your capture was a ploy you overestimated yourself and underestimated me. You may be the most powerful esper in the world Solaria but without your powers you are nothing more than a mere human with superior genetics.”

“You f-f-flat-t-terer y-you” she stuttered with a charming if shaky smile due to her recovering from the shocks “w-when I e-esc-c-cape I will b-be sure t-to rep-pay you in k-k-kind f-for your hospitality.”

Another press of his controller and Solaria was wracked with even more powerful pulses of electricity cooking her brain further.

“You won’t be escaping at all” he sneered “after tomorrow I will acquire both of your daughters and I will let you watch as I dissect them” he paused “that reminds me I seem to recall I have not restocked the anesthetics. Oh well” he shrugged and directed a nasty smile towards the woman being electrocuted “I get better results when the subject is lucid anyway. I find pain makes for a rather positive stimulus for research purposes.”

He stopped the electrical pulses however Solaria was silent and unmoving. A glance to one of the monitors told him she was unconscious. He scoffed before turning away having enough of her for the time being.

“At least now I can have some peace and quiet. Why do I even bother talking to that woman? Such a waste of time” he muttered.

He failed to notice Solaria’s faded pink chapped lips stretch into a malicious smirk.

~O~

Compared to the last time he walked the streets of City Z Garou felt as if he’d entered some kind of dystopia. People were milling about attempting to go back to their daily lives but there was a lingering tension in the air. It probably wasn’t helped by the fact that the giant public display screens were being broadcasted with the news still reporting on the Monster Association and their upcoming clash with the Hero Association which will determine the fate of humanity.

On his walk Garou witnessed firsthand the influence the Monster Association now had on human society and it was the most disappointing thing he’d ever seen. Not the fact that they’ve managed to shake humanity to its very core so effortlessly (though that is disappointing in its own right) but mostly he was disappointed in how they were handling it. They managed to successfully make a statement by making fools out of the Hero Association and tarnishing their reputation in a way that would take a long time to fix. It’s obvious to Garou that they want to destroy humanity but because they never conveyed this message properly to the masses.

It all came down to communication as without it you’ll get idiots cropping up misinterpreting the situation. Case in point, the emergence of doomsday cults which would have been amusing to him if the way they went about it wasn’t so pathetic. Hearing about how they were centered on worshipping monsters had annoyed him, seeing a group of them marching in the middle of the street had riled him up but it was when they talked about blood sacrifices that Garou well and truly became pissed off.

Luckily for them he had better things to do so he let them off with a light warning and not-so-light concussions. He ended up at the entrance of a restaurant where he disabled a drunkard with a knife loitering at the front. It earned him some brownie points so the waitress didn’t question him when he decided to order basically every meat dish and salad on the menu along with a tall picture of water.

For the next half hour both patrons and staff alike were treated to the sight of Garou gorging on an assortment of meals fit to feed at least a dozen people. Garou ate with the desperation of a man who has not had a proper meal in weeks (which was technically true) and to finish off he drained the entire picture of water (ice and all) without spilling a single drop.

*Buuurp*

Not minding the looks gained from his lack of decorum Garou breathed a sigh of relief as he could already feel the food working. His hunger was satiated, his thirst was quenched, the throbbing migraine was being cleared up and the aches, pains and general soreness of his body were being abated as his energy returned to him. Absentmindedly he took one of the complimentary toothpicks and started cleaning his teeth while thinking of his next move.

Or he would have had the speakers not suddenly blared to life

“The lunch of the day is fried deep sea fish. Despite the recent chaos and worries of personal safety rest assured for we have a former hero as part of our security team so everyone please enjoy your meals in peace.”

The announcement caused Garou to pause as a memory was brought up. Despite his cool façade Garou had been running on fumes and wasn’t exactly in his right state of mind when he happened to enter the restaurant. That did not mean he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings it just meant that unless it was a direct threat to him he didn’t waste time dwelling on it. With that said when he scared off that drunkard near the entrance of the restaurant he noticed one of the guys who was supposed to be security giving him a look. Since he was in public and this guy didn’t look very special he let it go because getting food was more important.

‘Now that I think about it that one security guy kinda stood out from the rest.’

He was so used to being stared at that he ignored it in favor of eating but now that he thought of it that one guy had been keeping an extra careful eye on him. In fact he was doing it right now and he was even standing by the exit. Actually now that he was paying attention all the security guys were positioned for an ambush and Garou was conveniently isolated with the restaurant seeming emptier than it was when he entered. What few patrons remained were on the far end of the restaurant leaving Garou fairly isolated.

He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself ‘I must have been really out of it if I didn’t even notice them until now.’

He’d like to say it was because they weren’t a threat to him but that was a poor excuse since this was the second time it happened. Those heroes didn’t just come upon his hideout in City R by coincidence they must have either been tracking him or had someone following him. If it was the first then he failed to cover his trail properly and if it was the latter then it meant he didn’t notice someone tailing him. In either case it was a very dangerous precedent to set especially since he was coming from the Monster Association hideout with an ultimatum hanging over his head.

What are the chances that the Monster Association didn’t have someone keeping tabs on him?

“Tch” flicking the toothpick away Garou got to his feet and made for the door.

“Um e-excuse me customer?” one of the waitresses called out however Garou ignored her.

He also ignored the security guard who must have been the former hero and his attempts at halting his advance. A pimp slap to the side of his head made short work of him and while the rest of the security hesitated Garou made a run for it. As he did he heard several shouts coming from the restaurant.

“That Dine and Dasher ran!”

“After him quick!”

“Someone stop that guy he evaded our security!”

‘Pfft, yeah sure I did’ Garou thought as he sprinted away becoming a blur to the regular human eye.

Not to get it twisted Garou wasn’t running away but doing a strategic withdrawal from the premises. Clearly that guy recognized him and he’s betting that he called the authorities who would in turn alert the Hero Association. He’d rather not fight off another hit squad like the one earlier unless he was fully recovered. Also his former master was gunning for him along with his brother and as much as it pained him to admit even if he was fresh he was not ready to take on either of them let alone both.

After running halfway across the city Garou slowed down to catch his breath “I guess running a marathon is still a bit too much for me right now. But at least I should be far enough away from any potential ambush from the heroes.”

Thinking about facing the heroes made Garou’s mind drift to the ultimatum that the Monster Association boss gave him.

“Bring me the head of a hero.”

‘Yeah right’ of course he was going to ignore that ‘as if I’d ever entertain the idea of joining the likes of them.’

Even if he hadn’t declared them his enemies the idea that they would only acknowledge him as a monster after he killed someone was just dumb to him. By that logic any of the dozens of human murderers and assassins would be acknowledged as a monster by the Monster Association. Sure humanity would label those people as ‘monsters’ but as far as he knew none of them have ever adopted the title of monster unironically.

Wasn’t it enough that he was being recognized as a ‘monster’ by the Hero Association and was huting heroes?

“Tch.”

Right now the heroes were treating him like a monster rather than a human which says a lot but apparently that’s not enough?

He spat to the side “idiots.”

‘Not that it will matter much when the Hero Association goes after them.’

At least that’s what he expected since they only have two days to find the Monster Association base before they kill that VIP. Garou paused in his steps as thoughts of that woman rose to the surface. In truth he didn’t really care what happened to her but at the same time her current situation created a unique opportunity. After today he would officially be on the Monster Association’s shit list and with the old man definitely taking part the smart thing to do now was lay low for a bit and recover.

If push comes to shove then he’ll just point the Hero Association in the right direction through an anonymous tip. The enemy of his enemy wasn’t his friend in this case and having them kill each other could only work in his favor. Garou may have his pride but he was also a realist and besides it’s not like he’s going to be skulking in the shadows waiting to take down whoever survives Garou wants to be in the thick of it when shit inevitably hits the fan.

Sure interfering in the battle between the heroes and monsters wasn’t the ideal situation but as far as he was concerned he would gain a lot more out of it than not. It was clear to Garou that neither side held him in high regard as a threat at least not as high as they held each other. He could use that to his advantage when the Hero Association inevitably storms the Monster Association base. He doubted whatever trap the monster Association set up accounted for him as a rogue element since their leaders wanted to make him part of their upper ranks.

As for the heroes they would be too preoccupied with the powerful monsters sent for them to be overly concerned about him. From what Solaria said the plan was to ultimately set up every S-Class hero against a powerful monster whose abilities counter theirs. Garou had no idea how that would work out for them but he will make it work for him.

As he walked the steep road incline his peripherals caught sight of a familiar face in an all too familiar position. It was Tareo and the other brats who were with him from their last encounter. After seeing what one of the little shits did to him before he wasn’t really surprised to see they were bullying him. It did piss him off though since yet again Garou found himself remembering snippets from his own childhood.

With a growing tick mark Garou yelled out to the kids “OI, KNOCK IT OFF YOU LITTLE BRATS!”

His words were successful in driving the bullies away and a small part of him was gleeful especially when one of them was literally crying for his mommy. His amusement ended once he approached the downed Tareo on his hands and knees crying…again. Garou rolled his eyes not even he remembered crying as much as this kid did.

“I feel sorry for you” the sound of his voice made the boy flinch and turn to face him “I thought we already established that you need to get stronger if you want the bullies to stop bothering you.”

“Mister!?”

“Stop calling me that! I’m 18 dammit!”

His outburst caused the boy to burst into more tears.

“…whatever” turning his back on the boy to walk away he continued “it’s getting dark so you should get out of here kid there might be monsters wandering about.”

For a moment Tareo watched him leave before drying his tears and mustering the courage to speak out.

“Mister…I’m sorry for r-running away that time…”

That caused Garou to pause and look over his shoulder having legitimately been caught off.

“Huh?”

‘Where’s this coming from?’

“I…I was watching the whole time.”

He spied snippets of the fight through the peepholes that the man himself made.

With some measure of confidence back Tareo started to approach the teen who stood stock still with his back turned “even though they were heroes what they did was wrong. They ganged up on you to beat you up. They called you a monster but I don’t believe them.”

Tareo missed the way how Garou’s shoulders tensed at his words.

“You protected me from those bullets a-and just now you saved me again…” Tareo trailed off for a bit before giving a smile “so I guess you must actually be a hero-MMMPH!”

Before he could finish his sentence Tareo’s was suddenly covered by a bandaged hand. All the courage he’d built up to that point died a sudden death as he stared into the furious eyes of Garou.

“Shut your damn mouth! You make me want to puke” the man snarled.

Color drained from Tareo’s face as he suddenly remembered exactly why he ran away from him in the first place.

“Me, a hero? Don’t make me laugh. You don’t know anything!” he continued “I’m Garou the hero hunting human monster and if you ever call me a god damn hero again I’ll kill you, understand?”

Tareo was crying as he shook like a leaf however despite this he still nodded jerkily.

Garou withdrew his hand and sneered down at him “now get outta my sight” when Tareo still stood there shaking like a leaf and leaking tears Garou gained a tick mark and yelled in his fact “didn’t you hear me? PISS OFF!”

Tareo flinched tripping over his feet as he scrambled back before scampering away. Garou watched him go for a bit before clicking his teeth in annoyance and turning away. He walked for a few steps before coming to a slow halt and turned to look back in the direction where Tareo ran.

“…” his eyes narrowed.

~O~

Meanwhile…

Tareo kept running his small legs pumping with all the might of someone running like their life depended on it. His fight or flight instincts caused near tunnel vision which was the reason why he missed a loose rock and tripped.

“Oof!” landing heavily on his chest Tareo wheezed as the air was pushed out of his lungs before curling in on himself and groaning “ow.”

For a moment he stayed prone on the ground before pushing himself up to his hands and knees. His mind flashed back to that scary mister and despite the memory of him causing the boy to flinch he couldn’t help but dwell on this and every interaction he’s had with the man.

‘Didn’t he say his name was Garou?’

Tareo was hard pressed not to remember that when he yelled it in his face but that particular incident was forcibly shoved on the backburner in the face of something else.

‘Where have I heard that name?’

“…Ah!”

“I’m Garou the hero hunting human monster-”

He remembered there being some kind of announcement on the Hero Association’s public forums about some crazy guy declaring himself a monster and attacking heroes. There wasn’t a whole lot of information about him but they did give out his name and a general description. Now that he thought of it that mister was a dead ringer for what that guy looked like in addition to being called ‘Garou.’

‘It’s him!’ Tareo sat on his knees ‘Hero Hunter Garou.’

The boy couldn’t help but swallow a bit.

The forums for the most part had a lot of unflattering things to say about him especially in light of recent events. There were numerous theories being discussed about him but most just dismiss him as a fanatic for the Monster Association. As someone who has actually interacted with the man Tareo can at least confirm that a majority of those theories were wrong.

What they got right was that he was obsessed with monsters and he hated heroes. He also had anger issues, was very rude and can be scary. At the same time he was also kind enough to treat his wounds, give him advice as well as save him from his ‘friends.’ Other than getting upset with him this time he’s only ever been helpful towards Tareo. It made the boy indecisive on what to think of him. Fear and gratefulness warred within the boy’s mind.

‘This is really confusing.’

“Aw~ poor thing, have you fallen and can’t get up?”

Tareo jumped at the sudden voice as a shadow loomed over him causing the conflicting feelings brought on by Garou to ice over.

Turning ever so slowly Tareo found his worst nightmare. It had the appearance of humanoid male whose entire body was covered in bandages and long dark disheveled hair covered its left eye. It wore a worn out tattered red dress and flat shoes. The most outstanding part of its appearances however was the fact that instead of hands it had a pair of long and sharp looking straight blades.

“R-R-Roy-a-l Ri-Rip-p-per” the words stuttered out

“You know of me?” in response the monster gave a closed eye smile while tilting its head creepily “I’m so glad~”

Of course Tareo knew this monster as it was in fact featured in the very catalogue he kept in his back pocket right this moment. As one of the City Z ‘Urban Legends’ Royal Ripper is stated to be a monster patrolling around the outskirts of the infamous Ghost Town. While it is rather indiscriminate with its victims it seemed to go out of its way to target children more often than not.

‘W-why is he here…now?’ Tareo thought frantically remembering that Royal Ripper sightings usually occur near places near the City Z Ghost Town and he was nowhere near that place.

“Oh are you hurt?” the monster’s loan eye went to Tareo’s bandaged knee “don’t worry I can make the pain go away~”

He raised his right blade arm causing Tareo to experience such abject terror that he lost control of his bladder and pissed himself.

“Oh now look what you’ve done. You made a mess of yourself” Royal Ripper tutted in dark amusement.

Despite his fear Tareo couldn’t help the blush of embarrassment yet still his thoughts raced ‘h-h-have to r-run…’

Yet no matter how he tried his body just would not move and as Royal Ripper loomed over him he raised one of his blade hands.

“I’m on a bit of business so unfortunately I won’t be able to properly attend to you so regretfully this will have to be quick!”

Then he reared his blade hand back and struck causing Tareo to clench his eyes shut and screamed out.

“WAAAAAHHHHHH!!”

Moments passed as Tareo awaited his faith nothing came of it except.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

‘H-huh?’

“-Garou.”

Tareo opened his eyes to see that Royal Ripper was still looming over him with his blade hand reared back except it was now the blunt side was being held between bandaged fingers.

“I should be asking you the same thing” Garou spoke from behind Royal Ripper who has now lost his mirthful expression while his lone eye peered at the human from his peripheral.

“Isn’t it obvious” Royal Ripper spoke casually “I was about to kill this child.”

Tareo flinched as his momentary surprise at seeing Garou forgotten.

“Yeah, I thought as much” Garou replied in an equally casual tone before releasing the monster’s blade.

The only warning the monster got that something was amiss was the audible sound of Garou’s fist clenching with a *crack.* On instinct the monster whirled around with a slash meant to bisect him however Garou easily caught the flat of the blade mid swing between the palm of his hands at varying extremities of its length. A feat which drew a surprised look from the monster having not expecting it and his surprise only increased along with his pain as Garou leveraged the caught blade to pull the monster closer and into his raised half cocked leg.

“Agh!” Royal Ripper grunted with an annoyed look however just as he was ready to cut off Garou head with his free blade hand Garou shot his bent leg forward like a spring drawing another grunt of pain from Royal Ripper while sending him flying off to the side.

Despite being caught off guard by the attack which would have KO’d most A-Class heroes Royal Ripper was able to recover and stab his blades into the ground to slow his momentum. Coincidentally the deranged monster managed to halt his retreat almost next to another that was making its way forward. This second monster was a tall humanoid insect with five mantis-like eyes, two giant pincer-like incisors along with a smaller set on its face and possessed a very muscular body.

Garou scowled at their appearance “you two have been following me for a while now, the hell do you want?”

“Your death!” Royal Ripper growled ready to lunge at him only to be stopped by his partner.

“Wait Royal Ripper.”

“Waaiiit?” the deranged monster tilted its head a maniacal gleam in his lone eye “that simply won’t do Bug God, he attacked me and I simply cannot let that go.”

“Be that as it may we were ordered not to kill him.”

“I wasn’t going to kill him~” Royal Ripper lowered his arms to have his blades scratching at the ground “just a few cuts, maybe maim him a bit-just a bit as light punishment for his insolence.”

While the two monsters were arguing Garou spared a glance at Tareo “kid, you need to get out of here.”

“I-I can’t…my legs won’t move.”

Before he could admonish the boy further his attention was redirected to the pair of monsters who seem to be done with their own conversation.

“Garou, we were ordered by Gyoro Gyoro to keep an eye on you to decide whether or not you deserve to be our comrade” Bug God spoke.

“Are you just some weirdo running around calling himself a monster or are you the real deal?” Royal Ripper added with a growl.

“…” silently Garou removed the bandages from his hands.

Royal Ripper continued “from where I’m standing you don’t seem like much of a monster to me.”

Garou flexed his fingers as he replied “is that right? And what, pray tell, would make me a ‘real’ monster then?”

“Kill that child” Royal Ripper demanded “that is the only way to prove that you are one of us as well as the cost of your transgressions against me.”

Garou glanced at Tareo who flinched however Garou ignored this to glare at the two monsters with an unimpressed look.

“So this is what the Monster Association amounts to in the end huh? Killing kids?” he sneered remembering yesterday when he had to pulverize a monster targeting Metal Bat’s sister.

“Monsters are an existence completely detached from humanity and you still cling to yours” Bug God explained “if you are to join the Monster Association then you must first make the effort to earn our trust.”

“We don’t need a half assed failure” Royal Ripper picked up “we are an organization that plans to conquer and annihilate humanity that boy’s life is already forfeit.”

For a long moment Garou stared at the pair before he looked over his shoulder to eye the boy “you think I’m some kind of hero because I saved you back then right?”

Shakily Tareo nodded his head.

“I’m not” Garou growled and it sent a shiver down his spine “don’t expect someone to come along and save you because nobody gives a damn. If you can’t stand on your then you’re always gonna be trampled over. This is the time when you need to be stronger Tareo.”

As he spoke those words Tareo suddenly remembered

“If you don’t want them to boss you around anymore all you need to do is get stronger.”

Back then he said it was obvious but things can be easier said than done.

“Get up!”

Tareo found himself reacting instantly springing from his seated position to stand up ramrod straight.

“And just for the record” Garou continued now no longer looking at the boy “back then I didn’t do what I did to protect you, I did it to prove a point and I’m going to do the same with these two chumps.”

“So you’ve made the choice to be our enemy” Bug God spoke as his fists clenched.

Garou barked out a harsh laugh “I never thought of you and your club as allies in the first place! At best you were competition and now I’ll be using the two of you to send a message to that cyclops.”

‘A-are they gonna fight here? Now!?’

“Tareo get the hell out of here!”

With his thoughts interrupted Tareo’s body reacted again before his mind could catch up and he did an about face before desperately pumping his small legs to get out of there before the monsters attempt to attack him. Not that Royal Ripper and Bug God were at all interested in Tareo instead their attention was fully set on Garou himself. The only reason why Royal Ripper weathered through the farce Garou put on with the boy was because of Bug God. Gyoro Gyoro gave specific instructions not to harm Garou and the insect monster would follow said orders and prevent Royal Ripper from attacking until Garou proved himself to not be their ally.

As for Royal Ripper…

Interrupting his kill,

Hitting him with a surprisingly potent attack,

Throwing their invitation to the Monster Association back in their face,

All the while looking down on them (real monsters) while pretending to be them.

The fact that Gyoro Gyoro and Lord Orochi wanted this pretender as a Cadre made Royal Ripper sick.

“DIE!”

Garou’s response was to slowly assume his modified Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist stance with his hands curled like claws.

“You first.”

~O~

“That’s it, everything’s been sent off to the Hero Association” Tomoro informed.

Specifically to Child Emperor who’s personal (and most likely encrypted) E-Mail Solaria was kind enough to provide him. It was something the two of them discussed when it came to information dissemination. Tomoro figured she would handle that since she was the boss however she insisted that he be the one to do it as her ‘source.’ He had no idea she would go as far as to get herself kidnapped to spare that rich brat but it was an obvious choice that would progress the propel events in the same direction without putting a kid in danger.

At the time he agreed because given the nature of the traitorous party involved there was a pretty decent chance that the Hero Association’s cyber security was hacked and was being monitored by a third party. He already had strong suspicions that Metal Knight had a backdoor into their systems because he basically created the damn thing. Speaking of whom, Solaria also gave him the personal e-mail of one Dr. Bofoi and all bur ordered him to send the man the information.

Solaria trusted him and by the way she talked about him implied that the two had some history. Tomoro didn’t exactly disagree with her since despite the original story’s tendency to portray him in a negative light Metal Knight always came off to him as a practical uncompromising man with a rigid sense of justice than a straight up villain. The guy was clinical in his approach and could look at the bigger picture allowing him to make the difficult decisions. Granted it may not be the most ethical decision but it would be the one to benefit the greater good in his eyes long term.

The way Tomoro sees it all he has to do was ensure that the circumstances don’t become too strenuous since Metal Knight came off as a guy who would sacrifice thousands to save millions. Not a good thing considering that in the original story Orochi spooked him enough that Metal Knight refused to even participate in the raid and instead hung back to see how things played out. That was just Orochi and the other Monster Association cadres aren’t pushovers plus with the information given it didn’t paint a very good picture since a lot of them are direct counters to the S-Class.

What would Metal Knight do with this information?

Tomoro’s could see him implementing scorched earth tactics, at worst wiping City Z off the map so thoroughly that it would essentially become a mysterious vacant chunk of the super continent to future generations.

Really Child Emperor was the safest option here.

“If that is all then I will take my leave” Fubuki announced cutting his thoughts.

In light of both her and Tatsumaki’s earlier reactions and the implied history they have with this Dr. Psycho character Tomoro didn’t question her decision to leave early. He did however have some concerns of his own.

“Will you be able to make it tomorrow for the raid?”

“There’s still two days before the deadline.”

“Given what’s at stake here I doubt the Hero Association is going to just sit on this information for long. Plus it’s in their best interest not to wait until the last minute to launch a rescue.”

“I will be here.”

He wanted to press the issue considering the only reason she got away with taking part in the original story was because Tatsumaki wasn’t paying attention to her. Now that she knew it was a genuine toss up as to whether or not Fubuki would be able to participate this time around.

He held her gaze for a moment before backing down “okay I’ll take your word for it. Give me your number. I’ll text you the time. If you’re not here by then I’m starting without you.”

Their numbers were exchanged in short order and Fubuki excused herself from the apartment. After that another situation was brought to Tomoro’s attention by way of the meaningful/shifty look looks Bang and Bomb were sending him respectively.

‘Right I almost forgot about that.’

Tomoro closed down his laptop “I suppose it’s high time we talked then?”

He received a grunt of acknowledgement and a nod in response.

“Right” standing up Tomoro looked to the four younger individuals in the room “us old folks are going outside to catch up so the rest of you can get to know each other” he paused “unless you want to leave which I wouldn’t hold against you. This ‘party’ isn’t exactly going the way I envisioned.”

“Are you kidding?” Suiko grinned “this is going great!”

Tomoro looked to her brother who shrugged “its fine.”

He gave an amused chuckle before turning his gaze to the silent monster sitting in the corner “and you?”

Do-S only gave him a glance before looking away “later.”

Shrugging at her terse answer he walked through the door with Bang and Bomb in tow leaving her alone with the two siblings.

~O~

‘Something’s wrong’

Child Emperor has been following through with his promise to Tatsumaki for a while now. At first he directed some of the scouting drones that hit a dead end scouring through Elder Centipede’s tunnels to the Ghost Town. It wasn’t long until he noticed that the drones he sent soon lost their signal at a certain point. It led him to pouring more resources into it trying to get an accurate reading on the place but it has been a dead end and not for the most likely reason.

‘Something is interfering with the scouting robot signal’ he thought however after looking into it his eyes narrowed lightly ‘or rather someone.’

Glancing over his shoulder a bit at the employees who were most assuredly stressed and tired from overwork he spoke out.

“You guys can take a break now.”

The employees jerked at the sudden suggestion/command. Some looked hopeful, some yawned but others were a bit reluctant and it was one of the latter who answered.

“A-are you sure?”

“Yeah, I can’t really focus with so many people in the room anyway.”

The employees looked amongst themselves “alright then, if you’re sure-”

“I am” the S-Class hero assured “in fact you can take the rest of the day off as well. Tell the executives I gave you permission.”

He might as well have given them all the riches in the world for how most of them reacted.

“Yes sir.”

And with that they all filed out of the room. Child Emperor waited a full minute after the last person left and even made sure to lock the automatic doors before his fingers blazed across his modified work station.

“Dr. Bofoi I know you’re monitoring this room, please respond.”

For a moment there was silence before the familiar voice of his former mentor came through.

“I told you not to use my real name when conducting official business Child Emperor.”

“Well I’m sorry Metal Knight but since you were hindering my progress in scanning the City Z Ghost Town.”

“…tch I thought I covered my tracks.”

Child Emperor couldn’t help but smirk “you’re the only person I know who would be able to hack my system” the smirk lessened “why are you doing this Dr. Bofoi?”

“The situation has changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Unforeseen elements have involved themselves and even I-no, no it doesn’t matter now.”

Knowing that pressing his old mentor would only be a lesson in futility he switched gears “you know the location of the Monster Association don’t you?”

“…”

“Please tell me where it is before it’s too late! Or do you plan to let the hostage die?”

To his surprise the doctor started chuckling which was so uncharacteristic of the doctor that the child hero recoiled from the sound of it.

“From what little I’ve gathered Solaria Nova may already be dead.”

The news had Child Emperor surge to his feet, biting through his lollipop and slamming his palms on the console with a look of horror and a shout of “WHAT!?”

“I’ve said too much.”

“No!” Child Emperor yelled “you don’t get to just make a claim like that and retract it doctor! What do you mean Miss Nova may already be dead!? What-” he cut himself off to take a deep calming breath “what are you so afraid of? What did you see in the Monster Association base that you don’t want us to face?”

The very last message he and the Hero Association received from Dr. Bofoi was that he attached the Metal Knight unit to Elder Centipede as a gambit to find the Monster Association base. It was thanks to him and his transmitter that they know the base was somewhere in City Z and the abandoned section was a no brainer for places to hide.

There was a brief pause before the doctor responded “I don’t believe Solaria Nova has perished, that was a premature assumption. I am not afraid of the Monster Association itself I am however weary of them. It is clear to me that they are prepared for the Hero Association. By going to their base you will be entering a trap.”

“That was a given but we can’t just let Miss Nova die.”

Again the doctor chuckled “if only you knew.”

“What?”

“This is quite the conundrum” the doctor continued unabated “if I don’t tell you where the base is then I’m ‘killing’ a ‘hostage’ but if I do I may be sending you to your deaths.”

“There is a third option!” Child Emperor exclaimed “you can join us.”

“No.”

“You refuse?”

“Knowing you my warnings won’t matter and you will forge on ahead into the ‘lion’s den’ so to speak. Someone needs to stay behind and defend humanity should you all fail.”

“So it’s a ‘no’ then.”

“I will not be joining your suicide mission Child Emperor but I will no longer hinder your search.”

“It would be a lot better if you just tell me where the base is doctor.”

“Hmph, I will no longer interfere with your business but I won’t be speeding up your demise either.”

Child Emperor almost let out a growl at his obstinacy. It was one of the things he hated about his former mentor and a reason why he broke off from under him in the first place.

“If it is any consolation you are close. In fact I would venture to say that you will have an accurate enough position by tonight.”

He didn’t show it but Child Emperor was grateful for the confirmation ‘at least I’ll be able to get some sleep in.’

“It seems Tatsumaki’s hint served you well.”

That caught his attention “I guess…”

“I wonder about that.”

Child Emperor did as well “do you know something?”

“Check your E-Mail Child Emperor.”

That’s the second time someone has told him that and this time he did as he was told but did so on his own personal custom built laptop. Unlike the e-mail he gave the Hero Association this one was a bit different having been encrypted to prevent it from being hacked into. Only a few select individuals knew this e-mail so imagine his surprise when he saw a new message that had the subject line Monster Association Info. With a narrow eyed gaze Child Emperor opened the file and skimmed through the contents.

It wasn’t long before his jaw dropped in astonishment “t-this is…”

“It seems our esteemed director has left more contingencies in place than I realized.”

Child Emperor’s head snapped up “huh, Miss Nova did?”

“I have my theories. In any case I will caution you not to over rely on others in the future Child Emperor. You are incredibly fortunate that many of the small dangers have been eliminated from around you however there are still greater evils present.”

“What are you saying?”

“Amass your power and preserve it Child Emperor for to truly fight for justice the only one you can really trust is yourself.”

Then the line cut off causing Child Emperor to sigh.

“At least this wasn’t a waste of time.”

As he said this he went ahead and brought the newly given information on the large monitors detailing the names of certain monsters and their abilities.

~To Be Continued~