Manako ran through a series of maze-like compact halls of the Monster Association, carrying a copy of 'The Daily Monster.'
"We're under attack by the S-Class Heroes! I need to get to my hiding spot!" Her hand brushed against the wall trying to keep herself balance as the intensity of the Heroes assault heightened with each step she made.
Manako hooked a right and glanced up at a sign labeled: 'W.C.' beneath which stood a door, the one she was searching for.
She almost fell from the earthquake-like situation but saved herself by holding tight onto the door's lever handle. With a trained motion, one made countless times, she flung the door open and rushed in while slamming the door shut before locking it.
"Safe." Manako's heartbeat steadied as the familiar comfort of the cramped, tilted room with a single toilet granted her with utmost safety. "It's like the shaking stopped." Her single green eye narrowed. "It did..."
Bang
Manako jumped.
"Hey! Hurry up will you! T—"
A loud splattering noise cut off the outsider's voice.
Sick freak.
Knocking sounded once more from the other side of the door. "I'll wait for thirty seconds, Manako."
That freak's voice sounds different. How did he know it was me?
Manako grappled with the decision to listen or not.
The door suddenly ripped clean off its hinges, revealing a man shrouded in dark garments. "I forgot to start counting."
It's been less than ten seconds!
"Who-Wha—" Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. Beneath the stranger's feet lay a monster reduced to pulp.
"Don't just stand there. Take me to the Monster King's lair." He tilted his head. "Oh, my name's Caspian."
Is he a hero? Only one S-Class Hero wears an outfit similar to that… and the man before her is definitely not that person. How'd he even reach this depth?
"I'm in a bit of a hurry. You know I didn't plan to rush down here and cause a big disturbance."
Did he actually trigger those quakes? Unlikely. More like he's riding the coattails of some S-Class Hero who wandered off. Manako skirted past the monster's pulped remains and jerked her thumb right. "T-This way."
Iniquitous plans stirred in her mind. I'll end your life along the way.
¤ ¤ ¤
I've sent her, equipped with a hidden drone, to gather battle data on King. It is time I…
With Tatsumaki in S-City, Psykos seized her chance. She leaned back into the couch's leather embrace, her spring-green eyes closing as she flooded her meat puppet with every shred of concentration she could spare in order to deal with the biggest nuisance.
Gyoro Gyoro hovered within a recently created abyssal hole. The intruder who eliminated Fuhrer Ugly. I must erase them before they can claim another Executive.
As for the other intruder, Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame should've dealt with them.
She plunged into the abyss. As she descended, one of her static 'Spy Drones' flickered to life in her mind's eye, which revealed the intruder speeding away on a mine cart, arms raised, having the time of their life.
Her mind burned. This vermin had slaughtered Fuhrer Ugly, mocked her domain, and now dared to act like they were on an amusement park ride.
Die delighted, then! Gyoro Gyoro's large, pink slug-like form nosedived.
¤ ¤ ¤
Garou's eyes blinked open, greeted by a bright blue sky. "Still alive," he uttered.
Every muscle screamed as he pushed himself up from the shin-high grass. His ribs flared with white-hot pain when he prodded them — broken, without a doubt. That idol had clearly struck him while he was unconscious.
Above, he noted that the sun's angle hadn't budged. Meaning either a full day had passed in a blink, or no time at all. He believed in the latter.
His stomach growled the moment he took his first step. On the horizon, skyscrapers jutted against the sky. He trudged forward.
There's a diner nearby. I'll eat, then get the hell out of this city and head 'there.' To the place my luck is going to shine.
Q-City glimmered in his mind.
¤ ¤ ¤
Wavygyaza flitted over S-City, searching for a grocery or convenience store.
Doctor Kuseno's modifications had enhanced her far beyond what the Neo Heroes' incomplete experiments could have accomplished. While his work eliminated nearly all her body's negative side effects, one lingered: overheating. Though now significantly less severe, the issue persisted.
Her destination was her high-rise apartment in R-City, but first, she needed to purchase a jug of water if she wanted to make it through the long flight without overheating.
She mentally thanked Doctor Kuseno again for the money he had given her, for transport and for this exact purpose. She would repay him tenfold. No question.
Fortunately, monster alert sirens wailed, causing the streets to be clear of pedestrians, allowing her to arrive unbothered as she touched down outside a convenience store. The interior stood empty. No clerks, no customers. She snatched the largest water bottle in sight, dropped the exact change on the counter, and exited the store before returning to the sky.
As she left the store a second ago, she caught sight of her flushed face, redder than it should've been even with her overheating condition. The Hero Association's 2nd Ranked Hero had used her psychic powers to...
While the Neo Heroes were unscrupulous, she knew they would not subject her to something like that.
Wavygyaza bit her lip. Her rage had faded after delivering dozens of kicks into that forest creep's gut. But Tatsumaki? Revenge would require far more strength and patience than she currently had.
Her thoughts turned to the man called Caspian. This was his fault, his doing that she had endured such pleasurable humiliation. Tatsumaki could wait.
How to find him, though? Tracking down Tatsumaki to ask was out of the question. Who knew what that depraved Esper would do to her if given another chance?
The Neo Heroes' intelligence network might work. She was still a Neo Leader, after all. As she planned to gut their organization from within, starting with whoever had approved those unforgivable 'enhancements' meant for her.
They might distrust her sudden return, but unless Tatsumaki had joined the Neo Heroes, escaping would be trivial, she believed.
Wavygyaza's lips curled as she imagined enacting her revenge on the Neo Heroes, but most urgently on the man called 'Caspian.'