The sewers beneath City D and Z are quieter than I expected.
I've been tracking my way north for what feels like hours, marking junctions, counting tunnels, memorizing turns.
Ive also been taking the chance to pop up manhole covers when I can to mark where humans above are, and if im correct, im right below the city Z outskirts, where Saitamas apartment is.
The manhole above rattles faintly. I push it up and peer through it.
Im pretty sure that apartment complex across from me is where saitama lives, and I can sense a very strong light and a ... void? Thats odd, I can sense that theres someone there, but their lights missing?
If I had to make a guess, that large light is Genos, and the weird one is Saitama. Actually Saitamas aura kinda unnerves me, its like somethings missing.
I lower the lid back down, leaning against the damp wall, and think.
Waiting could be boring. I could just… hang out here until the House of Evolution attack starts. Or explore.
Then I sense it, three lights approaching, faint but distinct.
Psychic energy. One of them burns with that weird flicker, an esper!
I lift the cover again, just enough to peek.
A slug thing walks down the street, completely naked but it doesnt seem to be made of slime. Beside it, a frog person wearing pants for some reason, Im pretty sure they both get one shot in the anime.
Hey why are they just waiting outside? Shouldn't the mantis thing break in and-
*SHATTER*
A mantis monster just crashed into the side of the apartment, im assuming right into Saitamas room.
I can sense 2 pretty strong lights approaching too, one on par with Genos and another weaker one, so the Armored Gorilla and the Beast King i assume.
Interesting.
I could stay hidden. Let things play out. Or I can snatch some prey before the real threats arrive ... the latter sounds funner though.
I leap.
My claws pierce the air, slamming down onto the slug. The creature yelps, purple blood splattering the cracked pavement. I twist my body midair, grab the squirming mutant by its torso, and in one motion, dash back toward the open manhole.
The frog dude screams surprisingly loud as I do it, didnt expect him to make that much noise but oh well, hope I didnt draw attention to myself.
A pair of clawed hands erupts from the asphalt where I just stood, its the mole trying to grab me. Too slow. I sensed its light approaching pretty fast.
I drop back into the sewers. The slug writhes weakly in my grip, psychic light flickering inside its body like a dying bulb.
Well, time to absorb this thing. Its an esper, so if my theory is correct, then I should get stronger psychic abilities.
I press my hand against its chest.
The absorption begins immediately, I focus on the psychic energy I can sense in him, blue light streams out like smoke drawn into a vacuum. It floods into me, it feels ... different from just absorbing somethings lifeforce.
My head feels clearer. Thoughts sharper. Like a fog lifting.
I pause when I feel something, somethings still squirming in my grasp.
"W-what the hell, i-i cant use my telepathy, what the hell man!"
It's Slugerous. Still alive, and screaming about how he cant use his telepathy.
Thats odd, I didn't kill him?
"Interesting," I murmur, voice strange and distorted and then freeze.
Voice.
I spoke.
Sound. Actual sound, reverberating from my mouth. I take a look into my reflection in the sewer water nearby, and I notice distinctive coloured panels where my mouth should be.
I chuckle a bit, low and distorted like glass scraping metal. Which would probably sound pretty unnerving to an average dude.
Still, it feels good to speak, let me test that out again.
"Interesting," I repeat, savoring the vibration. "So I can absorb an esper's psychic ability without killing them, thats useful."
Slugerous twitches in my grip, weakly punching at my arm.
"What are you doi-"
I close my hand.
The slug dissolves, body liquefying into glowing residue that seeps into me.
The rush fades quickly, wasnt that much. "Pretty small boost," I mutter. "Barely worth-"
A splash echoes behind me.
I turn just in time to see something leap through the open manhole above.
A frog man, green-skinned, dripping, a short sword clutched tight in trembling hands. His eyes are red and wet with tears.
"YOU!" he screams, voice shaking with rage. "YOU KILLED HIM!"
Before I can react, he swings. The blade screeches across my forearm, sparks flying. I barely feel it.
I slap the sword aside, the impact sending it spinning across the tunnel with a clang.
"Calm down," I start, but he's already sobbing, voice cracking. "He was my friend I'll make you pay! YOU BASTARD!!!"
Something in his voice makes me hesitate. There's genuine grief there.
Well ... now I feel bad, im pitying the dude now but that feeling doesn't last.
He screams again, the veins on his neck bulging, muscles twitching violently. His body begins to change.
Bones crack. Skin stretches. The pathetic frog bulks up, swelling with unnatural muscle, his pants rip as he grows. His eyes dilate, glowing red, turning more reptilian then human.
What the hell, hes transforming into a monster as a monster? Actually come to think of it, he isnt exactly a monster, hes a mixture of a human and a frog, but I didnt expect house of evolution members to be able to monsterize.
When he finishes transforming, he's the size of a car, hunched over, crawling on four thick, wet limbs, mouth full of teeth. His croak becomes a roar.
"S-SLUGEROUSSSSS!"
He charges.
The tunnel shakes as his massive fists slam down. I dart backwards, barely dodging his slam.
He swipes again, faster this time. I duck under it and dash forward, and drive a claw into his abdomen, but it barely pierces. The skin's like rubber.
He slams a backhand into me, the impact sending me skidding across the tunnel floor. My vision flickers white.
"You are strong ... frog thing."
I launch myself upward, kicking off the wall to get behind him, and i slash across his back. Black-green blood sprays, sizzling on the damp floor.
So hes resistant to blunt attacks but hes easy to cut, good to know.
He roars, and leaps forward with suprising speed, its back legs are stronger then I thought and it leaps so fast that it catches my shoulder, sending cracks spidering through my crystal armor.
Pain hums through my frame like a struck tuning fork.
The frog slams into a sewer wall, slightly hurting himself as jumping full force in an enclosed space isnt exactly safe.
I slide back, and I crush up some scattered rubble with my claw into a fine powder and I focus on it reallllly hard, time to test how strong of an esper I really am.
He lunges again, mouth wide. I thrust forward, and I fling the crushed up rubble dust into his eyes with my psychic powers. He claws at his eyes in pain, but he recovers instantly, ramming his shoulder into my chest and pinning me
The concrete groans and cracks behind me.
"Rrraagh!" he bellows, saliva splattering across my head. His breath would definitely reek if I could smell.
I jam my sharp clawed foot into his stomach and push off, flipping backward, landing in the shallow stream.
City Z hasnt been inhabited for years so thankfully no ones been ... "dumping waste" in the sewer system for a while now, its just stagnant water.
He pounces again, each step making the tunnel shake. Hes a beast, but I feel like i need a good fight right now, so I meet him head on.
We clash.
Claws against fists. I punch and weave his shots, I barely block his wild swings, Every impact sends shockwaves down the corridor.
I slice across his arm, he grabs my wrist and slams me down, but I just dash under his legs and I climb onto his back, I bring my claws up to smash his eyes but he flicks his tounge at me, its suprisingly fast and whips my head back with surprising force.
He wraps it over my head and I try to claw at his tounge but he quickly flings me downwards slamming me down into the water.
The water erupts everywhere, spraying like rain.
He howls, charging through the flood. I use his force against him and I slam my claw into his side pushing off him to get out of the way.
For a moment, it feels endless, just the rhythm of attack, dodge, counter, impact. Hes really predictable ... and fun to fight, but hes still not slowing.
A fist connects with my side, hard enough to make cracks bloom along my crystal body. Light leaks from the fractures. My movements falter.
Fuck he got me with that, did he get faster?
"I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
He rears back for another shot, he definitely has more veins on him then before.
And the world erupts in fire.
A white-hot beam floods the tunnel from behind him, striking his back with enough force to vaporize the air. His scream is swallowed by the explosion. The heat sears across my armor, and I instinctively raise an arm to block.
The frog's body ignites, his oily skin bubbling and peeling under the blast. He croaks in pain, twitching, the smell of burning flesh filling
The heat interacting with his wet body and oily skin causes a reaction that covers the tunnel in smoke.
I don't wait.
I dash away from the entrance of the tunnel and Genos, silent and fast, slipping into the side tunnel before Genos's gaze can lock onto me.
The smoke almost completely dissipates, as I make a few sharp turns as I dash through the tunnel.
Behind me, I hear the sound of Genos's mechanic parts whirring grow lower and lower as I dash away.
---
Genos POV
The frog-shaped carcass still smolders in front of me. The fire fades slowly, leaving only a scorched, half-melted husk.
I lower my arm cannon, steam hissing from the vents.
"What… was that thing?" I mutter. The question lingers in my head longer than it should.
It wasn't just another monster. My sensors had picked up two distinct energy signatures before I fired. One's gone. The other was barely organic and it fled.
And yet…
I turn, scanning the smoke-filled tunnel.
A faint, uneasy pulse runs through my systems. The brief flash I saw before the explosion, something humanoid, crystalline, with a strange energy signature, what was that?
There was something unnerving about it. Not just dangerous, it was alien.
I crouch, the metallic plates on my legs click softly, and I touch the puddle beneath me.
It's not water.
Viscous. Warm. Slightly luminescent. My HUD flickers.
> SCAN COMPLETE: ORGANIC MATERIAL - STATUS: DECEASED (100%)
ANOMALY DETECTED - STRUCTURE DISSOLVED, NO REMAINING CELLS.
I frown. "Deceased? But…"
I lift my hand. The fluid drips between my fingers like mercury.
"What could leave this behind?"
A metallic clang above interrupts me. The manhole cover lifts slightly, and a bald head with bored eyes peeks in.
"Hey," Master Saitama says lazily. "You find anything down there?"
I glance back at the puddle, then I shake my head. "Nothing of importance Master, Just… remains of some house of evolution agents, they were lower ranked fodder from what i could tell, unlikely to have any important information."
Saitama hums. "Cool. Hurry up then, we're gonna have to clean up my place, its pretty busted up."
The cover drops back down with a clank.
I stare once more at the shimmering residue, then I wipe it from my hand, letting the sewer water carry it away.
The uneasy feeling doesn't leave ...