Chapter 8: This Act is Over the Top
"Son!!"
Another mournful, tragic cry rang out.
"As expected... Grandpa."
The corner of king's mouth twitched. Heh.
The Monster that appeared before him was clad in what looked like a large, light-yellow Fanta can. The pull-tab on his head was open, with a yellow straw sticking out of it. His face was old and wrinkled, and on the aluminum of his belly, the word "Fanta" was written in a flamboyant, calligraphic style.
"Son!"
The elderly Fanta Man threw himself onto the body of the Sprite Man, wailing in agony.
*Thump, thump, thump!*
king subconsciously took a few steps back, looking awkwardly at the grieving old Fanta Man. He really wanted to explain that he wasn't the killer, but he was afraid of making things worse.
"Ah? A tragedy! My good boy!?"
The old Fanta Man raised his head, about to glare viciously at king, but his eyes instead fell upon the equally tragically deceased Cola Monster not far away.
Eh? Wait a minute, "good boy"? Holy crap, aren't you the grandpa? Shouldn't you be calling him "grandson"?
king was stunned. If he remembered correctly, the middle-aged Sprite Man was supposed to be the Cola Monster's son. How could the old Fanta Man call both the Sprite Man and the Cola Monster his sons? Your... your family relationships are a bit of a mess!
He cast a sympathetic glance at the middle-aged Sprite Man with the green cap on his head. It truly was as they say, "If you want to make it through life, you've got to have some green on your head."
"You killed my two sons, you... deserve to die! Tonight, I'm going to dance on your grave!"
A "gurgle, gurgle" boiling sound came from within the old Fanta Man's can-like body. The yellow straw let out a "hiss, hiss" of steam. In a moment, with a "glug" sound, a ping-pong ball-sized glob of yellow liquid was squeezed up the straw. The effect was like trying to force a ping-pong ball into a thin straw, creating a tumor-like bulge in the middle.
"Hiss!"
king sucked in a sharp breath of cold air. At the same time, his heart began to pound with a muffled "thump-thump." Judging by the Cola Monster's situation, their soda was equivalent to Jet Propulsion. With the way the Fanta Man was squeezing it out like toothpaste, he estimated a cannonball would soon shoot out of that straw and blast him to smithereens.
This is a grave injustice! I really didn't kill your two sons! Old man, you need to calm down!
He frantically waved his hands to deny being the killer, but before the words "I didn't kill your sons" could leave his mouth, a "white angel" appeared in his field of vision. An outdoor air conditioner unit fell from the sky. WHAM! It smashed right onto the old Fanta Man, sending Fanta soda splashing everywhere...
"Groan, groan, groan!"
However, as expected of a monster from the grandpa generation, he didn't die instantly from the impact of the air conditioner.
"This..."
king stared blankly at the old Fanta Man struggling to get up. Should he go over and help him? He was afraid of being framed. Better not!
Better run! Otherwise, when the old monster gets back on his feet, he'll definitely kill me!
He turned and prepared to flee.
"BOOM!"
Suddenly, the "cannonball" that had been squeezed up the old Fanta Man's straw, which had become bent and crushed by the air conditioner, could no longer be forced through. It was stuck in the middle, unable to go up or down. After being held back for a moment, it violently exploded. Fanta soda splattered everywhere...
king turned his head back and stared, dumbfounded, at the farcical scene. The old Fanta Man had been blown to pieces by his own "cannonball." Fanta soda covered the ground, the carbonated drink fizzing and bubbling.
"Ding-dong, a Monster Card is available for conversion nearby. Please proceed to convert."
"Is it April Fool's Day? Are the monsters joking around with their own lives?"
He couldn't help but laugh. A family of three had perished under bizarre falling objects from the sky. As it turns out, there was a lot of truth to what his teachers taught him as a child about being careful of falling objects.
"May you all rest in peace!"
He stepped forward and touched the old Fanta Man, obtaining a two-star card: Monster Card · Fanta Man. At the same time, he discovered that the old Fanta Man's outer shell was an aluminum product. No wonder he was tougher than the Sprite Man and Cola Monster; his defense was a notch higher.
He glanced at the air conditioner. The damage marks on its mounting bracket left him speechless. People always complain about getting screwed over by their "old man," but that's usually just venting. However, the Cola Monster literally screwed his fathers over. And he screwed over two of them. What a tragedy.
"Long live King."
"King must be an esper. Did you see him stretch out his hand? All the signs, billboards, and the air conditioner from the building came crashing down on the monsters. King must have used psychokinesis to pull those things down."
"As expected of the strongest man on Earth! As expected of the idol I worship!!"
"Wait a minute, did you guys see King's confident turn just now? That's the one-hundred-percent confidence a strong person has in their own power. He believed the monster would die without a doubt, that's why he showed his back. King is too strong, from his power to his mentality, he's unbelievably strong."
It was as if the crowd was instantly ignited. Their blood boiled with excitement as they shouted with euphoric faces.
"..."
king saw them dancing and cheering inside their rooms through the windows. He shook his head speechlessly, put on his black baseball cap, and quickly left the scene. As for the three monster corpses, someone would naturally come to deal with them later.
...
A-City, Hero Association Headquarters.
"Maria, the nearest B-Class hero, rank 13, Super Alert Car Man, has been notified to head to the scene. I believe he'll be able to eliminate the Monster soon."
A staff member reported.
"Mm." Maria nodded. "By the way, what is the Monster's estimated threat level?"
"Based on citizen reports, the Cola Monster is only at a Wolf-level disaster."
"Good, keep a close watch on the situation at the scene and report any sudden developments to me." After giving her instructions, Maria turned to a staff member on the other side. "What's the situation with the Apple Monster that appeared in Z-City? Has it been dealt with by Tank-top Black Hole yet?"
"Reporting, there's no feedback from either Tank-top Black Hole or the citizens yet. We estimate they are currently in battle."
"Okay, continue monitoring and report any developments."
Maria rubbed her tired, beautiful face, forcing herself to focus on her work. Dawn was breaking, and someone would be coming to take over her shift soon.
"Ring, ring, ring!"
Suddenly, the Association's emergency hotline rang once again.
"Hello, hi... What? Another Monster, a Sprite Man, has appeared near the East City Street in M-City..."
Maria's heart tightened. Another Monster. She wondered if Super Alert Car Man could handle it.
"Wait a minute, you're saying King is at the scene? And he's already dealt with the Cola Monster? Okay, good... Huh? King used psychic powers to pull down a billboard and crush the Sprite Man? Thank you so much for providing us with this information, we... What? Another Fanta Man appeared? Can you describe the Fanta Man's situation... Hah? It's dead? Crushed by an air conditioner that King pulled down with his psychic powers... Ah? Oh, oh, we understand. Thank you for your support of our Hero Association's work, thank you."
The customer service agent finished the call and wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead. The contents of that short phone call had been as full of twists and turns as a blockbuster movie, making one's heart pound along with it.
When she looked back, she was startled to find that all the staff, including Maria, were staring at her.
"What on earth happened? Has King already moved out to eliminate the monsters?" Maria asked impatiently.
The customer service agent smiled. "Yes, Lady Maria. According to information from a citizen, King has already eliminated the three monsters that appeared and has already left the scene."
"So King wasn't answering his phone because he was busy eliminating monsters. No wonder!" Maria smiled in relief, then suddenly remembered something and furrowed her brow. "By the way, did you say on the phone just now that King used psychic powers to fight?"
This was important information. The Association had very little combat data on King. All they knew was that no matter how strong a Monster was, King could destroy it in a single punch. Based on this, they had deduced that King was a power-type fighter.
To suddenly hear that King could use psychic powers was a huge shock to them.
The customer service agent confirmed with great certainty, "Lady Maria, based on the information provided by the citizen, King is indeed an esper. Dozens of people at the scene witnessed King using his psychic powers with their own eyes."
"This is a major issue and must be investigated clearly as soon as possible. Have the M-City Association staff go to the scene and interview the eyewitnesses of King's monster extermination. Ensure this news is accurate and irrefutable, and then we'll report it to the Director and the others."
"Yes, ma'am."
The staff members each received their tasks and returned to their computers to get busy. The operations room filled with the clatter of keyboards. In a short while, video footage of King eliminating the monsters (surreptitiously recorded by a citizen) was transmitted over.
Maria and her most capable subordinates watched the footage of king eliminating the monsters again and again. They looked at each other, baffled. From the video, it truly seemed as if King possessed psychic powers and could manipulate objects.
Coupled with the eyewitness testimonies that were sent back, it was enough to prove that King was an esper.
"This information is very important. It needs to be reported to the Director immediately."
(end of chapter)