Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the streets of Q-City, a white-haired man is limping through the empty streets while bleeding profusely. His shirt and pants are torn and stained with his blood, he has cuts and bruises all over his body, and he is very pissed off. More specifically, he is pissed off at himself for being too careless when he attempted to face a powerful S-Class hero. The man’s name is Garou, or as the public refers to him, The Hero Hunter.

Garou is the former pupil of the S-Class hero, Silverfang. However, Garou was expelled when he attacked his fellow students in an unprovoked manner. The reason behind it is because he wanted to see if he was truly ready for his journey to becoming a monster. After he defeated all of them, Garou then quickly looked over scrolls of secret techniques that Bang had kept in a safe. However, Bang came back early from an errand, and he beat Garou up after he saw what Garou did before expelling him from the dojo.

Garou managed to patch himself up before preparing himself for his mission. What is his mission? To plunge humanity into despair due to his belief that heroes in this world are nothing but bullies seeking attention. This mindset is a result of his childhood since he was bullied by kids pretending to be heroes while he played the monster. It wasn’t like Garou didn’t want to be a monster, but it was because the game was always one sided. The monster always loses, that’s how its supposed to be, but Garou will change that and become the ultimate monster.

So far though, it’s been going… alright. Garou has managed to defeat many A-class, C-Class, and two S-Class heroes. His confidence had boosted exponentially after his battle with the two S-Class heroes, but that confidence proved to be his downfall. Garou tried to attack another S-Class hero, Watchdog Man, and… let’s just say he got his ass handed to him on a silver platter.

I never thought that furry would be able to beat me. His strength, speed, and stamina were exceptional. I’m surprised I managed to get away before he could knock me out. Garou thinks to himself. Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist was made for human opponents, which makes it a poor match for four legged opponents. Heh. Guess I learned something from this humiliating battle after all. Garou thinks to himself before stopping.

Garou smirks while clenching his fist. This is the freaking best! I know I can become so much stronger— Garou stops his train of thought when he catches the sight of another recognizable hero. Is that… Yeah. It’s King! Garou thinks to himself. King is also an S-Class hero, but he is widely known as the strongest man on the planet. King is walking with some bald guy, but Garou pays the baldy no mind. Instead, all of his focus is on King.

This is a one in million chance. I won’t waste it! Garou thinks to himself. Garou then feels his strength returning as his body radiates power. My body can handle this! The pain, though still present, doesn’t hurt as much anymore. I’m so stoked that I’m drowning in power! Garou thinks to himself.

However, Garou fails to notice an individual watching him from the shadows. This individual feels the power radiating from Garou, and they wish to watch this battle unfold. “King! Prepare to be hunted!” Garou yelled before charging at King.

As Garou inches closer to King, Garou envisions all the possible moves King could pull. What will your first move be?! Will I be able to counter in time?! It doesn’t matter now! Garou thinks to himself.

“KING!!! GET READY TO DIE—” Garou is cut off when the bald guy kicks Garou through a wall, knocking him out.

“That guy was trying to attack you. You know him?” the bald guy asked.

“Nope. Never seen him.” King said. 

“First, we have to deal with monsters, now hoodlums? Give me a break.” The bald guy said.

The bald guy’s name is Saitama, a B-Class hero and, unknown to Garou and the rest of the world, the strongest being on the planet. Every world ending disaster that has happened, Saitama has been there to deal with it and he always wins with one punch. Though that means he hasn’t had a strong opponent to face for a while, which caused Saitama to show less and less emotion. He isn’t heartless by any stretch; he’s just really really really bored most of the time.

Saitama is walking with King because the two are coming back from a battle with a monster attack at the martial arts tournament. King and Saitama have became good friends since Saitama learned that King isn't all what the public thought he is. King is actually a coward. A very lucky coward who conveniently shows up at the right time when a powerful monster is defeated. But King is a good person at heart, and he is trying to be a good hero.

Saitama then suddenly asks, “By the way, King. Have you heard the news about what’s been going on?”

“Hm? What do you mean?” King asked.

“Well, there’s been a lot of talk about a guy going around calling himself a monster. I think his name is Garou.” Saitama said.

“Hm. Well I’ve heard of him, but I’ve never seen him in person.” King said.

“Okay. I was just wondering because what Garou is doing is reminiscent of how I went around calling myself a hero in my early years.” Saitama said.

Saitama then adds, “I’m curious if he is all he is spouting about, and hopefully he'll be stronger than me.”

“Hm. Maybe you’ll see him one day.” King said, oblivious that they just ran into Garou.

Then, a person bumps into Saitama, and he says, “Oh. Sorry man.” 

However, Saitama gets creeped out when he sees the man’s face. It is all pale, and his eyes appear to be dull. Creepy! Saitama thinks to himself. The man walks off, not saying a word, and leaving both King and Saitama creeped out.

“That guy was weird.” Saitama said.

“I’ve learned to ignore those people whenever I run into them.” King said.

“Yeah. I think I may start doing that from now on.” Saitama said before the two leave the area.

With the strange man, he stumbles toward the hole Garou went through and he peeks in to see Garou knocked out. The man stumbles to Garou before checking his pulse and sees that Garou is alive. The man had heard everything from what Saitama and King were saying about Garou, as well as seeing Garou’s eminence power. The man decides that Garou will be perfect for IT.

While Garou did lose, it just assumes that it was because of his injuries. It will fix that. It will be the thing that will solve all of Garou’s problems. The man then starts to convulse and shake before slumping onto the ground, dead. Then, black ooze leaves the man’s lifeless body before it begins to make its way towards Garou.

The black ooze reaches Garou’s left hand and latches onto it before slowly crawling up his arm. The black ooze then begins to spread and surround Garou’s body while also healing Garou’s injuries. Once Garou’s whole body is covered in the black ooze, the ooze covers Garou’s face before changing. The black ooze begins to take shape as it creates armor on Garou’s shoulders and forearms, white veins appear all over Garou’s body, and finally a mask with two large white eyes forms on Garou’s face.

Garou’s eyes then shoot open before he sits up and gasps for air before yelling, “What happened?!” Garou observes his surroundings to see that he is laying a top of rubble.

“Did… Did I lose to King?” Garou asked himself.

“I guess I really wasn’t prepared for him after all.” Garou said.

Garou sits up before he notices the man’s dead body and yells, “OhmyGod!” 

Garou jumps to his feet and looks around frantically. Did a monster kill this guy?! If so, then it may still… be… here… What the hell?! Garou stops his train of thought when he looks at his hands and notices that they're covered in a black suit. Garou then looks over himself and sees that his whole body is covered in a black suit.

What the hell? Garou thinks to himself. Garou looks closely at the suit and sees that it is made out of a goo-like substance. He also notices the armor on his arms and shoulders. What is this? How did this suit get on me? Garou thinks to himself. “I have to get out of this and get back to the hideout.” Says Garou to himself.

Garou begins to try to take the suit off, but he can’t find a way to take it off. Garou then tries to rip it off him, but it won’t tear at all. In fact, it feels like it’s glued to Garou’s very own skin. Dammit! Why won’t it come off?! Garou thinks to himself, frustrated.

Garou gives up and says to himself, “Dammit! … I’ll figure out how to get off later. Right now, I need to get back to the hideout.”

Garou exits through the hole he was smashed through and sees that little time has passed. Once he steps out of the hole, Garou sees another hero by the name of Death Gatling walking around the corner. Another hero? I could maybe fight him, but… this suit may hinder me. I’ll hunt him once I get this ‘thing’ off me. Garou thinks to himself before walking away. However, Garou fails to notice Death Gatling catching a glimpse of him.

About 2 hours later in the middle of a forest. An 8-year-old child by the name of Tareo is currently walking through the forest and toward his secret base. It is a rusty old shack that he and his friends go to play and have fun. However, the kids that Tareo calls his friends aren’t really his friends. In reality, they just keep Tareo around in case they need a scapegoat should they get into trouble.

Tareo is aware of this, but he keeps hanging out with them because they're the closest thing he has to real friends. Well, there is one person who has truly been kind to him as of late, and that person is Garou. Tareo met Garou in a park when Garou appeared and wanted to look through Tareo’s hero almanac for some reason. Tareo let him read it even though he didn’t know why, but he was at least glad someone was nice to him for once.

However, Tareo hasn’t seen him for a while, and he is worried that Garou may have gotten hurt. The recent monster attacks haven’t eased his fear in the slightest. But Tareo is hoping that Garou is okay, and safe somewhere. Tareo finally arrives at the secret hideout, but all his friends are outside for some reason.

“Hey, guys. What’s going on?” Tareo asked.

“Oh. Hey, Tareo. There’s some guy in the hideout.” Kid 1 said.

“Really?” Tareo asked.

“Yeah. We’ve been trying to figure out a way to get him out.” Said Kid 2.

That’s when Kid 3 suddenly says, “Hey! I’ve got an idea!” 

“What is it?” Kid 2 asked.

“We’ll send Tareo to get the guy out.” Kid 3 said.

“Huh? Why me?” Tareo asked.

“Just go do it!” Kid 3 yelled.

“Yeah! Just try to get that guy to leave!” Kid 1 yelled.

“Uh. But what if—”

“Quit whining and do it!” Kid 2 yelled, hitting Tareo over the head.

Tareo winces at the blow and rubs his head. Tareo, knowing his friends won’t let him go, hesitantly walks to the shack. He is hopping that whoever is in there will leave their hideout peacefully.

In Tareo’s hideout, Garou is looking over himself, still trying to find a way to get the suit off him. He has tried using brute force, but it wouldn’t tear. He has tried waiting it out, but nothing happened. Hell, he even tried to bite it, but he was unable to because of the mask he is wearing. He is just stuck on what he needs to do.

“I need to get this suit off, or else I may never be able to hunt heroes again.” Garou said to himself.

Garou then sees some scissors nearby and says, “I guess I could try cutting it.”

Garou goes to grab the scissors when black tendrils spring from his arm and goes toward the scissors. “What the?!” Garou yelled. He watches as the tendrils grab the scissors and then bring them into Garou’s hand. This action piques Garou’s interest. Huh. That caught me off guard, but this… this is interesting. Garou thinks to himself. Garou looks toward the board he made with the pictures of heroes he’s hunted, and he sees a marker.

Garou points his hand toward the marker, and he thinks about the tendrils grabbing the marker. As he is thinking this, tendrils appear from his arm, and they slowly move toward the marker. The tendrils slowly grab the marker before bringing it back to Garou. Holy crap! This suit is… is… out of this world! Garou thinks to himself.

Suddenly, the door to his shack opens and someone walks in causing Garou to get into a fighting stance. “Who’s there?!” Garou Yelled. Then, tendrils spring from Garou’s back and toward the person entering his shack. Garou is shocked by this briefly, but he ignores it when he sees the tendrils have caught someone and they bring the person to Garou. Garou sees that the person that entered his shack is a kid.

“Please don’t eat me! Please don’t eat me!” The kid yelled, thinking Garou is a monster.

“I’m not going to eat you. Now tell me what you are doing here.” Garou said in a demanding tone.

“I… Well… this is my friend's secret base and… and…” The kid can barely get his sentence out due to his fear.

Then Garou recognizes the kid, “Wait. You’re that kid with the hero almanac.”

“Huh? M… Mister? Is that you?” Tareo asked.

“I told you to stop calling me mister.” Says Garou as he gently sets Tareo down with the tendrils.

“Now what are you doing sneaking around?” Garou asked.

“I… well… uh…” 

Garou is getting irritated that Tareo isn’t answering his question. But then he realizes that his mask is probably scaring Tareo. So, like with the tendrils, Garou thinks about the mask coming off his face. Luckily it worked, and the mask recedes back allowing Tareo to see Garou’s face.

“There. Is that better?” Garou asked.

Tareo nods before Garou asks, “Alright. Now tell me, what are you doing here?”

“Well… this is my friend's secret base. We come here to play a lot.” Tareo said.

“Oh.” Garou said, now understanding.

“Mister… what are you wearing?” Tareo asked, out of both fear and curiosity.

Garou glances down at the suit as he says, “Honestly… I don’t know. I was knocked ou– asleep and woke up wearing this… suit.” 

“It's… kind of scary.” Tareo said.

“Oh, come on. It ain’t that scary.” Garou says.

Tareo, though still bothered by the suit, decides to change the subject, “Mister. I don’t want to sound rude, but could you… leave?”

 “What? I’ve got no other place to go. You really going to kick me out?” Garou asked.

“I’m… sorry. It’s just… my friends will be mad at me if you don’t leave.” Tareo said.

“Then tell them to buzz off. Don’t let them boss you around.” Garou said.

“I… I… I can’t! They may hit me again.” Tareo said.

“… *sigh* Fine. I’ll leave soon.” Garou said.

Tareo sighs with relief, “Th… Thank you.”

But then Garou places his hand on Tareo’s shoulder, “But first. Let me tell you something that I wished to God someone would’ve told me sooner.”

Outside of the shack, Tareo’s so-called friends are starting to get impatient with Tareo. He’s been in there longer than they thought.

“What’s taking him so long?” Kid 3 asked.

“Maybe something happened to him.” Kid 1 said.

“Or maybe—”

“Step back, kids.” A sudden voice said.

The kids whip their heads around to see 8 heroes walking toward the shack. The team of heroes consists of Death Gatling, Stinger, Chain’n’Toad, Smile Man, Gun Gun, Shooter, Glasses, and Wild Horn.

“Woah! Heroes!” Kid 1 said in awe.

“What are they doing here?” Kid 3 asked.

“There’s a monster in that shack, kids. You need to leave. Now.” Wild Horn said.

“Oh! Okay!” Kid 2 said before running away with his friends.

“Wait! What about Tareo?!” Kid 1 asked.

“He’ll be fine! The heroes will save him!” Kid 3 yelled, not caring for their scapegoat’s life.

Inside the shack, Garou is sitting on a chair while giving Tareo his advice. Tareo stands before Garou, listening intently.

“In this world, many people are going to try to boss you around and will want you to be something you’re not. But if you want respect. If you don’t want to be bossed around forever. If you want to be your own person. Then you’ve gotta get strong.” Garou said.

“Huh?” Tareo is confused.

“That’s it. Some pretty good advice, right?” Garou asked, looking confident.

“Um... not really. It’s kinda obvious.” Tareo said.

Garou is silent before slamming his fist on the table, startling Tareo.

“Yeah! It is obvious! That way you’ll remember easier.” Garou said, chuckling.

Garou then stands up from the chair and says, “Anyway. You should probably head home. I’ll be out of here by tomorrow.” 

“Okay. It was nice seeing you again, Mister.” Tareo said, making his way towards the door.

Garou sighs and whispers, “He’s a good kid, but a bad judge of character.”

However, Garou then senses something outside of the shack. He senses heroes. The heroes found me?! How?! Garou thinks to himself. Just as Tareo starts to open the door, Garou shoots tendrils out to shut the door back.

Tareo is startled and asks, “Huh? What’s wrong, Mister?”

“I forgot to ask something. Could I see the hero almanac really quick? You know, as a way to repay me for giving you that advice earlier.” Garou said, lying.

“Huh? Why?” Tareo asked.

“I just need to look at it for a bit.” Garou said, sounding more urgent.

Tareo is hesitant, but he reaches in his bag and gives Garou his hero almanac.

“This book covers a lot of info about the heroes, right?” Garou asked, flipping through the pages.

“Yeah. But it doesn’t cover everything.” Tareo said.

“It’ll have to do.” Garou said, going to a wall and poking a hole through it.

Garou looks through it and he sees Stinger, Wild Horn, Smile Man, and Death Gatling in the front. He then sees that Glasses, and Chain’n’Toad are in the back. The final two heroes being Shooter and Gun Gun on each side. 8 in all. Taking these guys out could be a cinch, but I’m not exactly sure if this suit would help me. Garou thinks to himself.

“Mister. Is there someone outside?” Tareo asked

“Be quiet!” Garou says, trying to look through the almanac quickly.

“But Mister—”

“I said shut up!” Garou yelled, shutting Tareo up.

Death Gatling’s voice then booms as he yells, “Garou! We know you’re in there! Come out, now!”

“Huh?! Who was that?!” Tareo asked.

Finally, Garou gives the book back to Tareo and says, “Turd, stay on the floor, and don’t come out until I say so.”

“O… Okay.” Tareo said.

“Okay suit...” Garou’s mask covers his face again.

“…let’s see what you can do.” Garou said.

Outside with the heroes. The heroes wait for Garou to exit the shack, but he hasn’t done so yet. The tension is starting to get to them and most just want to rush into the shack and take him out. Stinger, being one of the impatient heroes, grips his stinger tightly as he grits his teeth.

“It’s taking too long.” Stinger said.

“Just be patient. He won’t be able to take on all of us.” Death Gatling said.

“I’m just saying. He may be trying to make a plan.” Stinger said.

“Whatever it may be, it won’t work. Today, Garou is the one who is being hunted—”

Suddenly, black tendrils erupt from the roof before Garou jumps to the roof. Once he lands on the roof, all the heroes can now see Garou, and they’re shocked by his new appearance. The tendrils then back into Garou as Garou glares at the heroes with his white mask lenses. Silence then rings through the area before chuckling can be heard.

The chuckling comes from Garou as he says. “You? Hunting me? Please. You’re nothing but jokes.”

“Is… Is that Garou?” Wild Horn asked, fear running down his spine.

“It looks like him, but his appearance is completely different.” Glasses said.

“He must've transformed into a monster already! We need to put him down! Now!” Death Gatling yelled.

“Oh? So, my mere appearance is all it takes for you to want to kill me?” Garou asked.

“Well then, come and give it your best shot! Because today, YOU DIPSHITS ARE GOING TO BRING ME OVER A HUNDRED KILLS!!!” Garou screamed.

“Come and get some then, snake!” Gun Gun yelled before shooting at Garou.

Time seems to slow for Garou as he dodges the bullets before jumping toward a nearby tree with incredible speed, his claws digging into the tree. Incredible! I was so wrong about this suit! I feel faster, and stronger! Garou thinks to himself. Then, in the blink of an eye, Garou appears in front of Gun Gun before picking him by the throat and slamming his head into the ground headfirst. 

“Gun Gun! You bastard!” Stinger yelled before throwing his stinger at Garou. However, Garou shoots tendrils at the incoming stinger, stopping it in place. Stinger stares in shock as he watches Garou snap his stinger in two.

“NO!” Stinger yelled.

“What’s the matter? You can’t fight me without your weapon? I thought heroes were supposed to fight on till the end.” Garou said, mocking Stinger.

Then, tendrils start to surround Garou’s right arm as he says, “You’re a pathetic excuse for a hero!”

Garou shoots his arm forward as a herd of tendrils fly toward Stinger. Stinger couldn’t react in time, and he got hit by the mass of tendrils. The impact of the hit sent Stinger through many trees before hitting one more tree and being trapped by a web-like goo. The tendrils then return to Garou, and he smirks behind the mask.

This suit is impressing me with every second! I love it! Garou thinks to himself. Then, Garou sees a rain of arrows coming at him. However, just like with Gun Gun, time slowed down. This gave Garou the chance to jump out of the way before seeing that the arrows came from Shooter who is currently shocked.

“Arrow rain is my special move! How did he know?!” Shooter yelled.

“That hero almanac sure did come in handy. However, I doubt arrow rain would have done him any good.” Garou said to himself quietly.

“I need to take out Shooter quickly. If he’s gone, then the others won’t have long range attackers anymore.” Garou said again to himself quietly.

Garou then dashes toward Shooter, but Smile Man sees this and yells, “Oh no you don’t!”

Smile Man then uses his Kendama to slam onto the ground in front of Garou. His goal is to force Garou back by destroying the ground in front of him. To his shock, Garou jumps over the destroyed ground as many large black tendrils erupt from Garou. Then, Garou dives to the ground before being engulfed by a giant black mass as he attacks Shooter.

Shooter gets hit by the black mass and he gets struck in a few spots before being launched into the air. Garou then emerges from the black mass before he uses Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist on Shooter. Because the suit has increased Garou’s strength, his attacks are much more powerful which is why every bone in Shooter’s body shattered from the impact of the punches. Shooter screams for a bit before passing out due to the pain and falling to the ground.

The remaining 5 heroes look at Garou in both shock and horror. Death Gatling said to them that Garou would be injured, but he was wrong. Garou isn’t injured. Instead has found a new power. A power which will help Garou to become absolute evil. Garou looks back at the heroes and he asks, “Who’s next?”

Chapter Text

Fear. Despair. And utterly afraid. That is all that is plastered on the remaining 5 hero's faces as they gaze at Garou. Garou reviled at the sight of their fear because that is exactly all he ever wanted. To show the world just how truly pathetic and weak their so-called heroes were. And it is all thanks to this new mysterious suit he is wearing.

The suit is giving strength that he never possessed before, and speed unlike anything he’s had. Sure, he is curious as to where the suit came from, but he doesn’t care at the moment. All he cares about is finishing off these heroes that dared to try and attack him. He will make them regret ever calling themselves heroes after he’s done with them.

Garou glares at Death Gatling and says, “You really should’ve brought an S-Class hero with you. You idiots might have stood a chance against me, but instead you choose to be stupid and bring along these weaklings.”

Garou saying this starts to make the remaining heroes wish that they had actually brought an S-Class hero. Well, all except for Death Gatling who grits his teeth.

“So even a monster like you only cares about the S-Class? Well, all the S-Class heroes can go to hell!” Death Gatling yelled.

“We may not be as strong as them, but this group is tough as hell! You may have taken down three of us, but we won’t go down just as easily!” Death Gatling yelled, inspiring the others.

Garou simply chuckles and says, “Idiots. Don’t you get it?”

Tendrils start to form on both Garou’s hands as he yells, “I’m unstoppable!”

Garou shoots his hands forward as five tendrils shoot from his hands and grab each hero by the head. Garou lifts them up into the air with ease before slamming them on the ground, giving some of them concussions and breaking the ground beneath them. Garou then dashes at them, but Smile Man manages to get back up and swings his kendama at Garou. However, Garou redirects the kendama before punching Smile man in the chest, sending him flying back.

The force of the punch sent Smile Man flying into the shack and beside Tareo. Tareo yelps when he sees the now unconscious Smile Man land next to him before returning his attention back to the fight. Tareo has been watching the whole fight since it began through a small opening through the door. While he thinks that Garou’s new powers are awesome, something about the suit just didn’t sit right with Tareo at all.

Back with the fight. The other heroes manage to get back on their feet, but Garou comes and grabs Wild Horn by the head. Chain’n’Toad sees this and he throws his chain weapon at Garou, but then he instantly regrets it. Garou dodges the chain before grabbing it and yanking Chain’n’Toad toward him. Garou grabs Chain’n’Toad by the head before smashing the two heroes' heads together with his incredible strength, knocking the two.

With Glasses and Death Gatling, the only two heroes left, Garou looks at them and says, “What was it you said? ‘This group is tough as hell.’ Hate to break it to you, but you're kinda weak to me.”

Death Gatling grits his teeth and says to Glasses, “Tsk! Get behind me!”

“What are you going to do?!” Glasses asked.

“I’m done holding back. It’s time to put this monster down!” Death Gatling yelled

Death Gatling's face then turns into a skull as he yells his special move, “DEATH SHOWER!!!!”

Death Gatling fires all of his bullets at Garou, so Garou proceeds to shield himself with his arms. However, the suit creates a large shield that prevents the bullets from hitting Garou. After a minute later, Death Gatling runs out of bullets and stops firing his minigun. However, both he and Glasses are shocked to see the suit literally spit the bullets out from the shield, leaving Garou unscathed. Garou is shocked by this, but he chuckles at this revelation.

“Hehehe. Thanks for that. You’ve just shown me that not even bullets are enough to kill me.” Garou said.

Glasses whispers to himself, “Dammit! We can’t hold on for much longer!” 

Glasses sneakily pulls out his phone and presses the emergency button. An S-Class hero should be here soon, but I’m not sure if we can last for much longer. Glasses thought to himself. Glasses then turns his attention back to Garou, who is slowly walking to the pair.

“So, how would you like to go out? Unconscious with all your bones broken, or fully conscious? Either way, you’re done for.” Garou said.

“Tsk! We’re not done yet!” Death Garling yelled, pulling out a knife.

“I’ll kill you and prove to everyone that we deserve our place as heroes!” Death Gatling then charges at Garou.

“Oh, you do deserve your place. That being beneath my feet broken and humiliated!” Garou yelled.

Garou jumps in the air before performing a symbiote strike on Death Gatling as he gets launched into the air. Garou follows him and he uses Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist on Death Gatling before landing on the ground. With Death Gatling still in the air, Garou uses a symbiote punch on him. The punch sends Death Gatling flying through the air while Death Gatling screams across the forest.

Garou sees that Death Gatling is going to land in the city and he is shocked by his strength. Damn. I didn’t think I had that much strength until now. Not that I’m complaining. Garou thinks to himself. Garou turns to see Glasses is still here and Garou smirks.

“Looks like you’re all that’s left. Are you going to try and fight me, or run away like a coward?” Garou asked.

Glasses shakes in fear, but he steals himself and tells, “Tsk! Never! I’ll never run from anyone! I would rather fight to my last breath!”

However, Garou appears in front of him and delivers a swift punch to the gut on Glasses, sending him flying back into a tree as he falls unconscious. Idiot. Garou thinks to himself. Looking around, Garou sees that all the heroes are knocked out cold before he glances at his hand. This suit is not what I thought at all. I thought it would hinder my attacks, but instead I’ve become much stronger than ever. Hell, I feel like I can take on all the S-Class heroes! Garou thinks to himself.

“M… Mister?” Tareo calls out from behind Garou.

Garou turns around and sees Tareo is outside of the shack and says, “Oh. You’re still here.”

“W… Why did the heroes attack you?” Tareo asked, wanting to know what Garou truly is.

“… To put it simply, Turd. I’m a monster.” Garou said.

“M… Monster?!” Tareo yelled.

“Yes. But I’m not just going to be any monster. I’m going to be the strongest monster this world has ever seen.” Garou said.

“Then… are going to… to hurt me?” Asks Tareo in fear.

“What? No. There’s no point for me to be attacking a kid.” Garou said, making Tareo relax.

“But that means you shouldn’t be around me anymore. Go home, and don’t ever come near again.” Garou said.

Tareo is hurt by this and wants to argue, but he… he can’t bring himself to do it. So, Tareo compiles with Garou’s wish and runs away, though he is crying as he runs away. Garou watches him leave and feels slightly bad for pushing Tareo away like that. It’s better this way. For both him and I. Garou thinks to himself. He is about to go and get his stuff in the shack when suddenly…

BOOM!!!

Someone lands right behind Garou, creating a cloud of dust and causing Garou to whip his head around. A figure begins to rise from the dust while a yellow glow comes from him.

“I received a distress call from one of the heroes here. From the looks of it, you are that Hero Hunter.” The voice of a man said.

The dust begins to clear as short blonde hair flows in the wind. Shiny, metal limbs reflecting the sunlight with a yellow glow coming from inside him. And his black eyes with yellow irises look directly at Garou as the man raises his hand at Garou. A bright light appears on the man’s hand as it glows brighter.

“You will be eliminated.” Demon Cyborg said, aka Genos, as he prepares to fire at Garou.

“Oh shit.” Garou said.

Genos fires at Garou, but Garou manages to dodge the incoming shot, but said shot blows the shack into pieces. Garou makes some distance between him and Genos as he begins to evaluate the situation. Genos is rank number 12 of the S-Class heroes, which makes him very dangerous. This guy obviously isn’t going to be easy, and he sure as hell won’t let me go. If I don’t want to get captured, I have to face him head on! Garou thinks to himself.

Garou charges at Genos to deliver a punch and he manages to land a massive blow on Genos’s chest, denting his armor. Genos is sent flying before stopping himself by digging his feet into the ground. Genos is shocked by Garou’s strength since no human could leave a dent on his mechanical body. However, Genos assumes this new strength is because of Garou’s new appearance. To think that a human managed to transform into a monster in a short amount of time. Genos thinks to himself.

Genos activates the boosters on his legs to launch himself toward Garou. Garou follows suit by using the strength to boost himself forward, his arm reared back. Both combatants clash their fists together, creating a small shockwave. Then, both of them break apart before maneuvering around the forest at high speeds while landing blows on one another. The forest begins to get destroyed from the fierce battle between the two.

Once the two clashed again, Genos goes to shoot Garou again, but he sees that he would accidentally shoot one of the unconscious heroes behind Garou. So, Genos decides to go full close quarters combat. “Machine Gun Blow!!!” Genos yelled as he throws many punches at quick succession.

Garou is able to block most of them, but a lucky few lands on his gut. However, despite Garou thinking they would hurt a lot worse, the suit took the front of the blows. Garou quickly recovers then starts to counter Genos’s attacks with his own attacks and he is able to redirect a lot of Genos’s attacks. Suddenly, Genos ducks under one of Garou’s punches and he goes to uppercut Garou.

However, black tendrils spring from the suit, and they wrap around Genos’s hand. They then proceed to yank the punch away from Garou as he then lands a powerful kick to Genos’s head. The force of the kick sends Genos to the ground as he gets buried. Garou jumps up and prepares to land another powerful kick on Genos.

However, he sees a light glowing from under the ground and Garou is unable to dodge in time. He gets engulfed by the massive blast from Genos before he blasts himself up from the ground. Genos looks upward to see if Garou would fall from through smoke incapacitated. Garou does fall from the smoke, but he is not incapacitated.

Genos has no time to react as Garou uses a symbiote strike on him. Genos is sent up into the air as Garou follows it up with a symbiote yank as he slams Genos to the ground. Genos looks up from the ground, until he feels a part of his face plate fall off. Genos is shocked by this and Garou sees Genos’s shocked expression.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t expect me to be this strong? Well now you know, and you’ll regret ever finding out!” Garou yelled before dashing at Genos.

Genos follows suit as he and Garou clash again. The two intertwine their fingers as they try to push against one another. The force from the two begins to break the ground from under them as both try to overpower the other. Suddenly, Garou shoots tendrils out from his back before they attack Genos. Genos’s legs, and arms are restrained, as well as his head.

“You probably don’t know this, but I have a nag for taking apart machinery. Which is bad news for you!” Garou yelled before the tendrils begin to pull Genos apart.

Genos grunts as he feels his limbs being torn from his body slowly by the tendrils. However, he is suddenly freed when someone punches Garou in the face and sends him flying. Genos falls to his knees, and he tries to prop himself up while hearing his mechanical limbs struggle to work. “Relax, Genos. Allow us to handle this.” A voice said.

Genos looks up to see that the person that saved him is none other than Garou’s former Master, Bang aka Silverfang.

“Silverfang? How did you get here?” Genos asked.

“I was out looking for Garou when I received the same distress message. I came to assist; it looks like I have found the person I’ve been looking for as well.” Bang said.

Bang walks over to Garou, who quickly recovers, and comments on Garou’s new look, “So you’ve finally gotten what you wanted, Garou. I hope you're happy with what you’ve become.”

Garou glares at Bang and says, “So you’ve finally decided to face me again, Old Man?”

“You left me with no choice since you’ve chosen to cause needless harm to other heroes.” Says Bang.

“Yeah? Well then…” Garou gets into his fighting stance.

“… come and put an end to your failure!” Garou yelled.

Bang closes his eyes and says, “I wish things were different, Garou.”

Bang then dashes at Garou before throwing a powerful punch at him. However, tendrils spring Garou’s back as they parry the punch before Garou kicks Bang away. Bang recovers quickly and he manages to dodge an incoming kick from Garou. Bang throws a punch at Garou and Garou is barely able to redirect it in time.

Both master and apprentice then use Water Stream Rock Smashing fist against one another. From the sideline, Genos thinks to himself, Both of them use the same fighting style, but Bang’s is more perfected than Garou. And yet, somehow Garou is able to keep up. Genos begins to scan Garou to find out anything about this new power Garou possesses. After scanning Garou, he sees that whatever Garou’s new appearance is, it isn't a monster transformation, and the scanners show that Garou’s DNA is still human.

Garou and Bang trade blows for a while before both punch each other in the face, sending one another flying back. Bang recovers and thinks to himself, This is strange. Garou wasn’t nearly as strong as this before. Perhaps the monster fication did more to him than I thought. Bang readies himself as Garou dashes at him at high speeds. I’m not holding anything back against you, Bang! You won’t get the best of me this time!

BOOM!!!

Garou feels a sudden blow to his chest before his entire body gets cut up. Blood pours from Garou’s wounds as he falls to his knees breathing hard. What the hell hit me?! Garou thinks to himself. Garou looks up and sees a second individual that appears older than Bang arrived.

“I saw you were struggling with Garou, so I decided to step in, brother.” The individual said.

“You have my thanks, brother.” Bang said to his older brother, Bomb who is the master of Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist.

“Now, let’s end this!” Bang yelled.

Garou just got back on his feet when both Bang and Bomb attacked him. He tries to bring up his arms for defense, but it proves futile as the brothers bypass it and attack Garou. While the suit is tanking most of the blows, Garou can still feel some pain from the blows being done to his body as he grunts in pain. Dammit! I can’t face them all by myself! I need to get out of here! Garou thinks to himself.

Garou manages to duck another punch from Bang before he redirects Bomb’s attack. Garou decides to use a technique he picked from Watchdog Man as he goes on all fours and jumps to a nearby tree. He then jumps from tree to tree at inhumane speeds. 

“What is that preposterous style you’re using Garou? You’re moving around like an animal!” Bang said.

Garou doesn't answer as he appears behind Bang as Bomb yells, “Behind you!”

Bang turns around as Garou is about to land a hit on him, “I’ve got you now, Old Man!”

However, Garou is suddenly attacked by a mechanical hand with boosters launching itself at Garou. Garou has no time to react as he is grabbed by the throat before the hand uses its boosters to shoot him into a nearby tree. Wires then spring from the hand as they pin Garou to the tree. Garou looks at who launched the hand, and he sees that it is Genos who fired it.

“Thanks for that, Genos.” Bang said.

“It was the least I could do. Now to finish him.” Genos said.

Garou struggles to break free but is unsuccessful. He looks at his opponents and can’t help but chuckles, “So the S-Class are finally starting to notice me? I thought it would’ve been sooner after I beat Tank Top Master and Metal Bat.”

“Eh. Either way, I’m stoked to be this popular now.” Garou said.

Bang walks up to Garou and though he knows he should put an end to Garou. Especially after what Garou did to Charanko. He just can’t bring himself to put an end to the boy who Bang saw as a son. So, Bang will try to have Garou see reason

 Bang says, “Garou, please stop this madness. You don’t have to throw away your life like this.”

“Quit it with the hero talk, old man! I don’t need you to tell me about throwing my life away! This…” Garou motions around the area with all the unconscious heroes.

“… is all I ever wanted. To knock you heroes off your shiny pedestals and become the ultimate monster.” Garou said.

“Such a creature doesn’t exist.” Genos said, cutting into the conversation.

“The Hero Association is already busy focusing on putting an end to the Monster Association.” Genos said.

Genos then points his remaining hand toward Garou and says, “We can’t not waste any more precious time on insignificant nobodies like you.”

Genos’s hand begins to glow as Bang yells, “Wait, Genos!”

“No! He has chosen his path Bang. It’s time for him to face the consequences.” Genos said.

Garou, even though he should be worried about Genos going to shoot him. He is more focused on what Genos called him. An insignificant nobody that is just seen as a distraction. Just simply hearing those words reminds Garou of his bullies as a child. And those memories are what ignites Garou’s rage.

“You think I’m a nobody?!!” Garou yelled as his wounds fully heal in seconds.

“Then help me change that, Demon Cyborg!” Garou yelled as the suit begins to react to his rage.

Bomb notices and says, “Bang! Look!”

Bang looks at what Bomb is pointing at and notices small tendrils forming and moving rapidly around Garou’s body. Garou’s appearance also begins to change as it starts to take on an aggressive look. Garou’s hair even starts to change by curving up like horns. What is going on with his body?! Bang thinks to himself.

Garou then screams out with all his might, “Once I’ve beaten all of you, the world will know my name AND THEY WILL FEAR US !!!”

Genos fires his beam at Garou, but Garou manages to rip the tree in half as the shot goes over his head. The tree crashes to the ground, creating a large cloud of dust that blinds the heroes. The heroes can faintly hear strange noises coming from the cloud of dust before footsteps are heard. “I want everyone to know that no hero is a match for me!” Garou said from within the cloud of dust.

The footsteps get louder and heavier as Garou’s figure appears within the dust. However, his appearance has changed. It’s large and… more demonic looking. “Do you get it now?! A monster stands before you!” Garou yelled as he walks through the dust to show his new appearance. “Stronger than anyone!” Garou yelled.

His new appearance is similar to his previous one, but the white veins are gone now, as well as the armor on his shoulders and arms. Garou now has large white bulging veins around his body. His hair has been replaced by two very large horns. And finally, he had grown a few feet taller than before. To say Garou’s new look didn’t make the heroes shiver would be a lie.

Garou dashes at the heroes with tendrils propelling him forward. “Watch out!” Bang yelled. He goes to block an attack from Garou, but Garou’s arms get surrounded by tendrils as he uses Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. Bang counters Garou’s attacks with his own, but once they clash Bang can feel that the force of Garou’s attacks has increased exponentially.

How did he grow this much in power in just a few seconds?! Bang thinks to himself. He is caught off guard when Garou kicks him away before using a tendril to grab Bang by the head. Garou yanks Bang back toward him before punching in the gut and face before sending him flying back with another punch to the gut. Bang lands on his back and spits out some blood.

“Bang!” Bomb yelled. Bombs dashes toward Garou as Genos follows him. The two attack Garou, but Garou shoots a symbiote punch at Genos, sending him flying back. Bomb on the other hand makes it to Garou and uses Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist on Garou. However, Garou cancels it out with Bomb’s very own technique.

Bomb is shocked by this momentarily before Garou creates some tendrils and wraps them around Bomb’s head. Garou then jumps over him as he slams Bomb into the ground hard. Garou then hears a loud blast coming his way, so he instinctively ducks under a kick from Genos. Before Genos can react, he is stabbed by multiple tendrils as he is then spun in midair before Garou slams his fist into Genos’s chest.

With Genos on the ground, Garou goes to finish him, but Bang stops him by kicking him away. Garou quickly recovers and glares at Bang as tendrils move around him rapidly. Bang is breathing heavily with blood running down his chin, but his resolve remains strong.

“I don't know what has happened, but you have to stop this Garou!” Bang yelled.

“Stop?! I’m just getting warmed up, Old Man! This suit has made me more powerful than I could have possibly imagined!” Garou yelled.

“Suit? You mean that isn’t a form of monster fication?!” Bang asked.

“No. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t care. All I care about is finally surpassing you!” Yells Garou as he charges at Bang.

BOOM!!!

“Protect the Hero Hunter!!!” A swarm of monsters burst from the ground between the master and apprentice. The monsters begin to attack Bang, a now awakening Bomb, and a wounded Genos. Garou is confused as to what is happening until a plant monster comes up from behind him.

“Who the hell are you guys?!” Garou asked.

“Apologies. We’re from the Monster Association, and our executives ordered us to bring you to them.” The plant monster said.

“You idiots, again?! Piss off! I don’t need you guys here!” Garou yelled.

“I’m afraid that won’t do—AGH!!!” The plant monster yelps when Garou grabs it by the throat.

“I said, ‘I don’t need you guys here.’ But I suppose I’ll have to deal with you too.” Garou said before he crushes the monster's throat as blood gets on his face.

Garou then looks toward the monsters fighting the heroes and he yells, “And you! Back off! Those are my prey!” 

Garou shoots out multiple tendrils with each one grabbing both a hero and monster. Garou performs a symbiote yank as everyone’s body gets slammed into the ground. Garou dashes toward the monsters as tendrils surround his arm. He roars as he slams a fist through a monster’s head before going to a group of three

He begins by using Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist on that group of monsters to break their bones before a couple of monsters attack from behind. Garou performs a symbiote strike on them and sends them into the air before symbiote yanking their heads into the ground. Garou then crushes their heads with the tendrils before a massive monster tries to punch Garou. However, Garou sweeps his legs from under him with a tendril as the monster spins in midair. Garou then uses a symbiote punch on the monster as he flies back and toward a few other monsters, crushing them in the process.

The monsters, now terrified of Garou, begin to run away before Garou rips out the heart of one of their comrades before crushing it. Garou then blitzes at another as he slams his head against a tree causing it to splatter. Garou jumps into the air before quickly landing and grabbing another monster. Garou proceeds to rip the monster in two before releasing a mighty roar. “We can’t win this! We need to retreat!” One monster yelled. 

He and the others try to run away before in the blink of an eye they get sliced into pieces. Garou is standing next to the bodies while in Bomb’s fighting stance, insinuating that he copied Bomb’s moves. The three heroes watch this carnage unfold with shock as Bang thinks to himself, He’s acting like an animal. He’ll just keep killing and killing until everyone is dead. Is that suit Garou wearing doing this or has Garou truly become a monster.  

Once all the monsters are dead, Garou’s hands are stained with blood as he takes long, deep breaths. Garou then slowly turns his sight toward the heroes. The three heroes step back before Bang yells, “Prepare yourselves!” Garou growls before dashing at them, ready to continue the fight.

However, a large bird monster suddenly appears behind Garou before flapping its wings. The wind made from the flapping wings caused a large burst of wind to hit everyone in the radius and sent them flying. Garou is also sent flying, but he is eventually caught by the bird as it begins to fly away.

“What the hell?! Let me go!” Garou yelled.

“He’s getting away!” Genos yelled before transforming his arms into cannons.

“I’ll end both of them right here and right now!” Genos yelled, preparing to fire.

“Genos, wait!” Yells Bang, but Genos is already close to firing at Garou.

The bird monster known as Phoenix Man then yells out, “I have Garou! I will leave the rest to you!”

“SPIRAL INSIDERATION CANON!!!” Genos yells as he fires a massive beam at them.

“CENTICHORO!!!” Phoenix Man yelled.

Suddenly, a massive centipede monster bursts out of the ground, and it blocks Genos’s attack with its body. The heroes are in shock of the massive creature in front of them, but they are pulled out of their shock when the ground beneath them shakes before bursting open. Acting quickly, the three of them go to save the unconscious heroes before they are harmed. As they get the heroes to safety, Bang says, “It took the full front of Genos’s attack like it was nothing. This creature, whatever it is, will no doubt be a fearsome adversary.”

Chapter Text

While Bang, Bomb, and Genos battle Centichoro, Phoenix Man is soaring above the clouds, carrying Garou with his claws. Phoenix Man is relieved that he managed to get Garou out of there before the heroes could kill him. However, he is curious as to how Garou managed to turn into a monster already in such a short amount of time since their last encounter. Little did he know that Garou’s new look wasn’t a form of monster fication.

As Phoenix Man continues to fly, Garou’s surge form starts to revert back to its original state. The horns return to his normal hair style, the white veins reappear, and his height goes back to normal. However, even though his adrenaline isn’t as high as it was before, it didn’t stop Garou from being furious at the flying monster. Garou begins to shake himself, trying to free himself from Phoenix Man’s grip.

“Tsk! What the hell do you think you’re doing?! I didn’t ask for you to butt in MY fight!” Garou yelled.

Phoenix Man notices that Garou is back to normal and says, “Good. You’ve finally calmed down. And don’t worry about the heroes because Centichoro will deal with them.”

“Centichoro is a living catastrophe, a being who can destroy everything in his path. That kind of destruction is something I admire.” Phoenix Man said.

“I must admit, however, I am impressed that you were able to complete your monster fication in such a short amount of time. Yet, you still didn’t kill the heroes when you had the chance.” Phoenix Man said.

“Well, Centichoro will fix your mistake and will make sure that they will not survive this fight.” Phoenix Man said.

“Tsk! You and your Monster Association can go to hell! Those are my prey!” Garou yells as he fights harder to free himself.

“Will you stop struggling?” Phoenix Man asked.

“Shut up! Put me down!” Garou yelled in defiance.

“Why are you upset? It’s your own fault for not finishing them.” Says Phoenix Man. Garou freezes before his anger skyrockets to incredible highs. This damn bird dares to insult me?! Garou thinks to himself.

“Kill. Him.”

His anger begins to grow more and more as the suit reacts to his aggression. “I said...” 

“Kill.”

Garou grabs Phoenix Man’s leg tightly, causing Phoenix Man to yelp in pain. “Put…” 

“Kill.”

The suit starts to grow little tendrils. “Me…”

“Kill.”

“DOWN!!!!” Garou screams out as multiple large tendrils shoot from Garou’s body and make him look like a ball of spikes. The symbiote blast hits Phoenix Man and makes him drop Garou. Garou realizes what he has done as he begins to free fall in midair. Garou tries to figure something that will stop his fall. However, Phoenix Man recovers and flies toward Garou, but this gives Garou an idea.

“So, you won’t come quietly, huh?! Fine! I’ll just deliver you to Gyoro Gyoro as a body!” Phoenix Man yelled.

“Then come and get me, chicken shit!” Garou yelled, taunting the monster.

Phoenix Man flies at Garou at high speeds, but he doesn’t notice Garou growing tendrils behind his back. Once Phoenix Man reaches Garou, Garou smirks before shooting out the tendrils from his back and wrapping them around Phoenix Man. Phoenix Man is caught off guard as the tendrils wrap around him before Garou uses them to get onto his back. Phoenix Man begins to lose altitude at a rapid pace as Garou continues to ride his back.

“What are you doing?! You’re going to kill us both!” Phoenix Man yelled.

“No, just you! I’ll survive… with your wings!” Says Garou as he grips Phoenix Man’s wings and begins to pull them.

“Argh! You can’t kill me, Garou! I’ll come back stronger than before!” Phoenix Man yelled.

“Really?! Well, guess I have to make sure you stay dead for good!” Garou yelled.

Phoenix Man is confused until he feels tendrils wrap around his upper and lower jaw and forcibly open his mouth. “When you tried to recruit me earlier today, I noticed your human hand coming from inside you, and figured out that you must have a human body under there! You say you can’t die, but let's see if you come back from having your human body destroyed!” Garou yelled.

“No! Don’t–” Phoenix Man is cut off as Garou uses his tendrils to go inside of Phoenix Man’s human mouth. Phoenix Man begins to choke as he tries to fight off Garou, but to no avail. Phoenix Man movements begin to come to a stop before he and Garou plummet to the ground. Before Garou jumps off Phoenix Man, Garou uses the tendrils inside of Phoenix to make him burst from the inside while holding onto the wings. What is left of Phoenix Man falls to the ground while Garou falls while holding Phoenix Man’s wings.

“Okay! Let’s see if this works!” Garou yelled. He has a theory that the suit could possibly absorb Phoenix Man’s wings and make them his own. Garou places the ripped wings on his back as the suit begins to cover the wings. Once the wings are fully covered, the suit spits out what bones were left in the wings before taking their own shape. The wings grow larger as they take up the appearance of a demon’s wings with the inside of the wings having a bright red color to them.

Garou smirks as uses the wings to stop his descent and flies in the air. Garou can’t fly well at first, but then he manages to balance himself out before flying in a stationary position. Garou looks at his new wings and smiles under the mask.

“This suit really can do anything.” Garou said. Then Garou looks back at the battle with Bang and Centichoro before saying, “I have to get out of here. More heroes will surely come, and I’m not prepared to face them all.”

Garou is prepared to leave, but then he feels something he hasn’t felt for so long. He felt… worried, but not for himself. He somehow feels worried for the life of his former master, but he doesn’t know why.

“Tsk! Why am I even thinking of him? He shouldn’t matter to me at all.” Garou said.

“... *sigh* He’ll be fine. He always is—”

BOOM!!! 

“What the?!” Garou looks back to the battle, but he sees the centipede monster get obliterated into nothing.

 “W… What… I… What the hell just happened?!” Garou yelled. Though he is utterly dumbfounded, Garou refocuses on getting out of the area. He begins to fly away before his side starts to suddenly feel sore. He feels like whoever just killed the centipede monster is somehow the one who bruised his side. He tries to ignore it, but he feels like it is going to come back to bite him in the ass.

Garou flies through the city as he flies past buildings and towers with ease. Thinking he’s put enough distance between himself and the heroes. Garou lands in a secluded alleyway and takes a much-needed long breath. The last few hours have been wild for Garou, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t like all the attention that is on him. And it is all thanks to this mysterious suit that he is wearing.

Garou looks at his new wings and admits that they fit him quite well. The suit is something Garou never expected to have helped him, but he is glad it was with him when he needed it. Without it, he may have died to the heroes, or he may have been taken to the Monster Association. Speaking of which, now that both Hero and Monster Associations know of Garou’s abilities they will hunt him down.

“Heh. Let them come.” Garou said. He isn’t afraid of either Associations and he will glady face both of them head on. But as of now, Garou needs to find a new home and some food since he is so hungry. Garou walks to the entrance of the alley and sees there are a lot of people, and that isn’t good for Garou. The suit will give him away if he doesn’t take it off, which is also a problem since he never found out how to take it off.

“I need to get this suit off, but what can I–” Garou is cut off when he sees the suit starting to change. The suit recedes from Garou’s hands and face while the white veins and armor disappear. The rest of the suit turns into a black shirt and pants that fit perfectly on Garou. The wings disappear as well into his back. The suit has finished turning itself into a new pair of clothes for Garou, and Garou is shocked.

“It can morph into clothes?! How sweet is this?!” Garou said as he walks out of the alleyway and into the crowd. How did I ever live without this thing? First it gives me new abilities, then it creates wings for me, and now it can change into clothes. I think, for the first time in my life, I’m in love. Garou thinks to himself. Those words carry a lot of baggage than he thought.

Later in the afternoon. Garou is searching around the city for a place to stay and eat, but he remembers that he doesn’t have any money. He could dine and dash, but that would draw the hero’s attention and Garou has had enough heroes for one day. Then, Garou sees an ATM machine and thinks to himself, I could, but then I probably get compared to the low life criminals. Garou looks around and sees that no one is around.

“Fuck it.” Garou said as he kicks the ATM machine and has the suit carry as much money as he needs before he walks away. It wasn’t a lot, but it would be enough to find a home and get food. Garou begins to ponder on where he should live until he notices an old shabby apartment building next to him. He sees that the lights are still on and that there are people in it. 

“… At least the heroes won’t think to look for me in this place.” Garou says. Garou walks through the door of the building and looks around. The lobby is all dusty with the couches having tears in them, and some of the light bulbs were broken. The place is clearly old, but it’s good enough for a person to live there for a while. However, before Garou can do anything else, he needs to know who owns this building so that he can discuss getting a room.

“Uh? Excuse me. Do you need something?” The voice of a girl asked from behind Garou.

Garou turns around to see a girl around his age before Garou says, “Sorry for not knocking, but do you know the guy who owns this place?”

“Yeah. He’s my dad actually. Do you need a place to stay?” The girl asked.

“Just for a little while. My last home got destroyed by he–monsters.” Garou said.

“Oh! I’m sorry to hear that.” The girl said.

“It’s not that big of a deal. Anway, can you take me to your dad?” Garou asked.

“Of course. Follow me.” The girl says.

Garou follows the girl as she leads him upstairs. As they walk up the stairs, Garou can see the girl is a little nervous being around. He figures it’s because she doesn’t talk to a lot of people and probably is socially awkward. They then arrive at a door as the girl knocks on the door, then an old man opens the door with a grumpy expression.

The old man sees Garou and asks, “Ursula, who is this man?” 

“Hi, Dad. This is… uh… what’s your name?” The girl, named Ursula, asked.

“... Eddie Brock.” Garou said, lying about his name.

“Ok. Mr. Brock here was wondering if we have a room for him.” Ursula said.

“Hm. Why do you need a room?” The old man asked, suspicious of Garou.

“I just need a place to stay for a while so that I can get back on my feet. It won’t be for long.” Garou said.

“... We have a room open right behind you.” The old man said.

Garou turns to see the door of the room and says, “Thanks, old man.”

“My name is not ‘old man.’ It’s Mr. Ditkovich.” Mr. Ditkovich said.

“Also, here are the keys to your room.” Mr. Ditkovich said, holding the keys to Garou.

Garou takes the keys and goes to the door when Mr. Ditkovich says, “You’ll have to pay for rent if you want to stay in that room. I expect payment at the end of every week.”

WHAT?! I barely got enough money to last two weeks from that ATM machine! Garou thought to himself.

“... Sure thing.” Garou says through gritted teeth.

Garou unlocks his door and enters his new room before shutting the door and turning on the lights and sees the room. What… the fuck… is this? Garou thinks to himself. The room is very small, the bed looks like it’s barely holding together, there are brown stains on the wall, and the bathroom… Garou doesn’t want to think about the bathroom. Garou walks to the bed and sits on it only to hear a loud creak.

“Maybe this was a bad idea.” Garou said. Garou then begins to think about where he can eat until he hears a knock from his door. Garou gets up and opens the door to see Ursula.

“Hi, Mr. Brock. I’m sorry if I was interrupting something, but… I figured since you’re technically my new neighbor that I should bring you something.” Ursula said.

Ursula shows Garou a plate of cookies as she says, “I’m sorry if my dad didn’t seem friendly. He can be suspicious of people most of the time.”

“It’s fine.” Garou said.

He looks at the plate and hesitantly takes it as he says, “Thanks for the cookies.”

“You’re welcome. See you tomorrow.” Ursula said with a smile before she goes back to her room.

“... She’s way too friendly.” Garou said before he goes back into his room.

Garou sits back down on the bed and looks at the plate of cookies. They look mediocre, but at this point Garou will eat anything. Garou picks up a cookie and hesitantly takes one bite of it, but then his eyes open wide. Despite looking mediocre, the cookie tastes very delicious.

That girl got some talent. Garou thinks to himself. Garou continues to eat before setting the plate on the nightstand and lying flat on his back on the bed. Garou looks at his hand and he knows that these next few days are going to be wild and dangerous. And Garou wouldn’t have any other way.

The next day at the Hero Association. Bang has called for an emergency meeting with the other S-Class heroes to discuss the new threat that Garou poses. Genos is with him, but he is still a little banged up from their fight with Centichoro yesterday. Bang is injured a little, but it’s nothing he hasn’t recovered from before. Besides, all Bang can think about is Garou’s new abilities and the mysterious suit he is wearing.

After a while, all the S-Class heroes arrive at the meeting room with Sitch with them. Sitch is the Minister Office of Justice and helps run the Hero Association. He’s a decent man but is a little corrupt like the rest of the Hero Association.

“Thank you all for coming on short notice.” Bang said.

“Why did you call this meeting anyway? We already have to deal with the Monster Association right now, and we can’t let them get any upper hand.” Child Emperor said.

“I assure you that this is a matter that needs to be discussed. It involves my former pupil, Garou.” Bang said.

“Garou? Did you manage to defeat him?” Sitch asked in a hopeful tone.

Sitch had a short encounter with Garou a few days ago when he attempted to recruit villains into one day facing the ominous threat when it came. However, that same day, he witnessed Garou hospitalize multiple heroes and villains. After that, he ordered Bang to hunt Garou down and put an end to him. So of course, he is very glad that Bang may have defeated Garou.

“Unfortunately, no. But Demon Cyborg and I have something to share.” Bang said.

Bang looks at Genos and says, “Show them.”

Genos nods before his eyes glow as holographic images of Garou wearing the suit appear along with Garou using his abilities.

“When Bang and I encountered Garou, his appearance had changed, and he gained new abilities.” Genos said.

“Is this a form of monster fication?” Flashy Flash asked.

“I thought it was until I scanned Garou. His DNA was still human, which means that his new appearance isn’t a form of monster fication.” Genos said.

Metal Bat sees Garou’s surge form and says, “Damn. That’s a freaky look.”

“That ‘freaky look’ appeared when Garou went wild, and he nearly defeated Demon Cyborg and I.” Bang said.

“Really?! I’ve known you for a long time, Silver Fang. But I’ve never heard you say that someone came close to defeating you.” Atomic Samurai said.

“Now you know why I called you all. Garou’s power has increased exponentially, making him able to face multiple S-Class heroes at once.” Bang said.

“Which means he poses a threat to all of us.” Genos said.

This makes all the heroes a little nervous, something that they weren’t used to at all. Well, all except one short, green-haired woman.

“Hmph. Speak for yourselves. I doubt that idiot can take me on.” Tatsumaki says.

“Do not underestimate him, Terrible Tornado. He may become powerful enough to even stand against you.” Bang said.

“Tsk. Yeah, right.” Tatsumaki said.

Bang then looks at Sitch, seeing if Sitch had something to add. But then he notices that Sitch’s eyes are locked onto Garou using the suit’s abilities. Bang can also tell by his eyes that Sitch recognizes the suit, and appears nervous. Bang starts to get suspicious.

“Sitch. What’s wrong?” Bang asked.

“Oh?! Nothing.” Sitch said, but Bang can tell he is lying.
“You know something about Garou’s new power, don’t you?” Bang said.

“Uh…” Sitch can’t say a word.

All the S-Class heroes look at him with an intense gaze and he eventually caves in. 

“Okay. I know what his new power is.” Sitch said.

“What is it then?” Drive Knight asked.

Sitch takes a deep breath and explains, “You see, ever since we received the message from Shibabawa about the ominous future. The Hero Association has been fearing that the S-Class couldn’t stop this threat. So, we created something to help you fight this future threat.” 

Sitch then gets a remote and turns on the board in the meeting room. He then pulls up a picture of a black ooze contained in a glass jar. What is shocking to Bang and Genos is that the black ooze looks similar to the suit Garou wore.

“We call it the V2-52. It’s a protoplasmic suit that is designed to increase the wearer’s strength and power. With this, you would be able to become stronger than ever before. We were in the process of completing it when one of our employees stole the V2-52. He escaped the building before we could stop him.” Sitch explained.

“Wait, what does this have to do with Garou?” Metal Bat asked.

“Well, thanks to the footage from Demon Cyborg, I can confirm that Garou… is in possession of the V2-52.” Sitch said.

This shocked everyone, including Bang. Not only had the Hero Association create something so powerful, but they also didn’t trust their abilities to protect the world.

“How could you create something like this?!” Flashy Flash yelled.

“Yeah! Are we not strong enough for the Hero Association?!” Tank Top Master yelled.

“No no! You are, but we simply wanted to ensure that you were all at your full potential when the ominous future came.” Sitch said.
“Well, now your creation is in the hands of a crazy kid. Way to go with that, boss.” Darkshine said, sarcastically.

“I know you’re all upset, but right now we need to focus on stopping Garou. If he keeps wearing the V2-52, then we will have doomed ourselves.” Sitch said.

“... Fine. But when we find Garou, we will destroy the V2-52.” Bang said.

“No! It must be intact. Mr. McCoy wishes it so.” Sitch said.
Child Emperor sighs, “Then we’ll try to bring it back intact.”

“Thank you. You are all doing the world a service.” Sitch said.
“We will have to inform the other hero classes. Garou could be anywhere and we need all the eyes we can get.” Zombie Man said.

“Agreed. We will report back anything we find.” Flashy Flash said.

“Then this meeting is adjourned.” Sitch said as he and the other S-Class heroes leave.

While Bang leaves, he is not sure if Sitch is fully telling the truth about the V2-52. Bang believes that Sitch is hiding something else about it. Especially after what Bang heard Garou say before he transformed into his surge mode. Garou said ‘us’ before transforming. There wasn’t anyone else there, and Garou isn’t working for the Monster Association. There’s more to this. I know it. Bang thinks to himself.

With Sitch. Sitch is walking to McCoy’s office to discuss what he has learned. A shiver went down Sitch’s spine upon thinking about what the V2-52 can do in the hands of Garou. That much power in Garou’s hands… I don’t even want to think about it. Still, the fact that the V2-52 has already formed a perfect symbiosis with Garou in such short time is disturbing. 

Sitch arrives at McCoy's office and, with a quick sigh, knocks on the door. “Enter.” McCoy said from the other side. Sitch enters the room and sees that McCoy is talking to the Hero Association chief scientist, Doctor Curt Conners.

“Am I interrupting something?” Sitch asked.

“No. Dr. Conners was just finishing up the report about the V2-52 escaping.” McCoy said.

“Um. That’s why I’ve come here.” Sitch said.

McCoy looks at Sitch with his full attention and says, “I’m listening.”

“Yesterday, Silver Fang and Demon Cyborg engaged the Hero Hunter, but they failed to capture him.” Sitch said.

“And what does the Hero Hunter have to do with the V2-52?” McCoy asked.

“… It’s because the V2-52 has bonded with Garou.” Sitch said.

“… What?” McCoy asked with a shocked face.

Dr. Conners then asks in a scared tone, “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I saw the footage of the battle. It’s the V2-52.” Sitch said.

“… Did you tell the S-Class what the V2-52 is?” McCoy asked.

“No, sir. I only told them that it was a suit we made to boost their power.” Sitch said.

“Good. If they knew what the V2-52 really is, they would no doubt turn against us.” McCoy said.

“Sitch, did the suit affect Garou while he was wearing the suit?” Dr. Conners asked.

“Well, he looked like he was in full control of it. So far, he doesn’t show any of the symptoms like with the test subjects.” Sitch said.

“Then perhaps Garou has achieved symbiosis with it. Which only makes it a more dangerous threat than I imagined.” Dr. Conners said.

“Hmph. Or perhaps it has shown us the results we needed.” McCoy said.

“Sir, I’ve told you this before. The V2-52 is too dangerous. We don’t know what it’s fully capable of.” Dr. Conners said.

“So you would doom humanity to destruction?” McCoy asked.

“N… No, sir. That’s not what I’m saying.” Dr. Conners said.

“Really? Because that’s what it sounds like to me.” McCoy said as he gets up from his desk walks to his window.

“You see a threat while I see opportunity. The S-Class, though strong, has limits. The V2-52 will help them overcome their limits and ensure our survival. Remember, we’re doing this for humanity, Doctor.” McCoy said.

“I… I understand.” Dr. Conners said.

“Then there’s nothing else to talk about.” McCoy said as he motions for Sitch and Dr. Conners to leave.

When Conners and Sitch leave the room, Conners says, “We both know he isn’t doing this for humanity, only profit.” 

“Yes, but there’s nothing we can do at this point.” Sitch said.

“McCoy hasn’t seen what the V2-52 can do. He hasn’t seen what it did to the test subjects.” Conners said.

“I know, but we must focus on capturing Garou. Who knows what he’ll do if he remains bonded with V2-52.” Sitch said.

“Nothing good.” Conners said.

“Anyway, I have to inform the other hero classes about their new mission. See tomorrow, Conners.” Sitch said as he walks away.

Conners sighs before going to his lab to get his stuff and go home for the day. As he gathers his work, he eyes a machine he built to contain something dangerous. He goes to it and the machine opens to reveal a fragment of a meteorite with a spiral symbol. Conners rubs his stump where his arm used to be before… before the ‘incident’.

Ever since Conners found the V2-52 and the meteorite and began testing. He has always had this feeling that instead of preventing the ominous future from happening, they had inadvertently brought it upon themselves.

“Huh? The Hero Hunter stole a suit from the Hero Association?” Saitama asked.

“Yes, Master. Right now, all heroes have been ordered to find Garou and recover the suit he stole.” Genos said.

Genos has returned to the new home that he acquired after becoming Saitama’s student. Well, that’s what Genos believes because Saitama didn’t actually mean for Genos to learn under him. He just said ‘yes’ when Genos asked to be his student, which he regrets because Saitama doesn’t know how to train a student. But Saitama enjoys Genos’s company, and he has considered Genos a friend.

“The Hero Association is really worried about a suit?” Saitama asked.

“According to Sitch, the V2-52 was meant for us S-Class heroes, but now with it in the hands of Garou things are going to be more dangerous.” Genos said.

“Okay. Look out for yourself out there.” Saitama said.

“I will thanks to your training.” Genos said.

“Uh, yeah. You're welcome for that.” Saitama said in a nervous tone.

“Although, I’m wondering how strong Garou is now. He actually sounds tough.” Saitama said.

“He is strong, but I know that you are stronger.” Genos said.

“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Saitama said in a disappointed tone.

Even though Saitama is the strongest, his life has become so boring. Every opponent he has faced has died to one punch every single time. Saitama recently did have a fight with an alien called Boros and it was a good fight. But it ended after Saitama used a serious punch.

That’s why Saitama is hoping Garou is strong so that he could possibly feel something again. But he won’t get his hopes up until he meets Garou. However, Saitama feels he already met Garou before, but he can’t remember why. Meh. Probably just imagining things. Saitama thought to himself.

He did know one fact. Garou is going to be the talk of the town for a while.

Chapter Text

A long, boring week has gone by for Garou. He has been laying low in his new apartment for a while now, waiting for when he can go back to hunting heroes. However, he has training with the suit to see what else he can do now. So far, the suit hasn’t disappointed him at all.

Garou has learned that he can make any weapon he wants like blades, shields, or hammers. He also found out he can go invisible whenever he wants. Garou has even able to master a danger sense of sorts that can detect danger before he is attacked. Having all these abilities has made Garou feel stronger and more powerful than ever.

But now Garou believes it’s time to get back out to hunting heroes again. The question is, however, which one should he target. I could target small time heroes, but with the suit I think I can go after more higher class heroes. Garou thinks to himself. Garou then looks at a new board hanging on the wall that he made with pictures of heroes stabled on the board

Garou’s eyes land on the picture of Tatsumaki and he thinks about hunting her, but immediately shakes the idea off. No. Terrible Tornado is way too dangerous to go after at this time. Sure the suit has increased my power, but I don’t want to test my luck with her. Besides, I wouldn’t even know where to look for her. Garou thinks to himself.

But then Garou remembers, “Wait. Terrible Tornado has a sister in B-Class.” Garou said. The hero in question B-Class Rank 1: Blizzard. She is Tatsumaki’s little sister, but her psychic powers are not as strong as Tatsuamki. She is still dangerous, but it only makes her perfect prey for Garou. And it will get Tatsumaki to look for Garou, but Garou will make sure that if she does try to find him that he’ll be ready.

“Heh. Looks like I found my new target.” Garou said with a smirk. Garou then picks up the board and hides it in his closet before leaving his room. Upon exiting the room, however, Garou sees Ursula with a broom in hand, sweeping the floor. 

“Oh! Hey, Mr. Brock.” Ursula said with a bright smile.

“Hey, Ursula. What are you doing?” Garou asked.

“I’m just sweeping the floors. This place is all dusty and disgusting. Anyway, are you going somewhere?” Ursula asked.

“Yeah, but I’ll be back soon.” Garou said, but as he leaves.

“Rent!” Mr. Ditkovich yelled as he opens his door.

“… You’re kidding me? Already?!” Garou asked.

Mr. Ditkovich holds his hand out and Garou begrudgingly gives him his rent money. I think once I defeat Blizzard and her group, I’ll steal some money from them. Garou thinks to himself. Garou exits the building before going into a nearby alleyway and having the suit form around him.

“Time to hunt.” Garou said before jumping from wall to wall as he jumps to the roof and runs across it.

At a fancy restaurant in City-B. The Blizzard Group is currently relaxing at a famous restaurant after they recently finished off a Tiger Level monster. Sitting at a large dinner table, the beautiful Fubuki, aka Blizzard, is currently enjoying her meal while her group talk among themselves. Fubuki checks her messages on her phone to see if Saitama finally agreed to join her group, but nothing yet.

He’ll come around soon. Fubuki thought to herself. Fubuki has always wished to surpass her older sister Tatsumaki, but her psychic power is nowhere near as strong as Tatsumaki’s. So, Fubuki has tried other means in which to surpass her sister, which includes forming the Blizzard group. They are all loyal to her, and she encourages them to fight their own battles without her, but even her group can’t surpass her sister.

Then she met Saitama, and she was impressed by his power. She has spent days trying to get Saitama to join her group, but Saitama keeps refusing. But she won’t give up and figures that he’ll come around someday.

Eyelashes sees Fubuki is on her phone and asks, “Has something come up, Miss. Blizzard?”

“No. It’s just that Saitama is still refusing to join our group.” Fubuki said.
“Why are you so interested in him, Miss. Blizzard?” Mountain Ape asked.

“His power is beyond anything I’ve seen, and I think he’ll be a real asset to this group.” Fubuki said.

“Well, I don’t like that guy at all.” Mountain Ape said.

“Heh. You only hate him because he sent you flying from his apartment.” Eyelashes said with smirk.

“Shut up! You were sent flying off that balcony too!” Mountain Ape yelled.

“Yeah, but at least I am not complaining about it 24/7!” Eyelashes yelled.

“Will both of you stop? This is no way to act around Miss. Blizzard.” Lily said.

“Thank you, Lily.” Fubuki said.

“Ah! Th… Thank you.” Lily said with a nervous look.

“Oh, by the way. Have you guys received the message from the Hero Association?” Eyelashes asked.

“About the Hero Hunter stealing an experiment from them? Yeah, but I don’t get why it’s important.” Mountain Ape said.

“It must be important if the Hero Association is so worried about it.” Lily said.

“Indeed. But, this also provides us with an opportunity.” Fubuki said.

“What do you mean, Miss. Blizzard?” Mountain Ape asked.

“Think about it. If we capture Garou and return the experiment, it’ll get the Blizzard Group’s name out.” Fubuki said.
“She is right. But we gotta find Garou to do that.” Eyelashes said.

“We will find him, and we will finally get the recognition we deserve.” Fubuki said.

Little does she know that Garou is actually coming for her.

Outside the restaurant. Garou has been hunting other small-time heroes for hours to try and find Fubuki’s location. However, not many heroes knew where Fubuki and her group go to relax after a mission. Luckily, Garou found one of the members of her group and followed them to a fancy restaurant. Garou now sits atop a rooftop overlooking the restaurant.

There’s a lot of them, and I can easily take them out. But if Blizzard hears that I’m coming, then she may run away. I should look for a way to sneak in without alerting anyone. Garou thinks to himself. Garou decides to try the rear entrance of the restaurant and so he jumps from rooftop to rooftop to get to the rear entrance. Once he arrives, Garou sees some waiters outside having a cigarette.

“I guess this is my way in, but I can’t exactly go in like this. I have to blend in with the waiters, and I don’t exactly have a tuxedo.” Garou said to himself.

“Unless…” Garou looks at the suit and has an idea.

Garou sees some cars that could give him cover, so he jumps over behind them and thinks of the suit turning into a tuxedo. The suit reacts to his thoughts and the suit changes its form as it recedes from Garou’s face and hands. Then, the suit turns into a tuxedo and Garou admits that he looks good. Heh. Guess I went from Hero Hunter, to… um… Hero Spy Hunter? Ah, forget it. Garou thinks to himself.

Garou walks to the kitchen entrance and enters to see some chefs cooking some meals. Garou could smell the meals, and they smelled pretty delicious. I may come back here for dinner one day. Garou thinks to himself. With his tuxedo, nobody looks at Garou suspiciously at all, and Garou hides a smirk at how easy it is to infiltrate this restaurant. 

“Hey you!” A waiter yelled.

Garou thinks he’s talking to someone else and looks around until he asks, “Me?”

“Yes. Get over here.” The waiter said.

Garou walks over to him as the waiter hands Garou a plate of food and says, “Take this Miss. Blizzard.”

“Um… Sure.” Garou said.

As he walks away, Garou says, “Well I guess I’ll be heading to my target directly.”

Garou walks to a door and pushes through it and enters the main dining hall of the restaurant. Garou looks around and is in awe at how fancy this place is since he has never been to a restaurant like this. Garou looks around and sees a lot of the Blizzard Group talking among themselves about their mission and what rank they got.

Garou walks around for a while before going to a member of the Blizzard Group and asking, “Excuse me, but do you know where I can Blizzard? I have her meal right here.”

“Sure thing. She’s over there with the big guy, the small dude with the ponytail, and the blue haired girl.” The guy said.

“Thanks.” Says Garou before walking to Fubuki.

This is it. Garou thinks to himself. Garou walks to Fubuki before placing the plate in front of her.

“You’re meal, Miss. Blizzard.” Garou said.

“Thank you, kind sir.” Fubuki said, not bothering to look at Garou.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be thanking me just yet.” Garou said.

“Hm? What do you…mean…” Fubuki trails off once she turns to see Garou’s face.

“Yo.” Garou said before he grabs the platter and hits Eyelashes under the chin.

“Eyelashes!” Mountain Man yelled.

The Blizzard Group becomes alert as they surround Garou while Fubuki says, “Garou. I didn’t think you would be here. What are you doing here?”

“Simple…” His tuxedo begins to change as the Blizzard Group starts getting scared of Garou’s new look. “... I’m hunting you.” Garou said as the suit fully takes form and he grins through the mask.

“Tsk! Get him!” Fubuki yelled.

The Blizzard Group charges at Garou as Garou says, “Alright, suit. Time to get back in the game!” 

Garou then roars as he activates his surge mode and the Blizzard Group freezes. They have no time to react as Garou dashes at one of them and attacks the person with his hands surrounded by tendrils. Garou strikes at the person before having tendrils grab his head as Garou leaps over the person and slams them to the ground. Two more try to attack Garou, but Garou uses Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist to blitz them and in a second all their bones are broken.

“Is that all you got?!” Garou yelled before he shoots out tendrils and grabs the guy from before and yanks him to Garou. Garou then punches the guy in the stomach, then the face, and finally his stomach again as the guy gets sent flying. Garou sees three trying to attack him from behind, but Garou uses Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist on them, causing massive cuts to appear on the three members of the Blizzard Group as blood spills everywhere. Thinking this is too easy, Garou deactivates his surge mode as he goes back to his regular state.

Fubuki sees this and yells, “Now! While his strength is gone!” 

More of the Blizzard Group rush at Garou, but Garou smirks as he says, “Big mistake.”

Garou performs a symbiote blast and sends multiple members of the Blizzard Group flying around the room. Some crash through walls, others land on tables, and the rest are unconscious after the attack. Fubuki is taken aback by this as she realizes that Garou’s strength hasn’t diminished. The only ones remaining conscious are Lily, Eyelashes, and Mountain Ape.

Garou looks at them and smirks before asking, “You’re really going to try and fight me for some spoiled woman?”

“Shut up! Miss. Blizzard is an amazing hero and you will not insult her like that!” Lily yelled.

“We will fight to defend Miss. Blizzard even if it’s the last thing we do!” Eyelashes yelled.

“... You guys are the biggest simps I’ve ever seen.” Garou said.

In the blink of an eye, Garou appears in front of Eyelashes as he jumps on him before leaping into the air. Garou then uses tendrils to yank Eyelashes to him and Garou grabs him by the throat before slamming him into the ground, knocking Eyelashes out. “No!” Mountain Ape yelled before he throws a punch at Garou. However, Garou redirects the punch away from himself before using tendrils to sweep Mountain Ape’s leg from under him as Garou uses a symbiote punch on Mountain Ape, sending him flying through glass and into a car outside.

Lily starts to panic as she realizes that she is the last one standing. Garou looks at her and says, “Normally, I don’t really hunt kids. So, I’ll let you run away while I deal with Blizzard.”

Lily grits her teeth and tightens her grip on her weapon, “Tsk! Never! I won’t run while Miss. Blizzard is in danger!”

“Fine, but I gave you a chance.” Garou said.

Lily swings her weapon at Garou, but Garou leaps into the air as he performs a symbiote strike on Lily. Lily is sent flying in the air as Garou jumps after and kicks her below the jaw. Garou finishes her off by shooting tendrils at her and swinging her around in midair before slamming her on the ground. With Lily unconscious, Garou can now do what he came here to do.

Fubuki is shocked to see her group get easily defeated by Garou who then smirks at her as he says, “Looks like you’re out of pawns, Blizzard. Guess you have to face me yourself.”

Blizzard is scared, but she puts on a brave face as she says, “You may have defeated my group, but I will not fall so easily.”

Blizzard starts glowing blue as she declares, “I’ll kill you and reclaim what you stole from the Hero Association!”

“Heh. Come and try your luck then–wait what?” Garou asked who just realized what Fubuki.

“What the hell are you talking about, ‘...reclaim what you stole.’ I didn’t steal jack from the Hero Association.” Garou said.

“Of course you did. You’re wearing it right now.” Blizzard said.

Garou is confused until he realizes that it is the suit she’s talking about. Garou asks, “You mean this suit?”

“Yes. You are in possession of the V2-52, a suit designed by the Hero Association.” Blizzard said.

“Now, I will take the V2-52 from your corpse!” Blizzard said as she performs her ultimate move.

Fubuki makes a tornado of dust and rocks as she ends up tearing the whole building apart, causing debris to swirl around Garou. “HELLSTORM!!!” Yells Fubuki as she focuses the tornado on Garou and Garou shields himself. He feels his feet starting to come off the ground, but the suit creates tendrils that make him stay on the ground. Garou grits his teeth as he can feel his flesh peeling and his bones crack, but he doesn’t falter.

Fubuki watches and thinks to herself, That should get him. He’s only a man and can’t possibly survive. However, when the tornado stops, Fubuki is shocked to see Garou still standing, but he is bleeding profusely. Then, Fubuki sees the suit heal Garou’s wounds in an instant, but she could feel the rage coming from Garou. Garou glares at her with him now showing fangs on his mouth.

“Now… you’re really gonna get it!” Garou yelled before he shoots a symbiote punch at Fubuki. Fubuki creates a psychic barrier to shield herself from the attack which proves successful. However, she is caught off guard when Garou appears in front of the barrier before smashing through it while roaring. Garou goes to slash her with his claws, but Fubuki manages to dodge.

However, Garou catches her off guard again as he kicks her in the face. While she is dazed, Garou upper cuts her under her chin as she feels some of her teeth flying out while she is sent flying in the air. Garou then uses a symbiote yank on Fubuki and slams her back onto the ground, giving her a concussion. Dashing at her with ferocity, Garou uses Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist on her and breaks every bone in her body.

Fubuki then falls to the ground until Garou wraps a tendril around her throat. Garou lifts Fubuki up from the ground and starts choking her.

“What’s that matter, Blizzard?! I thought you would have more fight left in you!” Garou yelled.
Garou then says, “It’s heroes like you who make me sick! Those who crave fame, money, and power! But you don’t know anything about power!”

“I am power!” Garou yelled before he throws Fubuki against a wall that is barely holding up.

However, Fubuki lands near some fire as her dress catches on fire. Fubuki starts to scream in pain as the fire starts to cover her whole body rapidly, and Garou snaps out of his rage fueled state. Oh God! I… I didn’t mean for that to happen! Garou thinks to himself. Why should you care? She’s a hero, and this is what heroes get. Garou thinks to himself.

“Yeah… Yeah. She’s just a hero.” Garou said as he begins to walk away, leaving Fubuki burning. However, Garou stops as he keeps hearing her screams and he looks at a nearby fire hydrant. Garou growls to himself as he kicks up a piece of rock before kicking it toward the fire hydrant and causing it to burst. The water erupts and lands on Fubuki as it puts the fires out, but Fubuki is badly burnt.

Garou then dashes away and jumps to a nearby roof so he can get away from the scene quickly. Once he has made enough distance, Garou stops on a rooftop that is overlooking the city. Garou makes his mask recede from his face as he kneels next to the ledge of the building.

“... What the hell was I doing? Sure she is a hero, but getting burnt up like that was… Tsk! Why do I even care?!” Garou yelled.

“She deserved it for being the kind of hero she was! Besides, it was an accident! She’ll be just fine!” Garou said.

“ *sigh* ... But, when that happened… that wasn’t me. I felt… more angrier than usual.” Garou said.

Don’t overthink it. We all have moments when we get angry. This is just natural. Garou thinks to himself.

“Yeah… I was just frustrated.” Garou said.

Garou decides to change the subject and looks at the suit as he says, “So this thing was made by the Hero Association? Why the hell would they make something like this, or better yet, why do they think I stole it?”

Garou then starts glaring at the suit as he says, “I should be disgusted wearing something made for the heroes. The mere thought sickens me.”

But… maybe it’s better for me that I have it. That way it will save me the headache of having to face the heroes wearing something this powerful. Garou thinks to himself before he has his mask cover his face again as he jumps from the roof. Garou then starts hopping from roof to roof while thinking to himself, If I can use the suit to help me stand against multiple S-Class heroes, then maybe it’s okay that I ‘unintentionally’ stole the suit from the Hero Association. And maybe it’s okay if I… don’t give it up.

Garou continues to jump from roof to roof as he arrives at his apartment. Garou uses his claws to climb the wall up the building before reaching the window in his apartment and entering it. The suit then recedes from Garou’s body, leaving him in a tank top and boxers before Garou flops on the bed. 

“I guess I’ll keep the suit for the time being. Besides, the idea of using a weapon made for the hero’s biased justice against them does sound good to me.” Says Garou.

Garou starts to drift off to sleep as he begins to softly snore, but he then starts shivering because of the cold. Then, tendrils come out of Garou’s body as they grab the blanket off the floor and cover Garou with it. Feeling warm, Garou smiles in his sleep as he sleeps peacefully. The tendrils return to Garou’s body with Garou not even noticing that they came out of his body.

Darkness. That is all that can be seen around the area. Until a light could be seen, but something was standing in front of the light. The shape is that of a large sphere before the light shines on it more to show that the sphere is in fact a planet. And the planet is none other than planet Earth.

However, Earth is covered in black tendrils that give it the appearance of an infection. On the planet, a large orange glow could be seen from space and then everything fades to black again. But then the orange glow remains as it starts to get closer and closer. The light is then revealed to be coming from a rock with jagged sides with a large spiral symbol. The rock then starts getting covered by black tendrils.

Suddenly, a low breathing sound could be heard, and this breathing would send shivers down anyone’s spines. The breathing grows louder and louder before everything returns to black and the breathing stops.

“Garou.”

The rock emits its orange light again as it shows a monster with large white eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The monster has this grin on its face as it stares directly at Garou before roaring.

“GAH!!!” Garou wakes up from his sleep, sweating profusely.

Garou breathes hard as he says, “What hell was that nightmare? It felt so real.”

Garou swings his legs over the bedside as he controls his breathing.

“... It was just a nightmare. That’s all that was.” Garou said.

The suit then covers Garou’s body as it forms his clothes and he comments, “This suit is quite the time safer.”

Garou feels much more warmer and calm with the suit now on as he reaches for a remote and turns on the TV.

“This is Vicki Vale. Reporting live from a crime scene of a destroyed restaurant.” The reporter said.

“Last night, B-Class hero Blizzard Hell and her Blizzard Group were attacked by the vicious Hero Hunter. The Hero Hunter has left many of the Blizzard Group with critical injuries that could permanently prevent them from ever working as a hero again.

The camera man then shows images of the Blizzard Group being hauled off in ambulances while others were having doctors help them up.

“However, Blizzard Hell has sustained the most injuries as we have just been informed that she has sustained third degree burns on her body. Only time will tell if she will make a full recovery, or sadly lose her life.” The Reporter said.

“... Damn. I think I’m most definitely going to be on the top of Tornado’s kill list.” Garou said.

Chapter Text

In a large hospital room, Fubuki is lying on the bed with bandages covering her whole body. The only parts of Fubuki’s body not covered are her eyes and mouth. Fubuki groans as she wakes up to see a white ceiling, and memories of Garou’s ambush come rushing back to her. The pain she feels on her body is nothing compared to the pain she feels inside.

All her life she has wanted to surpass her sister, but she instead got defeated and humiliated by a human calling himself a monster. To say her ego and confidence is destroyed is an understatement. Tears flow down her cheek and soak into the bandages as she begins to silently cry to herself. She mutters, “I’m not… strong enough.”

The door to her room opens and two people walk in. Fubuki manages to see that the two who came were surprisingly Saitama and Genos.

“Oh! Hey, Fubuki.Good to see you awake.” Saitama said.

“Saitama? What are you doing here?” Fubuki asked.

Genos answers, “We heard about your injuries, and we decided to check on you.”

Saitama looks over Fubuki’s body and says, “You really got banged up, didn’t you?”

Fubuki looks away in shame before Saitama reaches in the grocery bag he is carrying and asks, “You want a banana?”

“N… No, thank you. I’m fine.” Fubuki said.

As Saitama puts the banana away, Fubuki looks at him and feels happy that Saitama came to see her. She believes that maybe Saitama actually does care for her as a friend. In actuality, Saitama just wanted to say ‘hi’ and ‘hope you get well’ and that was it. To Saitama, Fubuki is more of an acquaintance instead of a friend since Fubuki doesn’t stop bugging him about joining her group.

“How are the rest of my group doing?” Fubuki asked.

Genos answers, “From what the doctors say, your group sustained heavy injuries. Some of them may not be able to be heroes again.” 

Fubuki grimaces and says, “This is my fault. I should’ve been more prepared for Garou.”

“Well, you can try again next time.” Saitama said as he eats the banana he offered earlier.

“Perhaps. But… Garou’s strength was unlike anything I’ve seen.” Fubuki said.

“This V2-52 he’s wearing is truly a powerful weapon.” Fubuki said.

“Indeed. The other heroes are on high alert now, and they will now be going in groups of three.” Genos said.

“Heh. I’m not sure that’s enough—” Fubuki cuts herself off when she senses a familiar presence nearby.

“So now she decides to show up.” Fubuki said before the door flings open and gets embedded into the wall.

A small midget woman with a green glow surrounding her floats in and looks at Fubuki. Though she’s trying not to show too much emotion, it’s clear that she’s angry at Fubuki’s condition.

“Hi, sister.” Fubuki said as she greets her sister.

Tatsumaki floats to Fubuki’s bedside before grasping her hand and asking, “How are you feeling?”

“Bad. But… I think I can still be a hero when I recover.” Fubuki said.

Tatsumaki’s grip on Fubuki’s hand tightens as she says through gritting teeth, “I told you that your little group wasn’t strong enough to protect you. Only I can.”

“Sister, they tried. Garou was just stronger than I thought.” Fubuki said.

“Still, you should’ve just ran away, or… something! Why didn’t you run away?!” Tatsumaki yelled as she tries to hold in tears.

This is the first time Fubuki has seen her sister broken up this much before she mutters, “Sister.”

Fubuki holds Tatsumaki's hand tightly as Tatsumaki returns the jester. Then, all the items in the room begin to float around with a green aura around them while the building shakes. Genos is put on edge as Tatsumaki does this while Saitama doesn’t really pay any mind to it. Tatsumaki’s hair then rises as her face darkens.

She was supposed to protect Fubuki, to protect her little sister. But now… her sister got hurt because she wasn’t there. Because she wasn’t there to protect her and ensure her safety. The only thing Tatsumaki can think of is the one person who put Fubuki in this state. Garou.

“I swear. When I find Garou… I’m going to TEAR HIM TO PIECES!!!” Tatsumaki yells as things start flying across the room. The building shakes from Tatsumaki’s rage as Genos gets sent flying into a wall. Saitama panics when Genos gets impeded into a wall and tries to pull him out. The force of Tatsumaki’s rage is sent rippling throughout the city they are in and everyone feels it.

At Garou’s apartment. Garou is doing some pushups while shirtless when he feels Tatsumaki’s rage and stops. He feels a shiver run down his spine from feeling that much rage. Garou pieces together that it’s probably Tatsumaki since no one else on the planet with telekinesis is that strong. Garou thinks to himself, Looks like Terrible Tornado saw what I did to her sister. She’ll no doubt come for me, now.

Garou goes back to doing pushups while thinking of another hero to hunt. I’ve already taken down Blizzard, so no one in B-Class will be worth my time. Maybe a few A-Class heroes? Nah. They’ll get old real fast. Garou thinks to himself. Garou stands up and rubs his neck in frustration.

“Maybe I could go after an S-Class hero, but that may be difficult now that the heroes are traveling in groups of 3.” Garou said to himself. Why should I worry? I’ve got the Suit, and that’s all I’ll need. Garou thinks to himself. 

“Yeah. I think I’ll be fine. I’ll think more of it over lunch.” Garou said as the suit forms a shirt forms over his torso before Garou leaves his room.

Upon exiting, Garou runs into Ursula, who is leaving her room, and she says, “Oh! Hey, Mr. Brock.”

“Hey. Where are you going?” Garou asked.

“I am going to go for a walk to clear my head. This place can get cramped.” Ursula said.

“Where are you going, then?” Ursula asked.

“I was just going to get lunch.” Garou said.

Garou begins to walk away before Ursula suddenly asks, “Can I join? I’m actually hungry too.” 

Garou is hesitant, but then says, “Fine. But you’re paying.”

Ursula smiles as she grabs her bag and walks beside Garou as they leave the apartment complex. The two walk in silence as Garou walks with his hands in his pockets while Ursula walks with a smile. Garou glances at Ursula and wonders why she smiles all the time. Breaking the silence, Ursula asks, “So, where do you want to eat?”

“Just somewhere that serves good food.” Garou said.

“Ah! Then we should go to the steakhouse nearby. They serve the best steaks in this city.” Ursula said as she takes Garou’s hand and leads him to a steakhouse.

She continues to pull in his hand before they arrive at the steakhouse as Ursula says, “Here we are. I always love coming here for dinner.”

However, Garou is less focused on the restaurant and more focused on his hand that is being held by Ursula. Ursula notices before panicking and yanking her hand back and blushing like crazy.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to grab your hand out of the blue!” Ursula yelled as her hands move all over the place.

“It… It’s fine. Let’s just find a table.” Garou said as he tries to hide a faint blush.

They eventually get a table and sit together as a waiter comes over and asks, “So, what would you two like for drinks?”

“I would like a Coke Cola.” Ursula said.

“I’ll take a glass of water.” Garou said.

“Okay. I’ll have it out shortly.” The waiter said as he leaves

The two sit in silence before Ursula asks, “So, Mr. Brock. What exactly do you do?”

“You mean as a job?” Garou asked.

“Well, duh. You really don’t leave your apartment a whole lot, so I am just curious.” Ursula said.

“Well…” Garou is looking around the area to see if there’s anything that he can come up with.

Garou then sees a guy reading a newspaper with pictures on it and he says, “I… am a photographer.” 

“Really? You don’t really seem like photographer material.” Ursula said.

“Well, I like to stay in shape than let myself end up like THAT.” Garou said as he points at a nearby fat guy.

“Hm. That’s understandable.” Ursula said.

“Speaking of which. I don’t want to sound like I’m prying too much into your business, but how are you this… buff? Are you on steroids?” Ursula asked.

“What? God no. I used to be Silver Fang’s student.” Garou said.

Ursula’s eyes light up as she yells, “Really?! That’s so cool! What’s he like? Is he really as strong as everyone says?”

Garou, getting annoyed, covers her mouth to stop her rambling as he asks, “Are you done?”

Ursula nods before Garou releases his hand from her mouth.

“Sorry. I’m kind of a hero fan girl.” Ursula said with a nervous smile.

Garou rolls his eyes and says, “Of course you are.”

This confuses Ursula as she asks, “You don’t like heroes?”

Garou hesitates to answer, but he says, “Not really.”

This surprises Ursula a lot. She is about to ask ‘why’ when the waiter comes back with their drinks.

“Here you go. Now, are you two ready to order?” The waiter asked.

“Yes. I’ll just have an 8-ounce sirloin cooked medium rare.” Ursula said.

The waiter writes it down before looking at Garou, “And you sir?”

Garou thinks about it and says, “I want the whole menu.”

“……huh?” Both Ursula and Waiter are shocked.

Garou glares at the waiter and the waiter stutters, “R… Right away.”

The waiter leaves as Ursula looks at Garou and asks, “You’re really that hungry?”

“Yeah. I’ve actually been hungrier as of late. So, I’m just going to eat as much I can.” Garou said.

Ursula is surprised, but she shakes it off. She wants to return to their previous conversation before being interrupted.

“So, why do you not like heroes?” Ursula asked.

Garou is silent as he looks at the table before saying, “I used to like heroes until I eventually learned what they truly are.”

“And what would that be?” Ursula asked, fully interested.

“The heroes we have currently are nothing but celebrities trying to get fame and glory. And nobody calls them out for it because they’re popular in the world. It’s… It’s why I like monsters more.”

This shocks Ursula as Garou continues, “Monsters, while some do destroy things and commit evil acts, others actually have valid points for doing what they do. Hell, they even keep fighting even if they're outclassed by a strong hero. But no one cheers for them to win because they’re monsters, and because they're the unpopular ones that no one likes.” 

Ursula is silent before saying, “I see why you don’t like the heroes we have currently.”

Ursula then looks at Garou with a small smile, “If it makes you feel any better, I kind of like monsters too.”

Garou’s eyes widened at this. This is the first time he has ever heard someone other than himself say those words.

“Hold on. Didn’t you say you’re a hero fan girl?” Garou asked.

“Yeah, but I think I should be clearer. I like heroes, but ones who can understand the villain and want to help them. But the heroes I like aren’t actually real.” Ursula said.

Ursula then reaches into her bag and pulls out a few comics. These comics had cover pictures of a hero with a shield, another with an armor suit, and a giant green monster.

“The heroes I read in these books are the ones I think we should have. You’re right that monsters have valid points, but sometimes the way they go about it is wrong and people could get hurt, or the monster could hurt themselves. The heroes in these comics are ones that will do anything to save both the people, and the villains if they can.” Ursula said.

Ursula then gets one more comic and hands it to Garou. Garou takes it and reads the title. 

“The Amazing Spider-Man. Is he your favorite?” Garou asked.

“Yeah. To me, he’s what a hero should be. Spider-Man does fight villains, but he’s also willing to listen to them and try to make them see that what they're doing is wrong. He tries to save everyone he can no matter if it costs him his life.” Ursula said.

Garou listens to Ursula while also looking at the cover of the comic. Garou admits that the way Ursula is describing Spider-Man is making Garou agree that heroes should be like him. If Spider-Man was real, he would probably be one of the heroes Garou wouldn’t hunt. Ursula talking about understanding monsters has also put a question in Garou’s head.

“Since you’re kind of a fan of monsters… what do you think of the Hero Hunter?” Garou asked.

“I… I don’t really know. I don’t know what his goals are.” Ursula said.

“Well, I heard from a ‘friend’ that he wants to break the status quo between heroes and monsters. To be the monster that finally wins and show the world how fake the heroes truly are. And… he’s hoping to become the symbol that’ll make everyone abandon their hatred for other people different from them. Thus, destroying discrimination and bullying.” Garou said.

“Hm. If that’s the case… it really doesn’t sound like something that a monster would do. It sounds like something a hero would do.” Ursula said.

CRACK!!!

Ursula is caught off guard as Garou cracks the glass of water in his grip.

“Excuse me for a second.” Garou said who looks like he’s about to explode from anger as he walks to the bathroom.

“Did I say something wrong?” Ursula asked herself while looking at Garou.

In the bathroom. Garou has his hands on the bathroom sink while having his head down. What Ursula said really pissed him off since the last thing he ever wants is to be compared to a hero. It would piss anyone off to be compared to the people you hate the most.

“I’m not a hero. Never have, and I never will be.” Garou said. However, it does make him think about his goals a little more deeply. Maybe, she’s got a po— Snap out of it! What does she know? She has her head in those stupid comics, and she is clearly too naive for her own good. Garou thinks to himself.

Garou then looks at himself in the mirror. You live in the real world while she lives in a fantasy. You know that there will never be a hero like the ones in those comics, so why even bother to rethink your choices. You’re not a hero, and you never will be. No one understands you… except me . Garou thinks to himself.

Garou put off by that thought when he heard his inner voice change before just forgetting about it. Garou turns the sink on and washes his face off before grabbing a paper towel and drying his face off. Garou then leaves the bathroom before turning around the corner, but then he instantly hides behind it. Around the corner, Garou sees someone he didn’t expect to be here at this restaurant. The number 1 hero of the A-Class, Amai Mask.

Amai Mask is, in Garou’s opinion, the worst hero to ever exist. Not because he sucks at his job, but because he is everything that Garou hates about the heroes. Amai Mask is a hero who could go to S-Class, but he chooses to stay in A-Class to ensure that the heroes he sees that have negative reputations cannot drag him or the other S-Class’s reputations down. Amai Mask also adheres to any method to make heroes popular as he makes sure that only heroes who can draw in the most popularity can be in S-Class and A-Class.

Garou is tempted to activate the suit and attack now, until he sees Amai Mask go over to Ursula. This makes Garou freeze in place as he begins to worry for Ursula’s safety if he attacks. These feelings then confuse Garou. Why am I worried about her? Garou thinks to himself. Garou shakes it off as he tries to think of a way to make sure that Amai Mask doesn’t recognize him. Then, the suit suddenly covers his face before receding and giving him a new look.

A few minutes earlier. Amai Mask is exiting the limo he is riding in as he steps out onto the street. He looks at the steakhouse he has arrived at and begins to walk in. Amai Mask has to get to the set of his next movie. However, Amai Mask felt hungry and decided to get a quick bite at this steakhouse. Just a quick bite, then I’ll be on my way. Amai Mask thought to himself.

Amai Mask enters the restaurant and immediately all the girls see him and start to surround him. Amai Mask smirks as he takes photos with the girls, signs them autographs, and gives some playful winks. However, before Amai Mask can get a seat, he sees a girl who isn’t acting like the others, and she is instead sitting at a table alone. Amai Mask is curious and walks over to the girl.

Once he reaches her, he says, “Hello there.”

“Oh! Hey–wait. You’re Amai Mask!” Ursula said, still waiting for Garou.

“Indeed I am.” Amai Mask said as he moves strands of his blue hair behind his ear.

“Who might you be, beautiful?” Amai Mask asked.

“Uh... I’m Ursula Ditkovich.” Ursula said in a nervous tone.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ursula. Tell me, what are you doing here in this restaurant alone?” Amai Mask asked.

“I… I’m just eating with a friend.” Ursula said.

“Hm. And where is your friend?” Amai Mask asked.

“He’s in the bathroom, but he’ll be back soon.” Urusla said.

Amai Mask smirks as he leans over and asks, “Mind if I join you for dinner?” 

Ursula is put off by this due to not really wanting to sit with Amai Mask. Why? Because like Garou, Ursula hates Amai Mask since he’s the worst hero in her eyes. Ursula is trying to think of a way to get out when suddenly…

“Alright, babe. Are you ready to leave?” A familiar male voice said. Ursula turns to see a guy who looks like Garou, but with black hair swept back and a black surgical mask. Ursula is wondering why Garou is in a disguise, but she figures out what he’s trying to do and goes with it.

“Of course, Eddie. Let’s go.” Ursula said as she sets money on the table and wraps her arm around Garou’s before leaving.

“Wait. Do you want an autograph?” Amai Mask asked.

“No, thank you. Bye.” Ursula said as she and Garou quickly get out.

Amai Mask is wondering who that guy with Ursula is, but he shrugs it off before going to get his own table. Although the guy’s voice sounded familiar, but Amai Mask can’t remember why.

Outside. Garou and Ursula are walking away from the restaurant before Ursula quickly let's go of Garou’s arm while blushing like crazy.

“T…Thanks for that.” Ursula said.

“It’s no problem. I’m just glad you figured out what I was trying to do.” Garou said as he takes off the surgical mask.

“Still. I’m glad you got me away from him, but why were you in disguise?” Ursula asked.

‘It’s… because Amai Mask and I had met once, and it wasn’t exactly pleasant.” Garou said, lying through his teeth.

“Oh. Well, I don’t blame you. Amai Mask is an awful hero in my eyes.” Ursula said.

Garou chuckles, “That we can agree on.” 

They walk for a while before Garou suddenly stops, making Ursula wonder why he stopped.

“I have to go somewhere right now, so you’re on your own, now.” Garou said.

“Oh. Okay. Be safe.” Ursula said as Garou walks off.

But then Ursula calls out, “Wait, Mr. Brock!”

Garou stops as Ursula walks up to Garou and is silent. Suddenly, she kisses Garou on the cheek and Garou’s eyes widen in shock as Ursula starts blushing.

“Thanks again for saving me. You’re a good person, Mr. Brock.” Ursula said.

“Just… call me Eddie.” Garou said, still in shock.

Ursula smiles before walking away as Garou touches his cheek where Ursula kissed him, and he blushes. Why did she do that out of the blue? Garou thinks to himself. Garou then shakes it off before going into a nearby alleyway. Once out of sight, Garou’s black hair returns to normal as the part of the suit that covered it returns to the rest of his clothes, along with the surgical mask. It was the easiest way he could get Ursula and himself out of there without starting a fight, but that doesn’t mean Garou isn’t pissed.

Just seeing Amai Mask trying to flirt with Ursula just pissed Garou off so much. He doesn’t fully understand why he is angry that Amai Mask was flirting with Ursula. It’s not like he liked Ursula, but… maybe it’s because… he doesn’t fully know. What he does know is that Amari Mask is going to pay. A grin starts to form on Garou’s face as the suit begins to cover his body.

“Heh. I guess I know now who I’m hunting.” Garou said as the suit covers him and he jumps up to the roofs of the buildings.

A few hours later. The sun begins to set as Amai Mask is performing on stage for the movie he is making. The scene he is currently shooting takes place in a church, and this is the part of the movie that has an emotional scene. Amai Mask is sitting in a church pew while his co-star plays the part of a priest.

“But Brother Michael. How can I call myself a hero if I can’t save everyone?” Amai Mask asked, pretending to be emotional.

“Amai, you think of yourself too highly. Heroes fail, and they fall. But they push forward no matter what.” The actor playing Brother Michae said.

Brother Michael looks at the cross with Jesus hanging in the church and says, “And Jesus will be there to support you every step of the way.”

“CUT!” The director yelled.

Amai Mask stands up from the pew with a satisfied smirk. I have to say, that went as well as I expected. Amai Mask thought to himself. He walks to a chair and sits before taking a sip of his water bottle.

The director comes over and says, “Amai, that scene was fantastic. You really showed so much emotion in the scene.”

Amai Mask smirks as he says, “What can I say? I’m a professional.”

“Heh. Yes, you are. Now, for the next scene I was hoping–”

However, the director is cut short when the lights to the church suddenly go off. The stage crew are surprised by this and begin to worry. Meanwhile, Amai Mask remains calm, yet curious as to who may be doing this.

“What the? Who messed with the lights?” The director asked.

“I’ll get it.” A crew member said.

The crew member walks to the power room while shining his flashlight to guide him. He opens the door and is about to enter when suddenly…

BAM!!!

He is pulled into the shadows by black tentacles while screaming for help. The rest of the crew start to panic and run while Amai gets up from his seat and into a fighting stance. He looks around the church to see if he can see who is attacking them at the moment, but it’s so dark that he can’t see good in the church.

“Who’s there?!” Amai Mask asked.

A voice then yells back, “Amai Mask! Your time is up!”

Amai Mask then recognizes the voice, “Garou?!”

Amai Mask’s senses kick in as he dodges an incoming kick from above, but the force of the kick’s impact makes the building shake. The crew panic as they make a run for the exit and run into the streets, leaving Amai Mask alone with Garou. Amai Mask looks at Garou with a serious expression that shows that he is not underestimating Garou in this fight. He heard about the V2-52, and about Blizzard, so he will not be reckless like she was.

“So, you’ve finally decided to hunt me?” Amai Mask asked.
“You really weren’t on my mind at the time, but let's just say you really pissed me off earlier today. So, let’s call this good old fashion payback.” Garou said, cracking his knuckles.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Amai Mask asked, confused about what Garou means.

“It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is me seeing you finally get what you deserve!” Garou yelled before he dashes at Amai Mask.

Amai Mask reacts in and throws a punch at Garou, but Garou redirects it before punching Amai Mask in the gut. The force of the punch sent Amai flying into a wall, nearly breaking it. Amai Mask manages to recover in time to dodge an incoming Symbiote strike from Garou. However, he is caught off guard when Garou uses tendrils to wrap around Amai’s leg and slams him into the ground over and over.

Eventually, Garou throws Amai into the giant cross hanging in the church. The cable holding the cross up snaps, causing it to fall on top of Amai. Garou chuckles darkly as he walks to Amai Mask, who is struggling to free himself.

“Hehehe. Oh, you have no idea how satisfying this is for me.” Garou said as he effortlessly throws the cross off of Amai before grabbing him by the head.

“So, tell me Amai. Is your philosophy for being a hero really about them being perfect?” Garou asked as he slams Amai’s face into the church piano.

Garou grinds Amai’s face on the piano as he says, “Come on. I really want to know.”

Amai doesn’t answer and so Garou says, “Fine. Don’t answer. I already know that it's true.”

Garou then throws Amai to the roof as Amai slams onto the roof and falls on a support beam on top of the church. Garou follows as he jumps on the support beam too. “Don’t get too tired, Amai. We’re just getting started!” Garou said as he uses a symbiote punch to send Amai flying across and into the church bell.

However, when the impact from Amai Mask’s body causes the bell to ring. Garou suddenly feels a tremendous amount of pain as he screams in pain as the suit starts to go wild. Garou clutches his ears as he screams, trying to drown out the bell. Once the bell stops ringing, the suit returns to normal, but it makes Garou question what that was. What the hell was that?! I was… I was in pain! Garou thinks to himself.

Garou looks at the bell and realizes that it was the bell’s vibrations that hurt him really bad, but he isn’t the only one who noticed. Amai Mask, who is now recovering, saw how the suit reacted earlier, and he realizes it is because of the bell. “Heh. So that’s your weakness.” Amai Mask said with a bloody smirk.

Amai gets up and goes to kick the bell as Garou tries to stop him. However, he is too late as Amai kicks the bell and it rings again. Garou again yells in pain as he falls on his back screaming in agony as he feels the suit going wild. Make it stop! Please, Garou! Garou roars as he shoots many tendrils at the bell, stopping the ringing and embedding it in a wall. Garou stands up shakily and glares at Amai Mask with pure hatred.

“You… You’re dead!” Garou said. However, Garou hears sirens coming as well as hearing the voices of heroes coming from outside the church. Garou glares at Amai one more time as he growls.

“You’re lucky, Amai. But make no mistake. We’ll find you again, and you won’t be able to stop us when we bring hell upon you!” Garou yelled as he jumps through a large window and onto a nearby rooftop before he runs away.

Amai goes to the broken and watches Garou run away while wondering about what Garou said. “Why did he say ‘we’?” Amai Mask asked himself.

With Garou. It’s beginning to rain and Garou is still running across rooftops, thinking about his humiliating defeat.  That bastard got the better of me! He won’t get lucky a second time. Garou then stops on a roof and thinks to himself about what happened with the bell. The suit… it reacted horribly when the bell rang. Does it have a weakness to loud noises? Garou thinks to himself.

“Tsk! Damnit! And Amai learning about it too makes this even worse for us! And when he tells the other heroes, they’ll use this weakness against us. We will need to be more careful and— Why do I keep saying we?!” Garou yelled.

“Argh! First, I have been much angrier! Then, there was that dream! Next, I keep hearing a voice that isn’t mine! And now, I’m saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’!” Garou yelled. 

Garou then looks at his hands and says, “This all started when I wore this suit. What is this thing really? And… am I really in control?”

Chapter Text

One of the best places to go and clear your head is the beach. The warm light from the Sun, the sight of the vast ocean, and the sunlight reflecting off the water is a beautiful sight for all. Even Garou can admit to this as he walks down the beach, the sand crunching under his bare feet. The beach is the best place for Garou to find some peace and quiet.

He has been stuck thinking about what happened last night about his fight with Amai Mask. Especially about the new weakness he discovered the suit had. He should’ve known that not everything is as good as it seems. There’s always a price to everything.

Garou sighs, “Still can’t believe that my weakness is loud noises. That’ll surely be a major problem in the future whenever the heroes find out.” 

Garou then stops in his tracks before he says, “But… it’s not the only problem. I keep saying ‘we’. Am I just… going crazy or something?”

It was in the heat of the moment, and everyone makes a small mistake when speaking. Garou thinks to himself. Garou sighs and says, “Maybe. Or maybe… there’s more to this suit than I thought.

Garou begins to walk again before suddenly hearing the cry of a young boy. Curious as to who made the cry, Garou follows where the cry came from. Garou then comes across the sight of a boy being picked on by other kids around the boy’s age. Squinting his eyes, Garou recognizes the kid getting bullied as Tareo.

Garou sighs in annoyance, “I just can’t seem to get away from this kid for too long.” Garou is about to leave, not caring about the situation. But right when Garou is about to leave, he hears what the bullies are saying.

“Yo, Snotty Nose! Why aren’t you hurt yet?!” Bully 1 asked while throwing a rock at Tareo.

“He’s probably a monster too! Let’s beat him up!” Bully 2 yelled.

“Please! Stop! It hurts!” Tareo yelled as he is bombarded by rocks.

Hearing Tareo being called a monster… well it makes Garou remember his past. “… Dammit all.” Garou said.

The suit covers Garou’s body before he leaps toward the kids. As the bullies continue to throw rocks at Tareo, Garou lands in between them and Tareo. The bullies stop as they watch Garou sit up, fear slowly crawling up their spines as their teeth chatter. Garou takes a deep breath, and then “RRRROOOOAAARRRR!!!”

The roar, combined with Garou’s appearance, makes the bullies pee themselves before running away. They cry out for their mommies as they run away. Garou chuckles to himself before the suit turns back into clothes. He then turns around to see a scared, yet surprised Tareo looking at him.

Garou smirks and says, “Been a long time, turd.”

Tareo then hurries to his feet while saying, “Mister! I thought I’d never see you again!”

Garou sighs in annoyance, “Would you stop calling me that?”

Garou kneels down to Tareo’s level before asking, “Who were those kids anyway?”

Tareo looks down upon hearing the question and stutters, “Th… They’re my friends.”

“You’re friends? They the same ones you told me about at the shack?” Garou asked, earning a nod from Tareo.

“Last I checked, friends don’t throw rocks at each other or call the other a monster.” Garou said.

“We… We were playing a game, and they wanted me to be the monster… again.” Tareo said, saddened.

Garou, feeling some familiarity with the kid, says, “I know what that’s like.”

Tareo looks up at Garou, “You were forced to be the monster by your friends?”

Garou chuckles sadly and says, “Kinda, but I didn’t have any friends back then.”

“I… I could be your friend.” Tareo said, wanting to make Garou feel better.

Garou is surprised and snorts, “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t want to be friends with a monster like me.”

“Well… I don’t think you’re like other monsters.” Tareo said.

“You’re not bad like other monsters and you… you protected me at the shack last week.” Tareo said.

“In all honesty, you’re more like a hero than a monster.” Tareo said.

Garou’s nearly about to pop a vein upon hearing this. However, not wanting to scare Tareo, he calms himself down. This is the second person to have told me that in the last 48 hours. I’m really starting to get ticked off. Garou thinks to himself. Garou then stands while the suit covers his body once again.

“Turd, look at me.” Garou said as he showed Tareo his appearance.

“Do I really look like a hero when I look like this?” Garou asked.

“Well, no. But—”

“But nothing. You’ve got to get it through your thick skull.” Garou said.

“I’m a monster. I don’t save people, I don’t ride off into the sunset, and I don’t get the girl.” Garou said.

Tareo is silent before saying, “Well, yeah you do look scary. But… my parents always tell me to not judge a book by its cover.”

Garou falls silent upon hearing this. He honestly doesn’t know what else to say to that. Damn kid is cleverer than I thought. Garou said. However, before anything else happens…

“Boohoo. I’m shedding a tear at this.” A deep voice suddenly said. Garou whips his head around to see two monstrous figures. The one who spoke is a large, muscular, bug-like monster. The other one is more slender with bandages covering his whole body, is wearing a butcher apron, and has two large blades instead of hands.

Tareo gets scared at the sight of the two monsters and hides behind Garou. Garou stands his ground while glaring at the two monsters who dare to cross him.

“Who the hell are you two?” Garou asked.

The one with blades for hands says, “I am Royal Ripper.”
Royal Ripper points his blade at the other monster and says, “And this is Bug God. We are members of the Monster Association.”

“The Monster Association? What do you idiots want this time?” Garou asked.

“Why, you. Our leader, Orochi, has sent us to retrieve you and bring you to the association.” Royal Ripper said.

“You have piqued his interest. Especially after you killed Phoenix Man with little to no trouble.” Bug God said.

Garou smirks, “Really? Well, tell your boss that I have no interest in joining your group, you freaks.”

“You misunderstand…” Royal Ripper drags his blades against one another. “It wasn’t a request.”

Garou narrows his eyes upon concluding that there’s no way out of this situation without a fight. Garou, however, does not want Tareo to get caught in the middle of it.

“Turd. You need to get out of here. Right now.” Garou said in a low voice.

However, Tareo shakes in fear as he says, “I… I… I can’t! I’m scared!”

“Tsk! Stop your whining! This is no time to start panicking!” Garou yelled.

“B… But–”

“No ‘buts’! You listen to me and listen closely! Those monsters will kill you if you stay!” Garou yelled.

Garou then looks behind him at Tareo and says, “So stop being afraid, and be brave for once in your life!”

Tareo is left stunned by Garou’s words, but before he can even process it, Royal Ripper chuckles, “Aw. It seems that the Hero Hunter has a heart.”

Bug God, however, says in a menacing voice, “Disgusting. And he dares to call himself a monster when he can’t even take the life of an annoying child.”

Garou growls and glares at the two before yelling, “Leave him out of this! You want a fight, well here I am!”

“... Heh… Hehehe… HAHAHA!!!” Royal Ripper laughs maniacally.

He stops laughing and says, “Oh, you thought we were going to fight you? No. That honor goes to our pet dog.”

Garou is confused, “Pet dog?”

That’s when the ground beneath Garou and Tareo’s feet shakes. The ground begins to crack as the sand on the beach falls into the cracks. “M… Mister?” Tareo said in a scared tone. Garou stays close to Tareo before his senses go wild. Garou suddenly grabs Tareo by the collar of his shirt and leaps off the ground toward a safe distance.

BOOM!!!

The ground where the two once stood explodes as a beam of red energy bursts through. Garou lands on his feet before tossing Tareo to the ground and turning toward the giant hole made. A loud growl can be heard as both Tareo and Garou feel fear creep up their spines. A large shadow emerges from the hold with six glowing, red eyes staring into the pair’s souls. The large shadow walks to Garou and Tareo as it growls louder.

“RAAAAAAA-K-K-K-K-K!!!” A large black furred dog monster roared as its mouth emits a bright red glow.

Tareo stutters in fear, “W… Wha… What is that thing?”
Bug God chuckles and says, “Garou, meet Rover. A Dragon Level monster and one of the most powerful executives of the Monster Association”

“Play well with your new toy, Rover! We’ll enjoy the show.” Royal Ripper said before cackling.

Garou breathes hard at the sight of this huge monster, but he controls his breathing to the best of his ability. Garou gets into a fighting stance while Rover growls at him. Garou glances back at Tareo, “Turd…”

“RAAAAAAA-K-K-K-K-K!!!” Rover leaps at Garou, his mouth wide open.

“RUN!!!” Garou yelled.

Garou grabs Rover’s jaws before they clamp down on him. Garou is clenching his teeth while his muscles bulge as he holds Rover’s mouth open. Tareo watches this with wide eyes, but he quickly gets to his feet and runs away while crying. Mister… please don’t die! Tareo thought to himself

Garou glances back and sees Tareo running away, something he’s grateful for. However, his attention is brought back to Rover as the monster suddenly throws its head up. Garou held tight grip when Rober did this, so he’s being thrashed around too. Garou tries to hold on tight, but then is slammed into the ground by Rover, which makes a huge crater.

Garou feels some of his ribs break, but the suit quickly heals him. Rover, not letting Garou rest, charges up a beam in its mouth and aims at Garou while he’s on the ground. Thinking quickly, Garou grabs some sand and throws it in Rover’s eyes. Rover howls in pain as he throws his head up and fires the beam toward the sky.

Once his sight returns, Rover looks at where Garou last was, but Garou is gone. Robert, however, can smell that Garou is still nearby. He growls as he looks around for Garou but fails to notice something holding onto a nearby lamp post. That’s when the thing on the lamp post leaps off and kicks Rover in the jaw.

Rover growls in pain before trying to bite whoever kicked him. He misses and then is struck by multiple blows to his side. Rover, irritated by this, fires his beam again and swings his head around to try and hit whoever is attacking him. Luckily for Rover, the beam hits the attacker’s back and causes him to fall to the ground in pain.

The attacker then reveals himself to be Garou, who went invisible to attack Rover. Well, that didn’t work. Garou thought to himself. Garou looks up and sees Rover is charging another blast. Without thinking, Garou dashes to his right as Rover fires the beam. 

Rover maintains the beam as he tries to hit Garou, but Garou uses his speed advantage and out runs the beam. Garou then turns his heels and launches himself at Rover while tendrils spring from his back. Rover can’t react in time as Garou uses a symbiote punch to disorientate Rover. Using the opening, Garou uses the tendrils to get on Rover’s back.

Rover tries to buck Garou off, but Garou shoots a tendril from his right-hand pins Rover’s right paw to the ground. Garou does it again, but to Rover’s left paw. Garou then has multiple tendrils sprout from his torso and around Rover before fully pinning Rover to the ground. Garou then has more tendrils wrap around Rover’s head and mouth.

“I’ve got you now, monstrous freak!” Garou said, believing he has won. However, Rover isn’t giving up that easily. He manages to rip his own mouth open and release a very loud roar. Luckily for Rover, the roar is loud enough to affect the suit and causes Garou to scream in pain as the tendrils lose their grip.

Rover manages to buck Garou off his back right as he gets to his feet. Rover turns to Garou and roars at him before running away and into the city. Garou manages to recover from the sonic attack, but he is pissed off. He glares at the direction Rover ran to and yells, “You’re not getting away from me!” Garou’s wings form on his back as he launches himself into the air and chases Rover.

With Bug God and Royal Ripper. They watch as Rover runs into the city and forces Garou to give chase. The two are very much pleased by this. All is going according to Gyoro Gyoro’s plan.

Royal Ripper then looks toward the streets to see Tareo still running and asks, “Now do we grab the boy?”

“Yes, but do not kill him. We need him alive if Gyoro Gyoro’s plan is to come to fruition.” Bug God said.

“Ugh! Fine, but I get to kill him after all this.” Royal Ripper said.

“Deal.” Bug God said before both dash off toward Tareo.

Back with Garou. Rover is causing chaos in the city as he runs across the streets, destroying vehicles and stomping on people that get in his way. Meanwhile, Garou isn’t far behind as he soars through the air with his wings. Rover catches a glance at Garou before using his feet to send a car flying at Garou.

“Woah!” Garou barely dodges the flying car as it crashes into a building. This damn mut doesn’t know when to quit! Garou thought to himself. He picks up more speed as Rover causes some explosions to go off. Garou simply flies through the flames as he maneuvers around buildings.

However, much to Garou’s dismay, the explosions caught the attention of some low A-Class and high B-Class heroes. Great! As if this day couldn’t get more stressful! Garou thought to himself. Garou watches as some speedster heroes try to take Rover down, but to no avail. Instead, the heroes are met with Rover firing his beam at them briefly.

The beam destroys the street and sends some heroes flying all over the place. Rover then makes a sharp right turn at a city block, but Garou is coming in hot when Rover does this. “Gotha!” Garou yelled before tackling Rover and uses his strength to lift Rover in the air. However, Rover fights back, causing Garou to crash both of them into a building.

Garou falls onto the floor groaning while his wings retract back into his back. However, he has no time to recover as Rover leaps on top of Garou and tries to bite him. But Garou quickly grabs Rover’s jaw and stops him from biting Garou. Garou grits his teeth as he manages to push Rover off of him before throwing a symbiote punch into Rover’s face, sending flying back out of the building.

Garou gives chase and jumps through the hole. He then brings out his wings again and chases Rover as the monster begins to run away once more. Garou is not far behind Rover, but then Garou sees that more heroes came. Only this time some of them can fly.

Garou curses under his breath before dodging an incoming projectile from a flying hero. That same hero then yells, “Do not let the Hero Hunter escape!”

“Uh, buddy! I think you should be more worried about the rampaging dog monster!” Garou yelled.

The hero doesn’t listen as he launches another projectile, Garou dodges and flies at the hero and lands a solid blow to his gut. The hero curls in pain and falls to the ground with some heroes on the ground catching him. Focusing back on Rover, Garou soars higher in the air to find Rover’s current location. Luckily, he sees that Rover has stopped due to heroes making a roadblock.

Seeing the opening, Garou dives at Rover before landing hard on Rover’s back. Rover roars at this before firing his beam again, obliterating some heroes and slicing through a few buildings like butter. Jesus! This guy isn’t letting up! Garou thought to himself while holding onto Rover’s back for dear life. Rover stops his movements briefly before glancing at a nearby building.

Garou notices and says, “Don’t you even–” Rover jumps toward the building and uses his claws to dig into the building’s side. He then begins to run up the building while Garou holds on, digging his claws into Rover’s skin. Rover simply roars and manages to buck Garou off him, but Garou quickly reacts and uses tendrils from his hands to wrap around Rover. Garou now looks like he is water skiing on the building as Rover pulls him up the building.

When Rover reaches the roof of the building, Garou jumps over him and lands right in front of Rover. “Nowhere to run now! So, why don’t we both finish this right here?” Garou asked, mockingly as he got into his fighting stance. Rover growls as he charges up a beam in his mouth. However, both combatants have their attention drawn to a hero flying right above them.

The hero appears to be a tech-based hero with a jetpack, but he also possessed two massive cannons on his shoulders. It is this detail that makes Garou worry. His worries are proven fruitful as the cannons suddenly come to life and charge up. Neither Garou nor Rover have time to react before the hero fires a massive blast at the two.

The blast, though does not damage the two combatants, causes them both to go flying off the roof. Garou is falling and tries to have his wings return, but Rover stops him by using his massive claws to grab Garou. Garou struggles to free himself and yells, “Let me go, fur ball!” Rover simply roars before both he and Garou realize how close they are to the ground.

Garou panics, “Oh, no! OH SHHHIIITTTT—”

BOOM!!!

Both fall through the concrete ground, creating a massive hole. The heroes around the area circle around the hole but cannot see anything within the large opening. One hero curse under her breath and says, “We have to inform the Hero Association! We need S-Class heroes right now!” The others nod in agreement before they pull their phones out to call for backup.

Garou’s vision is blurry as he awakes to see the massive hole in the roof. He groans as he looks around to see that he is in some large open area in the sewers. Garou tries to sit up but then yelps in pain from his left arm. Fuck! What the hell?! Garou thought to himself.

He looks at his left arm and sees it’s completely broken. “Oh, Jesus. Argh! Should’ve known this would happen after falling through concrete.” Garou said to himself, grunting as he clutches arm. However, tendrils from the suit wrap around Garou’s broken arm, something that surprises Garou since he didn’t think of the suit to do that. Huh? What is it doing–

SNAP!!!

“GGGRRRAAAGGGHHH!!! OHOHO!!!” Garou screams in pain from the suit suddenly snapping his arm back into place. 

Garou clutches his healed arm and yells, “Fuck, that hurt!”

Suddenly…

BOOM!!!

Rover bursts from the floor, his fur soaked in sewage water, and a clearly angry scowl written on his face. Garou returns the scowl and growls, “Let’s finish this. Right here. Right now.” Rover growled in response, signaling that he agrees.

With that, Garou roars as he goes into his surge mode and charges at Rover. Rover responds by firing his beam at Garou, but Garou is too quick and lands a solid blow to Rover’s jaw, stopping Rover from firing. Garou then follows the punch up with a flurry of attacks using Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. After finishing up the barrage, Garou kicks himself away before symbiote yanking Rover’s face into the ground.

Rover growls as his mouth glows brighter before freeing himself from Garou’s tendrils. Rover then fires his beam at Garou, causing Garou to jump out of the way as Rover’s beam destroys the wall behind him. Garou begins his speed to jump from wall to wall in a blur of motion. Rover is unable to keep up before being attacked by after images of Gaoru.

Blow after blow lands on Rover’s body as he feels some of his bones breaking. However, Rover shakes the pain off before finally landing a blow on Garou by catching Garou in his teeth. Garou screams in pain as he feels Rover’s teeth dig into his flesh. But Garou uses the pain to fuel his rage and uses a symbiote blast in Rover’s mouth to free himself.

Rover is forced to let Garou free from his mouth while Garou lands on his teeth as his injuries heal. Rover’s injuries also heal as well before he launches toward Garou again. However, Garou parries Rover’s attack using his tendrils before kicking Rover away with a powerful kick. Rover is sent sliding back as Garou begins to mock him, “What’s the matter?! I thought those other two said you were strong!”

Garou smirks and says, “Well, guess they were wrong about you because you’re not that impressive!” Rover gets pissed and prepares to shoot another beam, but Garou appears right under Rover’s mouth in the blink of an eye. Garou delivers a powerful uppercut on Rover’s jaw. Rover is sent flying in midair before feeling tendrils wrap around his feet and then getting slammed back onto the ground.

Garou then creates four large tentacles on his back, which he uses to lift himself up onto Rover while also restraining Rover’s limbs. Garou then points his arm at Rover’s face before tendrils shoot out and forces Rover’s jaw to open. Rover begins to feel fear for the first time in his life before he begins to whimper like an actual dog. However, Garou doesn’t feel any sympathy for the monster’s whimpers.

“Time to put this dog down.” Garou said, menacingly. Garou then thrusts his free hand into Rover’s mouth and reaches far back. Rover gags before grunting and howling in pain as Garou pierces the skin in the back of Rover’s throat. Garou roars with all his might as he uses strength to rip Rover’s skull and spine out of his body.

Rover’s body stops moving and falls back dead. Garou breathes hard as his surge mode deactivates and he returns to normal. He then looks at the giant skull he has in his hand before dropping it. Garou steps off Rover’s body and begins to walk away before collapsing to his knees.

“Ha… Ha… I did it.” Garou said before looking at Rover’s corpse.

“But… that was more brutal than what I thought.” Garou said, feeling a little bad for giving Rover such a brutal death.

Garou then hears some voices coming from the hole in the roof and figures that the heroes are finally coming. Shit. I need to get out of here. Garou thought to himself. He looks around before seeing a small tunnel nearby. He runs toward it and into the shadows right as some heroes reach the bottom and come across Rover’s body.

Later in an alley with a sewage drainage lid. Garou opens it before hopping out and into the alley, noticing the sun had set. He looks around quickly for any threats before sighing in relief. He leans against a wall and begins to think to himself.

“That monster… sure he needed to die, but… that was a more brutal death than he deserved.” Garou said.

Relax. It was just a monster, nothing more. You did what you needed to do.

Garou sighs, “Maybe… and that turd called me a hero.” Garou laughs to himself at his sarcastic joke.

He doesn’t understand. No one does, and we don’t need anyone. Not Bang. Not Ursula. And not even that pathetic little brat–

CRUNCH!!! 

Garou’s hand digs into the ground as he is filled with both anger, and fear. “I… I would never think of the turd like that. Sure, he is annoying, but I don’t think he’s pathetic.” Garou said. 

He then looks at his hand shakily before he says, “... Those weren’t my thoughts.”

He then looks down at the suit. Ever since he wore the suit, he’s been acting very weird. Not to mention that weird things have been happening to him, like that dream. But now, finally realizing that some of his thoughts are not his own… he’s done with waiting.

Garou stands up and says, “I need to find the man who created this thing. I need to know what it is.” Garou then has his wings form on his back before taking flight into the sky.

Chapter Text

It is late at night in Z-City. Doctor Curt Connors is walking down the streets as he makes his way to a local convenience store while civilians walk past him. As he walks, Connors can’t help but enjoy the peace and quiet of the moment. Working as the top scientist at the Hero Association is very exhausting and time consuming, so Connors takes whatever moment of peace he can get.

As soon as he walks into the convenience store, he greets an old lady at the check-out. An old lady by the name of Mrs. Chen has run this convenience store for a long time and is a close friend of Connors.

Mrs. Chen sees Connors enter and says with a warm smile, “Curt! It is good to see you again.”
“You too, Mrs. Chen. How have you been?” Connors asked with genuine curiosity.

“Oh, I’ve been fine. Had to order my store to be fixed after a monster came in and tore the place up.” Mrs. Chen said.

“Oh my. Were you hurt at all?” Connors asked.

Mrs. Chen giggles, “No. One of those nice heroes came and stopped the monster.”

Connors sighs with relief before Mrs. Chen asks, “If you’re here for your ramen, it’s on the far shelf in the back.”

Connors looks toward the back before looking at Mrs. Chen and saying, “Thank you, Mrs. Chen.”

“Oh, it’s the least I can do.” Mrs. Chen said.

Connors goes to the back shelf and grabs a few boxes of Ramen for his dinner later tonight. He then walks around for anything else he might need later. 

Mrs. Chen then suddenly asks, “Has your wife called you at all?”
Connors freezes, looking sad, and says, “Not yet. She doesn’t want to speak to me, and I don’t blame her.”

Mrs. Chen scoffs, “That woman was a fool to leave a kind man like you.”

“Well… after I lost my arm, I wallowed in myself pity. And my drinking didn’t help, so I don’t blame her for leaving.” Connors said.

“Still. You’d think that woman would call you to make sure you’re alright.” Mrs. Chen said. Connors chuckled before heading to the check. He placed the items on the table before Mrs. Chen begins to scan each item. Conners’s attention is then drawn to the tv playing behind Mrs. Chen.

He sighs upon the news still talking about the whole mess with Garou and the dog monster. The two had torn through multiple city blocks before Garou disappeared with the heroes only finding the monster’s corpse. Connors watched the news about it and hoped that the heroes would finally catch Garou and recover the V2-52. However, that was only wishful thinking on his part.

“Alright. That’ll be twenty-five dollars.” Mrs. Chen said, pulling Connors out of his thoughts.

“Hm? Oh, right!” Connors said before quickly reaching into his pocket and grabbing some money.

After paying, he carries the sack in his remaining hand and says, “Have a good night, Mrs. Chen.”

“You too, Curt.” Mrs. Chen said with a smile.

Connors exits the store and begins to make his way toward his home. However, he starts to get this weird feeling in his stomach. This makes him look around to see very few people on the streets but still feel like someone is watching him. Connors gets more nervous before walking a bit faster. Must be overreacting. Right? Connors thought to himself.

Suddenly, Connors comes to a halt when something wraps around his leg tightly. Connors looks down and is shocked to find an all too familiar black tendril wrapped around his leg. Oh, no… Connors thought to himself before getting yanked upward.

Connors yells before dropping his bag on the ground. He is then pulled up to a nearby roof before being thrown onto the cold concrete of the roof. Connors groans in pain before looking at who his attacker is, but his heart stops when he sees who it is. Standing there, wearing the V2-52 that Connors has been wanting to recover, is Garou and he isn’t happy.

“Doctor Curt Connors. I have been looking for you.” Garou said, threateningly.

Connors feels a chill run down his spine as he stutters out, “W… What do you want from me?”

Garou walks closer to Connors before kneeling and staring him dead in the eye, “… Answers.”

“… huh?” Connors is confused.

“Answers to what this suit is. Garou said, motioning to the suit.

“Something has been going on with it and I have no idea what to do. But you do since you made it.” Garou said.

“I… I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.” Connors said.

Garou growls, “I want you to analyze the suit and see what the hell is wrong with it, and what it actually is!”

Connors scoots back as Garou calms down, “... Look, I’ve been experiencing some weird shit for the last few days, and I know it has something to do with the suit.”

Garou then looks up at Connors and says, “You made it, so you know what’s wrong with me. So, you’re going to tell me all about this suit. Got it?”

“... I… Ok. But let’s discuss this at my lab at the Hero Association.” Connors said.

Garou growls before Connors quickly says, “A… All of the answers you want are there. I promise I won’t alert the heroes, and I will help you. Deal?”

Garou is silent before the suit recedes off his face, “Deal.”

About an hour later at the Hero Association. The female receptionist is finishing up some paperwork before heading out for home. Her fingers fly across her keyboard as she near the end of her work. However, she hears the main door opens and looks over to see it’s Dr. Connors with a man wearing a tuxedo, hat, and glasses beside him.

“Dr. Connors? What are you doing back here so late?” The receptionist asked.

Connors chuckles nervously, “I forgot something in my lab and came back to retrieve it.”

“Ok, but who is this man?” The receptionist asked, pointing at the other man.

“Oh! Um… this is my brother. He and I haven’t seen each other for a while.” Connors said, sweating a little.

The receptionist is hesitant, but then she sighs, “Alright then. Head along then.”

“Thank you. This won’t take long.” Connors said before he and the other man walked toward the elevator.

Once inside, the man who is Garou says, “How far until we reach your lab.”

“Not far. But continue to hide your face. Unless you want to deal with a horde of heroes.” Connors said.

Garou scoffs before the elevator arrives on Connor’s floor. He leads Garou through the hallway while also checking for anyone else in the hallway. Eventually, the pair reach Connor’s lab before Connors places his hand on a scanner. The scanner glows green and unlocks the door for the pair. 

Connors enters first with Garou behind him as the lights in the lab turn on. Garou can’t help but stare in awe at all the high-tech equipment around him. The equipment all looked important, but Garou can’t tell what their purpose is for. Suddenly, Garou’s eyes are drawn to some nearby notes, and he can’t help but look at them.

As he does so, he sees something labeled as ‘V2-52’ and the picture showing it shocked Garou.

It… It looks just like the suit. Garou thought to himself. Meanwhile, Connors looks over and sees Garou looking through his notes and assumes he saw the real name of the suit.

“I assume you would like more answers?” Connors asked.

“Hm? Oh, right.” Garou said, before setting the notes down.

Connors motions Garou to a still while grabbing a notebook and pen, “Sit, and let’s talk.”

Garou is hesitant, but he complies, “You better not try anything.”

As Garou sits, Connors sets his notebook on the table and says, “Ok. So you said that the suit is affecting you. Can you describe how?”

Garou sighs before looking away, “Well… at first everything was great. The power, the speed, everything was amazing.”

“But then after about two or three weeks… things happened.” Garou said.

“I… I see. Can you describe the problems?” Connors said, growing a little fearful of what Garou might say.

Garou sighs deeply, “I’m… I’m more aggressive than usual. I’m hungrier than I usually am. Then I keep finding myself saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. And finally… I keep hearing a voice in my head that isn’t mine.”

Connors writes this down, but he’s clearly scared by what Garou has said. What Garou is describing is identical to what happened to the previous test subjects. However, none have lived for this long like Garou, which only proves how strong the bond between Garou, and the suit is. This is getting more and more uneasy than I thought. Connors thought to himself.

Garou then says, “Oh. And there’s one more thing.”

Connors is nervous to ask, but he does, “What is it then?”

“… I’ve had a couple of dreams about a rock, or something.” Garou said.

Connors freezes and slowly looks at Garou with wide eyes, “A… A rock”

“Yeah. But it looks so weird. It’s jagged on the sides, almost flat, and it has a…a—”

“A glowing spiral symbol on the top.” Connors said.

“Yeah! Exactly!” Garou said.

But then Garou then realizes, “Wait. How did you know?”

Connors is silent before Garou says, “You know what it is I’m talking about, do you?”

Connors remains silent before saying, “Come with me.”

Connors gets up and walks at a fast pace toward a large machine, expecting Garou to follow. Garou does but is so confused. How does he know what that rock looked like? And why does he look like he’ll shit his pants? Garou thought to himself. He then reaches Connors before he activates a machine.

Garou watches as the machine opens up and a massive claw extends, holding something that shocks Garou. The… The Rock?! Garou thought to himself. The rock he saw in Garou’s dreams stands in front of him with the same glowing pulse like in the dream. Garou then feels an instinct to grab the rock, but Connors beats him to it and holds the rock in his hand. Connors then holds it near Garou as Garou’s tuxedo extends tendrils out to try and grab it.

Garou is nervous, “What’s going on? What are you doing?”

Connors sighs, “It’s worse than I thought.

He goes to put the rock back, but then the suit shoots tendrils out. They wrap around the rock as Garou tries to make them let go while Connors holds the rock tightly. What the hell is wrong with this thing?! Garou thought to himself. Garou then feels the suit covering his whole body before his vision goes white.

Garou then can see again, but the environment was different. It is no longer the lab, but inside a strange alien-like hallway with a dark purple coloring. What is this? Where am I? Garou thinks to himself. Garou tries to move, but nothing happens. Instead, all he can do is listen as he hears a loud booming voice roar while the area around him starts to melt from blue energy.

“COLLAPSING STAR ROARING CANNON!!!” 

The hell?! What’s going on?! Garou thought to himself. Everything starts to shake rapidly around Garou before the glass case he is in is sent flying. It lands hard on the ground and shatters as everything still shakes. Then, his vision once again goes white.

Once his sight returns, Garou now sees he is in the wreckage of a very large ship. Now able to see the ship, Garou recognizes where exactly he is, but it only confuses him more. This is that alien ship that attacked heroes a few months ago. But… why am I seeing this? I was never even there. Garou thought to himself.

He tries to think harder on the situation until he notices something off about his body. For some reason, he can’t see any of his limbs. Instead, he sees black tendrils around him that resemble the suit very closely. Garou thinks to himself, Wait? The suit? Why is it here? And why am I seeing all this through it? Garou looks around before noticing the rock right next to him and being even more confused.

But then he hears footsteps and looks over to a few guards from the Hero Association, Sitch, and shockingly Dr. Connors with missing arm intact. Conners? What’s he doing here? Garou thinks to himself. The now two arm Connors then looks at Garou and yells to the guards, “Over here!” Sitch and the guards run over and all look at Garou with shock. This only confuses Garou even more.

“What is it, Connors?” Sitch asked.

“I… I have no idea.” Connors said.

He then slowly walks toward Garou and kneels down before saying, “Incredible…”

Suddenly, the suit latches some tendrils on Connor’s right arm. Connors begins to panic before trying to pull himself free. However the suit maintains its tight grip as Sitch and the Guards begin to try and think of what to do. Some guards run over to Connors and try to pull his arm free, only for the suit to tighten his grip.

Meanwhile, Garou watches all this in utter shock and confusion. He then sees one guard aim his gun at Connor’s arm before Connors yells, “Shoot it off!” 

The guard then looks at Sitch who reluctantly says, “Do it.”

The guard nods before aiming his gun at Connor’s arm before pulling the trigger. Right as Garou hears the gunshot, his vision goes white once again.

Once his vision returns, Garou sees he’s back in the lab and sees Connor trying to pull the rock away from him. Garou struggles before managing to make the tendrils holding the rock release it. Garou breathes hard as he thinks to himself, The suit… it took Connors arm. But… I’m so confused. Garou then looks down at himself and is surprised to see the suit had formed completely over his body. However, he is in his surge form rather than his regular form.

He doesn’t even think to question before looking at Connors, who puts the rock back into the machine. Garou stares directly at Connors before asking, “What. Is. That?”

Connors sighs heavily before asking, “Do you recall the alien invasion a few months back?”

Garou nods before Connors continues, “Well, when the fighting was done, we began to scour the wreckage for anything of importance. And… it’s where we found the V2-52.”

“W… Wha… So, this is… an alien suit?” Garou asked, shocked by this.

“No. It’s… something else.” Connors said before walking closer to Garou.

“Garou… when we found this thing, it attacked me. It did so to protect the rock. You wonder why you keep hearing a voice and find thoughts that are not your own.” Connors asked.

Garou slowly nods before Connors said, “Well… the reason is because… the V2-52 is alive.”

Garou’s eyes go wide before he slowly backs up and stares at his hands, “I… I’m wearing… an alien?”

Connors is silent before nodding, “Yes. It is a living breathing organism.”

Connors then goes and grabs some notes and pictures before laying them on a table for Garou. Garou looks and sees that there were tests to prove the suit is alive. He also sees haunting photos of random people with their bodies mangled and broken. 

“The V2-52 is… unlike anything we’ve ever seen. It can’t live on its own and needs to bond with a host to survive. But it needs to be a perfect bond between the host and symbiote.” Connors said.

He then points at the pictures and says, “These… These were the previous hosts. They were not compatible with the symbiote.”

Garou’s breathing increases before he asks, “Then… what makes me different? Why am I still alive?”

“I… I don’t know. How did you exactly come into contact with the suit?” Connors asked.

Garou struggles to find the words, “Well… I… I was hurt in a fight with King. I got knocked out for a while, but when I came to, I was already wearing the sui… symbiote.”

Connors nods, “Was there anything else?”

Garou tries to think back before saying, “There was this… dead guy lying next to me. He looked like a guard.”

Connors is shocked before saying, “A few weeks ago, the V2-52 had bonded with one of our guards and escaped. It must’ve found its way to you and… and…”

Connors falls silent before Garou asks in a worried tone, “What? What is it?”

“... It chose you. We forced the other hosts to bond with it, but with you… it chose you because you’re a perfect match.” Connors said.

He then begins to back up, “Which makes it even more dangerous than I could have imagined. We… We need to get it off you, Garou. We have to destroy it!” 

Connors reaches into his pocket for his phone, but Garou suddenly grabs his wrist and looks at Connors dead in the eye, “... Destroy…us?”

Connors feels his body shake in fear as Garou lets his wrist go. Connors begins to back up in fear as Garou slowly walks toward him. “You said it chose me, Doc. And… I chose to be with it. Because it has given me everything I ever wanted.” Garou said, menacingly. Connors stumbles onto his back before shielding himself as Garou walks closer.

Connors shuts his eyes and awaits for something, anything. However… nothing comes. Connors slowly opens his eyes and sees Garou has disappeared. Connors sighs heavily as he looks down, “... What have I unleashed?”