Out in the forest near the Golden Turd, 1415 days after Setsuka began her training regiment
'That was close! Good thing he hit my head. My skull always was several times thicker than normal. Dammit. I don't know who that bastard was, but one day I'm gonna kill-Huh? Now what?' Hammerhead thought as he ran away from the ninja assassin before he stopped in his tracks once he noticed Setsuka taking a stroll in the path as she looked around her environment.
'When did all the ruckus I was hearing just a moment ago suddenly stop?' Setsuka wondered as she walked around in the forest while looking at her surroundings as she searched for the members of the Paradisers before she also paused for a moment once she heard footsteps nearby. And as she turned around, she was greeted by the sight of Hammerhead looming over her with an intimidating look on his face.
"Oh there you are. I've been looking all over for you." Setsuka spoke once she looked up in his direction.
"What's your deal? Did you come out here to sign up for the Paradisers?" Hammerhead asked Setsuka, curious to know why she would come all the way out to these woods.
"No, not really. I'm just here to give you guys a good beating because your acts of crime have been causing me some problems today." Setsuka told Hammerhead while looking at him with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Then die!" Hammerhead shouted out as he threw a punch towards the bald woman's face. The force of the impact that his punch had once it reached its target was so powerful that it was able to generate a gust of wind behind Setsuka that was strong enough to destroy the area behind her.
"Alright, enough. I better get out of here quick." Hammerhead remarked thinking he was able to defeat Setsuka with his punch. But once the dust settled, he saw something that he was not expecting. Setsuka was standing right in front of him with no sign of damage to her body.
'Huh? I thought I'd punched her. How is she still standing?' Hammerhead asked himself once he saw that his attack had no effect on his opponent.
"This is such a letdown. Not like I was expecting much from your suits to begin with." Setsuka stated her disappointment at the performance of the battle suit that Hammerhead was wearing, which infuriated the leader of the Paradisers. And not long after she said this, and before Hammerhead could even think of landing another attack in her direction, she pulled her fist back and landed a punch right at the abdomen area of the battle suit.
As soon as Setsuka's attack landed, the battle suit itself being destroyed due to the attack. And she was able to destroy it without dealing any damage to Hammerhead. This unexpected attack of course caught the large bald-headed man by surprise.
"W-wait! I just wanted to get out of working. That's all." the now naked Hammerhead plead as he backed away from Setsuka. Setsuka meanwhile was looking at him with a bit of a serious expression on her face.
"Don't do anything bad anymore alright?" the bald heroine-for-fun told the large bald man as her facial expression began to relax just a little.
"W-wait, you're not gonna kill me?" Hammerhead asked Setsuka with a stunned look on his face, having fully expected her to finish him off right then and there.
"Get lost." Setsuka simply responded while she now gave him a deadpan look, to which he complied and quickly ran away from her as he screamed in terror.
A minute or two after Hammerhead was defeated
'Damn it, where did that man with the head go?If he manages to escape my sight, then my reputation will be ruined. I better find him before that happens.' Sonic thought to himself as he dashed around the forest looking for his target. He was desperate to keep his perfect record when it comes to his job as a mercenary for hire.
As he ran all throughout the forest, he happened to see something shiny a few meters in the direction that he was going towards. And he was greeted by the sight of Setsuka's shiny head as she walked around the forest making her way home.
'Did I somehow miss another one of Hammerhead's goons?' Sonic thought to himself as he watched her walking with an annoyed expression on her face before he decided to confront her on the spot.
"Where did Hammerhead go? There's no one left here but you." Sonic asked his new target once he was close enough to have a conversation with her. Setsuka simply turned around and looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.
"I think he went that way." Setsuka answered his question by telling him that the man he was looking for while pointing in the direction she saw him run towards. But as soon as she was done answering his question, she caught a bladed weapon that had been thrown right towards her face with the same hand she was using to point the direction through which Hammerhead.
"What's this?" Setsuka asked herself as she looked at the kunai that was currently in her hand. But not long after she caught the kunai that was aimed at her, she sensed that another attack was coming her way as she held the katana in her other hand and proceeded to smash it into pieces.
'What? How was she able to see through my attacks so easily? And she was also able to break my katana?' Sonic thought to himself as he backed away from Setsuka.
"You've got it all wrong." Setsuka told the ninja after breaking his katana.
"I've got what wrong?" Sonic asked her as he looked at her with a grim expression adorning his face.
"I'm not a part of the Paradisers. I mean look at me!" Setsuka answered him as she pointed at herself.
"You're obviously lying. There's no way that someone with a bald head like yours would not be one of their members." Sonic refused to listen to Setsuka, failing to see how she could not be a member of the Paradisers.
"Come on! Take a good look at me! Don't I look familiar to you at all? I'm the hero for fun who-"
"Never heard of you." Sonic bluntly told Setsuka having interrupted her.
"Oh." was all Setsuka could say as she slouched a bit just moments after he heard the ninja's words as a slight breeze passed through the two of them for a brief moment.
"Either way, it doesn't matter. You were able to read my attacks two times in a row. That's the real problem. Born in the Ninja Village, I've been perfecting my techniques since childhood. Yet you saw right through them. This I can not allow." Sonic began to give a monologue as he sheated his broken katana.
'Really? So you'er still gonna attack me after I broke your katana?' Setsuka thought to herself once she heard what the man had to say about her broken katana.
"My pride won't have it. I don't care who you are, I can't just let you simply walk away." Sonic continued his monologue before he moved to Setsuka's shoulder and got behind her in the blink of an eye.
"Eh, I think you just want to try out your moves on me. But you should lose that smile, because you look really creepy." Setsuka said to the ninja assassin while making a deadpan expression with her face. This comment was able to make Sonic stop smiling, having felt insulted by what Setsuka had said to him.
*Whoosh!*
Sonic lept into the air while leaving behind a shock wave with the jump before he landed on a tree and proceeded to jump around from one tree branch to another.
"What do you think of this speed that breaks the sound barrier? Of these shock waves? Can you even see me? How can you possibly keep up with me?" Sonic gleefully shouted out as he continued to move around her with great speed as Setsuka simply stood there with the same deadpan expression on her face that she had been making earlier.
But as he was about to attempt to attack her from behind, Setsuka quickly turned in his direction as she asked if she could leave. The fact that she was able to look right at him the moment he was about to approach her had of course caught Sonic off guard.
"Bastard! Wind Blade Kick!" Sonic attempted to attack his opponent with a spinning kick, which was effortlessly dodged when Setsuka moved to the side. This quick reflex from her also managed to catch the ninja assassin off guard.
And as he stopped his attack due to the shock that he was feeling, Setsuka had raised her fist in his direction and her fists just so happened to be aimed at his 'family jewels'. But just as Sonic noticed Setsuka's fist, it was too late for him to dodge it and protect his 'family jewels'.
"Oops, sorry. That was an accident." Setsuka said once her fist made contact with his 'family jewels' as she winced at the crushing sound that was heard as a result of her fist making contact with the private parts of her opponent.
A few moments later, at the forest located near the Golden Turd
"I've worked every job from assassin to bodyguard. No ninja is more deadly. I am Speed O'Sound Sonic! But I'm putting my work on hold for the time being. Now that I've found such a formidable opponent, I've dedicated myself to training until we settle this. Let me know your name." Sonic declared to the opponent in front of him as his voice began to strain towards the end of his declaration. Setsuka simply looked at him with squinted eyes.
"It's Setsuka." Setsuka introduced herself as she continued to look at the man she had just defeated with squinted eyes.
"Setsuka! Next time we meet, it will be your demise!" Speed O'Sound Sonic shouted out with a high-pitched voice while shaking from where he stood while crossing his legs in front of him as he pointing a finger at Setsuka.
"Sure." Setsuka responded as she looked at him with a perplexed expression adorning her face.
"I, Speed O'Sound Sonic, the ultimate ninja, will bring you down without fail!" the ninja assassin stated his goals to the bald woman standing in front of him as he continued to shake due to the pain that he was feeling from her accidental hit.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm leaving now." Setsuka said as she walked away from Sonic.
Later that night, inside Setsuka's apartment room
"Speed O'Sound Sonic? What a redundant name." Ginka said the moment she heard Setsuka mention the name of the ninja that had attacked her.
"I know right? And to make things worse, he's come out here and declared that I am his rival before I left the area." Setsuka ranted as she sat with a dejected look on her face. Sanju was currently sleeping in her personal sleeping bag.
"If he bothers you again, I shall make sure to get rid of him in your stead." Ginka said to the bald woman as she looked at Setsuka with a stern expression on her face.
"Nah, don't bother Ginka. I'll just have to deal with him when the time comes. Anyway, why are you here this late in the evening?" Setsuka asked Ginka while raising her eyebrows at her.
Meanwhile, within one of the forests near City Z
'Why do I suddenly get the feeling like someone's saying bad things about me?' Speed O'Sound Sonic thought to himself as he suddenly started feeling angry out of the blue.
Back at Setsuka's apartment
"Well you see Setsuka, I had intended to come here earlier this morning but I got-"
"Never mind, I don't think I can deal with your ramblings right now. I'm kinda dealing with something that I learned of recently. So could you go back to your home for today?" Setsuka requested of Ginka as she looked at the table that she was sitting on with a depressed expression on her face.
"A serious problem? Is there anything I could help you with your dilemma? If so, please share it with me." Ginka responded to the words of Setsuka, determined to help out the one who had saved her from Vacuum Woman.
"No one knows who I am." Setsuka revealed her woes to the young cyborg, which got the young cyborg to gasp in shock.
"It's been three years since I became a hero. I've defeated a lot of monsters and evil organizations during that time. Come to think of it, I've never heard of any other heroes doing as much hero work as I have. Everyone in the world should know my name by now! It's weird that I haven't had even a single fan? And the thing that made me realize this today was when he said 'Never heard of you.' Never. On top of that, all the people in town thought that I was one of the terrorists, despite the fact that all of them were men in battle suits while I was clearly a woman in a hero outfit. Its like they've all forgotten how I beat those monsters and all the other heroic stuff I've done for them!" Setsuka emotionally ranted as she pondered her current predicament as a hero.
'She's right. The news report did not mention either Master Setsuka or Speed O'Sound Sonic. Instead, the one credited with defeating the Paradisers was the hero known as Mumen Rider.' Ginka thought to herself as she recalled the news that she had heard in the evening. And just then, a thought struck Ginka.
"Setsuka, are you by any chance listed into the Hero Registry?" Ginka asked the one she secretly saw as her master once she recalled the fact that Setsuka rarely watched the news or used her phone all that often during the time they had spent together.
"Huh? What 's that?" Setsuka asked the young cyborg as she looked at her with an inquisitive look on her face.
Meanwhile, out in the forest near the Golden Turd
"P-Please, F-Forgive me! Gaah!" Hammerhead tried to plea for his life as he crawled away from the shadowy figures approaching him before he was promptly hit with a fatal blow to the head by one of them.
And soon after the leader of the Paradisers been hit in the head, the mysterious figures loomed over him were robots of varying designs looking down on him.
"Pleading for his life after stealing battle suits from the Organization? He truly understood nothing." a flat robotic voice said as it looked at the body of the man who had stolen the battle suits. It had a singular red glowing eye, a somewhat bulky body that was covered in green armor along with a pair of tubes coming out of his shoulders.
"Of course, we did let the theft take place in order to collect data from the suits in the field." another robotic voice replied to its fellow robot while also looking down at Hammerhead. It had the appearance of a life-sized male doll with a brain that was covered by a spherical glass dome and a number of sharp arms that were shaped like a pair of knives moving around as though they were fingers.
"And the body?" the single-eyed robot asked the other cyborg that had accompanied it on this fine evening.
"Leave it." the robot with the exposed brain said with its indifferent voice as the two robots left Hammerhead's body below the tree that he had lied on.
'Thanks for giving me my thick skull mommy. I promise I'll get a job.' Hammerhead thought to himself the moment the two robots left the area as his tears were flowing down his eyes.