Z-City. S-Class Meeting Room. Hero Association HQ.
The heavy oak table vibrates slightly. A wine glass filled with water ripples.
It is not an earthquake.
It is the mood of the Tornado of Terror.
Tatsumaki floats three feet above her chair. Her green aura flickers like a faulty neon sign.
"What do you mean?" she hisses. The sound causes a pen on the table to snap in half.
Sitch, the HA executive, sweats through his suit.
"I... I just mean, Tornado-san, that the recent threats in Z-City... the garbage monster, the rat... they were handled without your assistance. By B-Class agents."
"B-Class?!" Tatsumaki's hair flares up. "Are you talking about Fubuki? My weak little sister and her posse of losers?"
"Well..." Sitch glances at the report. "Reports indicate a... helper. The 'Caped Baldy'."
Tatsumaki freezes.
That name again.
The guy who ignored her. The guy who tanked her telekinesis and called it a "tingle."
The guy Fubuki has been spending time with.
A vein throbs on Tatsumaki's forehead.
"He's corrupting her," she mutters. "He's filling her head with nonsense about teamwork and hotpots. He's dragging her down to mediocrity!"
The Whisper.
A cold breeze touches the back of Tatsumaki's neck.
She spins around. Nobody is there.
But a voice speaks. Not in her ear. In her mind.
("He mocks you.")
Tatsumaki stiffens. "Who said that?"
("He thinks you are a child. He thinks your power is a toy. He thinks... he is the older brother you never had.")
The voice is slippery. Ink-black. It finds the insecurity buried deep beneath her pride. It finds the fear of being replaced. Of being unnecessary.
("Show him. Show him the difference between a pebble and a planet.")
Tatsumaki's eyes glow brighter. A darker shade of green.
"You're right," she whispers to the empty room. "I need to remind everyone who sits at the top."
Z-City. Saitama's Apartment. 2:00 PM.
"Uno!"
King places a card on the table.
Saitama stares at his hand. He has fourteen cards.
"How?" Saitama asks, voice trembling. "How do you always have a Wild Card?"
"It's about reading the flow," King says stoically (actually just lucky).
The balcony door explodes.
Glass shards fly inward, but stop mid-air. They glow green, turn into dust, and drift harmlessly to the floor.
Tatsumaki floats in. She is radiating power. The air pressure in the room drops, making ears pop.
She ignores King. She ignores Genos (who is currently recharging in the corner).
She points a glowing finger at Saitama.
"YOU."
Saitama looks up from his Uno cards.
"Oh. It's the sassy lost child. Are you here for your sister? She went to buy tofu."
"Don't call me a child!"
Tatsumaki clenches her fist.
Gravity amplifies. The furniture groans. The Uno cards are pressed flat against the table so hard they embed into the wood.
"You're a bad influence," Tatsumaki growls. "Thinking you can just... exist near my sister. Acting like you're strong. I'm going to throw you into space."
"Already been there," Saitama says. "It's cold. Pack a sweater."
The insult (it wasn't an insult) snaps something in her.
The dark voice in her head screams: CRUSH HIM.
Tatsumaki screams.
"MAXIMUM OUTPUT!"
The apartment building rips itself from the foundation.
The entire structure—five stories of concrete—floats into the sky.
King clutches the table. "My game console!"
Genos wakes up. "Master! Spatial elevation detected! We are flying!"
Tatsumaki lifts the building higher. Into the clouds.
"How's that?!" she yells, floating outside the window. "Are you scared yet, baldy?!"
Saitama looks out the window. He sees clouds passing by.
"Hey," he says. "Does this count as moving out? Do I still have to pay rent if the apartment is in the stratosphere?"
Valhalla. The Observation Deck.
"She lifted it," Shiva whistles. "That little human is stronger than some gods I know."
"She is channeling Void Energy," Hermes notes, checking his scanners. "See that black aura mixed with the green? The Ink Entity has attached itself to her psychic channels. It's amplifying her negative emotions."
"It's a parasite," Thor growls. "It uses her pride as fuel."
Brunhilde bites her nail. "If she keeps going, she'll tear the building apart. King is in there! If King dies, the gaming industry collapses!"
"We must intervene," Odin stands up.
"No," Blast's voice comes over the communicator (he left one behind). "If gods intervene on Earth, the treaty breaks. Let the bald guy handle it. He's good with temper tantrums."
The Stratosphere.
The air is thin.
King is turning blue. "Can't... breathe..."
Genos is scanning. "Oxygen levels critical. Master, King requires oxygen!"
Saitama sees King gasping.
He looks at Tatsumaki, who is glowing with maniacal energy outside.
"Hey!" Saitama opens the window (which shouldn't open at this altitude, but he forces it).
"My friend can't breathe! Put us down!"
"Beg for it!" Tatsumaki yells. Her eyes are almost black now. The voice is getting louder. ("Crush him! Crush them all!")
Saitama sighs.
"Okay. Time out."
He jumps out the window.
He floats—no, he falls with style—toward Tatsumaki.
She tries to catch him with telekinesis.
Psychic Bind.
The invisible hand grabs Saitama.
Saitama flexes his shoulders.
Pop.
The psychic hold shatters like cheap plastic.
"W-what?" Tatsumaki gasps. "That bind could hold a meteor!"
Saitama lands on the invisible barrier she uses to fly. He stands on her psychic energy like it's a sidewalk.
He walks up to her.
Tatsumaki panics. She blasts him with wind, fire, psychic needles.
They bounce off his bald head. Ping. Ping. Ping.
He reaches her.
She flinches, expecting a punch. Expecting pain.
The dark voice screams: KILL HIM BEFORE HE KILLS YOU!
Saitama reaches out.
He places a hand on her head.
He pats it.
Pat. Pat.
"You're working too hard," Saitama says.
His voice isn't mocking. It's the voice of someone who sees a tired kid crying in a supermarket.
"Your brain is gonna overheat. Take a nap."
The simplicity of the touch shocks her.
It isn't an attack. It isn't force. It is... comfort.
The dark ink parasite screams in agony. Comfort is its poison. Understanding is its acid.
"NO! HATE HIM!" the voice shrieks.
"Shut up," Tatsumaki whispers. Not to Saitama. To the voice.
She looks at Saitama's dumb, blank face.
She remembers Fubuki smiling.
She remembers the feeling of not being alone.
The black aura dissipates like smoke in a windstorm.
Tatsumaki blinks. Her eyes turn back to normal green.
The adrenaline crashes. The exhaustion hits.
"I..." she mumbles. "I'm... heavy..."
She faints.
Her psychic grip on the building releases.
The apartment complex begins to free-fall from 30,000 feet.
"Oh crap," Saitama says.
He catches the fainting Tatsumaki under one arm.
He looks at the falling building.
"Genos!" he yells into the radio he doesn't have (he just yells loudly). "Turn on the toaster! We need heat!"
Saitama dives.
He flies past the building. He gets underneath it.
He braces himself.
He catches the apartment complex.
Five stories of concrete land on his back.
Heavy.
Not physically heavy. But emotionally heavy because he knows the foundation is going to be cracked.
"Soft landing," Saitama mutters.
He uses the air resistance to slow the descent. He lands in Z-City with a gentle thud that only shatters the surrounding street pavement.
The Aftermath.
He places the building back in its hole (roughly).
He climbs out. He lays Tatsumaki on the grass.
King stumbles out of the front door, gasping for air.
"I saw... I saw the afterlife," King wheezes. "It was just a loading screen."
Genos walks out. "Building structural integrity at 14%. Master, we may need to relocate."
Fubuki runs around the corner, holding a bag of tofu.
She sees her sister unconscious on the lawn. She sees the cracked building. She sees Saitama dusting off his suit.
"Tatsu-nee!" Fubuki drops the tofu. She runs to her sister.
Tatsumaki stirs. Her eyes flutter open.
She sees Fubuki. She sees Saitama.
She remembers the head pat.
Her face turns bright red.
"D-DON'T THINK THIS MEANS WE'RE FRIENDS!" she screams, floating up shakily.
"I just... slipped! That's all!"
She flies away at Mach 5.
Saitama scratches his cheek.
"She's energetic."
"Master," Genos asks. "Why did the Entity target her?"
"Dunno," Saitama picks up the dropped bag of tofu. "But it seems gone now. Can we eat? I'm starving."
Space.
The Void Entity recoils.
It tried hate. Failed.
It tried pride. Failed.
Saitama converts drama into comedy. He converts threats into mundane annoyances.
"Strategy update," the Void murmurs.
"If emotions fail... perhaps we need HISTORY."
The Void scans the timeline of Ragnarok.
It finds a name. A forgotten name. A name erased from history because it was too dangerous.
Archetype: The God of The End.
Not Typhon. Not Beelzebub.
SATAN. (The RoR version). The Primordial Antagonist.
"Wake up," the Void whispers to the depths of Helheim.
"It's time for the final boss."