**Z-City. Saitama's Apartment.**
**3:14 AM. Temperature: 29°C (84°F).**
**Z-Valhalla. District of Strength (Formerly Olympus Gym).**
**Wednesday. 9:00 AM.**
The air smells of chalk, protein powder, and ozone.
Hercules (Heracles) benches a mountain.
Literally.
It is a small, rocky peak imported from the outskirts of Asgard, balanced on a titanium bar.
"998... 999... 1000."
He racks the weight. The floor groans.
"Good set," Hercules breathes, wiping sweat with a towel made of cloud-silk. "But I feel... stiff."
"You worry too much about the Human," Apollo says, checking his reflection in the mirrored wall. "Saitama is dormant. He is currently arguing with a cashier about coupon stacking."
"It isn't Saitama," Hercules says, standing up. He looks at the entrance of the open-air temple gym. "I feel a different pressure. Sharp. Hungry."
**The Entry.**
The massive bronze doors creak open.
A figure stands in the harsh morning light.
He is hunched. Spiky hair that defies gravity, shaped like horns. Bandages wrap his torso, stained with old blood and fresh dirt. His aura isn't divine golden light or demonic purple shadow.
It is blue. Cold, martial blue.
**Garou.** The Human Monster.
He drifted in from the OPM side of the merger, looking for strong opponents. He found signs pointing to "The Realm of Gods."
He smiles. It's a jagged, feral grin.
"Is this the top?" Garou asks. His voice scrapes like a whetstone. "The sign outside said 'Gods Only'. Sounds exclusive."
Apollo steps forward. "Begone, mortal. This is sanctified gro—"
Garou vanishes.
He reappears inside Apollo's guard.
*Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.*
Garou's hand flows like liquid. It parries Apollo's instinctive light-jab. It redirects the force.
*SMACK.*
Apollo's own fist hits his own beautiful face.
The Sun God flies backward, crashing into a rack of dumbbells.
Hercules stiffens.
He didn't see speed. He saw... flow.
"You are not a hero," Hercules states, taking a combat stance. "And you are not a monster."
"I'm the Hunter," Garou straightens up, cracking his neck. "And I've never hunted a 'God' before. Do you bleed gold? Or just strawberry jam like the rest?"
**Garou vs. Heracles.**
Hercules doesn't taunt. He acts.
**First Labor: Nemean Lion.**
His club swings. A phantom lion roars, projecting a shockwave of concussive force.
It is a simple, overwhelming strike. A blow that crushed hydras.
Garou watches the club descend.
His eyes track the muscle fibers of the god. The shift in weight. The flow of divine energy.
*Simple,* Garou thinks. *Too simple.*
Garou catches the club.
Not with strength. With vector manipulation.
He spins his body. He taps the side of the club at the exact moment of impact.
The force is redirected into the floor.
*BOOM.*
The marble explodes, but Garou stands untouched on a tiny island of stone.
"Your technique is trash," Garou sneers. "All power. No martial arts."
"It is Justice!" Hercules roars.
**Twelfth Labor: Cerberus.**
He swings again. Three strikes in one. Violent. Destructive.
Garou moves through the strikes like smoke.
*Dodge. Weave. Parry.*
He slaps Hercules' wrist. He kicks the inside of the god's knee. He pokes the eyes.
Disrespectful. Precise.
Garou lands a palm strike on Hercules' chest.
*Wham.*
Hercules coughs blood. It is red mixed with gold.
"I see it," Garou whispers. His eyes glow. "The divine energy. It moves through your meridians like a circuit."
Garou takes a stance.
It isn't the Water Stream Fist.
It mimics Hercules' stance perfectly.
**Mode: God Slayer.**
Garou's fists begin to glow. Not with Ki. With copied Divinity.
"Hey, Big Guy," Garou grins. "Let me show you how to really use that technique."
He swings.
**Copied Labor: Nemean Hunter.**
Garou unleashes the exact same attack Hercules used, but faster. More refined.
The impact hits Hercules squarely.
The God of Fortitude is launched out of the gym. He flies through the wall, through the next district, and crashes into a Starbucks in Sector Z.
Garou stands in the dust.
He looks at his hands. They are smoking with golden energy.
"God power," Garou laughs softly. "It's compatible."
**Z-City HOA Meeting. Community Center.**
"Item 4 on the Agenda," The Chairman says.
The Chairman is **Hermes** (in a business suit). He handles logistics now.
Saitama raises his hand. "Does Item 4 involve rent reduction?"
"No," Hermes sighs. "Item 4 is: 'Unnatural Aura Disturbances emanating from Unit 202'."
The room turns to stare at Saitama.
And his roommates: Genos and Satan (Mr. Red).
"The curry smells great," a neighbor (a Dryad) admits. "But the chef... he radiates dread."
"I cannot help my aura!" Satan stands up, knocking over his folding chair. "I am the Primordial Evil! My presence is meant to induce existential anxiety!"
"Keep it down," Saitama scolds. "We're trying to fit in, Red."
Hermes checks his phone. A notification pops up.
**ALERT: APOLLO HOSPITALIZED. HERCULES EJECTED FROM SECTOR.**
**THREAT: HUMAN MARTIAL ARTIST.**
Hermes pales.
"Um. Meeting adjourned."
He speeds away, leaving a trail of paperwork spinning in the air.
Saitama blinks. "Did we skip Item 5? That was the trash collection schedule."
**The Street.**
Hercules climbs out of the Starbucks wreckage. He is covered in latte foam and drywall.
"Strong..." Hercules gasps, clutching his chest. "He learns. instantly."
Garou lands on a streetlight above him.
He crouches like a gargoyle. The bandages flow in the wind.
"Is there anyone stronger?" Garou asks. "This was disappointing."
"Garou!"
A robotic voice cuts the tension.
Genos lands. His engines flare.
He was grocery shopping nearby (bag of radishes in hand).
"Analysis confirms match. The Hero Hunter. You have entered the demilitarized zone."
"The tin can," Garou sneers. "And where is your master? Where is the Baldy?"
"Master is occupied with bureaucracy," Genos states. He drops the radishes. He arms his Asgardian-enhanced cannon. "I will not let you disturb him. Threat Level adjusted to: Divine."
Genos charges.
**Asgardian Incineration Cannon.**
The beam is green this time. Magical fire. It tracks the target.
Garou smiles.
He raises his hand. The hand glows with the stolen energy of Hercules.
"Magic? Physics? It's all just energy to flow."
Garou swats the beam.
With his bare hand.
He deflects the magical fire into a nearby abandoned building.
"Copy," Garou whispers.
His eyes flash green. He adopts Genos's stance.
"Mode: Machine God."
Garou moves. His limbs move with robotic precision, mimicking servo-motors. He closes the distance in a flash.
He lands a chop on Genos's neck.
*CLANG.*
Genos's head hits the pavement. Sensors scramble.
"You're just parts," Garou says, bored.
He looks past the fallen cyborg.
He sees a man walking out of the Community Center.
Bald. Yellow suit. Holding a pamphlet about recycling.
Behind him walks a man in a red suit with horns.
Garou freezes.
The instinct kicks in.
Every cell in his body screams: **PREDATOR.**
But it also screams: **WALL.**
"You," Garou whispers.
Saitama looks up. He sees Genos face-down in the concrete.
"Genos?"
Saitama walks over. He picks up his disciple by the collar.
"You okay, buddy? Did you trip?"
"System rebooting..." Genos garbles. "Enemy... utilizes... mimicry..."
Saitama looks at the bag of scattered radishes.
"My radishes."
He looks up at the streetlight.
He sees the spiky-haired man.
"Hey," Saitama calls out. "You the one making a mess?"
Garou's heart races. This is it. The unfairly strong one. The barrier to absolute monsterhood.
But then Garou looks at the man next to Saitama.
The red man.
The aura radiating from Satan is pure, distilled negativity. It calls to Garou.
**"Become the greatest evil,"** Garou's inner voice says.
Garou points at Satan.
"You," Garou says. "You smell like the final boss."
Satan blinks. He points to himself.
"Me?" Satan straightens his tie. A smirk forms. "Finally. Someone with taste. Someone who recognizes the Adversary."
"I'm gonna hunt you," Garou declares. "And then I'm gonna hunt the baldy."
Saitama picks his ear.
"Take a ticket," Saitama says. "The line starts behind the weird sun guy and the giant fish guy."
**Intervention.**
Suddenly, the space around Garou warps.
Darkness. Like ink.
A voice speaks in Garou's mind. Not Satan. Not the Void Entity.
Something older.
**"He adapts."**
**"He copies."**
**"He desires to break barriers."**
The Ink from the "Author Incident" that had been hiding... it finds a host.
It doesn't attack Garou. It offers.
*
Garou's eye twitches.
"Get out of my head."
He shakes it off. He glares at Saitama.
"I'll be back," Garou warns. "After I eat the gods of this place."
Garou jumps. He leaps across the skyline, heading straight for the colossal tree of Yggdrasil. The source of the dimension's power.
Saitama watches him go.
"He seems energetic."
Saitama looks at the radishes. He picks one up and wipes it on his cape.
"Five second rule."
**Cliffhanger.**
Garou lands on the lowest branch of Yggdrasil.
He places his hand on the bark.
He feels the flow of the universe. The energy of nine realms.
**"Water Stream... Universe Smashing Fist,"** Garou whispers.
He begins to drain the tree.
His bandages unravel. They turn into starlight.
**Cosmic Fear Mode: Ragnarok Edition.**
Far below, Beelzebub checks a monitor.
"Energy spike detected. Someone is drinking the World Tree."
He smiles. A creepy, interested smile.
"Perhaps... a new test subject."