**Yggdrasil. The First Branch.**
**Altitude: 20 Kilometers above Ground Zero.**
The bark of the World Tree is not wood. It is fossilized history. To touch it is to touch the memory of creation.
Garou does not touch it gently.
He digs his fingers into the glowing trunk.
His fingers are no longer flesh. They are constellations wrapped in silhouette. The Cosmic Fear adaptation has accepted the localized mana of Valhalla and evolved.
He is no longer just reflecting the universe.
He is rewriting the myth.
**"Hunger,"** Garou whispers. His voice sounds like a choir of nebulae.
Something moves in the shadows of the branches.
**Nidhogg.** The Malice Striker. The Dragon who gnaws at the roots.
It slithers out, massive and dripping with venom that rots eternity.
**"A flea... on the holy bark..."** Nidhogg hisses. It lunges. Jaws wide enough to swallow a mountain peak.
Garou doesn't turn.
He lifts a hand.
The texture of his skin shifts. Scales manifest—made of starlight and rune-script.
He mimics Nidhogg before Nidhogg arrives.
**Mode: Mythical Beast.**
**Move: World-Eater Bite.**
Garou's aura forms a massive, spectral maw.
It bites *first*.
*CRUNCH.*
Nidhogg freezes. Half of the dragon's torso is gone. Consumed by the mimicry.
"Your venom is weak," Garou mutters, wiping astral blood from his mouth. "Spicy, though."
Garou leaps higher.
He is climbing to the summit.
He can feel them up there. The sources of this world's power.
Thor. Odin. The peaks of divinity.
"Wait for me," Garou smiles. A black galaxy swirls where his face used to be. "I'm going to learn all your tricks."
***
**Z-City-Valhalla Supermarket. Customer Service Desk.**
**Current Time: 10:15 AM.**
The fluorescent lights buzz.
Saitama stands at the counter. He holds a plastic bag containing three crushed radishes.
Genos stands behind him, holding the receipt.
Satan (Mr. Red) is leaning against a magazine rack, reading *'Cosmic Tyrants Weekly'*.
The clerk—a Goblin wearing a vest that says 'MANAGER'—looks at the radishes.
"Sir, you dropped these."
"I didn't drop them," Saitama argues calmly. "A robot dropped them because he was attacked by a martial artist. That falls under 'Store Mishap', right?"
"No," the Goblin says, popping gum. "That falls under 'Customer Clumsiness'. No refund."
Saitama grips the counter. The Formica cracks slightly.
"But they're pulverized," Saitama says, voice trembling. "I can't even make salad. They're paste."
*RUMBLE.*
The building shakes.
Cans of soup rattle on the shelves.
Dust falls from the ceiling.
Outside, the sky turns a violently sick shade of blue-black. A shockwave knocks over the display of discounted melons.
"Another earthquake?" Saitama sighs. "This city has terrible geological stability."
Satan looks up from his magazine. His horns twitch.
"That is not earth," Satan murmurs. "That is the Tree. Someone is shaking the pillar of reality."
He narrows his eyes.
"It feels like... copycat energy. Cheap. Unoriginal."
***
**Valhalla Heights. The Court of Asgard.**
Thor stands on the balcony of the rebuilt palace.
He sees the trail of destruction spiraling up the World Tree.
He sees the figure leaping from branch to branch.
"He approaches," Thor says. He grips Mjolnir.
This intruder isn't like the Bald One. The Bald One was a wall. This one is a mirror.
"I will handle this."
**Odin** steps forward. The All-Father wears his battle armor. Gungnir (taped together with cosmic duct tape) rests in his hand.
"He mocks our magic. He copies our strength. Let us see if he can copy Wisdom."
Odin leaps.
He intercepts Garou on the Seventh Branch.
**The Confrontation.**
Garou lands on a leaf the size of a football field.
He sees the old man with the eyepatch.
"The boss," Garou nods. "Finally."
Odin does not waste words.
He traces a rune in the air.
**Rune Magic: Ansuz (Authority).**
"Kneel."
The command is absolute. Gravity increases fifty-fold. The air turns to lead. A god's command forces the universe to obey.
Garou's knees bend.
But they don't hit the ground.
He looks at the rune floating in the air.
His cosmic eyes flash. Analysis complete.
"Pretty letters," Garou says.
He raises his own hand.
He traces the air.
**Mode: All-Father.**
**Rune Magic: Garou-Ansuz.**
He casts the exact same rune.
But he casts it backwards.
"Stand," Garou says.
The two commands collide.
*Authority* vs *Rebellion*.
The universe screams as logic grinds against itself.
The Rune of Authority shatters. The backlash hits Odin.
"Guh!" Odin stumbles back. "He... reversed the script?"
Garou lunges.
**Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist: Gungnir Variation.**
He thrusts his hand.
It hits like a spear that never misses.
*PIERCE.*
Odin brings up a shield of crows. The crows vaporize.
The strike hits Odin's shoulder armor, cracking the divine gold.
Odin is thrown off the branch. He falls into the clouds below.
Garou stands panting. Not from exhaustion. From excitement.
"I felt it," Garou looks at his hand. "The wisdom. The weight of ages. I added it to my library."
**The Heavy Hitter.**
A shadow blocks the sun.
Lightning turns the clouds grey.
Thor lands.
He doesn't look bored anymore. He looks furious. His father just got knocked off a tree.
"You," Thor growls. "Are a pest."
Thor spins Mjolnir.
He doesn't throw it immediately. He builds charge.
**Thor's Hammer: Geirröd.**
The ultimate throw.
Garou smiles. The face of the galaxy twists into a predatory grin.
"Do it. Show me the strongest attack."
Thor throws.
The hammer screams.
Garou enters a stance.
He doesn't try to dodge. He doesn't try to catch.
He reaches into the fabric of the universe itself.
**Mode: Saitama.**
*(Failed).*
Garou grimaces. "Tch. Still can't copy the Baldy perfectly. His output is infinite. My internal buffer overloads."
He switches tactics.
**Mode: Nuclear Fission.**
**Move: Gamma Ray Hammer Catch.**
Garou creates a localized nuclear explosion in his palm.
He slaps the face of Mjolnir as it arrives.
*BOOM.*
The explosion is blinding.
Mjolnir is knocked off course. It spins wildly, slicing through three branches of the World Tree before Boomerang-ing back to Thor.
Thor catches it, sliding back ten meters. His hands smoke.
"He parried... with a nuke?"
Garou stands amidst the smoke. His radiation levels are rising.
"I can do better," Garou says.
He holds up his hands. Electricity starts to arc.
Not blue electricity.
Black lightning.
"Let's try *your* move."
**Garou Style: Mjolnir-less Hammer.**
He condenses gravity and lightning into a ball in his hand.
"Thor's Hammer," Garou mocks.
He throws the ball of energy.
It mimics the flight path of Mjolnir perfectly. It hums with the same frequency.
Thor eyes widen.
He raises Mjolnir to block his own copied technique.
*IMPACT.*
The collision shakes the roots of the world.
Valhalla quakes. Z-City quakes.
In the supermarket, the shelf of discount radishes tips over.
***
**The Supermarket.**
The radishes fall.
Saitama watches in slow motion.
His crushed radishes are joined by fresh radishes.
They mix on the dirty floor.
They are trampled by a panicked Centaur running for the exit.
Saitama stares at the mess.
The vein on his head pulsates.
He looks at the ceiling. Dust is falling into his hair.
"Satan," Saitama says.
"Yes?" The Devil looks up from his magazine.
"Who is shaking the house?"
Satan points upward, his eyes penetrating the ceiling.
"The Imitator. He is fighting the Thunder God on the big tree. They are making a ruckus."
Saitama sighs.
"I just wanted to make a salad."
He walks toward the exit.
"Genos, hold the receipt. Red, guard the cart. I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" the Goblin manager asks, cowering behind the counter.
Saitama pushes open the automatic doors.
He looks up at the massive tree piercing the clouds.
He bends his knees. The pavement cracks into a crater.
"I'm gonna go file a noise complaint."
*WOOSH.*
Saitama launches.
He breaks the sound barrier instantly. He ascends vertically, turning into a yellow streak of annoyance.
***
**The World Tree. Branch 9.**
Garou is winning.
Thor is panting, one eye swollen shut. His armor is shredded.
Garou floats above him, glowing with the stolen power of the Norse Pantheon. He has Odin's runes, Thor's lightning, and Heimdall's vision.
"Is this it?" Garou asks, disappointment heavy in his cosmic voice. "Gods? You are just batteries to be drained. I have evolved past you."
He raises both hands.
**Ultimate Move: God Slayer Fist: Ragnarok.**
He prepares to sever the trunk of the World Tree. To bring the entire dimension crashing down.
"With this," Garou declares, "I will force *Him* to fight me. The Baldy won't be able to ignore—"
**"Excuse me."**
Garou freezes.
That voice.
The voice that sounds like a man asking for directions to the bathroom.
Saitama lands on the branch.
He lands casually. Hands in pockets (if his swimsuit had pockets, which it doesn't, so he puts his hands on his hips).
He is wearing the "Sale Hunter" apron over his swim trunks (he forgot to take it off after the BBQ).
Garou turns. His heart stutters.
"Saitama."
Saitama ignores Garou. He looks at Thor.
"Hey, Hammer-Guy. Are you responsible for the shaking? My radishes are ruined."
Thor coughs blood. "Nay... friend Saitama. It is... him."
Thor points at Garou.
Saitama turns to Garou.
He squints.
"Oh. It's the spiky kid from the park. The one who beat up Genos."
Garou's galaxy-face swirls. "I am not a kid. I am Absolute Evil. I am the Cosmic Fear. I have eaten the gods of this realm!"
Garou powers up. The air screams. Reality bends. Radiation poisons the atmosphere.
"Saitama!" Garou roars. "Fight me! Seriously! Show me the power that breaks limits!"
Saitama picks his nose.
"You're glowing. It's hurting my eyes. Can you turn the dimmer switch down?"
Garou screams in rage.
**Nuclear Gravity Fission Punch.**
He throws a punch. It carries the weight of a dying star. It mimics Saitama's serious punch, augmented by magic.
Saitama looks at the glowing fist coming towards his face.
He sees the energy. He sees the "Copied" technique.
"Stop copying people," Saitama says. "It's plagiarism."
Saitama raises his hand.
**Serious Series: Serious Chop.**
He brings his hand down on top of Garou's head.
*BONK.*
The chop hits Garou's cosmic shell.
The galaxy texture cracks.
The "Cosmic Fear" armor shatters like cheap glass.
The nuclear energy dissipates instantly, vented out into space by the force of the wind.
Garou is driven downward.
He punches through the branch.
He punches through the branch below that.
He falls down the entire length of Yggdrasil.
He hits every branch on the way down.
*Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.*
He crashes into the ground of Z-City.
He lands in a dumpster behind the supermarket.
**The Aftermath.**
Saitama stands on the branch.
He looks at Thor.
"You okay?"
Thor nods, healing slowly. "I... I will live. That was... effective."
"Cool."
Saitama looks over the edge.
"Anyway, since I'm here, do you have any apples growing on this tree? I need something to go with the radishes."
Thor points to a golden apple hanging nearby.
"Idunn's Apples," Thor says. "They grant eternal youth."
Saitama picks it.
He takes a bite.
*Crunch.*
"Not bad. A little tart."
He jumps off the tree, holding the apple.
Down in the dumpster, Garou lies amidst trash bags. The cosmic shell is gone. He is human again. Covered in banana peels.
"Dammit..." Garou whispers, consciousness fading. "He... he treated me... like a bad dog."
Satan (Mr. Red) walks by the dumpster, pushing the shopping cart.
He looks in. He sees the defeated God Slayer.
Satan pauses.
He tosses a coupon into the dumpster.
"Next time," Satan sneers, "try the checkout line."