Back On Earth

"So, what is it?" Arplesis grinned, its tears fading away.

"Magneton told me that you have some kind of portal," Saitama pointed at Arplesis. "He told me that it would take me back home."

"What!?" Arplesis shouted, pouring all of its energy. "So he knew about our plan..."

Arplesis sighed and shook its head. "I don't think there's any use hiding the portal now."

"However," Arplesis averted its gaze. "The moment we created its formula, we realized something."

Arplesis paused for a moment. "Without the supply of unlimited magical energy, it was impossible for us to open a portal even as small as a bacteria."

"Is that a problem?" Saitama grinned, his face akin to a witch after a successful hunt.

Intimidated by Saitama's horrific look, Arplesis murmured nervously. "I forgot that I'm talking to a monster."

"Anyways," Arplesis continued after clearing its throat. "We made this robot, Arplesis, specifically to capture and generate magical power using the blue moon. But as you can see now, out of all parts, my head remains."

Confused, Saitama gave a thumbs up, his face expressionless. "..." 

Sighing, Arplesis took a quick glance at its broken, electrically bleeding mouth. "I could have still made a human-sized portal with just my head, but considering its condition right now, I cannot promise you much."

"Hmm..." Saitama nodded, his face turning dark and dumb as if his oval-shaped face had become a perfect circle.

"So what I'm trying to say is that the portal might be as small as your head," Arplesis smirked. "Do you still want to take the risk?"

"Yeah," Saitama's excitement surged as he leaned forward, his arms outstretched and palms facing upward.

Suddenly, a tiny navy-blue hole, about the size of a palm, materialized above Arplesis's head. The void intensified as its menacing blue aura emerged at the speed of sound.

"Haha..." Arplesis chuckled, closing its eyes. "It was even smaller than I expected. Surely, even a monster like you wouldn't be able to do any-"

CRACK!

BLEECH!

SCREECH!

Hearing such loud noises, Arplesis instantly opened its eyes only to find out that Saitama had the edges of the portal between his fingers. He brutally stretched it out with a force capable of lifting an entire star as giant as our Sun!

"H-How is that possible?" Arplesis stammered, out of words. "Holding spacetime objects like it's nothing and brute-forcing it open? That's illegal and way beyond monstrous! I-It's godlike."

Saitama stole a quick glance at Arplesis before asking, "What should I do next?"

Arplesis's face glowed bright red as it replied faintly. "Nothing, just enter it-" 

BOOM!

Its face exploded into uncountable pieces as Saitama stared at the silenced void. "He could've at least said a goodbye."

With silence now reigning over, Saitama leaped into the portal with a long, stretched face.

As soon as he blinked, the world around him shifted. Saitama found himself plummeting through the sky, the ground rushing up to meet him. The sky was a deep shade of navy blue, adorned with fluffy white clouds, and a single bright sun beamed down, casting a warm glow on his bald head. He had finally returned to his home planet, Earth.

However, the moment of peace and beauty only stayed for a brief period as Saitama approached a dark cloud of smoke.

BOOM!

He successfully landed on the ground beside the lifeless bodies of several heroes. 

"Why are they sleeping here?" Saitama scratched his face, his eyes glancing towards his naked body. 

His eyes fell upon a man lying at a distance, wearing a long cape. He swiftly approached him, grabbing it from his shoulders and using it to cover his pubic region. 

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to look like a creep."

As Saitama salvaged his peace again, giant explosions of several buildings caught his attention, so he instinctively leaped towards the incoming sound.

Meanwhile, at the epicenter of the explosions, a colossal, muscular purple creature with two antennas protruding from its head unleashed a powerful punch aimed at the hero, Lightning Max.

A single punch sent the hero hurtling through the air, his body soaring several meters before crashing to the ground with a resounding thud.

The monster abruptly leaped towards various skyscrapers, reducing them to mere ash.

BSHOOM!

Amid the massive explosions, the voice of the news anchor echoed from a random television in a nearby store, trembling with urgency. "We have a terrifying monster in City A," they announced, their tone filled with fear. "We urge everyone to evacuate safely. The threat level is expected to be at least Dragon."

As soon as the anchor finished their sentence, the television blacked out and burst into pieces.

Emerging out from the thick smog, the colossal beast laughed. "Haha... These humans are so weak."

Suddenly, a faint cry of a little girl resonated throughout the surroundings, reaching the ears of the beast. 

The beast gradually approached the girl from behind with an expressionless face.

Its veiny hands slowly reached the girl, and just when it was about to grab her, Saitama swiftly got hold of her and gently placed her on the ground.

With a smug face, the beast muttered. "And who do we have here?"

Saitama quickly turned around, his left hand positioned to hold his temporary clothes. "I'm a guy who's a hero for fun."

The beast's body bulged with veins as it remarked with a deep frown. "What kind of backstory is that?" 

With a brief pause, it continued as it turned towards Saitama. "I was formed from the constant stream of pollution with which you humans have infused the Earth."

It narrowly placed its hands on its chest and roared. "I'm Vaccine Man!"

It pointed towards the surroundings. "Earth is a single living organism, but you humans are eating away at her life force-"

Before Vaccine Man could complete its sentence, Saitama leaped towards it with a punch directly aimed at its head.

KABOOM!

"Why do I feel like I have done this before?" Saitama pondered, standing atop the beast's half-cut body amidst pools of green blood.

TO BE CONTINUED...