Chapter Five

City A, Morning during the 1400th day since Setsuka began her daily training regiment 

It was a peaceful day for the people living in City A. Those with jobs were commuting to their places of employment using various means of transport. All in all, there was a calming atmosphere around the city, which would make one think that the day would end in the same manner that it began.

*BOOM!!!!*

That is until an explosion was heard from a distance. Things had suddenly taken a turn for the worst soon after the explosion occurred.

And at the location where the explosion took place, a large crater of impact had been formed. And deep inside said crater a large and somewhat muscular, masculine humanoid monster stood at the center of the crater. The monster had purple skin, red eyes, pointy ears and a pair of antennae coming out from atop his forehead with a look of contempt on his face.

After taking a few seconds to look at the destruction he had caused, the purple monster jumped into the air and began to float in the skies above. The monster began to generate energy balls moments after it floated into the air, and once the monster had created the balls of light, he proceeded to unleash them throughout the city, causing even more destruction to the infrastructure of the city than he had when he had made the crater in the middle of the city.

Within one of the offices of the Hero Association Headquarters, City A

A number of people wearing black business suits could be seen frantically running around the large room that they were occupying trying to get a grip on the situation that was unfolding in their city so that they could figure out the best course of action to take.

"It's closing in!" one of male workers in the office shouted out.

"Damn! So who's available?" another man at the office asked out loud.

"We have word that Lightning Max and Smile Man are on their way." a female operator replied to the man who had asked if any heroes would be available.

"Get me that threat level assessment!" another man in the office called out.

And as the people in the office continued to do their jobs, the monster had not stopped its destructive actions.

 As the purple skinned monster was walking forward looking for things to destroy, he had unknowingly defeated the two heroes that the woman in the office had spoken of earlier, seeing as the two heroes were out cold after confronting the monster. But he did not notice the five other heroes that had arrived at the scene shortly after Lightning Max and Smile Man had been bested, also lying on the ground unconscious.

At the same time parts of City A were being attacked, City Z in Setsuka's apartment

"As you can see, loud explosions are going off behind me. The damage left by the monster is at unprecedented scale. The Hero Association is analyzing the threat level- Guagh!" the reporter on the news channel was reporting, before the destruction had reached his location resulting in the news report to be cut short.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go." Setsuka blandly said after watching the report on the news.

 Back in the decimated area of City A

"Waaaaah!" *Sniff, sniff* "Daddy! Mommy!" the sounds of a little girl crying were all that could be heard throughout the ruined parts of City A. As the little girl continued to cry, the alien looking monster was walking towards her location from behind her.

When the monster made his way to the crying girl, he began to increase the size one of his arms so that it would be big enough to crush the little girl in quick succession.

*Crunch!*

But even as he heard the crunching sound that his enlarged hand made, the tall, large monster was confused by the absence of the sound of bones cracking that should have been heard from him crushing the little girl with his hands.

After turning his head to the side, he then noticed that the young girl had been moved to the side and crouching next to her was a bald young woman who was wearing a yellow jumpsuit, a pair of red boots and gloves along with a white cape that was attached to the back of her costume.

"And who do we have here?" the alien looking monster asked the young woman that had rescued the young girl.

"I'm just a hero for the fun of it." Setsuka said as she smirked at the monster in front of her.

'And also to impress a few babes with my charms and heroics, but he doesn't need to know that.' she mentally added as she looked at the purple monster with a bland face.

"What kind….of half-assed backstory is that? I was formed from the constant stream of pollution with which you humans have suffused the Earth. I am Vaccine Man! The Earth is a single living organism. You humans are nothing but a disease-causing bacteria eating away at her life force. In order to obliterate humans and their evil civilization, the Earth has given birth to me! You say you do this for fun? For fun? How dare you confront me, Mother Earth's apostle, for that inane reason?! Yet, what more could be expected from a human?!" the pointy-eared monster making a monologue bellowed while his body underwent changes that resulted in him taking on a larger, more monstrous form.

"Wow, it looks like I pressed a few of your buttons huh?" the self-proclaimed heroine bluntly told the monster in front of her as she gave the enlarged monster a deadpan look.

"RAAAAH!!!! That's it!!!! Prepare to die you ignorant-"

*Pow!*

But before the enlarged monster was able to even attempt to strike down the bald woman with a single blow from his hands, he was quickly and effortlessly punched to oblivion by the hero for fun.

"It looks I've beaten another monster in a single punch once again." the young woman thought to herself as she began to make her way back towards her home.

City A, a few minutes after the death of Vaccine Man

In the parts of the city where Vaccine Man was killed, there was a man who had three vertical scars going across his left eye, shoulder-length blonde hair that was slicked-back wearing a collared sweater and a pair of blue trousers walking around the devastated parts of City A seemingly looking for something.

"I'm sure it was around here somewhere… I hope it didn't get broken. I have to hurry. The explosions have stopped, but the fighting may not be over." the blonde man said in a mumbled voice as he frantically continued to look for something that was buried within the ruined sections of City A.

"Hm? That case! That's it! It's safe!" the blond man shouted out in excitement having spotted a CD case on the floor.

After a few seconds of looking through his surroundings, he finally spotted the object that he was looking for.

But as he was making his way to the case in question, he tripped on one of the remaining pieces of Vaccine Man's flesh, which resulted in him falling face first on the ground where some of the green blood of the monster had been spilt.

A few seconds after the blond man fell and stood up while the upper half of his body was now completely covered in the monster's blood, five people had observed him with looks of astonishment on their faces. These men were heroes that had easily been defeated by the Dragon level monster that had been terrorizing City A just moments ago.

But while the blonde man was getting up, he failed to notice the people that had been watching him from a distance. Five of the heroes that had arrived after the defeat of their fellow heroes had been following him from what remained of a collapsed building.

"L-Look… He' surrounded by monster remains!" one man in a hero costume consisting of a bright coloured bodysuit that had a crescent moon image at the center of the costume, dark elbow-length gloves and a helmet that also had a crescent-shaped moon ornament at the top said while looking at the blonde man with a stunned expression on his face.

"No way…" another man with medium length, messy black hair wearing something on his face that looked like big mechanical nostrils that emitted smoke and a karate gi that had a red infinity sign on the upper left side of his chest said, also staring at the blonde man in disbelief.

"How did he defeat such a powerful monster?" a man with short black hair that was once combed but was now a bit slightly out of place, a thick moustache that looked to form a slight curve towards the edge and small wrinkles at the bottom of his eyes wearing a classy suit with a red bow tie said as he too looked at the man with a scar with a shocked expression.

"And all alone…" a man wearing a green bicycle helmet, goggles with a dark shade and a bunch of brown armor on top of his chest and shoulders under a black leather suit said in shock.

"I'd heard rumors, but…" a young man with short, black hair wearing a dark blue Kung Fu with white lines along the edge of his Kung Fu suit said as he was also shocked by the sight before him.

The blonde man they were talking about of course was King, a man that many people knew as the strongest man alive. And due to the reports made by the five heroes who was present, King was credited with the defeat of the purple alien-looking monster.

Inside a grocery store within a building located in City D

'I've become so powerful that I can now beat any opponent in a single punch. I've finally got the strength to do what I want. So what's going on with me? Why do I feel so empty inside?' the bald woman thought to herself as she made her way to one of the cash registers within the grocery store while carrying a basket containing some frozen crab that was neatly packed.

These thoughts had triggered some memories about the first fight that she had with Crablante before she began her daily routine.

"That will be 482 yen please." the female receptionist said after scanning the bar code that was plastered on top of the crab item that she wished to buy.

"Okay. Hang on a second." the bald woman said as she took out a coin that was worth five hundred yen before she began looking for eighty two yen from within her money pouch.

*Stomp!* *Stomp!*

But as she looked for the eighty two yen from within her money pouch, loud footsteps that were able to cause the people within the grocery store to feel the vibrations being caused by said footsteps.

This of course caused the people in the grocery store to exit the grocery store as quickly as they could, which of course the costumed young woman failed to notice.

And by the time that Setsuka had fished out the eighty two yen from her money pouch so that she could give it to the cashier in front of her, she finally noticed that the lady in question was no longer standing in front of her and she was now the sole person inside the grocery store.

*Stomp!*

But before she could ask herself what was going on,she heard the sound of feet stomping before she suddenly began to feel a light breeze. As the young heroine-for-fun continued to feel the breeze on her back, she turned around only to see that the part of the building that she was not standing on was completely destroyed.

Setsuka then made her way to the edge of the building as she wanted to see the extent of damage that was caused moments after she heard the large footsteps.

And while the bald woman observed the damage that had been done in the area that she was in, a large monster could be seen walking forward with a stoic expression on his face.

"Yes! This is incredible little brother! I never thought it would work so well." a man of average height wearing a pair of lab googles, a lab coat that was worn over a black shirt and a pair of light green trousers shouted out from his spot at the right side of the monster's shoulders. He was also holding a vial that contained a bit of a weirdly conlored liquid in one of his hands.

'Yes. It's more that I could have imagined big brother.' the monster agreed with what his elder brother had said as he continued walking in a straight path as he continued to destroy the buildings of the city with ease.

"My brain and your brawn. By combining the greatest of minds and the strongest of bodies, we brothers will conquer everything on Earth and rule as kings! We're unstoppable!" the older brother of the monster boldly declared just seconds before his younger brother destroyed a few buildings with the burst of air that was released as a result of the monster swiping his arm in the direction of the building.

"i-Incredible! Well done little brother. Thousands have perished! Now then, on to the next town so that we can destroy it as well!" the mad scientist shouted out as he saw the level of destruction that his younger brother was able to do thanks to the steroid that he had made for him.

'This. This is it, big bro. This is what I was looking for… To be the strongest man.' the large monster thought to himself as he made his way towards the next city.

"Attention! This is an emergency evacuation warning. A giant creature of unknown origins has appeared in City D. The creature is currently on a direct path towards City B. All residents of the area, please evacuate immediately. I repeat, the giant creature is headed towards City B. Please evacuate the area immediately." a feminine voice could be heard coming out from the loud speakers located throughout City B as the residents of the city began to run for their lives.

But unfortunately for them, the monster had already arrived at their city and was now causing damage just moments after the announcement was already made.

"Yes! Run! Scatter like rats! Destroy them all!" the older brother ordered his brother as he smiled at the destruction that his younger brother was causing.

"The strongest man, the strongest man, the strongest man." the younger sibling repeated to himself as he saw the destruction that he was causing throughout the city.

"So what do you think, dear brother?" the older member of the two siblings asked his brother with an excited voice.

"Yeah, how's it feel being the strongest?" a bored feminine voice could be heard coming from the left side of the monster's shoulders.

"What? There's someone on your shoulder!" the mad scientist said in shock the moment he registered the stranger's voice.

"Maybe you should put on a pair of trousers man." the caped heroine-for-fun blandly told the monster she was talking to as she gave him a deadpan look.

"Grrr…There's a girl there standing on your shoulder! Kill her!" the mad scientist shouted out anger at the bored tone that the woman standing on the other shoulder of his younger brother.

The monster did as he was told and smacked his shoulder as though he were swatting a fly.

But as the monster looked at the hand that he had used to smack the intruder, he realized that he had made a mistake and swatted the shoulder where his brother was standing on.

"Brother Noooo! How did this happen? All I wanted was to be the strongest man in the world! And now that I finally am I kill my own brother!" the large monster shouted out in horror the moment he saw the blood and the lab coat of his older brother.

''Is he stupid or something?' the young woman standing on the other shoulder of the monster thought to herself as she continued to give the large monster a deadpan look.

"I don't know who you are, but my brother is dead all because of you!" the larger monster angrily told off the self-proclaimed heroine as he grabbed her with his hand and threw her straight through a building.

*Pow!* *Pow!* *Stomp!* Stomp!*

The monster then proceeded to punch and kick at the same spot that he had thrown the bald woman at multiple times until a large hall had been formed and all the anger had left his system.

'I am the strongest. So what if I am?I feel empty.' the large monster thought to himself as he looked at the palm of his hand which still had the blood and clothing of his older brother with a sad expression on his face.

"You get it right?" Setsuka's voice could be heard coming out of the large hole as she jumped towards the giant monster's face so that she could punch him.

*Pow!*

"Having overwhelming strength is pretty boring." the bald woman said in a bored tone soon after she punched the monster's light out for good.

*Slam!*

But the monster fell on his back as a result of being punched by Setsuka, he had fallen on top of the parts of City B that were still intact.

"Whoops." Setsuka said when she realized that she had punched the monster to land on top of the buildings.

During the early hours of the evening, inside Setsuka's apartment

From the area of the apartment room that served as both the living room and the dining room of Setsuka's apartment, the sole human resident of City Z's ghost town was currently had her eyes on the sleeping form of her roommate who was sleeping inside a worn out sleeping bag.

Setsuka of course was wearing a pair of boxers and a loose green t-shirt as her sleeping attire.

'The heroic gig may be getting boring, but at least I can still ogle my adorable roommate to my heart's content.' Setsuka thought to herself as she continued to ogle the slime monster with whom she shared a room while she smiled lewdly.

'I think I'll just go to bed now.' the young heroine-for-fun thought to herself as she made her way inside the sleeping bag that was lying next to Sanju's sleeping bag before promptly falling asleep.