Chapter Text
Pain. That's what you felt more than anything else. Your head had hit pavement, but not enough to render you unconscious, but you felt the searing injury to the side of your head burning with nothing but pain.
W-City had it's first attack in a long while and the monstrosity in front of you had appeared out of nowhere at dusk, viciously attacking anything and anyone around it. You and a few others had tried your best to help evacuate everyone as quickly as the beast had appeared but the tall, dark, multi-eyed creature wasted no time in singling out anyone aiding others, throwing them easily into buildings and onto the pavement. You were one of the unfortunate ones living with that very pain of being knocked into a brick wall and falling to the pavement below. This beast, standing over seven stories high, displayed a large amount of intelligence, despite communicating solely in sickening roars thus far. It had knocked down each building where he saw anyone trying to flee. He had managed, in doing so, to essentially corral the remaining survivors, which were numerous, in a circle of devastation, blockading the citizens from escape. The city's local hero, Class A Heavy Kong was relentless and despite the fact that he was being swung around easily by this monster, he wasn't giving up.
You lifted yourself and slowly put a hand to the side of your head, feeling blood soak your scalp and wincing at the sudden contact. Your vision was hazy and your head was pounding but you managed to bring yourself to a sitting position while Heavy Kong and the beast disputed a few hundred yards away. You were stubborn, you were a survivor and you would be damned if you were going to let yourself die this way without saving one life from this shit hole. You strained to your feet, your skin scraped and bruising from the fall as you heard the echo of the PA city system.
“Attention W-City, threat level is Demon. Please evacuate immediately. Will all A-Class and S-Class Heroes please assist. I repeat, calling all A-Class and S-Class Heroes to please assist.”
As the PA announcement drew to a close, you watched in horror as a fanged smile spread across the beasts face as it dropped a now crumpled Heavy Kong from it's hands. All of it's eyes strained and turned towards your location, the location where most of the citizens were now nestled together in panic, a horrific smile still plastered on its face and it began slowly lumbering over, saliva dripping hungrily from it's mouth.
“Hey” a voice shouted from the beasts' left. You looked over. Oh no. Mumen Rider stood, fully armored, his bicycle beside him, tall and ready with his fists out. “I will not let you hurt these people.” he continued. Mumen Rider was one of your favorite heroes, but you, as well as the rest of the world, knew he was C Class. Still, maybe he could help. “Mumen Rider will save us” you heard from the crowd. “Yeah! We're saved now that Rider is here!” came another enthusiastic voice.
The beast chuckled and slapped a hand in Mumen Riders direction, immediately launching him into a mass of steel and torn rust as screams echoed from the crowd. Before you could think, your body moved on it's own, sprinting in Mumen Riders direction. His body was contorted from the piece of steel he landed on, an arm and possibly a rib evidently broken, he seemed unconscious. Still you ran, as you heard a blast like that of a rocket ship overhead and cheers from the crowd behind you. You didn't look, you kept running, trying your best to reach Mumen Rider. As you approached Mumens broken body, you heard another loud engine like sound. You dared to look above you and your breath hitched. It was the S-Class Hero you had seen so many times on TV, the Hero all of your friends had made forums posts about, all the ones the people deemed popular and handsome. Genos. He had stumbled the beast and was shooting a firey canon at him, lighting up the buildings around him, making sure to keep the crowds behind him and his unyielding blasts. Thank god. You thought to yourself as you knelt beside Mumen Rider, trying to focus. You unclasped his helmet, touching his cheek lightly. “Hey,” you spoke softly, moving your hand down to lightly prod his shoulder. “Rider...” Your words were met with a small but audible groan indicating he was alive. Despite the situation you found yourself smile just slightly at the relief of this beloved hero being alive.
“We're going to get you out of here. What you did was extremely selfless and heroic.” you reassured him as he opened his eyes, trying to prop him in a proper sitting position, easing his head backward to rest easily on the steel beam he crashed into. You ripped part of your long sleeve and took his fractured arm. “I'm sorry, this may hurt.” you mentioned, suddenly correcting the bone and tying it extra tight. “Achh!” he winced weakly, but surrendered his arm to your care.
“Thank god you're alive.” you mentioned, checking his legs for fractures or any extensive life threatening damage, as taught to you by each City's "emergency training" mandatory sessions. Mumen Rider nudged you with his free arm, his eyes opening wide from behind his goggles.
“What is it?” you urged. He coughed, a small amount of blood spewed from his mouth. He tried again. “B-B-”
“What?” You urged when it hit you. Why had those blasts you heard earlier stopped? You had heard commotion but not in the same way. The cheers were replaced with screams once again. You're stomach felt nauseous and your chest grew tight as you looked behind you, dozens of beastly, inhuman eyes just meters away, staring at you, so close you could see the red blood vessels surging in them. That same sick smile glistening with saliva and an eerie guttural growl releasing from his mouth.
You opened your mouth to scream, eyes wide but your voice failed you. The beast reached forward with a dark, clawed hand, clasping your torso and pulling you upwards, never taking his eyes off you.
This is it. You thought to yourself, struggling against his grip as you ascended in his hand, your eyes starting to burn as you felt tears begin to form out of fear, out of anger, out of the disappointment that you could not do anything. Fuck this. This is not how I wanted to go. You think to yourself and with a sudden wash of acceptance overcoming you, you stared directly into the beasts eyes and spit at him.
You weren't sure exactly what had followed, but you remember suddenly being dropped, which great force and the beast letting out an eardrum piercing roar. You fell, you fell hard and you closed your eyes as you braced for impact. Impact came, but it was a lot softer than you expected. You carefully opened your eyes to see a bright yellow shoulder next to your head. Someone was holding you, someone had caught you. You noticed the sound of rain and looked out at the destroyed city. The creature was nowhere in sight. It quickly dawned on you - it wasn't rain, a dark bluish green liquid was falling from the sky, it was blood, that creatures blood. The searing pain of your head came back all at once and you lifted an arm to press your hand to it again.
“Don't touch it.” a voice said. And as you looked up, you saw a man, dressed in this yellow suit, a white cape dawning his shoulders and his head completely hairless. He wasn't looking at you, but at the destruction. His eyes were intense, and fierce. There was a fire about him, an uncontrollable intensity and you felt it. “What an annoyance that was.” he muttered to himself.
“W-Who are you?” you managed, still staring up at the man who was still holding you. He looked down, an intense gaze still plastered on his face and smiled slightly.
“Saitama.”
And your heart skipped a beat.