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How?! Why the fuck had no one told him before?!!
The way the rumour made it to his ears was strange and vague, almost casual despite the absolutely baffling implications.
But Garou didn’t stop to ponder about the possibly fake nature of the rumors: Metal Bat had disappeared from the public view, a few days ago apparently. And as much as NeoHeroes handwaved it as him being away on an important mission, Garou was not having any of it.
Not only does the hero have a sister who seemed as ready to risk her life for him as he undoubtedly would for her. But also, secretive missions didn’t suit his style. Not to mention, this organization is heavy on the public eye, to an increasingly intrusive degree. Why in the universe would they keep a former S class from their rival association into wraps? Especially now, in the middle of a seemingly endless swarm of attack robots, where his help would be more needed than ever.
This whole situation reeked, something massively sinister was going on, and they’d forcefully dragged Metal Bat into it. Garou wasn’t going to sit on his ass.
To start, when the inevitable moment where they again met each other face to face came, he had a lot of making up to do. Garou had spent countless nights thinking on how to even address Metal Bat.
In truth, he felt bad about it. Regret was real, on a far more personal level than it was towards any other Hero that wasn’t Bang.
He knew he owed it to the guy: back then, he’d attacked Metal bat unprompted and his goals at the time were unjustified. His long days of self reflection, his reinstating as Bang’s student, his social work which allowed him to meet new people and steer his life in a much more positive direction. All different steps into a new life, helping him grow up and mature.
But no matter how badly had that bald guy pound him into the ground back then, Garou knew he was in debt towards Metal Bat.
None of his restitutive actions had so far i>directly addressed the wrong he inflicted on neither this Hero, or the others. He’d had a very negative impact on their working and their well being, undoubtedly in their hospital bills as well, all for the sake of his own goals.
Only for the start, Garou owed Metal Bat a huge apology… one that might not be granted at all, he was well aware of it. But he had to face his own shortcomings. Especially after, despite everything he did, Metal Bat still put his own resentment aside and protested against kicking him when he was finally down. Truly a good guy with solid ideals of justice, that he would stand for no matter the situation.
Garou wasn’t going to forget that, ever.
But even beyond his debt, he’d still save the guy regardless. Metal Bat had more than shown he was a solid guy well worth the respect and admiration a true Hero deserved.
While his monster enhancements were gone, Garou’s strength and abilities had remained extraordinarily high. He rushed his coworkers to the nearest shelter, practically pushing them inside, and abandoned the area in a long jump.
Garou ran across cities, zipped across buildings, leapt above green areas. His direction was cleanly shown by an endless stream of destroyed robot parts that illustrated his path in flawless detail, almost like a trail of footprints with a XIX century styled detective, glass in hand, crouching after them.
As the NeoHeroes HQ tower began profiling itself at the horizon, Garou squinted, dashing ahead one last time, ready to kick the fuck of those doors down no matter the consequences.
He knew he was still a sought after criminal for some, but he didn’t care about that at the moment. Blood throbbed in his temple, if he couldn’t find and rescue Metal Bat, NeoHeroes was gonna pay dearly, if only for not taking proper care of the guy.
Wait a moment.
Garou’s feet screeched to a halt, still at a distance, and his eyes focused heavily on the NeoHeroes’s tower top antenna.
Did… did it just blow up in a huge cloud of debris?
How..?
Just what the ever loving hell was going on here?!
Garou ran at top speed and began climbing the walls, grasping for any and every protruding surface he could get a hold of. Entering through the destroyed top suited him just as well a the front, and would probably catch less attention on him.
As he made it to the top, the cloud made visibility impossible, debris painfully barging into his eyes and respiratory tract, but that wasn’t gonna stop him. Garou coughed and crudely wiped his own eyes on his short sleeve, when a silhouette appeared right in front of him.
Striking a defensive pose, he focused his eyes once again, when the form ahead took shape.
“Metal Bat?!!”
The younger hero looked at him, expression indecipherable.
“Garou?! The hell are you doing here” the younger snarled between clenched teeth, but he sounded tired and annoyed, rather than angry.
“The city got swarmed by robots, I had to investigate”
The quickly crafted lie worked well enough, but as the dust began to settle, Garou allowed himself to wipe his eyes once more, and only then he noticed.
Metal Bat was horribly hurt, not a single inch of his body clear of blood or bruises. Garou blinked, ready to go beat the shit of whomever did that to someone he had grown to appreciate and respect, but the other hero didn’t look shaky or about to fall.
He seemed tired, true, but the firmness of his stance, and his ever relentless gaze almost made him step back.
Garou noticed, to his own horror, that he was covered in cold sweat. Had he had the slightest intention to attack Metal Bat at this point, he was certain he’d have had his ass thoroughfully kicked.
Metal Bat was a beast not even him was truly aware of.
“Yah, it’s over” the young hero said, a certain disdain in his voice, before brashly spitting to the side. “The robot shit at least”.
Blinking once again (Garou was sure his pained eyes were red and raw at this point), he looked around and far below, noticing the other had not lied. The skies had suddenly cleared, a carpet of intact machines carpeting the ground like soft snow below.
He broke into a cackle… the asshole’s done it! No matter what happened before -and it seemed absolutely awful by Metal Bat’s appearance- he’d managed it . All on his own, not having needed his -or anyone’s- help for a single second.
“Metal Bat, I” Garou calmed down, taking a deep breath, but the other’s gaze still unnerved him. “Look man, I’m very well aware I…” he lowered his eyes, fiddled with his words a bit, and then sighed “look, there’s a ton of shit I want to talk about with you. In neutral terms! But I don’t think this is the right moment… you need some serious patching up”
Metal Bat was looking straight into him, expression again indescribable.
"You need to leave this place"
Something in his eyes told him that the younger had been able to read and actually understand through his clumsy words, but there still seemed to be some Rebuke in him.
Garou opened his mouth to ask, when a sharp -and admittedly very painful- kick from those cut up, bare feet, barged through his stomach. It had no right to take his air off like it did.
“Yes, we have some serious talking to do. But right now, get away from here asshole. This place’s seriously fucked up, and they want yer head too”
Garou stepped back, and the other seemed about to go for his face this time.
“Alright, alright!” he huffed. “Just promise you’ll get all that treated, alright? Once everything's truly over, then we met again”
“I will” Metal bat said, and his voice sounded firm as ever. “I want some shoes and my sis gets sad when I’m injured”
“Do you have any allies?” Garou tried one last time, as he climbed over the edge of the broken walls.
Metal bat Blinked and his expression softened ever so slightly. Maybe he hadn’t noticed the genuine concern in the other’s voice until then?
“I do. Now, get away! Quick! ”
The hiss was in a lower voice, clearly, anyone else hearing him could mean trouble.
“Alright, then. See you later, pretty boy!”
“I’m not pretty” Garou managed to hear as he plummeted straight to the ground, and the sentence made him smile.
His current state be damned. Apparently, Metal Bat had never seen himself in a mirror before.