Hero For Lust

He thinks he can boss me around? I'm only doing this because I want to!

Tatsumaki soared through the endless, winding passageways of the spaceship. Any alien she encountered was flattened into paste on the floors or smeared across the twisting alloy walls.

How am I supposed to find a circular, spiraling door in this maze? Ridiculous!

Tatsumaki stopped, stretched out her hands, and pulled them apart, tearing the walls in front of her open.

I'll just create my own path.

As she tore through the ship, she found many doors, but none matched what she was searching for — until she noticed a strange elevation in the floor. Using her psychic energy, she ripped it open, revealing a deeper vast floor filled with dozens of circular, spiraling doors.

I can't wait to see his face when he finds out I beat him again.

Her thoughts drifted back to the kiss, but she shook them away. After chasing him into this ship, she realized running from him was pointless. She needed to face him head-on, like every other challenge she had ever faced throughout her life.

Quickly, she tore open the doors, mercilessly killing every alien inside. What purpose these aliens served, she neither knew nor cared.

Her luck truly had been terrible. It took until the final spiraling alloy door before she found the pink alien with blue spots.

"There you are!" Tatsumaki enveloped the alien in her psychic aura, lifting it into the air before her.

The alien's three eye-tipped tentacles drooped. "Please, don't kill me!"

"Tell me everything you know."

I won't be kept in the dark any longer. What are you up to, Caspian?

Drenched in sweat, the alien hastily began detailing everything about the ship, from its key locations to the crew, which were called the Dark Matter Thieves.

This alien didn't stop speaking as she made her way back to a higher level of the ship and proceeded forward.

"D-Don't even get me started on the health ben—"

"Shut up!" Tatsumaki was losing patience. The alien had run out of useful information and was now rambling about bathroom layouts, work schedules, and other pointless details.

Before she could end its existence, she reached a pathway splitting left and right — just as a voice echoed in her mind.

"Attention, tiny intruder! Cease your destruction and leave immediately. Otherwise, we will use any means necessary to kill you. Proceed further, and you will die!"

Tiny?! Just wait until I find you!

"Fine. If you want a fight, I'll guide you to me. First, turn right and take the stairs up."

Tatsumaki smirked and flew to the left, the pink alien trailing behind, dragged through the air.

"No, wait! Not that way!"

Hah! As if I'd trust you.

Tatsumaki soared down the long hallway, its walls distinct. Unlike the twisting, root-like alloys from before, these were flat surfaces made of interlocking pieces of varying lengths and widths.

"W-W-Wait… Hang on! You can't…!

I'll come to you. Please stay right there.

Ahh! Stop it!"

Tatsumaki sped toward the towering doors. With a wave of her hand, she rended them apart, compressing them into the ship's walls.

As she entered, the room came into view—a control room filled with dozens of red-hued giant computer screens lining the far wall. Below them, smaller screens were manned by individual alien crew members.

Tatsumaki ascended high-up, gazing down at the pitiful aliens. "Well, it seems I've found your little control room."

Behind her, the fat, pink-skinned alien wept silently, too terrified to speak after witnessing her overwhelming strength.

"You…"

She glanced to her right, where a mass of tentacle-like appendages climbed onto the control room's upper floor. "You're what exactly…?"

Tatsumaki took in the alien's full appearance. It was dark blue with translucent skin that shifted into rainbow hues before her eyes. Its height matched hers, even though she floated high in the air.

"You dare go around busting up our ship?"

Suddenly, debris swirled, kicking up a cloud of dust below.

"Oh?" Tatsumaki's brows raised.

"I, Geryuganshoop, the universe's number one telekinetic, will grind you into blood sausage!"

"What a ridiculous claim." Tatsumaki gestured toward herself. "Come on then, prove it."

¤ ¤ ¤

Bang stood in a ready stance, a large pile of rubble behind him. To his left was Puri-Puri Prisoner, though Bang avoided focusing on the man given his current state of attire. To his right stood Metal Bat, positioned behind Atomic Samurai. The four heroes braced themselves, ready to counter the giant gray alien's next move.

At that moment, Puri-Puri Prisoner shattered one of the alien's vitality marbles with his teeth. In response, another of the alien's heads was destroyed.

Metal Bat spoke up. "Two heads left! I'll smash 'em wide open!"

Part of Bang's mind lingered on Genos' strange behavior. Why had he rushed here only to fire a single blast? Did he understand his limits that well? And why had he immediately returned to the Hero Association Headquarters instead of staying to help Iaian? Did he know backup would arrive right away, or was it just a lucky gamble?

But now wasn't the time for distractions. This was the first Dragon-level Threat Bang had fought personally in a long time.

The gray alien's two remaining heads looked up at the ship.

"Is it time?" asked the head on the right.

The left head replied, "Ship… bombardment… coming…"

When Bang heard "bombardment," his eyes snapped to the colossal alien ship.

"It's over."

"Evasion, impossible. Instant death."

The alien's two heads spoke one after the other.

Seconds passed with a cruel slowness, however…

"Why? No!"

"Impossible. Bombardment should have begun."

"Eh? Quit wastin' our time," Metal Bat mocked.

Bang pulled his focus from the ship. Whatever was supposed to happen hadn't. Could Caspian be the reason?

"We, Melzargard, will end all of you."

Melzargard let out a furious roar. Each arm transformed into six elongated spikes, shooting toward the heroes. One slammed down at Metal Bat, who leaped into the air, narrowly dodging several while deflecting others with his bat.

Meanwhile, Puri-Puri Prisoner caught four spikes, two under each arm.

Bang seized the opportunity, jumping onto one of the arms. "Nice catch." He merged several streams of his 'Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist' into one, plucking one of the two remaining marbles. "Smash." He crushed it in his hand, leaving Melzargard with only one head.

"One left!" Bang called out as he landed on a stone pillar.

Suddenly, a mighty impact struck Bang, sending him crashing through the remnants of several structures. Coming to a halt as the impact lodged him into a concrete wall.

Well, well. It's been a tad too long since I've been in a proper fight, hasn't it?