One Punch Man: Saitama Retires

The Fake Mask

"C-Chamber 404?" X002 stammered, fear evident in his trembling voice. "B-But wasn't that chamber sealed due to the mass murder incident?"

"Do you have a complaint regarding Mr. X's decision?" X001 stared into X002's eyes.

"N-no, obviously not!" X002 muttered, his voice slowly rising. He snapped his fingers, making X001 and Saitama fade away.

After a few moments, they reappeared in a dark room, silence buzzing in the atmosphere.

"It feels like we've entered the void, right?" X001 spoke. "Mr. X really loves darkness." He snapped his fingers, conjuring a tennis ball-sized fireball above his fingertips.

"Where is X002?" X001 slowly turned around, casting a long shadow on Saitama's impassive face. "We can't keep Mr. X waiting any longer."

X001 moved forward, further illuminating the room. The chamber walls were painted dull, devoid of noticeable decorations.

Upon reaching a peculiar-looking staircase, he stopped and shouted, "Mr. X, I've brought the intruder as you instructed."

Suddenly, the entire room shone in bright light, revealing a king-sized chair on top of the strange staircase.

A muscular man in black clothes, wearing an orc mask, sat on the big chair, looking like he owned the place.

With a gentle sigh, the man questioned, "So, what do you think of our offer?"

"Offer?" Saitama stared. "Hoh! My order of french fries!"

The man laughed. "Your actions show you're least interested in others, no matter who you stand before."

He stood up and walked down the stairs. "As sad as it might seem, potatoes were eradicated from our planet about a hundred years ago."

Locking his gaze towards Saitama, he continued, "This room looks dull and dark, right?"

After a pause, the muscular guy further added, "It reflects my heart. It reflects my pain. It reflects my resolve."

As soon as his foot touched the plain ground, he promptly pulled down his mask, unveiling his true identity. "It reflects my personality."

It was Marcus—the man who had been with Saitama all the time, the one who showed himself struggling against Arplesis, the one who had the dreams of becoming a hero, was none other than the leader of the very group that created chaos on the entire planet, Arplesis.

Saitama's eyes dilated as he fixed his gaze on Marcus. "I thought you sought revenge."

Marcus looked down and started to laugh. "Yeah, I did seek revenge until my pain overwhelmed my senses."

"When I first arrived at this torture camp, X001 treated me like his own brother," He turned towards X001. "Despite all of the harsh treatment the previous generation did to us, we were the ones who resisted the most. But, it all changed when Magneton destroyed the laboratory."

Approaching X001, he sighed. "We all thought Magneton, who was also one of us at some point, would help us, but what he did was unthinkable."

"Just for the sake of his entertainment, he allowed the boss of Arlpesis to live and then funded him to conduct inhumane operations on us," Tiny drops of tears streamed down his face as he further added. "Thinking about it still makes my blood boil..."

X001 suddenly stepped forward and patted Marcus's shoulders as tears began to run down his face. "Mr. X..."

"If you're wondering why my thirst for revenge stopped, even I don't know. Perhaps the pain of having your organs constantly transplanted, tested, and cut in various ways without the help of painkillers or any other drugs made me this way."

Cleaning the shining drops of pain with his right hand, Marcus murmured, "I don't know how I survived this long..."

Shaking his head sideways, Marcus looked into Saitama's eyes. "It's Arplesis who's evil today, but in the future, it might be someone else."

Marcus suddenly turned around, opened his arms in a V-shape, and shouted, "What I've learned from all of my experiences is that what this planet needs is not a hero, but a villain who destroys and rebuilds its entire structure!"

"To achieve my new goal, I'm willing to use the entire population of Kerbes for research. Arplesis will do it." Marcus turned towards Saitama, locking his gaze onto Saitama's plain face. "And the biggest hurdle in my path is you, Mister Saitama. I've witnessed your power, and I can tell that neither I nor the entire Arplesis would stand a chance against you if you had arrived sooner."

He grinned and chuckled heinously. "Now that we have the power of the blue moon, our mass-destruction copy project is ready, and I'll use it to eradicate you from the path of the Arplesis's goal."

Marcus snapped his fingers, causing X001 to shine brightly in red, enveloping the entire room in a crimson hue. The air around X001 instantly became blurry and cloudy, as if it were set ablaze. The dull walls of the chamber started to crack, and the ground underneath shattered.

Within the next moment, X001 teleported before Saitama and swiftly transported him to the blue training room.

"Thanks to the robotic and magic power Mr. X has bestowed upon me, I have become invincible." X001 clenched his fists. "To repay his favor, I'm going to kill you with my own hands. Rest assured, no one can interrupt us here-"

Before X001 could finish his sentence, Saitama interrupted. "I wanted to ask Marcus something since he's the leader of Arplesus."

X001 furrowed his left eyebrow. "You dared to interrupt me mid-sentence, and now you dare to say the name of our organization wrong!"

As soon as X001 finished, he teleported in front of Saitama, holding his face in his giant, magically enforced hand. "We would've been friends if you had accepted my offer instead of rejecting it in a roundabout way."

BOOM!

BLAST!

Within the blink of an eye, X001 created a thunderous explosion at Saitama's face, rendering him invisible. The shockwaves induced devastated the surrounding area, leaving a massive hole of blue debris behind.

"What's up with all of you holding my head?" Saitama whispered, standing behind X001.

"When did you!?" X001 roared as he jumped back.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author: Do give an upvote if you liked this chapter! I just hopped back onto writing so some sentences might seem weird.

Next Chapter: The Robotic Power