Garou's Rival

Chapter 4 - The Meteor

I'm walking through the streets, like any normal day. Always keeping an eye out for monsters, but just doing my shopping right now. Afterwards, I sit on a bench in a park and focus on the sounds around me. I can hear the breeze, the leaves being blown on the trees and the bird in the trees. Behind me, I can hear people walking and talking and vehicles on the road. But something bothers me. My ears pick up on a very faint noise, but once I notice it's there I can hear it more easily and can tell what it is. What is it? Unnatural... danger... words in my head come forwards. Death, fight, animal. Monster... Wringing...

Sirens...

Oh no. I jump up and look around, blocking out any other sounds. It's very far away, possibly in another city. Luckily I can now tell what direction it's in. Jumping onto a rooftop, something now catches my eye. A shining in the sky. There smoke coming behind it and my inside voice starts to speak again. Explosion... destruction... space... meteor... A meteor! And it's heading for City Z, the small part of it where people still live. If it hits, it'll destroy the city and others around it.

Now that I'm closer I can hear what the sirens are saying. "Evacuate immediately. The meteor will hit in 2 minutes. Disaster level Dragon." The citizens are trying to get away as fast as possible, but many have lost hope and are crying on the ground. Hopefully there will be other heroes so we can work together to stop this.

Suddenly, someone comes beside me, also jumping across the rooftops. He's the one who graduated with me and Saitama! I've seen him before on the news. Apparently he got perfect scores and went straight to Class S. He's a cyborg and his entire body is made of metal, except his face.

He notices me and shouts. "Are you coming to stop the meteor? Don't! This is a problem meant for Class S! Focus on evacuating the citizens!"

"No way! The meteor's too close for even us to get away now. We can either destroy it, or everyone dies. There's no other way to help anyone." I don't regret coming here. This is my home, my world and my people. This giant falling rock isn't going to take that all away from me. We stop at a building directly under it.

"How do we destroy it?! It's too far away! I can only fight with my fists!" There's no way we're going to be able to destroy it. But suddenly, a huge robot covered in guns flies to us. "You're Metal Knight!" He's a high ranking Class S hero, Rank 7. This is the first time I've met one.

Genos doesn't look happy that he's here though. "Bofoi! Help me destroy the meteor! Together, we'll be able to minimise the damage," he shouts.

Metal Knight quickly shuts this idea down. "No. I am only here to test a new weapon. This meteor happens to be a convenient target. I will not place myself in any danger. What you are talking to is a remotely controlled drone. Now stand back. And call other heroes by their hero names, Genos." A turret extends out of his back and fires several missiles at the meteor. They all explode and leave a huge cloud of smoke.

Such destructive power shouldn't be entrusted to one person! He's destroyed the meteor in one shot? But it seems not. The smoke is quickly pushed out of the way and the meteor continues on its course, barely affected. Without another word, Metal Knight flies off. No... how will we do this? It's getting closer every second, and he couldn't destroy it. Even if we do somehow manage to destroy it, the separated debris will destroy the city. How can me and Genos work together?

"It's obvious that you are distressed." I look over to me and standing near us in the roof top is Silverfang. Class S Rank 3. What?! He showed up too?! "When you're in a pinch, just muddle through. Do whatever comes to mind and do it with conviction. The outcome won't change in the end." Muddle through? The outcome won't change? This is ridiculous. I'm surrounded by the S Class and still haven't done anything. I look over at Genos and it looks like he's thinking the same thing. He reaches into his chest and pulls out a sphere labelled 'core'. He puts it in his arm and it heats up.

"You! Throw me at that meteor with all your strength! I'll need all the momentum I can get to not be pushed back to the ground by my own blast!" Right. As long as I can help, even just a little, I can rest easy. I grab him by a nook in his chest and spin him around.

"Here, we, go!" I throw him with everything I have and he shoots up to the meteor. The floor cracks from the force. His thrusters activate and add to his speed, so he's  like a blur. He puts out his arm and the electricity covers the face of the meteor. Will it work? A blast comes out his arm which seems impossibly big for him. It makes contact with the meteor and cracks appear along it. But is it really breaking? It's hard to tell.

Silverfang speaks up. "Wait, I think I see it being pushed back!"

"Really?!"

"Oh no, wait. That was just my imagination."

"You old fool!" I can't do anything! It's not working! At last, the blast stops and Genos stops flying. He falls back to the building and I catch him.

"16 seconds left. Run, you two..." I can't get away. Guess this is how I die, huh? Not the worst way to go.

Someone's here. Someone familiar. "Hey Alpha. Take care of Genos for me, will you?" Saitama?! He... he will die too! Everyone new I've met before through hero business is already going to die with me. None of us lasted long then. He stands on the edge of the building. What's he doing? Suddenly, he launches off the building with incredible speed.  In an instant, he shoots through the meteor like a bullet, breaking it into pieces.

WHAT. Just. Happened? HE JUST BROKE THROUGH IT IN ONE PUNCH! No wonder he took down Sonic in one hit! He could have not even meant to do that! I'll need to talk to him later. For now, the pieces of the meteor are raining destruction on the city, including this building. We all move off, with Silverfang carrying Genos. A wave of destruction is sweeping the city.

—————

A day has passed since the destruction of City Z. Or at least that's what people call it. Even though that's a massive overstatement. It's a miracle no one died, but people act like this is a tragedy and it's our fault. Have they forgotten what would have happened if the meteor had hit? So ungrateful. At least the hero association recognises what we did, even if our popularity rankings took a hit. Genos is on a building across the street, so I call him down.

"Thank you for your assistance yesterday, even if it was futile. You risked your life just by being there, while most of us likely would have survived, even if just barely," he says.

I don't deal good with thank yous. "Yeah, well...  our rankings went up, didn't they? It's not why I went, but it's pretty cool. I shot up to Class B Rank 44 after being Rank 73, you went from Class S Rank 17 to 16. Saitama went from Class C Rank 329 to 5, a huge increase."

"Well, the threat level was Dragon. If we had been the ones to destroy the meteor, which we were very close to doing, I would have gone up to around Rank 8 and you would have gotten to Class A. It's strange that you came since the threat level was so high above your capabilities."

"Don't be stupid. If heroes can't be bothered to come to a disaster, they're not much of heroes. When heroes run away, who's left to fight?" That's what I've always thought. All these heroes only deal with monsters they know they can handle in their own. They care more about the fighting than the saving, and that's not what I think a hero should be.

"Master Saitama says the same thing. I wonder if you two are similar?" There's shouting up ahead. "Master needs me. I must go." He leaps off to the gathering crowd and I'm left alone.

I'm going home. It's been a long couple days. Saitama. I'll have to keep an eye out for you.

Name: Alpha
Hero
Ranking: Class B Rank 79 - 44
Power: High Tiger

Name: Genos
Hero
Ranking: Class S Rank 17 - 16
Power: Mid Demon

Name: Bofoi
Hero name: Metal Knight
Drone
Ranking: Class S Rank 7 - 6
Power (of drone): High Demon

Name: Bang
Hero name: Silverfang
Hero
Ranking: Class S Rank 3
Power: High Dragon

Name: Saitama
Hero
Ranking: Class C Rank 329 - 5
Power: Basically unlimited, one above all, at least Above God