NO. 10 - School, Games, and The Crawler

"No way, man! I can't believe it ended in such a cliffhanger!" A young middle schooler with four eyes and large ears said with an excited smile as he closed this week's edition of Jump.

"I know, right?! Now we have to wait another week to see if Raphael can survive his fight against Karai." A blue-skinned boy with fish scales all over his body said with frustration. In his hands was another copy of the newest Jump.

"Hey, at least we can read Gege-sensei's other works while we wait. What chapter are you on anyway?"

"I'm on chapter 18. Let me tell you, man, things are getting intense." The boy with the fish scales said as he pulled out a copy of The Hunger Games.

Heheh, my reach has grown to even here.

I grinned as my classmates continued talking about my book from my spot at the back of the class. It was currently lunchtime, and everyone was separated into their own little groups, enjoying their food together.

I, however, sat alone. Just me and my small boxed lunch comprising of rice, grilled fish, vegetables, and some miso soup. All I needed was my lunch for the company. Who needed friends while you had some delicious miso soup?

Not me, that's who.

As I ate, I looked over to the table where the chattering students talked and saw an image of four turtle brothers on the main cover alongside the rest of the included stories' main characters.

It shouldn't be hard to guess what famous story I brought to life in the form of a Shonen manga. It was none other than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I'm in a world where stories like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, One Peace, and several other famous works don't exist. But I chose to start with the tale of the four turtle brothers, not because it was easy, but because I wanted to establish my first initial loyal fan base.

You see, there is very little mutant-type representation in media. Well, unless you count Godzilla, I mean, Godzillo. But he's Godzillo, and this meant that those with quirks that transformed their bodies beyond their control had very few stories that showed them off in a heroic light. Whenever they did show up, they were often shown off as the enemy or major villains.

But imagine their shock when a new story of four mutant brothers fighting for Justice as heroes came out of nowhere to rock the manga world. It was no surprise that my manga was an overnight success with around 40% of the population! 

People couldn't get enough of my story, and the sheer internet buzz was explosive. There were theories, fan art, and even some fan fiction as well. The sheer number of sales from my first volume caused my bank account to swell up.

Add up the great numbers The Hunger Games is making in sales worldwide, and things are looking very promising for my future. Still, THG did have a rocky start that had me and my publisher sweating for a while.

The book didn't sell so well at first, but once I released my TMNT manga a week after the book's release, my fans couldn't help themselves but buy the book as well due to wanting to see what other stories Gege-sensei could tell. Thus boosting the book sales numbers! The book had gotten so popular that it even made it on the New York Times best-seller list.

Slowly but surely, I was building myself up as quite the prospective new author.

I couldn't wait until I released Harry Potter and Star Wars in a few months; this world wasn't ready for two of the greatest works of fiction to hit them.

"Ew, look at him. He has that creepy smile again."

"He's not gonna laugh like that other time again, is he?"

"So creepy."

Any happiness I felt immediately left me as two whispering girls looked at me with disgust from where they sat. I frowned and flipped them off, causing them to blush in indignation. They gave me a glare and turned away with a huff.

[+5 SP]

[+5 SP]

I wolfed down the rest of my lunch and placed my bento box away. I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling with boredom.

"Man, I hate school."

x x x

"Fuck! Nah, man, stop spamming!"

"Get good, you pleb!"

[+5 SP]

I glared at the mask-wearing Jin, or Twice, as I mashed the square button on my controller. No matter how many complex or diverse combos I had Ryu do, Jin was somehow able to get his character, Akuma, to dodge and avoid all my attacks.

"Haha! You were but a fool to think you could challenge me! He just needs some training! He'll get it!" Twice said as he changed personalities mid-fight, all the while knocking my health back with ease.

"Shut it, you Deadpool wannabe! I'll kick your ass today!"

The two of us were currently sitting on a couch in Jin's much cleaner and organized apartment. A pair of the controllers sat in our hands as we played the latest iteration of Street Fighter on my futuristic PlayStation 16.

This was a reoccurring activity the two of us did twice a week when we had some time off. Me from school, work, jujutsu stuff,f and Jin from his crime shenanigans, which mostly involved him working as a henchman for a local gang. But don't worry, he's not a bad guy. He's just trying to make ends meet.

Sometimes, we watched some movies or even walked around the city to mess with innocent civilians by playing harmless pranks on them. Like the time we put a fake spider in a guy's coffee, and he screamed like a little girl. Or when we pretended to be lost tourists and asked for directions to a place that didn't exist. We even grabbed some street food here and there and discussed the meaning of life when we saw a squirrel dry humming another squirrel.

It was a refreshing and pleasant experience for me to have a friend I could be myself with, thanks to his older age, considering I was in my early twenties when I died. So, having a brothat I could make crude jokes with was great.

It took a while for Jin to be comfortable enough with me in order for him to wear his mask in my presence, but when I proved to him that his different personalities didn't change my opinion of him. He became more open and relaxed. So whenever the two of us hung out at his place, he wore his mask almost all the time.

And let me tell you, talking to Twice was funny as shit.

"Eat shit, scrub! Good game, my friend!" Twice held out a hand for me to shake while his other hand made crybaby motions. I rolled my eyes and slapped his hand away, causing him to hold it against his chest with a pained expression. "Violence is never the answer. No, it's the solution!"

"Amen to that."

"Don't agree with him! Yes, agree to my ways!"

[+10 SP]

x x x

"Gahh, it's a villain!"

"Watch out!"

I landed on my perch on the edge of the rooftop and looked down below at the chaotic street to find a large man covered in jagged rocks. Despite this being a relatively busy street, this guy decided it was a good idea to start raining punches into the street, causing everyone close by to panic and run away in fear.

Who knew things in Naruhata were as hectic as they said?

"Well, this is weird," I muttered as I watched the seemingly out-of-control man destroy the sidewalk, causing a cloud of dust to rise all around him. "What's up with this guy? He trip or something?" I then looked down the road to see someone dressed in a... All Might hoodie with motorcycle protective gear?

"What is this? Clown hour?"

"I'm the man who charges into danger! The Crawler!" The weirdo, I mean the Crawler, said as he slid along the ground on all four limbs. His head perked up at the sight of the rampaging nut case, and he quickly came to a stop. "Wait... really? Isn't this guy..."

Landing on a traffic light several feet behind the Crawler was a girl maybe three or four years older than me dressed in a skin-tight black outfit with small bat wings on the small side of her back. She had pink hair pulled up in twin tails as a black painted-on mask sat over her eyes.

Huh, another one? Are these two new heroes or something?

I looked down at the crow beside me and squinted at him. "Oi, Crow Nanami. Didn't I tell you to look for crooks in isolated locations? This is too public."

(Hm, I originally found the large rock human a few blocks away in an isolated area. It seems he decided to move here for some reason.) Crow Nanami said as he tilted the small round sunglasses over his small eyes.

I nodded at his answer and didn't ask where he acquired those sunglasses for the sake of maintaining my fleeting sanity.

"I see..."

"Gagagaga! Y-you! You again! The C-Crawl... The Crawler!"

I turned my attention back down towards the crazed rock-enhanced man and the Crawler. It seemed that these two scrubs knew each other somehow. A fact that the Crawler took great pleasure in as he slid in and out of the larger man's attacks.

"Hear that? He called me Crawler! Not Cruller!"

"Stop looking so pleased! Most people wouldn't want villains remembering their names!" The pink-haired exhibitionist said to the Crawler.

The Crawler decided to take things a little more seriously as he began to carefully lead the rock man away from the populated area they were in and towards a more solitary location. The girl in the tight black suit pulled out a phone and stayed where she was while her apparent partner slid away.

Not a combat type, then.

"Crow Nanami," I said as I stood up from my spot and adjusted my black hood. I was wearing my sorcerer outfit, which was comprised of a thick black jacket, a long-sleeved white shirt, and a high collar underneath. I also wore black jeans and sneakers while my katana hung from my left belt hoop. Finally, Slaughter Demon was resting inside a shieth strapped to my back.

"Any news on that assignment I gave you and the others?" I jumped from rooftop to rooftop while keeping an eye on the Crawler and the so-called villain. Crow Nanami flew behind me and shook his head.

(I'm afraid we still have yet to find any humans with those bird-like masks. I'll be sure to expand my search, even if it means I'll have to work overtime.) Crow Nanami said with a sigh.

"Good, keep at it. I'll handle things from here. I want to see what these heroes can do." Crow Nanami nodded and flew off into the night.

Seeing the Crawler and the Rock Man come to a stop at a parking lot, I jumped down between two buildings and slid down one of the brick walls while claws made of my blood sank into the brick to slow my descent until I came to a full stop on the wall. With my blood claws as anchors, I was able to stay stuck on the wall under the cover of darkness.

Suck on that, Spider-Man!

Blood Manipulation was such a diverse and great technique!

I watched the ongoing fight with disappointment as the Crawler just continued sliding around to avoid the Rock Man's attacks. All the while, the pink-haired girl with some sort of jumping quirk watched while telling the watching public to call the police.

"Definitely not heroes. These two are probably Vigilantes." I muttered as The Crawler continued to not put up a fight. "Keep doing that, and you'll trip on all the holes you two made."

I didn't have to wait long before The Crawler's back foot fell into one of the craters the large Rock Man made with his attacks, causing the Crawler to trip. Seeing his opportunity, Rock Man pulled his arm back to finally crush the Crawler.

"Koichi!" The pink-haired girl shouted in worry just as The Crawler was about to be struck down.

"Koichi. Did she really shout his real name out loud?" I debated on whether to help these two clowns, but a fast-moving shadow moved towards the parking lot caused me to pause.

A loud metallic clang rippled through the air as a long-haired ninja with a triangle-like mask stopped Rock Man's punch using only his katana. Showing off an impressive amount of skill and strength. Rock Man took a step back, his face twisted in confusion, almost as if he couldn't believe his strike was blocked by a meager sword.

Not wasting a second, Mask Guy swung his katana at Rock Man's raised defense with aggressive slashes. Littering the larger man's rock-covered body in slices and cuts.

"Hoh, not bad." I grabbed the grip of my own katana and watched the ongoing fight with interest and some excitement. "He's pretty good."

"It's the cops!" The pink-haired girl cried out as the sounds of police sirens neared their location.

Hearing this, the once-rampaging Rock Man hightailed it out of the parking lot and away from the area. It didn't seem like The Crawler or Mask-Man were going after him. Instead, the three decided it was more important to chat.

"Um... thanks for the save. Who are you, exactly?" Koichi asked as he and his partner looked at Mask-Man.

"The name's Stendhal. Another meddler, just like you." Stendhal said as he sheathed his katana. Once Stendhal was done posing and looking cool, he then jumped away using an impressive amount of speed and jumping ability.

I leaped up onto the rooftops and began following after Stendhal with an excited grin on my face as the tell-tell signs of Flowing Red Scale covered my eyes.

I knew from the moment Stendhal showed up that he wasn't a hero.

No, the guy was practically radiating negative energy.

"Now then, where do you think you're going?"

-

AN:

With this chapter, our first poll to determine the romance aspect of the story has come to an end. I'll announce the results in the next chapter!

Now that I've had some time to see how this story is being received, here's how bonus chapters will work from now on.

300 PS - Bonus Chapter 1

600 PS - Bonus Chapter 2

1000 PS - Bonus Chapter 3

Until next time!