Chapter the Sixth

Third year anniversary of my new life and second year I've spent fighting monsters and devil for Public Safety. Roachman used to be a name no one knew. People looked down on me, laughed at me. The collar was the only reason a great many allowed themselves to say all that they said in regards to me.

Makima is still acting weird. It toned down a lot but it shouldn't last much longer. I remember having read somewhere that people stay in love for around four years and that they only stay together because of attachment and not actual romantic feelings after that… thought it still is love.

That leaves a bit over three years before she goes back to normal.

Things are so different in this new world. The merge between chainsaw man and OPM has led to very interesting results.

Every minor characters from both shows seem to be gone. The heroes and their ranking is mostly different, except for the S class and the A class. The devil hunters other than the protagonist group didn't really appear in Chainsaw man, at least, not in the anime, so I guess it isn't much of a loss for me here.

At some point I noticed how much larger the cities were than in my old world. I asked for a few history books and read them in my free time. Turns out because of so many people being around to stop both monsters and devils, humanity had a much easier time growing.

There are about Nine Billion people on this earth and it's only 2009!

Naturally, that means earth warming went absolutely crazy as well. But they got super powered individuals and devils to help so the problem got fixed by heroes now long gone to change the very make up of Earth's atmosphere.

This is probably one of the most OP abilities ever. The guy could have removed all of the oxygen and everything would have dropped dead!

Another think I wondered a lot about was Boros. If and when he shows up, I want to be strong enough to challenge him. Even if he wins, Saitama can take care of him after.

In the end, I did abuse Makima's situation. By asking her to let me train on my own in the mountains. Of course, she didn't accept the 'on my own' part but still. With all that added space, I can train harder and harder until I finally my limit.

I've been theorizing about what could happen should I empower myself after that. Either I just increase my potential and power, or I break my limiter entirely and become like Saitama, a very interesting idea…

Plus, I won't get bored of fighting since Saitama will be around to fight with me!

Worse case scenario, I'll empower him too!

And then there's Chainsaw man. If I empower Denji, does his devil form get stronger as well? And if I do so once he has reached his peak… will he too break his limiter?

This is all still in the realm of the theoretical but… 

Thinking of him, right now, I should be much stronger than he was in the anime. But since this is a merged verse, his power level might be increased to unforeseen heights.

Same for Power too. Makima is already much stronger than her counterpart… I think. I haven't reached that part in the manga, only got spoiled by a bunch of people on the internet.

Besides, its been years, I can't just perfectly recall everything about both shows/mangas!

The city center was being decimated. Alarms were going off everywhere. In a single attack, hundreds had lost their lives.

"Cower in fear, humans! For I am Dinosaur God!"

The individual in question was a humanoid lizard covered in green and orange scales. He was throwing fire balls all around, blowing up entire city blocks in the process.

Everyone that could come was called in, heroes or hunters, it didn't matter. Not in the face of such a threat.

"Stand back. Let the others allow us to evaluate his power level." Makima said.

Johnson, her, and a bunch of folk I dislike too much to ever remember the names off were standing on a roof, looking down at the carnage bellow. They were getting beaten and burnt to ashes down there. 

This guy is clearly powerful, and he's not even trying right now. I would have gladly jumped down there to help as many civilians as possible but Makima would just shock me.

"Scream in terror, humans! I am unstoppable!"

"Prepare yourselves. Jump in when I tell you to."

I felt fear for the first time in a long time. True fear. This guy can burn people! I might actually die for real if I can't regenerate!

But then, it saw us and smiled.

With a single strike, the whole building began to crumble. We had no choice but to attack now.

Using my wings, I flew towards the Lizard at full speed. I was intent on using my full power, and it was enough to push him back several feet away… If we're close in power, all of us together will definitely be able to take him.

Johnson activated his thunder gloves and sent attack after attack, me and the other close range fight directly jumped in at the creature as it… DODGED? This body building lizard had side stepped all of the bolts, catching one of the heroes attacking from behind mid air and punching a hole through his chest!

"Burn humans! You stand no chance against me! I am the champion of my kind, here to claim back the world from humanity's filthy hands!"

And he was still only playing around. In only a few moments, five more died, two by a single of his fire ball attacks.

I didn't have much of a choice but to fight once he turned his attention towards me.

"You… a monster fighting for humanity?!"

"Don't you see the fucking collar around my neck?

He laughed.

"Excuses. You should have been glad to die for monster kind!"

This mother fucker!

He dashed towards me, when I thought to have dodged, I saw the flames burning inside his mouth. You utter dumbass.

I kicked his jaw inwards and the flames blew inside of him. He wasn't injured but he was dazed enough for me to start combing him with left and right hooks, round house kicks and an a final kick downwards on his skull, destroying the floor beneath us.

Suddenly, I felt myself lift off of the ground. And my wings weren't moving.

I crashed through several buildings before staying stuck in the air. An esper?! 

And they in question floated into my field of vision. An ugly mf I tell you. 

"I… am Lobeausorus. And you… will die a very, very, VERY, very painful death."

"I don't think so." 

Ladies and gentlemen, the man, the myth, the legend John Johnson and his thunder gloves! The moment he sent his attack towards the ugly ass raptor, he had to focus on blocking the lightning, meaning that I was freed.

I dashed towards the lizard before piercing his huge cranium with my hand.

"Lets get back to the other–" An explosive blast cuts me off, high in the sky the Dinosaur God was growing by the second, he's scales were turning black and the flames emanating from his body were turning blue.

"You've got to be kidding." Said Johnson. "A disaster level Dragon turning into a fucking dragon?"

"Stop complaining, that's my job. Besides, it'll make for an epic story to tell the kids."

"Yeah, if we survive."

"Don't worry, Makima should get involved now."

Not even something that size could deal with her more powerful force attacks.

I grabbed Johnson by the left arm and flew with him towards the main battle. In an instant we were already there.

Things were getting so bad more heroes had shown up and the Dinosaur God was still growing in size and power.

"Behold, humans! My TRUE POWER! Bow before DRAGON GOD!"

So now it's a fair fight I guess.

Makima was done just watching things happen, finally. She had to get involved on something this big. She raised her finger to point at Dragon God. 

From this distance I can't hear shit but I already know she said "Bang!" Before a huge blast of force went crashing into the monster.

"It didn't even flinch?!"

The dragon flew forward at speeds greater than anything I've ever seen before, the sheer power of the impact of his fist obliterated several blocks. Makima probably wouldn't have survived if not for her dodging right before the impact.

She quickly sent forward more and more force attacks but nothing phased the dragon! He simply started to ignore her at one point, flying high into the sky and charging a fucking energy sphere!

"Enough. None among you can even stand a chance against me…"

Makima was still trying, using everything in her Arsenal. Nothing worked. She changed her target to the attack itself, which kept growing and growing.

"I will burn this city to THE GROUUUUND!"

But right before then, it dissipates…

"What in the name of GOD?! Who da–"

And I swear to god. A miniature black hole appears in the air and sucks him in just before vanishing just as fast.

No way…

A man is flying high over the city. Everybody knows who he is. Number one of the S class heroes, Blast.

It's always a fact that someone stronger is out there. I know that even though I'm very strong, I'm far for the strangest. Bit seeing that strength in action can sometimes be depressing.

Makima too was pretty pissed. She says she still had one way of dealing with Dragon God. I personally have no idea if her control would have worked. OPM God was the one who gave Dragon God his power after all.

And I'm pretty certain he was much weaker than Garou so that's a terrifying prospect for later. He wasn't In his cosmic form. Assuming any of those I've dubbed apostles can access that state with enough time and power.

If Makima had attacked while he was in his first form, we probably would have avoided a lot of the trouble.

And now I am back in my cell, left to wander… How can I get stronger? Without turning some shade of metal in the process. I still have room to grow physically.

If only I was allowed to make contracts with devils... But Makima won't let me!

The more failures I accumulate, the more it seems I'll be left with no choice… Just a few more years. A few more.

You have to understand, I'm not exactly eager to suffer unspeakable pain or die. I don't really need the power either, it's simply something I desire…

"Hey, Roach. Morning."

Another day, another visitation from the man, the myth, the lege– 

It wasn't him. There was a weird looking man drinking from a bottle in front of my cell. Who the… What is Kishibe doing here?!

"Sir… What the hell?"

"I'll make things simple. Makima says you're not growing as much as before…"

Oh. Well, well, well. Maybe ROB can be good after all!

I regret everything.

Just because you know I'll survive my head being blown off doesn't mean you should DO IT ALL THE TIME!

I'm so lucky I no longer have to wait three days to regenerate. Experimenting with my power has allowed me to increase my regeneration greatly. Now it's actually viable in combat… BUT EVEN STILL.

It hurts, man.

This guy is fucking brutal, definitely much stronger than his normal version. I mean we destroy everything around us when we fight! In this world, he's of course ranked as an S class. Yay for me.

… Okay, I say when we fight but what I really meant is when I get beaten up for a whole day only to start again the next. At least I've been improving a lot.

On the side, I still theorize on ways to use my power in combat without missing my opponents. Here are the things I figured out.

First, I can accelerate my regeneration, allowing me to grow back anything in a few minutes. Not the best speed but still much better than before.

Secondly, I can strengthen my own body, kind of like using Ki, it allows me to resist much more punishing attacks.

Thirdly, again much like Ki, I can actually blow stuff up! It's hard to explain but it's kind of like electricity. My power has two states, one makes things better and the other makes things worse.

The thing is that using anti Midas touch as I call it actually hurts me too. Ironically, unlike the normal touch, it's instant and doesn't cost anything other than my own momentary suffering. There are three states but all of them are permanent.

Lead is the equivalent of bronze in effectiveness.

Rust is the equivalent of silver in power.

Ash is the equivalent of gold. Absolutely devastating and hurts for days.

Naturally, these abilities are still a secret. But since I've got a much more active way of fighting enemies now, one that's extremely over powered… I feel like I can even the playing field again!

I'm surprised I didn't figure all this out sooner but now that I have, I'll train to endure the pain while on my own. Boros is still my objective and with this, I'm sure I'll be able to beat him when he shows up!

After a bunch more years of training, of course…

I woke up this morning feeling sore… Training day after day is harsh.

"Maybe I should just stop fighting and start running…?"

Getting tortured like this is hell…

"I hope you don't actually mean that, roach."

I turned around to see behind the glass of my cell Makima looking directly at me.

Shit!

"Miss Makima, I was talking about my training with Kishibe…!"

She was playing with the controller for my collar… you wouldn't dare, right? Not after all this time ?

"One year ago, we encountered an odd little devil, do you remember it?"

Oh… Oh, shit.

"The heart attack devil? What about it?"

"Don't you dare. You knew what it really was. Yet you didn't say anything to me. Why?"

"Hum… I wasn't sure?"

She chuckled.

"You know, all it took to break the effect was for someone to tell me what was going on. For a year, I didn't even realise I was under the control of someone other than myself… Because of you."

"..."

"You didn't do anything while I was under control of it's ability. Except dare to make a request of me. I'll let it slide."

Oh god…!

"But… you still cost me a year of focus on my goals. You will suffer for it."

OH GOD!

"Today, you'll be sparring with me again. But 'love' won't blind me this time. I will destroy you over and over again from morning till dawn."

She turned her back to me and took a few steps forward before abruptly stopping.

"Oh, and one more thing…"

I felt the electricity course through my being, I was agonizing! That woman…

I fell to the floor and felt my consciousness sink into the pain.

Makima is like a wolf. She likes to show dominance. So when our fight started like a casual one, I should have expected her first thing would be to send me FLYING through the ENTIRE city, into the giant forest.

With her second attack, she sent me crashing through one of the golden trees like those weren't highly valued treasures of the country!

With her third attack, she pushed me further into the earth, breaking EVERY SINGLE BONE IN MY BODY.

WHY?!

I have to fight back but I can't. Every attack make, she parries and punishes severely. Then she waits for me to regenerate and starts OVER AGAIN!

I was seriously panicked at that point. I was getting absolutely obliterated. This was her full power… and she wasn't even trying to kill me!

It went on for hours like that. Over and over again… Here I was thinking Kishibe was evil… No. She just actually wants to make me suffer. He was being freaking merciful.

I've been beaten up badly before but this is getting ridiculous. I genuinely can't stand it anymore.

I'm done. I don't even know why I keep doing this to myself. She's just taking advantage of my own stupidity.

I'm not mad at her or at Kishibe. I'm not mad at anyone. Other than my own self.

What do I even lose if they figure it out? Is not getting experimented on really worth this amount of torture? I think not.

I am done.

After another complete regeneration, I stand up to my feet and prepare for the next strike.

It's painful, but just before she hits me in the gut armor, I focus a moderate amount of downgrade power and as she strikes and sends me through the already decimated floor… She finds herself unable to combo!

The skin on her fist slowly turns into lead and she screams in agony. 

"What the hell…?!"

I won't answer you. The wonderful thing about fear is that the less they know, the greater they fear. If there is one devil I would hate to meet, it would be the unknown devil.

"Roach, answer me."

She's handling the pain quite well. I guess it's to be expected. It's clear her hacks have to do with it. She's even healing from the effects, something that shouldn't be possible, at least, to my knowledge…

Wait…! Oh that bitch is trying to shock me! Can't you just use your power on me instead? Does she really think me that unworthy of the effort?

I poured the negative power on the choker and it instantly disintegrated. There! For a moment, she looked shocked… I'm starting to feel like an attention whore…

"How did you…? Explain. Right now."

"I was about to explain, just let me! Its a new ability I learned recently."

"I can cause degeneration to anything I touch… and also improve them."

"... So it was you? The gold devil?"

Lame ass name. Who even has the fear of gold??

"I'm clearly not one. I'm a monster through and through."

"All these years and you were right under our noses… We stop the fight. Don't get things wrong. I can still beat you but the potential cost… would be too great."

Aka, she can't win without dying a bunch of times. Every fatal wound she suffers is transferred to a random Japanese citizen. Plus, my power is absolute. You get leaded, you suffer a lot, you get rusted, you'll prefer to die and if you get ashed… GGz.

That means someone just got covered in lead instead of her and is suffering in agony.

"Did you acquire this power through a contract?"

"Nope."

"... Then how? This… Even super humans of the hero association cannot do such things."

"Who cares how or why. In this world, not all things are under our… Control."

She scowled, then smirked.

"You aren't going to tell anyone so what do you gain by revealing that you know? How did you even learn the truth?"

"We aren't done yet. I'm taking the whole Public Safety building and everyone in it hostage."

As if. But that surprised her. She remained silent for a while before finally signing in resignation.

"What do you want?"

"Actual fucking food, even prisoners eat better than me– And don't pull that monsters don't have rights bull! I want to have a computer with internet access. Most importantly, I want to be allowed to make contracts with devils."

"Alright, this is acceptable. Now let's get going, I don't want to be late for tonight's premier of Sharknado."

… I… Have no words.