Chapter 12: The Wolf and Shepherd's Dog

With one swing of his cocoon bat, Garou whacked Death Arm's head. With another swing, he smacked Midnight flying towards the adjacent wall. In her flight, her body busted through the stone wall, disappearing inside as she groaned within the shadows.

Unsatisfied, Garou rasped with burning fury as he shot his sight at the other heroes. His debt to the Heroes barely dwindled. He still had much to repay - with violence and blood.

He had no more mercy to spare for them. All of it died the moment they blatantly dared to hold his things hostage.

Those groceries wouldn't matter if it were any other day when he usually returned after preying on his daily Hero or villain to sate his boredom. However, the landlord returned home at a surprise visit.

Regrettably, she stood at the zenith of Ghin's patented 'hierarchy,' the alpha and the omega of the household. He will not let an inconvenience screw him over of a chance at a good life. He had yet even to see the line that leads to the other side.

Thus, playtime was over. It was time to finish the meal.

He stepped on the one called Kesagiriman, pressing his head deeper into the hard, abrasive stone. Garou poured more strength into his sole, wanting Kesagiriman to suffer from palpable regret as he dined on his groans of pain.

Amidst the chaos, the sun bade itself farewell in the darkness. It was as if it refused to witness the horror any further; thus, it allowed the night to dominate the heavens with its darkness as the street lights danced to life and the stars to dot the veil.

After exterminating the pests, Garou glared at the only Hero standing - the old dwarf. The mere sight of him darting his eyes in search for ways to dance around to his most valuables infuriates Garou.

"…you wouldn't hurt an old man, would you?"

No mercy.

Closing the distance faster than a blink, Garou kicked the old man in the chin as if kicking a soccer ball. With a loud crash filled with fractured glass, the yellow shorty disappeared through a broken window of which he shattered with his skull.

All the heroes are defeated. Garou stood amidst his work, taking in his overwhelming victory. He felt a tinge of pride of satisfaction that he crushed their hopes with unrelenting cruelty, but it died as fast as it arrived.

There was no point in their defeat in the end. None of the heroes were strong, even this country's Second-best Hero - pests that could only waste his time at best.

He slammed his cocooned weapon headfirst into the stone until almost half of the mummy's upper half rested under the earth while his lower half jutted heavenward.

After waiting two seconds, Garou pulled him out, glaring at his 'tool' as the bandages around the head started to bleed crimson.

"Do you regret everything now?" Garou asked.

The Mummy muffled something similar to a 'Uh-huh' in response.

"Good."

Twirling Mummy until grasping his ankle, Garou slammed the packaged meat sack on the ground left and right, making sure he slapped Eraserhead's face in each swing.

The sound of tenderizing meat soothed his ears, drowning the furtive approach of the newcomers entering the fray.

After he finished bashing the fruit roll-up, Garou hoisted Mummy up with a light toss until he held his midsection with a crushing vice grip, his fingers pulverizing the ribs and organs almost into a juicy pulp.

Eraserhead hissed from the palpable pain, trying to quell the scream from tearing itself out his throat. He almost failed as he grunted in audible pain as his scarf drowned his voice from the outside world.

"Time for a second dip. Hope you like the taste of rock candy."

Before Garou can pile drive him into the earth again, a shouting voice called out for his attention.

"F-Freeze!"

An unfamiliar voice graced the demon's ears.

'More heroes?' Garou did not sense any notable presences other than-

"Oh, they didn't." Snarling with flashing teeth, Garou whipped his focus back to his things.

"You bastards actually had the balls."

The police army actually moved in while He indulged himself in the violence - when he ran away from his things to kick the last hero into the window.

The fodder surrounded his things, guns aimed at the bags behind a line of glass pavises - all trembling with shaking knees.

"You do know you have crossed the line?" Garou pointed out.

He did not relish tormenting the police. In fact, he never considered them worthy enough to him. Now they were irritating like pebbles in his shoes.

None of the quivering men could respond. They crossed the forbidden line without any shred of a plan.

Now that they have Garou's attention, they can only imagine Garou chewing them to pieces like his previous victims, only this time, his mood fell to its absolute nadir.

"Not gonna comment on your entering the monster's den now?" With a flick of his arm, Garou dropped his Mummy until he caught its ankles as its head bonked the concrete.

"Ow." The mummy groaned, receiving too much head trauma even to process the current dilemma.

"Time to see if a hero skull is harder than a riot helmet."

Speaking his peace, Garou sauntered to the brave maggots, dragging his Mummy along the concrete. His moans of pain droned with each step as the pavement abraded his face and blood smearing a straight line in his wake.

"Stop right there, Garou!"

A dog standing on two feet emerged from the trembling sheep, stepping forth between him and them as their shepherd.

Garou stopped as ordered, not out of intimidation but curiosity as he sized the man from head to toe. No matter how he looked at the dog man, he was nothing special, Quirk or not.

"Aren't you too frail to be brave?" Garou mocked.

He was even weaker than most of the scum he hunted since his beginnings in this world.

The dog man grimaced. Garou caught his hands clenching as if trying to quell his fear. No matter how brave a front he displayed, Garou wasn't sold by his attempt at valiance.

"...I am Kenji Tsuragamaea. I stand as the Chief of the Police Force assigned with the Heroes currently present."

Garou blinked once, tilting his head in confusion.

"So? Don't tell me you're begging for the lives of the sheep behind you?" Garou asked, his gaze drifting to the line of men behind him.

"...No."

His answer caught Garou's attention.

"Oh? Then for what?"

"I am here to negotiate on their behalf."

The dog man's response failed to sink in. Garou stared at him for a few seconds, trying to process his words. The same went for the other members behind the dog man, as they looked at him with equal confusion.

Silence dawned in the post-twilight, the streetlights shining onto their forms like spotlights in a stage as the darkness finally took hold of Japan's sky as nights slowly dotted the nightly veil.

"Eh?"

"Kenji-san?"

"Neg-Negotiate?"

The men muttered amongst themselves, breaking the brief, awkward silence with questions and doubt.

"Excuse me?"

What the man before him said defied his expectations as well as escaped the borders of common sense.

---------

Kenji closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves and steel his focus. He opened not a second after, gazing into the eyes of the demon holding Eraserhead as if he was a toy to break at his leisure.

"The hell are you saying? Negotiate? With what? I could obliterate you all in a matter of seconds - hell, slaughter you into pork cutlets if I wanted."

Kenji did not deny his words. He can imagine the Hero Hunter doing that with a flick of his arm, slicing him and his men behind him and parting their upper halves from the lower others as their blood and organs painted the street with crimson failure.

"Indeed. But if you do, the government of Japan will never leave you alone, Garou. To this day, you have never harmed a civilian or officer of the law. Because of this, we could spare time to clean up the mess you left since your beginnings."

Kenji must play this right. He could feel his sweat wetting the hairs of his fur. If he slipped, Japan would lose everything.

"Are you threatening me?"

Garou responded with a show of might. He did not spare Kenjiro and his men as he crashed his overwhelming presence upon them all.

It was standing at the bottom of the sea. Kenjiro can feel the weight of an entire ocean trying to crush his soul.

He nearly fell to his knees as fear broke through the dam and drowned his courage in a bottomless sea of infectious black. But he held his breath under pressure, wringing out every fiber of his being to stand firm - even as his men fell one by one behind him, their strength washed away by his standing power.

Once pausing enough to catch his breath, Kenji answered, "No. I am warning you. If you harm us, you will never walk the streets untroubled ever again. Depending on what you do at this moment, the Prime Minister will authorize the movement of even the military, and All Might against you."

"Hah! Yeah, right. As if Muscles can't help you."

Click!

As if to intimidate Garou, some of his men, powering through the subjugating air, in the back primed their firearms, ready to fire at the slightest sign of hostility.

"Oh, you little shits." Garou did not take the threat lightly.

Kenji furiously attempted to rethink his strategy. Not only did the mere mention of All Might failed to faze this monster, but his men's attempt to threaten him also damaged his temperance.

He decided to target something else, to see how he'll react.

"Even if you don't fear All Might, you still won't walk the streets a free man ever again. You'll be hunted by armed forces day by day. You will never have peace again."

Kenji decided to follow this route. He nearly bit his tongue when Garou's frown fell into a scowl as his oppressive aura doubled in intensity in response to his rage. He did not know how long his spirit can hold out at this point. His legs were already starting to give in to the spiritual weight.

"So you want to join the pile?" Garou threatened as his rage spiked threefold the intensity, to the point where they could almost feel his aura scalding their skin.

"I understand you don't like others bothering you, and you already defeated our heroes without breaking a sweat, which is why I am proposing… a ceasefire." Kenji hoped Garou would take it. He really hoped he wouldn't reject it.

Kenji did not want to become one of the first officers of the Police Force to join the growing mountain of victims piled, his men even more so.

"Hah?" Garou's face scrunched with confusion, a jaw hung and his left eye narrowing.

Garou released them from his aura's hold, finally allowing them the freedom to breathe as many Officers collapsed to their knees and gasped for air like a fish on dry land. Kenji half-stumbled, almost dropping down and gasping with his men.

He quickly picked himself up before he dropped down a certain height. As Kenjiro stood up, his breathing now heavy but relaxed, he met Garou's condescending gaze as he slowly regained his strength.

"...are you screwing with me?" Garou asked, his eyes now narrowing in a dangerous glare.

Kenji shook his head, not wanting to tell him that he scrounged this idea on the spot when his men joined the fray. Whatever happens, he'll let God decide his fate.

"No."

"You do know you have no leverage against me, right?" Garou reminded.

Kenji thought threatening his freedom was leverage enough.

"You're correct, but at this point, everyone will come after you. You will not only attract Japan's military, but also other nations into hunting you down. Are you sure you want to tread this path?"

Garou opened his mouth for a moment before he closed his jaw as his anger colored his mien once more.

"You have one chance to speak your mind." Garou threatened as his rage boiled the air around him.

Kenji could feel the familiar phantom heat again, albeit it wasn't as scalding as before. At least Garou spared Kenji the patience to listen and not explode in a violent rampage.

"If you spare us all and cease your 'hunts' for a mutually agreed period, we will abandon all efforts to take you in and remove all of our influence in Hosu. As long as you're in Hosu, the heroes and the Police Force will never take action against as long as you abide by our laws to a reasonable extent."

Garou's responded by parting his lips, displaying his gnashing teeth. Eraserhead groaned as Garou hoisted him over his nape.

"You think I'll let any of my prey go?"

"No. But unless you're ready to embrace the wrath of the entire world, I suggest you make your first exception."

The ambiance sparked with growing hostility.

Kenji stared at Garou, who stared back with hundreds of times the intensity.

"Are you making fun of me?" Garou threatened, his hand trembling with rage as veins started to pop under his skin, traveling from his arms to his temples as if struggling to contain his eternal wrath.

Kenji shuddered. He can almost see Garou's eyes glowing sulfur-gold, but even in the face of Fear itself, Kenji must see this through.

If not for him, then for those around him.

"No. I am not. I doubt you'll get another opportunity like this again. So… what do you choose?"

The Chief of Police wondered if his superiors will even follow through. He didn't prepare his phone to record his situation, and he doubted he could sneak his plan past Garou's perception.

So he waited for the Hero Hunter's response, to choose between peace for all or all-out war.

The man turned his head, switching his focus from his men to the fallen heroes around them. Garou slowly spun his neck back to him, and then his gaze drifted to the men behind him.

His face was like an iron mask.

Kenji could barely read him. He cannot tell what thoughts swam behind his head as Garou stood before him face to-

'Wait, when did he-'

Kenji could not finish asking himself when Garou closed in so fast as the monster grabbed his throat. He choked, but not a single word escaped past Garou's grip.

"""Chief!"""

He heard his men shouting his name, the sound of firearms clicking and them shuffling into firing positions.

Staring in his eyes, Garou lifted Kenjiro from the earth, holding him up in a chokehold as Kenji grabbed Garou's wrist. He tried to free himself, be it hitting his arm or wrenching himself free, and none had worked.

"Of all the things I've encountered, this is the first time I've seen anyone this dumb to threaten me with promises you can't keep. Do you think I didn't notice? You have no power even to keep your promise, do you? Do your so-called bosses up there even know what you're doing, or did you just came up with this shit on the spot?"

Kenji gagged as he kicked Garou's chest to no avail. He could feel his strength slipping as Garou's grip tightened its hold on his windpipe.

"Give me one reason why I should accept the promise of a retarded dog that can't even keep his word?"

Kenji struggled to force a response, but Garou's fingers continue to dig into his throat, pushing back all response to stay back with no exceptions.

"Because…"

Another voice joined the conversation.

Kenji gasped as he struggled to steal a glance at the newcomer. His vision was starting to blur, but he could make out the figure.

Gran Torino crawled out of the door of the building Garou kicked him in. Glass shards protruded from his costume, spilling trickling blood down his arms.

Gran Torino was clutching his left arm, as if it was broken, and limping on one leg with great effort to step into his aid.

"…if you do, there will be a hero that can stand against you one day." Gran Torino offered, coughing blood after ending his sentence.

"Hoh?" Garou finally released Kenji from his grasp.

Falling to his knees, Kenji clasped his throat and coughed in his much-needed oxygen.

"You said there's a guy out there that can face me? Name him."

Standing up with difficulty, Kenji saw Garou walk towards Gran Torino, towering over the old hero and looking down at him - no pun intended.

Kenji wondered what it was like, to look at fear straight in the eyes as it overshadowed him with a gaze that promised him a beating of a lifetime should he slip.

Gran Torino paused. A silent stillness permeated the air, minus Garou's eyes were grazing the small hero's spirit to answer.

"...he is not yet ready. But in time, he will defeat you." Gran Torino stated.

"..."

Garou continued resting his eyes on the hero. He was now appraising him, scrutinizing him for signs of deceit.

"Oh, really?" Garou spoke with a vestige of interest, albeit not without disbelief thrown in the mix.

Kenji didn't sound convinced as well. Was there a hero out there that can defeat this monster? There were no notable heroes as far as he was concerned, none that showed promise of overcoming the Hero Hunter.

"Alright, I'll play your game."

"Even if I fall, he will… wait, repeat that." Gran Torino asked.

His eyes flinched into blinking several times as confusion decorated his face.

"Heh, you deaf. I said I'd take it." Garou repeated his answer, but it still failed to sink in.

Kenji shared that same expression as he finally processed Garou's answer.

"...hah?"

Raising his foot, faster than neither Gran Torino nor Kenjiro can react, Garou slammed the heel of his sole into the concrete. For Kenji, his ax kick didn't exist until the world at his left crumbled into ruin and dust.

Kenji looked back at Garou. The ruined buildings, the fractured landscape of what once was an urban metropolis, all of it was but a demonstration of his power.

"Truthfully, I am quite bored these days. But since you're so nice to talk, let me set a few ground rules. Or else this will happen to your precious Japan." Garou threatened back a thousandfold.

"...name them."

Kenji leaked a sweat into his fur.

'...at least I have a valid excuse to justify my actions with the higher-ups.'

Unfortunately, that was his only consolation. He waited for Garou's demands.

---------

Garou looked at his work, marveling at the destruction. His months of diligent training paid off in full in the form of a decimated block holding crumbling buildings and cracking stone.

If his estimate was accurate, it should crush all the buildings in that block and that block alone. As far as he knew, all the presence there were nonexistent at this point. There were way too many empty buildings in Hosu, according to Ghin.

He didn't sense any presence inside the structures around him, more than enough reason to use them as a demonstration. The city needs no wasted land as far as he knew.

"Don't bother me as long as I'm in Hosu. Heroes and government lackeys included. You know what I'm talking about." Garou narrowed his eyes and flicked his free arm, firing another blast of air as he punched a clean hole inside another apartment building.

He watched as the dog man glanced at the pristine hole, not a single crack spreading from the circle's perimeter. He caught him gulping in his throat as if trying to quell the unease.

"Also, never jump the gun when I'm outside Hosu. I still haven't had my fill of victims."

The dog man flinched at his demand.

"We will not let you add more heroes to your blasted pile!"

At the end of his declaration, his men primed their respective guns and aimed them towards the Hero Hunter, ready to fire when ordered.

"Calm down. Who said I'm hunting heroes?"

The dog man slowly calmed upon hearing that as the guns lowered.

"...you want to continue hunting villains?"

"Bingo."

The dog man had a look of confusion.

"...may I ask the reason?"

"I need something to keep me entertained until the big bad hero shows up. Besides, not like you lot even care about them anyway."

The dog man looked offended by Garou's remark. Garou could see his teeth gnashing through the gaps of his lips.

Garou was well-aware that he was twisting his ethics with warped accusations. He relished his reaction to his delight.

"You cannot complain if anyone of you dares come to me. If I find a hero that openly challenges me, don't expect any mercy. Do nothing as I make an example of them."

"...grrrr…" The dog man growled, his hymn more dog than man.

"Ahahaha! Nice response! Lastly, don't piss me off." Garou's smile fell to a glowering frown, murderous intent replacing his mood as it killed the tension saturating the air.

The dog man stopped growling as his face stiffed into a rictus.

"...elaborate." He reluctantly asked.

"If one of you guys ever dare to cross the line in your annoying world of politics, I will add you and every government official in this wretched nation into the pile. Don't expect All Might or the entire world to save you."

With a violent throw, Garou slammed his Mummy into the street, planting him into the stone as his toy groaned under the earth. The sound of bone breaking through the hard concrete made the dog man and his lackeys wince as they look at Mummy with pity.

As reasonable as his deal was, Garou had no incentive that they'll keep their word, so he resorted to a show of force and threats from a magnitude that not even those running the country could ignore.

As much as he hated to admit it, his carelessness did nearly screw him of his dinner and a chance to earn the man-eater's favor. He preferred an excellent roof and hot meals three times per day.

Thus, he took advantage of this opportunity, but not without extorting their pitiful excuse of a retreat bone-dry.

He already crushed around half of the top ten heroes by now at this point, which spoke volumes of disappointment. He wrung the land of its bounty already, of all the challenges it had to offer.

The heroes were barely worth his time anymore other than cheap toys to amuse himself.

He already had his fill of C-Class level heroes like Mumen Rider, he tired of B-Class and A-Class equivalents after mowing down hordes of them in his wake, and the only hero that could finally fulfill his requirements was a crippled man at the brink of retirement.

Garou still did not know what the hell happened to All Might. He can feel the damaged lung and the missing portions of his stomach. His only conjecture was that All Might fought a compelling villain in the past, and he either lost to that villain or defeated the villain at a high cost.

That or he had a blunderous accident of great magnitude from his carelessness. He cannot imagine All Might somehow stepping on a landmine and blowing himself up.

If the pond was almost fished empty of life, so why not let the survivors mature and fill the lake once again?

That was why Garou decided to back off and seemingly take the deal, but not without saving face and twisting this chance into his favor. He did not want to sacrifice his image for peace anyways. Plus, he needed time to deal with the lion for a woman back in his base. Appeasing her for her favor would probably be his most difficult challenge yet.

"…acknowledged."

The dog man looked sour like he was forced to swallow the vomit churning within his throat.

His men probably shared that feeling as Garou savored their bitterness.

"Now get out of my face." Garou started walking past the dog and towards his groceries.

The armored police force parted before Garou, now afraid of setting him off by the slightest chance.

"The fate of your justice depends on what I see in the news, and what you lot do afterward.

Garoua picked up his groceries and inspected the contents. Luckily, not a single product was harmed.

He sighed in relief before walking further down the street, no longer paying the men behind him any more attention.

He then realized that he was running a little late. Quickly, he hugged his bags to his chest to safeguard before he sprinted to his abode with all his might.

To Kenji and the others, Garou vanished like the wind, nary a trace of him in their vision.

"…men…" Kenji broke away from the empty spot where Garou once stood and turned to his men.

"What you've all done is foolish. Enough for me to fire you all for insubordination."

The Police Force in SWAT gear collectively hung their heads. They all acted on their instincts and justices. None weren't ready to lose their jobs and careers.

"…but I must also commend you all, for not only standing up to the monster but also somehow saving the heroes from a gruesome fate."

Multiple sighs of relieves left their lips. The men dropped down onto their rears, exhausted both physically and mentally.

"Ahhh, I thought my heart would stop."

"I thought he's just a hoodlum..."

"That guy isn't human."

The men complained, finally relieved from facing that monster - although Kenji wondered why the man did not merely slaughter them like with the heroes.

'A code of honor? Or…'

Kenji could not tell. A thought to contemplate for another time. They have heroes to tend to and ferry to the hospitals.

Worse, Kenji must construct a viable report for his superiors, and an argument strong enough to convince them to follow through.