CH.14

OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY

TIME: 4:45AM

Both Genos and Tatsumaki stood feet from each other, glaring face to face at one another. There were at the canyon as Genos had stated to Tatsumaki before. And now with no other person around to intervene, the two former experiments of Oxform Labs stood still in the chilly coldness of the night with tension clearly between them.

"You actually made." Genos said. "For a moment, I believed that –"

"Enough with the chit-chat, I want answers." Tatsumaki stated in a demand. "My life is fine as it is now without someone from Oxform Labs coming to screw it up. Now tell me what you want!"

"I see." Genos said calmly. "Then I guess a formal talk is out of the question. I understand. The way I came was hostile, which was the intention. You see…the reason I'm here is for one purpose alone. I'm here to eliminate you,"

Tatsumaki suddenly burst out laughing. It caught Genos slightly off guard, as even he was surprised by her action. But then, when she calmed down and looked at him, it seemed a realization came to her.

"Wait…you're actually serious." She said.

"I am." Genos replied. "The threat you pose on this country…no, the world is too great to ignore, I will now eliminate you, so –"

Genos was then suddenly caught off. This was obvious when his entire body was flung to a huge boulder, with his body in a form that resembled modern art.

"Are you fucking stupid?!" Tatsumaki yelled. Her body was with a green aura, while her arm was extended to the stuck cyborg. "First, you come to my workplace and threaten me and then you make me wake up early in the morning just to say you want to eliminate me! Don't talk like you're above me! I can crush you right now if I wanted to, but luckily for you I don't feel like it! Now never bother me again!"

Tatsumaki then released her hold on Genos. The cyborg fell to the ground on his arms and knees as expected, while Tatsumaki turned away. However, not a single part of him seemed to surrender, especially as he stood up with his right arm straight at her direction.

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponent like that." He said.

"Huh?" Tatsumaki turned.

However, there was little time for the girl to react. Genos indeed had something under his sleeve, as it was then revealed when he shot a metal collar from his wrist that immediately attached itself around Tatsumaki's head, particularly her forehead area.

"Hey! What the hell?!" Tatsumaki responded with shock. She could feel the metal around her head, and thus tried to pull it off with her hands with no success.

"Now I have a chance against you." Genos suddenly said. He caught Tatsumaki's attention upon saying that, and continued. "The collar on your head taps into your mind, the source of your quirk. It won't diminish it, that is a feat that is impossible, but it will distort your focus of attack on me since it's linked with my core. In other words…you can't use your quirk directly against me, and even if you can it won't be at your full percentage."

"Bastard…" Tatsumaki cursed angrily.

Now the green haired girl understood. The collar around her forehead was there to stay whether she liked it or not. She could try to pin the cyborg again, however before she knew it, he suddenly moved into a battle stance with certain parts of his body heating up and releasing fierce steam.

Tatsumaki knew what was coming up next. Genos was preparing to fight her, and it was likely he wasn't going to hold back. Hence, in that moment, the girl summoned her quirk, which of course made her body to be covered in a green aura as she then moved into a stance.

Now in that moment, both combatants did nothing. They stood still, powering themselves up and glaring at the other like they were expecting the other to attack. It wasn't odd to them though, as it was clear that both of them didn't want to underestimate the other. Hence, it was Genos who attacked first.

An opening seemed obvious for the Demon Cyborg when he acted. He flew straight at Tatsumaki with a straight kick, but found that immediately dodged when she bent backwards. However, to counterattack this, he shot both flames from his palms to halt his movement and do a spin and kick at Tatsumaki again. But like before, the esper dodged his attack, this time by bending forward.

However, the fight was far from over. Genos was able to land a few feet from Tatsumaki, but in a timing that gave the esper a chance to attack. Hence, it was at that moment that she faced him while fully standing again and then raising her right arm up to levitate two boulders from the ground.

Now there was little time to attack, especially when Tatsumaki levitated herself a few feet in the air. She had the Demon Cyborg in her sight, when she suddenly sent the boulders straight at him at remarkable speed. However, to her then mild shock, Genos leapt upwards onto that boulder and used that one to leap on top the other and then head straight at Tatsumaki.

'What?! How?!' Tatsumaki expressed in shock.

"Machine gun blows!" Genos shouted.

The moment he said that, Tatsumaki received some beating. Her aura was able to form as a form of shield, but she was still able to feel the consecutive fast punches that the Demon Cyborg unleashed at her. Hence, with a loud cry, Tatsumaki hit the ground on her back while Genos landed on his feet safely.

"Hmph!" Tatsumaki uttered as she sat up. Her body was okay, with the same for her dress. However, the look on her face was now a scowl. "Now you've pissed me off!" She yelled.

The power oozing from the esper was incredible with each passing second. Her hair released itself from the ponytail while the ground shook violently. Genos was surprised by it all, but remained on his guard especially at what the esper then did. She caused every rock, be it big, small or a pillar to suddenly rise from the ground and face the Demon Cyborg. Then, with a single push of her hand at him, they all went straight at him.

At this point, Genos was in a tight spot. There was no way from his to evade the attacks since they were coming from all directions. But surprising, none of these fazed him in the slightest. He had his focus on Tatsumaki, when he suddenly began running towards her.

'Idiot! You'll be crushed!' Tatsumaki thought.

However, the esper was then proven wrong. Her attacks from all corners were coming for him but surprising most of them missed him. But if that wasn't enough, a few boulders that came for his front were suddenly used as leaping stands by the cyborg to get into the air above Tatsumaki and raise his fist back to come down on her.

Tatsumaki didn't seem fazed by him though. She could see him coming closer down on her with a scowl on her face. So before the Demon Cyborg knew it, she suddenly levitated herself backwards into the air and watched what happened next. The ground Genos was about to come down on suddenly opened up like a huge rift and caused the Demon Cyborg to fall in.

However, it didn't end there. Tatsumaki was the cause of the rift, as obvious when she straightened herself in the air and pressed her fingers at each other. As a result, the rift closed on the cyborg and she landed on her two feet safely.

"Hmph! Serves him right." Tatsumaki said with no remorse. "Maybe now I can go home and –"

Something suddenly felt off. Tatsumaki didn't like it, but she turned to the area she had supposedly crushed the cyborg, only to then sensed an odd power. Fortunately, she was able to react when she saw a glow in the ground that seemed headed straight for her. Hence, she flew out of the way and watched as a huge blast passed her and destroyed the top of a cliff.

"Bastard! You set me up!" Tatsumaki yelled.

Just then, Genos shot out of the ground and landed on the ground with a skidding spin. His attention was back at Tatsumaki once again, though this time it was clear that the fight was not over yet.

'I have to do something quick.' Tatsumaki thought. 'I can take this guy down eventually, but I hate wasting time. And worse of all, this damn collar on my head is clearing messing with my quirk, which is why I couldn't hit him with that an all around attack…Wait a minute, I get it now."

An idea had now popped into Tatsumaki's mind. It made her come to a quick conclusion as she then called to Genos.

"Hey! You!" Tatsumaki shouted. "Tell me, this thing on my head affects my quirk when it comes to long range attacks right? So what happens when I get front and personal?"

Genos's eyes widened. He didn't mean it, but it wasn't like he could've stopped it upon the conclusion the girl had made. As such, his reaction was the answer Tatsumaki needed before a smirk formed on her face and her body began to glow its usual green.

So in that instant, Tatsumaki flew straight at him in remarkable speed. She had her focus straight at him as there was no indication that she would slow down. But even if she did, Genos raised his palm at her and unleashed a fiery energy beam at her.

"This should slow her down." He said.

However, the cyborg was wrong. Tatsumaki suddenly flew right through the beam, much to his then shock, and wrapped her arms around his chest before he could react. Then next thing he knew, she sent him and her straight into the bottom of a cliff and began rapidly punching him at the face with a lot of effect.

The skin parts of Genos's face were tearing off with metal dents slowly showing. However, before Tatsumaki could finish, Genos suddenly grabbed her by the neck and used his shoulder repulsors to shoot out of the mountain. Then, with Tatsumaki still in his grasp, he sent her crashing to the ground with such great force that parts of the earth broke apart and flew to different directions.

But the cyborg wasn't done yet. He removed his hand from Tatsumaki and raised his palm at her, which was now charging up another energy beam.

"Incinerate." He said.

However, the cyborg didn't go through with his plan. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but rather it was because he was stopped. Tatsumaki had suddenly shot her aura covered leg to kick his arm just in time, hence causing him to misfire at another cliff instead. But if that wasn't enough, the esper suddenly wrapped her legs around the cyborg's other arm and sent him head first into the earth.

The time for the cyborg to then got up was short, but enough for Tatsumaki to get back on her feet. It was obvious when she actually did it just in time to show her scowl and dirty clothes. However, before she could do anything, Genos did bring his head out and swiftly shot yet another fiery blast at the esper at such a close range.

A part of Genos hoped that this would deal the final blow. However, the cyborg was soon proven wrong. He would've gotten Tatsumaki, but she had her hand raised at the blast to shield herself. Then, with that same scowl on her face, she went forward to the cyborg with her hand still shielding her and the blast from Genos still ongoing and grabbed his palm, much to his pain and shock.

However, there was nothing the cyborg could do. Tatsumaki crushed his hand with that single grip and then pulled his entire arm out from the rest of his body. Then, before he could react, she grabbed him by the neck, flew up into the air and then sent him crashing down on the ground with her still holding him. But if that wasn't enough, she suddenly flew him through the surface of the earth in remarkable speed and flew over a cliff, where she then threw him over with some brute force to the ground.

A loud boom was of course heard when the cyborg made collision. The amount of damage he sustained from Tatsumaki was then obvious when he struggled to get up. Hence, in that moment, his badly damaged robotic body, partially destroyed blonde hair and skin could be seen in the open.

"I…I have to get up. I can't give up here…I won't let the good doctor down." Genos said strongly. "He told me I shouldn't engage her in battle, but…it's too late for regrets now…"

Tatsumaki was now coming down at the cyborg. At the same time, she was letting out a fierce battle cry while having her arms drawn back for a huge beat down on the cyborg. However, even at that moment, Genos raised his remaining arm at her and began to charge it up.

"I'll give it my best shot and then…I'll end it." He said strongly.

The stakes were now high, even more than before. So in that moment Tatsumaki came down, Genos unleashed a blast bigger than any he had done before. He was certain at that moment that it would be enough to take down the esper. However, to his upmost shock, the girl charged right through it with a furious face and voice and came down on with a devastating collision.

The ground shock violently, with a dust cloud immediately formed. At first nothing was certain, as there was no voice or sight of either combatant. But then, when the dust cloud cleared, Tatsumaki was revealed to be standing in a huge crater with the top half of Genos's damaged body in her hand by his neck.

So…what was that about eliminating me?" Tatsumaki asked coldly. At the same time, she grabbed the collar around her head and broke it off like it was nothing.

Genos said nothing. It wasn't that he couldn't, but actually because there was no need for it. The fight had been long and hard, but it was clear that Tatsumaki was the strongest and swiftest of the two of them. However, before anything else could be said, the ground suddenly shook and caught Tatsumaki's attention to turn back just in time to see a giant brown skinned creature emerge from the ground.

"AT LAST! I'M FREEEEEE!" cried out the creature.