Chapter 10

Last night a number of heroes were attacked including the C-Class Hero Mumen Rider, A-Class heroes Golden Ball and Spring Mustachio, most members of the Tank Topper Army and shockingly their leader the S-Class hero Tank Top Master. It also turns out that one of the minor sponsors was also attacked later that night. Such an unprecedented attack was carried out by a young man by the name of Garou who went by the moniker 'Human Monster' due to proclaiming himself monster despite being human.

While Garou has been operating for a number of days his latest attack was by far his most prolific and damaging to the Hero Association. It showed he was not one to be taken lightly and in response the Hero Association released an extensive announcement. Along with changing Garou's moniker from 'Human Monster' to Hero Hunter information given out about him included: a description, brief history highlighting his status as the former top disciple of the S-Class hero Silver Fang and a brief overview of his skills.

Finally his threat level was raised to S-Class and the Hero Association issued guidelines for encountering or attempt to apprehend him went as follows:

Any hero below S-Class is ordered not to engage and flee on sight. If fleeing is not an option then it is urged to report his whereabouts and hold out for reinforcements.

Any attempts at deliberately engaging him should be done with at least one S-Class hero or a group of A-Class Heroes employing carefully laid tactics.

Executives are advised not to venture out of corporate headquarters without an S-Class hero as bodyguard or protection equivalent to one.

~O~

As he finished his report on the issued announcement the 35th ranked A-Class Hero Eyelashes sat down. Currently he was in a conference room as one of the leading executives of the Blizzard Group. Around him were his fellow executives all of whom have made it to their position due to distinguishing themselves from the rest through skill, cunning, perseverance and hard work.

To his right was Mountain Ape who was the 36th rank A-Class hero and a close friend of Eyelashes. They both joined the Blizzard Group at the same time during its infancy in the making them the first members. He like Eyelashes climbed the ranks of the Hero Association through harsh training as a means of keeping up with their leader. Though lacking in shrewdness he more than made up for it with his strength and works as an instructor for the junior members.

Next to him was a young girl who was barely past adolescence and looking downright comical next to the large and brutish looking Mountain Ape despite the crisp black business suit she wore. She was Lily better known as Lily of The Three Section Staff for her proficiency with the aforementioned weapon. Despite being only 14 years old she has already shot up the hero rankings to be the 2nd ranked B-Class Hero. Lily works as the personal assistant to their leader.

On the other side of the table sitting directly across from Lily was a thuggish man with sharp eyes, pointed nose and safety pins in his ear lobes. Unlike the other executives his suit was ill fitted with his white shirt untucked and his black suit jacket draped over his shoulders like a cape. He looked more like a thug than a hero let alone an executive member of one of the largest factions in the Hero Association. Despite this he is the 1st ranked B-Blass Hero and resident problem child of the Blizzard group, Needle Star.

Sitting next to him with his appearance and lack of presence seeming to be in direct contrast to Needle Star was their most recent executive, Glasses. At a glance he would seem like a regular civilian office worker than a Hero due to his lack of presence. He was not one to be underestimated however for only a few short months ago this man was a new recruit near the bottom of the C-Class. Today he is the 3rd ranked in the B-Class.

"So we going after this Hero Hunter or what?" Needle Star voiced the question on all their minds with as much tact as they would expect, absolutely none.

Mountain Ape decided to answer "didn't you hear that report? That guy took down Tank Top Master and his group."

"So? Yeah the guy ain't no pushover but Tank Top Master doesn't have a defense for psychic powers and I'm sure this guy is the same."

He brought up a good point Eyelashes internally admit but as the man felt validated by the pensive look on everyone's expression Glasses chose to speak up.

"I don't think it would be that easy."

Needle star gave Glasses and annoyed look but the man was reading his copy of the information packet on Garou.

"What are you talking about four eyes?"

Uncaring of the nickname Glasses went on to explain "if he managed to defeat Tank Top Master then it stands to reason that he is at least as strong and resilient as the S-Class hero. Even if Miss Fubuki were to use her powers to restrain him it would likely take all of her concentration."

"Yeah, then we can all go in for the kill" Needle Star grinned.

That grin was promptly wiped off his face when Glasses asked the simple question "do you think you can take down Tank Top Master?" his gaze swept across the room "can any of us even if combined our strength?"

Eyelashes grimaced, the physically strongest among them was Mountain Ape and he didn't look confident.

Then glasses delivered the finishing blow "then it's not likely Miss Fubuki will be able to do much to him unless she catches him by surprise which itself is unlikely."

Eyelashes didn't like the lack of faith Glasses spoke about their leader but then again that was a major reason why he was made an executive. More than his potential for combat Glasses was valued for his ability to do analysis. Give him some information and he can deconstruct it with never before seen details. Put him in a combat situation and he can make a plan to grant them victory. Because of this he is privy to everyone's combat capabilities even their leader so his words have validity.

"Tch, so what do we do then, just let him be?"

"That is not our call to make" Eyelashes finally inputted.

As one the gathered executives turned towards their leader who has so far kept her silence whilst they had been debating. Fubuki, The Blizzard of Hell and 2nd rank A-Class Hero had a pensive expression of deep concentration on her face. Within her mind the esper was weighing the pros and cons of the options available to her which were: pursuing the Hero Hunter or abstaining. Almost immediately the first option jumped at her if only for the obvious rewards not only to herself but also to the members of the group.

Eyelashes and Mountain Ape would get bumped up in the A-Class rankings. Needle Star only needed one more significant achievement to be considered for A-Class and given how high profile Garou is then should they bring him in as a group both Lily and Glasses could be considered for a class promotion as well. By the end of it the entire executive branch of the Blizzard Group would be comprise of A-Class heroes and having all the executives being A-Class was the kind of bump in quality that the Blizzard Group needed to increase their prestige.

Despite having the most members of any faction in the Hero Association they were ultimately considered the least prominent of the three major factions. Atomic Samurai and his students have the top spot being that the man himself was the 4th ranked S-Class Hero while his three students make up the bottom half of the top 5 A-Class heroes. It was only recently that Fubuki managed to usurp Iaian's position and she found herself having to constantly defend her 2nd place rank from the man who has made it his mission to take it back.

The 2nd strongest faction in the Hero association has got to be the Tank Topper Army whom Fubuki can see shared quite a few similarities with her Blizzard Group. They both have designated uniforms, they both provide benefits such as training to their recruits and most of either faction's members are in the B-Class.

There are however two major differences between the two factions that set them apart. The first is that the Tank Topper Army has more members in the A-Class than the Blizzard Group and aside from Fubuki herself all their A-Class members have a higher ranking than Glasses and Mountain Ape who are at the bottom of the A-Class ranking. In fact the only reason why they weren't dead last was due to Biting Fist Snek not being as active as he once was as well as the liberal use of the Blizzard Group's resources to manipulate the ranking system to their favor.

The second and most obvious reason that set them apart however is the fact that their leader Tank Top Master was in the S-Class. Fubuki couldn't help the surge of annoyance she felt at the thought of that because in the end it all came down to that one thing. She felt that the major reason why the Blizzard Group was considered inferior as a major faction was mainly due to the fact that none of its members were part of the S-Class or so she told herself.

Fubuki may have her group's best intentions at heart but she wanted to be part of the S-Class for mostly selfish reasons. It wouldn't have been so bad had rankings stayed true to form all throughout but ever since she usurped Iaian's place as the 2nd ranked A-Class hero Fubuki has been playing a completely different game. Said game was against Sweet Mask and right from the start Fubuki knew that knew that the odds were stacked against her. She didn't know just how much until she actually dug deeper into the man's background.

She found out that Sweet Mask wasn't just the 'face' of the Hero Association he was basically in charge of all public relations. The amount he actively contributes to the Hero Association financially would place him as an executive and not a minor one either. Not only that his work ethic in itself was insane and a look into his daily schedule would have anyone wonder if the man was even human. People called him this generation's Solaria Nova something she scoffed at but after looking into him she started to take that moniker more seriously.

Is it a wonder that he is consulted when decisions on class promotions are to be made? Fubuki had her hands full just running her Blizzard Group, fending off Iaian's encroachment in the ranks and fulfilling her duties as a hero to try and clash against a once in a generation idol. It was impossible to get the 1st rank in A-Class and since she wasn't willing to bash her head against the immovable wall that was Sweet Mask Fubuki figured it was best to bypass him altogether.

Easier said than done for in order to bypass Sweet Mask she would need to achieve something that would put her up for promotion into the S-Class. It would have to be an achievement worthy of the S-Class themselves like say capturing someone who has defeated an S-Class hero. Fubuki was confident in her psychic abilities despite the disparity in power and skill between herself and her sister. She didn't need to be as strong as Tatsumaki to succeed and for the past three years she has consistently proven this fact with all that she had achieved.

Glasses raised a good point however as he was one of three individuals familiar with the intricacies of her power. It wasn't so much Garou defeating Tank Top Master that had Fubuki worried about taking him on but that he used to be a student under Silver Fang. Even her sister respects the 3rd ranked S-Class hero and for good reason. One of the lesser known facts about an Esper's telekinesis is that it doesn't affect organic sentient beings the same as objects or inorganic beings. The success of manipulating a sentient organic being is dependent on the psychic's strength and the strength of said being.

Tatsumaki may have strength in spades but Fubuki is under no illusion of her limits and so her telekinesis will work on humans and monsters of a certain level of power. Garou unfortunately seemed to be within this group of individuals and since her telepathy is not advance enough to be a viable offensive measure she is left to rely on blunt force attacks. The information says that he specializes in analyzing his opponent, reading their patterns and redirecting their attacks before striking at their weak areas.

If she went all out she may be able to hit him but what would it take to incapacitate him? And would she be able to withstand his retaliation? There were too many variables to consider. Fubuki wasn't lacking in confidence but she also wasn't desperate enough to pursue this without an assured victory. With that thought in mind Fubuki made her decision.

"We will not pursue Garou" she decided.

The decision evidently surprised those present with Needle Star "WHAT!? Are you for real? I didn't peg you as a coward."

While Eyelashes and Mountain Ape gave the rowdy executive nasty looks it was Lily who became vocal about.

"You take that back!" the youngest executive yelled with a fierce expression.

"Enough" Fubuki did not raise her voice yet it managed to stall whatever retort Needle Star would have made to the girl "sit down Lily."

"Y-yes Miss Fubuki" the girl spoke looking appropriately chastised.

With Needle Star her gaze was as cold as her namesake and she took some pleasure in how he flinched.

"I'll forgive your outburst Needle Star since you are clearly frustrated and disappointed."

She really did sympathize because much like her with the S-Class he was at the precipice of a class promotion having worked his damn hardest to ascend to the apex of the B-Cass and needed to do something truly spectacular to be considered for the A-Class.

"Understand that there are other things at play here."

"What do you mean?" Eyelashes questioned.

"My contacts in the Hero Association informed me that Silver Fang asked the Hero Association executives to let him handle Garou himself."

That got some mutterings going with Needle Star letting out an emphatic "well shit."

Knowing that Garou was Silver Fang's former student it only made sense that the old martial artist would want to take care of him personally. That was another reason why she chose not to pursue Garou because Fubuki knew better than anyone not to meddle in the affairs of the S-Class.

"Not that we necessarily have to go out and find him" Glasses added "if he lives up to his new moniker of 'Hero Hunter' then he'll likely come after us."

"You think so?" Mountain Ape questioned.

"According to the reports he fought Golden Ball and Spring Mustachio at the former's favorite bar which is a matter of public knowledge. The park he defeated Tank Top Master in is a well known patrol route for Mumen Rider who was also a victim and allegedly the original target before the Tank Topper's showed up."

Eyelashes cupped his chin "if that's the case then Garou chooses his targets according to public knowledge."

That meant patrol routes, hang out spots or bases/headquarters. The kind of information that is likely to be in magazines or on the internet.

"Oi, oi, oi" Needle Star interrupted "doesn't that mean he'd know about our weapons and attack styles?"

Brash and crude he may be but let it not be said that Needle Star was a fool.

"It's fine if he's using public knowledge to assess us" Eyelashes dismissed "since none of us were dumb enough to give out our true capabilities" he gave Needle Star a pointed look "right?"

The B-Class hero scoffed "you think I'm as dumb as I look or something?"

"At least you're self aware" Lily grumbled.

"Huh? What'd you just say fangirl!"

Ignoring the byplay Fubuki couldn't help but mentally nod at Eyelashes' words. On the advice of the Hero Association PR team as well as for a means of drumming up attention some heroes would do demonstrations or give detailed/exaggerated anecdotes of their abilities. Fubuki understood the struggle but she found this practice to be a foolish one and made it a point to all her members never to give out their full capabilities to the public for reasons like this.

Monsters aren't the only enemy of heroes and if a criminal can just pick up a magazine or search the internet for a hero's abilities then that goes a long way in defeating them. Not that she thought her fellow heroes would actually reveal their secrets to the public because who would be that stupid?

As for Fubuki as far as the public knows she is an esper with middling telekinetic powers and her signature attack is making a tornado of debris that can rip her opponents to shred. In her defense that was the truth of her capabilities…several years ago. Currently there have been major changes/additions to her repertoire meaning the information about her abilities available to the public remains woefully outdated.

"Alright that's enough" she spoke out once again to halt the bickering "let's discuss protocol for if Garou targets us before Silver Fang can deal with him."

And the Blizzard Group's executive meeting continued with various talks of strategies and contingencies.

~O~

Later they would get an alert from the Hero Association about monsters attacking all the major cities across the world including theirs. As City T was their territory and location of their headquarters naturally the Blizzard Group would not take this lying down. Fubuki had her executives lead teams across the relatively small city while coordinating with the local Hero Association branch.

Fubuki opted to take a small team of relatively weak members with her. She would deal with the monsters while the others would focus on rescue efforts and coordinating evacuation. An hour in and everything was going well enough. Fubuki was easily able to dispatch any monsters they came across while her subordinates rescued any civilians nearby. After every encounter she gives an update to the Hero Association who in turn gives her updates on the progress of her team and the overall progression of the monster suppression.

Everything was proceeding well until she was abruptly contacted by one of her men on the Blizzard Group's private channel whilst she was in the middle of assisting with rescue efforts.

"Miss Fubuki!" the voice on the other end was fraught with panic and worry.

"What's the situation?" she answered smoothly.

There were sounds of panic and mayhem in the background but she could just make out the man's voice.

"Miss Fubuki we're being ambushed!"

"Say again?"

"Mountain Ape is fighting Miss Lily and Eyelashes!"

This brought the esper up short "what?"

"Oh god, there's a monster, she's somehow controlling them. We're fighting the other teams!"

Fubuki's eyes widened as she put more effort in the rescue coordination "calm down and tell me about this monster, what disaster level is it?"

"She's too strong!" there was a cacophony of noise of after that.

Fubuki finished up her work putting her full attention to the call "where are you?"

"Below the highway, by the intersection-"

"Alright listen to me, disengage and get to safety."

"I-oh god!"

"Hello do you hear me? Get out of there!" she yelled even through the mayhem on the other side.

The last thing she heard was something like the crack of a whip before a scream then silence.

"…"

Fubuki stared the communicator for a moment before gritting her teeth and informing the Hero association about what she had just heard. They in turn informed the rest of her teams and any other heroes about a monster with brainwashing abilities. The monster was given a disaster level Demon to enforce the caution.

"Miss Fubuki?"

Taking a moment to calm her emotions she directed her gaze to her men "escort these civilians to the nearest shelter. Stay with them until further notice, am I understood?"

There was some defiance in their eyes however they did not voice it and together shouted "YES MISS FUBUKI!"

'Good' she thought before leaping away with a blast of telekinesis.

Sustained telekinetic flight was a fairly recent advancement Fubuki made. It was difficult but in the end she achieved it and was one step closer to being her sister's equal. As this is a fairly recent development there were some kinks that needed to be ironed out. As of now maintaining flight took a large chunk of her concentration and so Fubuki could not multitask unlike her sister.

As she came upon the location Fubuki saw that the monster was nowhere in sight but left a trail of carnage that was easy enough to follow. Several minutes and a dozen blocks of travel later and Fubuki came upon a sight that had her blood boiling. There was what looked like a female humanoid monster wearing S&M fetish gear directing her executives and their teams as well as a few other heroes to attack the remaining teams.

Needle Star and Glasses were in the thick of it and Fubuki knew that the only reason why they lasted as long as they have was because the monster did not join in the attack. As Fubuki watched her men being made to attack each other at this monster's machination Fubuki almost set herself for a dive bomb right on top of the monsters. She stopped herself from going through with it though as she did not get to where she is by being emotional and impulsive, not anymore.

Instead she landed on a nearby building and patched herself in to Glasses who answered via his earpiece connected to his phone.

"Miss Fubuki, we could use your help!" he exclaimed with a hectic yet impressive measure of calmness.

"I'm already here, don't look for me" she added then ordered "tell everyone to retreat, I need you to get as much space from the monster and the mind controlled heroes as possible."

"Understood!"

With that she cut off the line and watched from her hidden vantage point how Glasses with the help of Needle Star maneuvered the uncontrolled members of the Blizzard Group from being surrounded and called for a retreat. It spoke volumes of the situation that Needle Star didn't even bother to contest this order. Fubuki waited as her men beat a hasty retreat and put her plan into action the moment she saw the monster begin to act.

Fubuki leapt off the building and dived to the space between the two groups. She landed heavily in the ground and with a mental apology released a telekinetic wave that knocked back all the mind controlled heroes. The monster was able to withstand her efforts but that was on purpose on Fubuki's part as the monster was the only other one left standing.

Capitalizing on her successful surprise attack Fubuki lashed out both arms forward sending a controlled telekinetic push at the monster blasting her away from the area and into one of the many abandoned stores in this commercial district. The Esper pursued to where the monster crashed into a storefront a block away. Just as the monster was pulling herself out of the debris their eyes meet causing the monster to scowl.

"You!"

Fubuki did not speak. Her body was surrounded by an ethereal emerald glow as she concentrated. To her credit the monster attempted an escape however it was too little too late. Fubuki used her power to freeze her in place as she raised her hands to do her signature attack.

"Shit!"

"HELL STORM!"

A moment later the entire store was engulfed in a massive tornado of debris.

~O~

Do-S the self proclaimed 'Monster Princess' was livid and things were going so well before. The plan by the Monster Association's tactician Gyoro Gyoro wasn't anything too amazing when it all boils down. They would go to every major city in the world and cause as much damage as possible to the Hero Association. What made it impressive was that this plan was months in the making with the tactician sending out a steady stream of fodder to cause as ruckus everywhere thus spreading the heroes thin. This global assault would take advantage of the heroes while they were spread out and had no hope of receiving.

Do-S was aware that a few of the Cadres were given monster cells with the goal of recruiting more soldiers for the Monster Association. Do-S wasn't explicitly given such an objective but given her talents it was an obvious implication. Plus the idea of brainwashing heroes and using them as fodder for the Monster Association was so amusing she just could not pass it up.

City T was home to the Blizzard Group which is said to be one of the major factions within the Hero Association and is lead by the 2nd rank A-Class Hero, Blizzard of Hell. This kind of information wouldn't have mattered much to her however the 'throwaway comment' made by Gyoro Gyoro grabbed her attention.

"Hmm, it would be convenient if we could acquire Fubuki to use as a hostage against Tatsumaki."

Do-S was aware of who Tatsumaki is, the 2nd ranked S-Class hero Tornado of Terror was known to any monster with a lick of sense who has been around for the past year or so. She wasn't aware the Tornado of Terror had a sibling though and found it strange that the little sister caused such waves while the older sister was barely a blip on the radar comparatively. Not that it mattered for Do-S knew what her real mission was for this attack, capture the 'psychic sisters' and present them to Gyoro Gyoro and Lord Orochi.

Gyoro Gyoro wanted a hostage to use against the Tornado of Terror but why should Do-S stop there? With her abilities she could just as easily use Blizzard of Hell to lure out the Tornado of Terror and make her a love slave all the same. This flame of ambition did not come about without good reason especially since she would be deviating from the (implied) plan. But really all the heroes she came across were so pathetic Do-S couldn't see herself failing not when she had an army of heroes acting as meat shields.

So while the monsters she came with went about causing general destruction and mayhem Do-S aimed for the heroes that came in response to the chaos. Eventually she encountered a group of suit wearing humans she recognized as part of the Blizzard Group, perfect. It was simple enough to defeat them before extracting the relevant information. Apparently they were split up into five groups each led by an 'executive' but their leader the Blizzard of Hell was with her own team on the other side of the city.

Annoying but then wouldn't it be more fun to take control of her entire group and use it against her? Do-S certainly thought so and went about doing just that, using her recent love slaves to find and ambush the others. This strategy worked a total of two times with the third having a straggler informing the others about her ambushes, including Blizzard of Hell.

At least she wouldn't have to take the trouble to find her plus she managed to locate the last vestiges of the group anyway. This time it was two teams led by two men, one wasn't anything to write home about but the other was a different story. Rude, crude, abrasive and loud were the words one would use to describe him and Do-S loved it! She liked these kinds of hot blooded men because they were the most interesting to break.

Like before she stood on the sidelines and didn't intervene save for taunting them and making love slaves of their fallen members. It was a game she liked to play since what was the point of having love slaves if she had to do all the work? Not all her love slaves are the same and practical combat was a great way to train them to follow commands.

A few minutes in and she observed that they were fairing much better than she would originally thought. The rowdy one was stronger than she thought and quite proficient with his chain mace. But it was the unassuming one with the glasses that gave the most trouble. He was singlehandedly keeping them organized and they were even holding their own despite being outnumbered. Eventually seeing the futility of fighting the glasses wearing one called for a retreat and was somehow able to use clever maneuvering to punch through the ring of slaves that surrounded them.

Now that just won't do and just as she moved to intercept something fell from the sky with enough explosive force to send her love slaves flying back. It was so sudden Do-S almost got caught up in it as well but dug her heels in at the last second to prevent herself from being knocked over. What happened next she could not account for because before she could even get a good look at who interrupted her fun an invisible force hit her like a truck and sent her flying down the street until she crashed through a storefront.

Luckily she was made of sterner stuff and so the damage wasn't all too debilitating but it did succeed in pissing her off.

'When I find whoever did this' she raged internally while pulling herself from the debris but cut her thoughts once she noticed someone land nearby.

"You!"

It was the Blizzard of Hell and at the moment she was glowing. Knowing what happens next won't be anything good she attempted an escape from the building only for that unseen force, which she now understood was the esper's power, acted upon her by casting her entire body in the same green glow that froze her in place.

"Shit!"

"HELL STORM!"

Urged by her instincts going off Do-S succeeded in freeing herself but by then it was too late. A tornado suddenly materialized around her but instead of sweeping her up in its gale it kept her pinned down in the center whilst the wind destroyed the shop and used its various debris to batter all across her body.

It wasn't anything she couldn't withstand but it still really fucking hurt and remembering the smirk on the hero's face had a roar of pain and frustration rip from Do-S' masked mouth.

~O~

Fubuki kept up her attack for as long as she was able. The building was systematically destroyed and grinded into manageable chunks for the esper to use in her makeshift blender. The process took a lot of time and a great deal of her concentration yet despite her efforts the monster proved to be more resilient than she may first appear.

"!"

Instantly Fubuki cut off the attack bringing back her outstretched arms into a cross block while putting up a telekinetic shield to intercept a thorny whip that cut through the tornado.

*WHAP*

Despite her defense the weapon hit surprisingly hard and Fubuki was sent staggering back. Another flash of black had her leaping away with the area she once stood exploding. There was no time to think as Fubuki was put through the paces being pursued by a veritable whirlwind of whip swings. As she desperately blocked and avoided the attacks Fubuki was able to get a good look at her enemy and saw that the monster was heavily injured with cuts, scrapes, bruises and blood covering near every inch of her very exposed body.

Yet for all the damage shown the monster was attacking Fubuki with a relentless frenzy that betrayed her appearance. Clearly the injuries were somewhat superficial and as the attacks continued it became more and more difficult for Fubuki to keep up.

'So heavy' the esper flinched when blocking the latest whip attack. Even while blocking she could still feel the sting and that was despite not actually touching the damn weapon.

That moment cost her as the monster suddenly surged forward with a side kick that caught her in the gut and air exploded from her lungs.

"OOF!"

For a moment Fubuki was airborne without her powers only to feel something wrapped around her leg and wrench her back to the ground hard. Had she not had the psychic barrier around her body (in the form of the green glowing outline around her body) then she would have definitely broken something. Unfortunately the monster wasn't finished yet and having turned two fingers of her off hand into a pair of thorny whips the monster swung the esper around some before taking to the air and slamming her onto the roof of a parked car.

Fubuki's body collapsed the roof of the vehicle and shattered all its windows. Even though she kept her shield up being slammed into a car by a Demon level monster wasn't a very pleasant experience. Still she retained enough sense to do a telekinetic push off from the car before the whip came down with enough force to slice the vehicle down the middle and set off an explosion.

*BOOM*

Fire and smoke obscured part of the street but Fubuki didn't need her eyes to sense the monster's psychic signature. It appears that the explosion had pushed her back and she was preparing to continue her assault. Fubuki sent the burning wreckage of a car flying at her with bullet speed before she could take that first step. The monster avoided it with a side roll dodge and renewed her hot pursuit of the esper with whip in hand.

Swearing to herself Fubuki began backpedaling while tossing random objects at the monster to keep her off balance. Unfortunately she was relentless and the esper could not keep this up forever. This was proven when her attempt at blocking the whip ended with her hand getting slashed.

"HA!"

Gritting her teeth the esper used a telekinetic wave to blast the monster away only for the result to be the monster sliding back a few feet with her high heels carving a trench in the ruined asphalt road.

"Oh, what's the matter? Feeling tired?"

Snarling at the monster while shaking the numbness from her hand Fubuki stomped the ground using her powers creating patterned fissures in the road. Then using her powers to pick up the fragmented pieces of asphalt she hurled them at the monster who laughed as she started twirling her whip while strafing to the side. Most of the projectiles were avoided while others were destroyed by her whip as she did sharp slashes.

The fast and erratic movement threw Fubuki off and she realized too late that she was partly responsible for giving the monster so much cover.

'This isn't working' Fubuki grit her teeth then she felt the exhaustion creeping up on her 'dammit, I won't last long like this.'

Fighting other monsters, helping with rescue efforts and the constant physical exertion from this fight alone was finally catching up to her. Despite her powers Fubuki still suffered from the main weakness of most espers and that was her body not being physically superhuman.

'I can't let this be a battle of attrition.'

Before she could come up with a proper plan to break this stalemate the monster did something unexpected and threw a motorcycle at her. It was only due to Fubuki's quick thinking that she managed to freeze the vehicle before it could hit then sent it back to the monster twice as fast. The motorcycle was easily avoided when the monster ducked underneath it then leapt up to avoid a follow-up telekinetic blast. Once airborne she did a corkscrew flip while lashing out with her whip.

"Urk!" Fubuki gurgled as thorny leather-like material wrapped around her neck.

To make matters worse the monster had angled her jump so that she would flip over a street light which her thorny whip caught on as she landed. The whip around Fubuki's neck went taut and yanked the esper upwards and broke her concentration as she struggled to get free of her makeshift noose.

Concentration was the foundation for an esper to utilize their abilities and being hung from a noose was not conducive towards that. As if her situation could get any worse that was when she felt the first sting of serrated leather slashed across her back.

~O~

Let it be known that Do-S was an opportunistic manipulator. In battle she uses her speed and agility to get in close and ensnare her victims under her control to be used with as she pleased. She would then coordinate her love slaves to surround and attack her target while also employing psychological warfare to throw them off. She was not the type to fight opponents directly, charging at them in a straightforward manner and overwhelming them with raw physical might

Such things did not appeal to her but that did not mean she could not do this. Humanoid monsters are often looked down upon as inferior by monsters and heroes alike. Monsters turn their nose up at them because they looked like humans while heroes underestimate them because they weren't monstrous in appearance. Since the only recognizable feature of her inhumanity were her eyes and mouth she could pass off as a regular human with a mouth mask and shades.

This fact made for some interesting encounters with both humans and monsters. Most generally thought that her threat assessment came from her ability to brainwash others but that is a misnomer. Make no mistake Monster Princess Do-S was strong and every bit the Demon level threat even without her special ability.

She proved this time and again by physically and mentally brutalizing anyone who dared to look down on her. Most recently she proved her worth to Lord Orochi and the Monster Association by subjugating the last of the native 'Subterranean People' then having them fight to the death for her amusement thus securing the Monster Association headquarters.

The times where she had to exert her physical superiority in a brutish manner are few and far between. It genuinely wasn't Do-S' style to fight directly but there are special circumstances where such tactics are used. For example when some uppity psychic bitch has the gall to injure her like this well it suddenly becomes another special circumstance.

Do-S wasn't just angry she was pissed and the only way for her to get rid of this anger is to take out on the one responsible. So it was with great vindictive pleasure that she whipped the back of the hero.

"Blizzard of Hell" she mocked continuing her punishment of the hero "I'll show you what real hell is like!"

She continued whipping the hero while drinking in the agony of her pain and slow asphyxiation until her rage and bloodlust was cut down to manageable levels. She couldn't kill her which was a shame but that didn't mean the human will be let off the hook with just this much. When she was satiated for the time being the noose was released and the human's body dropped to the ground like stone, unmoving. She wasn't dead as Do-S was well versed in how to apply the right amount of pressure for maximum pain without it turning lethal.

Still it was not enough and as the monster stalked her way towards the downed hero dark thoughts of how she would thoroughly break the woman began filtering through her head.

"They want you as a convenient hostage to draw in your little sister" the whip was cracked against the ground shattering it "well they can have what's left of you after I'm done!"

She lashed out with her whip again except this time it was intercepted by a spiked mace.

"Get the hell away from her you monster bitch!"

The rowdy human from before came at her swinging his chain mace which Do-S sidestepped with click of her tongue. Only instead of sailing harmlessly by the weapon adjusted its trajectory to follow her movement seemingly of its own accord. This forced Do-S to bend back almost 90 degrees in an unnatural feat of flexibility.

She watched as the chain mace sailed overhead only to suddenly jerk down towards her head. Thinking quickly she rolled back mid bend to do a hand spring and catapulted away with a flip. In that instance she only took her eyes off the weapon for a moment however when she got her eyes back on it the damn thing was still on a collision course for her face!

'I forgot he's good with that thing.'

She was convinced that the man was an esper with how unnatural his control over that weapon of his is. Still he was already an annoyance that distracted from her main goal and so Do-S kicked the mace back at the man's head much faster than he threw it. To her annoyance not only did he easily dodge it but he somehow leveraged the momentum to redirect the mace back at her with his added strength behind it!

'Damn espers!'

Do-S was forced to use her whip to counteract and in the next few moments the two were trading blows, her whip versus his chain mace. In another time at another place Do-S would have found this amusing enough to humor but this was not to be and deciding to put an end to this farce she had her whip ensnare his chain leaving a tangled mess that went taut.

"Gotcha bitch!" the man yelled before yanking his weapon back with what she figured was all his strength.

She quite enjoyed the look of shock when he saw his effort result in a single step forward and even that was deliberate on her part.

"Who's got who now?"

And with that she yanked her whip back one-handed and pulled him off his feet towards her.

"Shit!"

Raising one of her shapely legs she allowed him to crash chest first into her heels. The hero gagged as blood erupted from his mouth then Do-S stomped him into the ground. The human screamed out as her sharpened heels dug into his chest and drawing out blood. She was about to apply more pressure to break a rib when she noted that despite him bleeding from his chest and coughing up blood the man was chuckling.

"What's so funny?" she asked grinding her heels in more.

The man grunted but still maintained his mirth, giving a bloodstained smile he spoke.

"Made you look."

"Wha-"

Just then her ears picked something up and she looked over her shoulder in time to see her own bewildered gaze mirrored in a pair of glasses.

"Forgive me Needle Star" the other troublesome human muttered before stabbing a cattle prod into Do-S' neck!

A shriek of pain ripped from the monster princess' mouth as several hundred thousand volts of electricity ran through her body. It only kept her incapacitated for a few seconds before she found some control of her limbs and mercilessly backhanded the offending human. Now she was left panting and twitching with smoke wafting off her form. The human under her foot suffered the same fate as the electricity was carried over to him through her body and he was rendered momentarily unconscious.

Now Do-S was not only hurting from the esper's earlier attack but the electricity aggravated the wounds and added burn marks to her list of injuries as well as a persistent twitching of her fried nerves. In that moment Do-S decided she had enough. Suffering these indignities just wasn't worth it anymore. She would do as the original mission implied, secure the esper annd-she's gone. Do-S looked to where the woman had been laying unconscious only to find it devoid of an unconscious esper.

'Where…!'

"Looking for me?"

"!"

Immediately she spun around to see the Blizzard of Hell standing several feet away looking as done with the situation as Do-S felt. Something was different however for in her right hand she held a weapon though calling it such would be an overstatement.

"A boxcutter?" Do-S couldn't help but scoff.

The hero heedless of her mirth extended the blade to its full 6 inches.

"And what do you hope to accomplish with that?"

"Why don't you come and find out?" the esper got into a stance.

Do-S was about to do just that but before either could move there was a sudden earthquake that seemed to resonate throughout all of City T.

'An earthquake?' Do-S thought in confusion.

"Damn, she's closer than I thought" the esper tsked.

Staggering to her feet Do-S scowled "what are you talking about?"

The esper glared at her "I heard you wanted to take me as a hostage to draw out Tatsumaki. Well congratulations you've succeeded my older sister is on her way."

"Older sister?"

*BOOM*

There was an explosion off in the distance then another and another with each one coming closer to their position.

'I feel like something scary is on its way here.'

She could see cars, trees and debris floating off in the distance and the closer it got the more Do-S realized she was screwed.

'I can't fight that.'

Even if she wasn't at the end of her rope there was no way she would be able to fight whatever it was that was coming. Instead of waiting for it to come to her Do-S used the distraction to whip the esper's two downed subordinates.

"Get up you two!"

"No!" the esper used her powers to blast her back, Do-S allowed it to happen.

"Throw your lives away to kill her!"

As she said this there was an explosion that destroyed the surrounding buildings and covering the area in wind and dust which Do-S used to escape.

~O~

"Dammit!" Fubuki yelled as she held off her brainwashed subordinates.

That monster was escaping and she couldn't go after her. She was trying her best to restrain the two brainwashed executives but with how weakened she was and with how they were coming at her she was having difficulty keeping them restrained while thinking of a way to snap them out of the control.

'Dammit, what do I do!?'

Suddenly the two were enveloped by a brighter emerald glow which easily wrest the control away from her. Fubuki knew exactly what was happening or rather who was the one responsible.

"Sis, don't hurt them, they're my allies and are being controlled by a monster!" she yelled up at the petite woman in the sky.

Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror looked down at her almost imperiously before with a careless flick slammed both men into the pavement hard. Fubuki's heckles rose at the unnecessarily rough treatment of her men, her light green eyes were as frigid as her namesake.

As she knelt down to tend to them Fubuki spoke "I told you they were being mind controlled and you attacked them anyway."

Tatsumaki floated near the ground "I don't count this as attacking" she informed honestly "plus if they are being mind controlled then the simplest solution is to knock them out."

Fubuki drew in a long breath and wondered to herself how someone could be so right yet wrong at the same time. After making sure Glasses and Needle Star didn't sustain any severe injuries from her sister's mishandling she rose to her feet and finally met her sister's gaze for the first time in what felt like weeks.

"What are you doing here sis?"

Tatsumaki narrowed her eyes "is that the thanks I get for saving you?"

Fubuki met her sister's glare with one of her own "you didn't 'save' me. Everything was fine before you showed up."

"Fine?" the petite woman sneered and suddenly Fubuki found herself floating.

"H-hey!"

She was spun around to show her bloody back from where the monster had whipped her mercilessly.

"You call this fine!? If I hadn't showed up you would have been dead."

With a burst of effort not even she knew she had Fubuki broke out of her sister's hold though it felt like Tatsumaki allowed her to.

Turning back to her sibling and yelled out "I had everything under control! In fact I was about to finish the monster off when you showed up and created this mess allowing her to escape!"

For a long moment Tatsumaki stared at her younger sibling and Fubuki weathered her scrutiny with defiant stoicism until the older esper sighed and began floating away.

"This isn't the time for chitchat, monsters are attacking everywhere."

"I heard" Fubuki stated.

Looking over her shoulder Tatsumaki spoke "go home Fubuki and take your fan club with you, it's not safe."

"They're not my fan-"

*WHOOSH*

"-club."

Fubuki watched her sister disappear over the horizon before her gaze went to her surroundings. True to her namesake Tatsumaki came in like a tornado, a natural disaster that inspires terror and left just as soon as she appeared. Fubuki looked at her unconscious subordinates then the destruction left in her sibling's wake and felt the exhaustion down to her very bones.

"Miss Fubuki!"

A few of her men found her, she recognized them as part of Needle Star and Glasses' team.

"What was that?"

Fubuki sighed and waved her hand "nothing to concern yourself with, just know that there aren't any monsters left in City T" she straightened up "now status report."

Immediately they all stiffened, the discipline she put into them coming into effect "all the brainwashed guys are incapacitated ma'am."

"How are they?"

"They're fine, just knocked out. Mr. Glasses had us use our tasers on them."

It was difficult not to let the relief show "good."

"And we already called the Hero Association for medical evacuation and reinforcements" another one piped up.

"You all did well, look forward to a promotion in ranking for this" she congratulated much to the men's delight as they began to talk excitedly amongst themselves.

It was a bold claim for sure and one she would not normally make but she wasn't joking when she said that they all did good work. Under the circumstances the Blizzard Group played a major role in exterminating the monsters invading City T and saving civilians. Tatsumaki may have finished off the invading monsters but at that point Fubuki cannot imagine that they were anything but stragglers.

She was confident she would be able to personally appeal for a raise in rank for not only them but also herself when the time came. After all it just so happens that the new director of operations for the Hero Association was her mother.

~O~

Later…

Do-S was at a lost as to what she should do. The Demon level monster had used up most of her energy to get out of City T as quickly as she could in her injured, weakened and exhausted state. Her fear of Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror, compelled her to keep going without stopping until she was sure there was at least an entire city between the two of them. By that point the attacks were over, the Monster Association forces had largely retreated and the heroes who survived the initial lynching were picking off the stragglers.

The good thing about it was that there were plenty of monster corpses to scavenge for blood enabling her to recover from her injuries. Still with S-Class heroes like Tatsumaki and Flashy Flash being active she opted to lay low for the time being. It led her to stealing clothes from a store to blend in proper. She now wore a long sleeved blouse and long black skirt to cover her outfit, a medical face mask and a pair of shades to cover her eyes.

By the time she arrived in the abandoned section of City Z it was almost nightfall which meant the post invasion meeting would begin. Thinking about attending said meeting had Do-S freeze up and take refuge on the second floor of one of the many abandoned buildings to assess her situation.

She failed the mission.

She failed the mission and was defeated.

She failed the mission, was defeated and forced to retreat.

Do-S wasn't an idiot, the Monster Association may have been a collective of monsters cooperating for a similar goal but that didn't make them anything more than monsters.

What would happen to her if she went back?

Would Lord Orochi forgive her for her failure?

Do-S gave a mirthless laugh at the thought of him 'forgiving' her.

No it was more likely that she would be killed for her failure and at that thought Do-S wondered to herself 'why did I even come back here?'

The answer to that was a simple one she didn't really have much of a choice. She could always run away but she and everyone who joined the Monster Association was given the explicit warning that traitors would be hunted down and eliminated.

"Fuck!" the monster pulled at her hair before she started pacing "no, no they won't kill me I'm still valuable" after all there was no one else who could use mind controlling abilities "I can leverage that" she muttered to herself.

But should she risk it?

She couldn't just sneak back to base and lay low either as she was on both Lord Orochi and Gyoro Gyoro's radar. She explicitly went out of her way to distinguish herself from both the fodder and even other Demon level monsters. Besides it was useless to try and hide from Gyoro Gyoro since he had those spy drones everywhere. That's not even mentioning Lord Orochi's 'feelers' which when combined with Gyoro Gyoro's surveillance ensured that the entire base is covered.

"I need something else" leveraging her ability just didn't seem like enough in the face of her failure "I need something that could tip the scales in my favor."

She could take a hero as a love slave and present them before Lord Orochi.

"It wouldn't be the Blizzard of Hell but it could be a substitute."

But who could she use on such short notice? Where would she even find a hero at this time of day? And would she even be able to make the meeting after getting one?

The monster wrung her whip in stress as the situation started affecting her but paused as the sound of movement from the street below reached her ears. Weary of any passing monsters she pressed herself by the wall next to a broken window to peer outside. What she found was a human of all things.

'What's a human doing here?' she thought in mild confusion

Her first thought was that he was a hero but he was dressed in casual clothes like a civilian and she didn't sense anything particularly special about him. Rather it was his presence in this area at this time that presented the most strangeness. Do-S was under the impression that the area was completely devoid of humans. So then why would a human be walking the streets at night? An interesting question that became completely irrelevant to Do-S for she saw an opportunity to relieve her stress.

'Maybe playing with him would help alleviate some of the stress.'

Despite technically being on a time limit the more she thought about dominating him the more it appealed to her sadism.

She needed this!

And so with that thought in mind Do-S hopped out the window, tossing aside the glasses to land before her next hapless victim.

"What the…"

Getting a good look at him she found him to be forgettable in appearance, with his eyes partially obscured by the bangs of his violet hair.

"You'll do" she cracked her whip against the ground once before swinging it at the man "now become one of my love slaves!"

The whip was sent at a sharp angle and fast pace towards his chest yet despite this the strangest thing happened.

"Eh, no thanks" and with that casual reply the man caught her whip…between his fingers.

"What!?" the 'monster princess' jaw dropped behind her mask before scowling "you're a hero?"

'Of course he is, what human would be roaming the streets alone after a wide scale monster attack?'

"I'm no hero."

Do-S yanked her whip back or rather she tried but even when she used her whole strength the man didn't so much as budge. In fact the man seemed fairly amused by her efforts which grated on her nerves.

"Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am" from the fingers that held her whip he tapped the material with his index finger causing the entire thing to disappear.

Do-S staggered back eyes wide with shock as she watched what used to be her weapon now turned to dust floating away in the wind.

"What matters is my plan."

The atmosphere suddenly stilled, Do-S felt a chill run down to her very core. Despite not being much taller than her the human now seemed impossibly large. Similar to the likes of Lord Orochi but as she saw the eyes of his silhouetted face shine a deep purple she felt a fear that was more primal than anything the Monster King ever drummed up. She blinked and suddenly he was now standing before her looking down while her neck strained to meet his eyes.

She didn't know when her knees gave out.

"Now, what should I do with you?"

~To Be Continued~