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Whoosh!
A kunai flashed through the air and landed right in front of Saitama—only for him to catch it effortlessly again.Yep, it was that guy again. Speed-o'-Sound Sonic.
Saitama really didn't have time for this nonsense today. He just wanted to find some monsters to punch and be done with it.But of course, Sonic wasn't about to let him go that easily.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three flaming shuriken spun through the air—except they weren't aimed at Saitama.They were flying straight at Ethan.
"Hey, what the hell, man? Saitama's not fighting you, so you come after me instead?!" Ethan shouted, flicking his hand casually. The three shuriken were batted upward, where they exploded one after another in the air with a series of BOOM BOOM BOOM.
Sonic grinned like a lunatic. "If Saitama's a hero now, then I'll be the villain! I'll keep killing, destroying everything I see—until he has no choice but to fight me!"
"Then go kill! Go destroy! Why the hell are you attacking me?!" Ethan yelled back, his patience already wearing thin.
Sonic's grin widened. "If I'm gonna kill someone anyway, I might as well pick a more interesting target! And you—didn't expect you to block my shuriken like that. Not bad. You've caught my attention too!"
And with that, he charged straight at Ethan.
"Saitama—"
"Don't call me! I'm busy!" Saitama snapped, clearly fed up with the crowd around him yelling "baldy this" and "baldy that." He looked like he was this close to losing it.
"Die!" Sonic roared, appearing in front of Ethan in an instant, his eyes wild and crazed. He lunged, the blade of his katana thrusting straight toward Ethan's eye.
"Go play somewhere else."
Ethan sighed, clearly done with all of this. With an annoyed wave of his hand—almost like swatting away a mosquito—he struck.
THUD!
Sonic didn't even have time to react. Ethan's lazy backhand connected with his forehead, and the next second, Sonic's body cratered into the ground, unconscious.
The crowd went dead silent.No one had expected that.
Most of them hadn't even seen Sonic move—he was too fast. Yet Ethan had taken him out with a single, casual slap.
Three seconds later, the silence broke. People started cheering, crowding around Ethan with excited shouts of admiration.
Off to the side, Saitama stood there, staring at Sonic's motionless body, his face twitching with frustration.
Because—damn it—Sonic had been his mission target. All Saitama needed to do was defeat him and the job would've been done.But before he could react, Ethan had knocked the guy out cold.
"Ahhhh! My mission! My mission, my MISSION!!!"Saitama screamed, practically pulling at his scalp.
By the time night fell, Saitama had finally found another mission—rescuing a kitten stuck in a tree.
He gently handed the trembling little cat to a girl no older than five."Here you go. Try to keep an eye on your kitty next time, okay? Don't let it climb that high again."
"Mm-hmm! I will! Thank you, Mr. Bald Uncle!"
Saitama froze. "…Bald Uncle, huh? Heh. Heh…"
"Here! This is for you, Mr. Bald Uncle! Bye-bye!"
She pressed a lollipop into his hand and skipped off happily.
Saitama stared at the candy, his face darkening.Lollipops… why did it have to be lollipops?He still hadn't gotten over that whole "Lollipop Bandit" incident.
And just as he was thinking that, a musclehead in a tiger-striped tank top stepped up, sneering.
"As expected of the Lollipop Bandit. Even your mission rewards are lollipops. Disgusting."
"…Who are you supposed to be?"
"Damn it! I'm Tanktop Tiger! Remember that name!" the man barked. "People like you shouldn't even be heroes. You're a disgrace!"
After delivering his dramatic line, he stormed off, leaving Saitama standing there, utterly unamused.
The next day, Ethan wandered the streets alone, shoulders slumped. The empty roads made him look even more pitiful.
"Man, this sucks… Saitama, Genos—none of them want to hang out anymore. And ever since Genos moved in with Saitama, that freeloading baldy's been living easy off Genos's rent money. No wonder I can't drag him out anymore."
He looked up at the blazing sun and sighed. "Still… this sunlight feels amazing."
"Yeah, I'll just lie here for a bit," he murmured, dropping down right in the middle of the street. Within minutes, he was dozing off, basking in the warmth.
The sound of tires screeching jolted the air—screeeech!A shadow fell across his face.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
"Mm? Oh, it's you. Could you move a bit? You're blocking my sunlight." Ethan cracked one eye open, his tone lazy and half-asleep. He didn't even bother to sit up. The sun was just too damn comfortable.
"Are you sure you're okay? Why are you lying in the middle of the road? Should I take you to the hospital?" the voice asked, worried.
"Nah, no need for a hospital. But, uh… mind giving me a lift to the supermarket?"
"…The supermarket?"
"Yeah. My fridge is empty. I came out to buy groceries, but the sun was so nice that I kinda… fell asleep."
"Yeah, the sun is pretty harsh today. Alright then, I'll take you to the supermarket."
"Thanks, Mumen Rider."
"No problem!"
"..."
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