"I'm the Ancient King!"
"The king who once ruled the mightiest race on this planet—dinosaurs!"
The gigantic dinosaur-like monster, the Ancient King, kept roaring and posturing.
"What?"
"You're telling me to go back?"
"I just came here because you asked me to deal with some guy who woke up from hibernation, and now you want me to leave? Are you kidding me?!"
But standing opposite him, that cute, green-haired esper—petite enough to look way younger than she actually was—didn't bother responding at all. She just held her phone and kept talking to herself.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"
The Ancient King felt his pride taking a hit. He bent down, looming over the small woman with that distinctive "octopus-bun" hairstyle.
"Can't you see I'm on the phone?"
"Try having a little situational awareness, will you? And you call yourself an ancient king!"
After snapping at him, she went right back to the call.
"All S-Class heroes are gathering? So that bastard Jovian will be there too, right? Good."
"Once I finish off the ugly thing in front of me, I'll head over immediately."
Her interest spiked instantly. She hadn't forgotten what Jovian had done to her—not for a second. She was going to pay that humiliation back in full.
"Um… are you done with your call?"
Once she wrapped things up and seemed to reach an agreement with whoever was on the line, the massive Ancient King bent down again and asked.
"I'm done…"
Then her eyes narrowed as she stared at him up close.
"Hey! What is up with that hideous chin?"
"That chin is unbelievably rude to look at!"
Tatsumaki glared at the enormous jaw inches from her face, utterly disgusted.
"Uh…"
"Has the beauty standard changed in this era? Back in my day, this chin was the height of handsome. The lady dinos would take one look and drop on the spot, completely dazzled by my good looks."
The Ancient King stroked his chin with confidence. He'd always been proud of it.
"It's hideous."
Tatsumaki crossed her arms, making her verdict crystal clear.
"Whatever. A tiny creature like you can think whatever you want!"
"Doesn't matter—because you're about to die!"
He recovered quickly from the blow to his ego and snapped at her.
"Huh?!"
"'Tiny creature'? That's such a rude way to talk!"
"Could you maybe clean up your mouth for once, you oversized idiot?"
The moment he implied she was small, anger flared straight through her. Tatsumaki started swearing up a storm—because there was one thing she hated more than anything: being called short.
Boom!
The Ancient King didn't waste time arguing. He lifted a massive foot and slammed it down.
The ground split apart in a spiderweb of cracks, the shockwave rippling outward as the street trembled under the impact.
"Did I get her?"
He stared down at the shattered pavement, muttering to himself.
"You've got to be dreaming. That kind of thing couldn't hurt me if it tried."
Tatsumaki floated in midair with her arms still folded, looking down at him with cold contempt.
"Hm?!"
The Ancient King flinched as she appeared beside him.
"You stupid brute. You're going to pay for pissing me off."
Tatsumaki raised a hand slightly—already decided on the most brutal way to end him.
"Give it up! None of your attacks can do anything to me!"
"I'm the Ancient King—the man who can only be killed by a meteor!"
He was fully convinced of his own toughness. His hide was so thick, so absurdly durable, that only a meteor could take him down—there was no way some tiny human could beat him easily.
"A meteor?!"
"If you've already picked your cause of death, I'll be happy to oblige."
Tatsumaki lifted a finger.
High above, out in space, a meteor shifted—pulled by her will—and began falling straight toward the Ancient King.
"You said you can only be killed by a meteor?"
Right as Tatsumaki prepared to finish him, a low, magnetic voice spoke near both of them.
"That voice…?!"
"It's you—Jovian!"
Tatsumaki turned her head sharply toward the sound.
A man in a white skintight suit hovered calmly in the sky.
And the most ridiculous part?
In one hand, he was holding a small island—roughly ten square kilometers of land—like it weighed nothing.
"…Why are you holding that?"
Tatsumaki blinked, momentarily thrown off by the sheer absurdity of it.
"He just said he can only be killed by a meteor. Unfortunately, I don't believe him."
"So I'm giving him a gift."
Jovian delivered it deadpan, like he was hosting some late-night segment, and tossed the island straight down at the Ancient King.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the Ancient King was instantly flattened into a steaming smear of gore.
"See? Told you he couldn't only be killed by a meteor."
Using his X-ray vision, Jovian glanced at the pancake-like remains and shook his head.
Dinosaur meat patty.
"Hey! What the hell?!"
Tatsumaki's face turned red as she shouted, furious.
"You show up and kill my prey like you're talking to yourself!"
"Hero Association leadership told me to bring you to the Hero Association headquarters in A-City."
Jovian floated down in front of her and held out his hand.
"Y-you… what are you doing?"
Tatsumaki's face reddened even more, as if some 'exciting and wonderful' memory had just punched her in the brain.
"Relax. Don't get so worked up. This is for you."
Jovian pulled out a neatly wrapped gift box.
"…This is for me?"
Her hands trembled as she accepted it, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Yeah. It's a present. There's a surprise inside. I think you'll like it."
"I'll be waiting at Hero Association HQ."
With that, Jovian became a streak of white light and vanished into the sky.
"Huh…?"
Tatsumaki's heartbeat went wild, her cheeks burning. It was the first time she'd ever gotten a gift from someone, and—against her better judgment—it made her weirdly happy.
That happiness lasted right up until she opened the box.
"…This is…"
Inside was a pair of black silk panties.
And a gift card.
"Cold weather's coming—stay warm. This best-selling style for the last ten years, specially for you, Ms. Commando. You're welcome."
Tatsumaki crushed the card in her fist.
Her eyes looked like they were on fire.
A surprise? You want to talk about a surprise? This was a fucking SURPRISE.
"JOVIAN!!!"
She screamed, turning into a streak of green light as she rocketed toward A-City at top speed.
"Mm-hmm."
Feeling the furious energy surging behind him, Jovian just shook his head.
See? Getting Tatsumaki to head to Hero Association HQ for the S-Class meeting wasn't hard at all.
Super simple.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 10 extra free chapters //[email protected]/Razeil0810