The Power of One-Punch Man

[SpiralBaka]

My goal:
To write regularly without caring about the bad quality, plot holes, ooc-ness, and the likes. To not quit or fully rewrite the story because of those. If a plot hole is discovered too late, it will be left as is or retconned, or whatever, as long as it doesn't lead me to quit or rewrite the entire thing.
Please don't make fun of me for how bad I am, but constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. Any worthwhile criticism and suggestion will be put at the end of the relevant chapter (or maybe in an index somewhere) in a spoiler tag so that I don't forget.

 

[SpiralBaka]

I walk down the unfamiliar street under the night sky.

I should be feeling fear, apprehension, worry, anger, despair. I should be feeling something. Anything.

But I'm not. Maybe my emotions are muted, maybe I'm just an unfeeling bastard, or maybe I'm already feeling despair and have given up on living.

Either way, I don't feel anything as I keep walking.

Just earlier, I was teleported here with only a message:

[Hey, I'm giving you a part of my power and transporting you to another world. The power I'm giving you is super strength and perfect control. Good luck.]

That's it. I received that message and then I was teleported. When I realized it, I was already standing in an unfamiliar place and in an unfamiliar body.

The place I was teleported to was in front of a store, specifically, in front of its glass window pane. With its inside light turned off and outside light turned on, the glass pane turned into a mirror.

If I knew this world and was in a more composed mind, I would have found it strange that this store doesn't have its shutter down. Though even if I tried to investigate, I would have only found that this store's owner is just that careless, leaving his store unattended just because of the protection he is under.

But in my panicked state, I only pay attention to my sudden transfer, and then to my body.

My current body reflected by the mirror is of a bald man with asian features wearing an unbuttoned onsen shirt over a plain t-shirt and cargo shorts.

I look like a tourist just carefreely going out for a walk. Even though I was just kidnapped.

Still, this bald head, carefree outfit, and dead expression, they remind me of Saitama, the One-Punch Man. And the power given to me, super strength and perfect control, is also reminiscent of him. After all, Saitama practically never had trouble controlling his strength (though, that might be because of his training). So I really might have his power.

Even so, this is still kidnapping. After all, I was never asked for consent.

I felt anger for a moment at this kidnapping, even if I was given great power in exchange. But that anger didn't stay long, because a person capable of that, there's no way I can do anything to him.

And that's where we are right now.

Me walking aimlessly under the night sky, until I come across a scene.

A scene of a scaled man on fire duking it out with giant beasts.

'What?'

It is so bizarre that it stuns me for a moment, despite my similarly bizarre kidnapping.

The flaming scaled man is winning at first, his strength and fire overpowering the beasts, but little by little, he gets slower, takes more hits, until he finally goes down.

That's when I finally look at their surroundings. It is empty (probably reasonable considering it's night and there's a guy on fire fighting giant beasts there) save for several people on a rooftop near them.

It should be noted that I am still rather far away from them, yet I can still see them clearly.

Those people are in costumes. Honest to god costumes.

'This is getting more and more bizarre.' I think as I go towards them.

I should have been scared, but strangely, I'm not.

The group eventually separates, with most of them leaving on the beasts, while one stays behind.

I keep going closer and closer, but just before I reach the building the remaining person is on, another costumed guy arrives on what looks like a futuristic motorcycle.

As he stop his motorcycle, he get off, fires a dart on the downed man using his halberd, and then, after making sure the dart hits and checking me out for a moment, he fires a grappling hook from the same halberd toward the rooftop of the building, and flies up there.

'Wow, what kind of world is this?' I think as I move up the emergency staircase toward the rooftop.

A foreboding feeling has been building up inside me ever since I saw that guy fighting those beasts. That feeling got stronger when I saw those group and that blue guy on the bike.

I feel like I know them. But there's no way that can be true, people like them just don't exist in reality.

'But what about fiction?' I think, but I suppress my feelings as I focus on reaching the rooftop.

The moment I start focusing on the rooftop, I hear a conversation. The conversation of a man and a girl, the people on the rooftop.

'So I also have super-hearing,' I think before refocusing on hearing their conversation.

Lung, Wards, Tattletale, Grue, Regent, Hellhound. Those keywords finally make me realize where I am.

I am on Earth Bet.

Again, I don't feel any fear at that realization.

More important than that is what I should do with the people above. I initially approached them for information, so now that I know where I am, I don't need to ask them anymore.

But the blue guy above—Armsmaster—has already realized that I am moving toward them, probably from the sound of my feet. So I can't just leave or I'll look suspicious.

'So I might as well help the world just a little bit tonight.' I think as I make a decision to help the girl, Taylor Hebert, the protagonist.

"Yo." I say as I emerge on the rooftop, Armsmaster and Taylor looking at me.

"Are you with ABB?" Armsmaster asks.

"No, I'm a tourist." I stop. I don't get closer, seeing Armsmaster's wariness.

"You do look like one. But a tourist walking around at night?"

"I just felt like walking around outside tonight." I say. I don't know why I sound so carefree.

"Anyway, I saw what you guys did," I continue, "That girl swarmed Lung with bunches of bugs: spiders, bees, ants, and things like that. I bet most of them are poisonous, so he'd be in pretty bad shape when he wakes up in the morning."

Then I look at Armsmaster and say,

"And then you shot him with some kind of dart. If that dart's specifically for Lung, like stopping his regeneration, he might actually die in the morning from poison." I say. "Of course I actually prefer that, but I don't want you to blame the girl for that."

Armsmaster looks at me in doubt (that's just a guess though, since only the bottom of his face is visible) before turning his head to Taylor.

"Is that true?" He asks.

"Y-yeah." She answers, her voice trembling, presumably from what I just said about Lung dying.

"Tch. We have to be quick then." Armsmaster says, "We need to decide who gets the credit."

"Ah-ah. Don't accept that, girl." I say before Taylor can answer. "He's probably going to say something about ABB retaliating against you, so him getting the credit would protect you, and some such things. I don't see the start of the fight, but there's gotta be bunches of ABB goons around, right? There's no way they'd believe Armsmaster beat Lung when they didn't see him then."

"You," Armsmaster says to me, "Don't interfere, this isn't any of your business."

I don't answer.

"And you," Armsmaster says to Taylor this time, "What you've done tonight is spectacular, but there will be consequences. Lung has two superpowered flunkies. Oni Lee and Bakuda. They'll try to get vengeance on the one responsible for their boss' capture. So keep your head down. Don't take the credit. Fly under the radar."

Being said that, Taylor looks at me. As if asking for my help.

"Like I said, those goons already know about you. Those two will take revenge on you no matter what, so just take the credit, that'll probably help you gain more allies."

Armsmaster frowns at my insistence, but says nothing. While Taylor looks to be thinking about it.

After a short time of no answer from Taylor, Armsmaster gets impatient and says,

"Tch, we have no time for this. You're not taking the credit right?"

Taylor jolted in surprise as her thought process is interrupted, but she quickly answers,

"No, I'll take the credit. Just hoping those two not knowing it seem foolish."

"You're making a mistake, Girl."

Armsmaster says before he step off the edge of the roof. Before long, we hear the sound of his motorcycle speeding off, presumably carrying Lung to jail.

Later during my contemplation, I would have found it strange that I'd suggest Taylor to take the credit at all, as it seems it would make the Protectorate her enemy, or at least make Armsmaster think badly of her, but after some more thinking, I would decide that what I did was a good thing, simply because it's the right thing to do.

A hero shouldn't take credit for someone else's work. No good person should.

Spoiler: Improvement to be added

More description.

 

[Raphiel]

lol main plot point already unknowingly gets foiled because MC randomly walks onto the scene. This already feels a bit like OPM

 

[Bigbloom123]

I like it, I hope it doesn't have a secret identity, as for criticism I don't know much about the subject, but I would like you to be more descriptive with the environment, will there be POVs of other characters?

 

[Knived]

This is good, he made friends with taylor so now his mortal enemy the single buzzing fly is out of the picture

 

[SpiralBaka]

"So, wanna follow him?" I say to Taylor who is about to turn around to head off.

"Wha- why?"

"That guy, I bet he's gonna wake up Panacea just to have her heal Lung. So if we follow him, we might get to meet Panacea."

"No! That's stalking. Besides Panacea will be inside a car most of the time anyway. We won't get to meet her." Taylor almost shouts, her surprise at being talked to and the fatigue from this long night causing her to unintentionally shift to a somewhat casual tone.

I reply,

"I guess you're right. Still, imagine getting woken up in the middle of the night just to heal some gang leader. Sigh, the poor girl just can't catch a break."

I shake my head and continue,

"Oh well, see ya. Remember to look for Oni Lee and Bakuda and kill them first before they kill you." I say as I turn around and start moving to the emergency staircase.

"Wait, are you seriously saying that?" Taylor says to my back, and without turning around, I gesture for her to come down with me. And I hear the sound of her footsteps behind me.

"Well, I guess you could try not to kill them. But that's risky. Or maybe you could just ask for help. Either way, you gotta find them first. Your power should be almost perfect for that."

The only better power for that would be a thinker power.

Come to think of it...

"I know one unaffiliated thinker, she's probably better at that than you, so you could ask her help, but she's being targeted by another gang, and that gang's got a mole in high position in PRT, so if you got her help you'll probably make enemies with three gangs."

I say as we go down the stairs. After a bit of silence, Taylor speaks.

"That girl, the gang targeting her, and the mole, who are they?" her tone serious in contrast to her earlier casualness.

"The girl's Dinah Alcott, the mayor's niece, the gang's Coil's Mercenaries, and the mole's Thomas Calvert. Don't spread those around. If Calvert found his identity compromised, he'll just escape, he's really good at that. So good that he can even escape perfect confinement. Those guys you just saved, the Undersiders, are actually on Coil's payroll." I answer without a thought.

I don't hear any answer from Taylor, but I know she's still walking behind me.

"I'd say your best bet is to get help, Tattletale should be eager to help you, though not the others in the Undersiders." I say, referring to my expectation of Taylor's thought of saving Dinah.

We walk in silence for a while, finally reaching the bottom and starting to walk on the road, when Taylor finally asks,

"How do you know so much?"

"Hahaha, sorry Girl, that's one of my biggest secret, I'm not gonna tell you for free. Though... Sleep with me and I'll tell you." I say, surprising not just her, but me as well.

Why did I so easily offer that? Come to think of it, why did I give so many information to Taylor?

"What!? Why are you so casually asking for sex? And just sex for one of your biggest secrets!?" Taylor almost shouts again, her tone breaking.

"Now, I wonder why, I don't know myself."

Casually asking for sex is a problem, but the bigger problem is casually offering my secret just for sex. Am I just that thirsty for sex? I don't think so, the thought of sex doesn't excite me (though that in itself is a problem) neither does my body react to it.

But the thought of giving away my secret doesn't horrify me either? What's going on? Is this the effect of muted emotion?

Before I can mull this over further, Taylor replies,

"A-alright. I'll do it. Give me your email address and we'll set up a meeting."

"..."

I am silent for a moment, my carefree mask ineffective against this unexpected answer. But eventually, I resolve myself and answer her,

"Sorry bud, I got no email. Actually, I got nothing. No money, no ID, no wallet, no home. I got kidnapped and dumped into Brockton Bay earlier. You two are actually the first Brocktonite I talked to."

I am still walking ahead of Taylor, so I can't see her face or body language, but I feel like I can sense her stopping as she exclaims,

"Wait!"

I turn around. I'm already several steps ahead of her, it seems.

"Didn't you say you're a tourist? Were you lying!?"

"An unwilling tourist. My kidnapping is non-consensual, but touring is my decision."

"Isn't that a big problem!? Why are you so carefree!?"

"Meh, I'll be fine. It'll work out one way or another."

Worst case scenario, I'll just sleep outside and hunt for food. Saitama's power should make hunting easy.

"Well, seems like this is a bust. See ya."

I say as I turn around and continue walking.

Come to think of it, I really asked for sex without thinking about the details, or rather, about my current situation. I guess I should think about it now.

"..it."

For food, I can just catch some fish or some other animals, even if there are none nearby, I can just go farther away. It should be possible with Saitama's power.

"..ait!"

The real problem is... money. There's no real easy money to get with just strength in modern society ... but come to think of it, this isn't real civilized modern society. There are gangs all around, I can just steal from them. And then, there's the bounties, the Kill Orders. Well, all those will be after testing my strength, I guess...

"I said, WAIT!!"

A hand grabs my arm. I instinctively stop in my tracks.

"What's wrong?" I ask Taylor, the one who stopped me.

"Why aren't you panicking, didn't you say you don't have anything? Why are you acting as if all is right in the world!?" Taylor lets go of my hand.

I'm not acting like that actually. I'm acting indifferent, as if nothing matters in the world. Though that's just a conjecture based on my muted emotion.

"Like I said, it'll work out one way or another."

"Ugh!" Taylor groans, holding her head as if nursing a headache. "How can you be so optimistic? I wish I could help you, but I don't really have much money myself."

Taylor continues.

"But I said I'll do it, so I'll do it. If you have no email we can just make an appointment now, if you have no house we can just do it in my house or in a motel or something, I should still have enough just for one night stay."

Taylor says, mumbling the last part, before turning to me, taking my hand and pulling me to the direction we're walking. I let her.

"I'll show you my house, meet me there after school."

"Huh." I say, flabbergasted at her willingness to expose her civilian identity.

We walk on for some time, Taylor still holding my arm, when a thought crosses my mind and I voice it.

"By the way, do you know any forest or mountain nearby? Or just a place without any people around?"

"Huh, why? Are you going to sleep there?"

"No, I'm gonna test my powers."

"Power!? You have power!?"

"Yeah, the guy who kidnapped me also gave me powers, super strength, he said. So I'm gonna need to test that out someplace."

"Ugh, of course you have power. Why am I even worrying? Alright, there's the abandoned industrial area past my home, and the trainyard beyond that, those places should be empty enough, and there's the forest that way, but you can't just destroy the trees there, okay?"

Taylor stops for a moment as she answers and points a direction when she mentions the forest, but quickly after that she resumes pulling me along to her home.

The path we walk isn't straight, but winding and twisting, likely to avoid gang members squatting the area.

Eventually, we arrive at her home.

"This is it. My house. Can you memorize the location?"

"Dunno. Can you write down the address just in case I can't?"

"Alright. Wait here." She said as she turns back to go inside.

"Wait." But I stop her. "Can you give me a ski mask or something? I want to hide my face."

"Sorry, I don't think we have one." Taylor says apologetically.

"I see." I say as I motion her to go back inside.

So she goes in. After some time, she comes back in casual clothing, her face fully visible.

'Hm... not bad...' I think, 'Her body is already pretty good, but her face isn't bad either.'

"Here. The address. My name is Taylor Hebert, come here at 3pm," she says, handing me a paper with an adress written on it.

"Sure," I say, accepting the paper and putting it in my pocket. "See ya."

And so, I turn back without waiting for an answer, toward the trainyard in order to test my strength.

Spoiler: Author's Note

There won't be any lemon in this fic. This just happened by chance, I didn't plan on it, and the lemon won't be written.

 

[SpiralBaka]

I like it, I hope it doesn't have a secret identity, as for criticism I don't know much about the subject, but I would like you to be more descriptive with the environment, will there be POVs of other characters?

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the criticism. I did feel the same, and I'll start doing that in future chapters, but at this time it won't be implemented. Because just posting these chapters took all my mental fortitude. I don't think I can mentally handle looking at the thread too many times right now. So I'll focus on writing and posting for now.

 

[Emyrthil]

How old is the MC? Because Taylor is 15 at that point, that's pedo behavior.

 

[SpiralBaka]

The test went smoothly.

No one stopped me either in my walk to the trainyard, or during the course of my testing.

I didn't think of it then, but it was because of my bald head that no one stopped me in my walk. The empire goons that were around thought I was one of them.

And no one stopped me during the testing because I picked a place devoid of people. I make sure of that using my super sense.

Now for the test itself, I tested my strength, speed, and senses. I only tested my strength until I could destroy a whole building with just a punch and nothing further. And I could go further, but I have no need to test that for now.

For speed, I tested all sorts of maneuvers, including sudden acceleration, turn, and stop, wall jump like in games, and going fast without destroying my footing. All worked, including the last one, to some extent. I would destroy whatever below my foot at a certain point of acceleration. But that point is far. Very far. I can still move so fast that it would seem that I teleported without destroying my footing.

For sense, I tested my sight, hearing and smell. I can see the horizon clearly with my eyes and see even the fastest object I throw. I can hear hundreds of meters even through walls (this is how I check that there are no people around, by listening to their breathing). And I can smell all sorts of things, but I didn't understand what I was smelling, so it was rather useless for now.

The good thing about my super sense is that I can turn them off. Or rather, their default state is off, and I need to concentrate to turn them on. Not much concentration, just a casual focusing can turn them on.

That said, even if I turn them on and I smell feces and the likes, I can still function perfectly, those smells are just slightly uncomfortable, not debilitating.

All those tests took only 3 hours. It's that short because of my 'perfect control' power: I can control exactly how strong, how fast I am, and even the strength of my sense. That's why the test is only a test not a training.

After the testing is over, I walk back to the city, contemplating the next problem: money. At first I was planning to rob a gang, but after some time, I scrap that plan. The thought of 'attacking' someone, even a gang, gives me an uncomfortable feeling.

It would seem that even with my current unfeeling state, I still find violence disagreeable like I did in my previous life.

Should I try overcoming that feeling?

'...' I ponder for some time, until finally, I decide:

No, there's no need to do that if I can solve my problem without it. I might be forced to in the future, but there's no need to initiate violence when it's not needed. Not for me at least.

So, how should I get money?

The simplest solution is to sell something I can get with my strength for money.

Maybe animals? I probably need some license for that. Maybe something from the bottom of the sea? No, I don't know enough for that. What else? Uh, I can't think of any.

The next one is to sell my strength. That is, offer to do something that is made possible with my strength.

Like, maybe removing the big ship blocking the harbor? Or demolishing work? Maybe manual labor involving heavy things? All could work. I should look into those. Fanfics often depict Brockton Bay as having a public library with free-to-use computers. I'll try using those.

The next problem is my muted emotions. But... Without information, I won't be able to find out the cause or the solution, so let's leave that for the future.

The next problem is my instinctive actions. Again, finding out the cause or the solution would prove challenging without enough information on who knows what (psychology maybe?), so I should focus on asking if those impulses are something that needs to be stamped on.

So I'll think through all my impulsive actions, and check if they are in line with my personality.

First is deciding to interfere with Armsmaster and Taylor's talk. That one should be fine since I want to appear not suspicious. Second is telling them what they did, that should be fine too, to facilitate the first decision.

Third is advising Taylor to take credit. Now that I think about it, this one is questionable. There's no real benefit to that, only a drawback that is giving a bad impression to PRT.

'...'

No. Will that really give a bad impression? In the first place, is it really a good thing to curry favor with an organization that does that?

'...No, it isn't.' I conclude.

So, there's no good or bad thing about it, in that case, there's no real need to push Taylor to one particular direction. But, when I think of telling Taylor to do what Armsmaster said, I feel discomfort toward that action, the same discomfort I feel toward violence.

That's when I realize.

'Is that it? Did I think of that the same way I do violence?'

'...' I ponder.

'No, I don't. My aversion to violence is just my preference, while that is ... evil.'

'Yeah, taking someone's credit is evil. Not as evil as murder or rape, but still evil that should not be endorsed.'

Weight falls off my heart. What I thought to be a bad action turns out to not be.

'So I have aversion to evil. That explains why I didn't consider stealing from the rich and the like. That's one mystery solved. Next is...'

Telling Taylor about Dinah and Coil. I don't need to ponder long to realize why I told her those: I want both Taylor and Dinah to be saved. Taylor from loneliness, and Dinah from Coil. I could have saved them myself, but... Yeah, I'm not too interested in that. It seems that even though I have aversion to evil, I still don't want to pursue justice myself.

'I wonder if that's a contradiction or a hypocrisy.' I think half in amusement, not uncomfortable with either.

And last... Offering my secret to Taylor in exchange for sex.

Even now, the thought of sex isn't enticing. So I shouldn't actually want it. So why did I ask for it? What benefits are there?

I ponder for some time until I arrive at an answer.

The sex and telling my secret, both of those create a connection. Deeper connection than from a normal interaction. And Taylor doesn't have friends, so it should be doubly effective and less risky.

'Yeah, the risk of her telling people my secrets is low, that's why I feel safe gambling with her.' I think with a self-deprecating smile.

I feel discomfort at that last action, but it came from realizing my 'weakness' than anything else.

'So I also feel lonely. So lonely that I want to connect to someone. And Taylor just happened to be there, so I took the chance.'

In the end, every impulsive action I took is actually in line with my desire, preference, and morals. So I think I'll leave those impulses be.

#

Even during all those contemplation, I was still walking at a steady pace without paying attention to my surroundings.

Yet, I never walk into a wall or something else. I might have instincts telling me to turn or move away if I'm about to hit something. That wouldn't be surprising.

I keep walking without a thought, without paying attention to my surroundings, when I notice.

Someone is watering their garden while listening to music through a portable loudspeaker.

The sun has been up for some time now, so some people could have woken up, and it seems this guy, an old man, is one of them.

The house is a suburban house, like all the house around. But this one has a garden in front. Though I don't notice that, since I am focused on the music.

As I focus on the sound of that music, something inside me stirs and starts to move throughout my whole body.

Like most people, I find pleasant music to be pleasant. I feel calm when I listen to calming music. That's how it used to feel like in my previous life.

Now, with super hearing and perfect control, I can hear music clearer and shut off unpleasant sounds, like static for example. Those powers make the listening experience more profound, and the effect more pronounced.

That's what I found out just now as I listen to the music this old man is playing. I don't know what music it is, but there's no vocal, and it is calming. It might be what's called a classic.

Whatever it is, it is calming.

My agitation from being transported to another world that I didn't know I have melts away under the calming music, and my body starts to relax, my mood starts to level, and I start to find hope in this world.

If I am paying attention, I would've found out that the old man notices my staring and finds it creepy so he decides to quickly finish watering the garden and head back in to do his exercise that he usually does outside inside because of that. The music is still playing at that time, so I don't even notice the old man moving inside. Only once the music stops do I notice it.

And when I do, I just stand there, stock still, enjoying the after effect of the calming music.

#

The new discovery lights a new fire inside me. My emotions that I thought was muted blazes fiercely.

It turns out, I really was in despair when I was kidnapped to this place, super power or not. But now, that despair has been dispelled. I no longer feel like nothing matters.

'Just a simple digital music can move me this much. What if it's actual music? And would my other senses, like vision, smell, and taste, be able to move me this much?'

Unable to bear my new passion, I set off in search of art.

I go around the city, looking at people, hearing their sound, listening to music, looking at pictures, buildings, and all other creations.

The highlight has to be the station. There's a piano anyone can play there, and when I arrive, one student is playing it. Hearing the sound of a musical instrument is so healing. And the melody is also nice. I try mimicking him after he's done, but while the sound of the instrument is nice, I can't recreate the melody. It seems I need to train to be able to do the same.

After that, I move on to the forest and the sea, they're not as beautiful as the pictures online made me believe, but they still contain beauty that I can appreciate in another way.

The real world certainly contain beauty that my super sense can enjoy. If so, then I'll enjoy those beauties as much as I can.

And the first step for that is to get money, and maybe an ID so that I can travel, if I need those.

So it looks like I'm going to be stealing from the gangs after all.

 

[SpiralBaka]

How old is the MC? Because Taylor is 15 at that point, that's pedo behavior.

Click to shrink...

I haven't decided yet (maybe not ever), but let's go with 25, same as normal Saitama.
So yeah, it's pretty pedo, according to today's value.
But I won't change that, because, well, I feel like it fits his personality, and it easily advance the plot, kinda, I guess, maybe, probably?

Anyway, I'm still focusing on writing and releasing more chapter, regardless of bad quality, ooc-ness, and plot holes, instead of other things like quality and morality.
I often recite that as a mantra actually, to get me to keep writing.

 

[cliffc999]

Criticism...

Spoiler

This is better than what I was writing for my first couple of stories. Spelling and grammar are good, you don't spend too much time on the setup and start having events progressing right away but the pacing is still not too fast, and characters are doing things.

There's several things that could be done better, such as characterization, but that in no way means what you're doing right now is bad. It's not, it's just not as good as it could be once you get experience. And you're already working on getting that experience via the only way you can, which is to just keep writing.

Doing fine so far, keep it up!