Hero For Lust

Twenty-seven years had passed since Caspian's birth and he hadn't achieved a single thing.

The only relationship he ever had was long distance, which, like everything else in his life, traveled down the road to nowhere.

However, no matter how bad things got, he wanted to live more than anyone else. The hope of a happy life kept him moving forward.

What a shame he had decided to take a walk on this sunny afternoon.

Or maybe he'd made the smartest decision of his entire life.

Regardless, a pair of headlights were the last thing Caspian saw as he stepped outside his apartment building.

¤ ¤ ¤

"You're a fast one, who are you?"

A familiar voice echoed from behind the dazed Caspian.

The last thing he remembered was the screeching of tires before the darkness consumed him.

As his vision came into focus, he noticed a young girl lying on her side on the ground. Raising up his head, he took in the large amounts of rubble as though a powerful earthquake ripped through this place.

He stood, the scent of burning debris hitting him like a wave. He quickly raised the back of his hand to his nose, trying to block out the smell.

His thoughts started swirling when he noticed the pair of red gloves that went up nearly his entire forearm.

"Answer me."

The familiar voice spoke again.

Caspian snapped out of his stupor and turned to face the speaker, excitement flashing across his face.

"Picc—Vaccine Man!"

Wait… I can understand him! Thank my lucky stars I ended up in a dubbed world.

Vaccine Man's eyes widened. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

Caspian forced a neutral expression and crossed his arms.

"Just a guy who's a hero for fun."

"You're kidding? What kind of half-assed backstory is that?" Vaccine Man turned toward Caspian. "Mine's far superior. I was formed from the pollution man wrought upon the Earth."

Vaccine Man slammed his right arm into his chest. "I am the cure! The Earth is a single living organism. You filthy humans are nothing but a disease causing bacteria eating away at Her precious lifeforce. In order to wipeout humanity and the evil civilization built on Her surface. The Earth and Her infinite wisdom has given birth to me!"

Caspian's gaze followed upward as Vaccine Man's form expanded.

"You say you do this for fun. For fun! How dare you confront Mother Earth's apostle for such a mindless reason!"

Did the camera or Saitama spin here in the anime? Screw it! I'm doing a 360°!

Caspian, despite never having fought in his previous life, moved with flawless control, spinning to deliver a precise punch.

"Yet, what can be expected from a humahhh—"

Similar to what Caspian remembered, Vaccine Man exploded upon being casually punched.

"You need to speak slower," said Caspian as he watched steam rise from his fist with interest.

With the imminent nuisance out of the way, Caspian finally had a moment to ponder his current situation.

"How is this even possible? I'm Saitama, but how could something like this happen to him? He's One Punch Man..."

Caspian shook his reflective head. "I have no way of knowing."

Before him, the partially ruined city presented itself after his punch blew away the clouds and smoke.

"If I'm remembering correctly, I'm in A-City right now, so how am I supposed to get to Z-City?"

An earthy and pleasant aroma like one would smell from a forest after rainfall turned Caspian's attention to his feet.

"Hah."

He couldn't help but chuckle at the green pool of Vaccine Man's blood that had almost reached where he was standing.

"Maybe he was the cure."

Crunch

The sound of someone walking through the city's rubble sounded off in the distance.

"Could it be?"

Caspian looked around for a place to hide and decided on a collapsed building nearby.

Arriving behind the building in an instant, he couldn't help take in deep breath as he reeled in shock. He felt as though his body had a mind of its own as it listened to his command.

He peeked back to the location he had been standing and grew worried. "Go away you damn afterimage!"

Caspian had moved so fast that his afterimage still hadn't disappeared. If that individual arrived right now, it could mess up everything.

Thankfully, at the same moment, a gust of wind blew in from behind Caspian—his afterimage vanished.

Crunch

The source of the footsteps came into Caspian's view. A figure in a hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled snug over their head and a red backpack slung over their shoulders.

They looked around fearfully. "W-was that a ghost? I swear I saw someone standing there."

Distracted by the fear of a ghost, they failed to notice the large puddle of green blood at their feet and stepped straight into it. Predictably, they lost their balance, slipped, and fell backward, hitting the hard ground with a thud before losing consciousness.

Caspian clasped his hands. "Thank you afterimage."

Stepping out from behind the collapsed building, he walked toward the fallen individual until he could look down and clearly make out their appearance.

"It's really you. 'The Heroes' Hero.'" murmured Caspian with a smile on his face.

Kneeling down, he put his hands on his shoulders and shook him. "King! Wake up!"

King, upon seeing Caspian kneeling beside him furrowed his brow and asked, "W-who are you? What happened?"

Caspian stood up with his hands still on King's shoulder and casually lifted him up to a standing position.

The King Engine rumbled softly as King observed the unusual strength of the strange bald man before him.

"I'm a huge fan of yours, King. You're a genuine hero," Caspian said, his tone brimming with admiration. "You saved A-City by vanquishing a Dragon-level threat with ease." He gestured toward a nearby patch of ground. "And you even rescued this young girl from Vaccine Man's clutches."

King's mouth hung wide open as he listened to Caspian's praise.

"I—"

Caspian waved his hand dismissively before King could respond. "No need to be humble. Hey, can you tell me how to get to Z-City from here? I'm a bit lost."

King nodded in silence and pointed off into the distance.

"Just straight that way, right? No random turns."

King nodded again.

"Haha, thanks man. It was great to meet you. Don't worry, we'll run into each other again. Oh! I almost forgot. Tell that little girl's parents that they need to move out of A-City. It's for their wellbeing."

After saying his piece, he gave the stunned King a wave goodbye and ran off toward Z-City.

When Caspian had traveled a distance away, near a scorched crater where one of Vaccine Man's energy blasts struck, he heard King mumble to himself.

"Why does this keep happening to me?"