Tom Jacker felt a little disappointed after his encounter with Fubuki. The game was fun, but too easy. He needed something more biting, a challenge that could make him a little... interested. He decided to test some heavy-duty Quirks from his All For One collection in a quieter place.
He teleported to an abandoned industrial district on the outskirts of City Z, a place that was often the site of monster battles. "Let's see how big of fireworks I can make," he muttered.
He activated Gigantification, his body towering to match the old factory buildings. Then, he coated his giant fists with hellfire from Hellflame, and began destroying the empty buildings one by one, creating spectacular explosions and fireballs. He laughed out loud, enjoying the destruction he created. This was purely for fun, to release a little energy.
Such chaos, of course, did not go unnoticed.
In a small, simple apartment, Saitama was reading manga boredly when Genos, his cyborg disciple, suddenly stood up straight. "Sensei! I'm detecting a huge spike in energy and destructive activity in Industrial District 7!" Genos reported, his eyes glowing red. "This could be a Demon or even Dragon-level monster!"
Saitama lowered his manga lazily. "Oh? Are there any special discounts on cyborg parts there?"
"This is serious, Sensei!" Genos urged. "We have to go there immediately!"
"Alright, alright," Saitama said, getting up reluctantly. "But if this is just another giant earthworm monster, I'm going home."
A few moments later, Saitama and Genos arrived at the location. They saw Tom's giant figure who was busy demolishing an old chimney.
"As I expected, a monster!" Genos exclaimed, immediately activating his incarnation cannons.
Saitama just stared. "Hmm, this one's big. And bald too. A little." (Because Tom was in giant form, his head looked more prominent).
Tom, in his giant form, saw two small figures approaching. One was a cyborg who looked serious, and the other was... a bald man in a yellow costume who looked very ordinary. But Tom, with all his power, felt something strange from the bald man. The same emptiness as when he saw him near the crab monster. There was no aura of power that could be read, which made him very curious.
"Oh, there are spectators!" giant Tom version exclaimed, his voice echoing. He decided to put on a show. He gathered Hellflame energy in his hand, creating a fireball the size of a car, then threw it at Saitama and Genos. "Catch!"
Genos immediately jumped in front of Saitama, ready to withstand the attack with all his might. But Saitama just stepped forward casually. He raised his hand and... FLICK! He brushed aside the giant fireball as if it were just an annoying fly. The fireball shot into the sky and exploded without harming him at all.
Tom, even in his giant form, was silent for a moment. "Okay, that was unexpected."
He decided to get more serious. He directed his giant punch, which was coated with muscle from Muscle Augmentation, towards Saitama.
Saitama just sighed. "So noisy." He jumped slightly, then threw an ordinary punch towards Tom's giant fist.
BUUUUAAAAAAKKKKKKKKK!!!
An incredibly powerful shockwave was created. Tom, in his giant form, felt an unimaginable force hit his fist, then spread throughout his body. He didn't feel a piercing pain, but more like being hit by an entire planet at once. He was thrown backwards, flying for miles, crashing into several hills and finally hitting the side of a mountain, creating a giant crater before finally stopping.
Smoke and dust billowed.
A moment later, from inside the crater, Tom Jacker in his normal size rose slowly. His clothes were a little dirty, but his body was intact. His Tom template had worked perfectly, reforming him instantly. But his mind... his mind was completely shaken.
"What... what was that?" he whispered to himself. He stared at his hand. He, who was invincible, who could laugh at the strongest attacks from All For One, had just been thrown like a doll by one punch from that bald man. What kind of power was that?
At the battle location, Genos stared at the crater in the distance in horror. "Sensei! The power of your punch... you might have annihilated him!"
Saitama just blew smoke from his knuckles that weren't even red. "Hmm? Oh, I guess so. So, no discounts today?" He turned and started to walk away. "Let's go, Genos. I'm hungry."
Genos was still staring at the crater. He couldn't detect any signs of life from there with his sensors. But he also couldn't forget the strange aura he felt from that "monster" before Saitama hit him.
Meanwhile, Tom Jacker teleported back to the top of a building in City Z, his mind still trying to process what had just happened. He wasn't afraid. He was actually very... interested. For the first time in a very long time, he had encountered something he couldn't understand, something that was beyond his current scale of power.
That bald man. He had to find out more about him. And maybe... maybe he had to find even greater power if he wanted to "play" with him.
His first crushing defeat was not the end of his fun. Instead, it was the beginning of a much bigger game.
The defeat at Saitama's hands left a strange mark on Tom Jacker. Not fear, and not anger either. More like an extraordinary curiosity and a bit of a... challenge. For the first time, he had encountered a power that he couldn't easily conquer, a power that he couldn't even fully understand.
"That bald man..." Tom muttered while sitting on top of a giant pachinko ball on the roof of a building in City A, one of the cities famous for its hero activity. "He's like a wall. No matter how hard you hit it, the wall doesn't budge."
He knew he needed something new. Something different. Raw physical power, even with all the Muscle Augmentation or Gigantification Quirks from All For One, seemed meaningless in the face of Saitama's fist. Maybe he needed another kind of power, something that could transcend physical limits.
His mind immediately went to the information he had gathered about the other S-Class Heroes. One name stood out: Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror. The strongest psychokinetic user in the world, capable of lifting entire cities or summoning meteors with her mind power.
"Psychokinesis..." Tom grinned. "That sounds like a different kind of 'wall'. I wonder if I can break that wall, or maybe... make it mine."
Finding Tatsumaki was not easy. She doesn't often appear in public unless there is a major threat. Tom tried the "boring" way first: he used one of the minor hacking Quirks from the All For One library to infiltrate the Hero Association database, looking for Tatsumaki's schedule or location. But information about the Rank 2 S-Class Hero was highly confidential and tightly guarded.
"Alright, the hard way then," Tom said, feeling bored with the spy work. He had a much more effective way to summon a hero of Tatsumaki's caliber: create a big enough problem so that Tatsumaki had no choice but to appear.
He teleported to a large abandoned industrial area on the outskirts of the city, the perfect place for a little "party". He then opened his All For One "library". He remembered "compressing" some pretty strong Demon-level monsters when he "cleaned up" the Monster Association's headquarters (a short adventure that I didn't tell).
He took three marbles out of his pocket. With a mental flick, the marbles grew larger, turning into three terrifying Demon-level monsters: one resembling a giant armored insect, another a flying octopus with barbed tentacles, and the last was a living stone golem that radiated heat.
"Have fun, kids," Tom said to the monsters. "Make a little noise, okay? I have an important guest I want to meet."
The monsters, whose instincts only knew to destroy, immediately rampaged, tearing down old buildings and creating chaos.
It didn't take long for the Hero Association to detect this triple Demon-level threat. The Class A and B heroes who were sent first were quickly defeated. The emergency call was immediately raised to S level.
And as Tom expected, not long after, the sky above the industrial district began to spin. Dark green clouds gathered, and a small figure floated down with an extraordinary aura of psychic power. Her short green hair fluttered in the wind she created herself. Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror, had arrived.
She saw the three rampaging Demon monsters, then her gaze fell on the only other human figure who was standing casually in the middle of the chaos, as if watching a show. Tom Jacker.
"Tch, low-level monsters," Tatsumaki said arrogantly, her eyes glancing at the monsters, then returning to Tom with a dismissive look. "And who are you, kid? Lost? Or are you one of their pets?"
Tom just smiled. "I don't care about those big lizards," he said, pointing at the still rampaging monsters. "I'm here for you, Miss Tornado. I heard you have great mind powers. I want to see them up close."
Tatsumaki's face immediately flushed with anger. No one had ever dared to speak to her in such an impudent tone. "You want to see my power, kid?!" she shrieked. "Fine! I'll show you why they call me the Tornado of Terror!"
With an angry shout, the entire area around them began to tremble. Rocks, metal debris, even the remnants of buildings began to lift into the air, swirling around Tatsumaki like a storm shield. She directed all of that towards Tom.
A battle between two users of mind power (although the sources are different) was about to begin. And Tom couldn't wait to "collect" his new toy.