The second defeat at Saitama's hands, though it didn't harm him physically in the slightest, left a deep mark on Tom Jacker's understanding of power. There were levels he couldn't even imagine, and that made him incredibly excited. He was no longer just searching for "power" in general; he was searching for powers that were "broken," that violated the rules, that were absurd.
He began to hear rumors, both from the news and from the chatter of low-level heroes he encountered: about the Monster Association. A monster organization that was growing stronger and more organized, with its headquarters underground in the ruins of Z-City. Reportedly, they were led by Dragon-level monsters with terrifying abilities.
"An underground monster nest?" Tom thought. "Sounds like a dungeon in an RPG, filled with treasure!" Of course, "treasure," for Tom, meant unique abilities.
Finding the Monster Association's base wasn't difficult for him. He just had to teleport to the most devastated area of Z-City, then use one of the sensory Quirks from his All For One library to detect a large concentration of monster energy underground. Within minutes, he had found the hidden entrance.
He didn't knock. He simply teleported past the thick walls and security systems, appearing in the middle of a dark corridor filled with patrolling Wolf and Tiger-level monsters.
"Excuse me, is this the way to the buffet?" Tom greeted cheerfully.
The monsters, startled by the sudden appearance of a human, immediately attacked. Tom just sighed. He used the Absolute Psychokinesis he had just acquired from Tatsumaki. With a single wave of his hand, all the monsters in the corridor were lifted into the air, their bodies twisted and crushed by pure psychic pressure until they became meat paste before they even realized what was happening.
"Too easy," he complained. "I need something crunchier."
He walked deeper into the underground labyrinth, passing torture chambers, monster cages, and large halls where monsters gathered. He finished off any resistance he met quickly and efficiently, sometimes using Teleportation to appear and disappear, sometimes using Psychokinesis to destroy, or occasionally pulling out an AFO Quirk like Hellflame just for variety.
Finally, he sensed a stronger presence. In a room resembling an underground cathedral, he found one of the Monster Association's cadres: Homeless Emperor. The ragged man was surrounded by deadly spheres of light energy.
"A human? How dare you set foot in the domain of Monster King Orochi?" said Homeless Emperor, his eyes glowing with the power bestowed by his "God."
"Monster King? I'm more interested in those pretty lights of yours," Tom replied. "Can I have them?"
Homeless Emperor laughed. "You'll have them in hell!" He fired a barrage of light energy spheres at Tom.
Tom easily dodged most of the attacks using Teleportation, while the few that hit him were simply absorbed by his Tom Template with no effect. He then used Psychokinesis to catch several of Homeless Emperor's energy spheres in mid-air, spun them around, and hurled them back at double the speed.
Homeless Emperor was shocked and forced to defend against his own attacks. Their fight was brief. Tom was too fast, too strong, and his ability to control projectiles with his mind was a perfect counter to Homeless Emperor's energy attacks. Within minutes, Tom had cornered the cadre.
"That power of yours... it's not of this world," Homeless Emperor hissed, realizing he was facing something far stranger than a regular monster.
"Of course it isn't," Tom said, touching Homeless Emperor's forehead. "And now, it's mine."
[System Panel]
- Condition 'defeat target' has been met.
- System Notification: Ability 'Light Energy Explosion (God-Given Esper)' has been copied. Slots filled: 4/7.
- Description: Allows the user to create and fire spheres of pure light energy with high explosive power. The power source appears to be from an external entity.
Tom felt a new energy flow into him. He tried creating a small sphere of light in his hand. It was golden and felt warm. "Interesting. So there's a 'God' handing out powers in this world, huh?"
He left the now-powerless Homeless Emperor and continued his exploration. He then encountered Nyan, the cat monster that could slip through any crevice, no matter how small. Tom, amused by Nyan's agility and slipperiness, "played" a game of chase with him for a while before finally trapping him in a psychic cage and copying his ability.
[System Panel]
- Condition 'defeat target' has been met.
- System Notification: Ability 'Absolute Body Flexibility (Nyan)' has been copied. Slots filled: 5/7.
- Description: Allows the user to make their body extremely pliable and flat, able to pass through narrow gaps and evade attacks.
"Now I can really be like a cat," Tom thought gleefully.
He continued deeper, looking for the so-called "Monster King Orochi," or any other Dragon-level monster that might have more interesting abilities. The Monster Association had become his personal playground, and he was just getting started with his collection party.
Meanwhile, in the Monster Association's command center, Gyoro Gyoro (Psykos) began to sense that something was very wrong. Several of her powerful cadres had suddenly lost contact. There was an intruder in their base, an intruder with unimaginable power.
News of a god-like intruder wreaking havoc on the upper levels of the Monster Association's base quickly reached Gyoro Gyoro (Psykos). She growled in anger. Her meticulous plan to destroy the Hero Association was now being disrupted by this unknown variable. She immediately dispatched some of her strongest cadres to intercept Tom.
Tom, who was busy testing Nyan's "Absolute Body Flexibility" by slipping through ventilation pipes as if he were liquid, sensed several powerful presences approaching. He grinned. "The next course is arriving sooner than I thought."
He emerged in a large hall just as one of the strangest and most dangerous monsters he had ever seen attacked him: Black Sperm. The creature was composed of trillions of individual cells that could merge, divide, and change shape at will.
The fight against Black Sperm was a different kind of challenge. Physical force or energy blasts were not very effective against it because it could simply split to evade and then regroup. Tom had to use a combination of his Absolute Psychokinesis to try and restrain the trillions of cells, and even occasionally used the Compress Quirk from AFO to "contain" large portions of Black Sperm's mass. After a rather "troublesome" fight (for Tom, this meant he had to think a little), he managed to trap Black Sperm's core consciousness and "defeat" it.
[System Panel]
- Condition 'defeat target' has been met.
- System Notification: Ability 'Cellular Proliferation and Merging (Black Sperm)' has been copied. Slots filled: 6/7.
- Description: Allows the user to split into numerous independent individuals and merge back into one or several more powerful entities. Each cell possesses a fraction of the original's power.
"This... this could be a lot of fun!" Tom thought, imagining the potential chaos he could create with the ability to self-replicate.
As Tom was admiring his new ability, in another part of the vast Monster Association base, another major commotion was breaking out. The S-Class Heroes had launched their full-scale assault. Explosions and battles were now raging everywhere.
Tom, drawn by this new ruckus, decided to take a look. He teleported to the area where the fighting was fiercest. And that's where he saw him again.
Saitama.
The bald hero was standing in the middle of a destroyed corridor, looking a little confused, as if he'd just taken a wrong turn. Around him, several Demon-level monsters lay helpless, defeated with a single punch.
Tom felt a new wave of enthusiasm. He now had Tatsumaki's Psychokinesis, the insane ability of Black Sperm, and the entire AFO library. He could surely make Saitama take him more seriously this time.
"Hey, Baldy!" Tom called out, his voice full of confidence. "Round three?"
Saitama turned, recognizing Tom. "Oh, it's you again. You haven't learned your lesson yet, have you?" He seemed a little annoyed. "I'm trying to find my way out of this confusing place."
"How about we make this more interesting?" Tom didn't wait for an answer. He activated several of his abilities at once. He used Absolute Psychokinesis to lift the entire section of the corridor and hurl it at Saitama. He used Light Energy Explosion to fire a barrage of energy projectiles. He even tried using Cellular Proliferation to create several smaller duplicates of himself that attacked from multiple directions.
It was an assault that should have been able to destroy any S-Class hero.
Saitama just sighed. "So noisy."
He dodged the thrown corridor with a small hop. He swatted away the light energy spheres as if they were flies. And when Tom's small duplicates attacked him, Saitama just performed... a series of consecutive normal punches.
TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP!
Each of Tom's duplicates popped out of existence like soap bubbles. The real Tom, observing from a safe distance, felt each duplicate's "death" as a small mental shock. Then, before he could react, Saitama was in front of him.
"You're really annoying," Saitama said.
This time, his punch had a little more force behind it. Perhaps because Saitama was starting to get a bit irritated. Tom wasn't sent flying for miles. He just felt his entire world go dark for a moment. When he came to, he was half-embedded in a thick steel wall, the room around him vibrating violently. His body regenerated all the minor damage instantly, but his head felt dizzy.
Saitama was already gone, probably continuing his search for an exit or the nearest supermarket sale.
Tom pulled himself out of the wall. He wasn't angry. He wasn't frustrated. He was... contemplating. Three times. Three times he had unleashed what he thought was incredible power, and three times he had been defeated so easily, so utterly.
A "valuable lesson" began to sink into his usually chaotic mind. He was starting to understand something fundamental about the bald man. Saitama wasn't just strong. He was a different concept. An absolute limit. Something that couldn't be overcome just by collecting more powers or abilities.
He still wanted to be invincible. But now, his definition of "invincible" might need a little revision. Perhaps there were a few funny, bald exceptions in the universe.
The chaos of the battle between Heroes and Monsters still raged around him, but for the first time, Tom Jacker wasn't particularly interested in joining in. He had a lot to think about.
The battle between the Hero Association and the Monster Association continued to rage in the ruins of Z-City, but for Tom Jacker, most of its appeal had vanished. After three "encounters" with Saitama's fist, other fights, even against Dragon-level monsters, felt like child's play. He had seen the absolute peak of physical power, a limit so distant it felt like another dimension.
He spent some time just observing. He saw Garou, the Hero Hunter, rampage and evolve. He saw the S-Class Heroes fight desperately. He even saw Saitama pop up occasionally, end the greatest threat with an indifferent punch, and then leave to find lunch.
Tom no longer tried to fight Saitama. Not out of fear, but because he finally understood. It was like trying to punch the laws of physics. Futile, and the result was always the same. That lesson, strangely, didn't make him angry or desperate. On the contrary, it gave him a sort of clarity. He might never be the sole invincible being in every universe. There was always the possibility of another anomaly, another cosmic joke like himself, or like Saitama. And that... that made things much more interesting.
He had collected several fascinating new abilities from this world: Absolute Psychokinesis from Tatsumaki, Light Energy Explosion from Homeless Emperor, Absolute Body Flexibility from Nyan, and Cellular Proliferation from Black Sperm. His seventh slot was still empty; he hadn't found another monster unique or "fun" enough to complete his collection before he grew bored with the hunt. Maybe it wasn't necessary.
With the war against the Monster Association ending (thanks in large part to Saitama cleaning up the top brass without much fanfare), Tom felt it was time to leave. This world had taught him a valuable lesson and given him some new toys. But before he jumped to the next dimension, there was one last "farewell event" he wanted to stage. A little show for himself, involving the two most interesting female espers on the planet.
The plan was cunning and very Tom Jacker.
First, he "visited" Fubuki at the Blizzard Group's rebuilding headquarters.
"Fubuki-chan," Tom greeted, simply appearing in her temporary office. "I'll be leaving this world soon. And I thought, as one of the first heroes I met, you deserve a special farewell." He gave her a meaningful smile. "A small party, just for special people."
Fubuki, who still had a mixed feeling of fear, annoyance, and a slight fascination for Tom, hesitated. But there was something in Tom's tone that made it hard to refuse. Plus, her curiosity and ambition to stay on the "radar" of someone as powerful as Tom overcame her caution. "What kind of party?"
"Oh, you'll see," Tom replied. "Your sister is invited too."
The next step was to "invite" Tatsumaki. This was a bit more complicated. Tatsumaki still held a grudge for her defeat and the humiliation of being turned into a marble. Tom found her in her lavish apartment at the Hero Association HQ, where she was recovering and sulking.
"Miss Tornado," Tom greeted, teleporting onto her balcony. "I've come to say goodbye. And to invite you to a little event before I go."
"Get lost!" Tatsumaki snapped, a few objects in the room beginning to tremble.
"Oh, come on," Tom said. "It'll be your last chance to... well, to get whatever it is you want from me." He smiled provocatively. "Besides, Fubuki-chan is coming too. I wouldn't want her to feel lonely."
Mentioning Fubuki's name was the right move. Tatsumaki's protective (and competitive) instincts towards her younger sister immediately kicked in. She wouldn't let Fubuki be alone with this madman. And maybe... maybe this was her chance to get some kind of final "victory" over Tom, even if she didn't know how.
"Fine, you jerk," Tatsumaki growled. "I'll come. But if you try anything funny..."
"When am I ever not amusing?" Tom cut in.
A few hours later, in a luxurious penthouse that had been temporarily "vacated" by Tom using a combination of Teleportation and the Somnambulist Quirk on its occupants, the stage was set. The night view of City A spread out below them. Soft music (which Tom was playing using a stolen device from AFO) filled the air.
Fubuki arrived in an elegant evening gown, trying to look calm and in control. Tatsumaki arrived in her casual clothes, her face sour, but her eyes were alert.
Tom welcomed them with the smile of a perfect host. "Welcome to my farewell party, ladies, the strongest espers. I hope you enjoy the evening."
The air in the room was thick with tension, ambition, wounded pride, and unspoken anticipation. It was going to be a very long night.