Of course, Saitama was doing just fine.
At first, he'd figured he'd be chased for a while by Megatron and his lot.
But now he realized he was wrong.
Those Cybertronian robots in the water were only a little faster than a typical nuclear submarine. If you really compared speed, they were about on par with those giant sea creatures that panic and bolt along the seafloor.
Don't ask Saitama how he knew.
If you must know…
He'd already acquired a giant mount.
One hand clutching the AllSpark, the other holding the Merlin's Staff, Saitama lounged on the huge octopus's head during a rare moment of leisure. He tapped it. "Take me to that submarine up ahead, got it?"
The octopus glared at him, and got its noggin tapped again.
"Uuurgh…"
Bullied by Saitama's sheer presence, the octopus didn't dare resist and churned forward with all its might. Behind its rear tumbled several Cybertronians, chasing like mad.
Saitama rapped the octopus's head again. "Hey, fish-boy, don't you squirt ink? Go on, give these alien weirdos a taste of Earth's special attack!"
The octopus shot him a vicious look, got smacked twice more, and grudgingly jetted a thick black cloud.
"Argh, my visuals just went dark!"
"Told you—switch to infrared imaging when pursuing!"
"I'm stunned—how was I supposed to know Saitama was this strong? He even—uh, I didn't say anything. Boss! We're in pursuit of Saitama!"
Megatron had eaten a huge loss at Saitama's hands and was fuming for a place to vent. Catching two subordinates gossiping, he gifted each a ringing slap.
"You—and you—boost my speed. I'm going to end that pest!"
The two bots thought, We had a whole crowd earlier and still couldn't kill him. Now it's just a few stragglers—how are we supposed to beat Saitama?
Not to mention, Megatron had lost their power source—the AllSpark.
Of course, those thoughts stayed locked behind their vocal processors. No way they'd say that out loud.
"Boss, we're ready!"
"Fire!"
Whoosh.
Riding the thrust of his underling's missile, Megatron hit his speed ceiling in an instant. Luckily, as a Cybertronian, he could withstand the crushing pressure of the deep. Any organic lifeform pushing that hard would've been pulped by the water alone.
Up ahead—
Saitama and his octopus mount suddenly felt the sea surge. With its panoramic eyes the octopus spotted a red-glowing object barreling toward them. Instinct screamed, and it bolted. Saitama was jostled right off its head.
In no time the octopus was huffing and wheezing, while the missile—and Megatron—kept coming, tireless.
Seeing the surface close, Saitama patted the octopus. "It's dangerous here. Beat it."
Before it left, he couldn't resist stepping on its head one more time. Tears welled in the octopus's eyes. It thought miserably, I was curled up just fine in the deep sea, munching on sharks and whales. I don't even go after the little fish. How did I deserve this?
Whoosh.
Saitama broke the surface in one motion and landed ashore. Megatron—and the rocket beneath his feet—breached right after.
Megatron stomped onto solid ground. "Saitama, I will kill you!"
Saitama flashed the AllSpark in his hand. "You want to kill me? Then you won't be having this."
He flicked the AllSpark up into the air, and Megatron's gaze snapped to the violet gleam. The very next instant, a sledgehammer blow crashed into his chest.
Saitama's Serious Punch nearly rattled Megatron's frame apart.
Catching the AllSpark on the rebound, Saitama planted Megatron under his heel. "You? Rule humanity? Keep dreaming."
Megatron roared and lurched up from the ground, but he couldn't shake Saitama off. Another volley—Serious Consecutive Punches—thundered into him.
Until—
"Whew… didn't expect a hunk of iron to be this tough," Saitama said. "But this time, I've hammered some sense into you, right? You get the gulf between us now."
"Arghhh! Saitama, you bastard!" Megatron howled. "If you've got guts, let me go and fight me for a hundred rounds!"
"So long as I don't slot the AllSpark back into your energy bay," Saitama replied, "you could go two hundred rounds and you'd still end up the same—beaten."
Megatron was so furious he could barely speak.
"Uuugh…" Two drops of "tears"—motor oil—leaked from the corners of his eyes. He, who'd rampaged across the cosmos, now lay under the heel of a puny human—and humiliated by him, no less. To Megatron, it felt like an elephant being stepped on and mocked by an ant…
Yet even now, he refused to admit Saitama was stronger. Maybe, deep down, he already had. His mouth just wouldn't say it.
Saitama couldn't be bothered to argue.
He had another task—summon the so-called Mother of Life, Quintessa, and give her a thorough thrashing, so every last machine lifeform understood one thing: Earth is not to be violated.
Megatron watched Saitama turn to leave and scrambled up. "Saitama, where are you going?"
Without looking back—only the red cape in the wind—Saitama answered, "To summon your 'Mother of Life.' Want to come pay your respects?"
Shock flashed through Megatron's optics. "At a time like this, you'd summon Cybertron's Mother of Life?!"
He blinked. But he hadn't activated the Merlin's Staff.
Yes—Megatron could confirm it: there wasn't the slightest energy fluctuation from the staff in Saitama's hand. If that was true, Saitama shouldn't be able to trigger it at all.
"Hah! You've strutted long enough—time to watch you fail for once!" Whether his confidence had been shattered or warped, Megatron suddenly craved the sight of Saitama falling short.
Unfortunately for him, what happened next once again defied his expectations.
When Saitama reached the harbor and met up with Vivian and the others, he placed the Merlin's Staff into Vivian's hands.
Hum!
The vines wrapped around the staff began to peel away. A mighty, enigmatic force bloomed—and Megatron seethed with shock and envy.
"Damn it! That woman—Vivian—she's the key to activating the Merlin's Staff! I'm going to lose my mind!"
(End of Chapter)
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