Chapter 3

"So... if I cut off your foot, will you still be able to regenerate?"

"Yes."

"What if I chopped off your entire leg?"

"Yes."

"How about if you got sliced in half?"

Zombieman raised an eyebrow looking to his right to where Saitama was running along side him. They were a few minutes in the search of the crash's origin and throughout the entire time Saitama had been asking questions constantly after Zombieman confirmed that his arm will grow back.

Giving a small nod he answered Saitama. "Aye, I'll still be able to regenerate, though it will take a bit longer."

Then upon looking at Saitama's curious face, who appears like he was about to go for another round of questions, Zombieman decided that the only way to stop the continuous on-flow of questions was to show him. "Okay fine, here." Moving the sleeve of his jacket out of the way he showed the stump on his shoulder where his arm used to be before Saitama threw him into the forest and it was introduced to a tree.

Saitama's eyes widen in fascination seeing how Zombieman's arm was indeed not bleeding anymore and was actually regenerating new cells in a rapid rate that it could be clearly be noticed. The upper half of the arm has already grown back and it was still currently knitting back together.

"So, can you die?"

Zombieman gave exasperated sigh, he should have figured that wouldn't be the end of it. Though before he could answer a strong familiar copper-like smell hit him, a second later there was a slight splash of water as his foot stepped on a puddle in the forest, causing him to halt on the spot, forcing Saitama to stumble unsteadily to a stop also at his side. Zombieman's eyebrows furrowed at the puddle at his feet as the wheels in his head start to turn. It hasn't rained in days, any water would have dried up or soaked into the ground by now. There's no fresh water nearby either.

Crimson eyes started to sweep the area. Crouching down Zombieman reached out to get a sample, though he already suspecting what it was.

"What are you doing?" Saitama inquired over his shoulder, interested on why Zombieman had stopped running.

Watching as the ichor ran down his fingers, Zombieman grimly replied. "Blood, lots of blood by the amount of it from what it seems like."

Following the river of blood that they came across, Zombieman and Saitama stumbled upon the blood splattered trail with decapitated bald heads and armored bodies lying scattered about the place.

Stepping over the severed heads and bodies, Zombieman took in the scene with a focused frown on his face.

"The blood isn't dry yet. This has to be done less than 5 minutes ago."

Taking note of that he crouched down once again and started to examine closely at one of the bodies nearest to him. A second later Saitama exclaimed, suddenly recalling where he'd seen these people from.

"Oh! They're the copy cats on TV!"

"Huh?"

"They stole my look!" Saitama grumbled while subconsciously rubbing his bald head.

"Well, it seems like someone dealt with the situation," Zombieman responded while thinking, whoever did it was definitely not to be underestimated, this was a work of an experienced person. And the bodies all have similar cut marks from where the head was severed from the body. It had to be done with the same weapon based on the similar technique. This was definitely a one man's job. It wasn't the style of anyone in S-Class, and whoever did this must have been high up in rank. Then perhaps whoever did this wasn't a hero then… Looking over his shoulder he saw that Saitama, who seemed unaffected by the gruesome scene, begun to walk away.

"If we're done then I'm going home." Assuming it was over Saitama begin to say his farewells to Zombieman while strolling away. There seemed to be nothing that caught his attention anymore so going home to binge-watch a show seemed like a good idea. He was hungry too, food would be great right now.

Zombieman spoke up before Saitama could go any further.

"Wait."

Saitama paused walking, looking back at Zombieman who continued on in his explanation. "It's not over just yet." Pointing to the ground he was standing next to. "The tracks are fresh, there are heavy footprints leading that way. Someone's still alive."

Then a crash echoed throughout the forest followed by more. It shook the ground and making the trees sway slightly, causing birds in that direction to take off.

"Oh." Saitama regarded the direction of the disturbance and the split second later changed directions leading the way to the noise, with a slight skip in his step. "Let's go then."

Strolling slowly behind Saitama, Zombieman shadowed him, allowing Saitama to lead the way.

It took about several minutes later for Saitama to lose track of the sound, the crashing had stopped a little while ago, and they both were still wandering around in the woods.

Zombieman exhaled loudly, his rubbing his face with both of his hands, his healing abilities had healed all of his injuries, so his once-missing arm had already grown completely back. "We're lost aren't we…"

"No. Absolutely not." Saitama said while looking around before pointing a direction to his left. "It's... that way."

Zombieman sent a glare at Saitama who's completely unfazed by it and continued on to stroll deeper into the forest. To be honest, Saitama actually had no clue where they were going, but Zombieman doesn't need to know that certain fact. It was his fault for assuming that Saitama knew where the fighting was.

The said person, reluctantly followed Saitama even though he was almost positive that the caped person picked the direction they were going merely on a whim.

It wasn't long after they started heading deeper into the woods when loud running footsteps started increasing in volume behind them, whoever was running knows nothing about both looked back at the same time to see an armored man towering over them.

"See, I told you we were on the right track." Saitama spoke to Zombieman as he stared impassively up at Hammerhead, the leader of the Paradisers. Zombieman's hand came to rest lightly on his hip preparing to attack when needed.

"Are you two signing up?" Hammerhead questioned the two strangers he stumbled upon while running away from the person who had killed his all of his protesters. That ninja will pay dearly for that, it had taken him a while to gather many people that had agreed with him, a lot of them just laughed and walked away, the majority of the time when he tried to recruit, some people even threw whatever was nearest to them, at his face. Rude. He remembered that one time when this grandma threw a cooking pan at his face, that had hurt. But eventually, he was able to gather enough people followers that recognized his power and clever ideas. That ninja will rue the day he messed with the all-powerful Hammerhead. But getting more people to support his cause is his first interest currently since he lost all of his ex-followers. Hammerhead observed the two people, before focusing on Zombieman's head, then added. "Though if you want to join you have to shave your head, the cause is more important than your hair and it takes dedication. Your friend beside you got the right idea."

Zombieman scowled, "I think I'll pass." Then in a dangerous tone, he threatened. "And today will be your last day alive even if you think about shaving me."

"No, no…" Saitama stepping in front of Zombieman to get Hammerhead's attention, partially to stop Zombieman from acting on his words. "We're not here to join but to chop your head off." He looked at Zombieman expecting him to get his ax out and back up his statement.

Zombieman hand went to his back to grab his ax then grimaced realizing that in the rush to get to the screams and the distraction of losing his arm, he had completely forgotten to grab his weapon. "The ax is still in the tree."

"Oh... we'll figure something out to get rid of you."

Hammerhead scowled, if they weren't going to join then they need to be dealt with. He roared, "Then both of you die!" Raising his fist to punch the nearest person to him, which just so happened to be Saitama. The dust that scatters from the strength of the punch, making it impossible to see anything beyond a foot.

Hammerhead was confident that this will be over quickly, after all this suit makes him invincible, and this person who had borne the full power of his hit has no hope. Now he needs to get away from this place. More people than he liked was after him and he can't get caught. He'll be killed, thrown in jail or... Forced to work!

Just when Hammerhead was about to make a break for it, the dust cleared slightly, allowing him to get a glimpse of the caped hero who looks perfectly fine and unaffected. Hammerhead gave a double take, he swore that he had taken care of this person, how is he still alive! But there was no time to reflect on it when he heard a loud bang followed by a sharp pain in the back of his head, causing the world to go dark.

Hammerhead crumbled and fell to the ground while Zombieman stood at the side, with a hand pointed at Hammerhead, still holding out a slightly smoking gun that he had apparently kept on his side the whole time. Seeing how Saitama is still surprisingly okay looking like he hasn't even moved an inch, he blinked in surprise. That punch was definitely super powered, even he was pushed back several feet when the air had pushed upon him unexpectedly.

"Is he dead?" Saitama asked, absently wondering why Hammerhead's head wound wasn't bleeding.

Zombieman looked confusingly at Saitama. "I got him on the head. There's no way he's still alive." He walked over anyway to check Hammerhead's pulse on his neck, expecting to feel nothing since it was a head shot, after all, only to find a strong pulse still pumping. Jerking back, Zombieman gripped the gun but it was a split second too late to counterattack or move out of the way of the armored hand. It back-fists him on the chest painfully and there was several sharp cracking sounds causing him to grit his teeth. The impact made him fly back causing him to spin and slide against the ground before being stopped by a tree, his back slamming into the trunk.

Hammerhead got up, angrily spitting out while cradling his head. "I will kill both of you." That gunshot gave him a headache, it's been awhile since anything had almost penetrated his head. Thankfully his mom gave birth to him with his thick head. And right now he is furious at the wanna-be-bald-guy and his irritating companion.

Staring at Saitama's unimpressed face, he grew even more infuriated. At his will, the armored suit begins to change and grew bigger with electricity crackling as the power increased. This person in his yellow costume won't be able to get away from this now.

With both arms rotating at a high velocity, Hammerhead attacked Saitama, fully intending to crush him with his fists. But his super powered hands was put to an immediate halt by two smaller ones. Fear and disbelief were evident in his voice as he spoke. "W-What are you?"

Saitama hold was still firm on Hammerhead's arms making it incapable of even moving an inch. He looked up, his face void of any emotions as he spoke. "Just a guy who's a hero for fun."

At that moment Hammerhead realized he had discovered the most horrifying thing on earth. He didn't have any chance to react before an elbow jabbed him in the abdomen, causing the suit he had stolen to get shattered to pieces, leaving him naked as the day he was born. Giving out a high pitch scream he frantically jumped back getting space between this hero while trying to hide his modesty. 'This guy,' Hammerhead looked at the smaller bald person that was impassively watching him, 'Is going to kill him.' Sweating and his voice shaking Hammerhead pathetically pleaded. "H-Hold up. Don't murder me! Give me a chance! I promise I won't harm anyone anymore! I'll work! Just don't kill me!"

Saitama eyes narrowed, still looking intimidating and dangerous. But he wasn't making any move to kill Hammerhead.

"Go."

There was a paused as Hammerhead processed the fact that Saitama wasn't attacking him. He stuttered out disbelievingly. "W-what? You're letting me go?"

"Yes, now go and be good from now on." Saitama blinked, the image of his dangerous side gone, in a blink of an eye -who this time didn't hesitate- shot away in the opposite direction, desperately running away to escape.

"Huh." Not sparing any glances at the retreating butt naked person, Saitama instantaneously appeared at Zombieman's side who was thrown pretty far back.

Saitama pulled him up off the ground effortlessly.

"Thanks." Zombieman attempting to stand on his own, but the second he got out of Saitama's steady grip and took a step on his own, he wavered unsteadily on his feet almost falling forward again when his hands came out automatically against a nearby tree in an attempt to regain his balance.

"Zombieman?" Saitama's head tilted questioningly to where Zombieman was leaning heavily against the tree.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." Zombieman reassured him while trying not to breathe in too deeply, he didn't want to aggravate his injuries even more, that would just mean more time it would take to heal. He was okay, several broken ribs again today but that's fine, there's probably a huge bruise on his chest right now, but it's his head mainly giving him problems. It's slightly reeling in dizziness from the rolling, but it is better than earlier. Right after he was thrown he wasn't able to focus on anything. A few seconds of standing still, he recovered back most his sense of balance and was actually able to stop seeing triple of everything. From the feel of it, it was probably a concussion. Straightening up and taking a few steps to test out his balance, he wincing slightly at the headache. Zombieman had looked up and was able to catch a glimpse of someone in the distance just before the person disappearing in the trees.

Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, Zombieman cautiously questioned. "Was it just my head or did I just spot that thick headed person, running stark naked away from us." Turning to Saitama he asked with a perplexed expression. "You let him go?"

"Yes." Saitama shrugged. "He's not going to be terrorizing anyone else." Though he mentally added 'Though is was mostly because Hammerhead reminded me… of myself.'

Zombieman nodded accepting the vague answer. He had a feeling that Saitama was leaving out details to why Saitama let Hammerhead go, but whatever reason that was his privacy and Zombieman wouldn't invade it. And whatever happened during the fight between those two when he was out, Zombieman shouldn't be surprised when Hammerhead went running away and probably with a new attitude, that's the exact same thing that happens to Dr. Genus. Saitama most likely had beaten some sense into the thick head of his.

That's when Zombieman felt the air shift behind him, causing him to spin on his heel, his breath hitch in discomfort as a migraine hit him and gave a quick sharp exhale of breath as a rib pressed annoyingly at his lung. Upon seeing who had caught his awareness, his eyes flickered to the gun that was laying on the ground, out of reach. It must have gotten out of his grasp when he was hit.

Saitama was still facing the other direction, still lost in his thoughts when a new voice, that definitely wasn't someone he knew, spoke up.

"Where did Hammerhead go?"

"Oh?" Saitama head turns to see a ninja and for a split second Saitama thought that he was a girl before realizing that despite the feminine look, it was actually a guy. The person wore a tight black bodysuit with metal plating along parts of his body, with a long purple scarf hanging around his neck.

The ninja proceeded without pause, directing his comment to Saitama while regarding Zombieman. "You are the only one left. Did you recruit a new follower?"

"What?" Saitama was at lost at what this feminine-like person was talking about.

"We're not one of the Paradisers." Zombieman corrected while his eyes swept over the ninja's sword and quickly connected the dots with the murders from earlier on. "We're not your enemy here, the leader has ran. He is no longer a threat either."

"Ha, lies." The ninja sneered.

Zombieman didn't have time to correct him before a shuriken came cutting through the air to his face. Sidestepping, he ignored the discomfort of his lung being pressed upon by his rib and let the flying projectile fly past him.

Letting his eyes slide briefly over to Saitama, Zombieman saw that the ninja had also sent a shuriken to Saitama too. Although Saitama had already caught his shuriken and was examining it in his hands, unworried that he was being attacked.

"I won't be saying this again." Zombieman's hands curled into a fist. "So leave now if you want to go away unharmed."

"Not a chance." The ninja said and if one would pay attention they would see the murderous glee in his eyes as the ninja sees Zombieman stepping forward to him.

"I got this." Zombieman assured Saitama before grabbing his other pistol he had hidden on his calf and rested the gun by his side, and as soon as he detected the ninja starting to move he brought it up to take a shot. Though he was only able to shoot once, and missed before Sonic was on to him with a malicious smile on his face as he swung his sword down.

'Damn this kid is fast.' He thought as he had to dive to dodge the blade. 'The speed is faster than when he threw that shuriken.' The speed had surprised him but midway into the dodge, he realized his mistake. He had forgotten about his injuries, he had just needed a few more minutes for them to heal completely. But because of his sudden movement and the impact as he dived and rolled on the ground, his lung had collapsed under the stress which then caused him to falter and the ninja immediately noticed and took advantage of it. He only had time to turn halfway around to see the sword come down at his throat. 'This is gonna give me such a bad headache.' He thought just as the sword made contact.

The ninja stepped over the decapitated body of Zombieman and stood before Saitama, whose eyes were wide in surprise as he was taking in the sight of Zombieman's rapidly bleeding neck.

While attempting to cover the bloodthirsty smile on his face, the ninja shot forward with the sword to kill Saitama but he was surprised as he saw Saitama caught his weapon with the point a few inches from his eye.

"So, you're quicker than your friend."

Saitama was tempted to finish this ninja for killing his newly gained accomplice when he caught glimpse of the so said person's hand started to pat the ground around him, apparently searching for his missing head. So Saitama decided to play along. Breaking the sword in his hand, distracting the ninja from noticing the not so dead body of Zombieman.

"You had no reason to chop off his head, he wasn't a part of the Paradisers."

"Are you saying you are part of them then?" Sonic sneered.

"No, I'm not. Look at what I'm wearing! I'm Saitama! A hero that fights evil for fun!" Saitama pointed to himself exasperatedly.

The ninja shrugged. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I don't care who you are. I just know that you're still alive after reading my attacks twice and I just can't let you walk away."

Saitama face was blank as he saw the twitch of the ninja's mouth. "Oh, come on. You just want to try out your moves on me."

The smile that was threatening to break out before on the ninja's face was then out. Saitama half expected evil laughter to follow.

The following next few minutes, the ninja was running and jumping all around Saitama with speed faster than sound, making him look like he was all over the place for an untrained eye. Saitama was indifferent throughout the ordeal while listening to the ninja's boasting, he started to wonder if the ninja would keep doing this the whole time. It gets boring. If this person isn't going to stop talking then there's no point to stay any longer and when the ninja kicked him -finally some action- he voiced his thoughts about going back to his apartment. Saitama was pretty sure that his comment instead of angering the ninja made him even more delighted that someone could keep up with the speed that he set.

That's cute. The ninja thinks that he could be a challenge to Saitama. Oh well, he'll indulge in his wish. Stepping a few inches to the side, Saitama maneuvered so the kick barely missed him. Holding a fist out, Saitama didn't expect it to hit the ninja's… crotch. Apologizing profoundly, Saitama internally winced at the thought of that happening to him.

Twisting out of the way the ninja landed bent down, several feet away. Standing up with his hands covering his damaged jewels and his knees knocking together and shaking the ninja pointed a finger at Saitama.

"I've worked every job from assassin to bodyguard. No ninja is more deadly. I m Speed-O'-Sonic. I'm putting my work on hold, for I have found a formidable opponent. I-"

Speed-O'-Sonic cut off his sentence as his head turned quickly to his side while gaping at the person that had appeared a step away from him.

Zombieman stood beside Sonic, with his head reattached to his head since that was quicker than regrowing it, he raised an eyebrow at the ninja who was not yet comprehending that the person he just killed had come back to life.

With a baffled expression Sonic exclaimed. 'You're alive?!"

"Yes, thanks for stating the obvious." Zombieman retorted, sounding irritated. Then before Sonic could react, at full speed- a speed Zombieman couldn't use before because of his injuries- Zombieman swung the butt of the gun at Sonic's head causing him to fall unconscious.

Saitama looks on curiously. Then going over to Sonic's body he prodded it with his foot. "Was it really necessary to knock him out? He already lost…"

Zombieman rubbed his head looking apologetic as he just realized what he did to Sonic. "Sorry, the day just got caught up to me. I also have a killer headache from being thrown, and getting decapitated does not help with a migraine. In fact, I think I put my head on slightly crooked

because where my head meets my backbone is cracking in ways I don't think it's supposed to and I feel like my head could gonna fall off any minute. My healing powers are taking forever to fix it. And it doesn't help that I lost three battles because I keep letting my guard down."

"Ok. Ok." Saitama felt a nerve popping out of his head, what did he do to deserve this, he had no interest in other's problem. "Point made."

With a deep breath, Zombieman stopped talking, eventually going back to his normal calm self with every deep breath.

There was silence as no one felt like speaking and just looked at Sonic who didn't look like he was going to wake anytime soon and was going to have a pretty noticeable black eye for some time.

Breaking the silence Saitama wondered out loud. "What are we going to do with him now then?"

_END OF CHAPTER 3_

A/N: Well, that took longer than expected to write. I had introduced Sonic in the story! So what do you think is going to happen?!