"Son?! What are you doing here?" The exasperated face of Tatsuki could easily be seen on the monitor as one of the cameramen focused a camera towards their general direction. Not only was Tatsuki surprised, but he was also slightly disappointed and angry as well. He told himself that his son should've known better, and going here while they fought a formidable villain is basically suicidal.
A brief smile formed on the cameraman and the reporter's face as they recognized the teenager who came to the scene. He was none other than the one and only son of the Midoriyama duo, and not only that, he also just had his debut in the initial exams in the USA. In other words, they've sniffed a headline and decided to publicize it as much as they can.
"Midoriyama Satoshi, USA Student, Arrives at the Scene!" The headline read.
"Dad! I came to help!" Satoshi responded before his dad could berate him. Call it fortunate or unfortunate, his parents can't really reprimand him since they were too focused on blocking the Slime's attacks. And now, they've got two more heads to protect, making the situation a little bit bleak.
"We'll talk later! For now, you have to get away from here! There's no way you could help us, don't get ahead of yourself!" Tatsuki growled as another tentacle descended upon him. In a split second, countless Ice Spikes came from his hands, impaling the tentacle that was about to hit him squarely on the head.
"Satoshi! You have to get away from here! You have to obey your father! We can handle this!" Ayumu softly answered but there was a bit of a strain on her face since she was trying to push the Slime farther but to no avail.
"Kid! You better keep my daughter safe!" Yukino-san exclaimed.
"Dad! I got a flame superpower!" Satoshi exclaimed in desperation. He badly wanted to help his parents since they were clearly being pushed back. If worse comes to worst, they might even be ridiculed by the masses because they couldn't stop one villain. "You don't have one, right? You also think that the Slime is weak against fire, right?"
Tatsuki didn't respond. In the first place, he found it weird that his son is riding what seemed like a Summoned Beast. He could only think that maybe Shiroi was the one who owns the White Lion since it might have the Ice Element. As for Yukino-san, Shiroi's father, he thought that maybe the White Lion was in fact a family thing of the Midoriyama family so he didn't bring it up. With both parties seeing the White Lion as the other's possession, they didn't question it.
However!
What they couldn't explain was the floating ball of whitish-blue flame on top of Satoshi's shoulder. What was that? Another Summoned Beast? A superpower? But Satoshi has the power to control metal, right? Does he have two superpowers? Did he really mean it when he said that he has a superpower related to fire?
Because of those questions invading their heads, they couldn't really address Satoshi properly. Not only were they preoccupied with the monster, they also had a lot of questions in their minds at the moment. And that disabled them to shoo Satoshi away.
Taking advantage of the situation, Satoshi commanded the White Lion to charge at the Slime Monster. With a single roar, the White Lion dashed, leaving Shiroi behind because of its super acceleration. In an instant, the White Lion was already a meter or two away from the Slime, roaring as it tried to intimidate the vicious and disgusting-looking monster.
"A kid, what can I do for you?" The Slime teased.
'What?! It can talk? Yuck!' Satoshi said in his head as he gained control over the Whitish Blue Ball of Flame on his shoulders. it then separated into two balls of flame and started firing a continuous column of fire directly at the Slime Monster. Because the Slime was so fast, he easily dodged the approaching column of fire by bouncing backward using the balls of his feet.
And at that moment, after more than an hour of trying to push the Slime Monster back, they finally succeeded, but not in the way they expected.
"Mom! Dad! Yukino-san! I'll try to hold them off for a while, help with the evacuation and get some help!" Satoshi called out.
He was trying too hard to appear confident... and yet, his voice is as shaky as an alarm clock. Nervousness started creeping up within him as he walked the tightrope of life and death. Deep inside, something was urging him to go back, that he was just deceiving himself, that he cannot go head to head with a formidable enemy.
In desperation, Satoshi bit his tongue to regain his composure. And as he came back to his senses, he realized that three tentacles were already shooting at him. If he didn't get out of the way, he would be cut into three separate pieces based on how fast the tentacles were coming at him.
At that moment, Satoshi gave three simultaneous orders at once. It's as if everything was happening in slow-motion as he jumped sideways...
"SON!" Tatsuki screamed in pain as the tentacles came closer and closer;. Focusing his mind on a superspeed ability he 'plundered' from someone, he started coming towards his son, but he knew that he wouldn't make it in time.
Still, he didn't give up and accelerated faster and faster, straining every fiber of muscle in his body in desperation to save his son from the throes of death.
And then it happened.