Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 189 THE STRONGEST WORLDS

CHAPTER 189

THE STRONGEST WORLDS

I looked around the red room. Thinking about each world I mentally made a map of the area. 

This main room was supposedly worlds I had picked that I felt would help me the most. In all honesty they were 11 worlds that I probably knew the best as well. There were still a ton of other mangas out there, but I didn’t look forward to their releases each week like I had these 11. I was a little surprised that I picked High School of the Dead and Gantz. Yet, so far they had been the most helpful because of the Challenger Slots, so I was lucky I had chosen them. 

I was tempted to use my World Choice now. But in all honesty I needed to focus on the last 2 worlds. If I couldn’t learn any cool skills right away then I would be stuck with Hunter x Hunter to try to earn another Bonus Slot. 

I stepped through into the Dragonball Z world. The void turned into people. Men all around me they wore orange and yellow clothes. More like Tibetan Monk robes they wore long strips of cloth wrapped around their bodies as they punched the air in front of them. Oh and everyone was very very bald. 

I cursed, rubbing my hand over my head. I was bald too. Or at least had a shaved head. “Fucking hell,” I mumbled as I stepped out of the row of monks attacking thin air. People eyed me but I ignored them as I walked past the long line of people. I was in some sort of monk karate dojo. An open courtyard all around me I walked to a fountain that sprayed water out. 

Looking into the water my head was shaved and I had 6 dots on my forehead. 3 rows of 2 going from brow to where my hairline should have been. “Goddang Krillin,” I mumbled as the memories came to me. 

I was Weston Watanabe. My father ran this dojo. My 4 older brothers were higher up on the totem pole. I was constantly bullied because of it. I had no real talent for martial arts. All I wanted in life was to run away and start my life over somewhere else. I was 16 years old and had hardly ventured 20 miles from this very spot. 

I sat down, rubbing my head as I grew annoyed with the situation. Krillin had been a part of a dojo much like this. Perhaps the same one, I didn’t know. Either way it wasn’t how I would achieve power in this world. As the pain hit me, it wasn’t as bad as the other worlds, but still obvious. I bulked up in muscle rather quickly. 

“Weston!” My older brother yelled as the pain subsided. I looked over to see him walking my way. 

“Fuck you, fuck this place. I’m out,” I said. Jumping up to the wall around the courtyard I was soon out of there running through the forest around the dojo. No one gave chase and I kept running. 

This was Dragonball Z. So that meant the timeline could be any time between the last World Martial Arts tournament where Goku beat Piccolo, or Raditz landing. There was no way in hell I would be helpful against Raditz. Even if I could help, I wouldn’t. Goku had to die or the Earth was doomed. 

Dragonball Z was a world where strength reigned supreme. The strongest people could control a power known as Chi, or Xi, depending on who you asked. Chi was basically internal energy. I wasn’t sure if it was different than chakra but it was a useful power. It could be used to attack from afar, and eventually destroy worlds. It was a skill I wanted, but I doubted I could use it. 

Stopping in my tracks on a dirt road I decided to try something. Pushing my wrists together at my side I said the word. “Kame-hame-ha!” I yelled pushing my hands out. Nothing happened. “Fuck.” 

So I still didn’t have enough control of my Chi. That or I wasn’t strong enough. Grinding my teeth I began running to the nearest town, which sucked. In DBZ everything was impossibly far away. I got to town which had some flying cars. That reminded me of all the pluses of the world I was in. 

There were capsule vehicles. If I could get a quest reward for a capsule, it would be great in any of the worlds. Pocket sized buildings or vehicles. They might even be worth a Challenger Slot. 

Of course Chi would help in any fight. Raising and lowering of strength which could help my plans in MHA. There was power sensing, which may help me find the girls in Naruto. Too many possible gains from DBZ to completely throw it out. 

“Where to learn?” I asked myself as I walked on the sidewalk of the bustling city. 

“There is Korin Tower,” I said. Back in Dragonball, Goku climbed it and became way stronger by being trained by the cat there. “Senzu Beans would be an awesome reward.” I continued to think. Tien was probably the strongest human, but he was obsessed with his Pokemon, Chiaotzu. Krillin or Yamcha were my best bets. “Yamcha should be a baseball player currently.”

“He has been to Korin Tower so he knows where it is. And he could point me to Kame House,” I said. 

I walked up to the nearest person. They were a wolf man. Gray shaggy hair, they stared at me confused. “Excuse me, who is the best baseball team?” I was sure I looked weird to the guy, dressed like a monk, but I ignored the fact. 

“Baseball? Seasons over, man. Won’t start up again until next year,” he said. That hopefully meant that Raditz hadn’t arrived yet. 

“Who won the last baseball tournament…thing?” I asked. 

“Uhh the Taitans,” the man said.

“That must be his team. Where are they located?” I asked. 

“Uh Central City, 2,000 miles that way,” the guy said pointing.

“Freaking DBZ,” I mumbled. “Thank you. Do you know where a pawn shop is?” I asked. He pointed me in the direction and I found it pretty easily. Dumping gold coins from Berserk on the table they were quickly giving me their value by weight. They were more than happy with the trade since they thought the money came from some secret order of monk that I was obviously a part of. 

After making some zeni, which was the currency of DBZ, I went to the airport. A plane would leave in a few hours. I bought some normal clothes, some food, and was on the plane soon enough. Arriving in Central City in the early morning hours I familiarized myself with the city. I didn’t know Yamcha’s last name, but plenty of people I asked knew about him since he was on the baseball team. 

I was getting closer to an idea where he lived when the timer ran out. No quests popping up I decided it was best to leave for now. After a World Escape I was back in the Manga Room and venturing into the final door. One Punch Man. 

—

I didn’t know who, where, or when I was. Everything was a muddled blur. Blankness was all that met me. My eyes wouldn’t open. My limbs felt numb. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t move. I couldn’t understand much of anything. I simply slept or hovered between sleep and consciousness as time passed by me. Every now and then I would hear talking, but my mind couldn’t understand the words. 

“Sir, what was in the last dose? Subject A’s muscle mass has increased over 10 times!” A man said excitedly. 

“I don’t know what was different,” an older man mumbled. “Keep testing him. Push the last dose on the other subjects. Increase his meds. We don’t want him waking up.” 

More time passed. “Sir, Subject D passed away.” 

“Dispose of him.” 

“Sir, are you sure these won’t contradict one another?” 

“Do as I say.” 

“Sir, there has been no change in the others.”

“Keep trying. We are so close.” 

“Sir” “Sir” “Sir” I heard over and over again. At one point my eyes opened but all I could see was a blurry white image. I soon passed into unconsciousness once more. My entire body aching as I felt the cool drugs course through my veins. 

Countless hours later I heard a reverberating boom echo in the hall. I was pushed into wakefulness once more as everything shook around me. Strength I hadn’t used in ages slowly awakened. But it was too slow. 

“What was that?” 

“Some kind of monster fell outside. It crushed half of the building,” the younger voice said in a panic. “The thing was as big as a skyscraper.”

“Is it dead?”

“It’s not moving.”

“We have to go now. Emergency services will be here soon,” the older voice said. “You grab the Subjects. I will pull the truck around. We are so close, we can’t stop the testing now.” 

“Yes sir,” the younger voice said. I felt the air move across me. Jostled more and more as we ran through the halls. My vision blinked as overhead lights passed by me. The lights became brighter as I was pushed into the outside air. I heard people yelling and screaming. All sounded much like the Disaster test during the License Exam. 

I almost gasped, remembering something for the first time in a long time. I pictured it all slowly. Something important about someone that wasn’t really there. Someone…invisible. I was shaken as I was run up a ramp. Soon left in the dark once more I kept remembering things. Simple stuff. 

An invisible hand holding mine. A woman with long dark hair and gold snakes for earrings laying her head on my lap. 2 small children crawling toward us. A much younger girl with dark hair holding my head as I laid on her lap. Both of us tired from a long day. An amazing set of tits in my face as a girl rode on top of me. A name stuck out with the tits. Kishimoto. I hadn’t heard that name in a long time. 

More sounds became apparent as I remembered. The sound of more gurneys being pushed next to me. The roar of an engine as it started up. Traffic as it drove passed. The blaring of sirens. All the while my eyes opened millimeter by millimeter. The area was still dark, but it wasn’t long until the box truck was opened and light poured in. 

“Hurry, I don’t know how long we have,” the old man said. 

I had to wake up more quickly. Blinking rapidly I felt the cool air around me. Trying to sense every little bit of touch to help wake me up. “He’s waking,” a voice said in a panic. 

“Almost there,” the old man gasped as the bed I was on pushed through the double doors.

“Where is it?” 

“The refrigerator in the back,” someone said. I felt someone grab my forearm. Feeling something deep inside me boil up I snapped into wakefulness for a split second. Grabbing the hand I crushed it with a slight squeeze. The man screamed in panic as the power kept boiling to the surface. I pulled, ripping the man’s arm out of it’s socket and off his body. Unsure how I was doing this with simple movements I felt the power grow and grow. Coming to a peak I blacked out. 

—

I wasn’t sure how long it was until I came to again. But when I did I was all better. My mind was clear once more. Blinking, I found myself covered in blood. 2 bodies at my feet they were ripped in half and then some. I groaned, standing up. Walking across the tiled floor I found a stainless steel pan that held a scalpel and other surgical items. Tossing the items off I looked into my reflection in the steel. It was distorted but worked well enough. 

I was Weston Watanabe. 17 years old last I checked I had been a street urchin. My parents were killed by some sort of mutated antelope person. It ran them through with its horns. I got lost in the shuffle of things. An only child I was left on the streets to fend for myself. Joining a gang of like minded young children we robbed and stole everything we could get our hands on. 

After a villain destroyed an apartment building, my friends and I were robbing it blind when I fell from the unstable 3rd floor. I thought I had been picked up by an ambulance, but I guessed it was these guys instead. Soon drugged up beyond belief there were only about 2 minutes of consciousness that I could remember. 

I dropped the plate. The bodies were that of an older man, and a younger boy. Perhaps my age. I distinctly remembered seeing other gurneys during my time with them. That was when I noticed the notification. 

Chikara meant Power in Japanese. I wasn’t sure if that was a person’s name or a company. Either way, I now had a Bonus of Drug Resistance. Hopefully it was enough to make sure this didn’t happen again. Heading out the door each step became more steady as I walked down what looked like a small hospital clinic hallway. Coming out the back door I found a large box truck. 

Inside were 3 gurneys with 3 women on them. They were asleep or drugged still. I moved to the first one, untying her restraints I princess carried her inside. Only 2 sleeping cots in the back I set her on one and another girl on the last cot. Taking the mattress from one of the gurneys I laid the last girl on it beside the other 2 cots. 

Finding a bathroom I looked into the mirror. I noticed that like the 3 girls, my head was shaved. “Fucking Krillin,” I mumbled as I started the shower. Hot water cascading over me it helped me feel alive once more. I didn’t know how long I had been there. At least a day, but I guessed a week.

This world was One Punch Man. Unlike MHA where most everyone had powers. Here, most everyone didn’t. The heroes were typically just really strong. Well strong for normal people’s standards. The main protagonist, Saitama, was a god among men. He had trained from a normal person to an impossible to beat hero with simple training. Something special about him I wondered if there was something special about me in One Punch Man. 

These men had been testing something on us. I wasn’t sure what, but I wanted to know. I thought about going to Hunter X Hunter, but for now I wanted to stay here and figure out what the hell was going on. Being drugged had been dangerous. I was still feeling the effects. I figured I might as well become 100% before deciding my next move.