With a furious cry, Tatsumaki unleashed her immense psychic power. The surrounding building ruins, chunks of concrete weighing tens of tons, and twisted steel beams lifted into the air as if weightless. They swirled, forming a terrifying storm of debris, then shot towards Tom Jacker from all directions. This was an attack that could annihilate an entire squadron of A-Class heroes.
Tom just smiled. "Nice performance!"
He didn't try to block the attack with his own power. Instead, he teleported. One moment he was there, the next he had appeared atop one of the largest floating concrete chunks, using Telekinesis from his All For One library to create a temporary foothold.
"You'll have to be faster than that, Little Miss!" Tom taunted.
Tatsumaki growled. She wasn't used to being underestimated. She focused her power, and a wave of pure psychic pressure slammed into Tom, trying to crush him on the spot. Tom felt an immense pressure, as if an entire building was collapsing on him, but his Tom Template absorbed it. He might have been slightly flattened for a moment, his chiton stretching, before snapping back to his normal shape with a faint 'plop'.
"Ooh, a strong massage!" Tom said, stretching his shoulders.
Tatsumaki's anger reached its peak. She raised her hands, and an entire old, half-destroyed factory tower nearby was ripped from its foundations. The giant steel and concrete tower hovered over Tom's head, and then with a scream from Tatsumaki, it slammed down with a force that would flatten anything beneath it.
BRAAAKKKDOOOMMM!
Dust and debris flew, blanketing the entire area. Tatsumaki was panting, slightly pale from using so much power. No one could have survived that attack.
However, as the dust began to settle, a figure emerged from the newly formed crater. Tom Jacker stood there, dusting off his now tattered clothes. Around him, the remains of the factory tower were shattered into pieces.
"You're really trying to bring the house down, huh?" Tom said, his smile never fading. "But I prefer a more open space."
Before Tatsumaki could launch another attack, Tom decided to be a little more active. He activated Fierce Wings from his AFO library, a pair of red wings sprouting from his back, and then shot into the air. He also coated his fists in blue fire from Hellflame.
Their battle now moved to the sky. Tatsumaki threw giant psychic projectiles, wrecked cars, chunks of earth, even trying to divert the flow of a nearby river. Tom, with the agility of his new wings and instant Teleportation, dodged everything while occasionally shooting fireballs or using Muscle Augmentation to punch the psychic projectiles back.
Tatsumaki grew increasingly frustrated. Every one of her supposedly fatal attacks was met only with laughter or taunts from Tom. This man was uninjured, tireless, and seemed to be enjoying every second of their "game."
She tried another tactic. She created a multi-layered psychic shield around herself, then tried to focus her power to directly assault Tom's mind, trying to drive him insane or paralyze him from within. But Tom, whose mind was protected by the anomalous nature of his System, only felt a slight headache.
"A mental attack? Good idea," Tom said. "But my head's already full enough with my own crazy ideas."
He saw Tatsumaki starting to show signs of fatigue. Her immense psychic power required great concentration and energy. Tom knew it was time to end this.
He teleported right in front of a startled Tatsumaki, phasing through her psychic shield as if it wasn't there. Before Tatsumaki could react, Tom used the Compress Quirk.
Tatsumaki's hands suddenly felt strange. She looked down and saw her body begin to shrink, fold, and be pulled into a small, glowing green sphere in Tom's hand. She tried to resist with her psychic power, but the process was too fast and inevitable.
A few seconds later, the Tornado of Terror, S-Class Hero Rank 2, had been turned into a small, shimmering marble in Tom's palm.
[System Panel]
- Condition 'defeat target' has been met.
- System Notification: Ability 'Absolute Psychokinesis (Esper)' has been copied. Slots filled: 3/7.
- Description: The ability to manipulate matter and energy on a massive scale using the power of the mind. Includes high-level telekinesis, force field creation, and the potential to manipulate pure psychic energy.
Tom smiled with satisfaction. He felt a new wave of understanding about how the world around him worked on a fundamental level, how the mind could shape reality. This was an incredible power.
He looked at the small marble in his hand. "Well now, Miss Tornado. You're much quieter like this." He pocketed the marble along with the one of Mr. Compress. He would release her later, in a safe place. Or maybe not. It depended on his mood.
The surrounding industrial area was completely devastated. Their fight had left a massive trail of destruction. The Hero Association was going to have a very bad day.
Tom, on the other hand, was ecstatic. He had obtained a fantastic new power. He looked up at the sky, wondering who else he could "play with" in this world.
With Tatsumaki's Absolute Psychokinesis now part of his arsenal, Tom Jacker felt truly invincible. He had unlimited mobility through Spatial Teleportation, a hugely diverse library of Quirks from All For One, and now, the power of a mind that could level cities. That bald guy in the yellow suit? Their first meeting must have been a fluke. Maybe the guy had some sort of anti-Telekinesis or something. Now, with pure Psychokinesis, Tom was confident he could at least put up a decent fight, or even unravel the mystery of Saitama's power.
He spent the next few days "training" (having fun) with his new power. He lifted a tanker from the port and made it spin like a top in the air, stopped a bullet train with his mind just to see the panicked expressions of the passengers before gently setting it back down, and even tried to "fold" an empty skyscraper into an origami shape (the result wasn't great, but the process was fun).
Then, he decided it was time to find Saitama again.
He didn't have to look far. One afternoon, while strolling through the Z-City shopping district (looking for inspiration for his next "collection"), he saw his target. Saitama was coming out of a supermarket, carrying a shopping bag that seemed full of that day's discounts, his face as flat and expressionless as ever. Genos, the cyborg disciple, walked faithfully by his side.
"Aha! Found you, Baldy!" Tom exclaimed, teleporting right in front of them, startling several passersby.
Saitama just stared at him. "Oh, it's you again. The guy who likes to break stuff, right?"
Genos immediately went on high alert. "Sensei, he is an extremely dangerous unknown entity! The last time he..."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Saitama cut in. "I sent him flying pretty far. What a pain. I was just about to make sukiyaki."
Tom grinned. "This time, I've got a new toy for you." He raised his hand, and a powerful green aura of Psychokinesis began to envelop him. Dozens of parked cars on the street began to lift into the air, along with lampposts, park benches, and even parts of the asphalt road. All of it swirled above Tom's head like a personal debris storm. "How about a game of catch?"
With a single gesture, Tom sent all the debris hurtling towards Saitama and Genos.
Genos prepared to unleash his entire arsenal. But Saitama just sighed. "Troublesome."
He stepped forward, and with a single casual punch into the air, he created a shockwave so powerful that all the levitating debris disintegrated into fine dust before it could even reach them. Nothing was left.
Tom was stunned. His Psychokinesis, which could lift a city, was just neutralized by... a single punch to the air?
"Impossible..." he muttered.
He didn't give up. He focused all his psychic power, trying to grip Saitama directly, trying to crush him with pure mental pressure. He could feel resistance, not an active resistance, but more like trying to crush a black hole. Nothing happened. Saitama just looked at him with a bored expression.
"Are you done yet?" Saitama asked. "I need to get home soon. The leeks will wilt."
"Not yet!" Tom shouted, now a little frustrated. He decided to take a more direct approach. He used one of AFO's strongest Quirks, Muscle Augmentation combined with Hellflame, and then shot towards Saitama with a muscle-enhanced fire punch.
Saitama, perhaps a little annoyed that his sukiyaki was being delayed, decided to end this. As Tom's mountain-shattering fiery fist approached, Saitama simply threw another punch. Not a serious punch. Just a normal punch.
BLAM!
This time, Tom wasn't just sent flying. He felt the force penetrate every layer of his defenses, even his Tom Template seemed to vibrate for a moment before absorbing the impact. He shot off like a meteor, blasting through several buildings (which were instantly obliterated), and finally landed in a children's playground several kilometers away, creating a large crater in the middle of the swings and slides.
He got up, his body instantly whole again. No injuries. But something inside him had cracked: his arrogance.
He stared back in the direction from which he'd been thrown. He couldn't believe it. Even with Tatsumaki's Psychokinesis and all the powers from AFO, he was still defeated so easily. That bald guy... he wasn't just strong. He was a cosmic joke. A glitch in the system of reality.
Genos approached Saitama. "Sensei, is he truly defeated?"
Saitama yawned. "I dunno. Maybe. Let's go home, Genos. I really want to eat sukiyaki." They walked away, leaving behind the crater and the destruction.
Tom Jacker sat in the crater, staring at his hands. He started to laugh. A quiet laugh at first, then louder and louder, the laugh of someone who has just realized how vast and insane the universe truly is.
"A valuable lesson," he said to himself. "So, a level of power like that really exists, huh?"
He wasn't angry. He wasn't scared. He was, in fact, incredibly, incredibly excited. He might never be able to beat the bald guy. But that didn't mean he couldn't have fun trying, or at least, uncover his secret. And in this world, there were still plenty of other "toys" waiting to be collected.
Perhaps the often-mentioned Monster Association could offer him a more worthy challenge.