22 The Recruit

"Interesting, so in this world, most people are born with some kind of superpower!" Harley Quinn noted as she and Saitama did some research at an internet café. "Damn, Puddin', I'm sure you can find at least one recruit in this place!"

"Trust me HAHA, I've already found an online chatroom for aspiring villains, and I'm telling 'em all that I'll be at those buildings that I destroyed tonight!" Saitama answered as he typed along the keyboard under the moniker "Bald Clown".

Several other patrons of the café stared at the blood-covered, clown-faced man in shock, while also leering at Harley's skimpy outfit that showed off her reasonable curves. The pair also took the time to check out a news site, where Saitama's recent fight with All Might had made national headlines, and the country's number one hero was supposedly taking time off to recover from the life-threatening injuries that he sustained from the bald villain.

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When nightfall approached, Saitama and Harley began making their way towards the now-closed down section of the city that housed the heavily-damaged buildings from the caped baldy's punch. Although many people in the online chatroom had expressed interest in serving as the one punch man's henchmen, there was no telling how many aspiring villains would actually show up. On top of that, hopefuls would still have to pass Saitama's deadly test of being able to successfully dodge or withstand a single attack from him.

"Alrighty, I'd assume that your recruits would start showing up around here, right?" Harley asked as they strolled past a dark alley that was situated between two of the ruined buildings.

"Yes! Let's hang around here for a little while and see who shows up!" The clown-faced man agreed. "I really hope that whoever comes can entertain me, because I can feel boredom creeping up with every passing minute, and believe me, Harley, you don't wanna be around when I'm bored."

Five minutes became ten, and eventually, a full twenty minutes transpired with the villains standing alone together in the alley. Saitama waited for the full half hour, before sighing as he shook his head at the apparent no show villains.

"Sorry, puddin', I guess maybe even the bad guys are too scared of you now," the jester girl said as she put a hand to the caped man's shoulder. "I guess you crippling the number one hero really messed with them, huh?"

"Hey. Am I late?" a voice suddenly echoed through the other end of the darkened corridor between the two buildings.

Out from the shadows stepped a tall, lanky man, who was dressed in a thin, unzipped, tattered black jacket with a white t-shirt beneath it, as well as black pants that cutoff above his ankles. His hair black and spiky, the most striking feature of the stranger was that the skin around his lower jaw, neck, hands, and feet appeared discolored and wrinkled, as if he'd previously suffered horrific burns there.

"No, you're right on time!" Saitama exclaimed as he clasped his red-gloved hands together. "And you are?"

"You can call me Dabi," the man replied as he stopped a short distance away with his hands in his pockets. "I've actually just joined up with another group of villains, but after seeing what you did to All Might, I might rethink my alliances."

"Wonderful! I already have my own private island base and everything, so you'll be betting on the right horse if you choose ME," the bald clown grinned as he pointed at himself. "So, if you're interested, then I have one simple test for you."

"Sure, I'm interested," Dabi answered with a shrug. "What might this test be?"

"Survive an attack from me," Saitama stated with a grin as he began to stride towards the burned man while raising a fist. "You can dodge it, tank it, I don't care. Just survive HAHA."

To the surprise of both Saitama and Harley, Dabi didn't react to the bald clown upon hearing about the deadly test, and remained standing there with his hands in his pocket, a light smirk on his face. Unfazed, albeit, curious, Saitama continued walking up to the stranger and prepared to throw one of his all-power-punches at close range. A second later, a bright light opening up before him, the fallen hero realized Dabi's plan.

A gargantuan blue fire ball erupted from the black-haired man's body, consuming everything in the immediate area including Saitama. Her skin burning from the extreme heat, Harley had to run out of the alleyway to safety as the immense flames scorched the surrounding brick walls and illuminated the darkness as if it were the daylight sunshine. The fire howled like an untamed beast as it consumed everything in its path, where the alley became blackened with soot and scorch marks until eventually, the blue flames began to retreat back into their creator's body.

"Impressive, I wasn't sure if I'd burn you up or not," Dabi commented as a now nude Saitama stood before him.

"HAHAHA, whoa, you burned off my clothes!" the bald clown exclaimed as he stood there shamelessly in his birthday suit. "Great job, I like you! That's a flashy power too, what do you call it?"

"My quirk is blueflame, it burns a lot hotter than regular fire," Dabi explained as he held up an arm, the skin of which was revealed to be sizzling. "Unfortunately, my body can't always handle the heat, but whatever. And what's your quirk? It seems to grant you amazing durability, as well as power given that you knocked the crap out of All Might."

"Quirk? Heh, that's what you guys call your powers here," the bald clown chuckled as he flexed his arms. "I wasn't born with this power, I just trained really hard until I got strong."

"I can't tell if you're joking, but whatever," Dabi continued as he shuffled over while extending his still-sizzling arm. "So I'm in, I guess. What can I call you?"

"I'm Saitama, and I'm just a villain for a good laugh!" the caped baldy announced as he shook his recruit's hand. "Welcome aboard. The broad over there is my assistant, Harley Quinn."

"Can I uh, can I come out now?" the red and black jester asked as she popped out from behind one of the brick walls, only to spot the naked Saitama "Yowza! Puddin' you're all hot an stuff!"

His muscular body out in the open, the bald clown smirked as he looked between his growing crew, with his mind dancing around what he could do with an eventual legion of powerful individuals who'd expand his empire around the multiverse.