City Z's skyline bristled with unnatural energy. Violet portals pulsed like infected wounds, their edges fraying with static as creatures oozed into the world—twisted amalgamations of teeth, tendrils, and ravenous void. Saitama stood beneath one such rift, grocery bag dangling from his fingers, staring at a monstrosity that defied biology. Its body writhed with obsidian flesh and glowing crimson eyes, a low, guttural growl vibrating the asphalt. "Seriously? Another one?" he sighed, setting down his noodles and instant coffee. The creature lunged, its maw splitting into a vortex that devoured light itself. Saitama sidestepped lazily, fist cocked. "Convenience store's already closed. Can't you monsters take a day off?" His punch connected, obliterating the beast into black sludge—but the remains twitched, pooling and reforming into something larger, angrier. "Regeneration? Ugh."
Half a dimension away, Cid Kagenou prowled the shadowed archives of Midgar's royal library, candlelight casting jagged silhouettes across ancient scrolls. Alpha knelt nearby, her voice tight as she deciphered glyphs older than civilization. "The Void Eater… it's not just a being. It's a force. A cosmic parasite that consumed gods and galaxies. The rifts aren't gateways—they're feeding tubes." Cid's grin stretched razor-thin. "Finally. A villain worthy of my legacy." He snapped his fingers, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "Gamma. Epsilon." Two cloaked figures materialized from the shadows. "Infiltration protocol. Find the bald one. If he survived our… dance, he'll lead us to the next rift." Gamma tilted her head, scythe glinting. "And if he resists?" Cid's laugh was icy. "He won't. Heroes love being needed."
Back in City Z, Saitama ducked a whip-like tendril, the monster's shriek rattling windows. "Okay, kinda interesting—" A surge of purple fire erupted, incinerating the creature's lower half. He turned to see two strangers: a girl in a black cloak wielding a scythe wreathed in phantom flames and another with holographic runes orbiting her like angry satellites. "Target neutralized," the scythe-wielder chirped. Her companion glared, arms crossed. "You. Bald One. Master Shadow demands your audience." Saitama blinked. "Who?"
The Void Nexus was no longer a fractured mirror of realities but a graveyard. Cid strode through the desolation, debris floating in the stale air, his boots crunching on celestial ash. Before him rose Nyxara, her form a constellation of stardust and serrated teeth, voice a chorus of dying screams. "Little Shadow," she hissed, tendrils of void spiraling around him. "You reek of desperation. The Void Eater sees your ambition… and laughs." Cid's sword hummed, Slayer of Gods thirsting for divinity. "Tell your boss I'll carve his heart out and use it as a paperweight." He lunged, the blade erupting in nuclear fury, but Nyxara dissolved, reappearing behind him. Her hand plunged into his chest, cold as entropy itself. His heart stuttered. "Fool," she whispered. "You cannot kill the inevitable."
In an abandoned City Z warehouse, Saitama slurped noodles while Gamma detailed Cid's plan, Epsilon scowling. "So… your boss wants to fight a space worm," he mumbled, "and I'm his backup?" Epsilon's eye twitched. "Master Shadow is no worm. He's the sovereign of shadows, the architect of—" A portal ripped open overhead, and Cid tumbled out, clutching his chest, blood seeping through his cloak. "Alpha… wasn't wrong," he coughed, grin unhinged. "That herald's got spunk." Saitama stared. "You look like roadkill." Cid's blade flashed to his throat. "Listen, Baldie. The Void Eater isn't a monster—it's a rule. To kill it, we rewrite reality. And for that…" His eyes glinted, fever-bright. "I need your punch."
The Nexus trembled as Nyxara's laughter echoed through the collapsing realm. The Void Eater's true form loomed—a shapeless, all-consuming maw studded with dying stars, its hunger bending light into screams. Cid's sword blazed with stolen supernovas, Saitama's fist distorting spacetime itself. "Your punch. My magic. We hit the rift's core together," Cid barked, voice raw. Saitama shrugged. "Why not just punch it normally?" "Because normal is for extras!" Cid snarled. They charged, a supernova clashing with a singularity. Nyxara's scream pierced the void—"You defy entropy!"—before light devoured everything.
When the dust settled, Saitama stood in a smoldering crater, clutching a shard of pulsating void. Cid limped from the rubble, cloak shredded, bloodied grin intact. "A draw," he rasped. "How… pedestrian." Saitama tossed the shard. "You're paying for my groceries. That fight wrecked the store." As they parted, the shard glowed faintly, Nyxara's voice whispering from its depths: "You delay the inevitable…"
In Midgar, Alpha studied the shard, its dark light reflecting in her worried eyes. In City Z, Saitama microwaved noodles, the TV blaring: "Global portals multiplying!" He sighed. "Can't even binge-shop in peace."