Chapter 102

"Heat Up" (ヒートアップ, Hītoappu, Tonari: 140) is the 102nd chapter of the One-Punch Man manga series.

Version 1 Part 1
The battle between Phoenix Man and Child Emperor's battle-suit continues. Phoenix Man and the Brave Giant sprint across the long corridor, and Brave Giant tries to land a left sidekick, which Phoenix Man dodges. Brave Giant tries to punch him, destroying several pillars in the process, yet Phoenix Man still manages to avoid his attack. Child Emperor is frustrated that Phoenix Man continuously dodges him, while Phoenix Man remarks that while the Brave Giant is a threat, Child Emperor is too much of an oaf to defeat him.

The Brave Giant proceeds to launch several heat-seeking missiles from his right shoulder. However, Phoenix Man scoffs, for with his new powers, it is now child's play. Phoenix Man unleashes his Phoenix Flare, sending out several bursts of flames which fool the missiles and destroy them upon contact, along with several other nearby pillars. Child Emperor realizes that with his new pyrokinetic abilities, his heat-seeking missiles cannot track him.

Version 1 Part 2
Child Emperor's next strategy is sending out several Little Brave Giants from the Brave Giant, which surround Phoenix Man. Alas, Phoenix Man is still composed because he now possesses five eyes which won't miss even the smallest opening. Phoenix Man unleashes his Fluttering Wall, blowing all of the Little Braves away. The Brave Giant's operating time is now only 1 minute and 30 seconds. Phoenix Man notices that Child Emperor is rushing to finish the battle, concluding that his assertion was indeed correct about the weapon's limited operating time.

With this in mind, Phoenix Man unleashes his Phoenix Homing Wing Attack, Surprisingly, the attacks aren't aimed at the Brave Giant, but target Waganma, who's still hiding in Child Emperor's energy shield. Waganma notices cracks forming on the shield, and tells Child Emperor to do something. Child Emperor rushes to his side and defends from the flame attacks with his Divider Shield.

Phoenix Man mocks Child Emperor, stating that he'll lay waste to his trump card and continue to toy with him until all his weapons are used and he's all alone in deep monster territory. Suddenly, as Phoenix Man is flying, he gets trapped in an invisible wall. Child Emperor reveals that he placed another invisible wall while the Little Braves surrounded him. The Brave Giant then punches Phoenix Man with his Giant Knuckle Sandwich.

Version 2
The battle between Phoenix Man and Child Emperor's battle-suit continues. Child Emperor uses his Divider Shield and charges forward at Phoenix Man. Brave Giant locks onto Phoenix Man and launches a volley of heat-seeking missiles, which Phoenix Man is able to prematurely detonate by using Phoenix Flare. Child Emperor then activates Brave Giant's Delta Scale Saber, and slashes at Phoenix Man, who dodges them. Phoenix Man, noting the sloppiness of Brave Giant's attack patterns, initiates his Phoenix Fire Falcon Mode, and circles around the mech suit, now even faster than before. Phoenix Man uses Phoenix Heat Up Talons Strike on Brave Giant several times, damaging the suit.

Child Emperor, however, counters by launching Little Braves (autonomous robots) from the armor, which charge up their All Range Attack, and fire at Phoenix Man. The monster changes form once more, this time entering Phoenix Prominence Hawk Mode, and absorbs the attack. Child Emperor desperate to finish the battle uses Brave Giant to launch a downward assault on Phoenix Man using one of Brave Giant's swords, but Phoenix Man catches on and destroys the blade. Phoenix Man uses the opportunity to attack Waganma with his Phoenix Homing Wing Attack, forcing Child Emperor to come to the hostage's aid. Brave Giant blocks most of Phoenix Man's attacks and then responds with suppressing fire from its own machine guns.

Phoenix Man resolves to continue distracting Brave Giant and run down its timer but is suddenly caught in an electromagnetic shield launched by the mech. Brave Giant, still holding Waganma, launches a right hook punch at Phoenix Man, but Phoenix Man is able to catch it. Child Emperor activates Brave Giant's boosters, overpowering Phoenix Man, and sending the trio tumbling through many floors. Child Emperor notices the signal from one of the other heroes' locators, and hopes to rendezvous with them to finish off Phoenix Man, who he believes will resurrect again. Concluding their downward journey, the group suddenly find themselves in the same room that Flashy Flash had just done battle in, and sink into the pool of water. Reaching the bottom, Child Emperor spots a bunch of strange masks resting on the ground and contemplates what occurred, shortly before finding Flashy Flash's locator. As Child Emperor wonders what happened to the hero, something behind Brave Giant explodes, sending the mech suit tumbling through the water.

Version 3
Phoenix Man is interested in Child Emperor and his "costume", and instead of resuming their battle, decides to send Child Emperor to the Phoenix Space, a mental world connected by those who wear costumes. Phoenix Man then reveals his intention to scout Child Emperor, believing he has the perfect requirements to become a great costume monster like him. The monster explains to the hero how he could never trust anyone while working as a mascot, and Child Emperor also desires someone to trust. He tries to be that person the child can trust, offering to create a new organization built on spiritual unity. To Child Emperor's shock, Phoenix Man grabs his hand, kneels down, and tells the hero he needs his strength. Phoenix Man tries to monsterize Child Emperor and guide him on the proper path to a costume monster.

Child Emperor refuses, managing to escape the Phoenix Space and slam Phoenix Man. The monster activates his Prominence Hawk Mode to push Brave Giant away, sending him crashing through several pillars. Phoenix Man takes a fighting stance and tells his opponent that after seeing his power, the child would change his mind. He then swiftly lands multiple strikes on Brave Giant, having changed into his Phoenix Fire Falcon Mode to increase his speed. Phoenix Man begins swirling around the mech, declaring he would rip that armor like peeling an apple as a means of forcing Child Emperor to grow beyond his limit several times and monsterize.

Child Emperor unsheathes an energy whip, and uses 20,000 Fold: Rope Skip Grinder, which acts as a jump rope and sends Phoenix Man crashing into a pillar. The two then fly around before Phoenix Man sends his Phoenix Flares, which Brave Giant blocks. To Phoenix Man's surprise, he becomes trapped in electromagnetic webbing that was secretly placed by Child Emperor while flying, and the hero punches him while he's immobilized. Alas, Phoenix Man blocks the punch and activates Full Power: 10,000 degree Celsius Prominence, which begins to melt Brave Giant's fist.

Child Emperor, having discovered a water source below, unleashes the output limiters and sends both of them falling through the sky. While falling, Child Emperor remembers the words of support Phoenix Man gave him, and how no one in the Hero Association had ever said such words to him before.

Chapter Notes

 * Murata wanted to follow up with an update soon after but had trouble story-boarding the battle between Phoenix Man and Child Emperor. He consulted with ONE and settled on the details of the battle.


 * Murata redrew the previous updates towards the final version. The chapter was released in parts, part 1 was previously named "Take-Off" (発進, Hasshin) and part 2 was named "Heat Up". These parts were then consolidated into a single chapter for the second and final version.


 * The chapter's name was changed once again into "Boy hero" (少年ヒーロー, Shōnen hīrō) for the release of Volume 22.

Trivia

 * Murata released a 9-page update to coincide his Halloween themed chapter cover with the holiday.


 * This chapter reveals the fate of the Subterranean People, who had been absent since surrendering to Saitama in Chapter 4.


 * The statue of the Subterranean King also prominently features two giant centipedes that exhibit a suspicious resemblance to some already-seen monsters. What, if anything, this means, is as of yet unknown.
 * Similar imagery shown later in The Mysterious Shrine was used to foreshadow a similar monster's arrival, hinting at a possible connection.

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Chapitre 102