A Worm crossover with the game OFF. As OFF is a rather obscure game, I am putting this in the general fics instead of crossovers.
Personally, I'd recommend giving it a try or watching a playthrough. It's thought provoking and unique, and despite having been made years ago, is quite good. For a brief description of OFF, imagine Undertale stuck on Genocide run. That's a very lazy and inaccurate description however, and there is much more to the game than that.
I'll be giving a brief summary in the first chapter anyway.
Contains heavy spoilers for OFF.(If you don't want the game spoiled I'd suggest watching a playthrough or play it yourself before reading this fanfic.)
I hope this fic isn't too OFF-ful (heh).
Features a regretful and hopefully redeemable Batter and takes place after the Batter Ending. This fic will be rated T for now, but will probably be moved to M soon.
Worm is owned by Wildbow. OFF is owned by Mortis Ghost.
"Text" is normal speaking.
-"Text"- is The Batter speaking.
"Text" is inhuman speaking.
Purifying Brockton Bay
Chapter 1 – A Regretful Batter
In a dreary place that could be only described as Limbo, a lone figure walked. The figure was tall, with a black baseball cap obscuring their eyes, allowing only eye-black, the nose, and mouth to be shown. Their outfit, upon a simple glance, made them look like a mere baseball player. The appearance of normalcy was ruined however by the color of their skin. It was white, too white to be natural. The lone baseball bat they carried had its image sullied too. If one were to look closely, they would be able to see a faint caking of what appeared to be blood on the end of the bat. All in all, their presence looked eerie and foreboding, like the painfully obvious cues one might find in modern day horror movies when the killer was about to appear.
Once, this entity was known simply as "The Batter". That "man" had a sacred mission. To travel through the zones, purifying the lands of spirits and corruption. Every time The Batter cleared a zone it would turn black and white, just as he was. There were four guardians. Dedan, Japhet, Enoch, and The Queen. Each had originally set out to become guardians for their zones, keeping the remnants of humanity moving forward. Each eventually became corrupt. Dedan abused and terrorized the people in his zone. Japhet, in his quest for recognition, killed an innocent for a trivial mistake. Enoch had a twisted cycle of giving the Elsen false happiness and used their bodies when they perished to make more sugar to continue the zone's cycle. The Queen, blinded by her desire to make the perfect world for her son, sent out spirits to each of the zones in an attempt to purify the remaining world of corruption. The spirits instead attacked the Elsen. And what of her son? The Queen was so invested in sending spirits into the zone that she neglected him. All to make the perfect world for him. Irony at its finest.
The Batter purified each zone one by one. He fought many spirits along the way. He grinded Dedan's head against a wall, crushed Japhet, broke all of Enoch's bones before purifying him, and killed his wife, The Queen. Reluctantly, he had to put down his terminally ill son, Hugo, who had no chance of a future too. And finally, when he reached the lever… The Judge was the only one who was left to stand in his way. The player reluctantly chose to assist him against The Judge, having reasoned there was nothing left worth saving, and it would be better to end it all. As The Judge lay bleeding out on the ground, he approached the purpose of his quest, the lever. He could finally turn this nightmare OFF and end it all. He pulled it, and everything went dark. He woke up later, on an endless path.
As The Batter wandered Limbo he pondered his son, Hugo. Regretting killing him would change nothing, The Batter knew as much. It had caused great pain to The Batter that his son had not recognized him. Then again, The Batter thought as he looked down upon his hand, given his true form- at this Batter's seemingly pale human hand had morphed into something monstrous- who would recognize a monster as their father? Batter's hand changed back to its fake state and he continued walking onward.
"Bonjour, old friend."
The Batter stopped.
-"Zacharie."-
Zacharie, the vendor, one who always seemed to know a little too much.
"I see you've successfully ended the world, congratulations."
The Batter's hand unconsciously tightened around his bat.
-"Have you come to make an attempt on my life? It's pointless, there is nothing left."-
Zacharie tilted his head.
"As annoyed as I am at you killing my dear friend The Judge, no, that is not what I am here for."
Zacharie gestured with his arms.
"Look around. It's as you said, there's nothing left."
Zacharie straightened.
"However, I have an offer. You've destroyed everything and are regretting it. Normally I would let you stew here for an eternity, but I'm interested."
Zacharie pointed at The Batter.
"This is your second chance. On a self-centered whim, you chose to destroy everything. I'm curious, however, if you can actually save something-"
Fwoosh
Zacharie jumped backward, evading Batter's bat.
-"It was that women, Sugar, who was at fault, wasn't it? The reason the world went to hell."-
A yellow eye formed out of the eye black on Batter's face. It stared at Zacherie, indicating a certain ability that The Batter possessed, Wide Angle, was in use.
-"The secret fifth element, sugar. It caused greed. It made the Guardians corrupt. I'm no hero, but you knew about it. And the one responsible."-
Three rings appeared behind Batter, spinning circularly. The Batter pointed his bat at Zacharie.
-"You did nothing to stop it, when you could have."-
He lowered his bat.
-"What are you? You look like a human, but are clearly not. You know too much. You are not a mutant like me or any of the other Guardians. Wide angle is giving me an error when I glance at you. What matter of fiend are you?"-
Zacherie gave an impression of grinning.
"Does it matter? Come, Batter, and be "purified" like everyone else."
Where The Batter stood, uncomfortable sounding snapping noises could be heard, signifying The Batter shedding his human skin.
-"How ironic that I, the destroyer of this world, am the only one who is able to enact justice upon the true puppeteer of this calamity. My mission would have been unnecessary if it were not for you. Be purified like the rest."-
{Play OST: Nightcore - Pepper Steak [All Levels At Once Remix]
The Batter, at this point, had abandoned his human disguise and was in his "Bad Batter" form. With an unholy shriek, The Batter leapt at Zacharie, bat primed to purify the fellow monstrosity in human skin before him.
Zacharie caught the Batter's bat on his sword. Alpha, Omega, and Elipson all attempted to ram Zacherie and cast ailments upon him but it was to no avail. As the battle wore on it seemed both opponents were at a standstill. Zacherie could somehow teleport out of harm's way, but was unable to do any meaningful damage to The Batter. The Add-ons just kept healing him. The Batter was in a similar predicament. With one strike, he could end Zacharie's life, but he was unable to reach him.
Finally losing his patience, The Bad Batter charged Zacharie with reckless abandon. Zacharie chuckled, snapped his fingers and opened a doorway in front of The Batter. Unable to stop, The Batter charged into the portal which closed behind him.
Now it was just Zacharie. He grinned.
"Entertain me."
Elsewhere, inside a certain locker…
Destination
Agreement
Trajectory
Agree-
[DISRUPTION]
