Only one more chapter after this to close out season 3, if I had to put a number to it... I'd say there is maybe two more left in this story?

Anyways, moving on with the show! Special treat this chapter, we're getting a new character theme!


Season Three, Episode XXIX

The Overmind

. . .

Ryoko

. . .

I could tell something was wrong the moment I began to open my eyes. I couldn't see anything but dust and smoke, slowly being cleared by the natural breeze flowing through the town. There were people screaming, the sounds of sirens. It was all muffled by ringing in my ears, and when I finally managed to push myself up I realized I was surrounded by rubble, the remains of the apartment complex thanks to that explosive quirk. I'd fallen through the floor again and down to the bottom level.

That puppet was nowhere to be seen But that wasn't what had me on edge. No, looking down at my body I felt a sense of nausea wash over me. "Hnnngh!" Eyes widening, in horror as I looked upon the rebar spike sticking out of my ribs.

But there was no blood, and I felt no pain.

"Aah... Haaah..." My eyes darted up slowly towards that voice, his twisted distorted voice. As I laid my eyes on the Overmind's puppet body, I wanted to throw up. Completely immolated, body charred and tattered, both arms missing from the elbow down. "Such weak... Pathetic shells..." He lurched forward, struggling to rise on broken legs. "But yours... Is a much sturdier form..." A twisted, malicious grin spread across his charred face.

"Stay the hell away from me!" I barked at him, stumbling back a few feet. But before he could get any closer, the eyes of his puppet went dark, and the body collapsed. I wasn't going to breathe a sigh of relief just yet. I looked down at the metal rod sticking out of my body, wondering how I could feel so calm, and no pain at all. Was I in shock?

"But even after finishing your transformation into a Noumu, you could not be conditioned properly like the others..."

Dammit! "What did that bastard... Do to me?" I gripped the metal rod, wincing slightly just as an instinct. But I felt nothing, even as I slowly pulled it out of my ribs. No pain, no blood aside from a thick, darker colored liquid that stained the metal itself.

"Turned you into a perfect vessel," No, he couldn't still be- "An undying soldier..." I turned towards the voice, and saw a Police Officer standing nearby. His eyes, they were the same as that puppets. His voice the same as well. "So many pawns I've collected here..." My head whipping around to another source of his voice, watching as that young woman with spiky red hair entered the crater as well. "And yet, none of them could be as valuable to me as you..." She was injured, a broken arm and blood running down the side of her face from a head injury.

But that didn't seem to impede Gendo's control at all either.

"B-Back off, or I'll crush all your dolls!" I shouted at them, eyes darting between both puppets. How many could he control at once? If these were all just puppets, where was his real body? What's the range on this damn Overmind Quirk!? Dammit! I need information!

"I can feel your fear," His voice echoing as all of them spoke at once. "When I reached into your mind, I saw who and what you are... It is pitiful, that one with your level of power is so shackled by society, your own doubts, and even guilt." The two spoke in tandem, "How pathetic, to have such frail convictions, to go so far as to completely surrender who you are..."

I grit my teeth, clenching my fists. "SHUT UP!" I screamed at him, hating every truth he spat in my face.

"Why do you fear my control, I wonder?" He continued to muse, unfazed by my shouting. "You've already been somebody else's puppet, for quite some time... And you put on those shackles, willingly."

"GAAAH!" I charged the police officer, wanting nothing more than to tear him apart. But before he could be reached, a bright flash emitted from his hands followed by a loud pop. Like a flashbang going off right in my face, I was blinded, the sensation of losing my senses added too as I felt sharp needles piercing my back. I still felt nothing, no matter how deep they cut, but he must have realized I couldn't feel pain and went for something else. I felt my arms going limp, as if he'd struck pressure points causing me to lose control of my limbs. Turning back to the woman, just as my vision began to return, I could see her short red hair standing on end aimed at me.

"You feel nothing, you do what you're told, and you can be rebuilt as necessary." She said with a twisted sneer, "You let them turn you into a doll."

"So make your stand," The officer behind me added, "Bark your resistance, spout that you're not some disposable tool even as your masters abandon you."

"But I have seen your mind," They spoke together. "You know the truth, the fear that consumes you because you understand that no matter what you do... You will never be enough."

The ruins around us began to tremble, I could hear shouting, as the rubble itself began to rise surrounded by a thin golden veil. Rising into the air, all around us. While a third voice rang out. "So weak, that even the tiniest bit of human decency," No, god damn him. "Made you feel so happy..." The old man, the one from the front counter. He hovered across the area, moving himself and the rubble with some kind of telekinesis quirk. "Such a pitiful creature... But if you must be broken to be tamed, so be it!"

I could only watch, paralyzed by the truth he'd slapped me with. As a mountain of stone debris came crashing down, smashing me into the earth and crushing every bit of resistance I had left.

Gendo, The Overmind, was right.

He knew what I'd tried to deny for a long time.

I am nothing, but a failure.

No amount of genetic modification, or gifted power would change that.

I might as well be one of his puppet bodies...

But... Even in my state, drowning in despair.

I still had one tiny, undeniable part of me that didn't want to go.

Gendo broke me, in that moment.

And it forced me to do the one thing I'd never been able to.

"S-Somebody... Anybody..." Forcing myself up, onto my hands and knees and surrounded by fallen rubble. "I-I... I need HELP!" Throwing back my head, I screamed out. Not at all trying to hide the fear in my voice, tears running down my face. "PLEASE! I... I need a Hero to save me!"

A cacophony of laughs echoed from all three puppets, Gendo's mocking voice following quickly behind it. "You really are the lowest of the low, choosing the life you have and in the end crying out for a savior? You've had your chances, with the destruction caused by that blast, no hero from the local agency could reach you in time," As the old man's kinesis quirk lifted various rebar spikes out of the rubble. "It's OVER!"

They rained down on top of me, piercing all of my limbs and driving me down into the dirt once again. He was pinning me in place, trying to prevent me from moving at all or using my abilities. He turned my body into a pincushion, skewering me knowing I wouldn't die. I didn't feel any pain, but the sensation of my joints being destroyed was sickening.

I laid face down, as the brutalization of my noumu body continued. "P-Please... Someone... Please save me..."

"Hmm?" The spikes stopped suddenly, clanging to the ground around me harmlessly. "How very interesting..." Gendo's voice sounded. "You disrupted my control... And I didn't even sense your arrival... You're not a local hero, are you?"

What? I was barely able to lift my head, even then my vision was limited thanks to all the rubble. "A... A Hero?"

"Consider me, a hero on loan from UA," Wait, I knew that voice. That annoying, mocking voice. "It's called an internship, or work study, if you want to get technical."

I managed to lift my head just enough to finally see. My eyes widened, a sense of awe and relief filling me as I laid eyes on her from behind. Wearing some kind of checkered suit, back turned to me as she faced down the old man. "S... Suru..."

((Suru's Theme! "Deltarune - Revolvania by Retrospecter"))

"It's Pariah, when I'm on the job." Suru answered casually, "I was responding to the reports of this explosion, the Hero I'm interning with will arrive soon but I teleported ahead when I felt your presence." She explained, "I almost jumped in too early, but I know what's going on... You certainly know how to complicate things, Ryoko."

"I-I-" I didn't even know what I was supposed to say. A weight had lifted off my chest, as if she had just reached into that raging torrent of despair the Overmind forced me into, and pulled me out in one swift motion. I... I didn't feel hopeless, "..." I bit my tongue, and remained silent.

"A touching reunion," The old man chuckled, the puppet police officer and the red haired woman joining him. "Yes, I've seen you in her memories, though you never showed power quite like this..." He noted, before all three puppets started speaking in tandem. "Are you really going to put your life and body on the line for her though? After everything she's put you and your friends through?"

"Tch, you don't seem to understand," Pariah scoffed, stuffing her hands into her pockets as she shrugged her shoulders. Face hidden beneath a black and white mask, "I'm not here because of personal feelings, or because I was ordered to come... So forget about the past, whatever you saw in her mind means nothing, because right now..." With a flick of her wrist, rubble around us began to rise. "I'm just another Hero, answering somebodies cry for help." Before it rained down on those three puppets like a hail storm.

The red haired woman fired back, shooting her needle-like hairs into the storm, shattering some of the incoming stones. But all this did was create a cloud of dust obscuring Pariah. And in an instant, she vanished, appearing right behind the trio as the officer turned on her.

"You always attack from behind!" The Overmind sneered, releasing the explosive flashbang right in her face.

But she continued moving, getting right up close to him. "You can't blind something without real eyes, dumbass!" Her body suddenly started moving faster, almost like it was vibrating. She launched her attack, a barrage of bullet punches. Her form shaking similar to how Adachi's had when we fought before, was this the Chronoboost he'd mentioned?

Low impact, high speed, she leveled the police officer knocking him unconscious on the ground. The Old Man floating further away with his power, "You brat, how did you know-"

"The way you were talking about using Ryoko's body, about having a sturdy puppet that couldn't be harmed," She cut him off, amusement clear in her voice. "Sounds to me like you can't control a body that's sustained too much damage, or been knocked unconscious!" Before dashing into the red haired woman, giving her the same treatment. A barrage of high speed light punches knocking her off her feet. "Good for me, raw physical power was never my strength, I can take down these low tier puppets without doing any real harm to their bodies." Before placing a hand on both the woman and officer, "Be right back."

Before she vanished along with both the unconscious puppets.

"Gnngh! No!" The final puppet, the telekinetic old man was furious. "Those are MINE! You can't just-"

She reappeared right over his head, "I can, I did, now it's your turn."

His eyes flashed suddenly, and the earth beneath all of us erupted. A psychic blast sending Pariah flying into the air with a mass of debris, I was blown back but otherwise unharmed. My eyes darting to my former classmate, her suit had been damaged, mask cracked apart slightly. "You're overconfident!" He spat at her, pulling chunks of concrete from the foundation of the apartment, "You have no idea how far I can push even the weakest of Quirks!" He laughed, unleashing a hail of large earthen chunks. They flew towards her, but Pariah blinked between them, evading the attacks as she tried to cross the distance. "This old fool can barely lift a pen! SEE HOW STRONG MY CONTROL IS!"

My eyes widened, watching as the stones she dodged started coming back, still under the old mans control. "Suru!" I shouted out of reaction, "Watch- Huh?!" Her body moved, as if she could still see what was behind her. The boulders coming from behind missed completely, before she blinked back down to the ground.

"You measure others and their quirks, I'm guessing," Pariah said casually, her cracked mask breaking away just enough that I could see her face. "Weaknesses, strengths... See, that's not gonna work for me." This wasn't right, I'd seen her face before. "You might be able to overpower a punch junky like Ryoko with a bunch of rocks, to be honest she is a pretty straight forward fighter, what she can do is... Pretty limited." Just through the cracks, I could see one bright, glowing white eye. "But me?"

"Gnngh!" The Overmind's puppet released a sharp gasp, as Pariah appeared right in front of him. She was staring back at him with one burning white eye.

"I can do anything."

The Old Man appeared taken off guard, staring back at her and body tensed up. "Hmph, how pathetic, bested by a child..." He chuckled lightly, the lights around him vanishing. "Very well, take back this old man, take that husk you call a person, and enjoy your victory." A twisted, malicious grin spread across his face, "Enjoy it while it lasts, because I'm finally awake again... And this world will know the terror of The Overmind."

Before the golden lights in his eyes faded, and the old man collapsed. His nose was bleeding, as Pariah caught him. Being careful to let him down gently, "Easy there, I've got you." As he began to cough and sputter roughly.

Was that it? It was just... Over?

Pariah, Suru... She just-

So easily... She won.

But... Her Quirk was never suited for-

"All your Quirk is good for is running away."

Hmph, right... That's all I thought about her power when we met.

I guess she was right after all, I never did change... Maybe, maybe that's why-

"I've got to take him to an ambulance," Suru said suddenly, not even bothering to look back at me. "Don't. Move."

"Right..." I wasn't going to argue, she could find me again anyways. Even if I could somehow run, my body was battered and damaged. I didn't feel any pain, but I don't think my legs would carry me very far. I could feel everything slowly, ever so slowly, putting itself back together. But... even if I could run- "Suru, or... Pariah, whatever."

"What do you want?" She asked sharply, shooting me a sideways glare.

"Just... Thank you..."

Like Sen, and Mako, and Adachi, Suru had become so strong.

While I was too paralyzed with fear and my own issues to even fight back.

I couldn't become a hero, I failed at being a villain... So what happens to me now?

I guess... I'm just a prisoner.


Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of nearly full power Pariah :3

We'll get into the details of that new power next chapter, and how far she came in a month since learning to "open her eyes".

Also I hope you liked her theme! I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted her music to be, and decided on that remix because with her character being... Well, her Quirk is scary but she herself is kind of a carefree smartass, I wanted something fun and intense. Hope it fit well enough

Anyways, final chapter of the season will be up either tomorrow or the day after as I already have it finished.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and thanks for reading!