Chapter 47
What Makes Us Human

Ayushi and Baron were locking each other down as their weapons swung against each other. Her attacks were swift and calculative. She knew he had yet to use his Quirk, so she was keeping some distance at the same time. She had gather neon in her legs, not only to enhance her kicks but also to blast herself away in case something went wrong.

She hated to admit it, but she felt slightly overwhelmed. It was true she was keeping some power away, but the man just seemed to be playing with her. Whenever she punched, he blocked. Whenever she swung her blade, the black rod was there to stop it. Just what was that weapon, anyway? It seemed to not take damage from her neon sword, which was odd. Conventional weapons are no match for their neon weapons.

The Baron would also go on the offensive every now and then. His first move was to deliver a punch, one that was so fast she was barely able to block.

"Don't get nervous now." He whispered."We're just getting started."

"I'm just getting started. You shouldn't get so cocky already!" She snickered, a cold sweat dripping down her neck.

"Your father certainly put up a better fight than this." The Baron quickly punched her in the stomach, forcing her on one knee as he held her wrist."I respect your enthusiasm, but you just can't beat me. It's true you made it this far, but this is as far as you go."

Takashi was biting his lower lip on the side. His sister had told him to stay put until she gave him the signal. Her excuse was that they didn't know what he was capable of, thus she was the one that was going to test out the waters.

"Like hell." She forced herself up, placing a hand on his chest and shooting a neon ball that sent him skidding away."After everything you've done...this is too personal. I just won't be satisfied until you've paid for every crime you've committed. Every person you've killed for the sake of your stupid dream of anarchism."

"Stupid dream?" He muttered, seemingly offended."I take it you haven't thought of my offer to you. This world is proof enough to make someone realize it's not worth fighting for."

"I've heard enough out of you!" She began running at him, a spark of neon engulfing her hand."You're through!"

Suddenly, she stopped in mid-air, just a few inches from hitting his face. The odd part was that she was literally levitating in the air."Huh?"

Without warning, she was thrown far away to the wall as if some kind of abstract force had pushed her away.

"What was that just now?!" Takashi cried out in shock upon seeing his sister flying away."Was that his Quirk? Some kind of telekinesis?"

Meanwhile, Ayushi huffed, cracking her shoulder."That now...was that his Quirk? But how did he..." She frowned, wanting to test a hypothesis she had just come up with."I have to figure out more about that Quirk. If there's a weakness to be exploited...I have to find it!"

She powered up, her neon aura surrounding her as two balls of neon formed in her hands. She proceeded to sprint over, firing each ball in two second intervals. The Baron blocked each attack with his weapon, dispersing the neon on the floor. When he had Ayushi right in front of him, his eyes widened. He quickly ducked the incoming punch, ready to deliver a punch to her stomach. Quick on her feet, Ayushi turned around, receiving the punch with her back.

A jolt of pain covered her body, but she wasn't going to go down that easy. She grabbed Baron's arm, and twisted her body, delivering a kick to the side of his face. The man was sent skidding on the ground, his boots creating an irritable noise as they grinded against the hard floor.

As if she were a beast, she continued her relentless assault, punching Baron all over his body as she hoped to work out all the frustration and stress she's been suffering because of him.

'Why is he not using his Quirk?' Takashi narrowed his eyes.'Just a few moments ago, he sent her flying like nothing. But now, he's taking a beating from Nee-san. Could it be...?!'

'His Quirk has a time limit!' Ayushi smirked triumphantly as she punched Baron, who blocked with his arms but was still pushed back meters away.'If it didn't, he wouldn't be allowing himself to take this much damage. Now, to prove my hypothesis...' She began moving her arms rapidly, shooting neon balls at Baron.

The leader of the Seven Deadly Sins covered himself, but realize the attacks were missing.'Is her aiming off? No...that's can't be.' His eyes widened, glancing up in the air and noticing he was surrounded by countless neon balls."So...this is what she was after."

"Luminous Cage!" She shouted, swinging her arms down. On command, the neon balls began raining down on The Baron.

"Null Inertia..."

However, before they even made contact, an invisible barrier of sorts stopped them on their tracks, shooting them away and causing them to scatter everywhere.

"So there it is." She smirked with confidence."Judging from what I've seen so far, I'd say you do have a limit to how much you can use your Quirk. Around 20 seconds or so. Not such a strong Quirk, really. I don't know how you managed to kill my dad or Ashe, but now I know you're hiding something else."

"Oh? You think so?"

"Yeah. Unless of course, you aren't the one who did it. Now that I think about it, do I know for sure you alone killed my dad? Maybe you all just ganged up on him. But now you're alone." Neon sparked in her hands with anticipation."None of your lackeys is going to save you now."

"Nee-san!" Takashi cried out to his sister.

"Don't worry, Takashi. I got it under control." She glanced over her shoulder."You just sit there and watch!"

"Tch. You Kachidokis are all the same." He mused before grabbing his rod and using it to hit back a neon ball coming his way. Ayushi quickly side-stepped, moving in and delivering a right hook against his forehead, nearly knocking his hat off.

"Then I'll show you the might of the Kachidoki family. You'll savor it thoroughly.

Shie Hassaikai Compound, Underground Tunnels, Morning

"So, are you just going to stand there all day, or are we going to fight?" Nero impatiently tapped his foot as he observed Taichi, who was drinking from a can of soda.

"Sorry, sorry. I was just cooling off." The young man apologized, throwing the can to the side and proceeding to burp loudly."Excuse me. I didn't finish my breakfast today due to you fuckers storming into our home. I guess heroes just have no chill."

"Well, considering you are manufacturing drugs at a large scale, I would say that's enough of a reason for a search warrant. And we do have one. Or at least one of the police chiefs outside does. Regardless...I honestly don't give a damn about that anymore. Right now...after what you bastards did to Yasukage and Hoshi...you are not going to be lucky enough to leave here able to walk."

"It's always about your own personal gain with you heroes, isn't it?" He huffed, cracking his neck."I suppose villains and heroes are not that different after all. But we are fighting for a noble cause. You are fighting just to make yourselves look better."

"Ugh, I hate guys like you." Nero rubbed his forehead."I hate villains that believe they have "reasons" and thinking that makes them morally justified. It's annoying, really. Being a criminal is still being a criminal. The moment you choose to go in that route is the moment you lose that moral high ground."

"Tch. Choose? You think I chose to become a criminal? I could say the same thing to you, Yugo Nakahara, the person who burned his family because you lost control of your Quirk. But you just continued with your path to villainy, because that was the only thing you knew. I know your whole file, hotshot. Don't underestimate the Seven Deadly Sins intelligence gathering."

"Unlike you, I did it because I had nothing.I had to fight for survival. You on the other hand are a spoiled brat that is selfish enough to believe you deserve everything."

"It's too early for you to get such impressions of me." He gritted his teeth, irritated by the comment."Besides, spoiled brat? It's true that I have had extra benefits as a member of the Yakuza, but don't think it's because my brother is the Boss. I worked for everything I had from scratch! I earned the things I have because I put the effort. Including this arm and leg!"

He removed the glove from his right hand, revealing a prosthetic limb."This is carbon-based material. It's really tough."

"I heard Overhaul has the ability to disassemble and assemble human beings. Why didn't you get him to regenerate your limbs?"

"Pff!" He scoffed."Do you even have to ask? It's a reminder. A promise."

"A promise?" Nero rose a brow, intrigued by his words.

"I think we had enough chit-chat for now." Taichi took a battle stance."Regardless of what my motives are, I still can't let you ever reach my brother. After we're done with you guys, the rest of the heroes will also go down. All for the sake of the new world!"

"I had enough from the words of an idealistic sociopath. To me, Guerra." Nero called to his sword, which levitated out of its sheathe onto his arm.

'Now...' Taichi smirked, touching his left metallic leg with his hand."Accelerate!"

Upon using his Quirk, his shoe was torn apart as his foot was destroyed and reassembled, adding a turbine under his calf."Let's see..."

"...if you can..." Nero muttered, moving his blade to the side as he eyed Envy, who was spinning around in the air upon using his Recipro Burst Over.

"...withstand...!" Taichi kicked down, his leg crashing with the now flame-engulfed Guerra as Nero swung forward.

"THIS!"

Both fighters looked taken back by this development."Oh? No one ever blocked my Recipro Burst Over. You are the first to ever do so."

"Likewise, Chisaki." Nero snickered."That wasn't just a regular slash. I engulfed it with the flame of oblivion, which essentially powers up the attacking potency of my blade. But looks like your leg is sturdy indeed."

Taichi jumped backward, backflipping away and gaining some distance."Interesting. Seems like the wait was definitely worth it."

"I hope I can say the same about you." Nero chuckled."It's true you surprised me just now, but don't think that's as far as my power can go."

"Same here, buddy. Man, I'm really pumped. I definitely not regret ditching my brother and coming to fight instead!"

"So, unlike Overhaul, you chose to stay and fight?" Nero snorted at his words."I have to say, I respect that from a man. At least you have some sense of honor."

"It's not about honor. It's about humanity." Taichi explained, glancing at his hand."It was only natural for me to return and help my teammates, even if I might not make it with my brother."

"Yet Overhaul ran away like a coward, leaving his underlings behind, including his kid brother." He almost laughed at he said those words."So I guess Overhaul just isn't as human as you."

"Hey, to make it as far as we did, you need a monster. I guess that's what he had over me. That he could just cast away everything and march forward like no one else mattered."

"You envy him. Pretty fitting, for the sin you represent."

Tai just brushed that comment off and touched his right arm, accelerating it and reassembling it. He then aimed his fist at him, confusing him.

"You want a high five?" Nero asked rhetorically.

Without another word, small compartments opened from the prosthetic arm, revealing a few miniature rockets. They began going off one after another, chasing after Nero.

"Really, rockets again?" Nero huffed, unimpressed."You're just as dull as the other machines we fought!"

"Dull?" A ticked mark appeared on his forehead."You asshole! I made those robots!"

'Made them?!' Nero's eyes widened, cutting the rockets in half as they came.'So, it was him who created that robot, the one Darby mentioned that was being piloted by Lust! You bastard!'

Nero then dashed over at Envy, who barely had time to react. He retraced his fist backward before delivering a powerful punch to his left cheek. Taichi lost consciousness for a few seconds, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

'Damn, he punches like the devil!' He screamed in his mind as everything began going dark.'I'm going to pass out...!'

'I can't wait to finally have a normal life. All this time, I've been so eager to be in Kai's shoes, that I never bothered to try and live...the life of a regular teenage boy. All because of my heritage...because I was born with a power I didn't desire. And I can't begin to understand how much suffering the rest of the world is going through because they are bound by a power they never wished they had.'

'That's right...I still...'

He then remembered when Eri and he were spending time together.

Our goal is to use you to be able to get rid of all the Quirks in the world. To be able to lift that curse that has been tormenting people over the years. If Quirks weren't around, none of these horrible things that happen daily would occur. For that reason, Eri, I ask you to bear with it for a bit longer. Once we are ready, we'll save the world from Quirks. No evil will ever exist and everyone will have a chance to live a normal life. We can be a normal family. We'll get you a new mom and an aunt. We'll work on that. And after everything is over, I'll take you to a Muse concert. In fact, I'll get us VIP seats. How does that sound?"

Eri gave the tiniest of smiles as she hugged her uncle."Thank you..."

'That's right! I can't fall! Not until I save...'

He forced his consciousness to return to his body, gritting his teeth as he planted his right foot firmly on the ground."THE WORLD!" He screamed as he threw a right hook to Nero's stomach, causing him to cough up blood and even lifted him off the ground.

Nero growled in response, sending another punch to his face, though this time, Taichi didn't back down, and backhanded him in the nose. Both of them grabbed each other's shoulders and proceeded to headbutt each other. After a few hits, their foreheads were bleeding. Releasing each other, they stumbled backward, catching their breath.

"I have to give it to you, your conviction is something else." Nero whipped the blood off that was threatening to get in his eyes."And your pain tolerance is matching mine. I guess you aren't a half-assed Yakuza like I thought."

"Trust me, you don't know what real pain is."

Both of them walked towards each other until they were inches away. The size difference was rather noticeable. Tai reached Nero's chin at best, but he kept his chin up, glaring at him defiantly.

"So-"

Without a word of warning, Nero rose his leg up, barely missing Tai's chin as he jumped backward. He then lunged at him, trying to roundhouse kick him but Nero stopped it with his blade.

Taichi touched his metallic arm, activating his Quirk."Accelerate!"

His arm morphed and was now showing a thin blade on the upper arm.

"So, a sword fight? Here I thought this was going to be boring." Nero snickered, waving his own blade around."All I have to do is cut that arm. And lucky me...it's not a real arm, so I can cut it as many times as I wish."

"Bring it."

Shie Hassaikai Compound, Underground Tunnels. Morning

Darby grunted as he tried to escape Maria's firm on his hands. Despite her appearance, he quickly found out how strong she was."The hell is this?! Not even in Neko Mode I can...!"

"Sorry for not mentioning, but I am not an organic being." Maria stated as she kneed Darby in the face, prompting him to stagger backward and surrounding himself with his six Black Spheres."I was made by Master. His brilliant mind was what allowed me to exist. I am programmed to be his protector and shield. You are not getting past me."

Darby clicked his tongue, sending two spheres after her while he rushed in.

Maria grabbed her wrist and literally removed it, taking the blue-haired boy by surprise."Begone!"

Darby's eyes widened as he could hear the sound of bullets being shot behind him as he ran. He passed a sphere through his palm, creating a Black Umbrella and blocking the projectiles.

"Too slow!" Maria shouted as she suddenly was above Darby, swinging her leg down. The young hero managed to put his arms up, blocking the kick, however, the sheer force behind her attacks caused his feet to dig onto the ground."For the young Master!"

Darby shot a Black Sphere in the air, colliding it with another to throw it higher. He used the gravitational pull to jump out of the way before Maria could kick him.

Maria glanced up, bewildered."What just happened?! He...I see. I had stored your match against Neito Monoma at the Sports Festivals in another place in my memory bank. I see."

"Yeah, I figured you guys had some data on us. But you shouldn't let calculations be the thing that determines your battles. We got way stronger ever since the Sports Festival."

"Yeah, I get that." Maria smiled, catching him off guard."I try to not let data get in my judgment. After all, human beings aren't predictable. It would be a huge mistake on my part to look down upon you, Darby Nishikawi. However, I can safely say you won't get past this point. You won't get in the way of my Master's ambition."

Darby sighed, shaking his head."You know, for a robot that's trying to pretend to be human, you really don't have any free will, do you?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you keep saying you want your master's wish to come true. But is that really your desire talking, or is it your programming." A shadow from his bangs covered Darby's eyes as he glared down at the artificial female.

"W-what? Of course, it's my free will!" She protested."I have emotions! Master said so! He gave it his all every day just so I could be like a normal human! You...you don't get to decide that!"

"Don't give me that shit. One thing that robots are capable of doing, it seems, is lying. Or maybe your programming is so advanced that you actually believe yourself. A sad story. You have no right to be talking about humanity when two of our friends died because of you bastards. And if your master is the one who programmed that robot that Lust used to detonate himself...I will fuck him up!"

"You..." Maria bit her lower lip, her eyes blazing in fury."You won't touch him! She pressed her forehead, her eyes immediately turning blue and shining."Oblivion Command: Activated!"

Suddenly, two Gatling guns came out of her shoulders and two revolver-like barrels came out of her arms."EXTINGUISH!"

Darby scowled, jumping on a Black Sphere as it shapeshifted into a Black Disk. He began flying away, running from the barrage of firepower behind Maria's attacks. He jumped back to another Black Disk before the one he was in was bombarded by miniature missiles that had come out of her hands after removing them. Darby maneuvered in the air, producing a Black Shield to block the bullets, and aimed to get close to her.

Maria screamed as her stomach tore open, revealing a flamethrower that she proceeded to use to keep him at bay.

'He's still coming?! Can those spheres of him take this much heat?!' She pondered as her scans alarmed him that he was growing nearer. 'But my flames are obscuring his vision...He won't see this coming!'

She proceeded to drop all of her equipment on the floor before landing on all fours. Her back cracked open, revealing a bigger missile than the ones she had previously used.

'NOW!'

She fired the missile away, meters away from her target. Darby, who was using his Black Shield to go past the fire, felt the vibrations emanating from the missile due to his enhanced senses. In effect, the missile poked out of the flames, going directly to him. He instinctively sent a few spheres towards it. One of them hit the tip, causing it to change its trajectory slightly higher, while the other one finished the job and hit the base, successfully changing its course back to where it came from.

Maria got up from the ground, not realizing that the missile was right on her. The robotic girl rose her head, watching in horror as the missile landed a few inches away from her before exploding.

Darby shielded himself by passing two spheres through his palms and forming to Black Umbrellas. The shockwave of the explosion sent him away, crashing against the wall. He landed on his rear, his eyes fixed on the cloud of smoke from the explosion. He waited dreadfully for Maria to come out and attack him, but she never did. After a minute of waiting, he got up, dusting his clothes off.

'Just now...why did I go off on her like that...?' He pondered, rubbing his head."She's my enemy. Just like the other sins."

"I have emotions! Master said so! He gave it his all every day just so I could be like a normal human! You...you don't get to decide that!"

Darby shook his head, grabbing it."No, no! She's not a human...she is a robot with an AI! I didn't kill a human being!" He screamed, panting as tears streamed down his cheeks."They're evil...I can't forget that..."

Shie Hassaikai Compound, Underground Tunnels, Morning

Megumi watched idly as Hisashi circled around her, firing neon balls at her. This was no problem for the Sin of Pride, however, as she was gracefully moving her body accordingly.

"What is this poor attempt to fight?" Megumi scowled under her mask. She quickly leaped over to him, retracting her right fist to punch him.

'She's insanely fast!' Hisashi's eyes widened, blasting a considerable amount of neon to launch himself as far as possible. Since he didn't calculate the amount of power he put, he crashed into a wall. He swallowed the pain, igniting his hands with neon as he began rubbing his boots.'Not to mention that she hasn't demonstrated much of her Quirk yet. I felt the air pressure from that punch of hers. If it connects, it'll leave great damage.'

Once he finished rubbing his feet, his boots ignited into neon flames

"He's igniting his own feet with neon..." Megumi muttered to herself, analyzing him."Perhaps it'll make him fast on his feet. I see. So he's stalling for time. A poor decision, if he thinks he's fast enough to evade me, an empress." She jumped in the air, spinning around until she touched the floor."The Great Spinner."

"Here she comes." Hisashi swallowed the lump in his throat.

Megumi reached to her back, quickly pulling out two fans, opening them up. She swiftly threw them at him, taking him by surprise.

"She threw those fans? But wh-" He suddenly realized a horrible possibility, and just to make sure, he fired two neon balls at the fans before jumping in the air. The fans slashed through the neon balls and proceeded to rotate back to Megumi's hands.

"They're sharp!" He cried out jumping on the air using his neon-flared feet as propulsion. He gritted his teeth, pulling his arms back before unleashing a barrage of neon at her.

Megumi closed her eyes, jumping out of the way and doing acrobatics in the air to dodge the attacks. She threw her hands at the balls, cutting straight through a considerable number of them. Moving her fingers, she used strings attached to the fans to move them as she pleased. She continued jumping back, circling around Hisashi.

When she found the right opportunity, she kicked the floor, leaving a crater behind while she leaped at him. She threw her fans to the side, controlling them with her strings to close in on Hisashi's head.

"This is insane!" Hisashi turned off the neon in his feet, causing him to fall back to the ground and avoiding getting his head chopped off. However, he had fallen right to Megumi's trap. Her fist connected with his stomach, prompting him to lose all the air in his lungs as well as spitting some blood.

She rose her leg above his head, swinging down and kicking him to the ground, landing face first.

"And now, to finish it. All Dive!" She screamed as she rose her left leg, her knee touching her stomach, and rotated back down to the ground. Her body began emanating a yellow aura around her.

Hisashi turned his body over, aiming his arm at her. With desperation, he fired a neon stream at her, hoping to stop her. To his dismay, she was going down the stream of neon and making an opening with her leg. With his fight or flight instinct, he quickly surrounded his body with neon, accessing his own Overclock Stage, giving him the speed to crawl away from where he was, barely avoiding being squashed. Megumi left a huge crater on the floor and proceeded to remove her leg from the hole on the ground.

"This is just unreal..." Hisashi grabbed his chest, trying to calm himself."She's too strong! And I have the feeling she isn't even taking me seriously!"

Megumi cracked her neck, watching her enemy like prey.

Cold sweat dripped down the back of Hisashi's neck."I won't be able to keep her distracted for much longer. Please, everyone...hurry!"

"No one is going to come to your aid." She said, her voice low but void of emotion."This is where you die. You have no choice of stalling for time. Not like I would let you anyway. But assuming I even humor you, do you honestly believe your friends will be at the Captain or Accelerator? No chance. We are not like the other Sins that you've fought with. Each of us three is capable of killing even the strongest Sloth. None of you stand a chance. It would be easier for you to roll over and die."

"You're awfully chatty. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover." Hisashi chuckled, wiping the blood off his lip.

"Well, I barely get the chance of beating the snot out of a hero." She confessed, a hand on her hip."Usually, I hunt down thugs, villains, and whoever we are hired to kill. They beg for their lives when they see death in their face. It's pitiful, really. And yet here you are, knowing full well that you have absolutely no chance of defeating me. So why? Why do you still stand before me?"

"Because...I believe in my teams." He explained, a smile small forming on his face."They believed in me to handle you until they could come here. And I believe in them defeating your partners."

"Tch." She clicked her tongue."So, because they believe in you, you believe in them? That's just wishful thinking. How foolish, you shouldn't just cower before me."

"YOu should know too." Hisashi pointed out."You said that my friends have no chance against the other two sins, right? If you believe in that, it's because you also put your faith in them."

"Hehe..."

Hisashi blinked in surprise at the odd noise that had come out of her mouth.

It began with chuckles, then transformed into a burst of laughter."You make a nice jester! I'd definitely need someone like you when I become an empress!" She slowly calmed herself, shaking her head."Believe? Faith? Don't be absurd."

"W-what?" Hisashi took a step back.

"Such things are unnecessary once you reach perfection." She began, slowly marching to him."Friends and companions are useless to someone who is far above. I am an empress. I don't need brainless sentimentality in my head. All I need is subjects to rule over. Anything else is pointless."

"You don't care about your friends...? No, you don't even consider them friends...?"

"Of course not. We are merely co-workers." She shot him down."No matter how low-ranking I am in the organization, I am destined to rise up and claim my throne. As an empress."

"So, that's how empresses operate? Having no friends because you think they are too much of a hassle for you?" He lowered his head, his face morphing into one of sadness."That's a terrible life."

Megumi's eyes shot open at his words, her mouth gaping.

Hisashi rose his head. Megumi was already in front of him in the air. She delivered a roundhouse kick, which he used both of his arms to block. He was sent skidding away to the left, his arms throbbing due to the impact. He fell on one knee, his hands going limp.

"I take it back. I won't make you into my personal jester. I will kill you here and now."

Shie Hassaikai Compound, Underground Tunnels, Morning

The sound of blades clashing echoed through the empty and vast area the two fighters were fighting in.

Nero hated to admit it, but the brat's sword skills were no joke. Even though his blade was mixed with his arm, he was moving it as though it were an actual sword. Not only he had to worry about the blade, but he had to also make sure he wasn't hit by his left leg, which had spikes coming around his foot.

Taichi ducked down, evading the horizontal slash that Nero's blade produced. He quickly spun around, his left leg out, and managed to pierced Nero's leg with one of the spikes.

"Fuck!" Nero screamed in pain, bringing his sword down only for it to be stopped by Taichi's own."I'm getting really sick and tired of these little weapons of yours!"

"What can I tell you?" Taichi shrugged."I'm a resourceful guy." He moved into action again, clashing against Nero and Guerra. He had determined a pattern in which he would switch and attempt to wound him with his spikes. Swing swing, duck, jump back, swing, kick. He noted Nero was more concerned about the spikes over his blade. And understandably so. His blade wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

Nero decided he had enough, and decided to take a spike to the torso after Taichi went for a kick.

"Gotcha!" Tai laughed as he thought it was over.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Nero muttered."GUERRA!" With a cry, he swung his blade down, cutting Taichi's metallic leg, causing him to fall. Just as he was about to go for his arm, Taichi touched his metal limb. The leg broke into pieces as they began coming together again.

"You dumbass!" Taichi touched his arm, his limb changing to a giant barrel. He shot his attack, a stream of energy coming out of it. Nero used his blade to block it, but found himself being pushed away due to the force of the attack."I can regenerate my limbs as much as I wish. My Quirk is similar to my brother's, however, unlike him, I can only destroy and reconstruct metals or electronics. A shame really. Since one touch from Kai is as lethal as it gets."

"I see." Nero gave him a grin, much to the boy's confusion.

"Why are you smiling? I literally told you you can't beat me with those stupid moves of yours!"

"Oh, yeah I heard. But you've also told me something much more interesting. From what it looks like, you can't activate your Quirk with your right arm, since it's completely metallic. Which means you can only use your Qurik with your left arm. So if I get rid of your hand, you'll be pretty much Quirkless, would you?"

Taichi felt his throat constricting, but decided to play it off. "Just you try it. I won't let you touch my regular hand. As long as I have my automail, you will never be able to truly stop me. You can only slash and cut, but my automail can be fixed using my Quirk. No matter what you choose to do, you can't win."

"We'll see about that." Nero partially transformed, his black wings protruding out of his body. He jumped back, flying over to the wall and using it as a foothold and boost his speed, coming full force at his opponent."Descending Heaven!"

"Come at me, fucker!" He touched his left leg, modifying his leg and adding a propulsor. He jumped in the air, using his Recipro Burst to increase his potency. Both blades clashed against each other for a second, but Nero ultimately slashed through the arm, battering it into pieces. The fragments caught on the fire emanating from Guerra and melted down at a rapid pace.

Taichi stumbled backward, feeling the heat and examining where his arm used to be."He melted the metal so I wouldn't be able to use my arm?"

On the other side, Nero stood still giving him his back. He was in his demon form, his body finishing transforming slowly."It's over. Without that arm of yours, you won't be able to give me a decent fight. It's funny, you know. You are an excellent fighter, but for someone who thinks he's got nothing to fear, you dropped your guard. Your weakness is pretty noticeable too."

"Tch. I see you transformed into your demon form." Taichi sneered."That power of yours is a waste. Don't think you're better because of your cursed Quirk!"

"Yeah, you're right. My Quirk is a curse. But I decided to not let it drag me down and make something out of it. Everyone has the chance to choose the path they want to walk on. And you met the end of yours. Your little plan is through."

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" Taichi rushed at him, trying to punch him with his single arm. Nero was easily evading the attacks, moving about and blocking every now and then."YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET IN OUR WAY! I WILL SAVE THE WORLD FROM PEOPLE LIKE Y-"

A knee to the stomach silenced him, knocking him back. He ignored the pain and proceeded to try once again. Nero was now on the offensive, forcing his opponent to raise his remaining metallic limb to block. It was an arduous task, to say the least. Whenever he would attack, Taichi had to stop whatever he was doing and raise his leg. If that sword connected with any normal part of his body, he was through.

Nero retracted his right arm before sending a punch to Taichi's leg. But this time had put more power into it, which caused the young Yakuza to be sent flying across the room, rolling on the floor as pieces of his leg had come off along the way.

"I also noticed something else. You can't reconstruct something unless you come into contact with it. And with your leg in pieces all over the floor, you'll have to crawl over to them. Of course, I won't let you. Kind of funny how you just happened to get a weaker version of Overhaul's Quirk. He wouldn't be having this sort of trouble. I guess you'll never be able to be half of what he is today."

Taichi was hyperventilating."What...did you say?! This isn't over! I...I'm not weak! I am the third strongest of the Seven Deadly Sins! The younger brother of the current boss of the Shie Hassaikai!"

"What of it?" Nero didn't miss a beat and forged on."Those titles that you have are not yours. Not the strongest. Third strongest. And you're just the little brother of the boss. Do you see it now? You are not exceeding in any situation. And the reason is simple. You aren't good enough."

That was the last straw. Taichi felt his fighting spirit died down with those words. He collapsed on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

Nero observed him in silence, looking down upon him."Well, I should probably incapacitate you. If you don't fight, I'll just leave you unconscious. But if you struggle, I'll cut the tendons in your hand."

"Master..."

Both of them immediately turned to the sound of the voice. On the floor, Maria was crawling slowly, leaving a trail of blue liquid behind. She was missing her lower half, cords and cable showing as if it were her guts. The right part of her upper head was missing and some areas of her face were missing skin, revealing a grey-like material.

"Maria!" Taichi gasped, horrified at her condition. He proceeded to crawl as much as he could, his organic arm and leg still functioning.

"So, Nishikawi didn't finish the job," Nero noted, resting his sword on his shoulder.

Taichi collapsed, in front of her, his eyes not believing what they were seeing."Maria...I have to put you back together...!"

"Master...it's not use..." Maria muttered, stretching her hand and caressing his cheek."My mainframe was utterly destroyed. As well as my power source. I calculate I don't have very long..."

"Fuck that! Tell me where you were before so I can go get your parts!" Taichi refused to accept her words."I don't care if I have to limb on one leg, I'll go and-"

"Master..."

Taichi stopped his rambling, his eyes meeting her one left eye."Thank you for making me...and giving me value."

"Stop talking like that." He muttered, his voice breaking."I can...fix you...I can fix you, Maria...You promised me you would never leave my side, remember?! That you would always be my aid! You are supposed to be my second in command once I take over the organization!"

"You've always been so ambitious...that's your greatest trait...as well as your kindness. At first, I didn't understand you. You were so clingy to me but really happy. I then realized what kind of life you had been through. You did everything you could to make me be comfortable. You even...gave me that cooling-system you worked so hard to get...even though your arm overheats when you use your Quirk too much, you did it for me. Even though I'm just a robot..."

"No! You're more than that!" Taichi grabbed her hand."You're not just a robot! You're-"

"Human." She finished for him."Master...you always tried to make me feel emotions like humans do...to feel sadness, happiness, joy...And even though it's not exactly feeling...I understand them. When I'm with you...I understand them perfectly...you treated me like a normal person and consistently tried to find new ways to program my AI to be closer and closer to being like a human. So I have one final request...you won't say no, would you?"

"W-w-what?"

"Assimilate with me." She stated, letting her words sink in."Use my parts to help you...I want to be of use to you one last time..."

"I can't do t-"

"Please!" She begged, raising her voice. Oh, how she wished she could cry right now. Seeing her master's devasted face was...She then realized she was feeling something. Not just out of her programming, or her understanding and emotion. She was feeling distraught in seeing Taichi break down. She gave him a warm smile, grabbing his hand and putting it on her face."I will always be with you Master...I believe in your wish...to change this wo...rld..."

Nero decided he'd had enough and ran over to the pair, the top of his sword rubbing against the ground

Before she could completely shut down, Taichi screamed in sorrow as he used his Quirk. Her face cracked to pieces as did her body. A gust of wind stopped Nero in his tracks. He watched in awe as Taichi began taking Maria's parts and combining them with his body. Once it was done, the results were more than unexpected.

Taichi had constructed a new leg and arm. His leg was similar to his old one, but now he had also clad his good leg with metal. To add to his legs, he was now sporting black orbs on his feet. The same was said about his arms. While his new prosthetic arm was slightly bigger and had claws, the arm he used his Quirk with had a constructed an energy cannon on top of it. His mask was had fallen off, revealing his savage grin behind a jawbone-like structure around his face made out of metal. The upper left of his head was encased with metal and his left eye was protected by a red scope. His shirt was torn on the back, exposing the two straight metal wings that were attached to a canon, aiming upwards. His other most noticeable feature was the tail he now had attached to the base of the wings.

"This is...peculiar," Nero muttered, bewildered at what had transpired.

Taichi's eyes were bloodshot as he screeched loudly. Nero stayed on guard, ready to strike down his enemy as soon as he found an opening.

"Yugo Nakahara. I commend you for pushing me this far. To be frank, you had me really worried. Had Maria not offered her body to me, I would have surely lost to you. But now things have changed and I've upgraded myself. Hence, I have a small request to make, Yugo Nakahara."

"Oh, yeah?" Nero grinned, showing his sharp-demonic teeth as he looked amused."Go ahead. I'll humor you."

Taichi cackled, leveling his arm-gun to Nero."Don't die now."