I do not own Infinite Stratos or Diablo. Infinite Stratos and Diablo are owned by Izuru Yumizuru and Blizzard respectively.
"Impossible!" a massive demonic being said as he stumbled back. The being was horrendous and horrifying. He had a v-shaped head curving into horns with several spikes decorating the side of his face. His eyes were yellow like fire. On his back were large curved wing-like spines. A long-tail stretched out behind him, spines running down the length of its back. On his shoulders were two mouths that roared in pain.
"I… am Diablo! I am all Seven Evils combined into one! I am Tathamet reborn! How is it possible that a lowly being can defeat me!?" Diablo roared.
In front of him was the instrument of his defeat. A being that belonged to a race that was considered an abomination. A hybrid that contained the essences of the Angels of the High Heavens and the Demons of the Burning Hells. A Nephalem.
"CURSE YOU, NEPHALEM!" Diablo roared one last time. "IF I GO DOWN, I SHALL TAKE YOU WITH ME!"
The Nephalem stiffened as they took a step back and readied their weapons.
Power shook the entirety of the High Heavens as a dark miasma spread out from the top of the Crystal Arch. Lightning arced across the sky and struck Diablo as he began to gather power into himself.
"With this, I shall have the last laugh! With my death, the High Heavens shall fall!" Diablo cackled.
"No, you will not," the Nephalem said. Running completely out of options, the Nephalem charged at Diablo in an attempt to halt the process. They drew a beautiful silver blade with a golden hilt. Intricate runes carved into the blade glowed in response to the Nephalem's resolve. Leaping off the ground, the Nephalem stabbed their sword into the heart of the Prime Evil himself. Diablo gasped as the sword pierced through his chest, interrupting his efforts to destroy the Heavens.
Diablo let out a primal scream of rage and pain as the energy built up inside him began to warp and collapse as the overwhelming power of the Prime Evil began to rip apart the sky. Time and Space warped as the very foundations of the High Heavens themselves began to fold in on itself. The power spread, seeping into every corner of Creation as every realm was affected by this outburst of power. Demons in the Burning Hells began to flee in terror, Angels in the High Heavens began to cower, and Humans in Sanctuary fell and prayed for salvation.
"NOOO!" A large red beam of light erupted from Diablo, rupturing the skies.
The Nephalem grinned, their job completed as their body was instantly destroyed, unable to withstand the pure power of the Prime Evil's energy that continued to rip apart the very fabric of Creation itself. Diablo's body slowly began to corrode into nothingness, leaving a massive black crystal. The crystal that started this. The sole container of the essence of all Seven Evils. The Black Soulstone. The rips became too much and the Black Soulstone imploded in on itself, sending a massive shockwave throughout all of Creation. The rips throughout the universe vanished all at once and where the Nephalem and Diablo once fought, remained nothing but the smoldering blade of the Nephalem's blade.
"Get the boy!" a voice yelled.
A young man with short, messy black hair ran as he was being pursued. His dark brown eyes rapidly scanned his surroundings for his assailants as he ducked behind a trash can. The boy's name was Ichika Orimura. If he could speak, he would say that he's the younger brother of the strongest person in the entire world and say it with pride. But currently, the boy was fearing for his life.
He didn't know these people nor what they wanted. After all, he was just a boy after all. A boy who came to support his big sister in the Mondo Grosso Tournament.
Ichika stiffened in place when he heard footsteps.
"Did you find him?" Ichika heard a distinctly female voice say.
"No, you?" another one replied.
"No. Fan out. He couldn't have gotten far. Failure is not an option. If we do, the boss will have our heads," the woman said.
Ichika covered his mouth and closed his eyes. Remembering what happened in all those movies his big sister wouldn't let him watch, Ichika tried to calm his breathing and remain as still as he possibly could. With any luck, they would pass him and move on.
Unfortunately, fate was not on the young boy's side. In his attempt to cover his mouth, Ichika had accidentally hit the can he had been hiding behind. The noise alerted the two women.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes, I did…," her companion replied. She smirked as she moved towards the noise.
Hearing footsteps in his direction, Ichika began to shake and cower in fear.
No, no, no… please go away, he thought.
"Found you," she said. Ichika reacted on instinct and lashed out, kicking the woman in the shin. She yelped in surprise as Ichika darted out from underneath her. Ichika tried to run out of the room but was caught by her partner as the other woman tripped Ichika.
He fell face-first onto the concrete and groaned in pain.
"You're being a real pain in the ass right now," the woman said. She kicked Ichika, digging her foot into his gut. The boy gasped in pain as he curled in on himself, pain coursing through his small frame.
"Hey! The boss said that he's not to be harmed!" the other woman said.
"It's just a small bruise. What's the harm? Come on, help me tie this kid up," the woman said.
The other woman sighed at her partner's actions and helped her restrain Ichika. After his arms and legs were bound and a gag put into his mouth and blindfold around his eyes, the two summoned something. A marvel of engineering. A multi-purpose power suit that looked more like a small mecha than anything else.
The metal enveloped their bodies forming an armor of sorts. Loading the boy onto their mechs, the women took off into the darkness of the night, never noticing the eyes that watched them take off.
"DAMNIT!"
Everyone in the room flinched as a woman slammed her fist into the wall, sending spider web cracks traveling all over it. The woman was tall, taller than her peers. She had long wavy black hair that parted at her shoulder with a ponytail going down her back. Her brown eyes, which were mostly reserved, were filled with boundless rage. Her curvy imposing figure shook in anger as she collapsed into a chair.
"Damnit... how did this happen? I thought we had SECURITY!" she screamed.
"Chifuyu-dono, please calm down," a woman with green hair said.
"Calm? HOW CAN I REMAIN CALM!?" Chifuyu said, grabbing the woman by the collar of her uniform.
"Ma'am, we can assure you that we're doing everything in our power to keep the people here at the tournament safe and that-"
"Safe? You kept them safe? If that were true, then how come my brother just turned up missing!?" she demanded.
"Chifuyu! Calm down! Remember, you still have a tournament to participate in and if you want to win the championship, you need to remain cal-!"
Chifuyu dropped the woman she was holding and pinned whoever dared told her to calm down to a wall. The offender in question was a middle-aged woman wearing a business suit. Her yellow eyes widened in fear as Chifuyu's brown eyes bore into her with murderous intent.
"I do not care about your petty tournament… I want my brother back! Now tell me, how did this happen!?" she demanded.
"Pull up the security footage!" the woman gasped.
The woman in the uniform nodded and pulled out a small tablet. She swiped and tapped on the screen several times before handing it over to Chifuyu.
She watched with growing rage as she saw Ichika sitting in the waiting room for her. Suddenly, the door broke down and two women wearing what she assumed were IS entered the room. She gritted her teeth. IS Pilots.
Infinite Stratos, or IS, were mechs for a lack of better terms. Though the proper definition for them were multi-purpose suits designed by brilliant scientist and genius Tabane Shinonono for space exploration, the device was taken in a different direction when it was outfitted with weaponry and possessed enough power to take on an entire nation's military force. A walking weapon of mass destruction. A weapon that only women could control.
Chifuyu's heart dropped when she saw one of the two attackers assault her brother and knock him out. The footage ended with them taking off into the night sky with their IS.
"Do you have any leads on where they are?" Chifuyu asked.
"No," the woman said.
"I'm leaving," Chifuyu said as she headed towards the door.
"Wait! Think about this very carefully. Your victory! Everything! The money you need to raise Ichika! What about that?" the older woman asked.
"I don't need your money. All I want is for my brother to be safe and nothing else," Chifuyu said as she left, slamming the door behind her.
Unknown Location
Ichika struggled in his binds. It was dark. He couldn't see a thing as he was being led to God knows where.
"Alright, stay here. We'll be back for you in a bit," a woman said. She removed the gag around his mouth and blindfold and Ichika was shoved forwards, causing him to trip. He heard a door slam behind him and a lock click. With that, he began to cry.
"Chifuyu-nee, please save me," he whimpered as tears streaked down his face. He sniffled and struggled over to the wall and sat against it.
The room he was placed in was nearly dark and damp. Rusty metal walls lined the area as a lone bed sat in the corner. Next to the bed was a bucket. For what purpose the bucket was for he did not know. He looked up and saw the light bulb flicker on and off constantly. A rat ran by Ichika, startling him. He watched the rat run into a small burrow big enough for his hand to reach into.
A woman with chestnut brown hair walked into the warehouse. She had reddish-orange eyes. She wore a black one-piece suit that accentuated her voluptuous body's curves. Her breasts were large and full, earning her the hidden envy of every female in the room. She walked up to two women who stood outside of a door to the warehouse office.
"Is he in there?" she asked.
"Yes, Autumn-taicho!" one of the women answered.
"Good," Autumn said as she reached for the doorknob. Her eyes glistened in glee as she saw who was inside. Ichika cowered in the corner as Autumn walked in with a menacing grin on her face.
"Get me my tools," she said to the two women at the door. The two women nodded and left. Autumn glanced back at Ichika, who had begun to look at her with increasing curiosity. She smiled and walked over to him, kneeling before him.
"Hello, little boy," Autumn said.
"W- Who are you?" Ichika asked fearfully.
She smiled softly and reached over, gently stroking his cheek.
"You don't need to worry. I'm going to take good care of you for the time being," Autumn said.
"Taicho," one of the women came back wheeling in a cart filled with sharp, metallic objects.
"Now," Autumn said, standing. She grabbed one of the tools from the tray. "Get me a camera and something to cover my face with."
A few seconds later, the woman came back with a ski mask which Autumn grabbed and put over her face. The other woman placed a camera in front of Autumn and Ichika.
"Is it directed to somewhere Chifuyu Orimura is able to see it?" she asked.
"Yes, we have established a connection to her phone. When we hit record, her phone should go off and she'll be able to see this," the woman said, giving her a thumbs up. She hit record, signaling to Autumn that the camera was on.
"Hello, Chifuyu Orimura. You might be wondering who I am and why this little treasure," Autumn said, grabbing Ichika by the hair. "Is with me at the moment. Well, you have two options. Continue with your match and win or… come and save your dear brother and lose. So what's it going to be? Clock's ticking."
With those words, Autumn slashed Ichika across the cheek, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Oh, did I hurt you?" she asked.
Ichika backpedaled to the wall, clutching his bleeding cheek.
"No, stay away! If you hurt me, Chifuyu-nee will hurt you back!" Ichika fired back.
"Oh, but I count on her coming here," she said. "Now, where were we?"
Ichika looked at her in fear and screamed in pain as she dug her scalpel into his thigh.
"Oh right! I was busy making an art project out of you!" Autumn said. "My bad!"
She grinned as she twisted the scalpel around inside Ichika's leg, causing the boy to scream even more.
"Shh, shh, if you scream, you'll alert the neighbors," Autumn said, pulling the scalpel out.
"Chifuyu-nee, please save me!" Ichika screamed.
"Oh dear, calling for dear old nee-san already? Are you bored with little ol' me? Now that just won't do!" Autumn said as she slowly dug the scalpel into Ichika's chest. She began to cut through his shirt, carving Ichika's torso like a Thanksgiving Turkey. Ichika screamed until his vocal cords gave out.
"Come on now. Where was that fire you had a while back? I thought dear old Chifuyu-nee was going to come and save you if you called hard enough?" Autumn said as she stabbed through Ichika's hand.
Ichika let out a soundless scream as Autumn pulled the scalpel out. She licked Ichika's blood off before twirling the surgical blade around.
"What haven't we cut yet? Or done for that matter," Autumn said.
"Ooh! I know! Let's pull your fingernails out one by one and then… we'll move on to this. If Miss Orimura doesn't come here in the next… couple of minutes, well, I guess that the match was more important to her than you," Autumn said as she grabbed a pair of pliers from the tray.
"One of you. Come here and hold him still for me," she said.
One of the women came from behind the camera and grabbed Ichika, holding him down. Ichika looked in fear as Autumn clamped the plier down on his fingernail.
"Now, I've never done this before on a child so I don't know if this will hurt you," Autumn said, grinning. She pulled slowly on Ichika's fingernail, causing every nerve in Ichika's pointer finger to fire. Pain coursed through his entire body as Autumn slowly pulled. She jerked the pliers to the side, feigning a struggle to pull it off for the sole purpose of causing him more pain.
"Please! STOP!" Ichika begged as Autumn finally wrenched Ichika's fingernail off.
"Hmm, nope. Sorry, we have… nineteen more to go. Your toes and fingers," Autumn said.
"Chifuyu-nee…," Ichika whimpered.
"Hmm, she hasn't shown up yet. How odd? Oh well! Let's make a game out of this. How many of your fingernails and toenails can I remove before Chifuyu-nee gets here? I'm thinking… 14. You? Or should we move onto something… more fun?" Autumn asked as she began pulling on Ichika's middle finger.
Chifuyu darted through the air at speeds never thought possible for an IS. The only thing on her mind was Ichika, Ichika, Ichika. Ever since she saw the video of her beloved younger brother being tortured, she snapped. Raving like a madwoman, Chifuyu tried to find all leads to where Ichika was taken to. Bloodlust poured off Chifuyu in waves. If there were any living thing near her, they would die from the intensity of the killing intent she was emitting.
Her current IS, Kurazakura, was a far cry from her first one but it got the job done. After all, an IS is only as powerful as its wielder… or that's what she told herself.
Kurazakura was a first-generation personal IS that was developed for Chifuyu by the creator of the Infinite Stratos, Tabane Shinonono. It was built specifically with her fighting style in mind and it was this IS that Chifuyu used to win the First Mondo Grosso Tournament. However, to Chifuyu, this IS lacked the power of her first, Shiroshiki.
"Ichika, hang on. Onee-chan is coming," Chifuyu said. "Come on! Go faster!" she urged, pushing the IS's Passive Inertia Control to its absolute limit. Kurazakura seemingly responded to her will and accelerated in speed, propelling Chifuyu towards the location the Germans had provided her with.
Chifuyu's eyes narrowed when she saw the location with her hyper sensor. A small warehouse on the edge of town. She made out several IS pilots guarding the area.
"Give me my brother back," Chifuyu whispered as she divebombed towards the warehouse.
The enemy IS pilots noticed her as they began firing on her IS. She ignored them, changing from her Default Form to her First Shift.
"You'll be feeding Yukihara tonight you insufferable whores," Chifuyu said. She swung Yukihara, completely depleting their shields. Sparing them no mercy, Chifuyu sliced apart both the IS and their pilots, sending blood spraying everywhere.
"Intruder!"
"It's her! It's Brunhilde!"
Chifuyu ignored their screams as more IS pilots headed in her direction. She moved out of the way, destroying more and more of the IS units headed her way. As she pulled Yukihara out of the body of her latest opponent, the other IS pilots began to slowly back away from this invincible monster.
No, monster wasn't the correct word to use when describing her. She was a Goddess. A Goddess of War.
"Where is he?" Chifuyu asked as she flew over towards them menacingly.
"He- He's inside!" one of the pilots squeaked.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Chifuyu said. She swung Yukihara before shifting back to her default form and flew down to the ground. Above her, the pilots and their IS crashed to the ground, their heads rended from their shoulders. Blood flowed freely from the stumps on their necks, staining the concrete a deep crimson.
"ICHIKA!" Chifuyu called as she shifted her IS from Default to Partial Deployment. A katana that resembled a smaller Yukihara appeared in her hand. She scanned the area warily, walking cautiously into the warehouse.
"Ichika?" Chifuyu called out.
"Chi… fuyu… nee," a weak voice called out.
"Ichika!" Chifuyu said as she began to run.
"Nee…," Ichika called out. She ran faster, trying to find where the voice was coming from.
"Ichika! Make some noise so I know where you are!" Chifuyu called out.
"Office!" Ichika responded. Chifuyu nodded as she ran towards the warehouse office. The door was shut but she could hear Ichika's weak cries coming from behind the door. She raised Yukihara above her head and slashed the door in two, sending splinters everywhere.
Her eyes widened at the sight that met her. It took all of her willpower not to vomit. There in front of her was Ichika. Or… what she could make out from under the blood. He was missing seven fingernails. Wounds were surgically carved all over his entire body. Her eyes flared in rage when she saw Ichika's pants had been ripped off. These monsters… dare defile her brother.
"Ichika," Chifuyu said, walking over to her brother.
"Chifuyu-nee," Ichika whispered as he tried to stand, only to collapse. Chifuyu rushed over and caught him in time.
"Everything's going to be alright. Shh, I'm here now. I'm here," Chifuyu said.
"Chifuyu-nee…," Ichika said before passing out. She glanced over at the camera and grabbed it. Summoning Kurazakura and loading Ichika onto it, Chifuyu blasted a hole in the roof and flew out.
Ichika's eyes fluttered open. His pupils contracted as they were suddenly met with a harsh white light. His breathing hitched as the memories of the previous night came rushing back to him. Ichika began to scream alerting the sleeping Chifuyu beside him.
Chifuyu woke up and saw Ichika screaming and ripping off his IV.
"Ichika! Ichika! It's me! It's me!" Chifuyu said as she hugged him tightly.
"Let me go! Please!" Ichika pleaded as he beat his tiny fists on Chifuyu's chest. She tightened her hug in an attempt to calm him down. A nurse came in, hearing the commotion from the outside. Upon seeing her, Chifuyu called out.
"Get his doctor!" Chifuyu called. The nurse nodded and ran out of the room. A few minutes later, a doctor and the nurse came rushing back.
"Mister Orimura, please calm down. You're in a safe place now," the doctor said in an attempt to soothe him. His struggle only got worse after he placed a hand on Ichika's shoulder. Ichika headbutted Chifuyu, causing her hold on him to loosen.
Ichika slipped out from underneath her and tried to run only to be caught in Chifuyu's hold again. He struggled, completely unaware of the people in the room. In his mind, he was still inside the warehouse being tortured by Autumn.
"Summer Star, Why are you so red," Chifuyu began to sing.
"Because I had a sad dream last night.
"My eyes are red from the tears I've shed.
"Swollen as I cried."
As she continued, Ichika began to calm down, his fits devolving into sobs as he buried himself into his older sister's embrace. Chifuyu continued to sing softly into his ear, rocking him in her arms and stroking his hair, running her fingers through his raven locks. And with that, Ichika passed out once more, snuggling into Chifuyu's embrace as she made a silent promise to herself.
I promise Ichika that no one will take you from me ever again. I'll always protect you, Chifuyu thought.
So, that was the first chapter of the challenge I picked up. The challenge was a crossover between Diablo and Infinite Stratos issued by my good friend, Darkscythe Drake. Please check out his stories especially Draconian Pilot of Izzet, a Magic the Gathering and Highschool DxD crossover like my other story which is on hiatus. Now, onto the story! I actually wanna see where this goes. When science meets the supernatural...
A/N: The song Chifuyu used to calm Ichika down was called Natsuhiboshi from Naruto.