Chapter 04: One for All - The Third
Alex Louis Armstrong sighed as he prepared for the mission. Today, they would finally apprehend All for One once and for all.
"Major Armstrong, sir!" A young soldier ran up to him and saluted in the office. "They calling for you, sir. It's time."
"Alright." Alex stood up fully, causing the soldier to gape at bit at the bald man being twice his size. "Lead the way, Sergeant."
"We will arrive at the battlefield in 5 minutes." Olivier Mira Armstrong declared as she faced the soldiers sharing the military plane with her. "All for One's presence in that stronghold has been confirmed by our spies in his group. When this mobilizing platoon lands, we will be deployed right into the fray. In all honesty, this will end in no less than 35% of our forces becoming casualties. Are you ready?"
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you sound nervous, Aneue." Alex idly spoke as he adjusted his gauntlets. "But you're not the kind of person who would mince words just because we have rookies among us, are you?"
"Just who do you think I am, Alex?" Olivier narrowed her eyes as she stared down her brother who stared back unflinchingly. "I will not deceive anyone under my command with lies of how the battle will go. There's nothing as stupid and cruel as sending a fresh soldier into a warzone without warning them of Death. Both theirs and their enemies."
Ever since Harumi had died, it seemed that not only her brother's Meta Ability had increased in quality, he had finally grown a worthy spine, even if he smiled much less than she would preferred him to.
Olivier herself could never smile as brightly as Alex could, after all.
"True." Alex nodded, before allowing a small grin, which was truly a shadow of the wide ones he had always given, to grace his mustached lips. "However, it's also good to remind them of things to look forward to if they survive."
"If they win." Olivier corrected. "I don't mind if any of them dies if they can't help it. However, it is very important that they make sure that any of All for One's sycophants they face in battle must die before they do. Did you hear me? If All for One's minions are willing to give their lives for him, make sure to take them away anyways from that terrorist's reach! No survivors!"
"Coming up on the drop zone, Major Armstrong."
At the pilot's warning, there was a rush of last preparations from the soldiers. Alex breathed deeply and stood up, heading for the runway as it opened up.
"Alex!" Olivier roared over the loud winds that blew into the plane. "Don't let any of the enemy hold you too long in one area! Head straight for All for One!"
"Roger, Aneue!" Alex jumped off the plane straight away, startling some of the soldiers who had been watching him at the time.
"Major General! Was he wearing a parachute?!"
"No. No, he wasn't." Uncaring of their dropped jaws, Olivier rechecked her sword and her ammunition before turning to the others. "Buccaneer! Lead the others off the plane! Miles, get off the pilot seat!"
"Aye, Ma'am!"
"Aye- wait, what?"
Alex fell through the sky without concern of the rapidly approaching seawater. With a humph, {One for All} surged to life within his body, amplifying {Pump Up} to an amazing degree.
The amount of sand and water he kicked up on impact was at least fifteen meters high, the resultant noise only being masked by the roar of the numerous aircrafts above him.
As he swiftly stalked forward, the roars of war started around him, bullets and other material created or caused by Meta Abilities flinging about the air.
"Miles!" Buccaneer roared as soon as he saw the red-eyed quarter-African land near him. "What are you doing out of the plane?!"
"Major General took it!" Miles roared back, leaping into cover as soon as he could while whipping out his rifle. "She just ordered me to get out and act freely until she joined us!"
"I guess she was serious about that plan of hers, huh?" Buccaneer laughed, confusing all of his comrades except Miles who cleaned his sunglasses in a mix of admiration and frustration.
Four Buzzard helicopters approached the wall of All for One's stronghold, each launching missiles as soon as they entered reach.
"Fire!" The man in charge of the wall's defense ordered, causing several people to shoot down the approaching helicopters with either their Meta Abilities or simple bullets and missiles.
One Buzzard was completely pierced through by three metal rods, causing it to explode in the air.
Another Buzzard was clipped in it's rudder, causing to spiral uncontrollably into one of the stronghold's towers and ensure mutual destruction as it exploded and destroyed the tower on impact.
"Unit 2, fire!"
Another volley was fired at the remaining helicopters, hitting the third helicopter's pilot directly. As the third helicopter fell straight down due to it's killed pilot falling headfirst onto her joystick, the fourth helicopter came dangerously close to the wall, taking down at least a quarter of the wall's defenders before becoming shot down as well.
"Ok, everyone get prepared for the second wave!" The man in charge declared. "We've already allowed enemy aircraft to enter the Southwest area! In the name of our Master, we will allow no more! Do everything you can to stop them!"
As the rest of All for One's minions roared in approval, the man smirked to himself. 'Don't take us lightly, damn Mundanes!'
Then he noticed the giant military plane heading right for them.
"Here... we... go..." Olivier tapped some buttons in the cockpit, before getting up to leave as the plane's speed picked up. Olivier then leaned over to shoot the set up bazookas on the co-pilot's seat, sending two rockets at the forces below and rendering them too panicked and scattered to deal with the approaching plane.
As Olivier grabbed her parachute and ran out the opened runway, she passed by lots of prepared bombs already primed to detonate. Without even a cocky smirk, Olivier leapt off the rigged plane and activated her parachute.
The winds of the plane's propellers instantly shot her far away from the aircraft in a near instant, which was a good thing as the plane smashed into the wall hard enough to penetrate it all the way to the other side before it detonated, utterly blowing apart a seventy mile radius of everything around it.
"Ma'am!" Miles and Buccaneer roared as Olivier soared through the air before landing gingerly in front of her soldiers, with most of the newer ones losing control of their jaws at the sight of Olivier's utterly insane plan.
Operation Don't Waste Precious Time and Soldiers trying to Breach a Wall when there's a Perfectly Explosive Plane at Hand was a resounding success.
"Who gave you all permission to look like fools with your mouths wide open?" Olivier asked as the plane exploded a second time behind her, briefly giving her a demonic visage as her ice blue eyes seemed to glow in the shadow of her face. "Do not let an empty plane give more service than the rest of you combined!"
"We are ready to advance at anytime you wish, Ma'am!" Buccaneer saluted, prompting Miles and the others to do the same. "What are your orders?!"
"If you are soldiers, then decide for yourselves on what to do without a given order on the battlefield!" Olivier adjusted her dark coat, cocked her AP Pistol and unsheathed her sword. "Those who are my soldiers, risk your lives under my command! Follow me and be ready to die, Briggs Squad!"
Her Order resounded through them all like an icy blizzard freezing their sizzling doubts in unbreakable ice. In an instant, the Glacial General's Will took command of her army's souls.
And with that, their loyalty.
"""""Aye, Ma'am!"""""
Alex swiftly ducked through the halls, occasionally having to dodge or knock out some passing guards who rushed towards the battle.
As he did so, Alex was unprepared to crash into someone right around the corner. At least, he would have crashed if the other man hadn't dodged away in an instant.
"Oh, pardon me." Alex spoke briefly, quickly appraising the man's appearance. He was lean with short white hair that was parted away from his forehead with thin eyes.
Unlike the others he had seen (and beaten) so far in the stronghold, the man before him hadn't drawn a weapon, unleashed his Meta Ability or called for any reinforcements so far.
"It's fine. You are one of the invading soldiers, right?" The man spoke in Japanese, causing Alex's eyes to widen. "Ah, wait. You look English. You probably can't even understand my words-"
"No. No." Alex waved a hand forward as he spoke in Japanese as well. "I can speak Japanese as well. A... friend taught me... Ah, my name is Alex Louis Armstrong for that matter."
"I see. My name is Hikage Shinomori." The man introduced himself. "Would you mind pointing me the way out?"
"Of course. After you tell me which direction All for One is."
"What?!" Hikage, who had been calm so far, widened his eyes and yelled a bit in shock. "You want to head in his direction? I was asking so I could run away from his direction. I don't like how my Meta Ability constantly throbs and screams around his presence. Somebody drugged and brought me here so that they could gift him my Meta Ability in exchange for a favor! I don't even know what he looks like face-to-face and I don't want to!"
Alex gently placed his hands on the smaller man's shoulders. "I'm not asking you to. Please, All for One is an enemy that must be dealt with today. Just point me in his direction and feel free to run away, sir!"
"Why do you want to fight him so much?!" Hikage demanded. "Did he kill a friend of yours or something?"
"Yes." Alex's blunt answer knocked Hikage silent. "But not just because of that. In his mad desire for power, All for One has killed and oppressed many people. With his Meta Ability in particular, he literally has the 'power' to change the world. I'm begging you. Please..."
Alex fell to a knee before Hikage, startling the overwhelmed man. "Please help me in any way you can."
Olivier slashed down another of All for One's minion, securing another victory.
"Wh-What the hell is she?!"
"Is she really human?"
Several of the unranked members of All for One's army surrounded her. However, thanks to her defeating one of the subcommanders, they were quite too terrified to so much as approach her.
"So..." Olivier flicked her blade, whipping blood off it as she stalked toward the huge door at the end of the hallway she had been fighting in. "Who's next?"
"D... Don't get ahead of yourself, you mundane bitch!" One of the minions yelled foolhardily as he charged, prompting others to follow herd mentality and charge forward as well.
In an instant, Olivier met the charge head-on, slashing down those in front while shooting behind her to get the few ones smart enough to attack her back.
In less than a minute, her subordinates arrived just in time to see her pull her blade free of the last one's skull.
With that done, they entered the room, revealing it to be an ornate office which was currently empty.
As Olivier approached the lavish desk, a quick search by one of her soldiers declared it empty except for two notes for her and Alex. Hers read "Ha! I regret not being there to see the face you must be making at the moment!" while Alex's read "Don't let anybody but me kill you, Third. You'll shame my little brother and Harumi if you do.".
"That bastard... He was never even here!" Olivier growled as she ripped up the papers, before glaring at the table itself, or rather, it's positioning in the office. "I can't believe how someone who has at least two separate nations gunning for his head would sit in a place where they'd make such an easy target for a sniper. Then again, despite his admittedly high intelligence, he does display himself as quite the egomaniac."
"Okay, understood." One of the soldiers with communications equipment replied into his set before turning to Olivier. "Major General! Captain Buccaneer and his men have captured the main gate. There was little resistance and they've only sustained minor damage. The entrance to the main gate has also been seized. They've stationed the tanks there and are using it as a primary defensive position. Apparently, All for One's 'army' beyond his subcommanders mostly consist of just untrained civilians with Meta Abilities."
Olivier blinked before briefly looking back to the hallway full of bodies she had easily left in her wake.
Very easily.
"...that makes a surprisingly amount of sense."
More reports followed, with even Alex chipping in. Olivier frowned at the fact that Alex believed All for One to still be nearby, due to the fact that a captured civilian he had recently saved claiming that he was still nearby.
"Aneue, even if we capture the base, I still believe that we can't assume victory so soon." Alex implored over the line. "Not without All for One's confirmed death."
"I agree." Olivier replied into the mic. "All of you, spread out and scour the whole area! If there's so much as a weird-shaped boulder, blow it to bits!"
"Did you miss me that much?"
Every single person connected instantly choked at the sound of All for One's voice in their radio system.
"Seems like Doctor was right in you guys making a party while I was away. Don't worry, I'll be a good host by annihilating all of you soon. I hereby order all subordinates of mine to escape the area. I won't be picky about my targets when I get started."
"All... for... One...?!" Alex growled.
"You hear that an army has coming knocking on your door for your death and you rush over here despite being absent?!" Olivier snarled, nearly threatening to break her mic.
"Of course, I did. You make it sound like I'm supposed to be terrified of you all."
And then the sky cracked open along with the earth as well.
A great impact shook the earth, knocking Miles, Buccaneer and the army off their feet as a great plume of dust rose up from the crash site.
As utter silence dominated the battlefield, All for One stepped forward, a serene smile on his face as he looked towards where he could sense {One for All}. Of course, there was an army between him and the Armstrong siblings but that didn't really matter.
As clouds suddenly blocked the full moon above, All for One started to move, keeping only to a light walk. In contrast, every soldier against him was caught in tension. One prayed. Another quickly reloaded his near empty rifle.
"Hmm... Let's go with {Fight Radar}, {Hyper-Speed}, {Cooldown}, {Leap} and {Power Fist}." All for One wasn't too bothered, however. Despite his current attire of a black suit, he slowly started to speed up to the large army in front of him, not even hesitant about the sheer amount of armed people.
"Here he comes!" Buccaneer yelled, readying his prosthetic arm.
"Don't let him get any closer! Fire!" Miles ordered. In an instant, bullets and missiles from all over shot at the Supervillain, signifying the start of the battle.
All for One punched forward, launching a massive bomb of compressed air with {Air Cannon}, which blew away the projectiles and a good amount of the soldiers themselves. Within seconds, All for One entered their midst, causing them to stop firing in order to avoid friendly fire.
"Switch to CQC! Swarm the bastard!"
The soldiers started roaring intensely as they charged at the smirking Supervillain as well. As they clashed, multiple bodies flew in the air as All for One blew right through them.
All for One kicked away another soldier as he dodged a swing from another and punched him so hard that his body slid in the beach sand with his legs in the air.
One man backed away in fear as All for One kicked him and that was enough to take him down as he used his back to utilize {Leap} and jump to another patch of soldiers that were blown away from his shockwave and he continued to attack more of them. At this point, no one stood a chance as soldiers were punched and kicked or thrown left and right.
With a brief snap of his fingers, All for One used {Ice Shards} to create a sword and used it to slash down one soldier and cut the rifle of another soldier in half and kicked him away as he slashed another.
"He's actually trained to use blades?!"
"Of course, I am!"
This kept going with his body count rising.
In desperation, one soldier threw a grenade but All for One grabbed it and gleefully shoved the bomb down another soldier's mouth and shot an ice shard at the thrower, killing her as the Supervillain kicked the choking soldier to another group.
The man screamed as he struggled to spit it out but it was too late for him as he and others unfortunate to be nearby exploded in a fiery blast.
Another soldier approached with a sword of light in her hand but All for One simply dodged every slash and strike as he admired her Meta Ability.
"{Light Sword}, huh? Tell me, are you limited to just that weapon or can you make all manner of things? On second thought..." All for One suddenly shot forward and grabbed her by the neck. The woman choked and screamed in pain as her Meta Ability was instantly ripped away. "I can always just find out for myself."
{Gold} suddenly activated on instinct, saving All for One as twin beams of scarlet energy smashed into him, sending him flying for several meters.
With his eyes still glowing red and leaking steam, Miles and Buccaneer stalked forward towards All for One.
"...you burnt my suit." All for One made a show of wiping the soot off his burnt sleeve, eventually just deciding to rip it off. "Miles, I believe. I've actually been wanting {Heat Vision} for a while. It's just such a classic comic book-worthy superpower..."
"Really? Well then, come take it." Miles taunted as Buccaneer growled next to him and transformed. With a roar and total shredding of his upper clothes, Buccaneer doubled in size, gaining a crocodilian hybrid figure.
All for One tilted his head at that. "...huh."
He then sharply inhaled, drawing in far more oxygen than a human could.
"[Dragon Breath: Grand Annihilation.]"
All for One roared out, spewing out an immense amount of flames which swiftly shot forward and spread out, giving out an appearance of a fiery tsunami.
Buccaneer roared and spewed out water and ice from his own mouth, expelling a literal mix of tsunami and avalanche against All for One's attack.
Once the attacks collided, there was an intense blast of steam powerful enough to send several soldiers flying from the shockwave.
"This... might've been a bad idea..." Buccaneer growled as the heavy mist cut down visibility to a dangerous low.
In an instant, All for One emerged through the mist and shot several orbs of black energy with red outlines. The orbs exploded violently when they struck neither Miles nor Buccaneer, but right in the midst of the surrounding army.
And thanks to the mist, they had gotten a very serious disadvantage due to it hiding the Supervillain.
All for One hummed as he rained down hell on them before suddenly coming to a thought and stopping the onslaught. "Wait a minute... Do I have to kill you all one by one? Quality over Quantity is a thing after all."
All for One smiled widely he shot his fist up, shooting an ice boulder three times his size up into the sky. A loud boom came from the cloudy night sky before a faint light started to shine along with the sound of falling rain filling the air.
"[Ice Shards: Cold Rain.]"
Soldiers screamed a torrent of icicles scattered down on them, swiftly skewering almost half of them in a minute, reducing the area to a hellish zone in which bloody mist rose off of skewered and frozen bodies.
Even with survivors present, their wills to fight was almost none existent now.
"Damn...!"
"N-No way...!"
"Is this... hell...?"
"I knew he was calling himself something as crazy as a Demon King... but he really had the power to back it up?!"
"Urgh..." Buccaneer coughed up blood as he looked at the near dead form of Miles before him. The black man had tried to evaporate as many icicles as he could with his Meta Ability, permanently blinding himself from the effort if the still rising smoke from his eyes were any indication.
All for One, the bastard that he was, had simply concentrated more on him without lessening his attack on the others. In the end, Miles lost and had been impaled by no less than sixteen ice spires, numerous enough to not even let his bleeding body touch the ground.
All for One hummed a tune as he walked up to Miles and slapped a hand on a patch of flesh that hadn't been covered or pierced through. "{Heat Vision} acquired."
With that done, All for One gripped Miles's throat and promptly crushed it, swiftly ending his life.
"You bastard!" Uncaring of his injuries, Buccaneer charged forward, hoping for either his claws or jaws to crunch down on the monster before him. Just as his fangs were inches from All for One's smug face, a bunch of ice spikes shot upwards to skewer Buccaneer and hold him still. "Go.. to... hell...!"
"You first." With a snap, more ice spikes shot from the ground, tearing through Buccaneer and ripping his body apart.
"Now, then." All for One turned to face the rest of the soldiers, some galvanized enough to point their guns at him, the rest paralyzed in terror. "How about a quick physics lesson for you all?"
All for One's already red eyes started to glow scarlet as heat rapidly built up within them. "What happens when a supercooled area or object is rapidly heated up?"
It was just as the smoke was starting to clear away from the devastated area that All for One heard a furious roar. With a swift application of {Gold}, his forearm clashed against Olivier's sword.
With a snarl, Olivier backed off, allowing the few soldiers with her to shoot at him.
All for One resisted the urge to roll his eyes as bullets bounced off him again. "Please, is this the best you can d-?!"
*BOOM!*
A tank shell hit him right in the face, sending him several meters away. As he slowed down, the surrounding tanks that previously been spread out, gathered up close and emptied their clips on him.
With each hit, All for One sent flying even further until he crashed into the building Olivier had just left.
"Keep firing!" Olivier ordered. "Bring the whole building down on him! He's the main reason we brought the tanks here! I'm still pissed that we didn't get nuclear authorization."
"""Aye, Ma'am!"""
"Do you think there's a chance we'll miss him?" One of the soldiers next to Olivier muttered as he stared at the fray, with the constant blocking and chaos within that proving that All for One was still in there. "What if he escapes deeper into the building?"
"That is why I ordered that they hit the building as well." Olivier sighed. "We can't miss him if we shoot everything in sight."
"Isn't Major Armstrong and one civilian still in there, though?"
Olivier frowned at that. Her brother could survive tank shells being shot at him, but a civilian... "Hold fire!"
The tanks stopped shelling at her command, allowing the smoke to clear and reveal a haggard but still smug All for One. "Do you think this is really enough-"
On second thought, Olivier never liked that smug look on his face. Besides, Olivier Mira Armstrong was a firm Believer of the Overkill is not Overrated Religion. As this was an Extermination mission rather than a Rescue, one civilian who wasn't expected to be present counted as Acceptable Death. "Resume firing!"
"Aneue!" Alex jumped out of one of the building's numerous windows, a dazed man in his arms as he cleared several feet to conveniently land behind Olivier.
"That was convenient." Olivier's blasé words were nearly drowned out by the tanks still firing. Suddenly the man shot up with a frantic expression and dragged both siblings down.
"Get down!" Hikage yelled his warning too late as several ice spikes, long and needle-like, shot out from All for One's location and pierced through everything except the three laying down.
Apart from Alex and Olivier now, every single member of the army had been killed near simultaneously.
"And then there were two." All for One sung, his voice haunting the silent field before suddenly zeroing in on them.
Olivier sensed his intentions and swiftly kicked Alex and Hikage away just as a large ice spike shot up from the ground into her back, piercing through her body as she was lifted several feet into the air.
"ANEUE!" Alex roared as All for appeared below her to break off the ice carrying her before throwing her hard towards the ground.
"Since you've always been a pain in my side, how about I finally repay the favor SEVERAL TIMES OVER?!" Just as Olivier smacked onto the ground, All for One's burning first punched through her injury, searing right through her hip.
Alex shivered and Hikage whimpered as a woman with immensely strong will screamed in utter agony.
"GGRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!"
"No..." Alex fell to his knees, his eyes clouded in despair as he raised an arm in her direction. For a moment, he stared blankly as All for One ripped his arm out of Olivier's body before burning rage replaced smothering despair in an instant.
"Are... you okay, sir..." Hikage trailed off as Alex doubled in size as steam poured off his body, rapidly turning crimson until he could swear that actual flames were manifesting as well when the soldier's body temperature skyrocketed. A loud growl rumbled through the air as Alex's sclera blackened, leaving only two glowing scarlet orbs like twin suns in a void.
"Oh, my?" All for One spread his arms out in wonder at Alex's new appearance. "What a splendid form you have, Major Armstrong."
"Armstrong-san!" Hikage called out from Olivier's side. "Be careful! Don't go rushing in like a maniac!"
For a moment, Alex retained his sanity and turned a bit to face Hikage. Unfortunately, before his gaze reached Hikage, it landed on Olivier's unmoving body first. With a roar, Alex snapped back to rage and sprung forward, twisting through the air as he soared towards All for One.
"Well, well. You seem rather spirited, now." All for One shot a few ice spikes from his palm at Alex, frowning as they melted before even reaching the third Champion, causing the Supervillain to dodge aside as Alex slammed into the tank behind him.
With a loud groan of metal, Alex climbed out of it, his very touch melting the metal he gripped. With another furious roar, Alex launched towards All for One again.
"What...? Armstrong-san..." Hikage marveled from his spot. "What's happened to him?!"
"Well, this is interesting." All for One grunted, still conveying enthusiastic interest in Alex's newly found ability as he held back Alex with both {Gold} and {Ice Shards} over his front and arms. "You've somehow managed to send both {One for All} and {Pump Up} into overdrive. {One for All} amplifies all your physical abilities, including your Meta Ability, which in turn modifies your physical abilities in order to enhance them rather than just enhancing them like {One for All}. Add that to your Armstrong genes, which I see is allowing you to not drop dead from the sheer amount of energy rushing through your body, this is why I claimed you just having {Pump Up} was unfair all those years ago. With {One for All} added in all that, you've transformed into a living representation of 'Berserk Strength'. Now, my little brother and Harumi Kiyama made their last moments count. Make yours count as well."
With a grunt, All for One kicked Alex away. Before Alex even stopped rolling, the Supervillain was already making his next move. If ice couldn't work due to the sheer heat Alex was giving out...
"[Light Sword + Propagator + Luminokinesis: Dazzling Bombardment!]"
Twenty Light Blades appeared and ricocheted of every surface around them before zeroing in on Alex from all sides as he leapt forward.
For a moment, the soldier hung in the air as all the blades stabbed into him... before charging ahead, completely uncaring of his numerous stab wounds.
"Armstrong-san!" Hikage yelled in shock as the soldier charged towards All for One, whose eyes were starting to glow.
"Burn."
Twin beams of concentrated heat ripped through Alex's side as the berserk man neared All for One... and shot past him, making sure to bite through his shoulder on his way.
Hikage watched in morbid interest as Alex spat out the ripped off flesh, the gold on it fading away as it started to leak blood on the charred floor.
"Ah... How wonderful..." All for One softly marveled as he gazed at his wound. "I really regret being unable to take {One for All} compared to other Meta Abilities. Still..."
Alex crouched and leapt forward again like a flaming beast.
"...treasures that are hard to steal only make them worth more." All for One dodged the attack, creating and slamming an ice boulder right at Alex's back as he did so.
"Armstrong-san... what happened to you...? It's like you've transformed into some kind of monster." As he slowly crawled over to Olivier, Hikage watched as Alex landed a blow on All for One's chest, sending the Supervillain skidding back with a deep imprint that glowed harshly on the golden skin. "But... the monster you are now is going toe-to-toe with All for One!"
A sudden sigh from his side suddenly alerted Hikage to turn towards Olivier. She stayed unmoving for a bit, making Hikage wonder if he had misheard...
Then her fingers clenched...
"Urgh... Why... is my pathetic little brother... screaming like a maniac...?"
Alex roared some more, with a lot more fatal injuries from him when suddenly...
"Snap out of it, you fool!"
Uncaring of her hand getting burnt, Olivier grabbed Alex by the head and smacked him facefirst into the ground. All for One actually stopped to gawk at her appearance.
"How are you still alive? I put two large holes in you. They're even still there!" All for One pointed to the wounds in question, which the injured woman clearly didn't give a shit about. "Forget moving around, how are you even conscious?!"
"Why?" Olivier tilted her head as if she'd just been asked the world's most stupidest question. "Because I can, you jackass. Also, tuck and roll, the both of you."
Before either Alex or Hikage could react, Olivier grabbed the both of them and with immense strength that didn't seem obvious in her stature, she sent them flying away for miles.
"You do realize that I will chase them down as soon as I'm done with you?" All for One deadpanned. "Are you planning to throw away your life for nothing?"
"Throw away my life for nothing?" Olivier flicked her sword idly. "I suspected it before but now, I know. For all of your intelligence, you're an amateur when it comes to warfare!"
All for One narrowed his eyes and frowned.
"I am a soldier!" Olivier readied her sword, resolute as a strange energy slowly encompassed her form and rendered her a bit 'hazy' to the eye. "Even if I were to die here, there will always be someone to deal with you within our ranks! If not us, then your own countrymen! There is absolutely no way a man like you can live in this world without being an enemy of another! That fact alone allows me to fight!"
"And the reason you tossed your brother away, despite him being the stronger of you two?"
"Hah?" Olivier's sword was practically glowing now, releasing a deathly chill off of it. "No matter how pathetic my little brother acts, I'll always be protecting him as his eldest sister!"
Olivier swung her sword horizontally, the chill sweeping out to extinguish the surrounding flames and even penetrate All for One's skin.
"The Ruler's Disposition?!" All for One growled as he prepared to counterattack. "So you did have it after all... First, Takashi, now you. How troublesome!"
Olivier charged forward, cutting down ice boulders as they were shot at her, sliding along massive tree roots that uprooted themselves from the earth to crush her, parrying away Light Swords that were shot at her and leaping high above concussive blasts of wind.
"ARMSTRONG!"
All for One's eyes glowed and fired, pushing {Heat Vision} to it's utmost limit as a beam wider than his body height encompassed where he could see Olivier still in the air.
Olivier gritted through the immense pain as she felt her clothes and skin burn off. Still, her grip on her ice-cold sword never loosened and that was enough.
With a demonic grin on her face instead of her usual frown, Olivier powered through the attack and relished the utter shock on All for One's face when he released her subordinate's Meta Ability only to notice her and her sword thirty centimeters from him.
'Goodbye, Alex.'
Olivier stabbed her sword deep into All for One's chest.
The thing about Ruler's Disposition was that it was essentially a leader's Will to Conquer made manifest, dominating and overwhelming all too weak-willed to resist it, whether being or beast. And if one's Ruler's Disposition was strong enough, it would affect the physical world as well as the spiritual, manifesting strange phenomena of all kinds.
When Olivier's sword cut into his chest, rather than notice the spewing blood which immediately froze despite the perpetuator having no Meta Ability, All for One was instead aware of the biting cold freezing over even the void in his spirit.
Even as he reached out to snap the woman's neck, Olivier's wide smile and the horrible, persistent cold in his chest t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶v̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶r̶e̶a̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶c̶y̶ ̶m̶i̶s̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶p̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶{̶I̶c̶e̶ ̶S̶h̶a̶r̶d̶s̶}̶ ̶g̶r̶a̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶h̶i̶g̶h̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶i̶s̶t̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶l̶d̶ wouldn't leave him for years.
And if he's in too much pain to go and search for {One for All}?
And if he's a bit leery about powerful blonde women down the line and has no problem going for overkill right from the start?
Please, it's just a total coincidence.
Hikage groaned as he came to. He barely remembered Alex cushioning him with his body before impact and still going further thanks to momentum. With a quick glance around, his worry spiked as he sighted the soldier, unmoving on the ground.
Hikage didn't think further before getting off his sore knees, running for Alex's prone form. The man was still breathing, strained and gasping, as Hikage drew close.
Blue eyes widened as Hikage dropped to his knees next and pressed his hand against one of the many bleeding stab wounds on Alex's body.
(He ignored the burnt hole that goes all the way, too big of both hands to even cover.)
He applied pressure, Alex gritting his teeth and groaning as Hikage leaned forward. The soldier's blood was hot and thick on Hikage's fingers, but he kept pressing. Was he doing the right thing? Was applying pressure the correct thing to do when someone has a through-and-through injury in their gut? How did you make a guy with oh so many stab wounds survive them?
"A-Aneue's a bit busy right now, huh?" Alex rasped, blood staining his golden mustache as he switched to Japanese. "Y-You should… should probably go, Shinomori-san. Please run away."
Hikage shook his head. "I can't just leave you to die."
Every fiber of his being screamed at him, telling him to stay right here, doing whatever he can for Alex. Meanwhile, Alex watched him with a gaze that sharpened despite his immense pain and blood loss.
"Hikage Shinomori-san…" Alex murmured, like he was about to request a final wish. After a moment, he smiled, teeth stained with blood. "I have something I need you to keep safe for me, okay?"
Hikage blinked and tilted his head. "What?"
Alex's still smiling, but reserved expression sent trepidation shooting down Hikage's spine as the man lifted one hand and rested it over Hikage's.
"I'm sorry I can't explain much." Alex said as he squeezed Hikage's hand once before raising one blood-covered hand to the latter's face. He hesitated, before brushing his thumb over Hikage's lips, pushing them apart just far enough for the taste of blood to fill his mouth.
Coppery and strong, Hikage was prevented from spitting it out by Alex's hand. "Swallow. It's… it's DNA. It's… important."
Shoving down his disgust, Hikage did as he was requested, instinctively licking his lips. "What is it?"
"It's Power." Alex gasped. "A Meta Ability, transferable via DNA only. It's constantly accumulating energy... growing slowly in strength... I am... was... the Third... You are... the Fourth... It's called... {One for All}."
"{One for All}…" Hikage whispered back, noting the shared theme between the name and the man they had just escaped.
"I-If... my sister... fails... All for One... will come for it... Please... keep safe... Both you... and it..." Alex said, asked, ordered, begged, as he closed his eyes for the final time.
"...I will." Hikage promised as Alex finally succumbed to his wounds and stopped breathing.
As Hikage gently released his hand from him and stood up, he paused, for just a moment, to take in and memorize Alex's face and the peaceful expression on it before turning and running away.
Hikage Shinomori didn't have a location to run to. He was a nomad, a wandering spirit with no determined area to call home and no person to be close to. And with All for One who would now be after him, that was for the best.
The Fiery Major and the Glacial General
KingVessel: For those questioning Olivier's Conqueror Haki-induced bullshit powers, Oda has recently made it a thing to compress and weaponize Conqueror's Haki. Taking the 'Incapacitation' effect, which is strong enough to knock out at least 10, 000 people if an Emperor-class individual wishes to, and compressing it, you get a defense breaker that not even 'I-do-suicide-as-a-hobby' Kaido can ignore. What I've done is take the 'Dominating' and 'Pressure' aspects, which are usually shown to intimidate people and animals and alter landscapes, and ramped it up to ten, allowing Olivier to weild supernatural power which literally cuts down to the soul if the target is weak-willed enough.
Alex's berserk mode was inspired by Attack on Titan's Rogue Titan's Burning Berserker Mode. That bit when a muscled body which overheats enough to boil it's sweat into steam and then, actually combusts into flames when hot enough.
Also, it looks like this chapter focused much more on Olivier than it did Alex. Did I subconsciously believe that Olivier was considered far more of a threat to All for One than Alex was? Do I see Olivier as the superior badass to Alex and regret not making her the real Third Champion in my main story? Am I just a simp for her ever since I saw that fanart of her in a miniskirt?!
YES.
...please, review.