The Hunter could hear the creature approaching, felt its presence. He stood in the center of the room, in the silence he focused his mind. The power Guardian had lenthim, coursed through his very being. A storm of power roiling within himself, he meditated on it while waiting for the creature or creatures to find him. He wasn't sure if there would be more than one, but with this power, he was certain he could fight multiple at once without issue. The only limiting factor was time, he could not use this power forever. Eventually, the power would return to Guardian and he would be left powerless, and then he would inevitably perish unless Uravity managed to end the Nightmare. He wasn't sure how that was to be accomplished, but Guardian had been clear in that he would not be able to protect everyone from the creature if it managed to get to the chamber they had been in. So he had volunteered to buy time while Uravity solved things. He had not been expecting the Guardian to be able to lend him his powers, albeit temporarily.
His thoughts were broken by the barricade he had erected being torn apart. He opened his eyes in time to see the black scaled monster forcing its way into the room, what had once been a research lab, now destroyed and debris scattered everywhere.
The creature spotted him and it hissed, its snake-like tongues forking out. The Hunter for his part, readied himself, the katana of Guardian ready in his hands. Blue light streamed off it like smoke, and then he let the storm inside suffused his body whole. Light started to steam off his exposed skin and he felt a power, unlike anythingbefore, course through his muscles.
In the heartbeat, before he lunged at the creature, he wondered, "I wonder if this is what it felt like to be All Might."
Then he was swinging at the creature at blinding speed, the light leaving afterimages as he moved. The creature was fast, but he was well trained, something Guardian lacked. He sliced through one clawed hand and deflected two other swipes from scythe-like claws. Then he stepped into the whirling storm of claws, dodging everything with his enhanced reflexes and in one fluid motion, bisected it from shoulder to waist. It fell apart easily, dying instantly and melting away, leaving only its bones left.
The power of Guardian augmented his physical prowess to unbelievable heights, and his blade burned hot enough to easily cut through the creature, and burn all that it touched. He had to conserve the power, he didn't know how long he would have to fight, but he was determined to make every second count. Already he could hear another creature approaching, their bloodlust out of control with fresh prey so near.
He readied himself once more and prepared for the oncoming onslaught.
Her eyes opened and at first, she was confused, because she couldn't see anything. Then she blinked and things started to come into focus. She blinked a few more times, then she remembered being impaled through the gut and she looked down. Her body was intact, though it was clear it wasn't a dream due to the fact that there was a hole in her suit where the pike had hit her. She poked the area with a finger and it felt fine, she sat up and looked over the rest of herself. In actuality, all her injuries were gone, though the damage to her suit proved that they had happened.
"Ah, you're awake, good." said a voice from behind her.
She bolted to her feet and spun around, only to see a man standing beside a large object integrated into the floor. it was vaguely coffin-like in shape but it had numerous lights glowing and blinking from a suite of control boards installed on the side.
The man stood beside it, one hand resting on the rim of the coffin pod.
"Who are you?" she asked warily.
"I am yoursavior, as you may shortly be mine in turn." Said the man never looking away from what was inside the coffin-like pod.
"You... healed me?" She asked shocked. She didn't even know if Dr. Okimi could have saved her from such a lethal injury.
"Yes, though it seems my healing has damaged something inside you and I apologize for that. My healing purges impurities, both physical and mental and I have little knowledge of human physiology," he said apologetically, turning to face her.
She was mildly surprised at that, no one knew about the seal. Only Ochako and Dr. Kouta knew about it, and herself of course. She had after all been the sealed party until recently, temporary though her release might be.
"Oh it's quite all right, I really must thank you for healing us and for freeing me, though I'm afraid it's only temporary." She said.
The man went to say something but was interrupted by a blood-freezing roar from down the dark hallway. Though OCHAKO could see periodic flashes of light come from it. She also noticed that the Hunter was nowhere in sight, which was a shame, she had been looking forward to properly meeting a like-minded soul.
"That would be your friend. He is holding off the Nightmares by borrowing my powers, though he is not immortal as I am, thus his time is limited. Therefore we must endeavor to end the Nightmares permanently before he is overwhelmed." Said the man.
She felt her mouth fall open slightly at that pronouncement but shook her head put that aside for now. "All right... so how do we do that?" she asked.
The figure didn't say anything at first, but his face took on a look of great sadness, and OCHAKO knew she wouldn't like the solution, but she would shoulder any burden if it meant keeping Ochako free and safe.
The man gestured to her to join him at the coffin pod. She walked over and looked inside, and she felt her hatred for villains and evil rise.
A child was lying inside it, the clear case that encompassed it shattered. There were numerous liquid stains on the boy's clothes and padding of the interior. More than likely he had been suspended in some kind of fluid at one point. His eyes were closed but his face was screwed up in a perpetual expression of fear. He would occasionally have a small spasm and the expression of fear would intensify.
"This is Ayumu, and bear with me as I explain everything to you," he said.
She turned to face him and saw him staring at the child, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
"Ayumu was a normal child, he wasn't born to a wealthy family, didn't have any powerful friends, nor did his parents have special talents or quirks. They were perfectly normal, but they were happy. When he turned 5 his family discovered his quirk, the ability to manifest dreams into reality. However, they would all fade into nothingness once he awoke and would quickly forget what it was he had dreamed. The things he manifested were usually weak and small and never would have posed a threat to regular people.
His parents took him to Jaku Hospital to register his quirk and to have him go through the standard tests. Dr. Ujiko Daruma a.k.a. Kyudai Garaki however saw the potential in such a quirk and arranged for his kidnapping. He was whisked away to some remote research facility where the doctor and his servants conducted numerous tests. They could not increase the strength of his quirk or find a way to influence what it was he dreamed. So he was put on ice for some time until he brought back out later by a man known as Overhaul. Together with his quirk and Garaki's intelligence, they succeeded in enhancing the strength of the quirk to truly terrifying levels. The creatures born from the child's constant nightmares were truly powerful and caused much damage. They continued their experiments, breaking his mind and his will, and with the help of a young girl called Eri, they ensured he never perished.
This did not continue forever though, they pushed him too hard, broke him too much. One night, he had a very specific nightmare. He dreamt he was in a nightmare he could not wake from, and so nothing they did could rousehim. The creatures materialized infinitely, and every time one died, another would return. Stronger, faster, smarter, everyone in the facility who didn't evacuate in time perished. Then as the creature was about to consume the child, he dreamt of a hero fighting the nightmare. I was born, in the guise of his father, created to protect him and so I will always grow to be the Nightmares equal. I sealed off this place to prevent the Nightmares escape and until the Nightmare is broken I cannot lower it. The child has been trapped here for two years, and just as he cannot be awoken from the nightmare, neither will he die of lack of food and water. I wish I could free him, but it is not within my power to do so." He relayed to her.
"So we come now, to my request of you. I cannot lower the barriers keeping you trapped here, so you must end the Nightmare. Permanently." said the man.
Then the man got down to his knees, placed both hands onto the floor, and lowered his head until his forehead rested upon it.
"Please..." said the man, his voice even. "Free the child of his suffering, let him finally rest in peace," he begged of her.
OCHAKO didn't move, she could only stare at the small boy huddled in the pod, his pain and suffering apparent. Her mind flashed back to numerous times in the war when she had been forced to make decisions that would have broken others.
But not her. She knew what she had to do. Ochako would never have been capable of it, neither would most hero's, but OCHAKO was. She would do anything to protect Ochako, and if it meant killing the child, then so be it.
"I understand, I will do as you have requested," she said.
The man looked up to her, then got up from the ground. "Thank you, I know what I have asked of you is terrible. If there was another way, then I would gladly take it, but being a part of the boy's quirk I know how it functions. If he had been awoken within the first few days, maybe he would have survived. But he has been dead for the past two years, his quirk is now the only thing that sustains him. Thank you again." He said as he turned to face the boy again.
He took one of the child's hands in his and bowed his head.
OCHAKO turned away and walked to the entrance of the room, stopping at the hallway.She turned around and placed one hand on the interior wall. It took a few moments for her to gather enough power to run a pulse through the entire room. Then, in one swift motion, she pulled on the walls and ceiling. The noise of tearing and snapping metal could be heard on the entire floor. The room collapsed in on itself, burying the room under several tons of metal and earth.
She lingered there for a while, before finally turning away and making her way down the hallway. The sight of the child came to mind and she felt her anger rise, her hatred coming to the surface, and her desire to kill growing inside her. Blood would be spilled this day, she would make sure of that. First, she had to see if the Hunter yet lived, then she would head upstairs and start taking out the trash. Assuming, of course, the seal didn't stuff her away again first.
The creature swiped at his legs again with one of its long-bladed tails, but as he dodged, it tried to run him through with two more bladed tails. He twirled his blade severing the ends, saving himself from being run through, and then tried to rush the creature before the tails grew back again. He managed to cut off one of its front legs, causing it to pitch forwards but it warded him off from there with its newly grown tails. This was definitely the fastest and strongest nightmare he had faced yet. He had been trying to conserve as much energy as possible but this nightmare had an incredibly fast regeneration factor and sported several long tails that had bones as sharp as blades sticking out of it. Not to mention its acidic saliva and hypnotic eyes, which made closing the distance extremely difficult. He'd been fighting off and on for the better part of a half-hour and he was worried he would die before Uravity could end the nightmare.
Running out of options, and energy, he knew he would have to take a gamble soon. Either Uravity would end the nightmare in the next few minutes, he would die, or he would kill the current nightmare creature and die at the hands of the next one. He opted to buy as much time as possible for now, then end it in a swift attack using up the last of his energy supply.
It wasn't easy, the creature advanced relentlessly. Never tiring, and not caring for its own well being it just kept pushing. He managed to sever a few more tails, cut off part of its snout, and another leg before he realized he had been steadily pushed into a corner. He looked around for a way past the creature but apart from rushing it, he was out of options. He took a deep breath and then forced out all of his remaining energy in one massive burst. He practically vanished from where he had been standing and had severed all the tails in one large arcing swing before the creature even realized he had moved. He avoided the creature's desperate bite, making sure he never made eye contact, then stabbed through the creature's spine and drove his blade into its heart. Then he removed his blade and decapitated it in another rapid swing.
He stood watching the corpse writhe for a few seconds before it eventually stopped and disintegrated, leaving the bones behind. He could feel the last of his energy burn out and he was left powerless against the next nightmare. He waited for the telltale noise of the next one coming, but there was only silence. Then there was a tremendous crash and booming noise from the room Uravity had been in, with the echoes of the noise bouncing around for a while before finally fading out. Then came a high-pitched noise from somewhere else on the floor, a long-drawn-out wail, until it too, faded into silence. He noticed that the skeletons and katana remained though, perhaps they were full physical objects rather than constructs of the nightmare.
Left alone in the deafening silence he turned to head down the passageway to Uravity when he saw her glide into the room.
OCHAKO glided into the chamber to see the Hunter standing in the middle of it, surrounded by various scars and tears on the floor, ceiling, and walls. She smiled slightly at the sight of him, his already handsome visage enhanced by the bedraggled and war-torn state of his armor. In fact, he had largely abandoned it at this point, his chest armor cast aside, ruined beyond repair in one corner. He wore a basic padded shirt underneath, which was torn with blood all over it as he bled from numerous small cuts and lacerations. The sight of him covered in blood, but victorious against all odds made him all the more desirable. This was another point of contention between her and Ochako, Ochako tempered her desires, keeping them under control at all times. OCHAKO on the other hand, loved the feeling of liberation that came with letting her emotions and desires be free. Granted, she wasn't going to jump the man, but she fully acknowledged the truth that the Hunter was a fine piece of work. On par with Bakugo, Todoroki, and Kirishima in her book. However, time was of the essence so this one time she put her feelings aside for now.
"Good to see you in one piece, I was expecting to find pieces of you scattered about all over the place, which would have been a shame seeing how good you look," she said with a smirk.
She saw with some satisfaction the Hunter tilt his head to one side, clearly confused at her sudden shift in disposition since he had last seen her.
"Oh right, introductions are in order! I'm OCHAKO." she said brightly, putting heavy emphasis on her name.
She saw him narrow his eyes and bring his sword into a ready stance.
"Where is Uravity," he said simply, his cold tone brooking no room for pleasantries.
She huffed and tossed her hair back with a flick of her head. "I told you, I'm OCHAKO. Now let's get out of here, even if this place is free of the nightmare, it's still creepy as hell."
The Hunter stared at her for a few moments longer, giving her an intense stare until something seemed to dawn on him. He relaxed his muscles, the tension leaving him as he lowered the katana. Then he went and picked up its sheath from the floor, and sheathed it in one smooth motion.
"Let's get going." He said, before turning and heading down the far hallway.
She just rolled her eyes and glided after him. The route to the elevator proved rather difficult to find. The floor was so torn up and damaged from countless battles between the Nightmare and Guardian that it was impossible to tell another hallway apart from another. Any signs that once indicated the path was long since damaged beyond recognition or destroyed entirely. They took the opportunity to scrounge for more information, and while they did find some useful documents and even a marginally functional computer here and there, it was either inaccessible in the case of the computers or incomplete/damaged in the case of most documents. There were a few filing cabinets with preserved papers in them, but they didn't have the time or inclination to look through them.
OCHAKO knew that Ochako would have pushed to have them leave asap, the Hunter was after all a vigilante and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the information in this place. OCHAKO on the other hand didn't really care much for regulations and rules. She was simply enjoying her time free, temporary though it might be. It took them another half-hour of getting lost before they finally found their way back to the elevator and staircase.
The barriers were thankfully gone now, meaning they could easily leave any way they chose. The only problem being that the floors above them would more than likely be inhabited, and they would have to fight their way through a small army to escape. The other problem was that while most human enemies would be easy enough to fight, the fact this place had been a research facility meant there would almost assuredly be Nomu here. OCHAKO was confident in her ability to fight Nomu's, she had faced numerous Nomu during the war after all but she wasn't sure about the Hunter. He was undoubtedly skilled, but Nomu were a whole different breed of challenging. Some would have regenerative powers of some level, high physical strength, extreme durability, or really any number of powerful quirk combinations.
"Have you ever faced a Nomu?" she asked the Hunter.
"During my tenure with Stain, I was forced to fight them on two separate occasions. My chances depend greatly on the combination of abilities they might have. Nomu that are geared towards disruption, mental attacks, and the like I stand a fair chance against. They were often less strong and durable than their more physical counterparts were. If you can handle brute style Nomu, then I'm confident I'll be able to handle any others." he said, thinking back to his time with Stain.
"Mmmmm... better than I was expecting. Just be careful, if we run into any of them I'll take point. Otherwise, I don't really care what you do, just don't get in my way. Ochako may have agreed to work with you, but I don't really care if you live or die and I will kill you if I think you to be working against me." she warned him, giving him a cheery smile as she did.
The Hunter didn't reply but made his way to the stairwell instead. OCHAKO just started humming and followed after him, perfectly willing for him to walk into any traps that might be ahead.
