Survivor looked at Jack on the roof, trying to ignore the figures surrounding him, the ghosts of his past. "What a beautiful thing it must have been." Jack said, a mocking grin on his face, "A useless kid finally became useful by playing some games. I'm jealous, really."
Survivor felt uncharacteristic anger bubble up. Playing? Jealous? He bit his lip, forcing himself to calm down. No, he wouldn't take the bait. Jack wanted him to break under the combined mental pressure of his past mistakes and the anger from mocking his efforts. He wouldn't give him that.
Jack seemed to notice, his smile turning into a frown, before he grinned again, "Come on then, Midoriya, kill them again. Show them no mercy, my dear friend. Show them who you really are…."
The men spoke all around him.
"Midoriya…"
"Midoriya…"
"Midoriya…"
"Undead One…"
The Survivor looked down. The golf club was gone, vanishing into the dark mist, his gun and Mjolnir back in his hands. The dead kept talking, asking the question that burnt in their chest.
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
What were they asking? Why he had killed them? Or why he couldn't save them? Both? Something else he couldn't answer? He didn't know.
Jack smiled.
"Look at them. They all ask why, but they should first ask 'who killed me', really. Who are you Midoriya?" Jack asked, "The Rapture Massacrer? The Chosen Undead? The Simulation Survivor? The Hero Revenant? Little Deku? The Walrider? Who are you? What are you? Those questions linger in your mind, don't they?"
Izuku felt his hand shake slightly, then took a deep breath. It wasn't time. Not now. He had an answer, after all. It wasn't perfect, but it was his answer. "You know, you have something wrong there."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not one of those things. I am all those things. I choose who I am, Jack. Not you, not Sugoh, not UA, not Shigaraki, not Stain." He took a deep breath, "And now I choose to survive."
The Survivor flipped Samurai's Edge in his hand. He knew the order, even as the five figure tried to jump him. One bullet shot through Waylon's head. 'I'm sorry, Waylon. I guess this is better than being torn to pieces by the Walraider, right?' He pivoted on his feet, ducked out of the way of a sword slice, and pulled in Andrew Ryan right as Sif's sword passed above the Survivor's head. Ryan's head flew off. 'Guess you won't have to ask this time, Ryan.' He thought, and then fired two bullets in Marlow's gut, the man kneeling before a third one hit him in the forehead. 'Sorry Marlow. That was the easy part.' He thought, putting Samurai's Edge back in its holster and pulling out both Mjolnir and his sword.
Sif and Artorias, together. The scourge of the Abyss, the greatest warrior and his loyal companion. A man so devoted to cleansing the world he ended up being consumed by the Abyss. His greatest foe. How many times had he died crossing blades with him? How many times had he awoken after he had stabbed through his chest, decapitated him, bisected him, torn him apart… How many times had he thought it was hopeless?
And now that came with the support of Sif.
'This might be where I die.' He admitted, 'But fuck me, I won't go down before I drag Jack in the ground for this.'
Artorias' sword met his hammer, the two weapons ringing as they impacted each other. The limp left arm dangled and Survivor breathed in relief at the fact this Artorias was created from his memories and not from the real one's story. If he was, he'd have used his dominant left arm and completely shattered Mjolnir and Survivor's legs. Even like this, the weapon barely blocked the blow, Survivor being pushed down. Of course, Sif didn't miss on bringing forward his own sword in a horizontal slash, the giant wolf growling as Survivor ducked further, using Artorias as a shield by leaning forward rather than backwards. Artorias leaned back, and Sif's sword passed over both their heads. Without pausing, Survivor released lightnings from his weapon. The Knight did not seem to suffer much from being electrocuted, instead pushing through and aiming a fist of black sludge at Survivor's face. Survivor rolled to the said, the sludge hitting the ground and hissing as the stone felt the touch of the Abyss, and then Artorias jumped. Survivor dodged out of the way of the downward slash, only for Sif's blade to come down on his head to try and decapitate him. Unable to dodge, Survivor did the next best thing and raised his sword to be in the way of the canine's own.
The impact sent Survivor's sword to smash against his head, the metal bending slightly but holding up – thanks to Izuku's nanomachine being strong stuff, no doubt. Still he felt blood trickle down from his temple as he slowly stood back up. For a moment, it might have been over, but that was when his unnatural body came to save him once again. Where most people would have had their skull rattled, his brain could not be concussed, allowing him to react in time, drop under Sif's follow up attack, raise his sword and bring it up to meet Artorias'. He slid to the left, letting the momentum of Artorias' blow carry him to the side and building some distance. To compound on this, Survivor let go his last smoke bomb, letting the road fill with the stuff as he pushed further back and turned a corner, before rushing down the road. He panted, knowing full well he had only maybe ten seconds before Sif tracked him down.
Jack, sitting atop a roof nearby, smiled, "My my, you are stronger than I imagined Revenant. Or is it Survivor right now? You know, I expected having to kill all those people again would rattle you too much to even stand, but you really took out three and are now facing the other two. Congratulations on being one of the most heartless bastards I've ever met."
"Have you ever looked at a mirror?" Survivor growled as he tossed his hammer. Artorias, who had just turned the corner of the road, dodged it and dashed forward toward his opponent, but at the same time Survivor called back his hammer, hitting the knight in the back of the head and making him stagger. He tried to build on it, slashing forward, but at the last second he had to interrupt his attack and dive out of the way before Sif's sword could chop off his head. 'I could really use that help Izzzuku promised.' Survivor thought, stepping back again.
The growling of a group of Demons that emerged from the road behind him was the only response. Survivor made to protect himself.
Then he heard a song, as the Demons rushed forward.
"Sup." Izzzuku said inside his head, as the Demons rushed forward against Artorias, Sif and Jack indiscriminately.
'I take it you found me some help?' He asked, even as the music got stronger.
"You could say that…" Izzzuku replied, as Canary appeared next to them, on the back of a flying Demon, still singing.
"We are one and the same, you take all of the pain away…" Canary sang, and Survivor shook his head. Of course, he could take over demons by singing My Demons. Why was he even questioning the Multiverse?
Canary started making hand gestures, and Survivor picked up the signs. Good thing the night before he had confirmed with Canary that they shared that skill. – Came as fast as I could. Sorry for the delay – He signed.
He smiled. "Sorry to bother you." He replied, watching even as Artorias and Sif slaughtered the Demons attacking them. "I will admit I could use the help." He added.
Canary nodded – Alright. Lead the way, Revenant – He replied.
"Survivor, actually. No matter, we will take out Artorias and Sif, then Jack. Do you have some big, powerful attack?"
Canary grinned – I still have most of the Queen. – He replied.
Survivor smiled back. Oh, he really wanted to see this.
-x-
"Canary! My dear friend! How long as it been? Six years? Seven? How are Jiro and Shinso? Still mute?"
Canary shook his head, as My Demons came to an end when the last Demon died. "Actually no, thank you, Eri was more than happy to heal them both from your little visit. How was prison?" He asked.
"Comfy, but I much prefer freedom. Shall we start?"
"Sure."
He watched Jack come forward, but Survivor tossed his magitech hammer, forcing him back, and Canary smiled.
~Don't Stop Me Now – The Queen ~
"Tonight, I'm gonna have myself, for a good time…" He closed his eyes, even as he felt the ground shake as the knight and the giant wolf rushed toward him.
"I'm floating around in ecstasy, so…"
He jumped up.
"Don't stop me now."
And then, he accelerated.
"I'm a shooting star leaping through the star, like a tiger, defying the laws of gravity…" He was accelerating more and more as he made circles upward, his body burning hot as he reached higher and higher speeds, "I'm burning through the sky, 200 degrees that's why they call me mister Fahrenheit…"
He accelerated more and more, dodging narrowly the attacks of the knight and the giant wolf even as they both tried to, very ironically given his current song, stop him and pin him down. He passed his burning hand over the side of the wolf, the creature howling in pain as the scorching hot body of the teen burned through fur and skin.
"Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball…" He took flight again, moving out of the way of a cross attack, raising higher and higher, his body turning hotter and hotter as he accelerated.
"Cause I'm having a good time, yes I'm having a good time, I don't wanna stop at all…" He rushed in and moved his hand forward, grasping on Artorias neck, his hand melting the armor, the other locking his sword arm. The man was strong, absurdly so, but the sheer acceleration, not to mention slamming right into Sif and getting both of them rushed through a building was keeping him pinned in place. Canary gritted his teeth and aimed upward, knowing what would follow. He could see the image clearly in his mind, as all the heath pooled toward his hands, like Katsuki's Quirk did.
"Like an atom bomb, about to oh, oh, oh, oh, oh explode!"
The sky lighted up as the blast shot out and upward, both the knight and the wolf hit with the brunt of it, while Izuku used the blow to fly back down. He started free falling, and smiled, using the last of the song, before the instrumental portion to land. "I wanna make a supersonic woman of you!"
He panted, stepping roughly on a roof, feeling his hands shake slightly, as he watched the charred remains of both opponents falling down from the sky. It wasn't an actual nuke, of course, just an explosion he modeled after Katsuki's biggest techniques.
Hopefully, it was also enough to get rid of those. With that in mind, he took flight and rushed toward Jack and Revenant.
Then he heard a caw and turned around to see one of Jack craws rush toward him, his eyes glistening in a way Canary couldn't help but find threatening.
A mad laughter rushed out of them, along with blonde hair.
-x-
"Did he just fucking nuke Sif and Artorias the Abysswalker?!" Izzzuku shouted.
Survivor really felt that was echoing his thoughts, as the shockwave of the blast sent him and Jack fly off in different directions. That was such a bullshit power to have. Even assuming that was more akin to Bakugo's bigger blasts than a real nuclear explosion – and he had to hope so, because radiation poisoning wasn't how he wanted to go – and turned back toward Jack.
The man seemed… off. He had to assume that Izzzuku was doing something to him, judging by how the dream being kept darting in and out of the man's head.
A crow cawed next to him, and Survivor had a second to realize the reflection in his eye, staring directly at him didn't match the background. A moment later, a battered, burnt and very, very angry Artorias the Abysswalker shout out of the eye, roaring a challenge even as his sword arm had been blown off and his armor was melting, pieces of liquid metal falling off it.
Survivor dodged out of the way as Artorias launched a mass of pure darkness his way, feeling splatters of it hit his body and carve into it like acid. He pushed himself back, panting. "Of course you'd survive that, Artorias." He said, before hitting with his hammer. It impacted on Artorias' melting chest, sending him flying off.
"How is he here?"
"The Ravens are connected to Jack's power! They can do independently most of the stuff he can do!" He shouted. As if to respond to that, the raven cawed again as the charred head of Sif, still holding the sword in its mouth, dropped on the ground. Artorias swiftly closed his broken hand around the blade, grunting slightly in pain.
"Shit…" Of course the fact one sword was destroyed didn't mean the other was too. Izzzuku closed his hand around his own weapon. "Wait, if he said he took care of Arsenal earlier…"
-x-
Arsenal shouted as more and more dead Heroes marched toward her. People she had shot. People she had killed. She fired, and more of them died, falling only to be stepped over by more of her victims.
"How many?"
"How many?"
"How many?"
Kaina shouted in fear as her past sins marched towards her in a messy avalanche of dead men. How many had she killed in her life? How many people had she finished, looking through the scope of her rifle at their face for one last time before they died.
She panted, jumping back again, using Air Walk to build some distance, only for the dead men to keep following her, falling off the roof or jumping over them as they tried to reach her, one step after another. They were after her, and weren't letting go their pursuit, no matter how much she wanted them to.
"Go away!" She shouted, activating another one of her Quirks.
Her arm's shape changed, the rifle shortening and a large container appearing. The Sixth wielder of One for All, in her world, was the Pro Hero Gunhead. His Quirk allowed him to shoot keratinous projectile like a gatling gun.
Powered up by One for All, that Quirk did a lot more than just having stopping power.
The weapon started rotating as a rain of keratinous bullets shot out of Arsenal's arm, mowing down the enemies even as she tried her best to not see them die again. Some didn't, keeping up their pursuit even as she shot bullet after bullet into them… And then one jumped.
Izuku Midoriya landed in front of her, Blackwhip, the Seventh Quirk, shooting out of his arms as he used them to lash. Kaina felt her cheek getting cut, the solid darkness managing to do a lot of damage. She unleashed a new rain of blows… but she couldn't bring herself to aim at Izuku, switching at the last second her aim to some of the remaining Heroes still trying to charge at her, climbing from roof to roof, jumping forward.
Izuku, however, kicked. "I'm sorry!" Kaina shouted, "I'm sorry! I didn't plan… Didn't want…"
"You think it's enough?" Midoriya's voice wasn't the same one she remembered. It was cruel, angry, cutting, "You think you can just say you are sorry? You killed me! On All for One's orders! I saved your life, and you killed me!"
"You… I…" Kaina struggled as she stepped back again, losing her footing on the roof, and falling on the street below. She activated air walk to create a platform to bounce off mid-fall and landed on her feet, even if hard, before another Hero attacked her, the punch sending her flying. She extended Blackwhip, grabbing him by the leg and slamming the dead into another, before unleashing another rain of bullets… And then Izuku came down from the sky, fist shining of One for All as the Smash rained down.
There was a sound of meat hitting metal, and as Kaina opened her eyes, she saw Captain Kamino standing in front of her, his shield raised to block the blow. "Cap…"
"No time to explain! Switch out opponent!" He said, his voice sounding a bit off, like it wasn't quite the voice she remembered, nodding toward Muscular, who was charging them, "You can do it, right Arsenal?!" He grimaced, "Is this…"
"It's a ghost! It's a dead person they somehow brought back."
"Well, if it isn't ironic." He blocked a second punch, Kaina wondering how that shield wasn't cracking to pieces but shaking her head. No time for that. She saw Muscular barrel down the road, aimed her gun, and fired. While his armor seemed to protect him, judging by the darkening around his chest, the bullet packed enough of a punch to send him fly black. "I trust you, Arsenal."
Kaina nodded, even as she finished off the last few opponents before rushing toward Muscular.
She wouldn't let the man kill another Izuku.
She wouldn't let the kid die.
Muscular groaned as she rushed in, and then she charged One for All in her arm, pulled a bullet out of her hair, and immediately put it in the gun.
The bullet hardened, the tip turning up the hardness to the point it could pierce a tank, especially when powered up by One for All.
A tank, or a nanomachine armor.
The armor-piercing bullet shot forward, and the man's armor couldn't handle it. It broke apart, and the flesh below did the same, the bullet shooting through the arm from side to side, before impacting the man's chest.
Kaina dodged his returning fist, and switched her power again.
Second Wielder, Explosive Touch. She touched the bullet she created, and shot. The explosive bullet sent Muscular flying before she gently stepped on the ground again. Muscular turned around and punched, but Kaina used Full Cowling to first dodge and then grab his arm, before projecting him in a shoulder throw. A metal spike shot out of his arm, unexpectedly hitting her, but then Muscular landed hard on the ground, and Kaina re-activated the Sixth Quirk. The bullets started to rain down on Muscular's body and explode on impact. While the power wasn't quite comparable, she kept it going. Muscular roared, shouted, and then she pulled back her other arm, the normal arm, and punched downward. The One for All punch hit Muscular in the head, and shattered the nanomachines protecting him.
The man went limp, losing consciousness.
She turned around, seeing Captain Kamino still defending against the other phantom Izuku, and sighed. He looked at him. The teen that saved his life. The teen she killed. She remembered that night, remembered the storm, the shot, his look as blood kept pooling out from the wound…
It had broken the Fourth, the user of Danger Sense, knowing that his Quirk had failed Izuku when he needed it the most. To this day, he still didn't react to her calls, or the calls of the other Vestiges. She hoped one day he would recover.
She took a deep breath, and shot. Izuku reeled back, dead.
Captain Kamino turned around. "I… I knew I could count on you." He said, panting a bit. "Since I've been following All Might, I've kept an eye on the other people, and I knew you were a good person. A skilled fighter. Thank you, Kaina. Now please. Save Captain Kamino."
And with that, he collapsed.
Kaina shouted.
-x-
Paladin blocked Chojuro Kon's claws with his shield and cut forward, adding a new gash on the list of wounds on his opponent's chest. All light wounds, but they were proving serviceable.
When Canary had suddenly ran off, Sagawa had been knocked out by his final attack, so Paladin had to use one more spell to heal him up once again, even if it was for little gain. While Sagawa was strong, Paladin knew only he was of any note in the fight against Chojuro Kon. The wolf-man counted as a distraction, he supposed.
Case in point, Chojuro Kon turned around and opened his mouth to rain fire on Sagawa. The other had to rush off, his skin and hair burnt and smoking, and Paladin took the chance to swing his blade again. Kon moved to the side, but Paladin knew that even just the impact of his sword's swing was enough to break bones. Chojuro Kon had a One for All of his own, so it probably wasn't as strong, but…
"Well, kid, I guess I better step it up." The man said, spitting his cigar toward Sagawa, and then he started to turn. First he grew in size, the talons on his feet exploded into large claws, feathers sprouted from his arms, horns from his head, and he roared as he stepped forward and, using One for All, punched again.
Izuku felt his arm rattle as the shield blocked the blow, suddenly a far heavier impact. Meanwhile, another hand shot forward, grabbed Sagawa and slammed him into the ground, denting the street's pavement as the man instantly lost consciousness, completely outmatched and broken by the person he wanted to be his prey. Well, that's some karmic justice, I suppose.
Paladin sighed. This was a tough fight, for sure.
'But I need to wait a bit longer, if I want to try.' He thought, touching his pendant, 'Just a bit longer…'
-x-
Spider-Man dodged the attack from the version of himself wearing a large, black hoodie, and for good measure launched a web at him. Unfortunately, the kid was skilled enough that he could tell and dove out of the way, the web hitting the grass.
No matter, he wasn't all that dangerous, and Spidey needed to first recover the 'God of Thunder', even if right now he was really the God of Serious Risk of Death, considering he was completely unarmed. He extended a web and pulled him out of the way of a Demon's attack, before grabbing him as the other Spider-Man tried to answer with his own attack.
"Sorry man, get your own Thor-expy!" He shouted to the Spider-Man, taking a large swing around the Spire to study the situation. "You ok?"
"Sorry, I'm kinda useless right now." The man said, trying to call back Mjolnir with his hand. Mjolnir, though, seemed to like a lot more his new home, so he darted back in the hand of the maybe-Green Goblin Izuku with the hoverboard and the drones that was trying to fight Nine.
Well, really, he was dodging Nine's lasers and lightnings, but that was already pretty commendable when facing him. "Alright, stay here." Spider-Man said, putting him down a safe distance away, "I'd try to call someone to pick you up, but…"
"Don't mention it." The God of Thunder replied, "Go get 'em."
"Please don't say tiger."
"I wasn't going to!" The God of Thunder shook his head, "Just… go, come on."
Spider-Man nodded. Superior had tried to follow him, as had the baton wielder of course, but both of them were stopped by Nine, who's powers were excellent crowd control. Nothing stops a Spider and a kid like a rain of lightnings and a possible hurricane.
He watched from above. Nine could hold his own for a bit longer, and Itsumi and the Prowler were going at it. Dekiru seemed to be mostly acting as protection against Gun and the other kid, the one called Kitsune. Two against one…
Well, there was an idea.
He jumped off the Spire, and leaped forward, using the Spire and a web to propel himself above the Demons. He unleashed a couple of his web bombs – he only had two after this, but web fluid wasn't going to be a problem, shortly – and several Demons got tied together, easy targets for Nine, who seemed to have read the situation.
"Dekiru!" He shouted, before dodging out of the way of a Demon that had jumped… no, was being hurled at him, though the creature seemed to understand that. He saw Kitsune pant as he dragged another Demon and then tossed him using his telekinetic powers. It was clearly taxing, but it gave Spider-Man an idea. He grabbed in midair a Demon and, rotating, slammed him on the ground in front of Kitsune, the creature roaring as it hit the ground. Kitsune seemed to lose his concentration, and with that opening Spider-Man reached Dekiru.
There was a glow of light as he gripped the teens hand.
The man standing in the clearing now was fairly different. Where before stood a fairly muscular teen and man, now stood a man that was ripped. He had a spider-themed costume, but the colors were off, the Spider sporting a metallic cover and the clothes themselves an array of white, red and green that were designed to shoot out of the spider like rays of the sun.
Of course, that wasn't the only distinction. He was tall, his face still covered by his mask.
And of course he had six arms, sprouting from his costume.
"The fuck?!" The cowboy Izuku shouted.
"Sup. Name is Spider-Dekiru." The guy said with a grin, "I kinda wanted to use something a bit more effective, but I suppose- Quick on the draw!"
He extended his arms and six shots of web fluid shot out, two came from the web shooters, but the other four came from the wrists themselves.
-x-
Spider-Dekiru! Spider-Dekiru!
Does whatever a spider can… and more! Spins a web any size, with his four additional arms that can all produce their own web fluid! With that, he can certainly catch thieves just like flies.
Look out, here comes the Spider-Dekiru!
-x-
Gun took a shot, the newly six-armed guy dodging with a cartwheel that led him right toward Kitsune. The kid was ready enough to dodge the kick, but Gun knew this was going to shit. The Demons were the only reason their group on the Garden had been holding so far.
'If that fucker can hear us, he better send reinforcements right now, when there is still someone to reinforce.'
-x-
Izmird smiled. How fascinating this all was. Winners and losers, fights ending step by step, one after another. Jack seemed to be on his last leg, but Izmird was sure he still had an ace up his sleeve to face the current onslaught of opponents. Paladin fought in the plaza, a courageous knight and his fellow beast. What an interesting dichotomy with those that had just fallen to Canary. The woods were at a stalemate, but soon one or the other side would push through.
And the Garden…
Yes, the Garden would need some help.
"Stormlord." He said, "I think it's time for you to go. Get ready to jump in when I give the signal." Izmird replied.
The tall, black haired man laughed, seemingly excited for the upcoming fight. Izmird couldn't lie. He was quite curious too.
'I will just wait a few more minutes, to see how many more will fall and on which side. This is all useful data on the summoning, I don't want to lose some in my haste to test the 'strong' summoned.' He smiled, 'Speaking of which…'
His eyes drifted on one of the clairvoyance images, the one displaying the battle the Sith Lord was having with the two martial artists. He was holding off what was clearly one of the enemy commanders.
Strong, but how strong.
Only time would give Izmird the answer.
(XX)
Guests in this chapter:
Revenant/Survivor from Locked in Digital by Rogue Druid
Canary from Canary by cloud_nine_and_three_quarters
Spider-Man based on Amazing Fantasy by The Infamous Man
Dekiru from Dekiru the Fusion Hero by | OmegaInfinity |
Halfway point of the arc baby! Or at least it should be, one never knows.
So, fighters move, and balances change. Arsenal took out Muscular, Captain Kamino is out (and so is Ghost, at least for now), Canary, Izzzuku and Revenant are facing Jack together... Man, lots of stuff.
I feel like Survivor is such an interesting character to write. I actually wanted to extend his Sif/Artorias fight more, but I felt like it came across as him being too skilled. Artorias is supposed to be the biggest wall Survivor ever faced, and here he is in combo with a very happy Sif (well until Canary bombed them both to kingdom come) so I instead focused on a quick exchange that required all of his skills.
Ghost's strategy of 'I will tell sniper mommy' vs Canary's strategy of 'I will literally bomb those two, they should die', which will win?
Well sniper mommy won this time, though in Canary's defense his opponent is literally Artorias the Abysswalker.
I know, I know, Spider-Dekiru, could I be any less original?
Well yes, I could take out the hyphen, I suppose. Still, I have a bunch of names for other fusions, but this one... Yeah, this one is just the base form of Spider-Man and Dekiru fusing.
And oh boy, here comes the Stormlord. Joy.