A.N: YOU'RE MAD! I'M BACK - nah, I hope y'all aren't mad, I love you guys XD. Hello once more you amazing and crazy people, because I'm BACK once again! Honestly, even after a week I'm still shocked at passing 100 Follows, and not to mention, we're already closing in on 100 Favs, another first for me! Not gonna celebrate early though, that's asking for Karma to bite me in the ass :P. Anyway, onto the reviews! (Ten in one sitting, good lord XD)
JaxTheGamer: Ahh my good fellow, how glad I am too see you enjoying the ship finally sailing off! The future seems pretty bright for now, and there will certainly be more to come. Best of luck to you in your search, for I must acquire the Dead Sea Scrolls!
SkeenTheDream: Consider the ending a nice little bow-wrapped ending my dude. Unfortunately, Kendo forgot to reinstall aimbot for the last match, probably for the best since people would call hax XD. Thank you for the support dude!
StandUpKeepMovingForward: Yup! You also had a role to play in that my dude, so I extend a grateful thank-you to you as well!
Vince Fangway: Indeed the ship has sailed, and but of course, Rumi remains a badass. As for the criticism regarding the abrupt ending, I totally get where you're coming from dude. I didn't want to drag the Festival Arc on forever and wanted to tie it up as satisfyingly as I could, and that has left out some pretty important background stuff... that being said however, I think you might find this chapter to be pretty satisfactory in that regard. ;D. Thank you for the congrats and support my dude!
ChernoAlpha117: Thanks for the kudos my guy! To be honest, Strong Rabbit sounds like a pretty sick name now that I think it over... but then again, who's to say that they'll have kids? ;D. Thank you again for the support and patience man!
JJKR: I mean, what else would our dear ol' Gyro say? XD Gotta love the guy, it's so much fun to play around with his character.
Longnose: Happy noises indeed my friend ;D
God Doesn't Love You: Thank you very much for you patience! The wait is now over, so read on!
Galaxy Knight: Glad you like the romance my man! But of course, nothing beats a tomboy gal who could literally kill you with her thighs. I'm not sure if I've outright said this before, but Horikoshi has VERY good taste XD.
ONE (Guest): Thank you dude! I'll keep working hard to live up to that epic status!
Now with all that said, let's jump right into the show! The chapter is gonna be a bit short, but consider it a prologue chapter of sorts for 'Season 2'. Onto the show!
Rumble, Young Man Rumble!
Chapter 25
Warlords and wicked men…
Somewhere in Hiroshima, a man sat in front of a computer looking over the footage of his daughter, scrutinising it.
'I didn't think that Rumi had the potential to tap into the secondary aspects of her quirk. I suppose that there is hope for her after all. She managed to win, if somewhat sloppily, but a promise is a promise.'
Leaning back, he hummed to himself, thinking for a moment. 'At the very least, she should attract some big names and hero-agencies. After that, I can worm my way into their good graces, and business will boom as per expected!' He leaned back in his chair, satisfied as he smiled. 'She won't be able to continue her schooling without my financial support, and she knows that. Success is all but assured!'
…Elsewhere…
The man was… conflicted. He was still highly interested in Kendo Rappa, there was no doubt about that, but there were a few others that caught his interest as well over the course of the Tournament, others that could add to his increasing power. Tetsude and his Muscular Enhancement, not as potent as the Muscular Augmentation that his own son had, but formidable in terms of raw power, nonetheless. Yu and Ryuko, their Gigantification and Dragon, useful for wide-scale destruction. Shinji, and his odd but useful Arbour. Rumi and her Rabbit-Mutation, with incredible combat potential. And yet, Rumi's quirk was the only one equal to the hidden power within Kendo. Despite that however, Kendo had refused to let his quirk run truly wild, limiting himself to basic combat-skill.
"Tch, stupid boy," He muttered, idly placing his palm on the computer-screen. His hand suddenly enlarged, nails turning into thick talons before the muscles in his forearm writhed. The metal folded like wet paper under his grip before he tossed it away casually, standing and walking away. "You possess the power to become a true Demon, unstoppable in your cruelty and unkillable with your strength! Yet you waste it!? Pah!" His fist lashed out, finding the head of one of the many androids in the room that he was in, caving the titanium alloy with ease and tearing its head clean off. Realising that his temper had gotten a hold over him, he reined himself in and checked the damage android. "…hmm, this was a failed experimental one anyway."
Sighing, he idly went to one of his many work-tables, fiddling with some random pieces of scrap-metal, wires and batteries. After a few moments of quiet tinkering, he had created another incredibly high-quality surveillance droid. "Command inputs," He muttered, "Survey target Kendo Rappa. When vulnerable, activate Beacon to call…" He thought for a moment. "Fifty Assault Units. When subdued, capture and return to Point 1." He placed it on the floor and watched it roll off. After a moment, he created another droid, repeating the same thing. The only difference… "Target Rumi Usagiyama."
Four more times did he repeat this phrasing, each of them with different targets.
"Yu Takeyama."
"Ryuko Tastuma."
"Shinji Nishiya."
"Tetsude Ken."
After the last drone had left, he turned around to face the vast, vast space he was in. Numbering in the thousands were Androids of different shapes, sizes and weaponry. What stayed the same was that all of them were of unquestionably high quality, all of them built to be combat-ready. "Assault Units on Standby!" He called out. Three hundred immediately hummed to life, their visors glowing as they immediately powered up, their nine-feet tall figures otherwise bathed in shadow. "Follow designated surveillance-units, enable sound-mufflers and remain unseen until Beacon is activated!" Immediately, they all began to jog to the nearest exit and into the sewer system, not a single sound coming from their footfalls or movements.
"Right…" He sighed, brushing off his hands. His stomach suddenly growled, and he broke out into a vicious, bloodthirsty smile. "Time to eat." Leaving the massive room, he went on to enter an incredibly well-furnished and brightly lit room, almost lavishly so. Yet, it was an odd mix of modernised equipment, stoves, fridges and the like, along with an incredibly old style of Japanese designing. Tatami straw mats lined the floor, old and priceless paintings lined the squeaky-clean walls, delicate siding-doors made of fine, soundproof paper, the works. Moving past that, he finally entered the kitchen, more of the same, though the table in the middle was noticeably larger than normal.
Even more noticeable was the person tied to it. The tattered remains of clothing indicated that he was a hero, his support items shattered and splayed around the room. Not to mention, he was severely beaten, massive bruises and cuts across his body, all of them slowly but visibly healing. Still he remained alert, his eyes darting to the man entering the room as he growled, thrashing against his restraints. Though Regen wasn't too highly ranked, he was still a formidable foe. At least, was.
"Y-you!" He growled out, finally getting a clear look at the villain who had beaten him. Dressed in a loose, pure-white kimono, the man's features shockingly gentle, odd for someone who appeared to be past middle-aged, close to fifty for certain. He looked almost like an old Japanese aristocrat back during the medieval period, a sharp jawline with high cheekbones, a neatly trimmed and slightly wispy moustache resting perfectly above his lips. His pure silver and silky hair was tied up in a bun, held in place by two sticks. Yet the most disturbing part of him were the man's eyes, his irises a deep bloody crimson, like the colour of clotting blood, set in pitch-black sclera that seemed to suck all the light around him.
"I know you!" The hero shouted as the man walked closer and closer, "You're his left-hand man, the one who manufactured his tech and robotic servants! You're All for One's second scientist, Akuhiro Wu!" In an instant, he felt a blinding pain as a hand pierced his thigh, talon-tipped fingers going clean through his flesh as he screamed in pain. 'H-how!? He's just a scientist, he can't be this strong-!'
"That is no longer the name of this vessel," The man said with a horrifying grin. "Akuhiro Wu was a timid, weak man who couldn't see beyond his own fingers. When he tried to betray All for One, he was caught and… killed, I suppose." He chuckled, his voice suddenly turning into a grating sound that made the hero cringe, a pang of fear growing in his chest. "In Akuhiro's place though… All for One saw it fit to take his mind, twist it, warp it, break it… and in doing so, he let me in." The man took his hands out of Regen's legs, idly licking the blood from his fingers, a thoughtful look on his face as he smacked his lips. After a moment, his eyes seemed to light up in twisted glee, a bloody smile stretching disturbingly wide across his face.
"I suppose I should have guess from your name alone," He cackled, "But your Quirk is a form of Regeneration, isn't it? Very rare amongst humanity!"
"Did it take that long to figure out?" Regen snarked, rolling spit in his mouth and shooting it at the man's face. His eyes went wide as it seemed to pass right through him, a small gust of wind hitting the downed hero. 'Did… did he just dodge? I couldn't even see him move!' A door suddenly opened both Regen and the man look to see someone considerably younger walk in. In total contrast to the man, the boy, roughly sixteen, was far more muscular in appearance, considerably taller as well, standing at 6'5. Short and spiky blonde hair sat messily on his head, similarly coloured eyes (minus the black sclera) to the man resting in more masculine features that still bore a slight resemblance. His red tank-top was in tatters, displaying a body ripped with muscles built for combat… and killing too, if the multiple stains of foreign blood on the boy's skin meant anything. His face curled into something of amusement and annoyance as he observed the scene before him.
"Fucks sake pops," He said, "Don't get me wrong, I like the new you, but you've got a habit of playing with your food for too damn long."
"Aah, son," The man chuckled, "It's the privilege of the strong to do as they please. You above everyone else know this. Regardless, how was your outing? Did you kill anyone interesting?" The boy shrugged casually, putting his bloodstained hands in his pockets.
"Nah, not particularly. Got about twenty cops… wait, I stopped counting after twenty, or something like that. Managed to disembowel a strength-quirk hero, he wasn't anything special though. Crushed a few elemental-quirk heroes."
"Under your boot or…?"
"Two under my boot, four others with my fists," He confirmed with a grin. "One of their heads made a reeeally gnarly breaking-sound. Might take a while for them to clean up." The man laughed and clapped, delighted at his son's work.
"Very good, very good my child!"
"Yeah, but I sorta screwed up," He sighed, "I went a bit too wild, and now some of the bigger-name heroes are gonna be on the lookout for me. Endeavour's the head of the search, from what I've heard."
"Hmm, I suppose that's a bit too much of a difficulty-spike," The man hummed, thinking for a moment. "Aha! There's a place for you to test your abilities and push them without needing to hide from the authorities, and without worrying about holding back." The man took out a card and handed it to his son, the boy looking over it.
"…Purgatory huh? No holds barred, winner decided by knockout, ring-out or death." The boy's face stretched into a disturbing smile, almost exactly like his father's. "Sounds like fun!"
"Indeed it is," The man said. "I will financially back you, so do not worry about the entrance-fee. In fact, this'll be a good way for you to earn some allowance."
"I don't really care about money," The boy cackled as strings of pinkish muscle popped from his skin, writhing in the air. "Just show me blood!"
"Fair enough," The man chuckled. "Though, make sure you rest first before you go off."
"Mm, I'll do that," The boy said, calming down and walking off to a separate room. "Enjoy your meal old man!"
"Oh I will…" The man chuckled, turning his eyes back to Regen. "Now, before I devour you, know this: Akuhiro Wu is dead. And in his place, the oNe whO staNds beFOre yOu riGht nOW…" Bones in the man's body popped and shifted, his body shaking and contorting. Veins and muscle bulged under his now jet-black skin, his eyes appearing to glow brightly as his form grew taller and bulkier. To top it off, curved horns began to grow from his forehead, pitch-black as well. When he was done, he stood seven feet tall, his muscles threatening to tear the fabric of his kimono.
"The one who stands before you," He spoke, much more evenly. "Is the one you should fear. You heroes are the protectors of peace, no? It doesn't matter: heroes, society, All for One… I'll devour it ALL! I will reignite my original goal, as ordained of me all those centuries ago, and unite the entire world under a single flag." He place a hand on Regen's chest, the hero frozen in complete fear at the monster before him.
"So says I, Demon-King of the Sixth Heaven, Nobunaga Oda."
(To Be Continued...)
A.N: Finally, the big bad of the show reveals himself! More commonly known as Oda Nobunaga in proper Japanese, he was a Japanese warlord during the warring Sengoku period of Japan in the 1500's, launching a war against other Samurai in order to unite Japan in 1560. His Demon-King title is something he actually gave himself in order to mock others and further prove his power and status. You can find a LOT of direct references to his character across a range of other anime and games, 'Nioh' and 'Samurai Deeper Kyo' to name a few. This is going to be my personal take on him in the world of Bnha, so I hope you all enjoy him as a badass Supervillain! Also, his son sounds kinda... familiar, doesn't he?
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, and see you soon! Peace out!