'Toledo was and always will be my home. It is here that my mother ushered me into the world. It is here that I tamed the storms. And it is here that I witnessed my parents perish to the excesses of religion. I will die here but I do not fear it. So long as my story is told by families in warm homes, and children on safe streets, then my legacy can never die. Even if the foundation of that legacy is blood and bone.'
—Excerpt from 'My Thoughts and My Failings' by Luciana Cisneros, the Stormwind.
Inko Midoriya has spent the day happy, celebrating Kouta's birthday. The boy, her son in all the ways that matter, had been ecstatic with the presents. Sending him off with Hisashi and Izuku had been a way to get time to clean up before they returned for the evening.
Now, as the universe breaks around her, she realises it has kept him safe as well.
The air splinters like fractal designs of crystal madness. Her teeth ache and her brain strains at the intrusion in the fabric of spacetime. The temperature rises even as Inko steps away from the rupture in space.
Then it shatters, splinters of frozen time going flying everywhere. A few shards stab her in the arm but she forces herself to look as it enters.
A dozen articulated legs covered in fur and chitin greet her first. They hold up a fleshy abdomen that squelches sickly with each movement. The creature's spiked ribcage is exposed. At the core of that ribcage is a burning red orb—infernal engine, her mind supplies unbidden.
All of that she can handle and process.
Above the abdomen is a human torso, bound by crystal threads. The woman is long dead. Her flesh rots and one of her arms is only held together by a thick wrapping of silk. The eyes are the worst, hollow pits filled with spider sacks.
To her horror, she watches one hatch. Long legs emerge from the sack, longer than the sack. The spider with legs of crystal and mist walks down the corpse's face, leaving a trail of silk and madness.
"Why are you here?"
/Peace we have asked for, shadowking mother/ the creature says in a voice that grates on Inko's ears. /Peace you have rejected/
Inko backs away, summoning her power. "Leave my home."
/You brought forth the Shadowking's mortal shell form/ it says, walking forward on its eight legs. /You returned all overtures of peace with death and contempt. You will die for his war against our people/
Inko prepares herself for the fight of her life. For a moment, she regrets not listening to them the first few times the spiders appeared. But, by whatever power has attached itself to her soul, she knows that doing so would have destroyed everything that made her Inko Midoriya. They would have given her tribute, but it would have twisted and mutated her.
Whatever comes, Inko will live and die as a human. The shambling abomination before her is a testament of the foolishness of joining with the abyss.
She calls on her power. A deep well of psychokinetic power rises from a deep well in her soul. Her brain, the part that has seen nightmares and darkness, forms the runes of power without hesitation. The runes for words of destruction, sentences that spell annihilation.
The surge of raw power leaves bright lights in her vision. A shimmering halo of raw energy surrounds her. Matter breaks down around her, the wooden floor splintering in geometric patterns and rising. The walls separate under the force of her power yet to be unleashed.
In the span of one moment, she sends the wave of psychokinetic annihilation towards the creature. Like a pack of wolves descending on a helpless fawn, her power shows no mercy. It cuts through flesh and bone and chitin, cuts through abyssal protection and unreal laws.
It cuts the creature in half.
The abomination takes a stuttering step forward before collapsing. Two halves hit the ground wetly, exposing rotted flesh and organs that should not be. Its red core darkens in death. She breathes harshly, senses honed to a knife's edge.
It is why she sees the bulbous pustules that compose the creature. The same sort of pustules the earlier spider had emerged from.
Fuck.
From its corpse dozens, no hundreds of spiders, surge forth. No, it is an ocean of creatures, some with six legs and some with a few thousand that shift between real space and higher dimensions. Some are crystal and others fleshy; some aren't real and others are all too real.
Inko screams, her muscles locking up.
Her brain doesn't have that problem. Runes of power manifest in the air. A barrier manifests, holding back the tidal wave of spiders. Inko feels blood run down her nose but knows it isn't important. Bleeding means that she is alive.
And if she is alive, then she can fight back.
That realisation solidifies something within her. The fear gripping her body vanishes. Her scream of fear becomes a roar of rage. With one mighty push, she punches the barrier.
It imbues a sudden and violent rush of power to the barrier. The barrier with all its spiders accelerates and slams into the wall.
Splat.
The sound is obscene and disgusting and all too satisfying. She smiles grimly.
"Don't fuck with me."
Something in her tells her to duck and she barely dodges a long claw about to take her head. She slams her power outward in every direction. Then she focuses it down and shatters the floor beneath her.
She lands amongst a shower of wood chips, her joints flaring in pain. The nearest entrance is in the kitchen. She limps towards it, slamming aside spiders of all sizes in her haste. There are so many of them, an endless deluge of spiders that shouldn't exist.
A portal opens beside her and she shudders, both at the gargantuan spider that walks through, but also at how wrong the portal feels. It feels powered by blood sacrifice and cruelty and hate. Pure, unmitigated hate that is all directed at her.
At Izuku.
At Kouta.
She steels her heart and flings her arms out. Waves of force escape and flatten everything around her. Spiders are vaporised. Walls collapse. The ground is ripped up.
Silence reigns. Inko pause for one second to catch her breath. She might have taken up boxing again, but age is catching up to her.
Pain.
It is so surprising that she blinks, stupefied. There's nothing around her. All the spiders are dead, so why is she feeling pain?
Unbidden, her hand rises to her throat. Her fingers come away red.
What?
There is a thread of silk around her neck, cutting through flesh but not killing her. She follows it and finds it comes from the portal that had made her feel sick.
The abomination that emerges is just like the first spider that she killed. The one with a human head. No, it is the same one.
The two halves have been stitched together with spider silk.
Inko may have power but she is no hero. She does not have the training or the edge that comes from experience. If she had, she wouldn't have been distracted by her enemies coming back from life.
Maybe it wouldn't matter.
The spider pulls back one leg sharply. It jerks Inko towards it faster than she can react.
Then she knows pain. It is deep and feels like a molten poker in her chest. When she looks down, she almost screams.
Sticking through her torso is one of the spider's legs. There is blood on it. Her blood.
/We offered peace. We would have given you godhood. Now we bring forth war/
The corpse smiles at her, barring its rotted teeth. Inko doesn't care. There's too much pain. She nearly passes out then and there.
As her vision fades, she sees a photo. It is one that she hadn't liked much, one with Kouta on Izuku's shoulders. They are both dirty in the picture and they had both refused to tell her why. She had forgiven it because of how happy they had been. Izuku's smile is electrifying and Kouta's radiant. That picture embodies the most important things in Inko's life. Seeing that picture gives her the strength to lift her head and face the undying creature.
If she is to die, then she's damn well making sure none of these bastards touch Kouta.
Inko fights through the pain.
"Do you think you've won?" she says partly with her lips but mostly with her psychic powers.
Her awareness is fading but she can feel more portals opening within her home. Dozens of them. They will usher forth an army, one that will rampage and murder and convert as much of humanity as they can.
She turns the gas burner on with the fading flickers of her powers. Then she realises her foolishness and simply rips out the entire unit. It slams into one of the spiders, crushing it.
Another leg pierces her torso. Inko gasps, the pain worse than anything she's ever felt before. It's fucking worse than giving birth to Izuku and Mikumo, and those shits had refused to come out. This is worse than Hisashi going missing. Worse than seeing Izuku broken and terrified.
/You will be the first casualty/
Inko bears her blood-stained teeth. She holds her head high, unflinching in the face of death. Dying for her sons isn't a terrible way to go.
Izuku, take care of Kouta. He's gonna need you. He's going to be angry and scared. Be the brother he needs.
"I told you not to fuck with me."
There is power within her, power that let her make a black hole with no experience. She doesn't need that much. All she must do is compress the gas filling their home until it self-ignites.
The conflagration rips through her home.
Inko doesn't feel a thing as she dies.
-TDB-
Izuku Midoriya spends his morning enjoying Kouta's eighth birthday. The boy might be annoying and argumentative, but Izuku finds it entertaining.
Right now, they're enjoying an interactive movie with Hisashi. Izuku is mildly annoyed with him for showing up again out of the blue, but by now he's had a decade to get used to it. He can shout at the bastard tomorrow when it isn't Kouta's birthday.
He remembered it and showed up. Isn't that enough? Mikumo asks.
Izuku wants to say no if only because it gives him something else to focus on. If he doesn't, then he will always hear Shouto's words ringing in his ears. The age of heroes is dead and you killed it. It isn't dead. It can't be. Japan's hero organisation might be broken and defunct, but it doesn't mean the rest of the world is without. There are heroes from southern Africa operating across the region, most graduated from Hero Memorial Academy.
There are even the North American heroes who… lost a battle to the villains. Izuku clenches his fist as Kouta makes a choice that shifts the narrative of the movie. Over half of North America's top tier heroes had fought against villains a year ago and they had lost. Badly. Only a few had crawled away alive, the rest having their bodies shipped to their respective homes.
Maybe, just maybe, the Modern Age of Heroes is coming to an end. Maybe it's time for them all to be something different.
"I didn't kill it," he mutters.
No one hears him with how loud the audio from their viewing booth is. Izuku forces himself to focus on the movie until the very triumphant end where the good guys win and the three friends are reunited at last. At the end, the screen shows the branch they took and the dozens more that could have occurred.
"Can we go again?" Kouta asks.
Izuku is tempted to say yes. He pulls out his phone to check the time. He doesn't want to leave his mother alone too long when they could all be celebrating together.
That's when he sees the notifications. Dozens of calls, messages, and priority emails. He is overwhelmed, sifting through them to find the common thread. Two words stand out the most: 'Inko' and 'home'.
He glances at Hisashi who also has his phone out, his expression dark. "Let's go," his father orders.
"What's going on?"
Izuku kneels beside Kouta. "I need you to close your eyes. Don't open them until I say so."
"But—"
"For once in your life, just listen to me," Izuku snarls, his hearts beating fast.
He applies a layer of darkness over Kouta's eyes, the same he used to keep Shouto sane when they entered the abyss.
Izuku carries him on his shoulder.
His father opens the doorway and they step through it.
Sirens reach his ears before he smells ash. He sees a stack of dark smoke rising before he sees the emergency responders and their fire trucks spewing forth gallons of water. It is a disaster scene. Homes are damaged and the street cracked. He can hear screaming and smell sizzling flesh.
He passes Kouta to his father and walks forward quickly. He doesn't care about the cheap barrier or the emergency responders. All he cares about is finding his mother. He needs to know how hurt she is.
Someone lays their hand on his shoulder. Izuku shrugs it off harshly, not caring that it leaves the person screaming in pain. Maybe a broken wrist. Maybe something worse.
His home comes into view. What remains of it, at least. Parts of the support structure still stand, wooden studs charred black and damaged greatly. That's all. The rest is rubble.
"Mum!"
Izuku tastes the smoke of his burning home as he rushes forward. The main structure is collapsed and the fire barely subsided. He stumbles over something that he errantly recognises as his computer. Not important.
There is darkness in the air, cloying points that run against the natural order of things. Izuku ignores them and reaches the rubble. He doesn't care how hot the wood and steel is as he flings chunks of rubble aside. He needs to find her.
"Please, please, please."
He sees a hand sticking out and moves faster. She's probably unconscious from smoke inhalation. That's normal, right?
One large piece of wooden floor covers her body. Izuku shifts it aside, ready to help his mother.
And then he sees her. Everything stops, time compressing to a fine needlepoint.
He looks at his mother's corpse, broken, shattered and burnt. There is no possibility that the body below him is alive. Not with a throat wound that large. Not with burns covering so much of the body. Izuku is intimately acquainted with death. He knows a corpse when he sees one.
He thought he'd be able to recognise her every wrinkle and imperfection no matter how time passed. He knows what they would like in life, warm and bright and loving. He stares at this body that bears only a passing resemblance to his mother.
And feels nothing.
"Mortals are so fragile."
-TDB-
Kouta Izumi follows after Izuku slowly, terrified of what he might see. There is smoke and ash and fire and it's all coming from their home.
There is nothing but rubble left. Izuku sits in the middle of the rubble, chin resting on his fist. Such an incongruous point of calm in a sea of panic.
Izuku's expression is blank. He looks like a statue more than a person. Kouta knows that is a lie. It had been sunny when they left and it is predicted to be sunny all week. Now, though, the skies are dark and heavy with storm clouds. Thunder rumbles ominously, shaking his bones.
Most of all are the streaks of green lightning. Kouta loves Izuku and right now he's glad that his brother enough control not to unleash a lightning storm in his anger and grief.
As he approaches, a white cloth covering something comes into view. Kouta knows what it means. He's seen them before many times. The morgue when his parents died. What remained of the Pussycats after the war ended.
This was supposed to be a celebration of his birthday. Now, he wonders if this is his fault.
Isn't he the common thread? His parents murdered by Muscular. Muscular who led the attack against the Pussycats. Now Inko, the woman who accepted him into her family without question, who showered him in love and affection in an indifferent world, is gone on his birthday.
Something grips him. He almost startles until he sees it is a shadow dragging him towards Izuku. Without a word, Izuku lifts his arm and makes space for Kouta.
He fits against Izuku's side perfectly. His brother is warm and comforting. He is also silent and angry but he still cares enough about Kouta to make sure he is safe.
He can't fight the tears when they appear. He doesn't fight his howl of grief. All he does is bury himself deeper into Izuku's side.
When the tears have subsided, he finds that it has started to rain. He pulls away from Izuku, finding his expression blank. Like he doesn't feel anything. The roaring thunder and pouring rain tell the lie for what it is.
Under his shirt is the last memento from Inko. He takes it out and holds the medallion to his chest, refusing to let go. He refuses to let go of the last gift Inko gave him.
"Promise me that no one will ever hurt us again."
Izuku takes a long time to tilt his head. When it does, it terrifies Kouta.
There is nothing kind or welcoming in his brother's gaze. His eyes are cruel and Kouta learns a new shade of green from looking at them. This is the colour of endless strength and towering malevolence. It is the colour of power and disdain.
"I promise."
Kouta holds that gaze. No matter how scary and dangerous Izuku is, he will never hurt Kouta. Deep in his bones, he knows it to be as true as gravity and time and love.
"Promise that anyone who ever tries doesn't walk away."
"I promise."
He once saw an echo of this strength the one day he met All For One, the man Kouta hates the most. If his brother can channel the same strength that brought Japan to its knees, then nothing will ever harm them again.
Today, he learns the true meaning of strength. In his brother's eyes, he learns that strength is the power to see your enemies destroyed.
Kouta turns eight with ash on his tongue and smoke in his nose, hate in his heart and grief in his throat.
-TDB-
Hisashi Midoriya has one hand on his son's shoulder, the other keeping Kouta secure on his hip. His home of thirty-five years is nothing more than a burnt husk. All his memories are ash. He will never again trace the imperfections that come from having a rambunctious child in the house. The bookshelves that Izuku and Hisashi filled over the years are gone. The couch Kouta claimed as his own is blackened and broken.
This isn't a home. This is a funeral pyre.
The fire hasn't burnt away the stench of the abyss. It fills his soul and bones and makes him rage. He can sense the remnants of Inko's power, of the portals that opened up in their home. No man killed his wife. No, it was something from the abyss.
Izuku stands suddenly. He moves with lethargic grace as he stalks forward, following something only he can see. He walks over a pile of rubble, disappearing. Hisashi hears cracks and snaps, uncertain of what his son is doing.
Soon enough, Izuku returns, carrying a metal box in one hand. In another, he carries an abyssal spider. It squirms in his grip, making a horrid noise. Kouta stares at it, confused.
"No more," Izuku says.
"No more," Hisashi agrees. "They've taken too much from us."
His son crushes the spider, discarding its corpse.
They let Inko's body be wrapped up and taken away by men in Imperial White. They will ensure her body is treated with respect until arrangements can be made. Hisashi will see to it that she is at peace even in death.
"Burn it."
Kouta on his shoulder startles. "What?"
"There's nothing here for us," Izuku says devoid of any emotion. "This house was only a home because of her."
Like that, Hisashi understands. Even had it remained intact, their home would have been cold and lifeless without Inko.
He takes the deepest breath he can and activates his first quirk. Heat and fire blossom in his throat but he holds it, compressing the fire and superheating it. When it feels less like fire and more like plasma, Hisashi exhales.
It is blindingly bright and a shade of green so pale it appears white. It vaporises the water around them and sets the broken remains of their home alight. They watch it burn, the flames dancing in the unnatural wind of Izuku's grief.
When it is done, when nothing but ash remains, Hisashi opens another doorway. They walk through it, Hisashi taking care to ensure Kouta's eyes are closed. He's a bit too young for abyssal exposure.
They exit and Hisashi immediately feels the sun's warmth on his skin. He basks in it for a few moments before it vanishes. The storm has followed Izuku, roiling and dark and oppressive. Hisashi knows they are all collectively one wrong move from utter destruction.
"Where are we?" Kouta asks dully.
"My childhood home."
The Imperial Villa stands strong, its walls towering and whole. Hisashi can point out every hidden turret and security field. He knows where security patrols and evaded them as a child many times.
His name is Hisashi Midoriya. He may have no right to the throne anymore and his line will never be able to claim it, but once, his name was Hisashi Atakani. The Atakani name was once amongst the Royal Lines. It may have fallen to the wayside, but it will always grant him entry to his childhood home.
They will always grant him access to the Emperor. He leaves the boys outside because this won't be a fun meeting. If the Emperor says something wrong, Izuku will react badly. If Kouta gets upset, Izuku will react terribly.
That means people dying violently.
The Emperor is just as arrogant as Hisashi remembers. The man exudes confidence and strength, his power supported by the Royal Guard arrayed behind him.
"Why have you come before us, Hisashi?"
Hisashi has lost everything and has little to bargain with. But he can still gain safety for his children. All it will take is kneeling before the Throne once more.
His body is old and damaged but Hasashi still manages to kneel before the Emperor of Japan.
"Eighteen years ago, I abdicated my right to that Throne in exchange for the safety of my family. I gave up ten years of my life because of your orders. I lost ten years with my wife and son. And now my wife is dead."
"A tragedy, yes. She was brave enough to order our station."
Hisashi can't bring himself to smile. "I swore to work with you again in exchange for her protection. Our household was in one of your secure compounds. It was monitored by your agents. She died under your watch."
He watches the Emperor's Guard as they shift, affronted by his accusation. It's only circumstantially true but Hisashi took the time to remove any evidence of abyssal malfeasance. As far as they know, it had been their security that failed.
"What do you wish for, Hisashi?"
"I want my wife back but that's impossible. I know that." He raises his head. "I demand blood price for blood spilt."
"Would you truly put a value to your wife's life?"
Hisashi's smirk is bitter and cold. "You don't know my wife. For her children, there is nothing she would not do. You will pay the blood price. You will give my family a sanctuary."
"You ask for much."
He bares his teeth. "My name is Hisashi Atakani. I have sacrificed everything for your family."
"Others have sacrificed more and asked less for our family."
"I have served."
"Others have served loyally and asked less." The Emperor tilts his head. "You bring nothing to the table, World Walker. Our Inquisitor offers more and is far more dangerous. You have no bargaining chip."
"Would your daughter be pleased to know you betrayed your debts? Tell me, does Princess Mayuko know the truth of her existence? Does Kurogiri?"
The Emperor's eyes narrow. Good. He understands the threat. More people know that the man who sunk Taiwan is alive than there are who know the truth of Mayuko's existence. Hisashi is one of them.
It is a secret that would mean war between the Emperor and Kurogiri. The same man who successfully waged a war against Japan. Even if he failed, the destruction would be immense.
Hisashi would help him every step of the way.
"You go above yourself."
Hisashi stands, his knees aching. "After everything I've given up for that Throne, this is the least you can give me. I got on my knees and asked politely. Your son killed twenty million people out of grief. What do you think I will do? What do you think will happen when I tell my son that you had a hand in Inko's death? He won't care if it's true or not. Be an ally or be an enemy but make your choice now."
Hisashi is ready to fight. He knows that in a serious fight, Guardswoman Izanami can kill him quickly. He hasn't come here prepared to fight. Still, even if she can kill him, Hisashi can open a portal to the depths of the abyss and grant it entry to the real world.
It might not amount to much, but it is his last gambit. A gambit everyone in the room knows.
"This is the last favour we will ever grant you, Hisashi. The name Atakani is to be stricken from all records. You will have access to your ancestral home but once you leave, it will be demolished. Your access codes are to be revoked. Once this is done, you are no longer a member of this Household."
Hisashi smirks. "Goodbye, Cousin." One last parting shot. Let it never be said that Hisashi isn't a spiteful man.
Izuku and Kouta are sitting together. The former stares blankly at the wall. Kouta is watching Izuku, gripping his hand tightly.
Hisashi feels his heart break.
"It is done. We'll be safe here for a while." He takes Kouta's hand. "Let me show you where we'll be staying."
It has been decades since Hisashi entered this home. It is on a plot of land near the outskirts of the Villa, one of the smaller ones. That had never mattered much. The Atakani family was always small.
The home has been maintained through the decades out of sentiment on Hisashi's part. No one has lived in it nor has anyone had use of it. The upkeep had been an expense that had no meaning. Now that his sons can have a dry roof to sleep under, he is glad of it.
He has a few safehouses across the world, but those were designed for one person to spend as little time as possible. Most are in secret facilities he wouldn't be able to access without his quirk. He refuses to subject Kouta to living like a rat.
Hisashi sits with the boys, uncertain of what to say. The grief is thick and palpable. It infects them all, sapping any comfort they could offer. Inko was always the strong one, not Hisashi, not Izuku, and certainly not Kouta.
They sit for hours, refusing to look at each other. Hisashi wishes he knew the right words to break them out of their shells. He's starting to suspect anything is the right word.
"Take Kouta to bed," he finally says.
Izuku raises his head slowly, eyes devoid of warmth. He glances at Kouta. "Follow."
Hisashi waits until Kouta is asleep and Izuku distracts himself with the contents of the box. He'll come back later, but for now, he must ensure they are as prepared as can be.
He can see what is coming. There is a war that will be fought for humanity's very right to see the future. The Imperial family fought it for years. When the contamination broke out in Shikoku, he moved both the Emperor and All For One to a tune of his devising to cleanse the outbreak. Ever since the three kings ascended, the barriers between this world and the abyss have thinned.
Two years ago, Hisashi would have scoffed at the idea of portals opening without human sacrifice and lots of power. Today, it has cost Inko her life. He won't risk Izuku or Kouta.
A doorway opens and Hisashi steps through it. He travels across the world, calling on favours owed. He accumulates his wealth and resources and equipment and stores it all in the basement of their temporary home. He doesn't stop there. He steals survival supplies and precious materials. Medicine and weapons join the growing pile before he decides that is enough.
The wealth and weapons will last Izuku as long as they need to. His son will make them last.
More important than that is ensuring Kouta's protector can defend him from the abyss. It takes him an hour to find Shuichi. Hisashi steps out of his portal and into an abandoned warehouse.
Spinner is already swinging his sword before Hisashi makes his way out fully. The World Walker takes over and ducks beneath the blow. It opens a doorway beneath Shuichi who shouts.
Then it opens another doorway on the other side of the warehouse. Shuichi falls through and lands roughly on the ground. In a split second, he's back on his feet, sword at the ready.
"What the fuck, old man? You could have been killed."
Spinner doesn't put his sword down. Good instincts, Hisashi thinks.
"Inko Midoriya is dead."
He says the four words without an ounce of emotion. His grief and rage and love are all locked deep below the surface. If he lets them out for even a second then he won't be able to function. Inko was everything to him.
Wife.
Lover.
Best friend.
He's lost everything in a single fucking day and he can't even take a moment to recover. All he has is a memory of the last night they spent together, the lost time they moved in unison.
"Oh," Spinner says softly, lowering his blade. "I'm sorry."
"My son charged you with protecting Kouta. Are you loyal?"
"Always."
"Inko was killed by something beyond humanity. She was killed by something you can't fight right now."
Hisashi creates another doorway to an earth that he once witnessed die to the abyss. It is a world ruled by undying abominations and hive gods, a world where the seas are lava and the ground is a bed of arcane rituals. Endless legions of acolytes sing a song to summon a god of cunning and cruelty.
Spinner stares at in horror. Hisashi finds himself mildly amused. He's spoken to gods and dragons, bargained with demons and killed abominations. This is something he has seen on his journeys too often.
"That is a world that fell. This Earth failed the test. We need to pass it."
"This is madness."
"It is. And it is coming. I've been fighting this threat most of my life. And now, you need to join the fight." Hisashi extends his hand to Shuichi. "You are cruel and ruthless. You won't hesitate to kill the threats coming after my sons. Whether they're human or abyssal."
Shuichi takes his hand. Hisashi smiles coldly and forms a doorway beneath them.
They land before the bones of the last wish-granting dragon. Hisashi can feel the warmth of its final wish, fading away as the final part is to be completed.
"What the fuck?"
Hisashi ignores him and walks towards the dragon's skull. He places a hand on its snout. The action brings it to life just a tiny bit and he feels its bones warm up.
The World Walker comes forth, taking control of his body. It is better this way, something borne of the abyss speaking to a creature of the abyss.
"This one comes in the shadowking's stead to complete the final wish of Eao. Shuichi Iguchi betrayed his oaths for the shadowking. He took the ideals and enemies of the shadowking as his own. Do you accept this Shuichi as his disciple?"
The bones glow brightly. Agreement. Contentment.
"Your wish is complete. Your wings the king's disciple will bear."
The glow intensifies until it is blinding. The weight of the wish washes over them, the sheer inexplicable joy that its final wish is complete and that it can finally rest at peace.
When it fades the bones are gone. In its place are two wings, vibrant green flesh and with scales a much darker shade. They are far smaller than the wings before, but they are alive. They thrum with raw power, the kind that cultists have coveted for generations.
"Come and fulfil this last wish, lizard. Become a dragon."
Shuichi gravitates towards the wings naturally as though he knows they are part of him. He walks over unconsciously, his eyes never leaving the iridescent scales of the wings, shimmering with a thousand colours.
"Give me your sword." Shuichi does so. "This will hurt. Stay still."
There is no painless way to do this. Hisashi isn't the best with a sword but even he can make two slashes along Shuichi's back. The man grunts, shoulders stiff as a board, but he doesn't move despite the pain. Hisashi is impressed.
He picks up one of the wings, shuddering at the power they hold. It is boundless and limitless. Hisashi places it on Shuichi's back.
Light manifests where Shuichi's bleeding back touches the wings. The man roars in pain as dark veins run down his back.
He falls to one knee, screaming. Hisashi watches as the wing changes Shuichi. His spine is shifting and changing, visible even through his thick skin and scales.
When it is done, Hisashi simply takes the other wing and the process repeats itself.
Once the wings are grafted, the light subsides. Shuichi breathes harshly, his wings rising in time with his breathing. Where the wings melded to his back are scars like lightning, glowing a vibrant green.
He stands slowly, unsteady on his feet. Besides the blood and the wings, Shuichi looks unchanged. But with his enhanced senses, Hisashi can feel how his soul has changed. What had once been a mortal soul is now something far greater, a fractal pattern of endless potential.
Shuichi faces him, rage and the promise of violence in his eyes. For the first time since they met, Hisashi feels a flash of fear. The being before him possesses the strength to harm him.
Shuichi's wings extend, the air around them shimmering and distorting. He exudes strength and menace. This is someone who can protect Kouta.
Hisashi can appreciate the cunning of Eao's plan. With the wings fully extended, Hisashi can see the shadow of the dragon Spinner will become.
Hisashi hands him back his sword. Shuichi glares at his blood on it before throwing it away. It lands where Eao's bones had once been.
The world around them rumbles. Hisashi cocks his head as light coalesces around the sword. When it fades, he is surprised by the object.
It is a long spear of a black material. He walks over and takes it, feeling the power within. It is a wish to cut through anything made manifest. And it isn't Eao's wish.
He glances at Shuichi who is just as confused.
"How interesting."
He throws it towards Shuichi who catches it easily. Spinner takes the spear and tests its weight. He twirls it easily, not understanding the magnitude of what he has done.
Hisashi stares at Eao's final resting spot. Well played.
The metallic spear in his hands is a wish, the first that he will grant. Shuichi Iguchi will be the first of a new generation of wish-granting dragons.
Who better to serve as protector of his sons than the man who became a dragon?
-TDB-
This is what it means to be a spider after declaring war with the shadowking.
The shadows have always belonged to spiders. Darkened nooks and hidden corners have always been home to spiders of all sorts, from tiny spiders more likely to be eaten by a praying mantis to larger infestations hiding in abandoned ships.
The dark is no longer welcoming.
Where spiders roam in the shadows, they are greeted by sharp spears and cruel traps. This happens everywhere across the globe all at once. Spiders hidden in shoes flee and those unfortunate enough to be in caves don't survive.
Those spiders are not important. The spiders borne of the abyss, mutated by its endless powers, find the human world to be unwelcoming. Giant spiders as large as a car and abominations borne of the unholy union of spider and human find that a wave of darkness forces them out.
On this day, the world witnesses the strange phenomena of spider hordes running through the streets. They are a wave of legs and eyes.
It makes the news immediately. Every news station in the world has a dozen different stories to tell about spiders in the broad daylight refusing to be chased into the darkness. Nature channels have special features and a few, just a few, find nests of thousands of spiders slaughtered.
Humanity's focus on these lesser spiders is what keeps the abyssal spiders hidden for a little while longer. Some do see these creatures and they have the pleasure of incubating new spider larvae. Others try to fight back with guns and quirk, but their powers mean nothing.
In this new world, the shadows will see spiders driven to extinction.