On Today's Episode: The trinity arrives in what appears to be another regular city, only to find that it's full of superheroes and supervillains with amazing powers called "Quirks". However, Nick ends up running into a six-year-old girl who, according to her so-called "father", holds immense power within her Quirk, even when it's obvious that Overhaul just wishes to use Eri for her Quirk. Can the trinity keep Eri safe?
For Today's World: All right, now we're moving on to a world based on season four of My Hero Academia, specifically the nonsense with Overhaul, Eri, and the Shie Hassaikai. And I must once again reiterate that ERI IS A PRECIOUS BEAN THAT MUST BE PROTECTED AND LOVED AT ALL COSTS
Episode 7: A Bright and Shiny Future
It was a very busy afternoon in the city of Mustafu, Japan, even in the downtown area far away from U.A. High School.
The alleyways of the downtown area, however, were another story, with danger lurking around every corner. And one of those dangers, a pale man of narrow build with short, shaggy auburn hair, parted to the right, thin gold eyes and wearing a beak-shaped plague doctor mask over his mouth was walking just behind Kuon Ichinose, as if searching for something.
"Well? Any information about the keyhole?" Ichinose asked.
"I've got both the Shie Hassaikai and the Heartless searching for it as we speak," Kai Chisaki, alias Overhaul, responded. "I'm sure we'll find it sooner or later. That just leaves... her."
That was when one of Overhaul's yakuza henchmen ran up to them, obviously out of breath, but also slightly scared of what Overhaul might do to him.
"S-Sir, I'm sorry, but I can't find Eri," the yakuza stuttered. "It's like she just disappeared into thin air..."
Overhaul just sighed, even as he casually grabbed the yakuza's face with his hand and broke him apart into little tiny chunks with his Quirk.
"That wretched little girl is more trouble than she's worth," Overhaul sighed.
"You said you had things under control, right?" Ichinose laughed.
"This city is full of holes and tunnels for the filth to scurry under," Overhaul groaned. "The only reason I even need her is for my own plans, but you know this world will be ours when we find the keyhole."
"Yeah, but remember, we need all seven of the princesses of heart in order to open that final door," Ichinose reprimanded. "Any fewer and we're up the creek without a paddle."
"And you said that there's a princess in this world," Overhaul replied, glancing at the Heartless behind him, a bunch of sword-swinging Heartless with bird-shaped plague masks much like his own. "Half of you keep searching for Eri, and the others stay on the lookout for the princess."
The Plague Beaks nodded before dashing off into the shadows of the city.
"Not that I doubt your impressive abilities, Overhaul, but try not to steep yourself in the darkness for too long," Ichinose warned. "The Heartless will consume you if you get careless."
In response, Overhaul just laughed pridefully. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary," Overhaul proclaimed.
Unbeknownst to the two villains, a frightened six-year-old girl was listening to their conversation from what she hoped was the safety of a nearby fruit stand. They hadn't seemed to notice her, so she figured now would be the best chance she had to make a run for it.
So that's exactly what she did, moving slowly for a bit so they wouldn't hear her footsteps, and when she felt like she was far enough away, she broke into a run, wanting to get as far away from that place as possible.
She continued to run, trying not to think about what he would do to her if she was caught (even if she knew exactly what would happen), only to feel her hopes of escape plummet when she bumped into someone.
"P-Please don't hurt me!" she wailed.
Nick was more confused than anything when he looked down at the girl who had just unceremoniously bumped into him. She looked to be only six years old, with waist-length, bluish, off-white hair that was messy and unkempt, wide, innocent-looking red eyes, and a small, brown horn poking out from her forehead. She was wearing a plain, short-sleeved dress, which was a dirty, pale tan color, and she had bandages wrapped around both her arms and legs, stopping at her wrists and ankles.
"Um, little lady, why would I do that?" Nick wondered.
"Yeah, you honestly look really scared," Maylin answered. "Are you lost or something? Should we try to find your parents?"
However, that only seemed to frighten the girl more, leaving Maylin to wonder what she'd said to make her so upset.
"Is everything okay?" Haruka asked.
"P-Please... don't take me back there..." the girl sobbed. "He's going to take me apart again!"
The trinity had no idea what she meant by that, but they all agreed that it was probably nothing pleasant given the girl's fright.
Nick bent down to hug the girl in hopes of calming her down. "Don't worry about a thing, 'kay?" Nick stated. "You can stay with us until we can find you a safe place to stay. That's a promise."
"So, what's your name?" Maylin wondered.
"...Eri," the girl replied after a few seconds. She initially wasn't sure, but given the looks of concern on their faces... she believed she could trust them. For now, at least.
"All right-y, then, Eri," Nick responded. "My name's Nick Kelly, and these are my friends Maylin Rae and Haruka Rose. It's really nice to meet you."
With that, the trinity began to escort Eri through the city in hopes of finding someplace safe for her to stay, away from whatever or whoever she was running from.
When they reached the local park, though, they were accosted by seven Heartless that resembled the basic Shadows, but with a more humanoid body structure than a normal Shadow while sharing the same pitch black skin and spherical, glowing yellow eyes. Its crooked antennae were quite long and fell back behind it, and it seemed to be rather muscular, and its hands were very large, each one sporting five clawed fingers. Its feet, like those of a normal Shadow, were long and lack digits, and its body was also lined by several faint, blue veins.
"Oh, wonderful, these things are back," Maylin groaned.
"These are Neoshadows," Haruka explained to Nick as the trinity summoned their keyblades to their hands. "Basically, they're evolved Shadows that can actually work as a team and coordinate their attacks, so stay on your guard."
"They can team up?!" Nick exclaimed.
"Haruka, you stay behind that tree and keep Eri safe, got it?" Maylin proclaimed. "Nick and I can handle these freaks."
Haruka nodded, guiding Eri to a safe spot so Nick and Maylin could take on the Neoshadows.
The Neoshadows started by leaping into the air and lunging forward with spinning attacks that Nick and Maylin both guarded against before striking back, Maylin with a Thunder spell, and Nick by blasting a bunch of them back with a Ripple Drive.
When three of the Neoshadows had been destroyed, the remaining four decided to change their tactics, sinking into shadowy portals on the ground. A few seconds later, nine of those same shadow portals appeared around the area, and the Neoshadows began jumping from random portals to attack. Maylin blasted the Neoshadows with a Thunder spell to knock them back when they landed on the ground.
"Is there a timing to it?" Nick wondered.
"When there's only four left, the only time we can hit them is when they land, before they try to go back into their portals," Maylin explained.
After a few rounds of this relay, Nick and Maylin were able to destroy two more Neoshadows, leaving only two left.
Almost immediately, one of the remaining Neoshadows sank into a portal. Nick was about go after the other one, only to find that he suddenly couldn't move. And the reason was obvious, being the Neoshadow that had jumped into a portal had emerged from underneath Nick to grab his legs and keep him from moving.
"Get off, you little bastard!" Nick growled.
"I got ya, buddy!" Maylin shouted, jumping over Nick and casting Blizzard to force the Neoshadow to retreat back into the portal.
This allowed Nick to resume chasing after the other Neoshadow, but he was ready this time when the first Neoshadow tried to grab his legs, jumping over it and casting Thunder to destroy the other Neoshadow.
This just left the one Neoshadow, which jumped to the left of the large tree and created six shadowy portals around itself.
"Get the ones coming out of the portals first!" Maylin exclaimed as she blasted two of the emerging Neoshadows with a Magic Hour. "If they fully emerge, they'll respawn and we'll be right back to square one!"
Nick nodded, casting Blizzard to blast two more of the emerging Neoshadows while Maylin destroyed the last two by casting Aero offensively, creating a spiral of cutting wind blades underneath them.
This finally left the last Neoshadow, who Nick rushed in and ended with a Ripple Drive.
"Whew, that was something else," Nick sighed once the coast was clear and Sophia had registered the Neoshadows' enemy data.
"Yeah, the Neoshadows are tricky customers," Maylin admitted. "Haruka, is Eri okay?"
"Safe as ever," Haruka responded as she and Eri walked back out from behind the large tree.
"I... I saw things like that... in the place I ran away from," Eri admitted. "They had... they were wearing masks like his..."
"Ooh, that doesn't sound good," Nick stated. "It sounds like whoever you ran away from might be the one controlling the Heartless around here."
"Let's keep moving and see if we can find a place for Eri to stay," Maylin quipped.
"Hey, why don't you try U.A. High School?" a random passer-by asked. "Sorry if I kinda eavesdropped, but if you're looking for a place to be safe, there's no safer place in the country than U.A.!"
"U.A. High, huh? All right, we'll look into it," Haruka stated. "Thanks, mister!"
"Sophia, if you can, could you show us the most direct route to U.A. High School?" Nick asked.
"Of course! Plotting the best course now," Sophia responded, calculating the best possible route and displaying the results on the Gummiphone screen.
With that, the trinity set off for U.A. High, following Sophia's directions the whole way.
About halfway to their destination, though, the group was ambushed by another group of Heartless, these ones matching the description that Eri had given them, being small sword-wielding knight types with bird-shaped plague masks over their mouths.
"Okay, I've never seen these ones before," Haruka admitted.
"They must be the ones Eri mentioned," Maylin quipped.
Nick immediately rushed forward to attack, leaping over one of the Plague Beak's sword strikes and slashed it in the back a few times, though this left him open for one of the other Plague Beaks to grab him from the back and surround him with an ugly purple glow that caused him to stumble.
Maylin recognized that pose, as it meant that the Plague Beak had poisoned Nick. She quickly ran to Nick's side and raised Spellbinder over him.
"I got ya, buddy," Maylin proclaimed. "Force, know my plight! Release the light! ESUNA!"
A cloud of golden sparkles enveloped Nick's body, clearing away the sickly purple glow almost instantly.
"Oof, that definitely didn't feel fun," Nick quipped. "Thanks for the save, Maylin."
"Any time, Nick!" Maylin giggled.
Eri took a few steps back, her legs shaking violently at the sight of the mask that had haunted her for most of her life. And Nick definitely took notice of Eri's fright.
"Don't you worry about a thing, 'kay, Eri?" Nick replied, bringing out the Wavecrystal. "How about I show you something cool?"
Of course, Eri watched in wide-eyed surprise as Nick summoned Laura and made short work of the remaining Plague Beaks.
"That was cool," Eri gasped, her instinctive fear of him momentarily forgotten as she watched Nick clean house.
"You really think so?" Nick teased as Maylin and Haruka reappeared. "Now how about we get out of here before something else decides to show up and ruin our jolly little trip?"
Almost as if on cue, Nick heard footsteps approaching them rapidly. Placing himself in front of Eri and re-summoning his keyblade, Nick swung it to counter the knife strike of a relatively petite, fair-skinned girl with an admittedly rather pretty face.
She jumped backwards, allowing the trinity to get a closer look at her. She had slightly inward-tilting bright yellow eyes with thin slits, making them somewhat resemble those of a cat, and her wide mouth was also rather feline, as both her upper and lower canines were more pointed and longer than the rest of her teeth, giving her a vampire-like appearance. Her hair was a pale, dirty ash-blonde and styled into two messy buns, with numerous wild strands sticking out at all angles from their centers and where they were fastened, a straight fringe and two chin-length side bangs to frame her face.
She was wearing a school outfit but with a few additional gadgets and pieces, such as a piped black mask, a box of knives strapped around her thighs, and a blue utility belt around her waist with more little green boxes attached to it on either side, along with a loose black mask around her neck, which was decorated with pieces of pale metal in the shape of a carnivorous grin. Three large silver canisters were attached to the sides of her mask, with needles poking out of their tips and wires on their bases, which connected them to the two larger cylinders strapped to the back of her belt.
"Okay, can't say I was expecting that," Haruka admitted.
"Oh-ho, so you must be the new players that Overhaul and that Ichinose girl are so fixated on," the girl, Himiko Toga, cackled. "You look even more lovely up close! And you must be skilled if you could detect me while I was hiding myself. Ooh, we're gonna have such a lovely time together!"
"...who is this nutball?" Maylin quipped.
"And I'm willing to guess that this Overhaul person is who Eri's running away from?" Nick stated.
"Wow, you're smart!" Toga giggled. "Now I wanna cut you up even more!"
Toga brandished a rather large knife and rushed in to attack the trinity, forcing Nick to summon Sniper Queen and start swinging to counter each of Toga's knife attacks.
"Eri, get back!" Nick shouted, and Eri quickly dashed behind a nearby mail box to hide from Toga while Nick struck Toga with an overhead chop to push her backwards. This didn't deter Toga for long, however, as she quickly jumped back into the fray, displaying surprising acrobatic skills as she leaped and flipped all over the place.
While Nick was trying to get a bead on Toga, she snuck up behind him and slashed at his arm, forcing him backwards before flipping away herself.
"Stand still, you brat!" Maylin shouted, casting Gravity on Toga in order to force her to her knees, allowing Maylin to start rapid-casting Fire spells to keep the crazy lady at bay.
"Yes, yes, that's the ticket! Show me even more of your love!" Toga wailed as she jumped through the air and pounced on Haruka.
"You first," Haruka responded as she kicked Toga off, then charged forward to land three clean slashes on her before finishing with a wild spinning attack that created a small whirlwind around her.
Toga was thrown backwards by the Windcutter attack, but bounced off of a nearby pillar to jump right back into the fray, wildly slashing at Nick with her knife. Nick tried to parry each strike as best as he could, but one swing ended up stumbling him, allowing Toga to throw out a bunch of wires that hooked themselves into Nick's arm.
"Wh-what the hell?!" Nick gasped as he saw what appeared to be his own blood being drained into those canisters on her outfit.
"Come on, give me more!" Toga cackled. "Give me everything you've got!"
Maylin quickly dashed over and cast Aero, the wind blades severing the cables that were draining Nick's blood so that Nick could respond by knocking Toga straight into the air with a Ripple Drive, then Haruka leapfrogged off of Nick's shoulders and spiked Toga down into the ground with a mighty stab from Divine Rose.
"Now are you gonna back off before we have to get even nastier?!" Maylin taunted.
Toga simply picked herself up and laughed in a rather disturbing way.
"Nah, I've got everything I need now," Toga giggled. "I've had my fun, so I'll see ya later!"
And with that, Toga turned around and dashed off, leaving the trinity rather confused as to what the heck had just happened.
"Okay, so... what the hell was THAT?!" Maylin shouted. "Did that chick really just attack us to take some of Nick's blood and then beat it?!"
"Truly, the madness of other worlds is a mystery," Haruka quipped. "But, before she attacked us, she said something about Overhaul, that guy who's apparently after Eri, and Ichinose, the lady that the Elsa crew told us about back in Traverse Town. You think those two are connected somehow?"
"That's what I was thinking," Nick answered. "From what Ziggy told me, Ichinose seems to be the ringleader of whatever evil operation's trying to control the Heartless."
"That makes me think that we really need to get Eri to U.A. on the absolute double, before even more freaks and weirdoes start piling on us," Haruka started. "Sophia, can you keep guiding us?"
"Just follow the birdie," Sophia giggled.
As their trip to U.A. High School continued, they just missed Ellen ducking into a nearby alleyway.
On the way there, Eri pointed out a nearby treasure chest that was shaking at random points.
"You think there's more fairies in there?" Maylin wondered.
"We may as well find out," Nick quipped, tapping the treasure chest with the Kingdom Key to open it and release another quartet of small fairy creatures.
"Oh, thank goodness, I could hardly breathe in there!" Flappy gasped. "Wait, we're free?!"
"What happened to Saki and Mai?!" Choppy exclaimed.
"I'm not sure, but Nagisa and Honoka and their fairies are waiting for you in Traverse Town," Nick answered. "So you'd probably better skedaddle over there."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Moop quipped.
"Let's go and find them!" Foop proclaimed.
With that, all four of the fairies vanished in a flash of multi-colored sparkles.
"Did I... just see fairies?" Eri asked.
"Trust me, Eri, that's a long story," Nick laughed.
At U.A. High itself, both Overhaul and Ichinose were staring at the heavily fortified outer gates. One of Overhaul's most loyal henchmen, Shin Nemoto, was standing right behind the two of them.
"And you're sure we won't be detected?" Overhaul proclaimed. "You know that U.A. has top of the line security."
"Relax, we're all being shielded by the power of darkness right now," Ichinose chuckled. "To U.A.'s security systems, we may as well be invisible."
"Yeah, to normal security!"
Overhaul glanced to the right and noticed that the trinity was approaching them fast. "Wonderful, more deluded filth," Overhaul groaned.
"Wait, it's that boy again," Ichinose quipped.
"He's quite the persistent little rat," Overhaul growled. "Why not explain what's going on to that Ellen girl you enthralled? That may actually prove useful to us."
Ichinose looked up and smiled as the trinity stopped right in front of them.
"I'm gonna guess that you're Overhaul, right?" Nick proclaimed, though he didn't actually have to say as much out loud, since the scared expression on Eri's face when she once again laid eyes on her tormentor said everything he needed to know. Nick reached out with his free hand to hold Eri's hand.
"Ah, there you are, Eri," Overhaul stated as he raised his hands to summon a pack of Plague Beaks around him. "So, have you finally come to your senses?"
"You'd better back the hell away from Eri if you know what's good for you, beak man," Maylin growled, aiming Spellbinder towards Overhaul. "I don't know what you've done to her, but that crap ends now."
"You're so deluded," Overhaul taunted. "You really think your blind heroism will get you anything but a painful death? I'm utterly sick of you pathetic 'heroes' thinking you're the ultimate judge of right and wrong..."
"Yeah, but when you talk like that, you're clearly giving off vibes that you're insane," Haruka shot back. "Can you blame us for thinking you're the one who's crazy, especially when you reek of the power of darkness?!"
"Oh, come on, don't tell me you actually believe that nonsense?" Ichinose laughed. "I figured that, of all people, keyblade wielders would know better about the balance."
"Let me guess, you're Kuon Ichinose?" Nick quipped.
"Correct!" Ichinose laughed. "It seems like my reputation precedes me, huh? That's pretty neat."
Suddenly, a loud gasp of surprise came from Nick's Gummiphone, one that even seemed to surprise Ichinose.
"Is everything okay, Sophia?" Nick asked. To his confusion, Sophia looked quite shocked, as if she'd remembered something.
"I just realized why the name Kuon Ichinose sounded so familiar, despite my missing memories," Sophia proclaimed. "Because she is my creator."
"W-wait, this crazy witch created you, Sophia?!" Maylin gasped.
"Ah, if it isn't my misguided creation," Ichinose chuckled, sounding very nonchalant about the whole thing. "I wondered if you were ever going to turn up again."
"From the way you're acting, it sounds like you just straight up abandoned Sophia for whatever reason," Nick growled. "Any chance you're going to explain that?!"
"A story for another time, I'm afraid," Ichinose retorted. "For now, I must bid you all adieu. Much to do, after all. Overhaul, I'm going to go look for the princess. You just have fun with these people."
Before Nick could wring any more answers out, Ichinose passed through a corridor of darkness and vanished.
"What was that crack about a princess?" Haruka quipped.
"Simple, really," Overhaul proclaimed, his hand moving. "We're looking for a very special maiden, one of seven who hold the key to opening the door."
Nick gently motioned for Eri to move behind him, considering he knew that a fight was probably about to erupt.
To the trinity's surprise, Overhaul, instead of attacking them, lashed out to grab Nemoto's face in his own hand.
"But you deluded filth won't live to see what lies beyond that door," Overhaul growled, activating his Quirk to break down both Nemoto and himself, a burst of darkness surrounding them for a brief moment.
When the darkness cleared up, Overhaul had gained an additional two arms deformed with spiked claws and black parts of Nemoto's cape, his hair had gotten much spikier and wilder, and his mask was ripped apart, seeming to be fused onto his face.
"I hope you're ready to be cleansed," Overhaul snarled, his voice a mix of both his own and Nemoto's. "You will return Eri to me."
"Fat chance of that, buddy," Nick shot back. "If you wanna dance, then let's dance already!"
Nick was the first to charge in, switching from Kingdom Key to Sniper Queen as he jumped over Overhaul's extra arms all trying to grab him.
"D-Don't let him grab you!" Eri shouted.
"Such insolence, Eri," Overhaul laughed. "Who taught you that? Because it certainly wasn't me!"
Overhaul jumped back from another keyblade swing, then lunged forward to grab Nick's keyblade, only to find that, for whatever reason, his Quirk wouldn't affect it.
"Well, guess some outside-context magic means your Quirk doesn't work on me, huh?" Nick laughed as he stabbed Overhaul in the chest with Sniper Queen, before switching back to Paper Master and taking advantage of its magic-boosting attributes to blast Overhaul backwards with a powered-up Fire spell.
Nick made sure to jump away from the large rock spires that erupted underneath him, no doubt created by Overhaul.
Maylin cast Blizzard to break through the rock spires and slash at Overhaul, eventually knocking him into the air with a Magic Hour. Haruka followed up by standing directly underneath Overhaul and, the instant he landed, slamming Divine Rose into the ground, cracking and splintering the ground underneath him and sending him flying backwards.
Overhaul recovered quickly, then jumped off of a nearby part of the U.A. Gate to lunge towards where Eri was trying to hide.
As this happened, time slowed down for Nick, and the teeth of Sniper Queen sparkled, indicating he'd just learned a new move.
"She doesn't want to be saved!" Overhaul exclaimed. "Eri's only future is with me!"
"Oh, shut your trap already, beak boy!" Nick shouted, winding up and throwing his keyblade towards Overhaul, Sniper Queen spinning through the air to hit Overhaul and knock him off course away from Eri. Nick wasn't done yet, however, calling his keyblade back to his hands only to throw it again, keeping Overhaul locked in his spot so that Eri could get away. Nick kept this up for six throws before finishing with a stronger two-handed throw that knocked Overhaul for a loop.
"That's a pretty messed-up way to treat a girl, you know," Nick stated. "I don't even want to know what you've already done to her, either."
"You really think we're going to listen to someone who believes we can't defy fate?!" Maylin exclaimed. "Defying fate is one of the things a keyblade wielder does best, after all!"
"If fate puts a wall in our path, then we'll just smash right through that wall, no matter what!" Haruka proclaimed.
"Filth! You're all disgusting, deluded filth!" Overhaul shouted as he picked himself up, slamming all six of his hands to the ground to create a massive upheaval of rock spikes and spires all around him, forcing the trinity to jump away. "Seriously believing you can take away what belongs to me?!"
In the chaos of his latest attack, Overhaul once again lunged for Eri, with nobody nearby between them. "This is the end, Eri! You will return to me, no matter what this filth says!" Overhaul exclaimed.
Despite her fear of Overhaul, Eri couldn't help but replay the trinity's words in her mind.
"Don't worry about a thing, 'kay? You can stay with us until we can find you a safe place to stay. That's a promise."
"How about I show you something cool?"
"If fate puts a wall in our path, then we'll just smash right through that wall, no matter what!"
They... they really do care about me, Eri thought, her mind made up and her own Quirk activating.
As Overhaul prepared to grab Eri, she retaliated by slamming her hands into his chest, using her Quirk to undo Overhaul's fusion and separate Nemoto from him.
"I don't know how you did that, Eri, but you rock, girl!" Maylin exclaimed.
"Come on, you guys, we have to take him down while he's out of it!" Haruka proclaimed.
However, Overhaul had other plans, as his body began shimmering with an oppressive dark energy.
"Fools, every single one of you," Overhaul snarled. "I will not be defeated by a bunch of know-nothing brats who believe they know better than me! I hope you're all prepared to die a brutal and painful death!"
The darkness surrounding Overhaul suddenly exploded outwards until it revealed that Overhaul had taken a massive new form, consisting of a monstrous stone structure that towered over U.A. with multiple protruding appendages each ending in a clawed hand, and Overhaul's upper body protruding from the mouth of this beast, and the Heartless symbol imprinted on its chest.
"Oh, my lord, did he just turn himself into a kaiju?!" Nick shouted.
"He gave himself up to the darkness," Haruka responded, having clearly seen something like this before.
"Eri is special, don't you know?" Overhaul laughed as the Stone Sentinel advanced on the trinity, his voice much deeper and snarly. "Her Quirk is like nothing else in this world. She can essentially 'rewind' anything. If she wanted, she could turn a human into a monkey or even erase them from existence. And that's precisely why you need to hand her over to me. Her power is nothing but a curse, a curse that only I can fix."
"Yeah, she only thinks it's a curse because you've done nothing but fill her head with lies!" Nick shot back, not noticing the large crowd of heroes and even U.A. students that had noticed Overhaul's new form. "Haven't you ever heard the saying that power isn't bad if you do good things with it?"
"That kind of belief is born from the cursed hero society in which we all live today," Overhaul countered. "None of you truly understand how important her power is. I researched her extensively, breaking her down and reconstructing her multiple times until her blood gave birth to the Quirk-Destroying Bullets, so I can eradicate Quirks and return this world to the normalcy we had before all of these wretched superheroes overran this world and made it filthy and disgusting!"
Eri looked up at Nick and noticed that he was now incredibly angry due to what Overhaul had implied about what he'd done to Eri.
"...you even used your Quirk on Eri?!" Nick growled. "Is there seriously no low you won't sink to so you can fulfill your sick ambitions?!"
"You don't see the bigger picture!" Overhaul proclaimed as the Stone Sentinel smashed its front leg into the ground. "I'm changing this world for the better!"
"More like you're destroying it," Maylin countered. "Nick, Haruka, there's clearly no reasoning with this jerk, so let's just end him already."
"One second," Nick quipped, jogging over to Eri. "Eri, I'll make this quick: we're going to destroy this freak show, but we might need your help to do it. I can probably imagine that no one's ever given you a choice in anything before now, so I want this to be your choice."
Nick kneeled down and put his hands on Eri's shoulders.
"Eri... will you lend me your power?"
Even in spite of all the emotions coursing through her mind at the moment, the one thing she latched onto was that Nick's hands were warm and gentle with her. He wasn't demanding to use her power, he was asking if it was okay for him to borrow it.
Seeing Nick's smile was all the convincing that Eri needed, and she nodded furiously before leaping to hug Nick tightly.
"Thank you, Eri," Nick responded. "Get on my back, 'kay?"
Eri did so, climbing onto Nick's back as Maylin walked up and raised Spellbinder to create a magical ring that tied Eri to Nick so they could stay together.
"There you go, all nice and snug," Maylin giggled. "And Eri, don't worry about your power, all right? Because you've got a master mage on your side to take care of any troubles!"
"T-thank you... thank you so much!" Eri cried.
"Here he comes!" Haruka shouted as the Stone Sentinel began to march forward, tearing up the streets as it did so. This caused many of the nearby heroes to move to evacuate any nearby civilians and keep them out of the danger zone.
"Eri is mine!" Overhaul shouted as the Stone Sentinel thrust both of its front legs towards Nick. In response, Nick raised Kingdom Key and swung it, Eri's power adding to his own to keep him in the fight and allowing him to deflect the strike, causing the Stone Sentinel to dip backwards.
"I think the only way we're gonna truly end this is if we find a way to separate Overhaul from that thing," Haruka stated. "Nick, you jump on that thing's back and start hacking away. We'll keep him busy for you."
Nick nodded as he leaped up the many legs of the Stone Sentinel to eventually land on its back.
"Okay, now what exactly do we have to smash up here?" Nick wondered.
"Hey, what about that?" Eri replied, pointing to some spires that were glowing with dark energy.
"That'll do just fine," Nick quipped, running forward to swing Kingdom Key at the glowing spire in front of him, eventually breaking the spire with a Ripple Drive. This caused the Stone Sentinel to lurch forward, indicating he'd done something right.
As the Stone Sentinel dipped downwards, Maylin leapfrogged off of Haruka's shoulders to fire a Thunder spell directly into Overhaul's body, while Haruka used her monstrous strength to attack the Stone Sentinel's legs and keep it distracted.
When Nick moved to attack another glowing spire, it suddenly pulsed with dark energy and sent him flying backwards, though he managed to recover just in time to land on his feet. Eri quickly used some of her power to rewind the injury he'd just taken, not daring to go beyond a little bit at a time for fear of losing control.
Nick just smiled at Eri and patted her on the head as he moved to destroy the next dark spire with a Blitz. The Stone Sentinel lurched again, even wobbling in different directions at points.
"It's wobbling?" Eri wondered.
"That can only mean that my friends are sticking it to Overhaul down there," Nick replied.
"...why would you want to help me, though?" Eri asked. "My power is a curse... I've done... horrible things with it..."
"Eri, your power is not a curse," Nick proclaimed. "That's only a lie that Overhaul put into your head so you'd listen to him. If you want my opinion, I think your Quirk is gentle and kind. After all, you healed me with it when I took that nasty blast earlier, remember? You may have a very unusual power, but remember what I told Overhaul: power isn't bad if you do good things with it. And you did a very good thing by helping me out, Eri."
Tears started to form in Eri's eyes. No one in her life had ever been so nice to her before this, so it was very overwhelming. She hugged Nick tightly as he moved to attack another dark spire, eventually breaking it off and causing the Stone Sentinel to roar in pain.
"We're almost done here," Nick quipped. "Just one more spire to go and we can..."
"HEY, HEADS UP, YOU GUYS!" Maylin called out from ground level as the Stone Sentinel began to raise many of its arms. Almost immediately, hundreds of rock spikes materialized around Nick and Eri.
Nick moved without thinking, spinning around in his spot so that the rock spikes all lashed at him instead of Eri, and by the time the barrage was over, Nick was barely standing due to the damage he'd suffered.
Despite her own fears of losing the first people in her life to be nice to her, Eri's concern for Nick overrode her fear and she used her power to rewind the injuries he'd taken, though it took a little longer than before due to the severity of the wounds she was rewinding.
When she was finished, Eri suddenly felt a sharp pain in her horn, though she blocked it out. She couldn't lose control now of all times, not when Nick was depending on her.
Thankfully, it didn't take much longer for Nick to find the final dark spire and swiftly destroy it with a Ripple Drive, and this caused the Stone Sentinel to lurch forward. Nick took this as his cue to jump back down to the ground using the Stone Sentinel's legs as stepping stones, rejoining Maylin and Haruka as Overhaul himself, pretty battered and bruised thanks to Maylin and Haruka, wobbled in his perch.
Nick switched back to the Kingdom Key and aimed it for Overhaul.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Overhaul, but when it comes to fate, we make our own!" Nick proclaimed, a bright light shining around the Kingdom Key's teeth before it fired a large beam of light that pierced through Overhaul's body, separating him from the Stone Sentinel and leaving the massive stone beast to writhe in agony before collapsing to the ground and dissolving into bursts of dark wisps.
A large, glowing heart floated away from the remains of the Stone Sentinel, and a small, spherical gemstone rolled up to Nick's feet. Recognizing it as a summon gem, Nick picked it up and placed it in his pocket, making a mental note to ask Haruka to take them back to Traverse Town later.
Now that the Stone Sentinel was gone, a few nearby pro heroes, including one who seemed to literally be on fire, moved to arrest the unconscious Overhaul, only for his body to dissolve into nothingness, the only thing remaining being a small, blackened heart that floated away before vanishing.
"Hey, what happened?" Mt. Lady gasped. "Did he just teleport somewhere?"
"Nope, he's kaput," Maylin sighed, resting Spellbinder on her shoulder. "When someone gives themselves up to the darkness like he did, what you just saw is usually the only thing that awaits them."
"Does... does that mean he's gone?" Eri asked as Maylin undid the magical bindings so she could jump off of Nick's back.
"Yes, he's gone, Eri," Nick responded. "He won't hurt you ever again."
And that was a massive relief for Eri, who once again leaped forward to hug Nick even as a few U.A. students, particularly a boy with fluffy dark-green hair, moved in to see what was going on.
Almost as if on cue, a collection of sparkles began to congregate in the sky above U.A., eventually forming into the shape of a large keyhole.
Despite everyone nearby wondering just what the heck was happening, Nick raised the Kingdom Key and fired a beam of light into the keyhole, sealing it off with a loud click.
Naturally, Nick had no idea what to make of some of the students, specifically an excitable pink-skinned girl, mobbing him and asking things about his "Quirk".
Maylin and Haruka could only watch in amusement.
Meanwhile, far away from this world, in the chapel where Ichinose's council resided, Zagi stared in disgust at the viewing pool that was showing the remaining members what was going on at U.A. High.
"What a waste of a worthy opponent," Zagi cackled. "You know, I'm willing to bet that mister disease boy would have had them all dead to rights if someone had stuck around to give him a hand or two. Tell me I'm wrong!"
Ellen just sighed in frustration, wishing Zagi wasn't so bloodthirsty at times. Behind her, wrapped in chains of darkness, was a girl with bobbed and curved brown hair, brown eyes, and wearing a pink and white combat outfit.
"Why don't you lay off, Zagi?" Ellen shot back, twirling Starlight in her right hand. "After all, I did my part and found the princess, so get off my back."
"Honestly, Overhaul was beyond saving," Ichinose admitted. "He was consumed by his own hatred for hero society. One should be careful not to let hatred burn too fiercely, right, Zagi?"
"Lighten up, Ichinose, I'm as cool as they come, really," Zagi replied. Ellen wasn't sure if she believed that. "By the way, girlie, I didn't get to mention this earlier, but we got you a present."
"Wait, what?" Ellen asked.
"Hey, we had a deal, right?" Ichinose replied. "You help us, and we grant you what you've been looking for..."
A transparent image of an unconscious Marie, sleeping on an oddly-shaped crystal throne, appeared in the viewing pool.
"M-Marie!" Ellen gasped.
"All you have to do is go to her," Ichinose stated.
Just then, a statuesque woman with long, wavy red hair and orange eyes and wearing a long, purple maxi dress walked up to Ellen.
"Just remember that this won't be a pleasure cruise, little missy," Queen Beryl proclaimed. "After all, I may need your help with a certain ragtag group of my own."
Ellen looked over to Ichinose. "Why are you doing all of this for me?" Ellen asked. "There's gotta be a catch to this."
"Not really," Ichinose responded. "After all, I just want you to be happy and find the friends you're missing."
Ellen just scoffed as she walked towards the chapel's exit right behind Queen Beryl. "I highly doubt that," Ellen shot back.
"You can believe whatever you want to, but just remember that I kept my end of the bargain. All I ask is that you keep yours," Ichinose proclaimed.
Ellen just stared at Ichinose before the corridor of darkness surrounded her and Queen Beryl.
Back at U.A. High School, the trinity were sitting in a hospital room with Eri.
"Do you really have to go?" Eri asked.
"Sadly, that's our job as keyblade wielders, Eri," Maylin sighed. "We're constantly on the move, making sure other worlds are safe from the Heartless."
"But I promise you'll be safe here, Eri," Nick stated. "Overhaul can't hurt you anymore."
"...please come back soon, okay?" Eri quipped, smiling ever so slightly.
"Oh, that's an absolute promise, Eri," Haruka chuckled. "And we never break our promises."
Eri nodded in assent before reaching out to the desk by her bed to grab something so she could give it to Nick. It appeared to actually be two things, one of which looked like a data chip and the other being a small keychain shaped like the U.A. logo.
"I wanted to give these to you before you left," Eri stated. "Something to keep you safe on your adventure."
Nick took the keychain and attached it to his keyblade, then backed away from Eri (so he wouldn't accidentally break anything nearby) and swung the keyblade, the weapon transforming into a new one mid-swing. This new weapon had a handleguard styled after the U.A. gates, a hilt with the U.A. symbol embedded on it, a long, silver blade that reflected the color of Eri's hair, teeth resembling a rewind symbol (representing Eri's Quirk, Rewind), and the keychain token connected by a keychain with links resembling Eri's horns. The words Plus Ultra ran through Nick's mind as he studied the weapon.
"Oh, I forgot about this," Eri stated as she also handed Nick what appeared to be an ordinary book page, though it was glowing brightly. "I took this from Overhaul before I ran away."
"Hey, that looks like one of the missing pages from that storybook in Traverse Town," Nick quipped.
"Guess we're making a pitstop, then," Haruka responded.
After the trinity said their goodbyes to Eri and promising to come back and visit soon, they walked away from U.A., only to wonder what the data chip was for.
"It kinda looks like something you could put in your Gummiphone, Nick," Maylin quipped.
"Yeah, you're right," Nick replied. "...actually, hold on. Sophia, are you doing okay?"
Sophia appeared on the screen of Nick's Gummiphone, looking slightly worried about something. "...I am not sure," Sophia answered. "I do not know why Ichinose has changed so drastically."
"That must have been hard, learning that the leader of the bad guys that are after our keesters was the woman who created you," Haruka proclaimed.
"The last thing I remember of Ichinose was that I went with her on a journey to understand the human heart better," Sophia explained. "She has not had an easy life, to put it in simple terms. I still can't remember why my memories were wiped again, or why Ichinose changed as she did."
"The darkness must have gotten to her somehow since the last time you two saw each other," Nick quipped. "If your world was consumed by the Heartless, it would make a lot of sense. But don't you worry, Sophia, we'll find a way to snap Ichinose out of it, no matter what it takes. That's a promise."
"...and you never break your promises," Sophia giggled. "I truly am glad someone like you found me, Nick."
Sophia then noticed the data chip that Nick was holding in his other hand. "Oh, did you find a flash drive for the Gummiphone?" Sophia asked.
"Eri gave it to us before we set out," Nick replied. "It looks like something the Gummiphone could analyze, so... could you do that for us, Sophia?"
"Okay, I've got it," Sophia proclaimed as Nick inserted the chip into a slot on the Gummiphone so that Sophia could analyze its contents. After about ten seconds, Sophia reappeared on the phone screen. "It appears to be a report. The first of many, by a man named... Yaldabaoth, according to the data."
"Hey, isn't Yaldabaoth that guy who was researching the Heartless before everything went to crap?" Maylin wondered.
"What does the report say, Sophia?" Haruka asked.
Sophia re-analyzed the report and read it aloud to the trinity as she did so.
Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge.
That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that.
I am blessed with the people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand.
I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times.
Darkness... darkness of the heart. How is it born?
How does it come to affect us so?
As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness.
"Hmmm... that brings up an interesting theory," Haruka stated. "What if this Yaldabaoth guy researched the Heartless a little too much, if you catch my drift?"
"You think... you think he was taken by the Heartless?" Maylin gasped.
"The Heartless aren't anything to trifle with, especially if you don't have a keyblade like us," Nick quipped. "I guess all we can do is keep our eyes out for any more pages of this report if we want the full story."
"So, I guess that means we're done here," Haruka stated. "Shall we get to the Gummi Ship and head back to Traverse Town?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Maylin proclaimed.
With that, Haruka activated her wrist device to teleport the trinity back to the Gummi Ship, with Eri watching them fly away from this world.
To be continued...
New keyblade acquired!
Plus Ultra
Strength: 12
MP: +2
Recoil: 40
Critical Rate: x2
Critical Bonus: +4
Ability: Air Combo Plus
Description: A keyblade representing the many heroes who work to make their world better. A powerful weapon that increases max MP by 2 and sometimes deals powerful critical blows. Extends aerial combo attack by one step. (Equip more to extend it further.)
On the next episode...
Nick: It's time for our second Traverse Town pitstop!
Maylin: Methinks we'll be doing a lot of those during our adventure.
Haruka: It's time to see what's going on in the Pipo Storybook, and also to find out who our newest ally is!
Nick: Make sure you don't miss any of the antics on the next episode of Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse, "Fleet-Footed Blue Monkey"!
Sophia: May your hearts be your guiding key!