Hi, everybody! Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend and staying safe! Here is another update. I hope you like it!
Review responses at the end, as usual.
Opening Song:
"Mukoku," by My First Story
"Where is he?" Shigaraki screeched, his red eyes scanning the tiny group of students at the top of the stairs by the main entrance. "Where is All Might?"
"The only heroes I see are Aizawa, Thirteen and Eighteen," Kurogiri said, his black tendrils swirling around Shigaraki and the masked villain. "Perplexing. According to the schedule we received from our contact, he should be here alone."
"Ugh! I knew we shouldn't have trusted that four-eyed brat." Shigaraki hissed, angrily clawing at his neck. "And here I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends who are eager to meet him. I can't believe he's not here! Oh well. Maybe if I kill a few kids, he'll come out to play."
"So, you're the ones responsible for the attack earlier," Aizawa shouted at the approaching horde of villains, defiantly.
"The League of Villains," Gohan breathed, unable to tear his gaze away from them. As he remembered the fight with just two League members earlier in the day, a chill ran down Gohan's spine, forcing him to scratch at it.
The country was still reeling from the attack a few hours earlier and already, the League had made their move before the heroes could bounce back. It was either a foolish, reckless move – or a master stroke.
"I can't get a single call out for help!" Thirteen grunted, tapping on the small communication device attached to a micro antenna on the side of her helmet. "Where is All Might?"
"Last I heard, he was still putting out fires at that media circus trying to explain why a handful of students went off to fight on their own without supervision, but that ended over an hour ago," Aizawa yelled, slipping his yellow goggles on over his eyes with one hand and taking hold of the end of his capture scarf with the other. "Kaminari, try to amplify your Quirk to reach the school."
"Yes, sir!" Denki nodded, leaning on Kirishima's shoulder for support, his sore legs trembling.
Gohan tapped furiously at the scouter's comm button.
C'mon, Dende! Pick up!
Over the past few months, Dende and Gohan had been able to communicate clearly through the scouter thanks to a high-powered satellite that Dende had invented and installed at the top of the Lookout that guaranteed a clear, encoded connection that did not require assistance from a third party and would be nearly impossible to hack.
And during every major crisis that he had faced, Dende was always there to support him as his eyes in the sky – a true Guardian.
This time, however, nothing but static responded to him. Gohan grimaced and looked up at Aizawa, shaking his head.
"No use, sir," he said. "There's a layer of static interfering – and I'm willing to bet that it's someone's Quirk at work."
"Then we're on our own, for now," Aizawa told the other two Pros.
"No, you're not," Gohan said, stepping forward. "We're heroes, too. We can stand up and fight back, right here, right now."
"No," Aizawa retorted, coldly. "Your job is to keep the others safe. Let the Pro's handle the villains."
"But-"
"I don't have time to argue with you right now, Son!" Aizawa shouted, silencing Gohan. "Thirteen, get my students out of here. Gohan, make sure everyone gets back to the school safely. Eighteen, you're with me."
Gohan clenched his jaw and tightened his fist.
Everyone has a role…
"Yes, sir," he finally conceded.
"But Mister Aizawa, there are at least a hundred villains down there," Izuku protested, stepping forward. "Even if you can nullify their Quirks, your style is better suited for stealth and one-on-one fights. And Eighteen, you're more of a rescue-type Hero than a combat one. You two can't beat them on your own."
"Tch," Eighteen gritted her teeth, crossing her arms over her chest. "Weren't you listening to a word I said just a minute ago, kid? Just because we use our Quirks for rescuing doesn't mean we can't use them to fight."
"She's right. You can't be a Pro if you only have one trick, Midoriya" Aizawa grinned. "I'll leave them to you, Thirteen. Take care of our kids."
Number Thirteen nodded.
"Ready, Eighteen?" Aizawa asked, turning to the blonde beauty. Eighteen chuckled and thrust both fists to her sides. Wind picked up around her, whipping against her clothes and making her blonde ponytail and the thick bang across her face sway wildly.
"I haven't used my Quirk for combat in quite a while," she said, her sky blue eyes glazing over with a predatory glint. "I'll try not to make too much of a mess."
With that, the two heroes leaped forward and charged with such ferocious velocity that not even the villains were expecting.
"He's mine!" Monster Carrot roared, hopping forward to meet Aizawa, hand outstretched. "Too slow, old man! TRANSFORM!"
Monster Carrot's furry white paws landed on Aizawa's chest – and nothing happened. To Carrot's surprise, Aizawa did not transform at all. Instead, he brought his knee up straight onto Carrot's gut, hard.
"Oomph!" The giant anthropomorphic rabbit wheezed, coughing out saliva. Aizawa's arm shot forward, whipping his capturing weapon around and lassoing the villain's corpulent body. As Aizawa shot past him towards Carrot's cronies, he twisted into a front flip that swung the crying rabbit over and around his shoulder, slamming into three members of the Rabbit Gang.
"W-what the hell just happened? Why didn't my Quirk work?!" Monster Carrot whimpered, rubbing the gash between his long ears as Aizawa leapt away towards the next villain, drop-kicking him in the chest and sending him flying back. Monster Carrot turned to his cronies. "Quit gawking and light him up!"
But when Carrot's firing squad, led by AK, Canon and Torch aimed their hands at Aizawa, once again, nothing happened.
"My guns!" AK whined, the barrels on his fingertips clicking uselessly.
"Hey, watch out!" Torch shouted as Aizawa's capture weapon wrapped around her, AK and Canon, and flung them into the sky like ragdolls, where they collided together and crash landed in a tangled heap on the ground.
"Idiots!" Another villain cried as Aizawa advanced without missing a beat. "That's Eraserhead! He can cancel your Quirks just by looking at you!"
"Cancellation, huh?" A giant, four armed villain made of stone jeered, charging at Aizawa. "Bet you can't cancel the Quirk of a heteromorphic-type!"
"Yeah, you're right," Aizawa finally responded, side-stepping the clumsy villain's attack and back flipping just out of reach. "But a big, dumb villain like you is only dangerous if you can reach me."
Before the giant knew what hit him, a fist cracked against the side of his jaw with such force that it sent him hurling towards a cluster of villains, knocking them all down like bowling pins.
"Too bad you have to get through her, first," Aizawa smiled, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to point at Eighteen as she slowly descended from her flight to stand back-to-back with Aizawa as the villains encircled them. Eighteen shot the villains a cocky glare and brought her fists up, crouching at the ready.
"I've seen enough!" Monster Carrot bellowed, shaking his hands furiously at his henchmen. "Firing Squad – shoot them! DO IT NOW!"
The dozen or so gangsters that wore bright green fatigues similar to Carrot's robes and false rabbit ears aimed their rifles at the pair of heroes.
Eighteen's internal targeting computer alerted her to the threat and as the men opened fire, she brought her arms up.
"Eraser!" She shouted, turning towards Aizawa.
Seeing an opening, more villains lifted their weapons and fired at the pair of Pro's. Dozens of bullets, laser blasts, flames, electric charges, spikes and blades, shot towards the spot where the Pro's were standing, kicking up dust. Finally, the two Saiyan villains, Shorty and Scarface, lifted their palms, and shot forth ki blasts.
The triagular, purple blast from Shorty and the bright yellow ki blast from Scarface whined and whistled as they spun, combining in midair to create a single, massive blast. In a flash of blinding light, the combined ki blast impacted the two heroes, causing a deafening explosion that cratered the ground and lifted up a large cloud of dust and debris.
Detecting no further movement from within the cloud after that final attack, the rest of the villains seized fire. Shigaraki leaned forward, his blood-red eyes scanning the scene with glee. He laughed when he saw no movement.
"There," Shigaraki cackled, basking in the wonderful carnage. "Now that those two have been taken care of-"
With a grunt, Shigaraki froze mid-sentence. The cloud began to settle and dissipate, revealing the dazzling fuchsia-pink light of Eighteen's Energy Field, protectively surrounding her and Eraserhead, and the ground on which they stood.
"No…" Shigaraki croaked. "I don't believe this! You guys really are so cool!"
Eighteen looked up and smiled at the villains.
"My turn," she taunted with a savage glint in her eye. Her hands still up, she thrust them forward in the direction of the villains and instantly, blasts of neon-pink energy shot out of the energy field, taking to the skies. The blasts whined as they arched overhead and plunged down onto the villains, detonating on impact and sending both villains and debris flying.
Those weren't just random blasts, either. They were targeted so that their impact produced the most amount of damage, hurling towards the thick of the villainous mob.
"Holy whoa, that's Eighteen's Infinity Bullet!" Midoriya drooled over the rare display of power from the Rescue Hero. "She's only ever used it once, to stop a destructive meteorite shower that was going to hit Tokyo a few years ago. What a precise and deadly attack!"
"This is no time to be analyzing, Midoriya!" Iida yelled from the front of the group.
"Come on, Deku! We've got to get out of here!" Melissa yelled, grabbing Midoriya's red gloved hand and pulling him along. The two students took off running behind their teacher.
Back at the plaza, the front-lines of the League was getting crippled by the Android's salvo of energy blasts.
"That's right," Eighteen mocked with a predatory smile, stepping forward. "Run and scatter, you pack of rats!"
"Take cover!" The villains shouted, scurrying to flee the neon missiles raining down on them. A cluster of blasts whined as they arched in midair and shot towards Yurin.
"Majin!" The puppeteer villain cried, covering her face with her mesh-gloved hands. A Majin woman with a leopard Quirk jumped in front of her, extending her arms protectively. The blasts hit her body instead, contorting it and sending her crashing to the ground in a smoldering heap.
"No! My beautiful Leona! Grrrrahhh! You'll pay for that, you bitch!" Yurin roared, lifting her hand and waving it at her minions, activating her Quirk. A fiery M symbol appeared on her forehead.
"Majin – rise! Rise!" She shouted.
"We are the Soldiers of the League of Villains," three dozen or so warriors of different shapes, colors and Quirks spoke in mindless, monotone unison, rising from the ground to stand in front of their master. The black stylized M branded on their forehead blazed like a livened flame. "When our Master calls, we obey. We exist only to kneel before Shigaraki."
"CHAAAARGE!" Yurin bellowed, her voice cracking with rage, pointing at the two Heroes that stood in the middle of the destroyed plaza. The Rabbit Mob, the Saiyans, and the rest of the villains rallied behind Yurin and her Majin, surging forward.
Aizawa pointed at Yurin, who was charging at them furiously.
"She seems to have those villains under some kind of spell," he shouted over the League of Villain's thunderous war cry. "I'm going to try to take her out. Cover me!"
"Right behind ya, Eraser!" Eighteen nodded, taking to the skies. As Aizawa leaped back into the fray, engaging a Majin with a lizard-like Quirk, Eighteen scanned the frontline of villains with her internal targeting computer.
Her eyes traced an attack pattern that would clear Aizawa's path towards the pigtailed villain controlling the Majins. The next instant, Eighteen swooped down, much faster than the naked eye could follow, turning into little more than a blur, crashing head-first into the first villain in her path and bulldozing over him with tremendous force.
Before the villain's body could even hit the floor, she was already moving onto the next one, spinning across the ground and rising up with an uppercut that sent the next majin flying. She grabbed him by the boot, spun him several times and tossed him into the path of another charging villain. The two villains collapsed on the floor and Eighteen finished them all off with a fiery pink energy blast.
In less than five seconds, Eighteen and Eraserhead had already taken down a dozen villains. Their wounded bodies now littered the plaza behind them as the Pro's moved in on the final duo of villains standing between them and Yurin.
"I've got them!" Aizawa yelled, surging forward into a sprint. He unwrapped his capture device and his hair shot upward, floating in air. His eyes glowed red within his goggles as he canceled their Quirks.
Eighteen scanned the two villains to get a sense of what their Quirks were.
"Wait a minute!" Eighteen gasped, leaping forward and spear-tackling Aizawa before he could get any closer. As the two heroes leaped to the side, the largest of the two villains unleashed a bright red blast that zoomed through the air, catching Eighteen in the back.
She cried in pain, but activated her Energy Field, protecting them both from the onslaught of energy blasts shot by the two villains.
"What the-?" Aizawa grunted. "I thought they were Quirkless! There was nothing there for me to cancel out!"
"They're not Quirkless, Eraser!" Eighteen grunted, standing to her feet and swiveling around to face the incoming duo. The fire from the blast on her back sizzled, burning a hole through her clothes and exposing Eighteen's burned back.
"Those are Androids."
The leader of the Androids was a miniature man with dark purple synthetic skin, wearing blue pants and a yellow trenchcoat. Other than a pair of sunglasses, the Android also wore a ridiculous green hat several times the size of its head. He shot Eighteen an ugly smile.
"That's right, Baby," he taunted. "You ain't the only one with infinite energy!"
"Android Fifteen,"Eighteen spat the name out like poison. As she stood up, her hair-tie broke and her blonde hair fell down over the sides of her face. She turned to the taller android, a heavily muscled creature with gray skin and a waist-long black ponytail. "I see you're still hanging around this loser, Fourteen."
"So hurtful," Fifteen feigned injury, clasping his chest. "And here I thought you had a soft spot for shorter guys."
"Enough!" Eighteen snarled. "Where is he? Where is Android Thirteen?!"
"Heh! Be glad he ain't here, sweet cheeks," Fifteen jeered with a twisted smirk. "Cuz if he was, he'd kill you… AGAIN! Oh, think about how your Daddy would feel if he had to piece his little girl back together and bring you back to life a second time."
"ARGH!" Eighteen's teeth bared and her eyes twitched.
"Eighteen, calm down," Aizawa warned. "He's trying to get inside your head!"
"Shut up!" Eighteen yelled. "Eraser, you take the tall one. This little bastard's mine."
Aizawa growled, but didn't argue. Running forward, he unfurled his capture weapon and leaped towards the tallest of the two androids.
Android Fifteen took a quick swig from a silver flask and tucked it back into the inner pocket of his trench coat.
"Alright, baby," he smiled, bringing his fists up. "Let's dance!"
(…)
"Kurogiri," Shigaraki hissed, glancing up at the group of students who were running towards the doors. "If those brats escape before we can kill All Might, they'll alert the authorities that we're here and then it'd be Game Over. See to it that that doesn't happen."
"As you wish," Kurogiri whispered. His body disappeared into a shroud of black and purple mist and then he was gone.
Shigaraki glanced over at Nomu, who was anxiously observing the battle unfold.
"No doubt you're itching to get in there," Shigaraki muttered with an amused smile. Nomu turned his neck to stare at him with those dead red eyes that made even Shigaraki feel a shiver run down his spine. He laughed.
"Don't you worry now. Once All Might arrives, I'll let you off your leash – and you're gonna kill him with your own hands."
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT – PATH OF THE DRAGON
The students were almost at the doors when a black, swirling hole with purple mist opened up on the floor in front of them. Kirishima instinctively reached forward and pulled Videl back from tumbling down into the black abyss.
The bottomless gap swirled and a form – a mist-shrouded figure, emerged. Two nightmarish, yellow pupil-less eyes turned to stare at them from within the mist, which extended like a wall to block off the class from the exit.
"There is no escape," a voice boomed from within the mist. "I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. And besides… isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace to take his last breath?"
Midoriya gasped.
Behind him, the entire class was too petrified to even move.
"What did you just say?" Gohan growled through gritted teeth, keeping a protective arm reached out in front of Ochaco. The scouter beeped and chirped, struggling to locate the villain's body, but it was no use. The unstable opaque mists were causing too much interference with the scouter's sensors. Could he be the one jamming the signals?!
"I believe All Might was supposed to be here by now and yet I see no sign of him," Kurogiri continued. "Oh well, no matter. I still have a role to play. Perhaps the dying screams of his students will draw him out."
Kurogiri was still talking when the cap at the end of Thirteen's finger popped open, primed to aim Black Hole at the smoking villain. But just before she could unleash her Quirk, she gasped and pulled back.
Kirishima, Bakugo and Videl surged forward towards Kurogiri, arms poised for an attack.
"No, wait!" Gohan yelled as the students charged. "Stop!"
"You're the one who's gonna be screamin' when I'm finished with ya!" Bakugo thundered with a murderous, demented smile etched on his face. "Now die!"
Swinging his shooting arm forward and holding it at the wrist, Bakugo unleashed a chain of explosions that shook the entire floor, knocking the other students except for Shoji, Iida and Gohan off balance. The villain's body contorted and disappeared, incinerated by the flames produced by Bakugo's blast.
Kirishima and Videl landed next to Bakugo, arms ready for another attack.
"Yeah, you're not bringing me down so easily this time, ya dumb villains!" Kirishima taunted, bringing his hardened arms up.
"You bastards talk a big game, but I can tell," Videl laughed, eyes wide, bringing her charged fists up. "You're not just terrified of All Might. You're scared of us because you've seen what we can do. That's right! We kicked the crap out of the two B-rate idiots you sent earlier, didn't we?!"
Slowly, the mist began to gather again, began to rise and form back into the shrouded body of the faceless villain.
"So you did. You live up to your school's reputation," Kurogiri said, calmly. His yellow eyes reemerged from the mists to stare at them again. "But it seems that you did not learn a valuable lesson from facing my comrades – you should be more careful, children. Otherwise, someone could get hurt."
"You three!" Thirteen cried, lifting up her finger again. "Get out of the way, now!"
But before she could activate her Quirk, black tendrils sprouted from Kurogiri's body and shot forth, spilling across the ground.
"What is this!" Iida cried, leaping out of the way as the black tendril produced a bottomless gate just where he had been standing
"This is where you die! Disappear!" Kurogiri's voice boomed. The black tendrils produced a mist that lifted up and enshrouded the entire group of students, creating violent, blinding gusts of wind. The class was thrown into a panic as the world around them turned black. Gohan struggled to move forward, but the forceful winds and the opaque veil produced by the villain's attack made it difficult for him to open his eyes.
"Ocha-!" The black mists entered into his mouth as soon as he opened it, and suddenly he couldn't breath! Gohan fell to his knees, clutching at his throat, wheezing as his lungs filled with the mist. Around him, he could hear, rather than see his classmates screaming out in terror and choking on the black mists.
"Gohan! Help me!" Ochaco yelled. Gohan coughed and opened his left eye and within the scouter's green lens, he saw the outline of Ochaco's body… sinking?!
So that's what this is! It's some sort of warp gate to who-knows-where!
All around them, his classmates began to fall through the black tendrils on the floor and disappear. Without another thought, Gohan dived forward and skidded across the polished floor on his belly as Ochaco's body disappeared into the black vortex. At the last second, he caught her by the wrist and pulled with all of his might until her head poked out of the warp gate.
"Argh! Gohan, my arm's about to break!" she cried in agony, tears spilling down her cheeks.
The swirling whirlpool continued to suck her back in and Gohan realized that if he pulled any harder, he could rip her arm clean off. He needed to think of something quickly.
"Ochaco! Activate your Quirk!" Gohan pleaded.
"What?! If I do that, I'll get sucked away!" She shouted, eyes bouncing desperately.
"I've got your hand! I promise I'm not gonna let go!" Gohan yelled back. "Just trust me!"
Ochaco stared up at him, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth trembling, but she firmed her lower lip and nodded.
"Okay."
Ochaco gritted her teeth and pulled on her left hand, but the warp sucked on it, pulling her back down like quick sand.
Her shoulder trembled and she tried again, even as her body sank down to her chest. With a wounded growl, she finally pulled her hand free and slapped her shoulder, activating her Quirk on herself. The light pink sparkling aura of her power illuminated the darkness created by the shroud.
"Okay now push, Ochaco!" Gohan yelled. "PUSH!"
As he pulled on her hand, Ochaco closed her eyes and focused her Quirk to propel herself up.
With a mighty heave, Gohan was finally able to pull her out of the gate and catch her. The two students burst from out of the misty shroud, rolling on the ground until Gohan's side hit a wall, Ochaco on top of him. The two students collapsed and laid on the ground, exhausted. Gohan held Ochaco's head close to his chest protectively and for an instant, she could hear his racing heartbeat against her ear.
Ochaco stirred and raised herself up from his chest with a blush.
"Are… you… okay?" She asked breathlessly, cupping his cheeks.
Gohan chuckled.
"Isn't that my line?" he asked with a grin, opening his eyes with a painful wince.
For a moment, their eyes met and held each other's gaze. Ochaco's brown eyes were a mixture of awe and fear and Gohan tried his best to give her a reassuring smile.
As he did, a black tendril crawled under the two students and suddenly, the floor underneath was gone. Ochaco's eyes widened with panic as she registered what was happening, but there was so little time to react.
"Iida!" Gohan called. The Vice Rep turned at the sound of his name. Gohan clenched his jaw. "Catch her!"
As he began to fall into the vortex below, he placed his hands on Ochaco's hips. He lifted her up and tossed her over to the Vice Rep, who was charging at them at full speed.
Ochaco swiped forward at Gohan, but she was already flying away towards Iida. Her eyes widened and she reached out to him.
"NOOO!" She yelled as Iida caught her and leaped away. Gohan's body plunged into the black void. "GOHAN!"
"Engine BOOST!" Iida yelled. His engines whined and exploded, sending Iida and Ochaco flying out of the mist to land next to Sato and Shoji, who had just rescued Mina.
The five students watched as the purplish black mist disappeared, and to their horror, all of their classmates were gone.
(…)
Gohan's body tumbled down the void within the warp gate uncontrollably. He closed his eyes and did his best to concentrate on gathering his ki to slow his descent, but the stomach-turning speed in which he fell made it absolutely impossible to focus.
The temperature dropped in an instant, the cold air he gulped in now chilling his lungs. Before he could make much sense of it, he crash-landed face first onto the ground, burying himself as he slid forward several feet. Finally, his body stopped.
Gohan's eyes opened weakly and he blinked against the icy winds that bit against his face. He tried to cough but discovered that his mouth was full of… snow?!
Coughing violently, Gohan pulled himself up to his feet. His boots sank down into the snow-covered ground, down to his ankles. Gohan blinked several times to adjust to the low light and raised an arm over his eyes to protect against the howling blizzard. The bone-chilling winds howled over him, making the red cape behind him whip violently in its direction.
Gohan glanced up at the stars and the full moon that illuminated his surroundings.
Just where the heck am I? He thought. The skin-tight body suit from Todoroki's battle armor did little to help with the cold. If only I had kept that temperature regulator! I could really use it right about now…
Gohan rubbed a white-gloved hand against his arms for warmth, glancing around for any signs of a city nearby to orient himself in this foreign land. The last thing he remembered was saving Ochaco from the warp villain's gate and then getting sucked into one himself. He then remembered falling and falling and falling…
Gohan sighed with relief.
At least he was still alive and not floating in some dead space alternate dimension or something. But where was he?
"Flying Nimbus!" Gohan cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled up at the night sky. "Hey, Nimbus!"
But the cloud did not respond to his calls.
Gohan reached up to activate his Scouter's GPS system, but his glove slapped his naked ear. The scouter wasn't there.
Oh, crap! Where the heck did my scouter go?!Gohan cursed, dropping to his knees and swiping through the snow, desperately looking for the device. He needed to activate the GPS tracker on it to find out exactly where he was. For all he knew, the warp villain could have dropped him somewhere in the middle of the Himalayas. And besides, the scouter was the last thing he had that belonged to his father. He needed to find it. But if the scouter's Comms were down, would the GPS even work?!
Out here in this desolate wasteland, lost with no direction, away from his friends, with no Nimbus, no help from Dende, and not even his Scouter… for the first time in a long time, Gohan felt truly alone.
Gohan shook his head, dispelling all of the doubts in his mind. Now wasn't the time to panic. He had to clear his mind and think of a way out. He squinted his eyes to observe the environment around him.
Ankle deep snow. A crescent moon. Some stars. Snowy, yet even ground as far as he could see through the squall, and beyond… there! A faint yellow glow in the distance gave the promise of a city. Gohan grabbed his cape and held it over his face protectively, shielding his eyes from the blizzard as he made his way towards the lights.
After a few minutes of trudging through the snow, Gohan started to make out the silhouettes of buildings. The faint lights had become brighter, illuminating the ground with a welcoming glow. Gohan could actually almost make out figures walking in the snow between the buildings.
"Heyyyy!" Gohan yelled into the opaque curtain of snowfall. The figures stopped in their tracks to look up at him. "Can anybody hear me?!"
Suddenly, a fierce, sharp blow struck him from the side, knocking the wind out of him and sending him tumbling across the snow. Gohan yelped in pain and surprise as his body slid across the snow for several feet until his head crashed against a stone, shattering it. Gohan groaned, rubbing his head and looked up to see that the shadowy figures in the distance were now standing directly in front of him, arms crossed, cackling with cruel laughter.
Gohan struggled to get back up on his feet, but the sore muscles from when he overused his Quirk a few hours ago screamed at him in pain. As soon as he was back up on his feet, another blow struck him from behind, sending him stumbling forward.
As he stumbled forward on the uneven, shifting terrain, Gohan swiped an elbow around blindly. He felt a giant hand catch his elbow and pull him back. A block of ice swung around from the darkness, striking Gohan in the nose.
"Aaaaargh!" Gohan roared, eyes filling up with involuntary tears. The blow lifted him off his feet and for a moment, his world became a blur as he flew in the air. He landed with a dry thud, rolling to a stop a few feet away.
"Stop hogging up all the fun and let me fry him!" One of the villains attacking him shouted. Gohan opened one swollen eye to look up at his assailant. He was an older, balding man with two tufts of white hair that stood up on either sides of his head like lightning bolts. His glowing, yellow eyes shined in the darkness, like a nocturnal predator.
"Alright, Volt," another voice responded. "Your turn to have a little fun."
Volt lifted his hands, fingers outstretched towards Gohan and a wave of bright yellow electricity shot forth from his fingertips. Gohan screamed as the bolts of electricity tore into his body, sending him into a violent convulsion.
Volt and the other villains laughed hysterically as Gohan screamed, his body contorting under the savage attack. Foam began to fill Gohan's mouth and gush out from his clenched teeth. His nose was filled with the scent of his own burnt flesh and the copper-like scent of the electricity flowing through him.
Volt leaned in, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust, intensifying the voltage on his attack. Gohan's eyes began to roll to the back of his head and he slowly stopped resisting. Finally, the villains attack stopped. Gohan's vision darkened and he felt his lunch rush up to his mouth. Unable to contain it in, Gohan turned over onto his stomach and vomited over the snow, picking himself up on weak, shaking arms. A steady warmth ran down from his nose down to his chin, filling his lips with the iron taste of his blood.
He tried to stand, but a steel-soled boot stomped on his head, shoving his head back down onto the snow. Wheezing for air and completely exhausted, Gohan finally stopped struggling as his face sunk deep into the blood-stained snow. The world around him began to fade to black…
"Hey. HEY! Get up, Gohan. Don't you dare tell me that you're giving into your limits, got it?" Piccolo roared.
Gohan stirred, his eyes glazing in and out of focus.
"Mis… ter… Pic...co...lo…" He groaned weakly.
(…)
MOUNT PAOZU
ONE YEAR AGO...
Gohan's exhausted legs wobbled as he fought to remain standing atop the bamboo shoots he was training on, barefooted. Piccolo stood in front of him, completely motionless, on the bamboos.
"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" Piccolo barked angrily. "Attack! Because if you stop moving, your weight will tip the bamboo shoots over and you'll just keep falling down."
Wounded, Gohan passed his wrist over the blood running down his nose and jumped at Piccolo, but before he could even land a single blow, Piccolo's longer leg shot forward, slamming upwards underneath Gohan's chin. The kick sent Gohan flying backwards and he desperately grabbed for the bamboos to stop his fall.
"Pathetic attempt!" Piccolo yelled. "If you really can't get back up on your feet, you might as well give up and go back to that useless, mediocre life you had – a Quirkless brat who does nothing but get in your mother's way!" Piccolo roared.
Gohan panted, gulping in air as he stared up at Piccolo, who towered over him. Piccolo's white cape swayed with the wind and he stared down at his wounded apprentice with disgust. Gohan's wounds burned, but Piccolo's words hurt even more.
They hurt even more because they were true.
Gohan pressed his cheeks against the top of the three bamboo shoots that his arms were tightly wrapped around. His legs dangled over the seemingly bottomless ravine.
"You're right… Mister Piccolo," Gohan grunted through clenched teeth. His stamina was shot, and every fiber of his being trembled with exhaustion to the point that even his vision was blurring.
"All I've ever been is a burden to my mom. But I've tried… I've really, really tried my best to help out where I could… And I know that's not enough. But in case you didn't realize it, my father died when I was seven years old. I've had to figure it out on my own along the way."
Piccolo's eyes widened and narrowed, taken aback by the usually meek child's intensity.
Tears filled Gohan's eyes and spilled down over his cheeks and dropped down into the dark ravine.
Piccolo scoffed.
"So your Daddy died, and Mommy can't afford to make ends meet, and you think that gives you a pass from life, do you? Stop feeling sorry for yourself, boy!" Piccolo spat out.
Gohan stared up at Piccolo with narrowed eyes, but didn't respond.
"You keep clinging onto the past, standing idle when you should be moving forward – advancing, becoming stronger than ever. Otherwise, you'll never move ahead. You'll just keep falling."
Piccolo leaped forward and swiped the three stalks that Gohan was holding onto. His boot sliced cleanly through the stalks and suddenly, there was nothing left to hold Gohan up.
"Ahhhh!" Gohan yelled as he fell down from the top of the bamboo trees and splashed into a cold river below. The river swept Gohan away and slammed him onto the face of a boulder, where Gohan was able to grab ahold.
Piccolo himself leaped down from the top of the trees gracefully and landed near Gohan. Gohan coughed and gasped for air, completely exhausted as Piccolo grabbed him by the back of his purple training gi and pulled him out of the rushing icy waters, tossing him onto the dry, cold grass on the riverbank.
"I know what's been holding you back," Piccolo said, his voice softening as Gohan lifted himself up on all fours, coughing violently. "You blame yourself for the hard life your family has had. You fear your powers and how easily they can be used to hurt others. You resent this society and its apathy towards those less fortunate. And you fear that what you've been hearing all your life might be true after all – that there's nothing special about you."
Gohan lifted his head to look at Piccolo in the eyes.
"You've had a hard life, harder than most, it's true. But rather than dwelling on the past and letting that cloud your judgment, use it to propel you forward, to give you clarity, drive and focus."
"How?" Gohan asked. Piccolo smiled.
"By walking the path I've set before you," he said. "The path that has guided our clan for over five-hundred generations. It's the Namekian Path of resilience, strength, tenacity and force of will needed to forge an indomitable spirit – The Path of the Dragon. I will teach you the Ancient Namekian Language, our Culture, our Martial Arts, our way of life. You will have a home with us, a people whom you will belong to. I will teach you how to draw strength from your weaknesses, and to mold that strength into raw power. You will learn to strengthen your Quirk, your body and your mind. And when you're done, you will be unstoppable."
Gohan's eyes widened and glistened, his path becoming ever clearer now.
"I know you don't believe it now, Kid. But you have everything you need to survive, to surpass, to go beyond unimaginable limits. So ignore those tired limbs and burning muscles. Become mighty and keep moving forward so that you can keep getting back up to protect those around you. Wipe those tears, and show the world what you're made of! On your feet, boy. Now!"
(…)
PRESENT TIME
I have to… get back up.
"Do it, Gohan! Get up and fight!"
I have to get back up and… fight!
Gohan's hands curled into fists and he pushed himself up off the snowy ground. His sore muscles screamed out and his body doubled over, but he set a firm foot forward and caught his balance, forcing himself to stand to his full height. Although his body ached, the Saiyan armor had protected his vital organs from the ice and electric attack that the villains had attacked him with. He lifted his head and the light from the village illuminated the scowl on his face.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a familiar, cruel voice cackled from within the darkness. "It's that pitiful little Quirkless worm from Musutafu who couldn't even protect his mommy from a handful of debt collectors."
That voice.
"So, it's you," Gohan growled, teeth clenched. "You're the bastard that hurt my mom!"
"Aww, you do remember me, kiddo!" The Thug laughed, crouching down to be at eye level with Gohan. He lifted his hand and an ice block formed over it – the same ice block he used to strike Chi-Chi down as she pleaded for mercy.
Something deep within Gohan stirred and simmered.
"Nail offered you a better life, you bastard!" He shouted, ignoring the burn coming from his trembling legs.
"Yeah, that whole New Namek Kumbaya crap wasn't really my style. I'm good at hurtin' people, kid. It's what I love to do. So the League is exactly where I belong-" the thug lifted his hand to strike Gohan with his Ice fist. "Beating up Quirkless little runts like you!"
The fist came down, and Gohan's hand shot up with lightning quick reflexes that caught the Thug off guard. With a squeeze of his hand, Gohan completely crushed the ice block, shattering it to pieces.
"No," Gohan said, looking up into the thug's shocked, widened eyes. "You belong behind bars."
He wound his hand back and swung it forward, punching the Thug squarely in the mouth, lifting him off his feet and slamming him back down onto the ground, burying his head into the snow. The thug grunted in pain and surprise, and Gohan leaned in.
"And I'm not a Quirkless little runt anymore."
His eyes quickly shifted to movement swarming behind him. Another villain charged towards him with an ice sword, howling with rage. The blade whistled as it sliced wildly through the snowfall. Gohan threw himself onto his back against the snow, thrusting his palms forward as he fell.
Two small orbs of light burst out from his hands and impacted the ground, causing an eruption of snow and stones that stunned the bladed villain. As soon as Gohan felt his back hit the snow, he kicked his legs upward and used the momentum to roll backwards on his back, over his shoulder and leapt onto his feet.
Jump! He thought, leaping forward with an outstretched leg that speared the villain with the ice sword and hurled him back into the darkness. As soon as Gohan landed, he leaped again.
I gotta keep moving. Just like when I trained with Piccolo and Nail over the ravine…, He thought, sprinting forward through the darkness, plowing through a villain and bulldozing over him. The villain cried as Gohan shoved past him and brought down another villain with a mighty roundhouse kick. The villains' reactions were painfully slow due to the knee-high snow. That gave the nimble Gohan the advantage.
The snow here is only getting deeper. If I don't keep moving forward, I'm just going to keep falling down again… And this squall is limiting my vision, but the same is true for them.
Volt, the eletricity-hurling villain shot bolts of lightning in Gohan's general direction, but missed widely, his vision blinded by the intensifying blizzard. Next to him, a villain with a mutant-type Quirk that transformed him into a nightmarish giant snowman with glowing green eyes and claws, shot icicle stalactites at Gohan.
But Gohan shot forward, dodging each electric shock and stalactite so fast that he became a side-strafing blur, drawing ever nearer to the desperate group of villains. He leaped to the left, barrel-rolled back over to his right and shot forward, thrusting his hands at the villain.
"EXPLOSIVE DRAGON WAAAAAAAVE!" Gohan roared, front-flipping forward and taking to the skies to unleash a thunderous wall of energy that swept most of the villains away. Gohan immediately followed up with a volley of ki blasts that caught Volt and four remaining villains. "YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAA!"
Multiple destructive ki blasts shot out of Gohan's hands, raining down on the villains until only the monstrous snowman remained.
"KamehameHAAAAA!"
The sky-blue ki blast turned night into day for an instant, eviscerating the snowman and tossing him aside, where his Quirk deactivated. The rest of the villains were scattered by the forceful winds produced by the Kamehameha, knocking their unconscious bodies across the snowy plane.
Gohan panted as he slowly descended back down to the ground. His shoulders quivered and smoke rose unnaturally from out of his exhausted arms.
I don't want to hurt them, but I don't have time to hesitate and I don't have time to hold back my strength. I need to end this fast so I can get back to my classmates at the USJ. I just gotta hit 'em quick and hard enough so that they don't get back up!
As he dashed into the city, he noticed something eerie about it. Although every light was on, all of the shops were empty. Outside tables had steaming plates of food out, but there was not a soul in sight. Empty cars sat in single file, their engines turned off, lining the main street that ran through the city. What the heck?!
But Gohan didn't have time to dwell on the strangeness of it all. He heard the whine of a jetpack gliding down towards him from above – another villain, a woman with short white hair, wearing a chrome thermal suit of armor and wielding a cryogenic freeze ray. She screamed as she fired her weapon, the frost blue blasts peppering the ground around Gohan, instantly freezing the debris and some of the unfortunate villains that littered the ground around him.
One of the blasts grazed Gohan's leg, delivering an icy burn. Gohan screamed and squeezed the area around the burn. Out here in the open, against someone with a long range weapon, he was a sitting duck! He had to find some cover.
Gohan dove around the corner of a building, into a narrow alleyway. The villain followed him in and for a brief moment, Gohan remembered the Maze Exam, where he, Ochaco, Izuku, Melissa and Tsu had trapped the android Patrolbot Juniors in a narrow passage just like this one. Gohan crawled through a tight space behind the wall, hiding in the shadows, waiting.
As soon as the villain emerged around the corner, floating in the air on her jetpack, Gohan raised his arms over his head, hands together. A stark white, glowing orb of energy formed over his hands.
"MASENKO-HAAAAA!" Gohan cried, igniting the dark alley around them with light. The thin ki blast shot out like a shooting star, roaring towards the villain with the freeze ray. She screamed, unable to get out of the way on time. The blast collided against her body and set off a quick explosion, destroying one of the jetpack's boosters. Unable to keep herself upright, the jetpack sputtered and spat fire and smoke, sending the woman into a comical, stomach-turning series of uncontrolled loops before exploding and hurling her back down to earth, where she crashed into the snowy road in a smoking heap, groaning in pain.
Gohan was already out of breath, and his vision blurred for a moment. But he had to keep moving. If he stopped now, there was no telling how many villains would be descending upon him. With a fresh gulp of air, Gohan pushed on and forced himself to keep moving. Gathering his ki for flight, he jumped and blasted off into the night sky, surrounded by a bright aura. As he cleared the cityscape, he leaned onto his left side, flying around the corner and straight into a giant fist the size of a mountain.
It was like getting hit by a speeding bus! Every nerve in Gohan's body screamed out and he felt something in his body break as the giant hairy fist broke away, sending Gohan flying back down to earth. His body broke through several buildings in quick succession, causing them to collapse.
Finally, Gohan's body crashed onto the cold hard concrete, burying him into the ground.
What the heck just happened?! Gohan's head rolled, his vision blurring in and out of focus. A sharp pain shot out from the base of his skull and Gohan struggled to pick himself up from the hole his landing created.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground shook with every earthquake-inducing footfall. The towers swayed and collapsed, adding to the chaos and lifting a wall of smoke, fire and snow. Gohan rubbed his eyes and looked up to see the creature that had swatted him out of mid-flight and his eyes widened.
Before him was a Great Ape, taller than any of the buildings in the city. It's thin long ears were tucked in on the side of its head, looking like two horns that framed those glowing red eyes and the long ugly scar running down the middle of its left eye. It's snout wrinkled into a vicious snarl that bared rows of razor sharp teeth and fangs. A long tail was wrapped firmly around its waist.
The Ape knocked over the buildings standing between it and Gohan, crushing them under its weight. It roared furiously at Gohan. The roar was so powerful, it produced a sonic wave that shattered the glass in the buildings around him. Gohan forced himself to stand and crossed his arms in front of him, summoning as much ki as he could to block the bone-crushing winds, his hair whipped against his face.
"DRAGON SCALE!" Gohan yelled and his arms glowed, hardening and protecting his upper body from the winds.
The titan-sized ape rose to its full height and laughed.
"What's the matter?" The Ape-transformed Shorty mocked, his voice deep and distorted in his monstrous form. "I thought the warriors of House Vegeta were supposed to be strong!"
House Vegeta? Gohan glanced down at the crest of the Saiyan Royal House of Vegeta that was embossed on the top left corner of his Saiyan Armor.
The Ape took several running steps and jumped forward, swinging his fist down. Gohan jumped into a front-flip, dodging the punch and launching into flight up the ape's arm, shooting ki blasts that sunk into the ape's thick hide, only to dissipate harmlessly.
"EAT THIS!" Gohan shot a ki blast that struck the ape's left eye. The Ape howled in pain and grabbed at his face and Gohan used the opportunity to put some distance between the two of them. As he floated in midair, Gohan gathered his ki into the palms of his hand and brought it down to his side.
"KAIOKEN!" Gohan's white ki flickered and reddened into a deep scarlet hue. His muscles bulged, doubling in size and Gohan did his best to ignore the burning pain of his sore muscles. KAMEEEEEEHAMEEEEEE-"
The Ape's tail unfolded and swiped at Gohan with such tremendous speed that Gohan had no time to react. The tail slammed against his body and swatted him from the skies, sending him tumbling back down to earth.
"You insect!" Shorty laughed, wiping away the tears streaming from his scarred red eye. "Your puny attacks almost tickle. Alright, baby Saiyan. Let me show you what a real Saiyan ki blast looks like."
"W-what?" Gohan stammered, barely conscious. "You're… a Saiyan… too?"
The Ape reared its head upward like a wolf howling at the moon, mouth wide open, it's diaphram filling with power and air. A purple triangular ki blast formed violently around his mouth, swirling and spinning as it grew in size.
"Too big," Gohan panted, balling his hands into fists, one eye open, the other swollen shut. "Gotta… dodge!"
But several blasts of cryogenic freezing rays erupted near him. The white-haired villain from before was kneeling from a building's balcony, shooting at him. The blasts hit Gohan's left arm and right leg, freezing his limbs against the ground and forcing him into place as the Ape surged forward and unleashed the giant ki blast on top of him.
Gohan lifted his right arm and fired off a blast that was absorbed by the much larger blast. There was no stopping it. In seconds, the monster's ki blast would reach him and tear him to shreds. The other villains were running towards him and the villain with the freeze ray was still shooting at him. There was no escape.
This was it.
Gohan closed his eyes, and flinched away, waiting for the end.
But it never came.
A dark purple monstrous hand the size of an eighteen wheeler truck shot out from out of nowhere, engulfing Gohan's body. The creature broke Gohan's restraints and picked him up, hauling him away like a tenebrous sidewinder, away from the villains.
"Go, Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami shouted, launching at one of the villains with a flying kick. The villain with the freeze ray shouted in anger and fired at Dark Shadow, but the rays were lost within the creature's penumbral hide.
"I got him! Let's go!" The opaque creature shouted back, cupping Gohan in its large hands protectively. Dark Shadow returned to Tokoyami, speeding through the air like a wraith as the ki blast hit the ground where Gohan once laid. The blast rocked the entire city.
"Tokoyami!?" Gohan laughed, feeling a flood of relief coursing through this exhausted body as Dark Shadow slithered back under Tokoyami's black cloak. The raging wall of fire behind them swallowed up every building caught in the blast. Gohan twisted his body and picked up his raven-headed classmate and took off in flight, blasting away from the villains and the Great Ape's field of vision.
After running through the alleys, Gohan and Tokoyami took shelter in one of the buildings and hid there until the villains ran past them and disappeared into the distance.
"Phew," Gohan sighed, dropping his head in exhaustion.
"You're wounded," Tokoyami said, his deep voice echoing in the dark room.
"Yeah," Gohan laughed, holding a hand against his bloody leg. "It looks worse than it really is."
The raven-headed student ripped a piece of his black cloak and used it to dress Gohan's wounds.
"I apologize for not stepping in earlier," he said, stepping over the body of a villain. "I was able to take down many of the villains, but that Ape monster's light based attacks, much like your own, are too much for Dark Shadow to take. I had to hide and wait for an opening."
"Yeah, you're welcome!"Dark Shadow retorted from within the cloak.
"No, it's okay," Gohan chuckled, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm just glad to see a friend. Have you seen any of our classmates around here?"
"Only Koda," Tokoyami said. "When I woke up, we were in the middle of the abandoned city, surrounded by villains. I managed to get us out of there, but not before they knocked Koda out. I left him resting in a shelter I made within the city while I came out to look for food and supplies, but the place is crawling with villains from the USJ. That's when I found you."
"We should go to him," Gohan said, wincing, but rising to his feet. "There are a couple of villains who are dangerous, but for the most part, they're a bunch of b-rate thugs. They won't stand a chance against the three of us."
"Hey! They don't stand a chance against me, either!" Dark Shadow barked, slithering out from underneath the black cloak.
"I'll go," Tokoyami said, worriedly. "You stay here and rest."
"Thanks for the concern, but I'll be okay," Gohan smiled and patted Tokoyami's shoulder. "I really don't want any of us out there alone. Not when villains are crawling around."
"Very well then. I do appreciate the assistance," Tokoyami nodded. He reached into his cloak and produced a white-capped device, handing it to Gohan. "Oh, by the way, I think you dropped this. I believe it's an accessory to your costume."
"Hey, that's my Scouter!" Gohan said excitedly, taking the device and attaching it to his left ear and activating it. The green lens shot out over his left eye, illuminating it with that familiar green and yellow glow that he was so used to seeing.
"I found it while I was scavenging outside of the city."
"Great!" Gohan tapped through the Scouter's screens. "Communications are still down, but I can try to use its GPS scanner to see where we are."
The scouter beeped and whirred, trying to track down their location. Finally, the scouter gave off a flat beep.
"Dammit," Gohan growled.
"What?" Tokoyami asked.
"It's no use. Whatever's causing a disruption in our comms is also disrupting my Scouter's GPS. We're going to have to find our way back ourselves."
"Blast it," Tokoyami sighed.
The scouter beeped excitedly.
"What's wrong now?" Tokoyami asked. Gohan glanced at the screen.
Power levels flared, rose and fell all around them. One of the power levels even looked like Eighteen's and Aizawa's. But there was nobody left out there in that desolate wasteland.
"It's strange. There are power levels clashing all around us."
"I don't see anything."
"Yeah… me neither."
"Well, either way, it isn't safe being out here in the open. We should get back to Koda before the villains get to him. He'll need to eat to get his strength back."
"Did you find any clues about where we are, exactly?" Gohan asked as the two boys left the building through the rooftop access. They crouched over the ledge as the giant Ape stomped around in the opposite side of the city, looking for them. "I tried calling out for my Flying Nimbus cloud, but it's not responding to me, which is unusual."
"Koda tried using his Quirk as well, but other than the villains with Animal-based Quirks, there are no animals around," Tokoyami said, bringing a finger to his chin in thought. "And this Squall is too steady, constantly blowing in one single direction instead of ebbing like a normal weather pattern. And then there are the heavens."
He looked up at the skies.
"Look," he whispered. "Notice anything about the moon? It's a waning crescent. But tonight we're supposed to have a Full Moon. And those constellations are… unnatural."
"Yeah? Unnatural, huh?" Gohan asked, placing a handful of snow on his bloodied, swollen knuckles and looking up at the stars. "How do you mean?"
"I've spent many nights gazing up at the celestial bodies," Tokoyami said, stepping away. "Those constellations are not from our world."
Gohan brought a gloved hand to his chin.
"So the city is abandoned, except for the villains hunting us, there are no clouds or regular weather patterns or even animals, there are phantom power levels and the moon and stars are different… that means…"
"We're still in the USJ," Tokoyami nodded. "It makes sense. This is the Squall Zone."
"That means that if we keep heading North, we'll find the exit!"
"HELP ME! SOMEBODY – HELP ME!"
The voice echoed from deep within their minds.
Gohan and Tokoyami instantly looked at each other.
"That's Koda!" Tokoyami yelled, eyes wide with panic. Up ahead, the great Ape had was laughing, chasing after something on the ground.
Hold on, Koda! We're coming! Gohan yelled in his thoughts, leaping into the air. They were instantly swarmed by villains, but Dark Shadow swatted them away with enlarged arms.
"G-GO!" Tokoyami yelled. "Save… Koda! I'll hold them back!"
"DAMMIT!" Gohan shouted in anger, glancing at the creature who had caught Koda and picked him up in his gloved hands. He turned back to see Tokoyami get tackled and brought down to the ground.
"S-Stop it!" Gohan yelled. The cloak was torn off Tokoyami and an ice blade was stabbed into his shoulder. Up ahead, he could hear Koda's bloodcurdling screams as the Ape squeezed him with his two hands. The Ape's bloodlust was stoked by the screams, laughing cruelly.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Gohan shot up towards the Great Ape."KAIOKEN ATTACK TIMES TWO!"
Gohan transformed into a scarlet blur of light that shot off towards the Ape's face, leaving behind a brilliat trail of red energy. The Ape was too intent on killing Koda that he didn't see him coming. Gohan closed his eyes and crashed headfirst against the Ape's skull.
"ARRRGH! You damned insect!" Shorty howled in pain, dropping Koda to hold his bleeding forehead. "You'll pay for that!"
"AHHHHHHH!" Koda shouted as he fell to the ground several meters below. But Gohan shot up and caught him in his arms, bringing him safely down to the ground.
Gohan?! Koda yelled back in his anivoice.
"We're in the Squall Zone of the USJ!" Gohan shouted quickly. "You and Tokoyami need to run north. You'll find the exit there."
What about you?! Koda shouted.
Before Gohan could respond, the Ape's paw swung down, pinning Gohan under it, with his back against the ground, burying him into the concrete. Gohan let out a wounded howl, feeling a painful warmth running down his ribs.
Gohan!
G-Go! Get out of here! Let me face this guy alone.
But you can't take him on your own! He's too strong.
Can't is nothing but a four-letter word. Besides, you heard Mister Aizawa, Gohan laughed, the very act sending a shock of pain shooting down his rib. You can't be a Pro if you only have one trick. Now get moving, and hurry!
Koda's lips trembled, but he nodded and turned around, running back to help Tokoyami.
"HEHEHEHE!" Shorty mocked. "Aww, how noble. But you're only delaying the inevitable. There is nothing that can overcome the might of a Saiyan. You're a Saiyan too, right? You, too, could have the powers of a God, if you weren't so damn soft! So what's it gonna be, skinny? Are you gonna try those weak little ki blasts again?!"
"You say I'm weak... because I've been holding back," Gohan panted, eyes narrowed. "But that's what makes me strong!"
Those of us who descend from the Ancient Ones still remember the Legend of Porunga. To us, The Dragon of Namek is a symbol of hope, tenacity and heroism. That's what you'll become one day, Gohan.
"It takes discipline and courage to reign in your emotions! Only cowards are ruled by them. That's what it means to walk the Path of the Dragon." Gohan slowly raised his right arm, aiming it at the Ape, even as it crushed him under its paw.
"You weakling!" Shorty shouted. "I'm going to crush you!"
You will become a beacon of hope for tomorrow. You will save them, and in time, you will inspire them to act heroically, even in the face of adversity. To help one another.
"I'm not a weakling!" Gohan shouted back. "I'm Son Gohan. And I am…"
You will become...
"THE DRAGON OF NAMEK!"
Gohan's ki blazed, flowing throughout his body. Can't focus it in one place, Gohan remembered. I need to release everything I've got!
A flash of electricity, golden and pure, coursed through his body. His broken ribs cried out, burning.
Gather the energy! Turn the heat and pain into power!
The heat was building up now, but it wasn't from his wounds. Gohan's aura simmered, rapidly heating and turning gold in color.
"What the hell?!" The Great Ape roared. "What's with this power?!"
"This is the Dragon Clan's ultimate move! A strike that carries with it the hopes and dreams of all those who cry out for peace!"
The golden electricity ran up Gohan's fist, coursing with a hundred percent of his power and exploding with fiery rage.
"DRAGON FIST!" He shouted, unleashing all of his power.
The large head of a raging, fiery dragon burst out of his fist with a deafening roar, razor sharp teeth bared.
"AAAAAHHHH!" Shorty shouted as the golden dragon snaked around his Ape body. The dragon's jaws snapped, biting off the Ape's tail. Shorty howled in pain as the serpent continued it's trajectory around his body, lifting him off the ground.
Tokoyami and Koda stared up in awe at the magnificent mythical creature of light.
"Is that… Gohan?" Tokoyami gasped.
The Dragon grew and grew and grew, crashing against the ceiling of the Squall Zone and breaking through. Immediately, the familiar lights of the USJ flooded into the Squall Zone and the blizzard seized.
Almost immediately, the Saiyan began to transform back into his human form, twisting and contorting as the Dragon tangled around him, smiting him with brilliant golden light. The Dragon's head turned back to face him and opened its mouth. A massive blue ki blast formed between its open jaws.
Shorty desperately shot his triangular purple ki blasts at the head, but his attacks were simply absorbed by the golden scaly energy of the Dragon. The Dragon's head disappeared in a brilliant flash of golden light and at its center, Gohan was floating in midair, hands held together, gathering ki.
"KAAAAMEEEEHAAAAMEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The sky blue energy wave shot forward and washed over Shorty. The villain screamed as he was blasted off out of the USJ, disappearing in the distance.
Gohan was left floating in midair, panting, his arm outstretched, his armor chipped and broken. He had spent every last bit of energy he had in that attack. Suddenly, that sickening, stomach turning feeling he got whenever he used up all of his stamina crept in. The world began to spin and his arms dropped to his side. Slowly, the embers of his power failed and he fell back down to earth.
Just before he hit the ground, a pink blur shot out and caught him.
Gohan stirred and opened an eye weakly. The chestnut brown hair, the sparkling pink aura, the pink and black bodysuit…
"Ochaco?" Gohan asked weakly.
"I've got you Gohan," Ochaco said, reassuringly. She lowered him gently to the ground away from the fight in the main plaza and kneeled down beside him.
"It looks like you've passed the Squall Zone!" She chirped, cheerfully.
"But the warp villain-" Gohan said. "How did you?"
"Thirteen's fighting him right now. We helped Iida escape through the front and he's running off to find help. It's almost over." She reached into her utility belt and pulled out a packet of Recovery Girl's jelly beans. She gingerly placed one of the beans in Gohan's lips and he quickly chewed on it. Slowly, Gohan felt his stamina begin to recover.
"Are you… sure you're okay?" Gohan winced in pain, holding a hand against his broken ribs.
"Isn't that my line?" Ochaco asked him with a smile, taking his hand and giving it a warm squeeze.
Ending Song:
"Let Me Hear," by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Shigaraki was observing the fight between the Androids and the heroes when he witnessed the power of the Dragon Fist emerging from out of the Squall Zone.
"What the hell is that?!" Shigaraki screamed.
The Dragon's head dissipated and transformed into Gohan and Shigaraki's eyes widened.
"It's him! The one from the Market that took down my Majin!" He scratched at his neck so hard he drew blood.
"AAARGH! NOMU!" He shouted, turning to the masked villain standing next to him. The Nomu turned at the sound of Shigaraki's voice.
"KILL HIM!" Shigaraki vociferated, pointing at Gohan. "Kill him NOW!"
Nomu's black cape flowed as he gathered his ki. Suddenly, he shot off in the direction of Gohan and Ochaco.
"Watch out!" Gohan jumped in front of Ochaco as the black cloaked, masked villain's boot landed where Ochaco had been standing. Gohan shot his elbow forward to block the villain's kick. Nomu kicked off and backflipped, landing on his feet in front of Gohan.
"Kaioken Attack – Times TWO!" Gohan lunged forward with a glistening scarlet punch, hoping to catch Nomu off guard, but Nomu's black-gloved hand caught the punch and yanked on his hand, bringing Gohan within inches of his mask.
The two glowing red eyes blazed, sending a chill down Gohan's spine.
"KAIOKEN!" Nomu's monstrous voice boomed from out of the mask. Gohan's eyes widened and his blood chilled within his veins. For a moment, it was as if time stood still.
Wait, what did that thing just say?! Gohan panicked.
Nomu was bathed in a violent red light that seemed to make his glowing eyes blaze even brighter.
"TIMES TENNNNNNNNNN!"
A/N: :)
Review Responses:
Lloydms chapter 25 . Jun 28
Was that Iida, is Iida the traitor, it said circular glasses but everything else points it to oeing Iida
Lloydms chapter 22 . Jun 28
Is that Goku? He said G...h...n it literally Gohan am I wrong? Argh now I'm nervous and interested I'm supposed to be studying
Hey Lloyd! Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. I love your theories. In the past, I made the mistake of spoiling the story in the review responses, so to avoid doing that here, I'll just say… I really like your theories! Stay tuned! :D Thanks again for the kind reviews!
Elchico 64 chapter 27 . Jun 15
The chapter was pretty good, Eclipse! I wasn't expecting the USJ attack happened in the same day after the Declaration of War. Shit gonna go crazy!
I can see when Ochako is hurt or at some dead point, he's gonna be furious. Oh, I wonder how the Nomu will confront Izuku, Todoroki, Bakugo and Gohan, All-Might will struggle thats for sure.
And how could I forgot the existence of Broly?! That lil' cute savage berserker. I like how you put Spain for an alternate method for Quirks or at least for the saiyans in MHA.
Thats it, keep the great work, friend! You'll be proud of yourself after finishing this arc. Oh, by the way, what are your thoughts for the new form of Gohan in the Superhero movie? (Daitomadachi/Gohanverse did it first lol).
Hey! What's up, Chico! I really enjoyed the movie. My favorite part was Bulma. Just kidding. But I loved seeing Pan and her relationship with Piccolo and also seeing the teens Goten and Trunks. Of course, the new power ups are so beast! Especially Piccolo's! Loved it.
And as for the Saiyan heritage in this universe, well, Saiyans were conquerors in DBZ lore, so I wanted to base them from Europe, the land of the Conquistadors. Also, as someone else pointed out in the reviews, that's where Vikings come from as well, which I think fits what the Saiyan culture represents in this universe.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you once again for your kind words, always! Take care!
X3runner chapter 27 . Jun 14
I really did like the bit where ochako got a touch jelly it works well with how she has developed here. I also liked that gohan wind up in the gear of his people. Would be cool if he wind up modifying his later hero outfits to draw from this and add to give vegita bardick flashbacks since he supposedly in dragon ball z knew gokus dad or knew of him. I also liked the whole explanation of quirks not strictly being determined from toe bones and the whole hint at the scar on the back of gohan pointing out his tail along with him not remembering it giving you places to take the story. The whole sayajins being found mostly in Europe is kinda cool they do kinda seem like some combo of barbarian/Vikings in the flash backs to anchent sayajin culture that would be a cool thing to self into if that's where you are going with it . Also the spoilers for the new dragon ball movie are out and the new forms are dope as hell. Since bulma isn't with vegita in this would that mean that yamcha is in the picture. And is 17 going to have a similar (less deadly) antagonism with gohan as his future of trunks self had ?
Hey there, X3! Thanks for the review!
I do intend of having Gohan connect even more with his Saiyan lineage and have that show in his costume, while at the same time holding a respect for his Namekian Gi. I'm trying to work it out, but right now, I'm basing his later costume off of Turles' costume, only with green armor instead of purple, and of course, with the white Namekian Cape.
And yeah, Jealous Uraraka is one of my favorites in the show lmaooo And as for the European descent, I wanted to have them originate from the land where world conquerors, pirates and raiders originate from, and that of course would be somewhere in Europe. I also loooved the new forms, especially Orange Piccolo. Didn't really like the end boss too much, but the way Gohan defeated him had me in tears! And regarding the Androids, they have a bit of a different backstory in this universe, which is kinda of teased in this chapter, but will be explored more in depth at the finale arc (I-Island Arc) of the next season. I hope it works out!
Thanks again for the reviews!
Guest chapter 27 . Jun 14
Also in the au of gohan x fuyumi
I could imagine gohan and shoto while training
Gohan: you have to use your fire part, shoto or else you'll freeze to death if you only use your ice
Shoto: I don't want to, I'll never use his(endeavor) fire
Gohan: even at the cost of innocent lives?
*shoto stops*
Gohan: listen todoroki, one day you would have to make a choice, a choice to save a life or to keep your pettiness, no your cowardice(this of course is gohan referencing cell killing android 16)
Gohan: your fire is not Endeavor's fire nor your ice is your mother's, it's yours, its your own, what are you trying to prove shoto? To prove to endeavor that your a coward? That you dont have what it takes to be a hero? That he(endeavor) truly made you nothing but a coward? Your insulting the people that works to the point of death just to become a hero
Then shoto finally uses his fire part
Also in the sport festival, I could imagine the final showdown is shoto vs shinso lol(since gohan is training the both of them)
Love it! The dialogue really suits the kind of mentor Gohan is to Trunks in Future Saga, for example. There's going to be some room for that kind of relationship in this fic as well, as I'm planning for Shoto to become one of Gohan's closest friends.
Brandon Dupere chapter 27 . Jun 13
Comme toujours, c'était un super chapitre. J'ai hâte de voir qu'elle péripéties attendent Gohan et ses camarade de classe dans le futur. M'ayant récemment mis dans l'écriture de fancfiction crossover, je peux comprendre le temps et la difficulté que vous approuvé pour avoir la motivation et l'inspiration que vous avez pour écrire un chapitre comme ça. Si cela vous intéresse, et même s'il y a une petite chance que ce soit mal de faire ça, j'ai deux fanfiction en cours. Tout deux sont des crossover avec l'univers de dragon Ball z avec d'autre univers. L'un à été fait des million, voir des milliard de fois, même si comme elles, la mienne est unique, mais ma deuxième fanfiction dbz est un crossover avec un univers relativement récents et que je peux vous affirmer que personne d'autre ne l'a jamais fait. Donc si vous avez envie de les voir, n'hésitez pas.
Hi my friend, thank you so much for your review, I promise I will check out your fic as well! I always look forward to an opportunity to support our fellow fanfic writers! Thank you so much!
Xeno Gohan chapter 27 . Jun 13
Nice another chapter, liked everything especially the detention part I was like "if this gohan has his canon counterpart strength, you wouldn't have the guts to scold him like that" lmaooooo
kirishima getting jealous is hilarious lol
that ending tho, a cliffhanger, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
looking forward for the next chapter
Yeah, no kidding! The only one that could talk that way to Gohan in canon would be Videl, Chi-chi and Piccolo lmao
I'm actually having a lot of fun writing Kirishima/Videl moments, even though their relationship is a bit rushed, since we're talking about two wild teens that are living their lives with no regrets mentality, it's just so much fun. Haha
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again so much for your continued support. I really appreciate it!
Xeno Gohan chapter 26 . Jun 13
looking forward for that reunion of Gohan and Chichi ngl
Yes, this is the last tease, I promise! The next time they're together, it will be a tearful reunion between mother and son!
NacNak chapter 27 . Jun 13
No! A Cliffhanger! XD
I can't get enough of this, outstanding work!
Hehehe thank you so much for your kind review. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. Until next time!
Hmm chapter 27 . Jun 13
Whoever that"bro" is I sure hope he acts like his certain space tarzan counterpart lol
And like the last chapter i quote "that ending tho"
Looking forward to it especially the sports festival(itsuka coming in clutch lol)
Also if you have the time, I Would Love for a Gohan x Fuyumi story imagine her father seeing Gohan's new and canon el Blanco form lmao
Ohhh yes. Perhaps he will get along with a certain adorable little power erasing unicorn sometime down the line… hehehe Oh I think Endeavor would pee his pants if he saw Gohan go beyond Mystic form. That would be so much fun to write!
The only thing is that right now, I'm in the middle of writing about eight stories across four different fandoms, so it's just hard to find the time to start outlining a new story. But I promise, once I get a little bit more cleared up, I'll tackle a non-nerfed Adult Gohan x Fuyumi story. It's a challenge, considering Gohan would have beyond God like powers compared to everyone else, but I think there's a way to pull it off...
Hmm chapter 1 . Jun 12
YOOOOO, Gohan just got a new form I wonder if you'll ever incorporate that form to this or another story of yours
At the moment, I don't really have a place for it, but I'm keeping my eyes open. If I can find a way to squeeze it in, for sure, I would love to use it! He looks so badass!
Thanks again for the reviews!
That's it for the reviews, thank you once again to everyone who's following the story up until now. I hope you're enjoying it. Until next time!