Hey there! Have you missed me?
Chainsaw Man anime is coming this October! Along with other awesome stuff like Blue Lock! So in honor of that, I decided to post the first chapter of my crossover fic as an early celebration. Hope you all enjoy it!
"He's got a gun!"
"Let me go, my daughter is in there!"
"Someone, call an ambulance!"
"I am dying."
"Eww, get it away!"
"Where is my wife? Where is my wife?!"
"I don't want to die alone, man..."
"Mommy! Mommy, help!"
"Let me out! I don't belong here!"
We latch onto the despair and misery in the young man's voice. He steps away from the bars of metal and sinks to his knees. In the sea of mouths of all sizes and forms, one of them follows the sobs of the young man.
"You gotta get me out of this place!"
We bite into the surrounding dark and tear ourselves off from the rest of the collective Us. We learn the smell and the taste of what caused the young man's despair. We follow it into the unknown.
"Please... Just let me out! I can't take this anymore!"
We become me.
I take my first breath as the man lets out his last. I touch the ground and open my eyes. I see the world free of any restraints. No laws. No rules. No regulations. The world of absolute freedom.
I feel my entire being recoil in disgust.
I can't control my disgust at what I see. I attack the nearest of my kind. I tear into its flesh. My disgust grows. I take no joy in killing. I hate it. It's wrong. It's wrong. It's wrong. IT'S WRONG!
I am overwhelmed. I lash out. I attack more. I kill all of them.
I attract more. I am overwhelmed. I am held down. I feel good. I understand it now. I laugh. I die.
I take my first breath. I touch the ground and open my eyes. I see the world deprived of its freedom.
I can see the chains and the locks. I see them on the buildings, on the streets and around the necks of every single living thing.
I see her hold on everything and everyone. It is gentle and kind. And it sickens me. It is a lie. An illusion.
I spit at this mockery of what had birthed me.
I do not lie to myself as the desire forms in my mind. I do not delude myself into believing I am anything but what I am. I love what I am. I love this gnawing need in my belly. I love this world.
Not for what it is.
But for what it can give me.
I take the first step and disappear into the shadows.
I know that I can do this.
W
"You really think you can do this, huh?"
It was a familiar scene Aldera Junior High. So mundane that hardly anyone in the class paid much attention to it. On the one side you had Bakugou Katsuki, the guy with the largest ego in the country and the power to back it up. And, opposite of the blonde was him, Izuku Midoriya.
"You seriously want to be a hero?"
Do it, Izuku told himself. Stand up for yourself. Stand up for your dream.
"W-Well, yes," It sounded like a question when it definitely was not. Ignoring the snickers at his low voice and stammer, he continued with his head still down. "I-I know that the chances are pretty low b-but... But nothing is impossible if you try!"
Quoting one of All Might's most inspirational speeches would have been a powerful moment if he managed to make eye contact with the blonde.
"Dammnit, Deku, talk properly when you speak to me," Kacchan scoffed. "I haven't heard any of the shit you muttered down there."
Or if he managed to be loud enough to be heard. His best chance at verbal strike broken, he shut himself up and stood still as the blonde and his two friends continued to talk at him.
"What kind of loser would need to be saved by Deku, anyway?" One of them snickered. "I doubt even the Hunters would want someone like him around."
Hunters, the unofficial name of the Specialized Safety Forces, were perhaps the best chance Izuku had at working as a hero. But Hunters were not heroes.
"I heard they get paid a lot, though."
"What's the point of money if you end up dead within a year?" one girl snarked. "That's about how long most of them last."
"Must be some pretty strong guys they fight, huh?"
"Nah, they just suck that much," the same girl replied. "Anyone with actual talent for fighting villains goes to hero schools."
Anyone who wished to operate as a hero had to pass the specialized exam and receive the license. Annually, less than twenty percent of applicants passed on their first try.
The exam was not only a test of the individual's physical abilities but also their adaptability, crisis management and perseverance. To receive the license was to prove to the people that you could protect them.
Hunters were the complete opposite in that regard as well. They didn't require the formal training or even a high school degree. There were even rumors of high school students joining the Hunters.
If you were able to pass their tests, which were rumored to be the bare minimum of physical and mental capabilities, you were given a special license that allowed you to operate in limited capacity as a hero.
But even if joining the Hunters was the best chance he had at being a hero, Izuku would never join them.
Heroes saved people. They protected the weak and the powerless. They inspired kids like himself to be better people. They were the fantasy brought to life.
Hunters? They killed. That was all that they did. They didn't negotiate. They didn't arrest. They didn't show mercy or compassion. They didn't care.
In the world where superheroes became the reality, the hunters were undoubtedly the antiheroes. The ruthless and merciless group that solved everything with deadly force.
"Even you wouldn't be stupid enough to join those losers," Kacchan said as he tossed his notebook out of the window. "Or maybe you would. Who the hell knows what is going on in that head of yours."
Ignoring the looks and words of his classmates - some mocking and some concerned - Izuku quietly packed his bags and left to retrieve his notebook from wherever it fell.
As he dried it off in complete silence, he couldn't help but ask himself if Kacchan was right.
W
I hop between the glass cages the humans walk inside. I rush through the electric chains of control spread thin but standing firm. So many cages. So many chains. So many locks. And so few keys.
I have to stop myself lest I am distracted by the beauty of this world. When did I start loving this world? It's barely been a day. I shift my focus onto her prints and her stench all over these cages. She has corrupted them. Turned the beautiful steel and stone into the deceptive little display.
I see their names. Millions of people with potential. And only hundreds with the will to bring it out. To nurture it. To tame it.
I am weak. Born to the great fear but lacking in experience. My shape and power still malleable. Raw and unrefined. I think back to the ways so many of the Primal Ones came to exist. I remind myself of who made them as great as they were.
I see a teacher yelling at his students. They were bullying their classmate. He raises his hand and I get excited. Then he thinks about the phones that are already pointing his way. He lowers his hand and lets the girls off with the warning. I leave as well.
I see a kid furiously typing at one of the electronic cages. He prays for the bloody justice and merciless court. Let them burn. Let them drown. Let them hang. I am intrigued by the drive. I am disappointed by his inability to stand up to his father when he comes home drunk again. I leave him be.
I see a judge that is hailed as a hero. I see him refuse the bribes offered by the guilty party's family. I watch the same judge follow a woman into darker corners of the city. I hear him beg and plead as he has fallen into the trap of the aforementioned family. The man puts his pride above justice. I leave, again unsatisfied.
My search continues well into the night. I come to the horrifying conclusion.
I have no idea what I seek in a contractor.
Desire for Justice? Thirst for Vengeance? Fiery passion? Cold pragmatism? For the first time since I ended up here, I howl. In frustration and confusion. Ignorance is unpleasant.
"Hello there."
It is also distracting.
BANG
W
BAM BOOM BAM
Izuku was on his way home when he heard it. The powerful explosions ringing through the and accompanied by the most disgusting laughter he ever heard. Running past the fleeing crowd, Izuku was greeted to the sight straight from out of nightmares.
People screamed and ran as fires raged around them. Heroes have arrived by now but were too busy containing the damage and waiting for the backup. And in the center of it all was none other than Kacchan. And he was just as terrified as the rest of them, even as his voice rang through the air with glee.
"Is that all you got?!" The villain grinned at them, the strange green 'mouth' made of sewage-like slime and garbage stretched over Kacchan's lower face. "Come on, try and hit me with all you got!"
The villain was wrapped around Kacchan like a coat of dirt and waste. Big enough to be seen. But close enough that any attempt to take him down could end up in injuring or even killing the blonde. On top of that, he somehow was able to control Kacchan's body - blowing up the area around him.
Izuku saw the blonde struggle against the slime around his arms. For a second there, Izuku was sure that Kacchan would break free. Only to hear the loud and sickening crunch of limbs being broken.
"Maaaaaaan, I really got lucky with this hostage!"
Despite having both of his arms broken, Kacchan continued to struggle against the restraint. He shook his head, kicked his legs and tried to bite through the mask forced onto his face.
The villain saw little humor in that. In front of the heroes, with the sadistic glee, he broke the already broken arms in three more places.
"Any of you make a step and I break his neck!" He giggled and raised the blonde's head. The pain and suffocation almost robbed him of consciousness. As time slowed to a crawl, Izuku saw the expression he never imagined on the blonde. Fear. "Or I can do that now, anyway!"
"No!"
"Stop!"
"KACCHAN!"
Izuku's cry drowned out all the noise, his body throwing itself towards the certain death. What did he do? What could he do?
His hand reached for the strap of his backpack and, with a turn, he launched the thing at the villain's face. A distraction worth a few seconds of the time. A plan made on a whim and hinging on the man's Quirk working against him.
"Time for my Killer Move!" Izuku cried out, imitating All Might's stance. The villain seemingly recognized it, his eyes growing wide in shock. Stilling his gaze, Izuku cried at the top of his lungs, "Kacchan, I am sorry but I have to take you both down! Here it comes! Detroit Sma-"
The villain left Kacchan's body before he could even throw a punch. Like a snake, his slime-like body coiled around him as his head made it inside his mouth. He could hear the man laugh in his head. Just fifteen more seconds and his body would be under the villain's control.
Fifteen seconds is all that I need.
He grabbed Kacchan and threw him towards Kamui Woods. The hero caught him and looked at him like he was crazy. And honestly, he was. Izuku allowed himself a small smile at seeing the other boy in safe hands. His smile was wiped off in a second as he fell to his knees and screamed.
The villain-! He could feel him everywhere! The hot and putrid slime spreading through his body, to every inch of flesh and to every cell of that. Izuku wanted to throw up at the smell and the feeling of all this sewage coursing through his system. But the man's mouth formed over his own and spoke.
Slowly. Scarily so.
"You... tricked... me," Anger. Shock. Embarrassment. "You tricked me!"
And now he had the hostage he couldn't use to harm anyone.
"Hostage?" Izuku's eyes widened in shock. Could he read his mind? But that was- How?! "Stupid fucking brat... You are not a hostage."
Izuku felt the slime coil around his spine.
"You are my toy!"
Izuku's world exploded in pain as the villain crushed his spine. Every inch of it was reduced into tiny fragments and bone dust. Despite this, he didn't pass out. The villain wouldn't let him. Next went his ribs. His arms and legs. His skull. And he lived through it all.
And then the villain went after his organs. His flesh. His nerves. His skin.
In Izuku's mind, it lasted hours. In reality, it took the villain less than fifteen seconds. By the end of which, the heroes and their backup arrived to see a living corpse of the boy that rushed in ahead of them.
"My God," Izuku saw Death Arms from the corner of his one remaining eye. "What kind of demon are you?"
The villain giggled, "If only you knew!"
The villain expanded in size and unleashed a wave of trash and sewage to push the heroes back. Izuku was useless as a hostage or as a weapon. He was dying. Even if they rushed him to the hospital, he wouldn't survive.
But it seemed that the villain wanted to mock both him and the heroes by making sure that he died here and now.
Well, he wouldn't have to wait for long.
Izuku's vision blurred as he struggled to breathe. His head rolled to the side, giving the nearby people a good look at his mangled body. Some gasped. Some cried. Many threw up or fainted. And among the sea of people, his eye focused on a single smudge of white fur - a rabbit.
Was it someone's pet? An escapee from a store? In the chaos of the villain attack, nobody noticed it run towards him.
Izuku reached out his hand - to try and shoo the poor animal away before this monster killed it as well. But it didn't listen.
As his arm fell limp to the ground and he let out his last breath, the last thing he could think about was the bullet wound in the poor animal's head.
W
"Let me out! I don't belong here!"
"I am innocent! Please, I swear to God!"
"Don't touch me! Stay back! Stay the fuck back!"
Izuku awoke with the cry of pain and shock. Only for the sound to be drowned out by the countless other screams.
The cacophony of voices - all ages and genders and languages - screaming. Some in rage. Many in fear. All with the sensible hint of despair and powerlessness. Izuku looked around, trying to make out any detail that might tell him where he was.
But all that he found was the complete darkness.
He could see himself, however, as if emitting his own light. With both eyes rather than one. Did someone heal him? The place hardly looked like a hospital room. Or any other place on Earth.
Against his better judgement, Izuku forced himself up. He couldn't sit around and wait for someone to find him. There was also a real possibility that he didn't want to be found by whoever was also here.
"I loved him! I swear, I loved him!"
"I was framed! Please, let me out of here! I was-"
"No, please! Anything but the solitary! Please, I am begging you, not the solitary!"
With each step taken into the unknown, the voices got louder. He tuned them out. Ignored them. A part of him felt ashamed.
What if these people needed help? What if he was the first person in years to find them? Was he going to just abandon them? Was he really that much of a coward?
He was about to turn back and start the probably doomed quest to free the owners of these voices when he saw something further in the dark. Hours of wandering through the unknown made him all the more apprehensive of whoever was there ahead. But all the more curious, too.
He walked towards the figure on the ground, with each step growing slower. Until he finally stood close enough to see his own dead body. And right next to it, that very same rabbit he saw before waking up here.
"Is this a good death?"
Izuku looked around in surprise. All the voices before were begging to be released. None of them were addressed to him.
"Is this a good death?"
And unlike with the voices from before, Izuku could follow it to the source. He looked down at the rabbit, whose ruby red eyes stared right into his.
"Is this a good death?"
Was he in Hell?
"Not Hell. Not one that you think of," the rabbit - or was it? - answered. "Hell, as you know it, does not exist. Now answer my question."
"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Izuku yelled. "What is this place? Why can you talk? What- Why is my body here? Is that even my body or-"
Before Izuku could continue, there was a loud sound - metal striking metal - that drove him to the knees. He looked at the rabbit to see if it was its doing. It was.
"A question for a question," the rabbit said. "No lies. No half-truths. No twisted words. As a gesture of goodwill, I allowed you the first question. Now you must answer mine."
What?
"But I didn't ask anything!"
The rabbit gave him a small glare.
"Yes, you did. You asked if you were in Hell. I gave you the detailed answer," It counted the question in mind, too? No, Izuku shook his head. It counted the question in mind, too. No question about it. The rabbit smiled, clearly having read that in his head just now. "Clever child. Now answer my question. Is this a good death?"
Yes. That was the first thing that Izuku wanted to say. He died saving someone else. He died saving Kacchan from the villain. It was a good death. A heroic one, too.
"Ye-" Izuku fell to his knees, his whole body crying out in pain. He could feel every cell in his body scream for the pain to stop. And it did once the rabbit put its little paw down. "I told the truth!"
"Not the full truth," the rabbit hissed. "Speak only the truth or be left in here alone."
"What do you want me to say? This wasn't a question!" Izuku growled, confusion and frustration getting the better off him. "I don't know what a good death is, okay? I am fifteen! And even if I were fifty, I wouldn't know! Nobody does and nobody ever will. What is a good death? Peaceful death from old age? Then what is the good age to die at? Seventy? Ninety-five? Is it still a good death if you lived that long but spent the last years of your life alone?"
"True. But that's not how you died," the rabbit said. "You gave up your life for the life of another. Is it a good death?"
How could he answer that?
His relationship with Kacchan has grown sour ever since the blonde awakened a Quirk while Izuku had not.
He would always make him the bad guy or a civilian during their games. He would ignore him most of the time. And when he didn't, he would mock his dream and the cruel reality of its impossibility.
There were times when Izuku wanted to fight back. There were times when Izuku wished someone would come and treat the blonde the same way as he treated him. But when he saw the blonde today, all he could think about was that he wanted it to stop.
"I... I don't like Kacchan. I respect his strength and his drive. I always did. I also envied him for having the Quirk while I didn't," Izuku admitted. "I guess that is why I tried to keep my friendship with him alive. Because someone as worthless as me wanted to have someone that strong for a friend."
And what a messed-up mindset it was. The rabbit sat silent, prompting for more.
"I don't like Kacchan. Even if he can back up the big talk... Even if he is right that I can't do much without a Quirk... It still doesn't change the fact that he has been treating me like that just because I had a dream," Izuku felt his eyes sink to the floor. But he refused to let them. He would say what he believed in while looking this thing straight in the eye. "But I still don't regret saving him. I don't like him. But that doesn't mean that he deserves to die. I didn't deserve that either."
He looked at his broken body once more, as if preparing to end up there the moment he gave the rabbit his answer.
"This was not a good death," Izuku said. "Because neither of us should have died."
He closed his eyes and prepared for the another strike of pain.
"This is acceptable," the rabbit said, a mix of reluctance and approval in its voice. "Your turn."
"What are you?"
The rabbit smiled.
"You don't want to waste your time, huh?"
"Is that a question?"
"Don't get cheeky with me," the rabbit gave him a warning glare. Then, without the hint of irony or hesitation, it answered, "I am a Devil. The thing that killed you was one as well. Our kind has existed alongside yours for as long as there was life. We are born from and feed on your fears. I represent the humanity's fear of incarceration and loss of freedom, Chained Devil."
Izuku sat in silence, trying to process it all. So it was another devil that killed him? That would explain how weird its Quirk was. But still... It just didn't make any sense. This had to be a dream. There was no way devils actually existed - they were a myth. This had to be a dream. It just didn't make any sense otherwise. This had to be a dream.
"My turn," the rabbit - or was it the devil? - interrupted him. "Do you want to live?"
Of course, he did. What person would reject a chance to return from the dead? He didn't want to leave his parents. He didn't want give up on his dream even if he was dead. He didn't want to die.
"I want to live!"
"Is that all?"
Its voice was softer now. Not comforting, though. Prodding. Fishing. Mocking. It really was a Devil.
"I-"
He wanted to say yes, he wanted to live. Just let him come back to life and he would never want for anything more. It was a humble desire. The kind that always saved the lost and the vile people in stories. It was a good answer. But it was not the truth.
"... no."
A single word opened the floodgates. Years of emotions he kept in check by looking forward to the future that was now taken from him.
"I don't want to just live! I want to live the way I want to!"
It was selfish. It was greedy. It was childish. It was the truth.
"I want to be the hero that can save the day all by himself! I want to make people feel safe the moment they see me! I want mom to see that my dream was not impossible! I want Kacchan to acknowledge me! I want my classmates to see that they were wrong when they called me useless! I-I-!"
He clutched his head, his whole body shaking and burning with all the emotions he kept hiding from everyone, himself included.
"I don't want to feel useless and weak ever again!"
He would like to believe that he wasn't the only one.
"You want power."
Not a question. Not a judgement either. Only a statement. He answered anyway.
"I do."
He expected to feel shame. Wanted to, even. But what he felt in its place was the relief. The kind of freedom that only came with being honest with himself.
He wanted to be strong. To protect other people. To protect himself. To be loved. To be respected. To love himself. To respect himself.
"Then I can help you," the Chained Devil said. "Make a contract with me. I will grant you the power to do all that you want and more."
"What do you want from me in return?" Izuku asked, eyeing the devil with suspicion. It was his turn to ask question. Two, in fact. "How do I know that you are not lying and won't just wreck havoc if we make this contract?"
"To answer your first question, I need time and experience. I may have been born from a powerful fear but I have been alive as myself for only a few days. In my attempt to learn more about this world, I was almost killed by a Devil Hunter. Or a Hunter, as you refer to them."
Hunters knew about the devils?
"I am still growing. Still forming into what I should be as a Devil. My kind cannot be killed. But should we be slain in one world, we will be reborn in the other. Losing our memories in the process. If I am killed, then I will be reborn different. At best, I might retain some traits of who I am. At worst, I will be reborn with no traces of this self."
Was he actually feeling sympathetic for the devil? It still didn't change the fact that he knew nothing about devils like her and how they worked. For all he knew, she could be lying to him and would kill everyone in the city once he made a contract with her.
"We cannot break the terms of our contracts. Once we make the contract, we must obey the terms and conditions of it. Those who break them suffer the price. And the price is never worth it."
"No offense but the devils aren't particularly known for their honesty."
The Chained Devil laughed, "And humans are? I have seen the lies of your world, child. Believe me, when it comes to deception, us devils have quiet a lot to learn from you."
Izuku had no response to that.
"My turn. If given the power and returned to life, what evil will you fight?"
What evil? Izuku never thought about that. Heroes rarely fought any evils besides the villains and natural disasters. He never asked himself what evil he would fight because there was no question about it. But this would be no answer. If he was being truthful with himself, then the only thing that came to his mind was this:
"Whatever evil I see in front of me. Whatever evil threatens the most people."
"Then our interests align," the devil smiled. "Devils are the greatest threat to your kind. We are immortal. We are fueled by your fears. We consume your flesh and blood for health and for pleasure."
"And you will give me the power to fight that? Why?"
"Because I want to," the response was simple. Sincere, too. "I am the Chained Devil. Though us devils possess our own will, we are still driven by what has brought us into existence. The Fire Devil will seek to burn what it can. The Disease Devil will spread the infection. As the Chained Devil, I am driven to hunt down and imprison others. And doing it to the other Devils? Can you even imagine the thrill of it?"
"I can only imagine," Izuku answered as he looked at the devil before him. Then he took one long look at his mutilated body. "My turn to ask a question. My final question."
"Go on."
It knew. It already knew.
"Can you promise me that we will not harm anyone innocent?"
"I can only promise that we will not hurt anyone that you deem innocent. Sounds good enough?"
No.
"What do you think?"
"Fantastic. Then this is a contract. In exchange for my power and the body to wield it, you will fight and imprison the other Devils and help me grow stronger!"
In the blink of an eye, a shackle of black iron appeared around his wrist, hanging open and loose. The chain connected it to the leash around the rabbit's neck. The rabbit pushed forward a key of white bone.
"Take this key and lock the shackle around your wrist. Our contract shall be complete."
Izuku looked at the key, feeling the power inside even before he touched it. He wasn't sure if any of this was real. For all he knew, he was dead and this was just some crazy dream his dying brain gave him.
But if it was not a dream, then the choice was clear.
He grabbed the bone-white key and held it tight against his chest, his entire being overwhelmed with the previously unknown levels of excitement. He saw the rabbit's eyes burn with the same feeling.
Without wasting another second, Izuku jammed the key in and turned it.
W
"Hahahahah, pathetic trash!"
Sludge Devil laughed as he drowned yet another little sidekick in the mass of filth and waste. These heroes were such an easy prey he almost felt bad. Almost.
"Give me more of that! Come on! Fight me! Hit me! And be reduced to more of filth and waste!"
Water, wood and blasts of one energy or the other smashed against him, he ignored it all. The big one rushed ahead, fist drawn back to take him down. No doubt trying to avenge the dead brat behind him. How brave and how pathetic!
He allowed the man to sink his fist into his mass and then crushed it with a simple breath. The hero screamed in pain and Sludge relished in it. The poor sap was struggling against the grip but to no-
The loud clank of metal was the only warning he got before something pulled him back. Dragging him across the pavement away from the fight, Sludge was more annoyed than hurt.
His annoyance turned into amusement as he raised his hand to see what weapon they used.
"Pfft, which one of you bastards is using these?" He laughed pointing at the chains. The fists didn't hurt him. Neither did the wooden spikes or the metal bullets! And yet some bastard thought he could caught by some rusty chains? Ohhh, he would enjoy peeling the flesh of this particular human more than anyone else's! "I am going to hang you by these chains, you mor-"
Something was wrong. His body couldn't escape them. No longer laughing, he follow the chains to their owner.
It was the brat! Alive and standing, no less!
No, it couldn't be- No, he crushed every single bone and organ in his body already! Was that his Quirk? No, no Quirk could save you from the death. Then that meant... another Devil?!
The damn brat made a contract with someone!
He rushed in but was pushed back by the sudden shockwave. As if someone slammed a giant metal door before him.
"Sludge Devil," three voices spoke as one from behind the veil of dust. One that belonged to the brat. One that was stoic and emotionless. And the final one that all but screamed in glee. "You have been found guilty of destruction of public property, theft, aggravated assault, harassment, murder, attempted murder, public disturbance and illegal waste disposal."
It was creature of metal and stone. Its body was covered in armor of black iron Its face was hidden behind the silver cage with only one glowing green eye visible from behind the bars.
The mane of green hair was the only thing this monster shared with the brat.
"You are sentenced to life and afterlife in my prison." He smiled. Sludge couldn't see it but he could tell this bastard was smiling. "Be honored to become my first inmate."
Shit... Shit. Shit! Like hell, he would go down to some brat!
Tearing off his muddy limbs and letting them fall to rot on the ground hurt. It hurt both his body and his pride. Which meant he had to take ten times of each from this bastard!
The brat retracted the chains just in time to try and strike him down. Sludge smirked and twisted his body around the attack. Laughing at the brat's stupidity, he reassembled himself right in front of the boy and raised a quickly-hardening fist.
"You are dead, you dumb fu-"
Chains. Thousands of chains erupted from the brat's body. All of them with millions of links and each link spiked, they moved as if they were alive. They wrapped around his limbs and tore through them.
Separating the lumps of waste from him as a makeshift filtration system. And they burned. Burned with the cold unknown even in the darkest pits of hell.
He commanded the pieces of himself back to regain the mass but this- this- this monster just kept cutting at him! What he didn't trap with his chains, he would cut away with them.
And what he did cut would grow cold and lifeless before falling the ground unresponsive to his command.
For the first time since arriving here, Sludge screamed. He needed to escape. Forget the pride. Just let him escape with his life. He would lie and wait for the opportunity to strike.
He just had to get away from here.
Commanding his torso to tear itself away, he cheered as it exploded in the wave of toxic waste and sewage right in the brat's face.
It bought him seconds at most. But all he needed to get to the nearest pipe or drain and he would be gold. Diving into the crowd to the screams of the humans, he looked for the escape.
There!
One more jump.
Another roll.
A quick bounce and he would be-
BANG
Its head split apart with a quick shot, the rest of the Sludge Devil's body fell apart back into random pieces of garbage and dirt.
With the enemy gone, people watched the shooter walk out of the shadows and towards the crowd. No, not them. And not Heroes. As the woman with pink and purple hair passed by the heroes, the latter didn't even try to hide their glare.
"What are you doing here?" Death Arms asked, blunt as ever.
"My job," she answered without even facing the man. Unfortunately, Backdraft had no intention of letting her go any further. "You got a problem with that?"
"I know that look on your face, Naga-"
"Finish that name and you will need face reconstruction."
"I would like to see you try," Mt. Lady stared the woman down. "I don't care who you think you are, you are not making another-"
"Enough," Kamui Woods pushed the two apart. Ignoring the woman's presence entirely, he turned towards his friend and told him to check his phone. "Orders from the higher-ups. Hunters are taking over this case."
The three heroes looked at the woodwielder like he grew another head. And when they saw the same message on their phones, they didn't hesitate to argue with it.
"That kid saved my ass, Kamui!" Death Arms growled. "You think I am letting these butchers take him?"
"I don't like this either but we can't do anything without starting a scene," the man sighed, liking the situation no better than his colleagues. "If it helps, I was assured that they want him alive."
"No," Mt. lady scoffed, watching chain-wielding hero turn back into a boy. A child. He was so young. Way too young to get involved with the Hunters. "It doesn't help."
The four heroes and their sidekicks went on with the standard procedures. They all felt angry and ashamed that they could only stand by and watch their former colleague load the kid into a car and drive off. They briefly wondered what would happen to this brave kid now.
And every single one of them decided that they didn't want to think on that any further.
Lest they add even more to their guilt.
Lots of stuff happened. Just in case you are worried, the story will feature the characters from the Chainsaw Man. After all, this is a crossover!
This chapter was written with the help from none other than Infamous Man, who was kind enough to help me bounce some ideas around for this story. Really great of him.
Some of the trivia:
1) Originally, Izuku was supposed to fight Bat Devil and lose. Then he would be saved by the CSM characters. I thought between Power, Denji and Aki. But eventually, I settled on Lady Nagant.
2) I was also planning to include the scene where Denji would bump into Izuku during one of his odd jobs. It would be right after All Might rejected him and Denji would have a brief talk with Izuku about their respective dreams. However, it took up too much space so I cut it.
3) In this AU, since Sludge is the devil, he wasn't caught by All Might and came across Bakugou under different circumstances. All Might is also not in the city at the moment of this chapter.
Anyways, that is all for the first chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and will give me your thoughts on it in the review section.
