Beru Morgenstein was always a duelist.
She had been a fighter right out of the womb, poking her siblings with sticks and hurling knives at trees when her parents weren't looking. More than anything, she wanted to test her might, her skill, against a worthy opponent.
They mistook her passion for combat with a passion for violence, and she was marked a danger as a result. Truthfully, Beru believed that compassion came from combat, that you could only truly understand someone when the aggression was at an all time high. It was no surprise then, when her stand manifested, it was a sword.
It all changed in high school, when she had challenged the school bully to a duel. The bully had tormented her, called her a serial killer waiting to happen, and Beru wanted to understand why they hated her so much...
She didn't mean to kill them, but the authorities didn't care about her intentions. She ran, ran until she couldn't run anymore, and she was forced to adopt a criminal lifestyle. After all...
If people expected her to be a monster, why should she disappoint?
Of course, Beru wasn't a serial killer, she merely wanted to understand people. And right now...
She really wanted to understand why this teenaged girl had just dropped boulders on a man who was recovering from starvation.
"Why? How could you be so heartless? He's frail! On the verge of death, and you just attacked him as though his life didn't matter..."
Kyoka kept the point of Pluck aimed at Beru's face. "Shigaraki is a sociopath lady. He doesn't care about anything other than destruction. He is only capable of hate."
"Maybe now...but there is still a human being under all that hate. A human who was cast out of society, all because he had a destructive quirk. A human that you so called heroes refused to help...just like nobody helped me. I know he's a monster, but I believe he can be saved."
Kyoka closed her eyes, slowly lowering the sword. "I...I kind of understand where you're coming from, but he has killed so many people, and for what? Because he isn't human anymore, he will never be capable of love, or empathy...because All For One screwed him up. You're wasting your time."
"He isn't the one incapable of empathy, you BITCH!" Beru brought Excalibur down towards Kyoka, and she quickly batted the blade aside with Pluck, responding with a diagonal cut to Beru's shoulder. Beru angled her body to the side.
"You know how to use that thing..."
"I'm not a slouch, I've actually had a thing for swords since before the USJ. I'm a little bit of a weeb I guess, but I've always loved em'"
In fact, if Kyoka recalled correctly, she had used a sword at said attack...before Magenta came into the picture.
"We have something in common, but your basic skills are NOTHING! I've been training since BIRTH!"
To prove her point, Beru shunted Pluck away using Excalibur's knuckle guard, and slashed at Kyoka's midsection. Kyoka barely moved back in time, but the blade stand still left a nasty cut across her stomach.
"Ow...that may be true. I am not as skilled with a blade as you are..."
Kyoka blocked Beru's next strike and kicked out with her foot, catching Beru in the chin. "But I'm pretty damn good with improvising!" Beru backflipped away, only for Kyoka to plug an earphone jack into her hand speaker, blasting the swordswoman with sound.
Beru gritted her teeth and pressed a button on her shoe, causing spikes to grow from the bottom, anchoring her to the ground. Beru began slowly stomping over, her cheeks flapping from the force being applied against her.
Okay...come on I need to counter that! Magenta had to have had something interesting in his pockets...BINGO!
Kyoka proceeded to throw a pocket knife directly at Beru, and the villainess was forced to detach herself from the ground in order to dodge, being blown away by the soundwave. Kyoka's body began to vibrate, so she was forced to stop her sound attack.
Beru pried herself off the ground and twirled Excalibur in her hand, and several more blades appeared around her in a circle, spinning around as she approached.
"That was a cheap move, now it's MY turn!"
Several blades hurled themselves at Kyoka, and she quickly swung Pluck as she rolled to the side, one of them stabbing into her hindquarters. "OW! WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"You look like a fool, girl!"
"And you're a pain in my ass!"
"Real-UGH!"
Kyoka had used Pluck like a polevault, launching her feet into Beru's face. Beru fell backwards, and Kyoka picked up her head and slammed it back down to the ground. Beru grabbed Kyoka's sword arm and sat up, slowly pushing Pluck towards Kyoka's throat. Kyoka's eyes flared up as the Dark Determination gave her strength, and she began to push the sword back towards Beru.
It was at this point that Beru realized that Kyoka was very much willing to kill her.
"That look...I've heard of it. That's the Dark Determination. You are willing to slit my throat, just like that? Do I deserve such a fate?"
"That's your choice. I don't think you're evil, but you could hurt my friends."
"So you are willing to kill for those you care about...I understand you now. You are a very caring person...we need more heroes like you."
The flames in Kyoka's eyes faded, and they were replaced by confusion. Did...did she just complement me? Kyoka got off of Beru, and the woman sat up. "Why are you doing this? Why fight me? You say you understand me, but I don't understand you at all. You don't seem evil, but how can you just ignore all that Shigaraki has done?" Kyoka asked, genuinely trying to understand the villainess that lay before her.
"I'm not. I know that Tomura has made some very serious mistakes...but I refuse to believe that love cannot save him. I...I have to kill you and your friends, and for that I am truly sorry, but Tomura cannot be discovered."
Kyoka looked down. "I'm sorry too...because I'm getting my team out of here in one piece!"
"Then this is truly a fight to the death. If I fall today, at least it will be at the hands of a true hero."
"Well...at least I'm not dying to Shiggy. All right you Game of Thrones wannabe...may the best woman win..."
The two women held up their respective swords, and charged.
"So, Valentine said that D4C is coming back?" Johnny said, concerned.
"Yeah...he seemed bothered by it. I mean, it's still probably the most powerful stand we've ever faced. Now I'm not saying that this isn't worrying...but if Valentine is legit about caring for us...we could have it on OUR side!"
"IF he's being legit, don't forget how good of a liar he is. There's just something that's bugging me more than the stand itself..."
"What?"
"He could come back to life."
"Huh? I don't..."
"Remember how hard he was to kill? He kept transferring the stand to different versions of himself. Who's to say that he can't just find a version of himself that's still alive? What if he goes after the Corpse again...and our friends get involved? They could die like Mountain Tim and Wekapipo did..."
Gyro scratched his chin. "You make a pretty good point, but if Valentine has truly changed, then we wouldn't have to worry about that right? If he does return to life, he could do so to help."
"I don't trust him. He may very well have the best of intentions, but Funny Valentine has always been a man who is VERY difficult to read. We've come so far since the Steel Ball Run Gyro...I...I'm in LOVE now...I don't want to lose it all."
"Well, you were arguably in love BEFORE the Steel Ball Run...but I get it. I just wish all this violence would end, and we could just rest for a little while. But...I want to think that Valentine is here to help, I don't trust him either but...doesn't he deserve a second chance? I'm not saying you should forgive him, but...we should give him the benefit of the doubt, and he ready if it turns out to be another deception."
Johnny sighed, deep in thought. "He...he gets one chance. Then I blow another hole in his head, and I'll see him down to Hell myself. One..."
Unbeknownst to the two of them, Valentine was listening from the hallway. I could...I could do it. Once D4C returns to it's full power, I could come back. It's POSSIBLE...
But...SHOULD I...?
Valentine looked back at Johnny and Gyro, who were now discussing the merits of building a tower made entirely out of cheese. I tried to end their lives...lives that have done such good things for this world. Saving that child, defeating Santana's minions...
Stopping a madman who would kill anyone just to achieve his goal of a unified world democracy...
No...
I don't deserve life, I don't TRUST myself with life. I could ruin theirs, even with my best intentions. I had good intentions during the Steel Ball Run, and I STILL did terrible things.
Am...am I truly a villain? I only wanted what was best for my country, what I thought was the best for the world, but people like those two rose to stop me, GOOD people...and I murdered them.
I don't know what I am anymore...but I'm certainly no hero.
Kyoka and Beru locked blades, and began to push against each other. Kyoka's jacks began to stab at Beru's eyes. Beru angled her face away, and Kyoka pushed her backwards, continuing her assault.
Beru kicked out at Kyoka's legs and knocked her onto the ground, causing her to drop Pluck, and plunged Excalibur towards Kyoka's chest. Kyoka caught the blade in her palms, and began to slowly angle it away from her heart.
Beru pushed down, and the tip of the blade went into Kyoka's shoulder. Kyoka grunted as she struggled to keep the blade from piercing right through her. Owowowowowowowowow!
That's when a purple ball connected with Beru's eye. The hole in the ceiling revealed Mineta, who was tossing his balls down in an attempt to save Kyoka's life. Mineta...as much as I hate to admit it, you've been a big help this whole mission...I was wrong to doubt you.
Now if only you had some fucking self control.
Kyoka kicked Beru in the stomach while the swordswoman was trying to pry the ball from her face, and threw the end of Excalibur away from reached for Pluck, but one of Excalibur's blades pierced through her hand, pinning it to the floor.
"JIRO!"
Beru swiveled around and trained her unstuck eye on the other 1A students. "You will NOT interfere in this fight! This is between me and the girl, and you are tainting it! Interfere again and I will KILL ALL OF YOU!"
"Jiro is our friend, our LEADER! We aren't abandoning her!" Uraraka shouted down. Kyoka teared up as she wrenched the blade out of her hand. I would hug all of them if I wasn't currently fighting a villain to the death...
Her hand found Pluck yet again, and she put the sword in front of her. "We were fighting?" She asked, twirling the sword in front of her and extending her middle finger. Beru smiled. "Taunting, eh? After all the wounds I have given you? Truly you are a fighter. Let us CONTINUE!"
Beru twirled Excalibur, and the sword morphed from a broadsword to a rapier. With the smaller yet faster blade, Beru began to unleash a flurry of fast paced strikes, and Kyoka desperately tried to block them, but Pluck was much bigger and slower. Next thing she knew, her arms were littered with small cuts.
"Excalibur can turn into any blade I want! Throwing knives, broadswords, sabers...you name it! I can even make it into a spear! Tell me, what do you have to counter that? What kind of clever plan can you pull out of your ass this time?"
"HEARTBEAT BOUNCE!" Kyoka was desperate, so she had to pull the riskiest move in her arsenal in order to get some distance. She flew backwards and prayed she would land safely, only to feel a hand on her shoulder. Uraraka had entered the battle with Kaminari in tow, and had caught Kyoka before she could slam into the wall. Kaminari, still dumb, was giving Kyoka a thumbs up.
Now Kyoka was floating.
"STOP INTERFERING!" Beru shouted, firing more knives at Uraraka, only for acid to burn them away. Mina slid down. "NEVER!"
Mineta gulped, and jumped down the hole after his teammates. Kyoka looked around and smiled, pointing the end of her sword at Beru. "You may be able to summon any blade you want, but I will never be alone. Unlike your mass murdering boyfriend, my friends won't abandon me!"
"Because you fight for them..." Beru breathed out. "So they return the favor...I see. I will not fight all of you, for I am at a disadvantage. I value honor in battle more than anything, and there is no greater honor than a one-on-one fight. So...in that case..."
Beru waved her hand, and before Kyoka could react, her friends were encased in a multitude of swords and knives.
"Excalibur: Iron Maiden. Your friends will not be harmed unless they try to intervene. If even one of those blades is moved or destroyed, all of the others will close in and turn them into a piece of bloody modern art."
"What the hell?!"
"You want to free them? Fight me, ALONE. Just know...I only do this because I truly believe you are the opponent I've been waiting for all these years. Your heart, your actions, are utterly pure. You are everything a hero should be, kind and compassionate, yet willing to kill should someone threaten the safety of others. Tell me...before we begin...why is that so? What is your reason to fight?"
Kyoka looked back towards her friends, and more importantly she looked back on her life. Fighting to save Okuyasu, who had accepted his fate at the hands of a serial killer, saving Johnny from his mother's shadow, fighting for her life to save Eri from the Yakuza...
The answer was obvious.
"I am Earphone Jack. A hero that will make even the most damaged of people smile! I will bring hope to the hopeless, and I will put my body, my life, and my soul on the line to make sure they KEEP that hope! I will do ANYTHING to protect it!" Kyoka held Pluck tighter, and Beru's mouth fell open as she began to glow.
A massive figure of what appeared to be a man with bluish hair wrapped his powerful arms around Kyoka's, her wounds slowly closing up as a bright yellow energy surrounded them, and they heaved the sword in front of her. "So BRING IT ON!"
"What in the- why is Jiro glowing?!" Mina asked, her yellow eyes wide in disbelief.
"That's...that's how JoJo glows sometimes...is she using Hamon?!" Uraraka exclaimed.
Beru gritted her teeth as she and Kyoka swung at the same time.
CLANG!
Kyoka's strike knocked Beru clean off her feet, and she fell back down. "When did you get so strong?!"
Beru quickly jumped to the side as Pluck punched into the ground where she once was. She's swinging that thing around as if it were made of paper! What happened, who is that man?!
Kyoka wrenched the sword from the ground with ease, sending dirt straight into Beru's good eye. Beru, in an act of desperation, blindly thrusted Excalibur forward...
And opened her eyes to see that the end of her blade had punched straight through Kyoka, impaling her where she stood. Beru sighed as Kyoka fell to her knees. "You fought well Earphone Jack, better than most...I'm truly sorry things had to end this way."
"Me too." Kyoka said, before swinging Pluck upwards, chopping Beru's right arm off at the elbow. Beru shrieked and fell backwards, before finding Pluck's tip at her throat.
"H-how?! I...I ran you through! You should be bleeding out right now!"
Kyoka opened her jacket, and Beru gasped. Her blade had only left a small cut on Kyoka's hip, the sword had gone through the jacket.
"Why do you think I put this long-ass jacket on in the first place? Because purple is my color? No, I knew I would fight you again, and this jacket was PERFECT for hiding my body! Now...I don't want to kill you, because you are by far the most human opponent I've ever faced...so I would recommend letting my friends go and surrendering. Then...maybe we could even find a way to get that arm reattached, I know a guy that can do that."
"Offering me mercy? You are certainly kinder than most..." Beru stood up. "I have always been a duelist, and people often mistook that for a love of violence. I never wanted to become a villain...but fighting is the only way I can truly understand people."
"You just love the sport, right? People clearly pushed you towards this path...it isn't too late to prove them wrong. Here."
Kyoka took a ripped a piece of Magenta's jacket and began tying it around Beru's stump, pulling it taught to stop the bleeding. Beru looked at her severed arm, and then at Kyoka. "I...I appreciate your kindness...you and your friends may leave. I can't leave Tomura."
Kyoka sighed. "Are you sure? Do you really believe that you can change him? What about your arm?"
"Tis' but a flesh wound...go, you have won today. I hope...someday...we can meet as friends rather than enemies."
Kyoka gave Beru a nod, and ran to join her friends as they found their way to the exit. She looked back at Beru one last time. "I hope so..."
Tomura Shigaraki, bloody from his abrupt burial, growled as Beru's body crumbled to dust in his hands. "Stupid fucking...can't rely on anyone these days."
Dabi appeared from around the corner. "The heroes are probably going to come here soon, now that those kids have escaped. We should leave, NOW."
"You're right. Our numbers have been dwindling ever since Santana took over. We need to even the odds somehow..."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Dabi said, crossing his arms.
"Look, I know the only reason you stuck with me is because Santana would've never allowed you to get your revenge, but right now you're all I've got. We need MORE people, and I think I might have an idea..."
"What?"
"Santana took the Doctor, therefore also taking our Nomu, and taking Master's ultimate plan. We need to steal him back! So we can have an army again..."
Shigaraki grinned.
"So that I can have my DESTINY again."
Kyoka yawned as she entered Jotaro's office, as her team got back to UA at 10:00 at night, and saw that her boyfriend was currently sitting beside his father, and the two were chuckling at security footage.
"Um...am I interrupting something?"
Johnny, upon hearing her voice, turned around in excitement and fell clean off his chair. Jotaro, on the other hand, simply swiveled around. "Ah Jiro...I see you have Pluck."
"Yeah, the mission was a success...get up dork."
"I also heard that you had a bit of a breakdown."
Kyoka blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "Well...to be honest, things kind of went to shit for the first part of it...but...I came to my senses."
"So Gramps told me. He said you did very well, that something snapped you out of it."
"I'm guessing it had something to do with the fact that you are currently wearing what appears to be Magenta Magenta's kacket." Johnny pointed out.
"Yeah...I guess I just needed a reminder of how far I've come. I kept it for a tactical advantage, but...I guess I just forgot I was wearing it."
"Well, it looks better on you than it did on him, although it's still a little 1800s."
"Johnny, ANYTHING would look good on ANYONE, better than looking good on him."
"Or maybe you just look good in anything."
Kyoka turned red and punched Johnny in the shoulder. "JoJo, not in front of your father!"
"Yes, please. Not in front of me, I value my sanity."
Johnny chuckled. "I mean it, it looks good on you! Purple is definitely your color."
"Well...maybe I could get this thing tailored into a jacket that I could wear without tripping over myself, if you like it so much..."
Jotaro coughed, and the two teens immediately focused on him. "Alright...listen Jiro, I'm incredibly proud of you. You overcame your doubts, and you led your previously unorganized team to a clean victory. You are one of the most reliable people I have met, and I never say that lightly. Good job."
"Congrats Kyoka, you just achieved Koichi status!"
"Koichi...status?"
"Yare yare daze..." Jotaro muttered.
However, Kyoka couldn't deny that Joraro's praise had left her feeling fuzzy inside. The next thing she would have to do is tell Josuke about her recent achievement. There was only one thing left to do though...
"What were you two laughing at, anyway?"
"Let's just say...I took your advice." Jotaro said, smirking and gesturing towards the computer screen. Once Kyoka was what was on it, she burst out laughing.
Midnight was currently sleeping in her bed, well at least her mattress. Said mattress was currently floating in the school's swimming pool. "Looks like she's going to get up on the wrong side of bed tomorrow morning."