Denji's eyes slowly fluttered open as he was welcomed by the sight of a stainless steel ceiling. Groaning, the devil hunter slowly sat up, noticing that both of his arms were back.
"Look who's back in the land of the living." Sister said. "Sleep well, dumbass?"
"A foul-mouthed nun?" Denji asked. "Damn it, guess I must've died. Didn't think I'd get into Heaven, though."
"You're not dead yet, idiot. You lost consciousness from blood loss along with some limbs, so we had to donate some so you could grow them back." Sister said.
"Wait, you mean you…?" Denji realized before he groaned and flopped back onto his back. "You guys had the place bugged, didn't you? Which means you heard and saw…figures. Damn it, didn't want you guys to find that out…"
"So what if you're the Chainsaw Devil, don't really care if you are or not, you're a person just like everyone else." Sister said. "And like it or not, you're a patient right now so you're stuck here until I say so, got it? Anyway, the others want to talk to you. He's awake, guys!" she said as the leaders walked in.
"Awake, huh? You do recover fast." David said.
"Ugh, you again." Denji said. "I know you're gonna say it, so just go ahead and say it."
"One demon hunter to another… You got way too cocky in that fight." David said.
"Oh, that's rich, coming from you." Denji said.
"At least I understood the severity of the situations I get into." David shot back. "Listen man, I know I don't have a right to say this, but going against someone like him half-cocked is only gonna put you in a bodybag, regeneration or no. I should know. It's happened to me a few times…one of those times, a close friend of mine died…"
"So… PTSD, huh? That's what gets you going." Denji said.
"Yeah… I didn't want anyone close to me to die again. These enemies can do whatever they want to me, but if someone close to me died under my watch again, I would never forgive myself." David said. "That's why I do the things that I do. I was simply doing what I could to make sure everyone made it out alive."
"By the way… You knew I was the Chainsaw Man for a while now, didn't you?" Denji asked.
"...Guess there's no point in hiding it now." David said. "Yeah… I knew something was off about you for a while now. Ever since Elegia. I'm a demon hunter too, remember? I can always tell from people's auras if something is off about them."
"And yet you didn't say anything?" Denji asked.
"I know how hard it is to blend into a crowd of normies." David said. "Heck, Connor even told you I would be applying for university around this time, did he? I have a very busy life to shuffle around. Tennis tournaments, rock concerts, sponsorships for the Fighter's Arena… I'm always at my feet with barely any time for myself."
"Whoa… You're right. You really do have a busy life. How do you handle it all?" Denji asked.
"Even I'm not sure myself at points. I just want to make steps into making lives better for everyone. I have a long-term goal in mind, after all." David said.
"A…goal?" Denji asked.
"Yeah… I want to create a paradise where people of all races can live in peace and harmony, free from discrimination and prejudice." David said.
"Just like that Be'lakor bastard, eh?" Denji asked.
"Not even close. He's too narrow-minded. I'm talking about ALL races…including demons." David said.
"Wait, demons too? But people like us exist to wipe the things off the face of the earth!" Denji said.
"...At first, that's what I thought too. However, there were a few things that caused me to question my perspective on that." David said. "There were instances where I saw humanity at its worst. I even helped wipe out an entire kingdom because of that. My hands are never clean, and what happened back then proves it."
"You know what you're setting out to do is impossible, right?" Denji asked.
"Yeah, you could say that. But it's as a good comrade of mine likes to say." David said. "The impossible is possible. All you have to do is make it so. That's kind of become my group's mantra going forward. Even if it takes years, even decades, I know that one day, it will become a reality."
Denji sighed, reclining in the bed he was laid in. "I wanna say that's sappy… but damn if you didn't make me a believer."
"Yeah, it's a little cheesy and cliche, but sometimes the effort is better than the outcome." David said as he looked over Ebony and Ivory. "What about you? What's your endgame in all of this? I mean your real endgame."
"My endgame? Didn't that plant-covered hippie girl I saved with Hilda, the half pint and hot chick in Hyrule explain it once my cover was blown?" Denji asked.
"Yeah, something about getting laid or something…" David said.
"Perfuma also mentioned some kind of 'reward' coming from a woman in the Exorsist Corps." Hope piped in. "Denji… you didn't go through all this trouble just to get a date, did you? You wouldn't go ripping through Damian's entire Dark Hell Operation while having a cover job at connors agency just for that."
"Who is Nayuta?" Ace asked.
Denji sighed. "She's someone I promised in my old world I'd give a life to." he said.
"Oh really?" Sister asked.
"Yeah. I've got this... sorta-friend, sorta-little-sister livin' with me. She's smart enough to go to college. I'm saving up for her tuition. See, my life was always crappy before. I want her to have a normal life." Denji explained.
"Ah, I see. We had no idea." David said.
"When the Prideful Crusade hit your world, you and this Nayuta were some of the survivors who made it out, right?" Hope said.
"Yeah. We managed to survive Superbia's stupid genocide of Demon Universe worlds just because demons gave him one bad day. Though I'd wager you guys know all about that, y'know, cuz some of you were there when he got taken out?" Denji said.
"Yes, Mark saw to his defeat." Ace said. "We lost some of our friends thanks to his crusade but they were resurrected thanks to Indigo."
"After our world was gone, we got separated." Denji said.
"But I thought only…she's the reincarnation of the Control Devil, isn't she?" Sheer said.
Denji looked away. "Yeah." he said. "But…that's why I need to find her. I will never…let her become like Makima."
"Makima… she's that red-haired woman we saw in Damien's cabinet with the Chaos Kin and Sisyphus Prime." Hope said.
"Yeah, she's bad news." Denji said. "Back when I was still Livin' in my world, after Pochita and I made the contract that let me become a devil hybrid, Makima was the first one to find me. And lemme tell ya, workin' for her wasn't exactly the life I thought it'd be."
"Oof. Bad Boss at the old office?" DW typed.
"She's the reason I only have Nayuta left to lean on. Friends, family, all she wanted was full control of me." Denji said. "And I know that Makima he's got has got to be fake."
"What? Why?" Sheer said.
"Cause I'm the one who killed her." Denji said. "It must be some weird demon magic he's using to summon her image or power or…whatever."
"Whoa, easy there. You are in no condition to be going after them. You got lucky with that building stunt but I doubt it's gonna work twice." Yang said.
"I need to kill him. Gotta job to…" Denji said.
"Well if you gotta kill him, you aren't doing it alone." Gray said.
"We're helping you out whether you like it or not." Klonoa said.
"Yeah! And you're in no position to say no, so suck it up!" Eddy added.
"So you're staying in bed for a while." Sister said.
"Yeah…but don't worry. We get it." Ace said.
"Ugh, if you really gotta go, then go. Geez, why do you always say that to me when you wanna use the bathroom?" Denji said.
"Are you messing with me or are you really this stupid?" Ace asked.
"Little from column a, little from column b." Denji said.
"I could tell you were a demon Since the Odio incident but I chose not to say anything out of respect." Ace said.
"Yeah…cause you're 100% wrong." Denji said.
"It's true. Demons and Devils are actually very different species." Sheer said.
"Regardless, I chose not to say anything." Ace said.
"Look, if you really need to go, then just go." Denji said before being socked in the face.
"Why did I even bother?" he muttered as he walked out.
"Because you're a nice guy!" Mark called to him. "So, Denji's situation aside, we know Damien's got powerful people on his payroll. But, as suspicious as that is, it isn't a crime in and of itself."
"Yet he has the Chaos Kin with him. Something like that is a threat to everything considering what it did to Palutena." Roy said.
"Do you even know?" Sonic asked.
"Uh…well not really but…" Roy said.
"Let us fill that in. During our starting years, we did team up with Pit to battle the Underworld Army. Of course, we also fought the Forces of Nature along with them. One of their commanders was Arlon the Serene, who controlled the Lunar Sanctum, a fortress in space." Jexi said.
"But it wasn't a fortress. It was this huge prison and we…kinda released its prisoner, the Chaos Kin." Odd said.
"It severed Pit's soul from his body and possessed Palutena. But we managed to save both before it could cause any destruction. When we finally beat it down, it was just a bunch of ashes that tried to possess Pittoo, but Pit risked his own life to save him, leaving those ashes to float around in another dimension." Ranma said.
"But it escaped, and is now restored to its body, right?" A2 asked.
"Somehow yeah." Sonic said. "Maybe it's like weird salamanders."
"That's an…interesting way to put it." Roy said. "But why is it with Damien?"
"Who knows? Dude's the Antichrist, maybe he tamed it somehow?" ZS offered.
"But a being like that can't be controlled that easily can it?" Stoj asked.
"I'm pretty sure the Chaos Kin wouldn't be in Damien's cabinet unless it had a reason." Hope said.
"It's probably prepping Damien to be its next host." Pit said.
"So, we just wait it out until the Chaos Kin stabs Damien in the back. Boom, problem solved." Scorpia said.
"It's not that simple. Damien also has Sisyphus Prime with him, and he nearly wiped the floor with us when LOKI was trying to take control of Lyoko." Adora said.
"And he also has a way to keep the Chaos Kin in check besides brute force. The Control Devil, in any of its incarnations, could more than likely keep the Kin in line if only to make sure it doesn't attack any of them." Aqua noted.
"Yeah…but Makima, be she real or fake, wouldn't just join someone like him unless she had something big planned." Denji said. "She's probably gonna use him to…combat her sisters."
"I… didn't know Devils had family." Glimmer said.
"The Four Horsemen. They're the highest among devils. The Control Devil is one of them. The others are, War, Famine, and the most powerful of all devils…Death." Sheer said.
"Okay, so here's what we know: Damiens cabinet is a big powder keg that could explode at any point in time, and he's running for Demon lord of Pride with them. So the question is, what do we do?" Makoto asked.
"We can't attack them, that's basically violating the rules. And even if we did, we'd just get our asses kicked." Ragna said.
"Well, I think there's only one obvious thing we gotta do." Sister said. "Back J-Hack up in the Demon Election."
"She's right. We can't do anything to Damien as long as he's running. But if he loses, then he's fair game." Weiss said.
"But how are we gonna even help J-Hack win?" Flamberge asked.
"The prelims are tomorrow, right? Once the conditions to run are revealed, I'm sure we can help J-Hack out with whatever they are. No rule says we can't." Catra said.
"That's a marvelous idea, Catra!" Asgore agreed. "J-Hack's trials would be made significantly easier with aid."
"And then, once he's the new Demon Lord of Pride…we're free to hit Mr. High and Mighty where it hurts!" Eddy said. "Pow! Right in the kisser!"
"No better plan than that, I say let's do it. Up for it once you're fully healed, Denji?" Hope asked.
"Well, it's definitely better than tryin' to bumrush his whole cabinet and get my ass kicked repeatedly. I'm in." Denji said. "But don't tell Connor about this. I'm taking time off from work to do this, and I promised him I wouldn't be coming back in a box."
"I think we can do just that." Arven said.
"In the meantime…Vector, did Charmy manage to get any info from Be'lakor's place?" Mark asked.
"Nope, nada zilch." Vector shook his head. "Charmy looked everywhere, but he couldn't find where that shadow guy was hiding. Not even sure he's here anymore."
"Well, he is a Warpspawn. It wouldn't surprise me if he was staying in the Warp until he needed to make public appearances." Sheer remarked.
"You guys keep using that word. Warpspawn. What the heck does that mean?" Penny asked.
"It's…complicated." Sheer said. "Daemons from the Warp aren't like regular demons. The Warp, or the Realm of Chaos if you prefer a more fantasy vibe…it's a dimension where thoughts and emotions are collected, and sometimes given physical form. Daemons from there are created from some of the darkest and most repulsive of these thoughts and feelings. Simply put, they're birthed from the Warp itself. Ergo, Warpspawn."
"And is Be'lakor also a threat in this election?"
"I would say so. They say he is responsible for imprisoning Ursun, a divine protector of a nation." Sheer said. "While he says he desires to create a society where Warpspawn are welcomed in the Demon Universe, I can't help but wonder if there is more to his campaign."
"Right now, we can't focus on uprooting either of them. So we'll instead focus on getting J-Hack qualified." Aelita said.
"Guess we'll just have to wait till tomorrow to find out the qualifying conditions so we can get J-Hack a chance." Makoto said.
"Okay….so…who's hungry? We're having ramen tonight." Sanji said heading to the kitchen as a few members were already rushing to the kitchen.
"Talking about something serious to going to dinner the next." Kieran said.
"Yeah, you hero types sure are some weird ones. Honestly, I get why Connor loves working with you." Denji said.
"Once this is over… are you gonna go back to working for his agency?" Penny asked.
"I only do cleaning to begin with." Denji said. "So…not sure yet."
"Well, you have time to figure it out." Yumi said.
"In the meantime, you want some Ramen? You can't say no to Sanji's cooking." Hope said.
"I'm no slouch in the kitchen myself, but… ah, what the heck, I guess I can try Curly's cooking at least once." Denji said.
And so, the group headed to dinner with Denji now in their care, who was now exposed as the infamous Chainsaw Man. But even with his secret out, the Hero Alliance did not treat him any differently. Together, they will soon work to help J-Hack win the demon election…but it would prove to be easier said than done.