Hey guys I'm back with another chapter of A Tale of Two Endlings, like I've said in the past, I'm planning on updating this bad boy a few more times (probably get it to 10+ chapters) before working on my other crossovers, but they're coming out quick, so I don't think it'll be that much of an issue. Anyways, that's enough for now, let's get on with the story!
POST-WRITING NOTE: Yeah, I know it's been a fat minute since the last update. Judging recent events in the world, I doubt I have to explain why. Anyways, with this chapter, I've gotten back to a standard schedule. So I'll be updating this a few more times to make up for my lost time, and then I'll move back to BE and AND. Anyways, that's all for me, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own -man or BNHA, all rights go to their respective owners.
Chapter Eight: Suspicion
Even though the Noah Family, Black Order, and the Bookmen, were all long gone. Artifacts and remnants from the Holy War were still quite-plentiful in the modern era. Objects like golems, finder uniforms, and even some halfway-rusted akuma shells, filled the present-day's museums and archives. Of course, nobody knew what they were, but that didn't stop enthusiastic-citizens and historians from theorizing. Several believed that the various gadgets and gizmos they uncovered were simply prototypes from the late nineteenth-century. However, since most of the artifacts were extremely-degraded, none of these ideas had been proven. Besides Allen Walker, who had the last functional piece of innocence left in the world, there wasn't any living soul who was privy to that forgotten history.
It was because of this lack of knowledge that, when something from the Holy War was discovered, it was rarely reported. These mysterious items were usually brushed-aside as trash or scrap metal. Which was one of the major reasons why the war had been so quickly forgotten. As far as the world was concerned, these artifacts had little to no importance. Oil and telecom companies, in particular, who'd frequently happen-upon akuma armor or old talismans while laying wires, were so used to these objects' presence that they'd constantly mistake them for natural formations.
Of course, this behavior wasn't abnormal. However, it was dangerous. For, even though the march of time had eroded most of the dark matter away, that didn't mean that it was all gone. Once the war ended, and the production of new akuma ceased, any remaining demons were hunted down and destroyed. Before the Black Order vanished from the pages of history, they'd managed to drive what little remained to near-extinction. It was because of these efforts that these creatures were forgotten, relegated to mere myths and folktales. And, even if a powerful akuma, like a level four, managed to escape the purge, their dark matter reserves would eventually deplete after a few decades. The last demon to meet this grisly fate perished over one hundred and twenty years ago. To avoid being discovered, it kept its victims down to a minimum, causing it to vanish in relative obscurity. The locals lovingly dubbed it, "Chupacabra", and kept its memory alive as a fairy tale for children.
In the end, what determined a demon's longevity after the war wasn't its strength, but its hardiness. Simply put, the more fuel an akuma had, the longer it lived. To conserve energy, many akuma hid themselves away and became dormant. For singular-demons, this strategy wasn't enough to halt the near-constant drain on their life force, but there were exceptions. If an akuma had access to more than just one demon's share of dark matter, for example, then it could live on for thousands of years before shutting down. During the Cross Unit's battle in Edo, they had the pleasure of fighting against quite a few of these unique devils.
Of course, the Black Order tried their best to wipe them all out. However, like an exterminator working in a vast mansion, there was always going to be a few stragglers. And, with the world as big as it was, the smallest mistake could mean overlooking hundreds, if not thousands, of demons. These survivors, to conserve fuel, hid and became dormant. And that was how they remained for hundreds of years. Concealed from humanity's gaze, most simply fell asleep, waiting for some outside stimuli to rouse them from their dreams. Thankfully, with the war over and the exorcists gone, there wasn't anything left in the modern world that could accomplish such a feat. But, if someone were to have an active piece of innocence, this fragile-peace could shatter. Like a drop in a puddle, the innocence's presence would echo throughout the world, and tempt these slumbering-demons to once again return to center stage.
Somewhere off the southern coast of Japan...
"You know, my friend, it should be illegal to send us out here this early in the morning." A disgruntled diver groaned as he slipped on his suit and goggles. The man's coworkers simply sighed and nodded as, they too, rubbed their tired eyes. All of them were part of an underwater-surveying company that had been contracted to inspect some nearby telecom cables. It went without saying that the brass wanted the job done asap, which only added to the stress of the work.
"Agreed, but it's not all bad. After all, the sooner we get this done, the more free time we'll have. Your family is also away on vacation, right? Why don't we hit the bars later tonight? Maybe go see a movie or something?" The diver's friend suggested as he handed him a cup of warm tea.
"That sounds good, one of the interns was talking about something like that earlier." The man groaned as he shook some seawater out of his left ear. "So long as it's not another hero flick, I'll be satisfied. My daughter's a huge fan of Mount Lady, so hero-talk is all I've been hearing for the past few months." The exhausted father said as he strapped-on his air tanks. Once he was finally ready to go, his friend laughed, and smacked him on the back.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure that the boys choose something that we all want to watch. Be careful down there." After the two friends said their goodbyes, the diver took one last breath of the salty sea breeze, and plummeted into the ocean below.
"Damn, the water's cold today." He thought as his body started to shiver. Thankfully, after a few seconds of this, he acclimated to the frigid temperature and was able to swim comfortably. Immediately, he started to make his way down towards the ocean floor. It didn't take long for the sunlight to vanish, and soon, he was forced to rely on his waterproof flashlight to guide his way. "Now then, where are those cables?" The diver grumbled as he looked at a small device which was strapped to his right wrist. It was a digital map of the surrounding waters, complete with recent survey data. "Huh? What in the world is this?" He thought as his lips curled into a frustrated frown. "Where's the rest of the map?" The entirety of the area's central-section was little more than a black blotch of nothing. "Did they not finish recording this place?" He thought as he lightly jostled the device. Much to the man's relief, after shaking the tool around a little bit more, the glitch was fixed, and the previously-corrupted section of the map was restored. Like the professional he was, he quickly started to search for any nearby landmarks to solidify his location.
"Giant's Valley?" He scratched the side of his head as he read the name of the nearest natural formation. "Weird. I wonder what got it that title?" The diver thought as he checked the map again. "It says that the cables are right next to it. Let's hope that it's easy to find." With his destination decided, the man turned his flashlight's output to maximum, and resumed his descent to the ocean floor. He continued on in this fashion for quite some time, until a familiar shape entered his vision. "Guh! Holy hell!" He gasped out in surprise, causing a cloud of bubbles to come rushing out of his mouth.
"Well... I guess this explains the name..." he thought as he stared at the terrifying rock. Jutting out of the ocean floor was a large, almost human-like, mountain. It had two similarly-shaped hills protruding out of a ginormous main body. Near the top and bottom were several other blemishes and formations, giving the underwater-Everest an eerily-creepy look. As the map had displayed, a group of large telecom cables were draped over the central-section of the landmark. And, with the way they were placed, the cables almost looked like medieval chains holding the rocky creature down. "This is definitely one for the books... damn... I didn't expect that." The diver cursed as he floated closer to the ocean's jagged bottom. If the landmark had really been a living creature, the place he'd landed would've been the center of its forehead. Once he was finally on solid ground, the diver took a moment to catch his breath, and hesitantly reached for his suit's communicator.
"Oh, hey, is that you?" He heard one of his coworkers say from the command center back on the boat. "I know you can't talk thanks to all of that equipment. So, when you're ready for us to start receiving the data, just tap your communicator a few times." With his instructions given, the diver simply took in a deep breath, and slowly started to make his way towards the cables. As expected, the closer he got to the wires, the more he saw of the strange landscape that surrounded him.
"This is one spooky place..." the nervous man thought as he turned his flashlight to its maximum setting. Instantly, the entire area was illuminated, giving him a much-more detailed view of the underwater mountain. It didn't take him long to notice that something was terribly awry. "Huh, what's this?" He thought as he raised one of his eyebrows in his confusion.
Now that he was in the right position, he was easily able to make out several... strange... details about the unsettling monolith. One of which being a bizarre, almost star-like, formation jutting out of the top of Giant's Valley. Coral, moss, barnacles, seaweed, and many other plants, covered every inch of the mountainous-region. In fact, it was so densely-packed that one might even call it an underwater forest. However, the ground which made up this strange star-shaped area was completely barren. The edges of the shape were fine, almost razor-sharp, like some sort of demented tattoo. The look of it sent a shiver up his spine, and made him feel nauseous. Right when it was too much for him to bear, the diver hastened to the foot of the mountain, eager to get a chance to settle his suddenly-shaking stomach. Once he was calm, the man shook his head, and propelled himself towards the nearest cable. "I need to hurry up and get this done." He thought as he quickly reached for his screwdriver.
However, in his terrified rush, the diver slipped, and accidentally cut his hand on a nearby jagged rock. "Shit!" He cursed, sending yet another cloud of bubbles up to the surface. Luckily, he was trained for this sort of situation. Instantly, he wrapped the wound in a waterproof-bandage, pulling it tight like a tourniquet. "That'll teach me to rush..." that jolt of pain had dragged the diver back to reality, giving him a chance to clear his mind and think. But, in that moment of clarity, he noticed something that made his skin crawl. "What in the world is that?" He thought as he turned his flashlight to the surrounding expanse of ocean floor, "Stars?" Besides the mountain itself, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of similarly-shaped formations dotting the surrounding area. The mind-boggling amount reminded him of the American flag, except bigger, and much more surreal.
"Hey, are you all right down there? If you are, then give us the signal." His friend back on the boat told him as he stared, his jaw agape, at the unbelievable sight. He couldn't speak even if he wanted to. The diver was so captivated by this terrifying discovery that he didn't even notice as a few more droplets of blood seeped out of his bandage and fell to the ocean floor. He had no way of knowing this, but those droplets, combined with the presence of a distant individual, set off a reaction which would shake the very foundation of modern civilization. And by the time the diver realized that something was happening, it was already too late. The man couldn't even let out a scream before he was suddenly dragged beneath the sediment. As buckets of blood shot out of the ground like a hellish-geyser, the entire area began to shake, as the stars, which were previously lifeless, began to let off a faint glow.
At that time, the world only saw this incident as nothing more than a regular earthquake. The diver, and his coworkers, who all disappeared after this event, were believed to have perished in, what was seen as, a relatively-routine disaster. Nobody had any idea that this was the start of something much bigger. No one could predict that, soon, the death rattle of an ancient war would ring throughout the Earth. On that day, the clock of humanity's ignorance began to tick. And the first trumpet bathed the world in its foreboding-song.
Two days later...
The feeling of isolation and loneliness was something that Midoriya was all too familiar with. Back when he was still in middle school, he was constantly made fun of, discouraged, and kept out of many social activities. So he knew how horrible it was to be excluded. "Midoriya, are you okay?" He heard Uraraka say to him as he slowly munched on a potato chip. Instead of answering her, he just frowned, and stared out one of the cafeteria's windows.
"It's Walker..." he mumbled, his tone somber and hoarse. Ever since the field trip to Kamui Woods' office, Class A's newest addition had been eating his lunches alone in their dorm. Although, to be fair, there was a good reason for his class' actions. The boy did kill someone, after all. However, that didn't make it any less painful to watch.
"Huh? Oh, yeah... yeah it is." Uraraka said as she pursed her lips. The poor girl wasn't the sort of person who could keep up a charade like this for long. In fact, most of Class A weren't. Midoriya knew that people like Ashido, Iida, and Yaoyorozu, were all having trouble keeping it together.
"This feels wrong..." he thought as he pressed one of his hands down on the table. "Even if we can't accept it, Walker did what he had to do to save those people!" He wasn't blind, Midoriya knew damn-well that killing that villain was his classmate's only option. If he chose to spare that man, then that helicopter full of people would've met a fiery-demise. However, that fact aside, not one soul in his class recognized the boy's decision as just. Instead, in fear of possible backlash, they all chose to shun him and push him away. He wouldn't lie, such actions made him sick. Yet, try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to push against this horrible trend. This wasn't a situation that he, or any of them, really, had ever been put in before. Usually, after defeating a villain, the case was closed, and their work was done. But Walker's actions forced them all to see a reality that none of Class A wanted to acknowledge. And that terrified them.
"Midoriya... do you think that we'll have to do that? Take a life, I mean." Uraraka mumbled as she shook nervously in her chair. Sadly, her classmate didn't have an answer for her. And how could he? They were all trying their best to be heroes! It went without saying that killing was a taboo for them. However, when they were all growing up, watching heroes like All Might effortlessly defeat villain after villain, it became easy for them to believe that they would never have to make that choice.
"We were naive... dammit..." Midoriya cursed under his breath as he accidentally snapped the chopsticks he was holding in two. As the splintered-twigs fell unceremoniously to the cafeteria floor, All Might's successor found himself staring at the person who'd caused all of this mess. "What am I supposed to do?" He thought as he watched Walker make his way to their dorm building. "I know this is wrong, but if I want to achieve my dream, I've got no choice!" A hero lived and died on how the media saw them. Even those who worked out of the public eye, like Mr. Aizawa, couldn't escape that fact. It was just part of the job. Everybody, even children, knew that. But that couldn't change Midoriya's feelings. For a second, his morals shook his soul into action. Without thinking, he shot up out of his chair and grabbed his bag. Eager to go and talk to their distant-classmate. However, this moment of courage was short-lived. As, the moment Midoriya did this, the boy noticed his classmates' gazes being fixed upon him. What was in their eyes wasn't disdain, hatred, or pity, but instead something much worse. And that was fear. Fear for his future, reputation, and well-being. After all, as his friends, they all wanted him to succeed. Nobody wanted him to throw his dream away, and it was those feelings that knocked the wind right out of his chest. As soon as his heroic act began, it came crashing down to the surface. Without uttering so much as a word, his knees gave out, and he returned to his seat. All he could do was grit his teeth as he stared out the window, feeling pathetic at his own actions. If he was truly All Might's successor, he'd face this problem with a smile. But he couldn't do that. For the rest of the lunch period, the only expression that graced Midoriya's face was that of anger, and self-loathing.
Class A's dorm was, as usual at this hour, completely empty. Besides a couple of flies, and maybe some spiders, there wasn't a single soul in the main lobby. The silence of the place was crushing, and almost suffocating. Without the students to fill its halls, the building was simply, for lack of a better term, barren. This was the place Allen had been coming to eat his lunches for the past few days. Sometimes, he'd honestly consider eating in the main courtyard, where there was people. However, when he thought of how his presence would make the other students feel, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. "Home sweet home..." he mumbled to himself as he closed the dorm's entrance behind him. Yet again, the place's depressing atmosphere welcomed him with open arms. However, even though his situation was bleak, recently, it got a little bit brighter. "Tim! I'm home!" He called out as he raised two fingers to his lips and whistled. Instantly, a familiar face came rushing down the stairs to greet him.
"Ruff!" Tim, the scrawny beagle, barked as he rushed to Allen's side. The boy wasn't sure why he did this, but, after seeing the sickly mutt digging through the trash, he decided to let the animal stay in his room. Even though it had only been a handful of days since they first crossed paths, the dog had grown quite attached to him. Now, whenever he was at the dorm, he'd rarely ever be alone. At first, he was afraid that the administration would force him to give up the pup, but after some arguing, and quite a bit of paperwork, he was given permission to keep it.
"Ouch! Hey! Stop with the biting! You've already gotten my attention, haven't you?" Allen laughed as he walked into his dorm room. As he expected, the reason for Tim's erratic behavior was quite simple. "Oh, I see, you've already run out of food." He mumbled as he stared down at the animal's empty bowl. What little he was able to find scattered across the dorm building had all but vanished. At this point, he'd have to go out and get more. "My classes are pretty much over for the day..." Allen thought as he scratched his chin, "I guess that means it's time to go shopping." Sadly, Tim still wasn't strong enough to accompany him to the store. But, at the dog's current pace, that wouldn't be the case for long. As he headed for the door, Allen heard Tim whimper as he lightly pawed at his left leg, it was obvious that he was feeling lonely. However, at the moment, there wasn't anything Allen could do about that. "If I were back at the Black Order I'd just ask someone to watch you while I was away. Sadly, there's not a soul left at this school that'd be willing to help me. So, you're just going to have to bear with it for now, I'm sorry." Allen hated the fact that his own social problems were actively hampering this living creature's health, but that was just how it was.
"Ruff!" The dog barked again, almost as if it were trying to say that it understood his woes. Without so much as a peep, it nodded its head and made its way over to the makeshift-bed Allen had made for him in the center of the room.
"I'll be back within the hour, okay?" Allen told the dog as he put on his coat and hastily headed for the nearest exit. In less than a minute he was exploring the city streets, eagerly searching for the closest grocery store. "Let's see... I need dog food, some bones, a spare pair of gloves, and the usual necessities." Normally, this would only take him a handful of minutes. But, that day, something caught his attention.
"Damn... those two really went at it, didn't they? Half the city went up in flames during that battle!" A passerby exclaimed as he and his friends stared in awe at one of the giant televisions. His curiosity now peaked, Allen turned around to find out what was the source of all of this commotion. Said cause was a rerun of All Might's fight against All For One. Since he went to U.A. High, he was already relatively well-versed on the subject. Not a day went by where a student didn't at least mention it. Which, to be fair, made sense. It was the school where All Might worked, after all. Everyone, especially his classmates, viewed the battle against All For One as a world-changing event. One that shook their hero-centered world to its core.
"Even though I've seen the Millennium Earl do worse, I still can't believe how much power those two were wielding." He had certainly fought some terrifying akuma in the past, and was fairly-strong himself, but he couldn't deny that the strength of quirks terrified him. People with abilities like Midoriya's, for example, if used correctly, were practically invincible in combat. "Thank God that villain I fought didn't have such a powerful quirk, or I would've been in trouble." His skills and experience could only get him so far. "If I want to be serious about becoming a hero I'll need some sort of backup." Ideally, his "emergency trump card" would be his innocence. However, he doubted that it would be that useful. "The Crown Clown was never meant to fight humans. Its most recent evolution, my sword of exorcism, proves that." While he was training under Cross to join the Black Order, he focused on molding his weapon into one that would save akumas' souls, and nothing more. Even when he battled Noahs, he always fought to save their humanity, never to defeat, kill, or harm, them. "If my innocence was like my Master's, Lenalee's, or even Kanda's, this wouldn't be an issue." Sadly, it wasn't like he could just change the way his innocence worked. Hell, even if he wanted too, he couldn't even train it into something that was semi-usable. For innocence, unlike a quirk or a muscle, couldn't be strengthened via any typical manner. He learned that the hard way when he was trying to restore his left arm back in China.
"The only way for my Crown Clown to get stronger is for us to become closer, but I have no idea how to do that." Allen, clearly frustrated, sighed as he looked up into the cloudy sky above. "Why does everything I do have to be so complicated?" He thought, standing motionless in the middle of the sidewalk, as commuters passed him by. Then again, his life had always been a never-ending struggle. What, in the grand scheme of things, was another pebble to the mountain that was his problems? Thinking of it like that, he managed to regain a little bit of motivation, and allowed a subtle-grin to curve across his lips. "Oh, well, I'll figure something out..." he thought as he snapped himself back to reality.
"I guess I should hurry up and go get that dog food, Tim's going to starve at this rate." With that, the world's last exorcist shoved his hands into his pockets, and disappeared into the bustling city crowd. Next to him, he saw a happy family taking a walk with their dog. Which reminded him of Mr. Eiichi and his family. "I wonder, my friend, what are you doing now?" Knowing him, at this hour, Mr. Eiichi was probably just getting home from work. His wife, Mrs. Ichika, was most-likely preparing the family's dinner for the night. And the kids, without a care in the world, were likely watching television or playing some game. "One of these days, if I'm able, I should try and see if I can thank them again, in person." Throughout his entire time since coming to this world, they were the only people he'd met who treated him like a human. They didn't ask questions, didn't judge him when something happened, and welcomed him into their home with open arms. After what happened during the field trip, and with his classmates shunning him, Allen realized how much he craved their company. "Even though I said I wouldn't, maybe I should swing by their house one of these days." He thought as he let out a chuckle. "Mr. Eiichi would certainly get a kick out of that."
Later that night...
"Honey, you're writing them again? You know that it won't accomplish anything." Mrs. Eiichi groaned as she carefully scooped the night's stew into a couple of bowls. Her husband, as stubborn as ever, ignored her words and continued with his little project. His wife sighed, "Listen, I completely understand how worried you are, but those big media companies aren't going to listen to one man from the slums."
"Dear, I know that, but my words are the only weapon a person like me has. Somebody has to tell them that Walker's a good kid. Every night one of those anchors is calling for him to leave U.A., or saying that he's a murderer. He's barely sixteen years old! Nobody should have to go through something like that at his age." Mr. Eiichi said as he folded his letter and carefully slid it into an envelope. In response to his actions, his wife just shrugged, before returning to preparing the family's dinner.
"Again, I know, and I agree with you. I'm just saying that you should try to find a different way to communicate, that's all." She added as she checked on the corn which was cooking in the oven. "Dinner's almost ready, on your way to the mailbox, do you think you can get the kids?" His wife asked him as he sealed his letter. Mr. Eiichi, of course, nodded as he got up and headed for the front door.
"Hey, you little gremlins, mommy's made dinner!" He yelled as he knocked on his children's bedroom door. Instantly, the entrance swung open, and his son and daughter hurried out of their room and into the kitchen. The look of sheer bliss on their faces momentarily sent a wave of fatherly-pride throughout Mr. Eiichi's body. For a moment, he stopped to give the gods a small prayer as he thanked the heavens for his life, and begged his ancestors spirits to watch over Walker as well. "That kid is the best chance this crappy part of town has at becoming something great. And it's my responsibility to support him in any way I can." With that thought hovering in the air, Mr. Eiichi quickly made his way to the front door, and opened it.
"Honey? Can you hurry up? The kids want to start eating." His wife called out to him from the dining room table. However, all she was met with was silence. "Honey?" She said, yet again, as she frustratingly walked into the living room. "Did you not hear me? I said for you to get to the... the... the table..." Mr. Eiichi's wife's words slowly came to a halt when she felt a disgustingly-wet squish beneath her feet. She didn't even have time to process what had happened before a sharp knife slid across her throat. As an unfamiliar warmth rushed out of her chest, and over the apartment's carpet, a shadowy-figure stepped over her body and made their way towards the kitchen. The children, who were waiting for their parents without a care in the world, didn't even think anything was wrong when the apartment's lights suddenly shut-off.
"Oh no, did the power go out again?" The boy mumbled as he got up to find a flashlight. His sister, who didn't want to be left alone in the dark, got up to follow him into the apartment's now pitch-black hallway. "Mom, dad, the power went out!" The boy called as he opened the door to the living room. Since it was so dark, the room just looked like a pool of shadows to the two children. Since neither were particularly worried, the two of them just shrugged and walked into the room, eager to find their parents.
"Wait! First, make sure you put on your good luck necklace!" The boy's sister said as she slung a small silver string over her and her brother's necks. The two of them made the jewelry during art class at school, and wore the necklaces as charms to encourage speedy repairs whenever there was a blackout. It would be those necklaces that the police would use to identify the children days later. As, when a neighbor finally reported a putrid smell coming from the family's apartment, and their bodies were finally discovered, none of the corpses were recognizable. They were all too mangled, burnt, and shattered, for that.
Author's Note
Well I'm back with yet another chapter! I hope you guys have been enjoying it so far (I know I have when it comes to writing it) especially with that little twist I tossed in there. Anyways, after this, I'm planning on releasing two other chapters before I continue work on AND and BE, so look forward to those. They'll be out anywhere within the next few weeks, so I hope you enjoy them.
Anyways, that's all for me, I'm going to go ahead and close this off here. Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone, thanks for reading my story!
POST PLAGUE UPDATE: Yeah, I know this took awhile, but I'm sure you all know why. After this chapter released, I'm planning on doing two more (that won't take a month) so I can get ATOTE up to 10 chapters, and then I'll release a chapter of BE, and then AND. Again, sorry for the wait, I'll hope you all can bear it with me.
Chapter Nine: Understanding
P.S. Don't forget to rate and review, it helps immensely with knowing how to improve/how you guys think the story is going!
