CW: Depression, mentions of drug abuse, underage drinking.
Drawing some of the MITW lore from StallordD's "What We Know Warframe Lore - Whispers in the Wall, the Cavia, and the Indifference" video because he generally has the best idea of explaining what has been conveyed in Warframe's lore. Check his channel out he makes real good lore content for Warframe.
==========================VI==========================
BREAKING NEWS!
Hero Gone Villain? Colorado #1 Hero Raiden Goes on Killing Spree!
Today, the FBI released a federal warrant calling for the arrest of the Pro Hero Raiden (CO #1, US #10). The once-celebrated hero finds himself on the wrong side of the law after fleeing from the police and heroes responding to reports of a villain fight.
According to police, the Lightning Reflex hero was investigating a rise in missing persons cases across the Midwest. Officers and heroes from the Four Winds agency arrived on the scene to discover Raiden standing over multiple bodies, later identified as members of the international villain mercenary group Desperado.
Monsoon of the Four Winds Hero agency reported that Raiden was ordered to stand down by police and his sidekicks, only for the hero to attack and kill one sidekick and two officers before they could react. Police opened fire and Raiden was forced to flee.
Director Sears of the Department of Heroism says that an investigation will be launched to discern if there is a connection between Desperado and Raiden and to confirm if his actions were of his own volition. Raiden's agency, the Maverick Agency, said they would comply with the investigation but refused to comment further.
Colorado Senator and presidential candidate Steven Armstrong promised to dedicate all available resources to tracking down Raiden and bringing him to justice, calling his actions "A blatant betrayal of public trust". Armstrong has requested that the Four Winds agency assume control over the manhunt as one of Colorado's biggest hero teams.
The response from other members of the US Top 10 have varied. Star and Stripe (CA #1, US #1) said she is awaiting the results of the investigation before casting judgment. Others such as Uncle S.A.M (ND #1, US #8) and Cow Lady (TX #1, US #4) have offered to assist in the manhunt if the Colorado Hero Board requests out-of-state assistance.
[Article continued on ]
==========================VI==========================
[Origin System, 1999 Variant Timeline]
There was a saying that Albrecht found hit too close for comfort.
"If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you."
He'd read it in a book in some library in the United States during his travels in this timeline. For some reason, the Indifference couldn't touch this timeline. The Primordial embodiment of the Void was tethered to a single strand of the greater web of the universe cluster they inhabited. It was only by sheer dumb luck that he'd been able to trap the entity.
In the beginning, the Void was simply an adjacent dimension he and the other Orokin scientists had observed, an empty mirror of reality. Albrecht had theorized that it could be a source of infinite energy or a way to traverse far beyond the bounds of Sol.
Albrecht spent decades trying to prove his theories. As the years went by, the Entrati name became a laughingstock among the scientific community. The Void was seen as a waste of time, an empty dimension with no prospect for development. In his desperation, Albrecht decided to make a leap of faith. He would travel to the Void and discover its secrets, prove to all who doubted him that he was right!
When his Seriglass Bell collided with the portal and shattered, he'd awoken on the floor of his lab. He thought he'd failed, that the others were right. Then he looked around and realized that it was only a hollow reflection of his lab. He was in the Void.
It was beautiful beyond anything he could've dreamed. The horizon, an inversion of the pitch black of space in his reality. Blinding white with black stars that sucked away light, clouds of energy swirling around the infinity sky.
Breathtaking, amazing, infinite power. Was this what the first person to discover a new land felt like? The first man on the moon? He was elated in his discovery, vindicated in his research…
But as he'd stared off into the Void, observing it, comprehending it, Albrecht introduced the concept of thought to the Void.
Because the Void was not empty. Something resided there. The Void wasn't a realm of science or reason. There were no laws of science to govern it because it wasn't a concept that the Void understood. Instead, it was a realm where emotion, memory, and intent ruled. A Primordial being that until now had no grasp on consciousness became aware of the human that observed it. The eldritch god of the Void learned what it was to observe, to feel…and it hungered for more.
He heard the footsteps behind him, thinking it was his daughter, Euleria. Instead, he saw… himself? No, it wasn't him. It was a copy with glowing golden eyes that sparkled like galaxies, an eerie grin plastered on it's face.
It called him a name he'd only heard his mother say, and he ran.
==VI==
Hundreds of years of preparations on fighting the thing he created, this "Man in the Wall". The keystone would be a Tenno. His weapon, or his destruction. The children of the Zariman had the potential to end the trapped god's threat once and for all. On the flip side, if the entity managed to make another deal or assume control of the child it could use them to find Albrecht in 1999. It was a gamble and the only option he had to destroy a being of such power. He just had to have faith in Loid to prepare the Kalymos Sequence and guide whatever chosen Operator showed up to him.
"Mroawwwwwwwwwww!"
Speaking of Kalymos, it was time for dinner. As Albrecht rose to grab a package of canned tuna, the monitors in his lab began to flash with a multitude of alarms.
WARNING: VOID STORM DETECTED
WARNING: VOID CORRUPTION DETECTED
WARNING: MURMUR INCURSION DETECTED
ALERT: STRAND DECAY DETECTED
Something was triggering every single alarm. Chronal instabilities, universal decay, invasions from other dimensions, everything. Did the Indifference assume control of the Tenno? No, if that were the case only a few of the alarms would be sounding.
Quickly closing all the warning windows, he beheld a terrifying sight. On the screen was a map of the known timelines that were a part of this universe cluster. The branches were colliding with their Void-space counterparts, destroying both in the process.
'Did it do this? No… there would be no point in destroying reality after desiring to spread itself across all time and space…' Albrecht thought. 'Which means something or someone else has caused this catastrophe.'
From the looks of it, the origin point was the timelines that the Indifference was bound to. A massive power surge was forming as the entity drew in all the power it could.
'Is it trying to escape? Without the Void, the Indifference will die, and no vessel could hold its power.'
A smile smile formed on his lips and a tear leaked from his eye.
"Hah! Hahahahahahah!" He laughed and while burying his face in his hands. All the time spent with these preparations and the Man in the Wall was going to die to something completely unrelated. All his plans, the suffering he put his family through, all of it was for nothing.
The room, or rather the planet shook. Every universe connected to the Void was going to die. Albrecht didn't have the power to travel to a universe outside this cluster.
"Kalymos, my old friend." Albrecht ran his hand over his kavat's hairless head. "It looks like you won't be getting your meal…"
Kalymos nuzzled Albrecht's chest and looked up to him with his glowing blue eyes in understanding. "Mrow!" The kavat sat down and rested its head on Albrecht's lap, comforting him as the end approached.
'Euleria… Loud… I'm sorry. It was all for nothing.'
==VI==
[Overclock Quirk Training Gym, Naruhata, June 26th, 2242]
Inosuke missed his friends. Of course, if you looked at him you wouldn't be able to tell with how focused he looked during training.
He dodged Kugisaki's spiked fists, grabbing the man's arm and flipping him down onto the mat.
Inosuke missed Tanjiro's smile. The way he saw the best in everyone. Persevering even with his injured arm and eye. Plus he had a stronger skull than Inosuke.
"Good work. Soga, hit the showers." Oguro called out.
Inosuke missed Nezuko's cooking. The way she acted as the mom of the group. How she put up with Zenitsu.
"Hey Ogre!" Inosuke yelled across the gym. "Throw me a water!"
Iwao rolled his eyes. "It's Oguro you little shit!" He shouted, tossing a bottle of water Inosuke's way. 'I'm pretty sure he knows my name by now and's just doing that to piss me off.'
Inosuke missed Zenitsu, even with all his many, many faults. He missed watching him flirt with Nezuko, eyes lighting up when she reciprocated his advances, crude as they were.
The water bottle flew through the air in a high arc, and Inosuke lost focus.
But most of all Inosuke missed Aoi. The food she cooked for him, the way she blushed and smiled when he entered the room. It made him feel weird whenever he talked to her. He knew something happened before he arrived in the future but couldn't remember.
'I think… I think I loved her?'
Iwao watched the water bottle slam straight into Inosuke's face. The kid didn't even try to catch the bottle.
"Oi," Iwao hobbled over to Inosuke. "What the hell was that?"
Inosuke looked up to him with a blank stare, blood dripping from his nose. "Mount Kumotori. I need to go there."
[Nippara, base of Mt. Kumotori]
Iwao wasn't sure why Inosuke wanted to go to this mountain, but he saw the look in the kid's eyes. It was a solemn look that he'd never seen on the boy before. Inosuke wouldn't tell him why but he assumed from context clues that it had something to do with Hashibira's past. That alone would've been enough to convince him, but Inosuke also used Iwao's name correctly after he asked again.
Well, now he knew for sure that Inosuke actually knew his and Rumi's names.
Rumi was gone for the next few foreseeable weeks, hero duties and all that so it was up to him to arrange the two-ish hour drive to Mt. Kumotori. He'd closed up the gym for the weekend and put up a sign saying they'd be closed for the next few days.
"Why am I here again?" Kugisaki Soga asked from the back of the car.
"Because I can't be bothered to walk up and down a mountain with my bad leg." Iwao retorted. "And someone needs to stay with Hashibira. I know he's not going to run off, if he wanted to he could've done that any day Rumi was gone. On paper, she and I are legally responsible for anything he does. She's gone and I can't make the trip so you have to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Why didn't you just ask Tamao or Haneyama?" Soga scratched his back with a scowl.
"Because she has school today and plans this weekend, and Hanemyama is going overseas to see Koichi tomorrow. Plus, I trust you to not screw this up." Iwao replied. "You've come a long way from that shithead punk I beat the crap out of in an alley. I'd trusted you with my daughter's safety before, remember."
"Yeah yeah…" Soga rolled his eyes. "You know why he wants to come to this mountain? Why not Mt. Fuji?"
"Seems personal, plus even if we wanted to go to Mt. Fuji most of it is still recovering from that fire two months back." Some villain had set off a massive forest fire the day after that huge storm on Fuji. A large part of the forest on the mountain was ashes by the time firefighters and rescue heroes got there. "Hashibira is a pretty private person. Not sure where he came from, and the police couldn't find anything on him, either has some amnesia or something traumatic in his past."
Soga nodded. He liked Inosuke. He was brash, spoke his mind, and could hold his own in a fight without his quirk. He was even stronger than Soga, and he'd seen the clip of Hashibira kicking a pro hero through a shop window. Fuckin' hilarious. "Damn good fighter too."
"And we've barely even trained him in that. Kid's a natural." Iwao still didn't know who trained the kid, but he was more skilled than someone his age had any right to be. "Here." He dug into his bag and pulled out a large wad of Yen and a map. "I don't know how long he needs, here's some money for the lodge up there. Should be enough to cover you for a night or two. I'll be staying at a motel in the village so call me when you're coming down."
==VI==
"I gave Soga here enough money for two nights. We're heading back by Monday morning. Is that enough time for whatever it is you need to do?" Inosuke gave Iwao a nod. "Good. Keep out of trouble… and Inosuke?"
"Huh?"
"I hope you can settle whatever it is that's been botherin' you."
"Yes Ogre- Mr. Oguro," Inosuke replied, hastily correcting himself.
Iwao's expression softened for a split second. "Soga's in charge, so listen to him. Keep your phone on you at all times, it has a tracker in it in case you get lost."
Inosuke snorted. "I won't get lost."
"Yeah yeah…" Iwao turned to get back in the car. "Now get going! You don't have all day!"
==VI==
Google Search History: Kamado Tanjiro. Kamado Nezuko. Kamado Charcoal Business. Agatsuma Zenitsu. Ubuyashiki Kiriya. Yushiro. Ubuyashiki Family. Kanzaki Aoi. Tsuyuri Kanao. Tomioka Giyu. Shinazugawa Sanemi. Uzui Tengen. Uzui Family. Demon Slayer. Kibutsuji Muzan. Demons. Demon Slayer Corps.
All the results Inosuke had found were meaningless. There weren't many records back in 1914, especially for those who were associated with the Demon Slayer Corps. It had been 328 years since he disappeared. Most records didn't go that far, and thanks to World War 2 and the Quirk Wars most of the older records had been lost to time.
Inosuke had adapted to the technology of the modern era surprisingly quickly, mostly out of spite whenever Rumi told him it was okay if he couldn't get it on the first try. Running water for bathing, storing food in cold boxes, machines that acted like wood-fired stoves, cars everywhere, and information at your fingertips… it freaked him out sometimes.
'Tanjiro would've loved to see all this.' Inosuke thought. 'The world is so big.'
He'd seen a full map of the world, how small Japan was in comparison. People had been to the moon too! Inosuke wanted to fight someone on the moon.
But the wonders were lost on him when he thought of his friends. His family.
Tanjiro. Zenitsu. Nezuko. Aoi.
Aoi.
Your Search for "Kamado Tanjiro" did not match any documents.
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There was only one thing he found, a mention of Uzui Tengen mentioned in a source on Wikipedia, and only in passing on some government meeting in 1955. It was just that, a mention. No other info but a name. In the grand scheme of things, Tengen Uzui wasn't that important, he guessed.
Flashy Pants was fun to hang around, even if some of his wives were annoying.
Insouke stepped over a fallen log. Flinching as his head began to pound. 'Why does it hurt whenever I think about him? Is it related to how I got here?'
̴̗̘̓ ̶̠̒͝ ̴̗̇̒ ̷̫̻̀́-̴̲̈͘-̴̖̘̈͘-̵̢̬̊-̵̨̱̾́-̴̛̩̓-̷͈͕̾̍-̴̳͚͐͝-̸̪͍̿͋-̸̺̙̓͝ ̴̗̘̓ ̶̠̒͝ ̴̗̇̒ ̷̫̻̀́-̴̲̈͘-̴̖̘̈͘-̵̢̬̊-̵̨̱̾́-̴̛̩̓-̷͈͕̾̍-̴̳͚͐͝-̸̪͍̿͋-̸̺̙̓͝ ̴̗̘̓ ̶̠̒͝ ̴̗̇̒ ̷̫̻̀́-̴̲̈͘-̴̖̘̈͘-̵̢̬̊-̵̨̱̾́-̴̛̩̓-̷͈͕̾̍-̴̳͚͐͝-̸̪͍̿͋-̸̺̙̓͝
He stopped ahead of Kugisaki. 'Probably should stop thinking about it. Rabbit- Rumi said that I could have another seizure.' He took a sip from his thermos. Had to keep hydrated up here.
Some of the paths had changed over the centuries, but he still knew the way to the Kamado household.
"Where are we going Hashibira? The peak?" Soga panted, unused to the thinner air. He'd never had the opportunity to go hiking before. He was promptly ignored by Inosuke, who muttered something under his breath. 'Fine then, ignore me…' Soga hadn't been this tired since the Naruhata Lockdown. He was so engrossed with thought that he almost ran into Inosuke.
"We're here," Inosuke announced.
"This is just a section of forest." Soga deadpanned, earning an angry look from Inosuke. "Geez man, chill. I'm sorry!"
Inosuke turned away and closed his eyes. In his mind, he could picture the way the buildings used to look. When he opened them, they faded away. Where houses once stood were trees. The open area around was long overgrown.
In a flash, Inosuke dropped his hiking pack and took to the trees, ricocheting from trunk to trunk across the area. He'd slipped his mask on as well.
"Hashibira, wait! …fuck." Soga shouted. 'Damn. He moves so fast. It's like watching a video of Mirko fighting, and I know for a fact she didn't teach him that.' Soga sighed, resigned to waiting for Inosuke to come back later. He was a fighter, not a runner, plus the trip to the mountain had him exhausted. Having a legitimate career and cutting back on his vigilante hours was having an impact on his fitness. Maybe he should consider Iwao's offer to become a trainer at the gym. Then he could get paid and stay in shape.
==VI==
Inosuke landed on a large rock where the main household used to be. Judging by the old hand imprints on the side it was probably thrown there a long time ago by someone with a strength quirk. With a closer look at where the buildings used to be, he could tell there wasn't a trace left. No foundation, scraps of wood, or discarded utensils. Mount Kumotori was part of Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park, so aside from the lodge and some shelters there were no buildings.
"Damn it." Inosuke let out a barely audible whisper. He grasped the trunk of one of the trees with both hands, cracking the bark with his strength. "Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" He leaned back, slamming his head into the tree repeatedly until his head started to bleed. "Why did I think there would be anything here." He cried out, blinking back the tears flowing from the eyeholes in his mask. "Why…" In the back of his mind, he knew. He'd known for a while now and didn't want to admit it.
They were gone.
He didn't even know if they were buried here, and he wasn't about to dig up near where Tanjiro buried his family to check. 'Why was I the only one sent here?' Inosuke thought, hopping back up onto the boulder and plopping himself down on top. 'I can't do anything about it now, so there's no use in crying over something I can't change. They're gone, returned to the earth.' He let out a hollow, dry laugh and removed his mask. He set it down on his lap and stared into it's eye sockets. 'This mask, my clothes, and my swords are the only things I have left.'
He flopped back on the rock, staring up into the sky with his mask in his lap. The breeze was nice and cool, he could hear the sounds of birds chirping and animals rustling. Inosuke took a deep breath. 'Beast Breathing Fang Seven: Spatial Awareness'
Focusing, Inosuke could feel every change in the air around him. It was a welcome reprieve from the constant noise of Naruhata. He'd had to adapt to the sheer quantity of people, feeling the breaths they took, and the vibrations of cars driving down the street. It was far worse than the Entertainment District had been. There were just so many people.
'I promise… I'll do everything I can to find a way back to you all. Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I'll see you all again.' He had to. 'I'll become a top-ranked hero, and find a way home.' Heroes were paid a lot of money and the higher-up ones were basically the Hashira of the hero world. 'So if I become a powerful hero maybe I can find some super-genius science guy to figure out time travel!'
Inosuke didn't really understand the science stuff. He'd looked up time travel, overjoyed when he discovered multiple books on people's journeys through time. To his utmost dismay, they turned out to be fictional stories. There were theories on the possibility of time travel but nothing… what was that rocky stuff they used for building? Concrete. That was the word. The leading place where really smart people gathered was some place called I-Island. You had to be super important and smart to work there, which meant he couldn't just go and ask them to help him find a way back to his time.
Outside of the yearly I-Expo, which was expensive as hell to get into, only high-ranking heroes could get access to I-Island. If he wanted in he couldn't just be a random teenager. He needed to be a hero to have any chance for a scientist to listen to him. Only a hero would have access to the brightest minds of the world.
'I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I'll do it!'
==VI==
It was nearly evening by the time they made it up to the lodge. Soga checked them into a room for two and after a quick shower, they made their way to the lobby for a meal. They found themselves a table off in the corner for privacy even though there weren't many guests.
"So, uh…" Soga scratched his head awkwardly. "You doin' alright?" He asked, seeing as Inosuke was blankly poking at his food.
"Mhm…" Inosuke grabbed some noodles with his chopsticks and slurped them halfheartedly.
"Right…" Soga eyed the boy. "Listen, I'm not real big on the whole heart-to-heart emotional crap. I can tell that something is buggin' ya. I get that we're just training partners but if you want to vent I'm right here."
All he got in response was a blank stare from the teen's green eyes.
"I wasn't eavesdropping or anything, but you weren't exactly quiet. Bottling all that up and keeping it to yourself isn't going to do you any good." He sighed. 'Although that's pretty rich coming from the likes of me…'
"Have you ever lost a friend?" Inosuke asked, barely a whisper.
'So that's what this is about…' He took a sip of sake. "Yeah, one of my buddies relapsed and overdosed on Trigger. Was a friend, and I wished I'd noticed the signs." Not all of Soga's friends had managed to turn their lives around. Some, like Rapt and Moyuru, became part-time vigilantes like him at first. Soga was just the only one that stuck to the lifestyle. Moyuru got a job at a factory, and Rapt got married and moved to Deika. Lucky bastard. Not everyone was as lucky as they were though.
"I used to be a real piece of shit. If I hadn't met Oguro I'd probably be in jail or dead in a ditch somewhere." Soga flinched. "I… did a lot of things I'm not proud of, so I try to balance out the bad I did with the good I can do." Beating the living shit out of low-level villains on the odd week had to count for something, and you know, the whole assisting in saving Naruhata from a terrorist attack thing, but who was counting?
"My friends were here… a while back. This is the last place I remember seeing them." Inosuke mumbled. "And now they're all gone."
"And you just wanted to closure?" Soga inquired. 'So that's how it is then. The old man said he didn't know if it was amnesia or trauma but seeing as he's acting on it now he probably just remembered what happened. I better not push him too hard then and just let him talk.' Mirko told him that Inosuke had a seizure before when prodded about his past. "Can you tell me about them?"
Inosuke nodded. "Tanjiro and his sister were the nicest people I knew. Plus they could hold their own in a fight and never gave up." He sniffled, barely holding back a tear. "I got pretty annoyed with Zenitsu. Most of the time I knew him he would try and hide from any fights, but he was dependable and would put himself in front of others to protect them… especially if they were a pretty girl."
Soga snorted back a laugh.
"And… Aoi, she…" Inosuke's face reddened before turning somber. "I think I was in love with her. I don't remember if I told her how I felt."
"Shit man, I'm sorry for your loss." Soga's expression softened. "If there's anything you need-"
"It's fine. I don't need anything." Not like Soga could help him with this particular issue. "I just wanted to… never mind." Sure, he was sad they were gone, but he would find a way to see them again.
Soga looked around to make sure they weren't being watched. "Here." He reached over and grabbed Inosuke's drink, pouring a bit of sake into it. "A toast, to those we lost." He raised his glass. "Don't uh, tell Oguro I gave you any alcohol, alright?"
Inosuke stared at the glass, giving it a curious sniff. "I won't tell if you don't." He smiled for the first time all day. "To those we lost."
Clink!
"Bleh." Inosuke stuck out his tongue after downing the sake. "Tastes awful."
"It's an acquired taste, plus this is pretty shit sake." Soga laughed. "When you're older I'll take you out to some of the good clubs around Tokyo."
Inosuke nodded. "I'd... I'd like that." If he didn't know how long he was going to be stuck here, he might as well enjoy himself. Maybe Soga could be more than just a sparring partner. He could be a good friend. 'I'm not replacing them. I never could. But… they wouldn't want me to get hung up moping about them.'
"And if you wanna, I dunno, hang out or something after I get off work or somethin' outside training I'd be happy to." He paused. "So long as we don't get into too much trouble." He remembered that Hashibira was on thin ice from the whole assault stunt that Mirko bailed him out of. Wouldn't want to drag him into Soga's part-time vigilantism and ruin his chance at hero school.
Inosuke allowed himself to smile again. "Alright. I wanna all the cool stuff!" Suddenly, he felt a warm feeling on his shoulder, like several people holding onto it reassuringly. He whipped around, and for a second he saw the ghostly image of his friends smiling kindly. They looked older. He blinked in surprise and they disappeared.
"You have to go on Inosuke, no matter what…"
"Something wrong?" Soga asked.
"It's nothing." Inosuke wiped the tears from his eyes before Soga could see.
==========================VI==========================
Poor Inosuke. He knew that all his friends were long gone but still went to see them for closure. 300 years is a helluva long time, especially with the destruction the quirk wars brought. His disappearing definitely changed things from DS's canon ending which will be shown later.
Idk how old Inosuke was at the end of the Manga, and he disappeared 1 year after that. I'm just going to say he will be 18 by the time the sports festival comes around. I don't care if it's accurate, fight me. That just means he will be a first-year that's around Nejire, Mirio, Tamaki, Melissa, and Himiko's age by then. (Bigbroske confirmed? (Don't worry he won't get Rengoku'd)