DISCLAIMER: I do not own JoJo's bizarre adventure or Rising of the shield hero
It has been hours since the second wave began. The castle town of Melromarc had been reduced to a torn battlefield. The heroes meant to protect it were overwhelmed early on. It was an unlikely trio of foreigners that had frontiered the battle against the waves and were being hunted by three invaders from another world. Indeed, it is true that these three encounters would decide the immediate fate of both worlds. Naofumi Iwatani, Jouta Kujo, and DIO along with their allies had the weight of their newly adopted home on their shoulders.
"I hope in the next life..." L'arc stopped himself.
"What must be done, must be done, right?" Naofumi adressed the scythe hero, his gaze firm and his will unshaking.
L'arc solemnly nodded, getting into his stance. Right leg forward, left leg bent and the black scythe gripped tightly behind his back. Naofumi did the same, his shield-bearing arm infront of him and his other arm held behind him, one foot forward.
Auras black and red painted the room with malice. It was a clash of will while either combatant remained still. And almost as if signaled by something abstract, they were triggered instantly.
L'arc covered the distance between them in an instant, his scythe ready for a swing. Naofumi, with a calmed mind, had run his exact movements over and over in his mind, refining his automatic reaction.
"Twin mode: Rope shield!"
Utilising the feature within all his shields, Naofumi split the wrath shield in two and converted the other into the rope shield. It was admittedly experimental, but well thought out.
The rope caught on L'arc's scythe, Naofumi capitilizing on the light expelled during a shield transformation, he strafed to the side into a crouched position. Naofumi could have sworn he looked like spider-man with that move.
"Hng!"
Naofumi pulled with all his might, moving L'arc only the slightest inch.
"Ha, that's a little funny," L'arc chuckled at the attempt.
"Grr!" Naofumi only grew more infuriated.
"Fine, serious."
L'arc dropped any expression and used a single hand to resist Naofumi's pull on his scythe. He lifted a hand over the rope and brought it down in a swift chopping motion.
UNRELENTING HATRED
With the rage shield's power, even the material produced by the rope shield gained such endurance on each and every strand. L'arc had no choice but to participate in the tug-o-war. However, right as L'arc intended to place his other hand on the rope, he felt powerful energy stab into his forearm at an angle where it could have otherwise cut his neck.
"What the—a sword! It appeared out of nowhere!"
A sudden realization washed over him as if the sword had always been in the room but he never noticed it. L'arc had no time to dwell on it as the image of the sword seemed to get closer to his face and he felt it cut deeper into his forearm's flesh.
"Full Moon Army!"
Reacting quickly, L'arc swung his scythe in a full revolution around him. A black disc shaped blur later, Naofumi rope was severed and unbeknownst to L'arc, drops of foreign blood fell to the floor beside him.
"Dammit. How?"
L'arc examined the damage on his arm, it was only a few millimetres deep, but it was enough damage to superficial veins for blood to be shed.
"Not deep, but if it were my neck, it would likely cut my anterior jugular vein. I wouldn't instantly bleed out but I would be on the floor right now."
L'arc looked to the sword which was flung across the room near one of the beds, stabbed into the floor. It was a strong weapon he could tell, but where did it come from, who did it come from.
"Should I destroy it? Is it a construct from Naofumi or is there someone else here? I can't risk it, that sword is my ticket to finding out."
Looking to Naofumi once again, L'arc gave him a suspicious look to which the shield hero let nothing away. L'arc clapped, his demeanor relaxed like nothing just happened.
"Nice one, almost got me."
L'arc engaged in conversation, awaiting Naofumi or whoever to attempt to capitalise on his openness.
"I thought heroes couldn't use any weapon beyond their own. Aren't you just full of surprises."
Meanwhile his assailant, Raphtalia, bled from her palm behind the curtain of L'arc's bed. Her sword the next bed away.
"Without my sword, I cannot maintain my illusion. He does not know I am present, with my sword I could have maintained it."
Raphtalia's ability to cast an illusionary perception in which she did not exist. Inspired by the power of the mind demonstrated by [Death 16, this ability is amplified by Raphtalia's inherent tanuki affinity for deception. It abused one of the many flaws within brain psychology: selective attention.
"Subtly, with my blade I create a glimmer of light in the view of my opponent and they will block it from their minds to avoid the distraction. Within that boundless nonexistant corner, I may do whatever I wish so long they do not become aware."
With light metal, this may work from any angle. A useful ability when the element of surprise abets you. However, the current situation proved to limit Raphtalia's options.
"So what, does your shield just stay attached?" L'arc asked redundently.
Naofumi would only glare in response.
"Naofumi, trust me, if I had a choice, I would never."
"Never what? Kill billions of innocent people for the sake of your own world? Because that is exactly what you plan on doing!"
"You must understand, I am not just the scythe hero in my world, but a king. I left my land and people with a promise. As a hero and king, I must keep it."
"Then so be it."
Naofumi leapt forward on his left foot, the legendary shield his weapon and protection.
"Attacking from above, makes my counter more predictable, right, Naofumi?"
L'arc equally leapt back, choosing to evade as Naofumi came down with his shield. L'arc released the scythe's hilt away from him toward the ground, the chain on his forearm the only link between them. It stabbed into the ground behind Naofumi and L'arc pulled himself back down. Once landed, another Full Moon Army aimed for decapitation.
"!"
Missed overhead, L'arc noticed the ground drop as a result of Naofumi denting it followed by his landing, dropping the floor beneath the shield hero.
"FURIOUS BURST!"
Naofumi came up with a rage amplified uppercut. L'arc saw it two centuries ago and leaned back into a perfectly circular scythe swing.
"Full Moon Army!"
Naofumi was not slow to reverse the path of his power, defending . A powerful clash sent Naofumi pushed across the room, denting the wall he collided with. A shower of blood drops hit the ground one after the other. Unseen by L'arc, the bones of Naofumi's back had been misshappen and penetrated through muscle, tissue and flesh. White bone protrusions bloodied the wall with the shield hero. To the average human being, death was inescapable.
"Pain...all I could feel was pain and something else."
But Naofumi was far from average.
"Something stronger...Rage!"
While many would deny it, even the shield himself, in that moment Naofumi Iwatani had flatlined. Clinically dead. But his spirit raged on, battling fate and God to remain within the mortal plane. Unrelenting Hatred pulled his bones back in place, still broken but functional. The shield would not let him die and it would ensure his body could still fight for eternity.
"What in the hell!?"
L'arc was baffled beyond understanding, what exactly was he battling? Was it Naofumi? The shield? The wrath of this world itself? Who knows. One thing was certain, however, this hatred was immortal.
"Floating Scythe!"
Light flashed throughtout the room, dimming to reveal an ornate dark weapon, a mirror image of the Scythe of death. It hovered beside L'arc, guided by mental command.
"God, can't I catch a break?"
Naofumi internally lamented.
"Full Moon Army!"
L'arc utilized his nimble fingers to spin his scythe around him, his body danced in unison. The motion ended as L'arc posed, chain in hand gripped tight from which the scythe hung freely, the tip of it grazed the duplicate. A stream of magic flowed into the perfect copy, imbuing it with its power.
"Floating Moon Army!"
The floating scythe accelerated in a fractile of a second, reaching near light speed as it spun. It became a disc of various bright colours denoting each light wavelength as they travelled to and from the tool. It revolved around L'arc as the moon does the earth.
"Release!"
L'arc removed his control, allowing the scythe to be free from his mental control. Its movement around L'arc was now directed by centripetal force. The force that keeps objects moving in circular motion. The scythe became a merry-go-round of death.
"Dammit, what is he planning?"
Naofumi held up his shield, a tactic he could always fall back on.
"!"
Naofumi felt a strong breeze on his cheek, moving his vision, he noticed it come from the hole Jouta had punched Therese through. He looked back to the disc of death and it would seem it grew in size in his vision. Naofumi observed further and saw the disc began to wobble as if its spin was disturbed.
"Oh. Fuck!"
Naofumi uncovered L'arc's plan. Without his control, the scythe was affected by natural forces such as wind. The steady flow of wind kept the scythe's motion steady and moving outward away from L'arc. Due to its tremendous speed, if even the slightest change in the wind's flow ocurred, the scythe would become erratic. L'arc was using this to detect anyone else in the room.
"Human respiration uses up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide as a byproduct. In the atmosphere, there exists only 0.04% carbon dioxide. Exhaled air contains more than a hundred times that amount. Raphtalia's ability hides her from L'arc, but not from nature!"
Naofumi could do nothing but hold his ground while he thought of a way to help Raphtalia.
"Dammit. Think, think! Wind, scythe, L'arc, Raphtalia."
Naofumi's thoughts went rapid, breaking down the situation into pieces in oerder to rearrange them in his favour.
"I got it!"
Naofumi's mind formulated an ingenious plan, however it would seem L'arc's speed outdid the speed of thought as within less than a millisecond, the scythe had completely altered its course and L'arc wasted no time. Taking control as the scythe nearly finished a revolution, L'arc used deadly dance to slice the bed where Raphtalia hid. In a horrific display, red liquid flew across the room, repainting the walls of a place of healing. L'arc's aura became as dark as night, his eyes dead. The dark aura spiked in power as L'arc propelled forward with a kick against the ground. Floating Moon Army then shattered the sword and was directed toward Naofumi alongside L'arc. This would be a decisive strike, L'arc's power ensured that.
"Harvest Moon Arc!"
Naofumi's eyes looked into L'arc's. So many emotions were held in that gaze. One thing shined brightest in Naofumi's eye, however, was a sinister glint.
"AAAAAAAH!"
L'arc let out a blood curdling scream as shards of metal stabbed into his back at near light speed. L'arc felt a strong pull and in a flash, Floating Moon Army had appeared before him, it's light aiming for his life. L'arc fought the pain and clashed with his own construct, stopping its spin with all his might. Instantly dispelling it, L'arc fell to one knee. Looking up to a grinning Naofumi.
"What di—AAAAAAH!"
"My bone is steel, my will is sharp, should I fall, another shall take your heart!"
Shards of light metal attracted to one another, shredding L'arc's back as they formed a flawless blade. It was stabbed upward at an angle near his spine.
"L'arc. Meet Raphtalia."
A bloody hand gripped the blade's handle. The handle reconnected with the blade and its wielder lifted L'arc up overhead with ease.
"Heaven...Splitter!"
The sword completely cut through L'arc, practically bisecting his torso. L'arc fell to the ground on his knees, the sword stabbed through his intestines. L'arc coughed out a bloody bone. Staring at the blood on the floor, L'arc began to laugh.
"I see," L'arc spoke, "While Floating Moon Army flew around the room, you dropped two vials of Mercurochrome to Raphtalia thanks to the wind. She applied it on that piece of rope I cut earlier. Before my scythe showed up, she avoided it by holding her breath and moving to the next bed. The Mercurochrome hardened and stuck the rope to my scythe which the sword pieces stuck to. When I called Floating Moon Army to me, the rope moved with it and the shards stabbed me. The rope swung Full Moon Army around at me. All so I could dispell it and leave myself wide open."
L'arc looked up at Naofumi, a bright smile plastered on his face, "Is that about right?"
Naofumi stoically nodded.
"Well, you're one hell of a hero, but you're pretty new to this, huh?"
Naofumi raised a curious brow.
L'arc continued, slowly rising to his feet, "A veteran would aim to disarm their opponent before attempting to debilitate them."
Naofumi eyes widened as L'arc, despite his condition, gripped his scythe's handle.
"HARVEST MOON ARC!"
L'arc using unnatural speed, swung his scythe, death itself took form from his power's aura.
"Naofumi!"
Raphtalia's instincts kicked in, a powerful aura far beyond the individual, an aura representative of a need to protect one's family. She pulled L'arc back using her sword stabbed within him. L'arc predicted this, completing a full swing through the floor. Blood flowed down in a shower, Raphtalia was pinned to the ceiling by the scythe of death. Impaled through the abdomen by black metal that drained life energy. Its chain dangled back and forth ominously.
"Nao...fumi."
Raphtalia weakly called, her vision obscured by death and blood. L'arc appeared downcast by the sight, but nevertheless took hold of his chain, which acted as a leash that restrained the death held by the legendary scythe. Naofumi stood wide-eyed, frozen as L'arc pulled his scythe back to his palm and Raphtalia's body fell, hitting the ground in a bloody pool.
"Don't worry, she is not dead, she avoided hitting anything important and spared my life. Naofumi, I am sorry, but she knew the consequences."
"Consequences? What are you, god? You decide who lives or dies!?"
"We are heroes. It is the burden we carry for the people we love."
"Fine! FINE!"
Naofumi's power raged, more than it ever has. The magnitude of his power caused pebbles to turn into liquid drops that floated in the air and solid surfaces turned into rippling water. He scowled, flashing animalistically sharp teeth.
"I'LL DECIDE!"
Naofumi walked forward, each step subtly displaced everything as far as the castle town. Objects on the edges of tables fell, writing skewed, hearts pumped blood out of sync, water jumped instead of flowing. And photons of light shifted their path. All of this from a single step. L'arc could sense it.
"The dragon...I know this feeling."
It was a mere twinkle of the dragon's full power. The power to destroy everything.
"Naofumi, you are dealing with power you don't fully understand!"
"I don't have to, it's like you said, for those we love," Naofumi held up his fists of titanic power, "WE DECIDE!"
L'arc's vision blurred from photon distortion and when it cleared, the shield of rage flared with energy in his direction. L'arc held up his scythe in defense, barely blocking a wrathful punch thrown by a madman.
"Shit!"
L'arc struggled against Naofumi who, with one arm pushed the scythe hero across the room. His feet sank into the floor as his back hit a solid wall.
"Gah! His...ability doesn't, ah, affect verticle surfaces!"
"Look at that, perfect spot for a beating!"
Naofumi laughed maniacally. L'arc half sunk into the floor, pressed against the wall, was horrified by what Naofumi had turned into, the devil of the shield was real!
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Laughing, Naofumi's fists went berserk, striking from every angle. L'arc attempted to defend, but it was in vain. Naofumi's fists broke L'arc's guard and mutilated his top half. Each punch was so quick, the impacts left burns.
"I'm not feeling individual punches anymore, only pain. My mind is fading, I feel like I'm falling behind. All of this, is too fast!
"FLOATING MOON ARMY!"
The photon ray disc appeared in a flash, but not to attack Naofumi—Unrelenting Hatred made that pointless—to cut the wall behind L'arc. L'arc fell into the hallway outside the room, his body freed from the floor. Naofumi jumped after him, giving him no chance of escape, straddling him with another barrage ready. L'arc was quick, directing FMA to cut the ceiling which had now fallen prey to Naofumi's aura. Strands of liquid rock flowed to the floor, solidifying into columns of rock with a semi-liquid consistency. FMA used their elasticity to slingshot between them, building up momentum.
"Floating scythe is an advanced duplication technique. Most legendary weapons can temporarily duplicate. But, Floating scythe is unique in the fact it can do things unique to it when combined with other techniques. Such as Full Moon Army creating Floating Moon Army. In my state I can't do it, but building up enough momentum, I can recreate Harvest Moon Arc within Floating scythe which should bring it to the speed of light—Eclipse."
"FURIOUS..."
Naofumi fueled his next punch with raw emotion. The two's eyes locked, pain within both. L'arc's was older, deeper, Naofumi's was hot, more corrosive. It was only a matter of speed, would Naofumi's punch kill L'arc before Floating Moon Army reached its eclipse. Only they could decide.
"COSMIC ECLIPSE ARM—"
"BURST!"
Naofumi's fist flew downward at speeds imperceptible to the average man, but not to L'arc. L'arc submerged his head into the floor and Naofumi's fist bounced off the surface as he was resistant to sinking. As Naofumi's arm bounced off liquid rock, it abruptly detached from his body. Spurts of blood from cuts across his body had mysteriously appeared instantly.
"FUCKER!"
Naofumi's body was cut through by streaks of white light that vanished as soon as they appeared. He looked up to see they converged at a spinning white disc with a black centre. It hovered above L'arc, following as he moved.
"So fast it seems to move instantly. It distorts space-time to the point that it does not experience time and exists in all possible places near me at the same time," L'arc spoke coming to the surface, "I suggest you surrender, this is the quickest death I can grant you. The eclipse folds space into one dimensional lines as it travels that cut through anything, even energy."
Naofumi scowled in response and shifted away from the streaks.
"FURIOUS BURST!"
Naofumi went in for the kill, but his arm was sliced vertically by a white streak that instantly appeared in front of L'arc.
"AAAH!"
And in the next instant, Naofumi's heart had a white streak pass through it. Naofumi fell back and hit the floor gasping for air while blood burst from his chest. L'arc stood up onto finally solid floor. Naofumi glared at L'arc as life left his body.
"Dammit."
L'arc couldn't meet the shield hero's gaze and turned away. Behind him, he heard the shield hero go quiet.
L'arc's wounded eye glistened with the hint of a tear, but L'arc suppressed it.
"No, you caused this, you monster. You don't deserve to feel sorry for yourself, to show regret now. There is no going back. This is what you are now—a murderer."
L'arc thought to himself.
"Huh?"
He sensed powerful energy explode nearby...Therese. L'arc looked back at the carnage, Raphtalia's bloody half dead body and Naofumi's very dead corpse.
His doing. He sighed.
"I'm coming,Therese."
L'arc left the scene to find his closest friend. Raphtalia watched him, ensuring he had gone, and crawled over to Naofumi's corpse as empty and still as it was.
"Nao...fumi," She barely uttered, "No, you can't be."
Raphtalia held Naofumi's cheek with her palm. His face was peaceful. It was almost as if he was merely asleep. It was a far cry from his usual uptight scowl. Her tears fell upon his face.
"How could I let you die? Why did I fail you? Why?"
As if expecting an answer, Raphtalia held him closer. After prolonged silence, an anger expressed on her face as tears gushed from her eyes.
"No, I won't allow this! I won't let you die! You hear me! Naofumi!"
With such a proclamation, light shimmered from her hands and extended over Naofumi's entire body. An ethereal wisp enveloped him and entered his soul. Sparks danced around him, his wounds were erased and his body renewed, they danced until they grew big enough to jolt his body back to life.
"AAAAAaaaaa—huh?!"
He sat up and screamed, successfully resurrected.
"Naofumi!"
Raphtalia hugged him, still crushing him under her.
"Raphtalia!"
Naofumi returned the hug in stride. The two separated and happily smiled to one another.
"You saved me."
Raphtalia nodded before she fell into his arms. Her body was ice cold to the touch.
"What is this? Raphtalia, what did you do."
"I gave you everything I am."
"!" Naofumi came to a realisation, "You gave me all of you life energy, every drop. You'll die! Why would you do that?!
"Because I know you can stop them and save everyone. You're the shield hero."
"How? How could you have so much faith in me? I let my rage get the best of me instead of using Hamon to help you. I am selfish, Raphtalia."
The tanuki demi human cupped Naofumi's cheek with her hand, caressing his smooth skin.
"Since I was a child, I heard stories of the great shield hero who gave everything to protect everyone, human or otherwise. In my eyes, there is not a more selfless hero. And you, Naofumi Iwatani, are that hero. The hero that inspires me."
Naofumi could not withhold the stream of saddened tears, he clenched his teeth in anger; How could someone as noble and kind ever be inspired by him—a devil.
"Your anger shows you care, channel that away from inpulse and into thought," she continued, "L'arc was correct, you are a great hero, my great hero. I can die peacefully knowing I assisted the shield hero, Naofumi Iwatani. I always found your name lovely."
Raphtalia smiled gently, her eyes sparkled with tears and hope. Naofumi wept holding her hand on his cheek, it was becoming weaker by the second.
"Save...them.
Finally, Raphtalia's hand fell, her strength leaving her. She still lived, breathing ever so lightly. Naofumi hugged her close, warming her cold body. His heart was filled with a burning passion, sparked by his newfound motivation. In his mind, he had already decided to find Oasis and evacuate the building before finding everyone else and finishing this. His aura flared with violent red electricity shooting from it.
"I will."