V for Visionary
Ch 1: Reincarnation
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
I got this idea watching Bleach, TYBW PT2, and lamenting the wasted character potential that was Gremmy. And then I thought, "Hey, let's unleash the unstoppable and insane power on a world like MHA. That would be fun!" And here we are.
PS, the repeating segment is not an accident. It's very much intentional.
'What a strange place,' Gremmy Thoumeaux thought to himself. He floated in nothingness, still aware but unable to act. Was this his eternal punishment? Being subjected to a world where nothing exists and anything he tries to create has no meaning?
He tried to make friends, to make a family, to give himself hope, but the Visionary was limited, if not outright unusable, in this space. He had no concept of time, as whenever he tried to make one, it vanished mere seconds later. Or was it hours? Maybe minutes? How long had he been here relative to the outside world?
"What would you do if you had a second chance?" A voice called out to the Quincy. Gremmy was startled, caught off guard by the voice from nowhere. Was it male or female? Maybe both? Neither?
"How long… have you been watching? Whoever you are…" Gremmy finally asked. If this voice had been here the whole time, why was he left alone for so long? It hurt, and perhaps for the second time in his life, he was scared.
"Who I am is irrelevant. As for how long, well, I've always been aware of your presence here. I just never focused on you because you're irrelevant in the grand scheme of things." The ambiguous voice mocked. "It's only recently that my boredom has led me to talk to you."
Gremmy attempted to imagine his unknown adversary to no avail. A chuckle rang out. "You are in a space that belongs to me and others like me. How did Aizen put it? Oh, you're like a fourth-dimensional being; meanwhile, I'm a tenth-dimensional being. Whatever you imagine cannot affect me, no matter how hard you try."
"Then, are you perhaps the Soul King?" Gremmy asked. "I can only imagine a being like that existing in this high a plane."
"HA!" The voice laughed out. "As if I would ever allow myself to be made a Pinocchio by that bald Giuseppe. No, I'm far above that living corpse that once existed."
'Living corpse? Once existed?' Gremmy thought. 'What does he mean? Did Yhwach succeed?'
"If you can call tricking Ichigo Kurosaki into killing the soul king, then assimilating all the parts, only for him to be killed himself by all the people he called inferior. His broken body was then taken by the leader of Squad Zero and made into a new corpse puppet of a soul king." The voice explained, reading Gremmy's mind.
"No. That's impossible. The Almighty…" Gremmy began to argue.
"The Almighty has limitations of its own. For one thing, it's unable to fight against a power it does not know exists. If a wielder is unaware that they are under the influence of a foreign ability, like Aizen's perfect hypnosis, then they cannot counteract it. And if something exists outside of time itself, then the Almighty cannot see it. Finally, if the opposing side's power is so overwhelming that all possible futures cease to be, then that is it. I've seen versions of Ichigo Kurosaki that managed to become so powerful that there was no potential future where Yhwach could have survived." The voice shared.
Gremmy felt a lead weight in his non-existent stomach, which prompted an actual lead weight to appear in his stomach. He quickly retracted that thought. "So why was I not absorbed by His Majesty upon my death?" That was a question he'd been thinking about for a long time, floating in this void.
"Well, for one, you're an aspect of the original Soul King, much like Pernida Parnkgjas and Gerard Valkyrie. And for another, you never actually consumed Yhwach's blood. Merely, it was that body you created that was later absorbed. You yourself were spared from the Auswählen."
"Wait… I was an aspect of the soul king?" Germmy asked. "Why was I never told that?"
"Hahaha." The voice laughed. "For the exact same reason, Yhwach locked you away until you were useful to him. He feared your power and didn't believe you loyal enough to him."
Gremmy thought about that for a long while. A rage started to envelop him, growing more intense the more he thought. A self-destructive feedback loop. Until his mind went slack.
"Now, now." The voice mocked. "Let's not have you emotionally shut down now. I've yet to receive any thoughts of my offer to you."
"What offer?" Gremmy asked, his emotions muted. He wanted to care that this unknown entity somehow overrode his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to care. How influential was this higher dimension being?
"If you could have a second life, would you?" The voice asked.
Gremmy felt his emotions return. A shock started to fill him. "Are you saying… you'll allow me to return to life?"
"In a manner of speaking." The voice replied.
"…Why? And if so, what are the limitations of such an offer?" Gremmy asked after a pause.
"Asking what strings are attached before accepting; smart. Then again, I imagine you'd have to be to use your power effectively." The voice punned. "You see, I'm bored. And I've nothing better to do now, so I thought, why not unleash you on an unsuspecting populace? Whatever you choose to do is yours to do. I will not directly interfere."
'There's so many things off with their statement,' Gremmy thought. 'The first is that they have yet to actually say what the stipulations are. The second is that they are somewhat impulsive if they're willing to let me live again to alleviate some boredom. And the third is that. They did not say they wouldn't interfere, just not directly. Whose to say that one of this entity's friends cannot interfere on their behalf?'
"That's simply a risk you'll have to take." The voice said.
"Right, I forgot you could read my mind. Guess there's no point in trying to hide my thoughts." Gremmy said. "If I could come back to life, would I have the opportunity to fight Kenpachi again?"
"Hehe. I'm so sorry." The voice drawled. "But you've been locked out from your world of origin. In fact, any universe where you exist or at one point did exist cannot allow you back in—a little… precaution. But what I can offer is being born again in a new world and a new body."
"…Will I find somebody like Kenpachi to fight?" Gremmy asked, hoping for an affirmative.
"No." The voice said. "You'll find people who can outsmart you, but people as strong as Kenpachi are rare in so few worlds. The strongest in the universe I've prepared would be lucky enough to even make Kenpachi Zaraki bleed once, never mind actually beating him."
Gremmy looked sad. "Then I don't want it. The only reason why I want to return is to fight Kenpachi and prove I'm stronger. If he, or people as powerful as him, do not exist, then what point is there?"
"Well," The voice began, "We'll see how long it takes before you lose your sanity."
…
…
…
…
'What a strange place,' Gremmy Thoumeaux thought to himself. He floated in nothingness, still aware but unable to act. Was this his eternal punishment? Being subjected to a world where nothing exists and anything he tries to create has no meaning?
He tried to make friends, to make a family, to give himself hope, but the Visionary was limited, if not outright unusable, in this space. He had no concept of time, as whenever he tried to make one, it vanished mere seconds later. Or was it hours? Maybe minutes? How long had he been here relative to the outside world?
"What would you do if you had a second chance?" A voice called out to the Quincy. Gremmy was startled, caught off guard by the voice from nowhere. Was it male or female? Maybe both? Neither?
"How long… have you been watching? Whoever you are…" Gremmy finally asked. If this voice had been here the whole time, why was he left alone for so long? It hurt, and perhaps for the second time in his life, he was scared.
"Who I am is irrelevant. As for how long, well, I've always been aware of your presence here. I just never focused on you because you're irrelevant in the grand scheme of things." The ambiguous voice mocked. "It's only recently that my boredom has led me to talk to you."
Gremmy attempted to imagine his unknown adversary to no avail. A chuckle rang out. "You are in a space that belongs to me and others like me. How did Aizen put it? Oh, you're like a fourth-dimensional being; meanwhile, I'm a tenth-dimensional being. Whatever you imagine cannot affect me, no matter how hard you try."
"Then, are you perhaps the Soul King?" Gremmy asked. "I can only imagine a being like that existing in this high a plane."
"HA!" The voice laughed out. "As if I would ever allow myself to be made a Pinocchio by that bald Giuseppe. No, I'm far above that living corpse that once existed."
'Living corpse? Once existed?' Gremmy thought. 'What does he mean? Did Yhwach succeed?'
"If you can call tricking Ichigo Kurosaki into killing the soul king, then assimilating all the parts, only for him to be killed himself by all the people he called inferior. His broken body was then taken by the leader of Squad Zero and made into a new corpse puppet of a soul king." The voice explained, reading Gremmy's mind.
"No. That's impossible. The Almighty…" Gremmy began to argue.
"The Almighty has limitations of its own. For one thing, it's unable to fight against a power it does not know exists. If a wielder is unaware that they are under the influence of a foreign ability, like Aizen's perfect hypnosis, then they cannot counteract it. And if something exists outside of time itself, then the Almighty cannot see it. Finally, if the opposing side's power is so overwhelming that all possible futures cease to be, then that is it. I've seen versions of Ichigo Kurosaki that managed to become so powerful that there was no potential future where Yhwach could have survived." The voice shared.
Gremmy felt a lead weight in his non-existent stomach, which prompted an actual lead weight to appear in his stomach. He quickly retracted that thought. "So why was I not absorbed by His Majesty upon my death?" That was a question he'd been thinking about for a long time, floating in this void.
"Well, for one, you're an aspect of the original Soul King, much like Pernida Parnkgjas and Gerard Valkyrie. And for another, you never actually consumed Yhwach's blood. Merely, it was that body you created that was later absorbed. You yourself were spared from the Auswählen."
"Wait… I was an aspect of the soul king?" Germmy asked. "Why was I never told that?"
"Hahaha." The voice laughed. "For the exact same reason, Yhwach locked you away until you were useful to him. He feared your power and didn't believe you loyal enough to him."
Gremmy thought about that for a long while. A rage started to envelop him, growing more intense the more he thought. A self-destructive feedback loop. Until his mind went slack.
"Now, now." The voice mocked. "Let's not have you emotionally shut down now. I've yet to receive any thoughts of my offer to you."
"What offer?" Gremmy asked, his emotions muted. He wanted to care that this unknown entity somehow overrode his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to care. How influential was this higher dimension being?
"If you could have a second life, would you?" The voice asked.
Gremmy felt his emotions return. A shock started to fill him. "Are you saying… you'll allow me to return to life?"
"In a manner of speaking." The voice replied.
"…Why? And if so, what are the limitations of such an offer?" Gremmy asked after a pause.
"Asking what strings are attached before accepting; smart. Then again, I imagine you'd have to be to use your power effectively." The voice punned. "You see, I'm bored. And I've nothing better to do now, so I thought, why not unleash you on an unsuspecting populace? Whatever you choose to do is yours to do. I will not directly interfere."
'There's so many things off with their statement,' Gremmy thought. 'The first is that they have yet to actually say what the stipulations are. The second is that they are somewhat impulsive if they're willing to let me live again to alleviate some boredom. And the third is that. They did not say they wouldn't interfere, just not directly. Whose to say that one of this entity's friends cannot interfere on their behalf?'
"That's simply a risk you'll have to take." The voice said.
"Right, I forgot you could read my mind. Guess there's no point in trying to hide my thoughts." Gremmy said. "If I could come back to life, would I have the opportunity to fight Kenpachi again?"
"Hehe. I'm so sorry." The voice drawled. "But you've been locked out from your world of origin. In fact, any universe where you exist or at one point did exist cannot allow you back in—a little… precaution. But what I can offer is being born again in a new world and a new body."
"…Will I find somebody like Kenpachi to fight?" Gremmy asked, hoping for an affirmative.
"No." The voice said. "You'll find people who can outsmart you, but people as strong as Kenpachi are rare in so few worlds. The strongest in the universe I've prepared would be lucky enough to even make Kenpachi Zaraki bleed once, never mind actually beating him."
Gremmy looked sad. "Then I don't want it. The only reason why I want to return is to fight Kenpachi and prove I'm stronger. If he, or people as powerful as him, do not exist, then what point is there?"
"Well," The voice began, "We'll see how long it takes before you lose your sanity."
…
…
…
…
'What a strange place,' Gremmy Thoumeaux thought to himself. He floated in nothingness, still aware but unable to act. Was this his eternal punishment? Being subjected to a world where nothing exists and anything he tries to create has no meaning?
He paused. "Wait, what?" Why did he feel like he had déjà vu? But a sudden voice caused him to forget what he was thinking at the moment.
"What would you do if you had a second chance?" A voice called out to the Quincy. Gremmy was startled, caught off guard by the voice from nowhere. Was it male or female? Maybe both? Neither?
"How long… have you been watching? Whoever you are…" Gremmy finally asked. If this voice had been here the whole time, why was he left alone for so long? It hurt, and perhaps for the second time in his life, he was scared.
"Who I am is irrelevant. As for how long, well, I've always been aware of your presence here. I just never focused on you because you're irrelevant in the grand scheme of things." The ambiguous voice mocked. "It's only recently that my boredom has led me to talk to you."
Gremmy attempted to imagine his unknown adversary to no avail. A chuckle rang out. "You are in a space that belongs to me and others like me. How did Aizen put it? Oh, you're like a fourth-dimensional being; meanwhile, I'm a tenth-dimensional being. Whatever you imagine cannot affect me, no matter how hard you try."
"Then, are you perhaps the Soul King?" Gremmy asked. "I can only imagine a being like that existing in this high a plane."
"HA!" The voice laughed out. "As if I would ever allow myself to be made a Pinocchio by that bald Giuseppe. No, I'm far above that living corpse that once existed."
'Living corpse? Once existed?' Gremmy thought. 'What does he mean? Did Yhwach succeed?'
"If you can call tricking Ichigo Kurosaki into killing the soul king, then assimilating all the parts, only for him to be killed himself by all the people he called inferior. His broken body was then taken by the leader of Squad Zero and made into a new corpse puppet of a soul king." The voice explained, reading Gremmy's mind.
"No. That's impossible. The Almighty…" Gremmy began to argue.
"The Almighty has limitations of its own. For one thing, it's unable to fight against a power it does not know exists. If a wielder is unaware that they are under the influence of a foreign ability, like Aizen's perfect hypnosis, then they cannot counteract it. And if something exists outside of time itself, then the Almighty cannot see it. Finally, if the opposing side's power is so overwhelming that all possible futures cease to be, then that is it. I've seen versions of Ichigo Kurosaki that managed to become so powerful that there was no potential future where Yhwach could have survived." The voice shared.
Gremmy felt a lead weight in his non-existent stomach, which prompted an actual lead weight to appear in his stomach. He quickly retracted that thought. "So why was I not absorbed by His Majesty upon my death?" That was a question he'd been thinking about for a long time, floating in this void.
"Well, for one, you're an aspect of the original Soul King, much like Pernida Parnkgjas and Gerard Valkyrie. And for another, you never actually consumed Yhwach's blood. Merely, it was that body you created that was later absorbed. You yourself were spared from the Auswählen."
"Wait… I was an aspect of the soul king?" Germmy asked. "Why was I never told that?"
"Hahaha." The voice laughed. "For the exact same reason, Yhwach locked you away until you were useful to him. He feared your power and didn't believe you loyal enough to him."
Gremmy thought about that for a long while. A rage started to envelop him, growing more intense the more he thought. A self-destructive feedback loop. Until his mind went slack.
"Now, now." The voice mocked. "Let's not have you emotionally shut down now. I've yet to receive any thoughts of my offer to you."
"What offer?" Gremmy asked, his emotions muted. He wanted to care that this unknown entity somehow overrode his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to care. How influential was this higher dimension being?
"If you could have a second life, would you?" The voice asked.
Gremmy felt his emotions return. A shock started to fill him. "Are you saying… you'll allow me to return to life?"
"In a manner of speaking." The voice replied.
"…Why? And if so, what are the limitations of such an offer?" Gremmy asked after a pause.
"Asking what strings are attached before accepting; smart. Then again, I imagine you'd have to be to use your power effectively." The voice punned. "You see, I'm bored. And I've nothing better to do now, so I thought, why not unleash you on an unsuspecting populace? Whatever you choose to do is yours to do. I will not directly interfere."
'There's so many things off with their statement,' Gremmy thought. 'The first is that they have yet to actually say what the stipulations are. The second is that they are somewhat impulsive if they're willing to let me live again to alleviate some boredom. And the third is that. They did not say they wouldn't interfere, just not directly. Whose to say that one of this entity's friends cannot interfere on their behalf?'
"That's simply a risk you'll have to take." The voice said.
"Right, I forgot you could read my mind. Guess there's no point in trying to hide my thoughts." Gremmy said. "If I could come back to life, would I have the opportunity to fight Kenpachi again?"
"Hehe. I'm so sorry." The voice drawled. "But you've been locked out from your world of origin. In fact, any universe where you exist or at one point did exist cannot allow you back in—a little… precaution. But what I can offer is being born again in a new world and a new body."
"…Will I find somebody like Kenpachi to fight?" Gremmy asked, hoping for an affirmative.
"No." The voice said. "You'll find people who can outsmart you, but people as strong as Kenpachi are rare in so few worlds. The strongest in the universe I've prepared would be lucky enough to even make Kenpachi Zaraki bleed once, never mind actually beating him."
Gremmy looked sad. "Then I don't want it. The only reason why I want to return is to fight Kenpachi and prove I'm stronger. If he, or people as powerful as him, do not exist, then what point is there?"
"Well," The voice began, "We'll see how long it takes before you lose your sanity."
…
…
…
…
'What a strange place,' Gremmy Thoumeaux thought to himself. He floated in nothingness, still aware but unable to act. Was this his eternal punishment? Being subjected to a world where nothing—and then he snapped back to reality.
"Wait. I did this already. Didn't I?" Gremmy asked.
"Oh? Are you starting to come to terms with your current reality?" A voice mocked.
Gremmy's eyes widened. "Wait, if you're here…how long has this been happening?"
"That's for me to know and you to never find out. But nevertheless, have you reconsidered my offer?"
"I—I…" Gremmy was scared. So very sacred. How many times did he repeat the same conversation? Why was this…thing torturing him so?
"Ah. Mayuri Kurostuchi is clearly mad, but he's the foremost expert on breaking somebody, physically and emotionally." The voice called out. "How many more times can you repeat the same event, over and over again? If you want it to stop, all you have to do is accept my offer. Or you could keep going."
Gremmy stammered a bit. "I… accept."
"Excellent." The voice cheered. "In a little bit of time, you'll be reborn in a world without all that spiritual mess to deal with. What you'll experience is something you'll have to learn as you go. And unfortunately, I cannot allow you to keep your memories if I'm to thoroughly enjoy your story without you breaking all the rules. So, I'll allow you the opportunity to speak to your reincarnation for one hour on his fourth birthday."
"Wait! I still have so many questions!" Gremmy called out.
"Bye-bye!"
"WAAAAAAAAIIIIII—"
"—AAAAHHHHH!"
"It's a boy!" The doctor called out.
A green-haired woman sitting in a hospital bed with her legs elevated smiled despite the debilitating pain and hot sweat she was still in—her little darling. Even covered in her blood and screaming his tiny lungs out, she only felt love.
"We'll clean him up and then bring him back to you, Mrs. Midoriya. We'll also inform the father, who passed out from exhaustion in the waiting room when he comes to."
Inko smiled some more. She'd been in the hospital for over 72 hours, and Hisashi had been awake nearly as long. No wonder he dropped to the floor. The doctor and the nurse gently put little Izuku down on a cart and rolled him into the next room. The doctors returned ten minutes later, her little boy now calm and swaddled. The doctor silently handed the newborn to her, and she got a closer look.
He had a little bit of fuzz on his head, and his face was still red. But this was her baby, and she started to cry, flooding tears. The doctor jumped back when the tears started to collect on the floor, and an indent rose up to drain the salty liquid. "I thought her files said she was a telekinetic user?" A nurse asked.
The Doctor looked at Inko for a moment. "No wonder her husband was insistent on a room that could handle water quirks."
The baby, as if sensing his mother's distress, started to cry as well. Thankfully, not as much as the mother, but it was an abnormal amount for a baby. The doctor motioned to the nurse. "Make a note for us to check their water levels once they're done crying. Losing that much water cannot be healthy for anyone, let alone a newborn and a recovering new mother."
If any of them could see souls, they might have seen the English letter for V overlay Izuku's soul.