AN: Here is an update! Hope you enjoy the chapter and please do leave a review or comment, and let me know what you think!
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Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or My Hero Academia.
( - )
(Last Time)
Feeling bile build up in the back of his throat, Naomasa's eyes shifted to the shredded remains of the once-great hero's arms.
His stomach lurched, even as he pulled himself away from the grave and staggered over to a nearby tree.
Retching, he spilt his guts all over the roots of a nearby tree.
Whoever, whatever, had disturbed the grave, it had gnawed the flesh from Yoroi Musha's bones.
There had even been teeth marks on the bone as if whoever had done it had even gone so far as to try and eat the marrow.
Cheeks bulging and stomach heaving, he threw up again.
Leaving nothing but an acrid taste in his mouth.
Worst of all, the bite marks had been human…
( - )
Chapter 4
( - )
(With Haise)
He felt wretched.
His skin tingled uncomfortably.
His throat was dry and scratchy.
His head was pounding.
It felt like he was having the worst hangover a person could ever have, not that he had ever actually had a hangover before…, but still going off what others had said, the analogy seemed apt.
Slowly opening his eyes, Haise let out a breath.
His mouth felt sour.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he grimaced as he felt how grimy and sticky his skin was.
Narrowing his eyes, he stared through the gloom at the back of his hand.
It was covered in congealed green gunk.
It was gross.
Groaning, he pushed himself up and looked around.
The sensation of waking up in an unknown place, with no idea what was going on, was becoming increasingly and disturbingly familiar.
Spitting out a mouthful of saliva and yet more congealed gunk.
Haise felt his stomach gurgle unpleasantly.
He didn't feel hungry.
But he did feel a bit unwell.
Biting down on his nausea, he surveyed his surroundings.
He was in a dark gloomy tunnel.
He scented the air.
Shit.
Okay, he was in a sewer tunnel.
Grimacing at that thought, he shifted his gaze to his bed.
It looked like he was sleeping within the ruins of a hobo's shack.
Which did beg the question of where the previous occupant was.
Running his tongue along the enamel coating his teeth, he spat out another wad of gunk.
His gaze shifted down as he did so, to look at the scraps of green gunk and stains covering the ground and surrounding walls.
Considering what he remembered seeing the day previously in the hospital, and the few things he could remember before collapsing, it looked like the remains of the previous occupant were splashed across the sewer tunnels and floor.
He narrowed his eyes as he remembered a green gooey monster shouting and snarling at him, its yellow eyes narrowed in anger and its jagged yellow teeth bared aggressively. He also remembered a purple-haired woman smiling coyly at him.
Frowning he looked around, there was no sign of blood or of the purple-haired woman.
But there was green slimy everywhere.
It was odd, and… disconcerting…
But then again maybe it was to be expected. After all, the world he now found himself in was completely alien from the one he had known before.
This was a world where superheroes didn't just live on the pages of comics but instead flew through the skies in all their spandex-clad glory.
It was a world where freaks, like Ghouls, like himself, walked the streets without garnering even a second glance. Where people with physical mutations were not only acknowledged but seemingly accepted into society.
His gaze flickered to the bag of stolen library books at the side of the tunnel.
Probably right where he had dropped it before gorging himself on the hobo like a wild animal.
Guilt gnawed at his stomach.
He was supposed to be better than this.
He had thought he was in control of himself. And he should have been too. After all, he had specifically made sure to stop by a graveyard so he could satiate himself, guilt-free, on some freshly buried remains.
Yet for some reason he hadn't quenched his hunger. If anything, eating that dead flesh had only made him sicker and more delirious than he would have been had he remained hungry.
He clenched his hands into fists.
He needed to be better than this.
With that thought in mind, he pushed himself to his feet and headed to where the books were lying scattered across the rubbish-strewn ground.
Unfortunately, what was done was done.
There was nothing he could do to undo what he'd done the night before.
Instead, he would just have to do better in the future.
But before that, he needed to find himself some proper shelter, get himself some fresh clothes, and above all find a place to wash up, as right now he wasn't sure what stank worse, himself or the sewers.
Pulling a face at that realisation, he used the red cloak he was wearing like a toga to clean his face and then set about salvaging what he could from the remains of the hobo's camp.
There wasn't much, but there were his stolen books, a substantial amount of cash… he presumed – it looked different to what he was used to – and a bag of gold and silver baubles and trinkets.
His brow furrowed as he continued to dig through his victim's possessions.
There were multiple wallets, purses, handbags, and rucksacks….
The guilt gnawing away at him began to subside a little bit.
The green slime monster had been a thief and a successful one too.
Opening some of the pilfered rucksacks, he shucked off his stolen red cloak and replaced it with a grey hoodie and some gym shorts, and then refilled the rucksack with the pilfered jewellery, cash and some books. The rest he shoved into a green carryall bag, including some other clothing and a spare pair of shoes.
Kicking off his armoured boots, he replaced them with some running shoes.
His stolen helmet and gauntlets soon joined the red cloak and armoured boots in the cluttered pile he had left on the ground at his feet, even as he pulled on a beanie and a pair of gloves.
His victim appeared to be a bit of a hoarder, after all despite having a gelatinous body, he had kept all the stolen clothing he had acquired when snatching bags and luggage, along with all the other fripperies he had stolen including tennis rackets, handbags and a set of golf clubs.
Settling his bags on his back and shoulder, Haise started moving again, not looking back at the ruined shelter and its splattered former occupant, as he instead retraced his steps from the night before and headed back to the surface.
He still had a bit of a headache, and his stomach was feeling queasy.
But otherwise, his mind was clear.
He knew what he needed to do, as the training and lessons he had picked up while working at the CCG and learning under Arima – a jolt of fear and anger still shot through him at the memory of his mentor – kicked in.
Taking a deep breath to centre himself, even as he tried to ignore the stench of BO assaulting his nostrils, he then exhaled.
Calm.
Taking another breath, he picked up his pace.
The first thing he needed to do was find a hotel, or more likely, a love hotel that didn't ask too many questions, and grab himself a shower.
After that, he would then do some research, weigh up his position and then decide on his next course of action.
He was in a new world, one full of mutants and superheroes.
On the surface thought of it was terrifying.
Yet, the more he thought about it the better he felt.
If everyone in the world was extraordinary, then surely that meant that no one was… after all, if extraordinary was the new normal, then that meant anyone extraordinary was in fact... ordinary...
Where he was from, Ghouls were a very tiny minority.
They were territorial apex predators and were an entirely separate species that evolved alongside humanity as their natural hunters.
Or at least that was how things had been throughout the entirety of human history, right up until the modern age. Where, as the human population expanded and became more technologically advanced, Ghouls turned from hunters to the hunted.
He licked his lips.
Times had changed, and for Ghouls it hadn't been for the better.
They had been an extraordinary minority that was hunted by the ordinary. There very beings they had once preyed upon.
Now though, he was in a world where everyone was extraordinary like himself, which meant that he would no longer have to join up/ be forcibly conscripted into a shady government organisation or be hunted on sight.
No, he glanced back at the distant shack.
So long as he kept his nose clean and used his experience hunting Ghouls down to clean up his own tracks, he could live a peaceful and happy life in this new world.
For the moment his only crime was killing a homeless thief.
Which, although not good, was easily ignored by the authorities.
And the desecration of a body, which, considering he remembered covering his tracks, would probably never be noticed.
This meant he essentially had a clean slate.
Once he got himself some papers and set himself up as an immigrant or a refugee or something, and found a regular spot for suicide, he could set about living a relatively normal life as a normal, everyday, law-abiding citizen.
His stomach gurgled, and his skin tingled.
But despite that, he smiled as for the first time in a while he felt hope for his future.
Embracing that feeling, and ignoring his achy body, he pushed on through the tunnel and up to the surface.
Now all he needed to do was find a love hotel, so he could have a shower and maybe connect to the internet and use Wikipedia. If Wikipedia was even a thing in this world….
( - )
(Elsewhere in the city)
Sprinting across the concrete rooftop balustrade of a busy metropolitan tower block, Kamui Woods took a running leap, easily clearing a good five or so metres.
Posing as he did so, just in case there were any paparazzi or everyday citizens with camera phones watching.
It was a magnificent leap.
Far beyond anything a normal human would be able to do.
But that was because he wasn't a normal human.
Instead, he was a Pro Hero.
He was one of the best of the best, and as such was in the upper one per cent of the populace when it came to physical abilities and training.
Landing lightly on the concrete balustrade of a nearby building, he once again paused long enough to strike a pose. Before, with a hidden smile, he continued to run, barely paying attention to the path ahead of him or to the people in the streets below who pointed and shouted at him as he continued to parkour his way across the rooftops with practised ease.
Looking ahead, he ignored everything else, as his gaze remained locked on the monstrous being rampaging through the streets ahead of him.
Narrowing his eyes, he instinctively changed course and leapt onto another building as he continued to close in on the troublemaker.
The one causing all the ruckus was a giant of a man who was well over twenty feet tall, with bulky shoulders, bulbous biceps and a bestial head.
He looked to be a Class-4 mutant-type, or possibly a changer – an average-looking human that could change their physical form.
Not that that mattered right now.
The details weren't important, nor were his motives, name, identity or appearance. All that would be covered in the publicly available after-report, and news coverage.
No, all that mattered was that the big guy was a villain and so needed to be confronted and stopped before his rampage went too far. And perhaps more importantly, that he was the one who brought him down.
Kamui narrowed his eyes, as he continued his pursuit.
From just a glance he could already see that the villain had destroyed several buildings and had clearly done so without a second thought about the collateral damage, even as he continued his rampage through the city streets.
The villain didn't seem to give a shit about the danger he was putting innocent civilians in, nor about the collateral damage he was causing.
His lips, still hidden behind his wooden mask, curved into a smile.
The villain was a classic rogue-type villain. He was big, intimidating and destructive. The exact type of villain that the general populace loved to see brought down and humbled.
If he could bring down a showy villain like this in a suitably flashy wait, it would give him several extra points in the polls and buff up his points for the Pro Hero League Boards.
His eyes flicked away from the villain and instead shifted to another figure.
Unfortunately, another Pro Hero, Death Arms, had gotten here before him and had already engaged the villain.
That was annoying, as it meant he wouldn't be getting the recognition as being the first on the scene, and the point associated with that.
But still, with there being seven Pro Heroes other than himself assigned to patrolling this Ward of Tokyo, it was perhaps not unexpected.
The big leagues were competitive after all.
Luckily though, from what he could see, Death Arms wasn't doing well.
He was struggling to keep up with the villain and it didn't look like he would be taking him down anytime soon.
Which was good, as it meant that there was still a chance for him to make his mark and gain some points with an assist.
Moving in, Kamui had to hold back a smile as he saw that Death Arms was being forced on the defensive.
The older, heavily built, grey-haired man was being forced backwards, his heavily muscled arms raised up to protect his head as the mutant-type villain continued to whale on him.
He was at a clear disadvantage against the larger, faster, and presumably stronger villain.
But at the same time, his colleague didn't seem to be in any danger either as from what he could see the black and yellow manacles Death Arms wore on his wrists were helping to shield him somewhat as he used his super strength and enhanced durability to weather the bald villain's brutal assault.
That said, Death Arms was still stuck in a stalemate.
Forcing back a grin, Kamui continued to sprint along the rooftops and towards the confrontation, his gaze shifting from his beleaguered colleague to the villain as he prepared to make a flashy entrance.
He didn't recognise the villain.
Nor did he know what his Quirk was.
The mutant-type/ changer-type was a complete unknown.
This meant he was either, a brand-new villain making his first debut. Which was a distinct possibility. Or a low-level villain from another Ward who had decided to try his luck in a different part of the city.
Kamui's eyes narrowed, even as he raised his hand to his helmet and listened in on the babble coming through from his agency's support teams.
Depending on the villain's threat rating the international hero agency database might have a page on him. After all, most villains, vigilantes and Quirk extremists of any note had at least a short bio page on the international database dedicated to them.
Personally, he suspected that the villain was a newcomer, as normally his agency gave him weekly updates on the active villains and troublemakers in his Ward, including their abilities, fighting styles, preferred types of crime and rough locations.
The tens of thousands of cameras in the city. All linked to police, government and verified hero agency systems, usually gave them a big advantage when it came to tracking villains and ongoing crimes and setting up picture-perfect confrontations.
As one of the country's foremost up-and-comers, and a government-funded Pro Hero, his support staff especially were meticulous when it came to tracking, identifying and categorising the threats in his Wards. Including their predictions of where and when a villain would likely strike next.
The intel was a necessity in their line of work. After all, up-to-date info not only made fighting the villain easier, but it also made filming and setting up the confrontations with the villain easier too.
Especially if they were able to predict where the villain would strike ahead of time.
Additionally, the forwarding allowed him a head start on confronting the villain and gave his camera crew time to identify the best camera angles ahead of time so they could get the best shots. It also made the streaming of the fights much slicker and allowed them to get a head start on setting the narrative and publicising him as one of Japan's best up-and-coming new heroes on the media sites, and on Herotube.
Furthermore, the intel was useful just in case the villain had a dangerous Quirk that his own would do nothing against. After all, not only would that put him at a disadvantage in a fight and put himself and others in danger, but it would also damage his rep. Nothing would break the people's faith in him and damage his league ranking more than a public beatdown. Except perhaps getting caught running away from a fight.
It was a bit of a catch 22 really. And unfortunately, without a name or a Quirk to go off, and with only a basic description, it would take too long for him to stop and try and look the villain up on the datapad on his hip. Which meant he would have to rely on his support team and hope they found something while he was engaging. Not that he was too worried. After all, he was specialised at bringing down purely strength-based melee villains.
He smiled at that thought, even as he came to a stop above the ongoing fight.
Stiffening, he looked back and saw the hovering cameras following behind him.
They were keeping track of his every move and would soon start streaming the fight to his followers.
Or at least a cleaned-up and edited version of it anyway.
Pushing that thought aside, he strode along the edge of the building, making sure to pause long enough to strike a pose for the cameras and then, he took a few steps back to give himself a slight run-up.
It was annoying but sometimes, image aside, as a Pro Hero you had to go off of your instincts and make risky, difficult and sometimes illogical decisions.
Some might cry that it was irrational to leap into combat without fully knowing who or what you were fighting against.
But still, others would say that it was worth the risk if it meant safeguarding the lives of the innocent.
Recent polling had certainly suggested that most of the population liked it when a Pro Hero took decisive and bold action.
Any sign of hesitation could be detrimental to a Pro Heroes popularity score, more so than if they lost.
After all, people liked to see underdog fights and loved nothing more than seeing a hero fight against all the odds.
Especially when a hero swept in to save a fellow hero, as well as ordinary everyday citizens.
Death Arms might have already scored some points for being first on the scene, but he would steal the takedown.
He felt a little bad for Death Arms. The guy was a never-been who'd spent most of his career languishing in the lower leagues.
But honestly, needs must.
With legendary Yoroi Musha now gone a new space had opened up in the Top Ten and that was a position that every Pro Hero in the league was angling to fill.
"Mount Lady is nearing your position, move in now Kamui!" Kobayashi's voice sounded in his ear.
Gritting his teeth behind his wooden mask as he heard his manager's order, Kamui moved to engage, throwing himself forward as he leapt off the ledge and into the ongoing battle.
Narrowing his eyes against the wind, he angled his body as he fell, his arm extending as he drew on his Quirk
From what he could tell, the giant villain's Quirk had something to do with increased strength.
This meant that he would need to keep his distance, and not go hand-to-hand with the probably much stronger man.
Fortunately, with his Quirk, Arbor, such a limitation wouldn't be much of a problem.
With that in mind, he manipulated his wooden arms and used them to hook onto a nearby building, so he could swing around the back of the still oblivious villain.
Landing on the side of a nearby building, he pushed off again, his arm cocked back, before with a loud shout he flung it out, his arm exploding into a complex web of thick branches.
With a roar, the villain went flying to the side as the main trunk of his arm hit him where his kidney probably was, even as the branches protruding from his arm swiftly wrapped around and encaged his limbs.
Kamui grimaced in discomfort as he felt himself being held aloft by his own branches; all of his weight was on one arm.
Holding back a growl as he saw Death Arms scowling up at him, even as the villain started to thrash and began to break free. He threw out his other arm, with yet more branches growing from the extending twisting limb, even as he started to bind the villain's arms, and legs.
"Fuck off!" The villain roared, thrashing and fighting back. His muscles were bulging, as his twisted, bestial face snarled at him.
"Get ready for the tombstone!" Death Arms roared in response, his angry gaze had shifted from Kamui to the villain, even as he raised his voice and started moving, pushing off a nearby car as he leapt into the air. Within moments he was several metres above the struggling villain, his arms raised above his head and his fists clenched as he prepared to bring them down on the monster's head like a sledgehammer.
"Mount Lady is eta two minutes, finish him now. Don't give Death Arms a chance to claim the takedown," Kobayashi shouted into his ear. "Some little shit is already live-streaming the fight on Herotube! We've got our bots preparing to do damage control, but you need to do your part too!"
Holding back a curse, he used his Quirk to twist the villain's leg and overbalance him. Before with a grunt he knocked him sideways and off of the railway bridge he was fighting on and down into the streets below.
All the civilians had luckily vacated the area.
Allowing gravity to do its work as the villain fell over the side, Kamui withdrew his Quirk, even as Death Arms crashed into the railway bridge behind him, bringing it down around him, and burying himself and part of the street below in rubble and twisted metal.
The polls showed that the populace didn't like heroes causing damage.
Death Arms would likely need to do a lot of charity work in the future to recover from this mishap.
Withdrawing his arms fully, Kamui returned his attention to the villain as he crashed to the ground.
Throwing his arm out again, he used it to latch onto a lamppost and swung himself up into the air, only for him to reorientate himself so he was once again above the villain.
Death Arms was out of the way, but now he had to capture the villain again.
Frowning as the monster pushed off the ground and started running away, he redirected himself again and hurtled after him.
"Mount Lady is thirty seconds away. Bring him down now. You're running out of time!"
He didn't have time for flashiness he needed to end this now.
Hooking another lamppost with his Quirk, he strained his arm and catapulted himself forward towards the fleeing villain's broad back.
He didn't have time to use a fancy finishing move.
No, he had long since learned that there was a time and place for that, and with Mount Lady, his biggest competitor in the Ward on his tail, he certainly didn't have the time to show off.
Closing in on the now quadruped villain, who at that moment was galloping away like a giant dog.
He threw his arms out and cast his wooden net.
His fingers thickened and extended, and new branches burst from his rapidly growing forearms, even as they threaded between the monstrous villain's legs and arms, binding them tightly at the joints.
With a roar, the villain went down again, his body twisting as he hit the ground and smashed aside several abandoned cars.
Grimacing as he weathered the punishment, Kamui continued to manipulate his wooden limbs, twisting them around the villain's arms, legs and throat as he tried to bring him to a stop.
Behind him, he could hear the crowd of spectators roaring and cheering.
He could also hear Mount Lady's loud, ground-shaking footsteps.
"And captured!" Kamui shouted as the villain finally stopped thrashing.
His entire body was now covered in thick wooden limbs, including his head and mouth, which were now bound and gagged.
"Well done," Kobayashi said, as the crowd continued cheering, and Mount Lady finally made it onto the scene and clasped her hands around the bound villain, making doubly sure he wasn't going anywhere.
It was a good attempt, but it wouldn't garner her many points with the public.
Death Arms was the first on the scene.
He, Kamui, got the capture.
The best Mount Lady would get would be securing the scene.
Of the three, the takedown would get the most points for the league tables and would also garner him the best response from the crowd. He could already see his already high popularity polling figures going up even further.
He was at seventy-eight per cent at the moment. Five above Mount Lady, his biggest competitor in the Ward.
His league points were also at two thousand three hundred and twenty-five.
The highest in his Ward.
Fifteenth highest in Tokyo.
And twenty third highest in Japan.
He was doing well, and with the Japanese Billboard Rankings soon to be updated, he was hoping to get within the country's Top Twenty, if not within the vaunted Top Ten itself.
Glancing back at Mount Lady, he was glad his mask-covered grin as he saw her pout.
It felt good to get one over on his overly-competitive, and very childish rival.
"Now hand him over to the police, debrief, do some interviews and autographs, and get your arse over to the Mustafa City Library," Kobayashi's voice pressed on, cutting through his good feelings. "I've just got a hot tip, and I've had to call in some big favours to get you assigned to a new as the prime hero liaison. It involves Yoroi Musha himself."
Kamui froze in surprise, his eyes widening, even as the waiting police flooded onto the scene, helping Death Arms out of the rubble, assisting Mount Lady in securing the scene, before then moving to take custody of the villain.
"I'm on it."
( - )
(Elsewhere)
Whistling and with a skip in her step, Nejire Hado practically bounced into the hospital waiting room.
Upon entering she immediately noticed that all eyes were on her.
Some had no doubt been drawn to her exuberant entrance or had been attracted to her striking appearance – she like to think she was a humble person but even she knew she was good-looking. Others meanwhile, might've noticed her grey school uniform and recognised that it belonged to U.A. the most famous Hero Academy in Japan and one of the most prestigious in the world.
It could have been any of the above, but either way, she didn't care.
She had never really cared much about popularity or about the fame or money that came hand-in-hand with hero work.
No, all she had ever really cared about was helping people.
It was why she wanted to be a hero. Why she had always wanted to be a hero. And it was partly for that reason that she was here today.
Especially since school was finished for the day and she had a free evening.
The reason she was here now was to visit the young man she and her friend had helped the other day. After all, the paramedics had said they would be dropping him off here, and with school and all the extracurricular activities she had committed to. This was the first chance she had to visit him.
That is if he was even still here.
For all she knew he might have already been discharged.
Either way, she wouldn't know until she tried.
Smiling and waving at those in the waiting room, she was about to head to the reception, when a sudden news report on the overhead screens distracted her.
BREAKING NEWS: SHOCK AND OUTRAGE AS NEWS EMERGES THAT THE GRAVE OF THE LEGENDARY PRO HERO, YOROI MUSHA, HAS BEEN DESCECRATED!
Mouth slightly agape, Nejire stopped and stared in shock as the image on the television screen changed to show the Field of Heroes, and a grim-faced reporter standing in front of famous cemeteries wrought iron gates.
All around her, there was silence as everyone else in the room also tuned in, with expressions ranging from shock and horror to anger and confusion spreading across many of the faces.
Forgetting her initial reason for coming to the hospital, Nejire couldn't help but watch on in muted shock as the reporter on the screen started outlining the heinous crime that had been committed the night before.
Who could have done something so horrible?
( - )
(At the Field of Heroes)
Watching from amidst the crowd of shocked and outraged onlookers as the reporter continued his spiel, Himiko Toga had to hide an excited grin as she peered through the railings at the scene in front of her.
From where she was stood at the edge of the crowd, only half listening in to the rambling journalist, she could just about see the uniformed police officers going about their work.
They'd put up privacy screens around the grave, even as they exhumed the remains and prepared them for transportation to a nearby forensics lab.
Glancing back behind her, she felt her heart race at the mass of humanity crowding in around her.
The crowd was massive, there must be hundreds of people already present, and dozens more joining every minute as word of what had happened spread.
Personally, she was feeling grateful to Giran for passing on the word of what had happened, as getting to the cemetery early and standing there amid all the shock and outrage and despair was just so exciting and invigorating.
Just how Giran had found out so quickly - within the same hour the police had made the discovery - she wasn't sure, but considering he was a famed information broker, she wasn't surprised.
It was literally his job to know these things.
As for why he had told her…, well, he owed her quite a bit considering the favours and jobs she had pulled for him. Plus, considering he knew full details, far more than the reporters would ever be allowed to say, he also knew that this was exactly the kind of thing that would interest her.
She had to hold in a delighted giggle at that thought, her cheeks flushing pink, even as she held a hand to her mouth and fake coughed into the sleeve of her cardigan to hide her laughter.
A cannibal.
That was just so cool!
Especially one daring enough to eat the remains of one of Japan's greatest heroes.
She felt a tingling in her lower lips.
She couldn't remember ever being this excited to meet someone before.
"The police as of yet have no suspects. But be assured that they are using all the resources available to them to track down and capture the culprit. That includes the Kamui Woods Hero Agency, along with several other Hero Agencies that have been assigned to assist on the case."
Titling her head as she listened to the reporter, her golden eyes glimmered with excitement.
It seemed she would have some competition.
Not that she was too worried.
After all, she would find the cannibal first before anyone else even got close.
( - )
(In a dilapidated apartment in Hosu)
His hands clenched into fists as he watched the ongoing news report.
The gall!
The arrogance!
The disrespect!
Yoroi Musha had been one of the last of the true heroes!
The last of a dying breed.
He had embodied the very ideals of heroism.
And yet someone had desecrated his final resting place!
His hands began to shake.
He would not allow this to stand.
Leaping to his feet, he quickly started to pick up and sheath his jagged swords and daggers into his bandoliers.
Fuck Hosu and the pretender heroes strutting its streets.
He had new prey to hunt now.
Throwing a knife at the screen, shattering it in a shower of glass and sparks, Stain grabbed his ragged cloth mask and tied it around his face.
He had a graverobber to hunt down and kill.
( - )
(With Haise)
Standing in the shower, Haise Sasaki rested a hand on the tiled wall opposite him and let the hot streams of water trickle down his body and into the basin below.
He wasn't feeling good.
His head was still pounding, and his stomach was twisting and gurgling.
He felt like he was about to throw up.
Even a hot shower and a copious amount of shampoo and shower gel to cleanse himself of the filth, dirt, sweat and grime that had covered his body didn't help.
He felt like masticated shit.
Groaning, he almost hunched over as his gut suddenly clenched and twisted.
"What the fuck is happening to me," Haise muttered to himself.
Was this a side effect of eating the corpse?
It shouldn't be as he'd eaten dead flesh before with no issue.
Plus, his latent regeneration should have also accounted for any untoward bacterium he might've ingested.
So, did that mean it was the slime monster he had eaten?
Possibly.
The creature had been a mutated human, so who knew what its gooey organs and slimy flesh were doing to his stomach as he slowly but surely digested it.
He grimaced at that thought, even as his stomach lurched again, and let loose a loud rumble.
His flesh was still tingling uncomfortably.
Something wasn't right with him.
Pushing his sodden white hair out of his eyes, he looked up, only for his eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets in shock as he caught sight of his extended hand.
His arm looked like it was melting.
The flesh covering his forearm was drooping, and he could feel his bones flexing too as his body stumbled forward.
Pushing himself onto his feet, he suddenly felt very unstable.
Raising his hand, he could only watch in shock as his hand began to wobble like it was made from rubber.
Reaching out with his other hand, he plucked at the skin, only to stare as his flesh stretched.
What the fuck was going on?
( - )
AN: So there we go, what do you think? I decided to add some world-building and introduce important characters going forward, there will be more, but for the moment we'll be going down a bit of a police procedural, street-level shenanigans thing before things start to escalate.
Either way, do you agree with Haise that things can only go up? And that he shouldn't have an issue fitting into a world of extraordinary beings? (Remember his knowledge of the world is limited at the moment, but through the glories of the internet and some old-fashioned books, that won't be the case for much longer.)
Also as some of the eagle-eyed amongst you might have spotted, canon has already been irrevocably changed.
Can you guess how?
It is not explicitly said, but heavily hinted at!
Also, what do you think will happen next now several parties are not hunting Haise, though for very different reasons?
And what is happening to Haise after his midnight snacks?
Who knows.
Well, me.
But, I guess you'll all have to wait until the next update :)
Unless, you nag me for spoilers on Discord, which I might give into, depending on how I'm feeling at the time.
So yeah, I hope you enjoyed the chapter as there is more to come.
Also, as stated before, I am on a discord with a load of other writers, so if you fancy popping over to ask questions or offer suggestions about this story, or any of my other ones, or to find new authors you might not have come across yet, please feel free to use the link in my bio.
Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to PM me or find me on Discord.
Catch you later.
Greed720.