Chapter Text
“Hey!” Terra yelled at Siddarth and David as they stared at the swirling mass of energy. “I thought this was fucking impossible!” They had all switched to English as, in the event of an emergency, they needed a universal language as they wouldn’t necessarily have translators inside of a Gate. Thankfully Igris was fluent in English and Izuku had greatly improved over the past three months.
“Well, we never actually confirmed it was impossible for a Gate to emerge on a moving structure like ours,” Siddarth remarked calmly. “It was just that we never encountered one before. Maybe it only makes it less likely.”
“Here, sir!” A worker holding an extremely heavy duty scanner brought the readings back to his two bosses.
Siddarth snatched them up and ran through the numbers with David. “It’s confirmed. This is the strongest Gate in history. Approximately 10 times the Mana signature as Kamish’s Gate.”
Thomas whistled.
“You do realize we barely won against Kamish, right?” Liu asked. “Something 10 times the strength might be impossible for humanity to clear at all.”
“All of the world’s National-Ranks working together?” Rumi scoffed. “We can do this.”
“Alright,” Izuku got out his Documentarian Skill, sharing it with everyone. Skills like that did exist, so people didn’t freak out and start asking questions about the System thankfully. “We should go over strengths and weaknesses in order to cover each other.”
Thomas laughed. “Was this all a ploy to get us to admit these things? Can you make Gates?”
“I wish it were that simple,” Izuku responded. “But no, that’s not even remotely mine. This is serious business. We have to clear this Gate, cause if we can’t, then the world kind of ends.”
“Geomancy,” Terra said. “But I’m not that great in close-combat.”
“Pyromancy, obviously,” Christopher Reed, also known as Incineration, went next. “I can work at any range, but my Magic tends to reach wide. My teammates' positioning is key, which is why I usually work alone.”
Goliath, or Thomas, put it simply with, “I’m just the tank position. High physical offense and defense. Not that much else.”
“Then I would call myself a DPS,” Liu explained. “I create high-damaging energy slashes from my Mana. I can’t think of any specific weakness that would trip me up in the field.”
“Support is my speciality,” Siddarth added. “I can heal and buff, which also means I can take a frontline position if necessary, as I can buff myself. However, without that support Magic, I am relatively weak in Magical and Physical offense and defense.”
Izuku, Kaina, Rumi, and Setsuna went over most of their powers, but just the basics, not the full explanations. Most of them were powerful enough to not have many weaknesses, but they did their best to think of stuff, such as Izuku running out of Mana, or Kaina in close quarters combat. It was all pretty surface level stuff that wouldn’t result in any danger for them.
“You have a lot of abilities.” Siddarth remarked in astonishment.
“Just a few,” Izuku joked back. “Okay, who hasn’t gone? Star?”
“Nope.”
“What?”
“I can’t reveal to you the full extent of my Quirk. I just can’t. You’ll have to live with it cause I’m not changing my mind.”
Izuku rolled his eyes. “Jonas?”
“I can’t…”
Izuku thought he meant the same thing as Star, wanting to keep his moves secret, but the reality was much more pathetic. Jonas was terrified . His skin was pale and clammy, his eyes darting all around.
Thomas, quite shockingly, articulated what Izuku was thinking. “Hey, shit for brains, we’re all a little scared! That’s what it means to walk into a Gate! You can’t just sit out! This is our responsibility and no one else is gonna take it for us! Literally everyone on this planet depends on us doing our fucking job!”
Izuku was taken aback by how mature Thomas suddenly seemed. He clearly had a lot of respect for what they did as Heroes, even if he acted arrogant and rude. In fact, that pride was the source of his rudeness.
“Great… another version of Bakugo.”
“We’ve got tanks, we got DPS, and we got support. You got a full team! So, unless you wanna sit out here like a coward, stow that shit and get on-board!”
“I’ll be a coward…” He said quietly.
“Not so tough anymore?” Izuku asked. He wasn’t gloating. When it came to humans, anger beat every other emotion every time, including fear. “I was right about you. Just a kid burning ants with a magnifying lens. You’ve never actually done anything with the powers we’ve been given. You just enjoy the fame and clear easy Gates!”
But he wouldn’t even engage with the insults. He just got meeker.
“Maybe you should kill him and bring him back?” Christopher suggested.
Izuku couldn’t tell if he was in on the whole thing, trying to get Jonas to go along with them by talking about death regardless of what Jonas does, or if just genuinely wanted to kill Jonas. It could’ve been a bit of both.
The problem was, Izuku didn’t want to kill him, nor resurrect him if possible. On the other hand, the rest of the Heroes definitely wouldn’t mind a little murder, so they’d be all for it. If that brawl broke out, not even Izuku was sure he’d be able to keep Jonas safe.
Jonas’s eyes went wide with fear, seeing and feeling the bloodlust in their eyes and Mana respectively. “Y-You need your strength. You wouldn’t risk fighting-”
“Something tells me you wouldn’t be that hard to kill,” Thomas interrupted with a smirk. “And we can always take a day or two to rest before entering.”
“You think because I’m scared of that Gate that you can kill me so easily?! I’ll fucking tear up this entire island and fight you to the fucking death before I go into… that…Guh” He fell over, landing unconscious.
Momo sighed, putting away a tranq gun. “Sorry, but Izuku doesn’t take human Souls into his army that readily. And we can’t risk any in-fighting. We’ll have to make do with what we have.”
“And her?” Thomas said, pointing at Momo. “How’d she do that? You just tranquilized a National-Rank, that shouldn’t be possible.”
“She won’t be participating,” Izuku said, stonewalling the man.
“What? Why the hell not? She’s clearly not scared.”
“Izuku, you need all the help you can get. This is the biggest and meanest Gate Earth has seen.”
“Nope!” Rumi responded.
“Not a chance,” Kaina said at the same time as Izuku said…
“Not under any circumstances.”
“What’s going on here?” Liu asked.
“Oh you’ve gotta be shitting me,” Terra grumbled as she realized what was going on. Something Star also knew about. “She’s fucking pregnant!”
“Mah man!” Thomas boisterously yelled out in jest.
“I’ll just stay as backline support,” Momo protested. “With all of us, there’s no reason I can’t stay back and support.”
“You’ll need to move fast in there,” Christopher said. “I’m almost certain that if you go in, your child will die. But it is ultimately your choice to make.”
“Sorry, but you’ve gotta stay behind,” Izuku begged. Momo was obviously uncomfortable with the attention in that situation, but she made the judgment call and nodded.
“Okay, fine I’ll stay.”
“So we’re down two National-Ranks?” Terra threw her arms up in the air. “Just for the record,” She said, jabbing Izuku in the chest, “If I die, I do not want to come back as one of your puppets.
Izuku nodded and dialed Adam White. “I need-“
“The President has given you permission to do anything to clear that Gate. Anything. America will back you no matter what you do.”
Izuku had called to ask for all the Synthetic Shadows they were loaning America. But it seemed like Adam was way ahead of him. He even, subtly, implied that Izuku had permission to take the other National-Ranks as Shadows. Whether he killed them or the Chaos Inhabitants did, it didn’t matter. America would give their full support as long as the Gate was cleared.
“You’re all making a fuss about nothing!” Thomas shouted. “We’re the strongest , remember?”
“He’s right,” Izuku agreed, “It’s been a while since I had to try. This’ll be some good experience under my belt.”
“That’s more like it!” Thomas replied, scooping up Jonas and walking inside the Gate before anyone could say anything.
“Did he just…”
Everyone sighed in unison. “Yep.”
Thankfully, Siddarth’s men worked fast. Before they knew it, they had survival kits stacked with everything they needed. Normally they’d have a porter for this job, but they couldn’t bring anyone else inside. Even an S-Rank porter, which didn’t exist as far as Izuku knew, would be pretty much instantly killed.
So instead, Izuku summoned some Tenebris to carry the packs, leaving everyone else unburdened.
“I don’t like trusting my pack to one of these things…” Terra muttered, holding tightly to her straps.
“If you want to carry that it’s fine by me,” Izuku said, taking one last look at Momo, waiting beyond the boundaries of the Gate. “Sorry.”
She nodded. “It’s… a complicated situation. Go, I trust you.”
He smiled, and stepped through the portal.
“Hey! Shit for brains!” Rumi yelled as they went through, repeating Thomas’s own insult. “What are you bringing him in for?!”
They emerged into a strange forest, with trees and plants made up of galaxies. Stars, planets, and more, all held together by a physical darkness. The void of space.
“Well, how else am I supposed to teach him how to conquer his fears? We’ve all had those moments, right? That moment we overcome the sense of Death breathing down our necks. He needs to have the same lesson.”
“And he’ll end up as a liability,” Terra added, the last one through. Despite the critique, she didn’t necessarily disagree with what he was saying. But her own life came first. “We’re throwing him back outside.”
“No way! I’m gonna-“ Thomas was cut off by a crackling sound.
“Okay… now we might be a little screwed,” Izuku said. The Gate behind them… was colored red.
“Of all the times to get a Red Gate…” Terra bemoaned.
“I don’t suppose you can fix that?” Liu asked Izuku.
“You mean open it?” He shrugged, shocked that Liu had looked to him first and foremost. “Well, I haven’t tried it in a while. Not since gaining more power.”
So obviously it didn’t work. Izuku tried Gravity Magic, physical attacks, pretty much every other form of Dark Magic, and he even had his Spatial-based Shadows try their hand at it.
“No good. I can teleport within the dungeon,” Izuku explained. “But not out of it. I’ve been separated from the outside world.” It was a good thing he’d recalled most of his Shadows before entering.
“Not like it would’ve done us any good,” Christopher said with a sneer on his face. “We’d have to clear it regardless. Just be thankful it wasn’t a Recursive Gate.”
“How do they even know when to lock us in?” Rumi asked. “I’ve always wondered that. Cause there was a delay on us following Thomas.”
“Maybe it’s based on how much Mana is on the other side of the Gate. If most of that Mana ends up on this side, then it activates,” Kaina postulated. “Maybe it was designed to actively trap as many people as possible before triggering.”
“Designed by who?!” Terra shouted. “I’m so tired of the mysterious air around you guys! What is going on?!”
“The short version?” Rumi asked. “Basically Earth is the final battleground for a bunch of Gods who either want to end the universe or remove all ‘defects’ from the universe. So, mass destruction or eugenics. Pick your poison.”
“And the fact that we didn’t freak. Does that mean we’re safe from the whole… Yog-Something Effect?” Thomas asked.
Izuku shrugged. “Like I said, we don’t know what triggers it. The devil’s in the details after all.”
“Then it’s probably best to remain silent about the topic,” Star interjected. “We can’t have any more liabilities.”
Izuku agreed. “If we survive I’ll tell you whatever you want to know in private. But I’d rather the rest of the world not find out yet.”
“Because of the panic?” Liu asked, his eyes scanning the terrain like everyone else.
“Yeah. We’ve got a weird… sense of things,” Izuku awkwardly put it. “We’re human like anyone else, but we’ve seen and felt much more than any normal human experiences in a lifetime. I reckon we handle the revelation much differently than the average citizen.”
“Well, let’s get this over with,” Kaina said, a heavy look in her eyes as she stared at Star. “I’m sure Momo’s panicking right now.”
“I wouldn’t worry about her,” Siddarth comforted. “The time dilation for Red Gates depends on the strength of the Gate. For a National-Rank? She won’t be waiting for long. Weeks would be minutes back on Earth.”
“She’ll give me an earful when-“ Izuku stopped. “Christopher?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll protect the others. I need you to atomize everything around us.”
“Understood.” The man could be callous at times, but he was professional.
Izuku pulled everyone close with Gravity Magic and encircled them with Void Magic.
As he did so, Christopher began to turn white-hot, then the air began to glow purple, and then… annihilation.
Christoper quite literally became a thermonuclear warhead, infused with Magic no less. Even Izuku was impressed as his Void Magic demanded more and more Mana from him to absorb the blast.
The trees, despite looking like they were made of Galaxy-stuff, couldn’t withstand the blast. The forest turned back into what it started as, what all things started as: Stardust.
[Mana: 99,312/134,531]
“It’s been a while since someone drained my Mana so significantly with one attack.”
As the light cleared, Izuku’s concern was revealed. The forest and its terrain was erased, leaving a ring in its place… Made of Chaos Inhabitants.
Dragons made of solar material, wisps of similar light intensity, humanoids of all shapes and sizes, icy warriors, and dark mages that hid behind the front lines.
[Flare Drakes/Flare Dragons]
[Cosmic Wisps]
[Meteor Dolls]
[Planetoids]
[Rogue Warriors]
[Void Mages]
“It barely scorched them,” Christopher cursed.
“Yeah, but now that we have a clear view, I feel comfortable letting loose,” Izuku responded, stepping forwards and spreading his arms.
“Vestige Manifestation, N-Type: Reaper’s Battlefield!”
*******
[Reaper’s Battlefield:]
- NULL-Type Vestige Manifestation
- Cost: Reduces Mana down to 1% of its max value.
- Description: Vestige lasts 30 minutes, as long as it’s not interfered with. Expands a dome 25 miles in diameter. It is extremely difficult to both get inside and outside the dome, trapping most enemies. Extracted Shadows have all Stats doubled while inside the Vestige. Extracted Shadows also have free teleportation, using the darkness of the Vestige’s floor to dodge and launch attacks. Any enemies killed inside this Vestige are immediately brought back as Shadows, unless there isn’t enough room, in which case their Souls are stored instead.
*******
A darkness greater than the void of space enveloped the horde of monsters and Heroes, but only one group would make it out alive.
“What are you waiting for?” Izuku asked. “Come Forth.”
As if they had been buried on this planet, the Shadows shot from the ground like a horde out of a George Romero film. Spears, swords, claws, Magic, and everything in-between flashed with violence, sowing immense chaos within the ranks of the natives.
It immediately turned into an all-out brawl, with the Synthetic Shadows dropping bombs across the battlefield, Kamish incinerating mountain’s worth of entities, and Beru blurred along the ground, so fast that he didn’t even need the teleportation buff.
[You have gained 10 Levels!]
[You have acquired Title: Messiah of Darkness]
[Messiah of Darkness - Max Mana, Max Mana Growth, Shadow Limit, and Shadow Limit Growth are doubled.]
Igris carved a divot in the ground as he annihilated 30 enemies in one swing, Behemoth crushed a group of 100 beneath his foot, and Phantom utilized the darkness to its fullest, dancing around the battlefield with a dagger, unseen and impossibly deadly.
[You have gained 6 Levels!]
By this point, Izuku’s Mana was regenerating at a ridiculous rate. He couldn’t go all-out with Gravity Magic, but he had more to offer.
He hurled dozens of spears made from Shadow Magic, impossible to see inside the darkened dome.
[You have gained 2 Levels!]
“Well, that’s the end of the initial Level bump.” He noted as the numbers continued to dwindle, both on the battlefield and in the System.
Their enemies began to rise back up as Shadows and turn on their comrades, ripping them apart.
“Ya know,” He said aloud, “I knew this was a powerful ability, but I didn’t expect everything to become total pushovers. One of the few times I’ll probably ever say this, but I think Thomas might’ve been right, we got a little too worried there.” The other National-Ranks hadn’t moved an inch… and the horde was disposed of.
They expected to sacrifice life and limb, blood and sweat. This wasn’t even abnormal. This was so far beyond abnormal that there was no word for it. It was like the advent of the nuclear bomb at the end of World War 2. It went so far beyond military capabilities that anyone else possessed that it defied words. Only the horrifying front row experience could ever describe the utter powerlessness it made you feel.
The darkness fell away, revealing the ruined army that arrived to meet them. Only the dead remained, moving or otherwise.
“Well, let’s set up a base camp first and then move on. We don’t know what else is out there.”
Izuku called upon The Lesser World. A Shadow that could store almost limitless matter. He was Izuku’s personal Porter.
He pulled out tents, entire beds, furniture of all kinds, and even some computers shielded with the techniques they’d learned from the Russians. It would connect to the Synthetic Shadow Satellite they had, giving more data as to what they were facing.
At the same time, the Shadows began setting up Magical fortifications and guard patrols. Within sixty seconds, they had a forward operating base up and running.
Igris, who was an adept cook after studying under Yui, withdrew his own store of ingredients from The Lesser World. Setting up a stove and other cooking utensils, he was conscious of the National-Ranks staring at him.
“Is that monster… cooking?”
Igris had Leveled-Up enough during the fight to evolve once more, becoming a General Grade. His appearance didn’t change much from the almost Seraphic-looking knight he had become, but his power had grown. Now it was just a question of how many National-Ranks he could defeat all on his own.
One of the most deadly entities to ever walk the planet Earth… was cooking them a meal. It was just too surreal to accept.
Izuku honestly could’ve told the group to leave the packs behind when entering the Gate, as he had more than enough resources for everyone. However, that would take more time to explain. Not to mention some, like Terra, didn’t trust him yet. So he let them hold onto their personal life-lines.
“I don’t see a star anywhere nearby…” Izuku remarked, looking around the sky. “Can’t use Dyson then, I guess.” He went about it all with a practiced, almost military efficiency. Ever since getting stuck in Gates, Izuku and Momo had been devising new plans and strategies to deal with those eventualities. The Lesser World was the final and ultimate piece of the puzzle they needed.
Doing drills on their own and with the Shadows, they all worked in harmony to get everything up and stable as fast as possible. They were prepared for almost any environmental struggle, and that stunned the National-Ranks.
“I’m… we didn’t do anything…” Terra softly remarked, still standing in the same place.
“That’s alright!” Izuku said, unfazed. “I doubt the entire Gate is that easy. Best to conserve your strength for now.”
“It was over before we could even decide whether or not to join the battle!” Liu thought to himself, his anxiety growing by the second. “This is the man my government wants me to fight?” China had set its course for Taiwan, and Liu made it clear he’d fight the other National-Ranks. He felt confident about everyone else… but no longer did he feel safe in front of Izuku.
“My Liege?” Beru asked, communicating mentally with Izuku to avoid the suspicion of the other Heroes. “Why bring these pathetic men and women inside? This is a job only for those capable. And you are the only capable one I see here.”
“To be honest, I didn’t actually realize we were this prepared for it. I thought we’d struggle quite a bit and wanted as much help as possible.”
“Surely my Liege knows better than to doubt himself!”
“Actually, doubting yourself is healthy in moderation. You don’t want to be so arrogant as to ignore possible faults in yourself, and you don’t want to be so self-pitying as to be incapacitated by it. Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. That’s kept me alive.”
Beru seemed agitated by that and the National-Ranks, but he said nothing else and slunk away to patrol the camp’s border.
“Mind not that creature, my Liege,” Igris said, isolating their conversation from the other Shadows as well. “He is merely concerned about his ‘Hive’ as he calls it. Your family and friends, and the Shadows. He believes every other human is dispensable because of his past.”
“What do you mean? Is he harboring resentment for me?”
“No,” Igris replied. “I meant his old Hive. He was raised with hatred and violence. Suddenly, he knows what it’s like to be raised with love and gentleness. But he sees the hurt you and your family sometimes go through because of other people. He feels your frustration with the world, but isn’t able to control that like you can. He sees everyone else as disposable because of that.”
“That’s my fault… I never thought about it, but aside from wiser and older beings like you, Igris, the Shadows are orphans that I’ve taken. I’m raising animals in a human world, when they aren’t remotely prepared for it. We need to arrange something to help them. It could even give us insights into how to more easily earn peace with future Chaos Inhabitants.”
“I believe I have a few ideas, my Liege.” Igris responded.
[Shadow Limit: 13,442/15,936
*******
[450 Cosmic Wisps (Bundles of star dust that fire Solar Magic from the backlines).]
- Grade: Captain Grade
- Species: Originus Coronea
- Role: Backline DPS Mage
- Skills: Solar Web, Symbiosis, Stardust Storm
*******
[750 Meteor Dolls (Human sized automata that are made up of cracked and glowing rock formations, giving them a sort of meteor-like appearance. “Battle Maid” looking).]
- Grade: Colonel Grade
- Species: Bareen Formatica
- Role: Frontline Multirole Fighter
- Skills: Heaven’s Crash, Molten Flame Guard
*******
[5,000 Rogue Warriors (A reference to “Rogue” Planets. Humanoids made of some icy material. Highly trained and experienced soldiers who can wield any weapons. Comparable to a “Special Forces” Unit).]
- Grade: Colonel Grade
- Species: Eterna Formatica
- Role: Frontline DPS
- Skills: Immortality
*******
[500 Flare Drakes (A Drake with Solar Magic as an Elemental Base. It can form symbiotic relationships with Cosmic Wisps).]
- Grade: Colonel Grade
- Species: Solare Onyxia
- Role: Variable-Distance DPS
- Skills: Solar Eruption, Heaven’s Presence
*******
[500 Flare Dragons (A Dragon with Solar Magic as an Elemental Base. Formed by a Cosmic Wisp and Flare Drake, the Flare Dragon has amplified Stats across all boards, as well as flight).]
- Grade: Commander Grade
- Species: Solare Onyxis
- Role: Variable-Distance DPS
- Skills: Solar Eruption, Heaven’s Presence, Solar Storm
*******
[1,000 Planetoids (Beings that can take virtually any shape, but not necessarily any size. Each Planetoid has a type. Such as the Desert Planets which have intense sandstorms that shred metal and flesh).]
- Grade: Commander Grade
- Species: Gaias Formatica
- Role: Dependent on the type of Planetoid
- Skills: Dependent on the type of Planetoid
*******
[50 Void Mages (A humanoid figure which appears to be made out of a black hole’s “material.” They’re almost completely immune to any sort of attack. Soul-based attacks are really the only thing that can hurt them).]
- Grade: Marshal Grade
- Species: Entro Formatica
- Role: Backline DPS and Support
- Skills: Endless Hunger, Formless, Conservation of Mass
*******
“All even numbers,” Izuku said to the other Heroes as they sat around, eating Igris’s cooking. “Means it was organized intelligently.”
“A strike force,” Kaina concluded.
“It would be too easy if they were just dumb animals,” Terra spat. She was slightly less tense after seeing what Izuku was capable of, but still grumpy for a reason Izuku couldn’t pin down. It didn’t feel like she was just annoyed at the Gate.
“So? We’ve dealt with intelligent Villains plenty of times,” Christopher pointed out.
“Yeah so why weren’t there more?” Rumi asked. “If it’s a Red Gate, it’s got a large population, and they’re intelligent on top of it.”
“Come Forth,” Izuku said in response, calling upon one of the Rogue Warriors.
“My Liege,” It said, kneeling at his feet. “The answer to your question is a simple one. Our forces are spread throughout our local galaxy, attempting to gather resources and manpower before the Rulers reach us. We did not expect the Gate to yield the Shadow Monarch so quickly. I would not be surprised to hear that all of our manpower was being redirected back to our home planet.”
Izuku was happiest of all with the Rogue Warriors he’d taken. Not only did he want the raw manpower, but they were perhaps the best special forces in the entire universe. Sheer power might not have been theirs, but they were skilled. It was like comparing Delta Force to a bunch of random infantry. Even against a numerical and firepower disadvantage, they weren’t ones to lose so easily. Had Izuku and his party not been there, they would’ve given the National-Ranks a run for their money.
“Using my Vestige there was the right idea. These guys are scary…” He got the sense that, in real hand-to-hand combat, they could hold their own against Rumi.
“You’ll struggle to find a more adept footsoldier anywhere else in the universe,” The Shadow replied, sensing his trepidation. “We were raised and bred for combat, traveling between stars to conquer all.”
Izuku received a brief flash of images, like memories in his mind. Endless fighting. If you took Earth’s most experienced soldiers, the best of the best of the best, and you made them equal in strength to a Rogue Warrior… they would all lose. These were perhaps the most unassuming monsters in Izuku’s army.
“Like the Fremen…” Star breathed out.
“Eh?” Thomas exclaimed.
“Warriors of the Dunes. Strongest in the universe.”
Thomas looked to Izuku. “Is she talking about something real?”
“It’s a book,” He explained. “Science fiction, but it’s an accurate comparison.”
“What does science fiction even mean anymore?” Terra asked. “Isn’t it just… science now?”
“Well in Dune , drugs give you the ability to see the future. As far as I know, that is fiction,” Izuku answered. “And everything is fiction until it isn’t.”
“The hell does that mean?” A voice behind them groaned.
“Oh good, he’s awake…” Kaina winced upon seeing Jonas’s face rise up.
“Are we camp… ing…” Jonas froze, realizing that the stars above him were not of own planet’s skies. “You knocked me out… and dragged me in here?”
“You got that from the stars?” Thomas asked, noticing his gaze.
“I like astronomy,” Jonas answered, “There’s a science to it, objective mathematics that you don’t see often in nature. Like how math can’t calculate my human desire to tear you apart.”
Izuku and Thomas snorted in amusement.
“I hate that we laugh at the same things sometimes! I want nothing to do with this man!”
“Hey, Rogue?” Izuku asked the Shadow, “How confident are you in your ability to take this guy on alone?” He was a Colonel Grade, comparable to an XS-Ranking. Incredibly strong, but human XS’s were still terrified of the National-Ranks.
“My Liege, his complete disassembly would take no less than 3 minutes and 12 seconds by standard human perception. My brothers and sisters would agree with this estimate.”
He then pointed to Star. “Her?”
“Woah what’s this? You’re checking to see how fast one of those things can kill us? Right in front of us?” Terra was extremely disturbed, prepared to fight for her life.
“No. Just her. Just the strongest amongst you.”
“My Liege… I could possibly defeat her over the course of 12 days with your gracious Mana to regenerate me. Before I became one of yours, I could not have done it.”
“What are you?” Izuku asked.
“What sorta question is that?”
Kaina squinted. “No… there’s no way right?”
“But she does kinda smell different,” Rumi added. “It could be.”
“Why do you have to speak in codes?” Jonas shouted. “And why the fuck are you ignoring me?!”
“You’re part Primordial, aren’t you?” Izuku asked.
Star gave him a quizzical look. “I have no idea what that means.”
“Good liar or telling the truth? Always the question.” Every biometric part of her Izuku could sense or scan, like her heartbeat, remained consistent. He couldn’t tell if she was lying. He could sometimes sense emotions, even if there were no visual tells, but a person could control their internal tells and hide the truth from him.
“You’re lying,” He asserted. “I experienced it myself on Europa. Something so primal that it makes you feel the true scale of human importance in a vast universe.” Her eyes remained fixed on him. “You feel like you’re witnessing the end of everything. A light of Mana that outshines everything that has ever existed.” Her breath barely caught in her throat, her pores were growing wet with sweat.
“You were lying. Because no one else got scared. Thomas was amused, and you got scared.”
“Did… Did you just try to do a Dune thing there?” Star responded with one of the only smiles he’d ever seen on her. “Because you just said that was fiction.”
“But you have seen it, or at least know of it, you admitted as much during the Summit. So you know it, and I sense it in you.”
“Or maybe I have seen it, was terrified of it, and did my damndest to never think about it again. Let’s not discuss it in front of the help,” She replied, nodding to the other Heroes. “I’m not half-anything. You just think I’m stronger than you.”
Izuku smiled kindly at her. “ One of my Shadows said they could kill you.”
“I’m missing something here. Something that connects everything.”
“Holy shit!” Rumi exclaimed, a light bulb suddenly going off in her head. “Area 51 is doing alien experimentation! That’s why they need human subjects!”
Star visibly cringed, but hid it well from the others. “I didn’t realize the Shadow Monarch was so into conspiracies.”
Izuku chuckled, seeing where the conversation was going. “You don’t need to deny it, you can just stay quiet. Because as soon as we get out of here, we’ll know exactly what you’re doing down there.”
“You’d invade a military base for-”
“Yes,” He answered, pushing out Ashborn’s Apex Skill and striking her with cold fear. “Because before Rumi revealed that, we all knew you were doing something unethical on top of the kidnapping. This is just the horrific cherry on top. You’ll answer for this. Your country too.”
Christopher couldn’t hide the discomfort on his face. He clearly wasn’t happy, but unlike the other National-Ranks, he knew when to keep his mouth shut. Izuku could respect that.
“I think you’ll be surprised by me,” She responded with a smile, one that sent shivers down Izuku’s spine. “None are equal in life.”
“But all are equal in death,” He responded.
“We’ll see.”
“So…” Thomas pointed between the two. “Do you kiss now? Or is it like hate-fucking?”
“Most of us know we’re gonna clash one day,” Izuku explained. “This is just a ceasefire. It’s an awkward part of life, working with people you don’t like.”
“And no one has explained to me why I’m here!” Jonas again shouted, he recognized the safety of their little camp, but he didn’t trust Izuku.
“You need some experience,” Thomas finally answered. “And since you’re such a baby we’re throwing you in the deep end!”
Izuku had no problem with it, Jonas was definitely one of the weakest there, his presence was virtually negligible. It wouldn’t endanger the Raid, which was the most important part.
“We shall have him fight one of my brothers,” The Rogue declared. “I believe that will give you all the proper view of his place as a warrior.” The subtle dig wasn’t missed by Jonas.
“I like the way this guy thinks!” Thomas said with a smile, pointing to the Shadow. “What’s your name?”
“Astra, daughter to Solivagant.”
“Whoops… I thought it was a man…” Everyone at the table thought in unison.
“My Liege!” Beru said, rushing over in the blink of an eye upon hearing the proposal. “My scouts have found one of the respectable warriors Astra speaks of!”
“Did… he just say ‘respectable?’ To someone outside of the Shadow family?”
“I didn’t know you found anyone respectable, Beru. Outside of us I mean.”
“They are very much like me,” He replied.
“I feel kinda bad about singling him out like that in front of Astra though, using him for our own purposes, rather than just killing him and not dragging it out.”
“My Liege, the Rogue Warriors have no fear of death. Nor Resurrection. We do not despair at the end, or weep at a new beginning. We merely live with all of our ferocity. In front of your strength, one of my siblings would not be opposed to proving himself in front of you, if only to challenge you himself.”
“How much truth do they tell?” Liu asked. “I read in the news that the Heroes that died during Jeju weren’t brought back because they wouldn’t be the same.”
“Their Souls had already moved on actually. I couldn’t bring them back without their Souls. But I did used to think that. I figured they were facsimiles of their old selves. But after meeting someone with a similar power,” He said, referring to Raia’s own Synthetics, “I realized just how much life my Shadows still have left. They anger, they laugh, they play,” He said, pointing to the Ice Bears wrestling with each other. “And I think… they can grow still further.” He thought back to Igris and his growing outlook on the universe and Godhood. “As Beru put it… they’re my Hive. Not subjects, not slaves, but something more.”
“How come they don’t resent you for killing them?”
“That was something I wondered for a long time,” Izuku replied. “I thought maybe the power was suppressing them, but it didn’t. I was perfectly connected to them. I experienced their real emotions, and they experienced my own. It’s not slavery or power that binds me to them, that makes them serve. It’s understanding each other. The God of Death… rules through kindness,” He said, thinking of Ashborn himself.
“It is as he says,” Astra added. “We are not mindless drones. I cannot reason with his… sensible way of living. I wish to live with hardship and combat. He wishes for a quiet life where everyone can smile. Despite that, I also feel his love and care. Not just for his mates, but for us. It is… an odd feeling… love.”
“I trust them with my life,” Izuku responded, watching Beru break down into sobbing tears of happiness. “Because they’ve entrusted me with theirs.”
“I need to convince the government to drop the Taiwan plans…” Liu said, rapidly reaching the decision upon seeing their connection. He wasn’t won over with love, but fear. A powerful army was one thing, a God-like army was terrifying, and a God-like army that fought for a family? That signed Liu’s death warrant for sure. Because people who fought out of love… were the most devoted and strong-willed fighters in the world.
“Welp!” Izuku slapped his knees and stood. “Let’s go give this knucklehead a few lessons.” He grabbed Jonas, and the rest of the group with Gravity Magic and whisked them away to the lone Warrior standing in the devastated woods.
He stood still, awaiting the power that approached him. A single blade was held to his side. It was so simple as to be boring. Just a long thin blade on the end of a handle. The simplest of knives one could forge. Yet it had taken thousands of lives.
“You can’t be serious!” Jonas yelled, trying to break out of the Gravity Magic. None of the others were struggling, some even looked excited to fly through the air, so Izuku could focus on containing Jonas.
“It’s time to see if you’re hopeless. If you’ve just been mooching off your reputation, or if you actually have any potential,” Izuku replied. “Because if you don’t, I want the whole world to know that you’ve been taking advantage of it. It would be unfair for me to judge you like that. So I’ll give you a simple enemy, one without complex powers or resistances, and without power surpassing yours.”
“But you heard that thing! He said he’d disassemble me!” Jonas got more and more frantic as he approached the humanoid that was devoid of humanity.
“In 3 minutes and 12 seconds. You’ve got that long to prove to us you have some use outside of easily clearing A-Rank Gates.”
“Uh… can you understand me?” Izuku shouted to the Warrior.
The being nodded.
“This is his… trial by combat. Would you mind fighting him? In exchange, you can either walk away when the fight is done and we’ll let you go, or fight someone of your choice.” Izuku figured that he’d understand that way of thinking.
He shook his head, accepting the fight, and pointing to Izuku. His message was clear. “I wish to fight you. There is no walking away.”
“I’d like to put a barrier in place so he can’t escape. Is that okay?”
He nodded.
“What a polite Villain…” Terra said with a shudder.
“Hey!” Jonas was sealed inside a massive dome with the Rogue Warrior, one that went underground to prevent him from digging his way out either. And since it was Gravity Magic, Izuku knew it would contain them both and their fight.
The Rogue threw something at the ground, a bundle of cloth with many items inside of it. They were weapons of all sorts.
“Interesting. So they provide a weapon to their enemy in the event they don’t have one.”
But Jonas didn’t even look at the bundle, he was just busy trying to punch his way out of the Gravity Barrier. Even the Rogue Warrior looked ashamed of him. So, he strolled forwards on the balls of his feet, stalking the distracted Jonas like a hunting wolf.
“Are you actually going to let him die?” Rumi asked worryingly.
“Of course not,” Izuku assured her. “I’m just gonna let him think I’ll let that happen. Not sure how upset the Warrior will be with that, but he’s getting what he wants after that so it shouldn’t be too big of a cultural insult.”
“You show a lot of concern for Villains,” Thomas remarked.
“Didn’t you listen to a word I said? Understanding leads to cooperation. Maybe one of these days… we can figure something out.”
“In your dreams,” Terra replied.
At the same time, the Warrior - who Astra said was named Nox - reached Jonas. He suppressed his presence so well that Jonas only realized he was right behind him a moment before it was too late.
He threw himself to the side, the knife cutting into his arm.
Izuku was paying close attention, using his maximum perception to ensure Jonas didn’t get fatally wounded. Babysitting a National-Rank like this was really sad, but his arrogance needed to be earned.
Thomas was an asshole, but he did his job, took pride in it, and didn’t shy away from the fear. He took it in stride and resolved himself to save lives. Izuku wouldn’t have been standing there had Thomas, Liu, All Might, and many others not put their lives on the line against threats like Kamish. He thought Thomas was a sexist pig, but he also saw him as a true soldier. You couldn’t sum up the man in a single word, but one word Izuku wouldn’t prescribe to him was “coward.”
Jonas was stunned by the gash in his arm, trickling blood. It was as if he’d never felt pain up until that moment. He must’ve forgotten the sensation.
“Kikaru!” The alien shouted. It sounded Japanese, but the sound clearly had another meaning for the Rogue Warriors.
“What did he say?”
“It’s a cultural phrase,” Astra answered. “‘The Universe demands it of us.’”
“Demands what?”
“That all beings have the will to survive. To be considered a real living being by our people, you have to show those instincts. Right now, he is little more than a stone on my planet’s surface. Inanimate and of little worth.”
“Is that how they justify conquering other planets?” Izuku asked. “Because they’re not strong enough to fight back?”
“...” Astra sensed the history behind those words, seeing human wars through Izuku’s eyes and recognizing the perverse justifications. “Yes, my Liege. That is what we do.”
“Kinda hard to root for that. It’s basically a supremacist argument.”
Nox swiped out Jonas’s feet as he went to stand, catching him by the throat as he fell and slamming him into the Gravity Barrier. He stabbed his knife into the man’s abdomen, with Izuku gently guiding it to avoid a fatal strike. They had Healers after all.
Jonas roared in pain, flailing his hands about. He grabbed onto Nox’s arm and began to twist. The Warrior pivoted his body, throwing his weight against the wall and escaping Jonas’s grasp with the slickness of his enemy’s blood. He saw it as a threat, but didn’t even struggle to break free.
As he separated from Jonas, he slashed his dagger across his knee, cutting deep. Rolling to his feet, he immediately sprinted back into range of the National-Rank, slicing from the right.
Jonas slowly brought up his left arm to catch the arm, but it was a feint, and Nox drove his fist into Jonas’s throat. He staggered back, gasping for breath.
“This is so sad…” Liu muttered. He sensed the Gravitational manipulation. Without Izuku, Jonas would’ve already died. They were handicapping Nox, and he wasn’t concerned in the slightest. He was only disappointed and hoped that Izuku was as strong as he appeared to be.
In fact, Nox himself felt the Gravity Magic being used, recognizing what was going on. He saw the truth of one of humanity's strongest. He was a weak man.
Jonas shouted in defiance, but it sounded hollow, even as he clapped his hands together and created a shockwave of pressure. One which Nox barely felt, holding low to the ground to avoid the worst of it.
Izuku knew that move. It was something he did in Brazil to rupture eardrums and organs, leaving them deaf or slowly approaching death. These were his only tactics. Things that worked on weaker opponents.
Seeing it barely have an effect, Jonas activated his one form Magic: Torture Magic.
It inflicted pain directly onto the target’s nervous system. The Rogue Warriors had no defense to it, and they did experience pain.
Nox tensed up for a moment… nothing more. He was perhaps slightly slower, but after a short breath, he seemed to move without inhibition.
He continued to pick the National-Rank apart, slice after slice, grapple after grapple, he managed to stay atop the fight. It may have been death by a thousand cuts, but Nox was prepared to make a thousand cuts and a thousand more if necessary.
“Enough!” Izuku called as Jonas fell to his knees, bleeding from just about everywhere. “Siddarth, please.”
The man raised his hands, completely erasing the wounds within seconds. What he couldn’t erase was Jonas’s shame. Even after being healed, he hung there, motionless and staring off into space. Inches from death and he showed no resolve.
“No disrespect, but are you sure?” Izuku asked Nox. “I will let you go, or we can just make this a sparring match. I don’t have to kill you.”
Nox pounded his fist against his chest. “Tikan!”
“It’s another way of saying, ‘don’t hold back,’ my Liege,” Astra translated.
“Okay. Don’t blame me for what happens next.” He settled into an area away from Jonas, constructing another bubble to contain their power. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Nox shot forwards, diving to the ground to cut at Izuku’s feet and roll back to his feet. He was pinned to the floor and killed instantly with a barrage of Gravity Blades. “Sorry, but you asked me to give it my all. Now… Arise.”
“Such fantastic power…” Nox gasped as he came back to life. “I must know, what was that?”
“Pure Gravity. Sharpened to a single point in space with near limitless cutting ability. A friend, Sung Jin-Woo, is very interested in daggers and helped me come up with the technique.”
“I hope to witness more of your strength in my coming service.”
Izuku nodded. “Thank you for your assistance, both in life and death.”
“My Liege,” He said, bowing his head respectfully before falling away.
“Astra?” Izuku asked. “You seem to command a lot of respect amongst the others. Would you say you’re their leader?”
“I was at the head of my division, my Liege. Others may wish to challenge me, but for now, I am the leader as you say.” Izuku gave the other Shadows a moment to speak up, but none did.
“Then you’ll continue to lead them,” He said, dismissing her.
“Well… Jonas is a lost cause for sure,” Thomas concluded. “What should we do with him? Could kill him and have you resurrect him. Surely he’d be more useful.”
“No, I refuse to execute him like that. It’s not who I am. And I don’t want you guys killing him either.”
Thomas shrugged. “Whatever.” He shouted over at Jonas. “You’re lucky, you piece of shit! I would’ve killed you if I had his powers!”
“We’ll just have to leave him at the camp with the Shadows,” Kaina replied. “And then we all bash him at the end of the Raid, tell the media about it.”
The Heroes smirked. “I think we can get behind that.”
“And we pretend like Yaoyorozu came along,” Terra added. “The media will be all over her, especially if she missed the Raid cause she’s pregnant. Bunch of jerks will jump at the chance to get sexist about it.”
“That’s kind of you…”
“It’s just decency,” She responded.
Izuku looked at the others, who seemed unconcerned by the lie. “Her Shadows were here. The circumstances forbade her own presence. I don’t care if we lie.” Actually, lying was one of the few things the National-Ranks were all good at.
“Right then, should we get back to work?”