Chapter Text
“You surely are persistent,” A man in white clothing said as Ryukyu cornered him in an alleyway. “Most beings wouldn’t search out a Monarch, even if they knew that Monarch had promised to protect them.”
“Can you blame me?” Ryukyu asked of Baran. “You’re using his body. You spend all of your time in bars, restaurants, clubs. You’re using his corpse to party.” She shook with rage, barely able to speak half of the sentences she prepared for this very meeting. “I know what you are. Izuku and All Might told me everything.”
“Everything they knew at the time,” Baran corrected. “Your species is still quite young. There are some things you cannot know yet.”
“I don’t give a damn!” She shouted. “I want an explanation!”
Baran smiled. “Well, without scars, this body is almost unrecognizable to the public. Unlike my brothers and sisters, as well as the Rulers, I actually have a great respect and high opinion of mortals and their culture. After I crippled Nexus with my flames, I decided to take upon his role of preservation.”
“So basically, you enjoy our goods… and then you wipe us out?”
“You say that as if humans are so different.”
“You respect us? But not enough to prevent you from slaughtering us?”
Baran shrugged. “When you see things from the perspective of a Higher Being, certain concerns rise above others. From where I stand, humanity’s obsession with individuality is so quaint. The idea that you could ever be important individuals is comical-”
“Because we’re so small?”
“No, because I know you were born into a world without free will. I listened to the very God who made this all, and heard things that would drive most mortals insane. Your brains cannot cope with the reality that there is no free will, that you are all just… gears moving as others dictate.” He threw aside the small container he’d been eating from, splattering the sauce inside against the street. “I don’t do what I do out of spite. It’s just certain actions… don’t mean anything. You could remark on my littering, but what does it matter to clean up a street that will be no more than atoms in a few years time?”
Ryukyu opened her mouth, but thought better of it, and changed the topic. “Why did you save me? I didn’t come here for philosophy, but if I’m just another mortal that’ll be gone soon, why bother?”
“Ah, finally something interesting,” Baran held his arms behind his back as he strolled past Ryukyu. She chased after him. “I suppose that is a fault in my logic. However, I did steal this body, I owed at least something to its true owner.”
“So… it was him, that’s why you saved me?”
“Do you know what’s curious?” He replied. “I’ve watched Gods die, I’ve watched entire galaxies fall to nothingness. But never once did they show such passion for what would come after. Only humans could show such emotion for a dimension they will never again inhabit. You cling onto anything in this realm, even past your death. When a Higher Being dies… we allow ourselves to forget what we leave behind. Of course, that doesn’t mean we go down without a fight, or fear death in those last moments.” He flipped something from his pocket to a street vendor.
They briefly started to complain, until they realized what he had passed them, a Magical Core. It would sell for more than whatever currency they were expecting.
Baran took his meal and thanked the vendor.
“What’s the point of thanking them?”
“Mmm! I’m meant to blend in with human culture to enjoy it, remember?”
Ryukyu winced at the deception. “What makes you think I won’t call Izuku here right now?”
“The Shadow Monarch? He’s watching us as we speak. He suspected me to be behind the National-Rank Gate on I-Island. He’s actually been watching me for a while. Sorry, but he beat you there. Probably didn’t say anything cause he was justifiably afraid of what would happen when you did find me. I’ve stuck to heavily populated areas and haven’t done anything to provoke him. He knows that this is merely an awkward period of the war.” Baran looked up as if to try remembering something. “The Sitzkrieg. That’s what the Germans called it. Neither of us are truly ready to start fighting in earnest, not on this scale. Oop… there he goes.”
“A National-Rank?”
“And he’s back. Yeah, it was a Red Gate. Really, it was just Antares panicking and sending whatever forces we had. Gates may seem like instant travel, but they take forever to set up.”
A scream suddenly echoed from a nearby coffee shop. They frantically pointed to their phone. Words were exchanged, causing Ryukyu to wish she had studied some of India’s dialects more fervently. People stood up, grabbing whatever possessions they had. Mothers grabbed children.
Suddenly, everything was in motion and archaic alarms along the street began to blare. Directions were shouted, and the vendor Baran paid rushed past, grabbing the Monarch’s hand and clearly begging him to leave. Baran just smiled.
Despite not understanding the language, Ryukyu could feel the meaning in her mind. “Calm yourself. It’s already over with. Your day is not today.”
But the man still took off running. “Hmm…”
“Don’t blame them. I know we’re insects, but a National-Rank Gate is like being told nuclear war was just declared,” Ryukyu replied, feeling the desolation of the immediately empty streets. “Insects are quick to scatter.”
Baran gave a hearty belly laugh. “I never called humans insects. But I also don’t see that as an insult. Mammals, insects, all mortal life is precious, even if it is flawed and hypocritical. All of your flames burn the same, and they extinguish the same.”
“We’re not insects, but we are flames that you enjoy watching burn out?”
“That’s the only reason a flame is beautiful.” He finished off his meal and threw that one aside as well. “I’d advise you to avoid the war.”
“Why? Because you betrayed your siblings?”
“Oh no, we have spats like this all the time, they wouldn’t target you for that. But if you fight the Monarchs, I won’t be able to keep you alive.”
“What's the point if the Earth falls?”
“There are plenty of worlds that can house your species. You can live the rest of your human years-”
“Alone, in a dying universe.”
Baran stopped in his tracks, almost as if the weight of that reality had yet to hit him. “Hmm…” He repeated.
“Trust me,” Ryukyu said, walking away. “When the war starts, I’m gonna be killing as many of you fuckers as possible.”
After she disappeared, her hearing obscured by the ringing of alarms, Baran said to himself. “I can see why you chose her out of all the flames on this Earth. I’m impressed. I thought for sure she’d try to hit me.” He laughed to himself and continued down the street, pulling things from carts and leaving payment behind. “What a fascinating planet. If only I could convince Antares to spare this place. Maybe a conservation of our history? No… he certainly wouldn’t buy it.”
*******
“I’m telling you!” President Andrew shouted from his bunker from beneath the White House. “This is all just a precaution. Our National-Ranks on the Island are going to-”
“We have to be prepared to sink the entire structure, nukes even. We can’t handle something worse than Kamish this soon into America’s defensive strategy.”
“We have all our National-Ranks on site. Some who weren’t even there to fight Kamish, so we have a greater force than before. Not to mention the Shadow Monar-”
“Sir, it was a Red Gate… they’ve already cleared it. All participants are accounted for and in good health.”
The President confidently smirked at his general, causing the man to sigh. “Understood.”
“I think he just wants to blow something up,” Andrew added as they hung up on the man. “Everyone gets a little antsy waiting for the real fight.”
“I thought he said defensive strategy.”
Andrew couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s America. We’re gonna blow something up sooner or later, defensive or not.”
One of his aides came rushing by. “I’ve got the numbers on the American evacuation-”
“The Gate’s already gone, Jess. But I guess this is a good test run for a nationwide Magical event.”
“Well… there’s a lot of looting and assault going on. Lots of people going to church instead of a bunker or shelter. Three cults committed mass suicide. And most highways are clogged with people trying to flee to… somewhere. It’s not exactly clear where they’re going.”
Andrew pinched his nose and sighed. “Okay yeah… that’s pretty much what I should’ve expected. Get on top of the news and enforcement, get these people calmed down.” He looked to another aide. “I want Star stateside ASAP. Full debrief. I gotta know how effective our ‘ace in the hole’ actually was.”
“Understood.”
“Anything else I should know?”
The aides chuckled. “Well, North Korea announced that their ‘time to act as a nation’ would come soon. Typical dictator stuff. North Sentinelese Island briefly experienced a Magical Surge of some kind, but it quickly dissipated.”
“Europa?”
“As per usual, it reacted to a stronger Gate, but no other activity was noted.”
“And…” He looked around cautiously. “Project Gray?”
“Izuku Midoriya revealed some of what was going on at the Summit. We’re not going to be able to move everything in time, so the scientists are working on producing one last ‘product’ before it all comes down.”
“Well, I’d better prepare a few speeches for my resignation,” Andrew remarked. “Think I could leverage God in favor of Project Gray’s perception?”
“My mom was a devout Christian. She once warned me, ‘God is a perfect being, which means he’s the perfect tool for liars. That’s why them Nazis claimed to be Christian.’ Frankly, sir, you can make God work in favor of anything if you try hard enough.”
“I think you just compared me to a Nazi,” He deadpanned.
“I’m an atheist, sir. My point was, everyone lies about religion for their own purposes. Your reasons are better than most.”
His cocky smile faded and was replaced with gratitude and professionalism. “Thanks. I won’t let any of you down.”
*******
On I-Island, the mood was much different. As soon as a Gate was detected, a response was sent to all phones behind the walls. It led to momentary panic and fear, but because the island’s system was so robust and modern, everyone knew it was a Red Gate. Soon after that, they knew it had been cleared.
The dissent faded as soon as it appeared. Whereas other countries would require days to settle the riots and looting, I-Island was now only rioting over one thing: a picture with the Heroes.
“Thank God for the Rogue Warriors…” Izuku remarked as the special forces held back the tidal wave of people. They did, however, let through camera crews after some time spent mingling with fans. The global public obviously needed to know things were okay.
“What were things like in there?!” A reporter asked Izuku’s party. Since there were so many different reporters from different regions, each National-Rank was sort of taking their own time with each one, cycling through them.
“It really wasn’t all that different from a standard Red Gate, in terms of its mechanics.”
“So, is there a reason Jonas is refusing to give any sort of statement?”
Miruko answered. “Well not everyone can handle the pressure immediately after a Gate, especially one that strong.”
“Kamish caused hundreds of thousands of deaths alone, and he came out of an S-Rank Gate. How did you manage to come out of a National-Ranked Red Gate unscathed?”
“Well, we couldn’t have asked our Raiding Party to be better composed, and we are humanity’s strongest. Clearing it before it breaks is the most important part.” Izuku replied with a light smile. Confidence, but not arrogance. He probably could’ve taken complete credit without too much fuss, but that just wasn’t good for global relations. The more he made it “Japan’s” achievement, the more nationalistic and nonsensical it would get. Humans had a tendency to ruin achievements like that.
“As humanity’s only necromancer, one can assume that this Gate made you quite a bit stronger?”
“Yes, but it’s not quite as simple as raising the dead. I’ve continued to gain more experience, more Skills, and a greater arsenal overall. It’s up to me to properly utilize it.”
“Do you not get distracted bringing your partners into a Gate with you?”
Izuku was slightly miffed that he was the only one getting asked questions. “She does realize she can ask the girls stuff too, right?”
“I’ll always care about their safety, but in a Raid, we all know what we’re there to do.”
“That being said, can we confirm Rumi Usagiyama and Setsuna Tokage being a part of your… harem, let’s say?”
Izuku cringed inwardly. Of course, the second the news crews realized that the Gate wasn’t some horrible tragedy, they deemed it ‘uninteresting’ and moved onto other topics. He stepped back to let Momo rebuff the reporter.
“Harem is historically indicative of a man having control over the women he ‘collects,’” Momo answered for him. “We aren’t that.”
“And I-Island’s claim that it was immune to Gates was just proven false. Do you think legal action might be necessary given how badly they’ve lied to us.”
“Uhh… no?” Izuku replied mirthfully. “I-Island’s theory was supported by years of Gate inactivity. And it was just a theory. We did our research before coming here, there was no legal claim that Gates couldn’t appear here, just that it might be impossible, or just very unlikely. Given that this is the first Gate seen in all that time, I’d say their ‘claim’ of very unlikely is most plausible.” Izuku wasn’t just a soldier any longer, he was a part of the scientific community.
The woman got a nasty look on her face before turning to face the camera and essentially ended the report. She wasn’t capturing anything ‘juicy’ just a bunch of mature adults handling a situation.
“...That was petulant,” Kaina remarked, loud enough for the reporter to hear. But unless she wanted to get torn in half, she wasn’t going to speak up.
“Who even was that?”
“Some American news channel.”
“Oh… of course.”
The next two news channels, one also being American, were much more professional. They asked about the interior of the Gate, the struggles, how long they were in there, did their packs last, etc.
Izuku went with the convenient answers to not give away too much of his powers. For example, he left out The Lesser World carrying an entire campsite with materials and answered that they simply cleared the Gate in time to not need their extra provisions. It was technically the truth.
If anyone calculated the amount of time they spent in the Gate relative to its power output and real-world time, they would find that it all lined up. Not that anyone had any equipment set up to measure those things, but Izuku didn’t want to tell a blatant lie.
“Phew…” Izuku sighed after something like 5 hours of talking with reporters and the public.
By the end of it, only the UK and Germany had managed to corral their populaces. Some countries, like Russia or North Korea, didn’t have to deal with that because they controlled the flow of information more readily.
“What a nightmare,” He said, rejoining the other National-Ranks inside of the Summit building and back underwater.
“Are you kidding?! I never feel more alive!” Andre shouted, his energy glowing out of his eyes.
“That’s cause you’re on drugs,” Rumi sarcastically responded.
“Yeah, and?”
“Wait… are you actually?” Izuku asked, not expecting that answer.
“Yes, the brute is ‘experimenting,’” Adam White replied, knowing Andre’s sense of humor as he made himself known.
“What are you doing here?”
“Did you not notice the absence of one compatriot?”
Izuku took a moment to test his senses. “Star’s gone…”
“The President demanded her back, and I was forced to take her place. We understand a National-Rank leaving the Summit is against the rules, but I believe that only the Shadow Monarchs remained, correct?”
Siddarth nodded.
“Then, if acceptable to all parties, I will stand in Star’s place in any negotiations.”
The others eyed him down, but as soon as Siddarth, Izuku, and Momo said “yes,” they all relented. No one was absent during their Summit time, unless you counted Andre, but he was a special case who didn’t care. So it would look outright pathetic to refuse at this point.
Besides, Adam had some serious clout amongst the National-Ranks, as America appealed to them for recruitment as often as possible. He knew all of the people there personally.
“Shall we resume now or allow our Heroes to rest?” He asked, but most of the National-Ranks, including Izuku, waved his concerns aside.
“I don’t wanna have to wake up early tomorrow,” Terra pouted. “Let’s get this done now.” Only Jonas objected, but he was just barely being dragged along by a representative of his country, the head of his PR team, and a B-Rank friend.
It was time for the Shadows to make their demands.
*******
“He’s not human…” Star quietly muttered. “We can’t trust him.”
“Star…” President Andrew sat across from her, holding the debrief file. “You said you wouldn’t have cleared that Gate without his help. And we know, outside of Izuku Midoriya, you’re the strongest. If you couldn’t do it, even with the rest of the National-Ranks, then why wouldn’t he just let you all die?”
“I don’t know…” Her eyes were downcast and clouded. She’d been holding it all in since the Summit and Raid. “But it’s not right. That level of power. He knew what I was, he could sense it.”
Andrew sighed. “We know, he and his class were apparently teleported to Europa a while back. He got a feeling for what the thing was. It scared him too, ya know. He appeared in my office one night to warn me about it. I assume he did the same for any space-faring nation that wasn’t batshit insane.”
“It wasn’t like that… You didn’t feel it. There was something else… some other consciousness staring at me, examining me. It was like two- no three minds in one body. He. Is. Not. Human.”
“And?” Andrew replied. “You’re not entirely human either.”
“I’m part human. Subject Nemesis is part human. I didn’t see any humanity in his eyes.”
“Cathy, I’m sorry, but I’m going to refuse your request. The U.S. is not going to war with our best chance at survival. You and I both know that our only chance is preservation until our technology can catch up with these monsters. That’s another thing he and Yaoyorozu gave us. They’ve proven that we can trust them. Even if they aren’t human. Look at that Demon-Angel girl… thing. She’s been flying around the world on relief missions whilst studying at Japan’s most revered school. I think we need to accept that not all of our alien visitors are nefarious.” He leaned back in his chair. “The evidence for the majority of them being evil assholes is present, but if Zod and his Kryptonian army are coming to Earth, I’d rather have Superman than nothing at all.”
“I’m Superman, he’s Zod.”
Andrew winced. “Cathy… You know that I can’t do this. I think you saw something terrible, and you’re still processing. Go to sleep. Get some Ambien, just ask the Dr. on staff, James, he’ll write up anything you ask for.”
Unfortunately for Andrew, Star wasn’t suffering from any medical condition… that could be cured.
“That’s your answer? That thing is Death. Drugs won’t just solve that. We need to kill Death while we still can.”
Andrew shifted uncomfortably. Suddenly, this woman he’d known for most of his life felt dangerous. “Go to sleep. That’s an order.”
Her breathing was labored as she stood, her eyes full of madness. But she still obeyed, saluting the flag and marching out of the room.
“What. The. Fuck?” He’d wait 24 hours before picking up the phone to contact the appropriate people. He had to make sure she was well out of earshot.
*******
The Summit stared in shock. They had expected it from Andre, Terra, Liu, and others still. No one expected it from Izuku.
“Seriously?”
Izuku had a folder about as thick as a book. It was the only thing he’d brought along for his own Summit time. “Humanity is moving forwards. Soon we’ll be living amongst the stars. To protect ourselves from our own demons, the Earth and humanity, demands a new form of governance.” He smirked. “I’m dead serious. I’m asking for world peace and unification.”
Half the room started laughing at him, but Izuku Midoriya’s smile only grew larger. “I’ve never been afraid of a challenge.” After all, people had been laughing at him for most of his life. By this point, it was just the background music playing on his road to success.