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The Good Life: The Start of Something Beautiful (ch. 81)
🕑 Added 2025-03-07 16:54:12 +0000 UTCTunnel vision. Almost as soon as Yamato and Rumi took the serum, they developed a painful case of tunnel vision. Their expressions were twisted into snarls, eyes glowing with a hostility that was sourced from a vial -- their sharp increase in raw physical prowess came at a cost, Yoruichi swiftly noted as they clashed. She still had the edge in speed, but the gap wasn't a fraction of what it was before.
Rumi paid no heed to the devastation she left in her wake, bouncing off of buildings with her version of the Flash Step. The only reason why she wasn't able to move even faster was because nothing could withstand her raw strength as her sharp spike in power made her technique sloppy. They raced through Piltover, and left a trail of broken buildings and shattered windows with every sonic boom that Rumi caused. She was heedless of it -- that snarl with a manic smile told Yoruichi that Rumi only had eyes for her.
Rumi shot forward, causing a bell tower to collapse in on itself, as she delivered an axe kick that Yoruich was forced to block with a forearm. The ceiling under Yoruichi's feet cracked, sending them both down into the floor below, but with a blind intensity, Rumi continued the assault with a flurry of kicks. Each blow was deftly evaded, or blocked, causing the falling rubble to instead be blasted upwards. As well as the walls to be blown outwards.
At that same moment, Yamato arrived, greeting them as the second floor caved in with a sparking kanabo rushing to deliver a blow to the side of Yoruichi's head. As Yoruichi dodged the swing, she clenched a fist and saw Yamato already start to dodge it. Haki, Yoruichi knew, as Law once explained his own abilities to her. A feeling of where the blow would come and when. It wasn't infallible, but it did make someone tricky to nail.
Only this was a step beyond that as spiritual energy erupted from her back, tearing away her fashionable jacket and vest, and leaving her clad in a mesh shirt that left her back exposed. Even with the serum, Yamato had no feasible way to keep up with her and Rumi. And she didn't. Instead, Yamato always seemed to be waiting wherever they went before they arrived, like an ambush predator. It was a simple strategy, really, but it was one that seemed beyond the two of them as Rumi was attacking blindly with all the strength she could muster.
Haki or no, Yoruichi still had the edge in speed, even if the gulf between them had been shortened. Yamato braced herself as Yoruichi delivered a Shunko enhanced fist directly into her gut that folded the woman around it before it sent her flying. Yamato tore through a half dozen buildings before she slammed into the ground, only because of the angle that Yoruichi had struck her.
“You two are getting sloppy~!” Yoruichi teased, catching a high kick before pivoting and sending Rumi up into the air. “Where is that heroic spirit? You've never been one to care about collateral damage before, but this is a step beyond that, even for you.” As Yoruichi spoke, she flash-stepped up to Rumi, who caught the blow to her ribs, but it still sent her flying in the opposite direction as Yamato.
“The others can deal with the collateral!” Rumi roared up at Yoruichi as a torrent of rain began to fall from the sky alongside dozens of bolts of lightning. “I! JUST! WANNA! FIGHT!” Rumi roared with an almost delirious jubilation.
Yoruichi cracked a grin, “Why couldn't have you been this honest with yourself before? You wouldn't have been nearly as pent up,” she remarked, touching down on a rooftop and the very second that she did, Rumi was on top of her with a roundhouse kick.
“Shut up!” Rumi roared, mostly because she knew Yoruichi was right. And that Law was right about her. Yoruichi knew that Rumi denied it, largely because of who had said it, but Law’d had Rumi pegged right from the start. Her being on the side of the angels was less about the good fight, and more about cracking skulls that she found personally disagreeable.
Their clash resumed as they left a wake of toppled and collapsed buildings -- Rumi threw everything that she had at Yoruichi. Rumi had always been reckless, but now there was a blind ferocity in her attacks that left her exposed to Yoruichi's counters. Ever since the very beginning, long before she became a Captain of the Soul Society, Yoruichi had recognized that her talents didn't at all lay in line with the traditional path.
She’d mastered the Zankensoki, the four basic techniques of the Shinigami, far younger than most, her skill in Zanjutsu surpassing any non-Captains, and she'd swiftly mastered her zanpakuto, acquiring her Bankai with little issue, but for all her skill in swordplay her talents truly shined when it came to the three other basic schools - Hakuda’s fighting techniques, Hohō’s high-speed movements, and to lesser extent Kidō’s spellcraft.
In time she'd refined Hakuda and Kidō into her ultimate technique Shunko, and developed the techniques using it before she did something unprecedented amongst Shinigami, and fully laid her Zanpakuto aside once she'd realized that she was simply stronger using Shunkō than she was Bankai. Since then, Yoruichi had fought with her hands and feet for hundreds of years.
Rumi, in an attempt to bridge the gap between them physically, had all but abandoned skill and left herself completely open to Yoruichi's attacks.
A fist cracked against her cheek, or a knee drove itself into her diaphragm. A kick was blocked just so Yoruichi could attack her joints, or throw her off balance. And Rumi just accepted the damage, leaning all the way in on the regenerative effect that Yoruichi saw in Law, only this was even faster. Not so fast that Rumi could outpace the damage that was stacking up, but fast enough that Yoruichi didn't want to give Rumi a minute to recover.
Something that was proving surprisingly difficult as a sharp chill in the air served as a warning that Yamato was near. Yoruichi slipped between ice spikes that raced by her while Yamato arrived from above. In the wake of the attacks, the rain was turned to ice while a static charge cackled between drops of water. Yoruichi dodged as the kanabo slammed into the ground which erupted like a bomb had gone off, kicking up rubble and dust. Both women pounced then, using the cover to attack from both sides.
Yamato's continued presence picked at something in the back of Yoruichi's mind as she defended herself. They worked together well despite having no real teamwork -- Rumi attacked relentlessly, stealing most of Yoruichi's attention while Yamato was always there to deliver a close blow that she always had to narrowly dodge or block. Static danced across her skin and Yoruichi could feel that Yamato was getting used to her speed, which made the close calls even closer.
“I am curious,” Yoruichi said, spinning sharply upon the kanabo to drive a heel into Yamato’s face, and she really had to marvel at how solid the girl felt now. She had already been built sturdy, but after taking that injection, it was on a whole other level. To the point that Yoruichi suspected she would have to break out some of her more powerful techniques to put the woman down. “Where exactly did Asami find you?”
“Wano!” Yamato roared back, her head snapping to the side because of the blow but she was prepared for it. Haki really was a pain in the ass. Yamato swung her mace, trying to strike her, but Yoruichi had already flipped back and caught a blow from Rumi. “She liberated Wano. Liberated me. And I promised that I would help her defeat Law! And you! Won't! Get! In! My! Way!” Yamato proclaimed, the swings coming fast and sharp.
Then it happened. A blow that Yoruichi knew she could dodge connected -- she blocked it, but she still felt herself sent flying to the side as she bruised down to the bone.
Her recovery was instant, flipping to bleed off her momentum and landing on her feet. Her golden eyes narrowed a fraction -- Yamato was doing something. Something more than Observation Haki. This felt a bit more than just anticipating movements and reactions but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
“Well, you know what they say about promises,” Yoruichi said, lightning dancing across her skin as she moved one hand in a circular motion. With a pulse, an electrified ball emerged in its wake. “You shouldn't make any you can't keep! Shunkō: Raijin Senkei!” Yoruichi intoned with a manic grin tugging at her own lips.
Maybe she had no room to talk. After all, it had been centuries since she was able to cut loose a little.
Lightning annihilated everything around Yoruichi instantaneously in a flash of light, a half dozen buildings simply gone with only a silver remaining of the building she stood on. Everything before her simply vanished for a couple of blocks until her attack hit the docks, and then the sea.
Yet there was still that presence that made her flesh rise and even before the smoke cleared, Yamato emerged from it. Her obi was burnt away, her flesh singed -- she had taken the attack head on, and she’d survived it. Using her body as a shield to protect Rumi. The sight got a grin from Yoruichi as her blood started to pump. That, she hadn't expected. Yamato was still standing, steam rising from her scorched flesh, but she was unbeaten.
“Not bad!” Yoruichi cheered, pouncing from her perch that crumbled in her wake. She had fought defensively until this point -- testing and probing just to see what the two were capable of. But, now it was the time for offense.
And they were not prepared.
Yoruichi planted a foot into Rumi’s gut to send her flying into the air, and before she had a chance to register what happened, Yoruichi arrived behind her to grab her by the ankle and fling her down. She smashed through every floor of a building below before Yoruichi Flash-stepped from a raindrop and plummeted after her. With a smile, she planted a fist into Rumi’s stomach, lightning arcing that blew out what was left of the building. Blood erupted from Rumi’s mouth, but her lips twisted into a blood stained grin.
There was a reason she liked Rumi so much. She was a woman after Yoruichi’s own heart.
Yamato, despite the condition that she was in, gave chase. Yoruichi met her with a flurry of blows, utterly overwhelming her and slipping between every defense that Yamato tried to put up.
And yet, something still felt off to Yoruichi. She could overcome Haki with pure speed -- knowing a blow was coming was worthless if you couldn't react to it. Only that didn't feel like what this was. There was something that she was missing and it kept scratching at the back of her mind.
Then, finally, it clicked into place.
She expanded her senses -- Yamato and Law were two massive blankets that covered the area with their presence, but when she looked beneath them, she found… no one. At least no one in her immediate vicinity. The buildings around her were empty, as were the streets.
Had she been lured into a trap? It didn't feel like a very good one. Yamato and Rumi were fun to play around with, but Yoruichi never felt like she was in any real danger fighting them. All the same, somehow, she had been led to this area where the population had been evacuated. The issue was that Yoruichi had no idea how she had been led by the nose so expertly -- she had been in control of the trajectory the entire fight.
Her eyes narrowed as she did a sharp backflip, kicking the bottom of Yamato’s chin as she peeled the hilt of her club from her grasp. The weapon had some weight to cut, but she didn't mind as her own lightning danced across its surface. With a pivot, she changed her trajectory, hefting the club up to slam it down upon Yamato. The ground buckled and it was a real testament to her durability that only a few ribs gave out.
“I promised!” Yamato gasped out, her consciousness flickering and her presence swelled. She wasn't defeated. Not yet. A hand lunged out, grabbing Yoruichi's ankle and she squeezed it hard enough to bruise.
Something was off. Her instincts were warning her that something wasn't right.
Then lightning struck her and she felt herself being carried off along with Yamato. The sensation was familiar, Yoruichi realized as she suddenly found herself in free fall. It was the feeling of the Institute’s teleportation technology. She had been teleported.
“You won't get away!” Yamato roared as wind whistled in Yoruichi's ears. She twisted, her gaze darting around to see that it wasn't just her -- chunks of buildings were falling from the sky. And they were high up. High enough that she could see the landscape and it had nothing in common with Piltover. For one, there was a city that gathered around a steep cliffside with nothing but ocean before-
Was that a big gun jutting out of a building? The barrel was the size of a skyscraper! What were they planning on shooting with that thing?
There was a clench in her gut and, as they fell, Yoruichi found herself looking up.
Just in time to see the ring of a flying Dias stop spinning, closing the gate they had traveled through before the damn thing blew up.
“Oh,” Yoruichi muttered as they continued to fall through the air, a bit of heat rising to her cheeks. “This is embarrassing,” she admitted, aiming for that big gun and kicking Yamato towards it. The woman landed in a heap, rolling uncontrollably for a few seconds, but the barrel of the gun was massive enough that there was no risk of sliding off.
She knew it in her gut -- Asami had teleported her to another world. Yoruichi supposed she should take it as a compliment that she was such a problem that this was the answer that Asami had come to on how to beat her. But, at the same time, Yoruichi wasn't sure how she did it!
“The radio towers… carried the signal,” Yamato gasped as she stood up at the end of the barrel. “This world… was already found… and it contained something… that could defeat you.” She said, standing tall.
It was then that the base around them seemed to come to life -- she heard the sound of gunfire and the screech of missiles flying forth. For a moment, Yoruichi thought they were shooting at her, but everything was directed out towards the sea. Heeding Yamato's words, she walked towards the end of the gigantic barrel to see what they were shooting at and what Yamato meant.
And what she meant was a mountain of a creature that was through the ocean at high speeds, cutting right for them. It was the size of the base that they arrived at, Yoruichi realized, cupping her eyes with a hand to keep the glare of the sun out. “I'm flattered,” Yoruichi admitted, watching as the titanic creature raced forward as more and more of it emerged from the water.
Its flesh was a dark purplish armor that had petal-like appendages. It reminded Yoruichi of a flower with a draconic head at the center of it. Its torso emerged from the water, displacing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of tons with the simple action, and it was already the size of the cliffside the gun was built into. She had no idea what it was, but she did know it was pissed off to Hell and back.
Yamato stood next to her, “You won't fight it alone! This creature intends to destroy this world! So, we shall stop it here!” She declared, sending a wave of her presence- Conqueror's Haki, at the creature to get its attention.
Yoruichi couldn't help it. She laughed.
Hopefully this would be worth the teasing she would get from the others when she saw them again.
…
“Texas! Smash!” All Might roared as we clashed and I couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up from deep within me -- there were tears in my eyes, I was laughing so hard. Which, honestly, made the fight that much harder. The punch hit the ground like a nuke going off but I was already countering with a blow of my own.
I couldn't describe it. Not really. Not in a way that could truly convey what I felt at the moment. I had told Sukuna how I felt in the wake of Homelander's death -- how I felt like I lost my North Star, and how I was still playing a villain but that I’d lacked that intrinsic motivation that I had back when Homelander was alive. Here, in Runeterra, I played the part of the second greatest villain I had ever met, Stan Edgar, to see if his type of motivation scratched the itch for me.
It was fun. Money didn't really mean anything to me anymore, but it was nice to watch the numbers go up. Asami had seemed a dud because she was playing an entirely different game, but players like Mel were fun to dance around.
But, even then, it couldn't compare to this. Fighting against a true hero, a real superhero, that was here to fight for the fate of the world. Or worlds.
I felt complete. Realized. Like there had been a piece missing from me or misaligned that I never noticed until it clicked back into place. The world acknowledged it as everything that made me who I am spilled out from me just because my body felt like too small of a container. The ground quaked, carving trenches across Asami’s chosen battlefield while the wind howled around me and lightning danced across the skies.
I planted a fist in the side of All Might's face, the black lightning lashing out as his head jerked to the side. Yet, he remained standing, accepting a bloodied lip to deliver a hook that tried to plant itself into my ribs, only for a hand to catch the blow that sent me flying into the air.
All Might was feeling his wound, I knew. I could sense it in his presence. The man just wasn't going to let a fist sized hole in his guts slow him down. If anything, he was getting stronger -- pulling out all the stops to beat me as fast as he could before his strength waned. His face was an intense snarl, which felt a bit odd given that the man was smiling himself. Not out of excitement, but something else.
A bluff, maybe?
I supposed it didn't matter as I cocked back a fist as I floated in the air, righting myself with my Mini-Rooms. Our fists met with explosive force, sending a shock wave out. Yet, as the drone arena was cast in disarray, I didn't sense any change to my power. It was still being suppressed. Which told me that the drones weren't really amplifying anything like I’d initially suspected -- how many there were didn't matter. There were just a lot of them to cover all the angles.
Yet, it was as our fists clashed that my smile slipped for the first time -- I felt Yoruichi's presence vanish. Cinder already got her ass kicked, I knew. This didn't feel like Yoruichi being killed, though. One moment she was here, and the next she was gone. She had been taken somewhere. Teleported?
“You've stopped laughing, Heartless!” All Might noted, sensing the change in me.
I suspected that Asami might have a card like this up her sleeve. It was a simple answer to a complex problem -- between myself, Sukuna, and Yoruichi, we were pretty stacked. She’d spent possibly years hunting down people across the Multiverse to assemble a team to fight us, but that was no guarantee they would win. But the best way to beat someone didn't necessarily involve fighting them. There were other ways to deal with an overpowered enemy.
Like teleporting them away. Possibly to a whole new world where they couldn't survive, or maybe she'd found something that could beat us but couldn't bring it over for whatever reason.
It was fighting smart. I was an unlikely target for that sort of thing because of my Rooms and Asami had found other silver bullets to use against me. Sukuna and Yoruichi were more likely. However, given that they’d only used this card now and only on one of us told me it was a card that they could only play once. And I suspected I knew the reason -- power. They only had enough juice for one trip. Which meant that Yoruichi had been taken far away rather than just dumping her on the next available world.
“Sorry, All Might,” I said, a note of seriousness entering my voice as we both started to fall to the ground. “But it looks like I have to cut this a bit short. Don't worry, though! I'll make sure you'll survive for a rematch!” I told him as I took a deep breath. I focused on my presence, and rather than just letting it run wild, I concentrated it into my fists.
We both landed lightly on our feet and I could tell that All Might felt the shift in the air. He wasn’t nervous, not exactly, but I could tell he knew this was the moment that decided the fight.
“As I shall ensure that you can serve out your sentence in prison!” All Might returned, tensing every muscle for the last act of the fight. I would have liked to fight it out until I was satisfied, but Yoruichi could actually be in danger. Given that Asami was only playing the card once, that told me that she hadn’t done something like deposit Yoruichi on the surface of the sun or something, but the Multiverse was a big place, so who knew what she’d found to fight her?
All Might exploded into action first, shattering the ground underneath his feet as he threw himself at me. “United States of Smash!” He roared, and that was a hell of a name for a final technique I thought to myself as I stepped forward to meet him.
Yet, as his fist raced to my face, I got the impression he wasn’t being completely honest about making sure I survived that punch. It didn’t matter, though, as a Mini-Room formed between my face and his fist, catching it. All Might’s eyes widened a fraction, sensing something was wrong, but he wasn’t sure what. Understandable, really.
Manipulating space was the glass ceiling for my technique -- a cap, but one that could be shattered. Satoru had shown me a method of doing it with his Infinity, though my rendition was nowhere near as complete or realized. It wasn’t Infinity, where distance looped in on itself so you never reached the destination. This was folding space like an accordion.
All Might’s fist bent around my head without striking me and I countered, delivering a blow to his diaphragm with such force my fist sank underneath his ribs. The ground behind me was annihilated by hurricane-force winds, while the space behind All Might was devastated by my Haki. Blood erupted from All Might’s mouth, his legs wobbled, yet his eyes glowed.
“Not enough!” He declared, pivoting his stance to deliver another blow. Yet, as he did, his leg gave out from underneath him and he started to fall.
“You were marvelous, All Might!” I told him, forced to deliver another blow to the side of his temple, which sent him into the ground that buckled underneath him. He was laid out, his side bleeding freely now that he wasn’t able to will the wound to stop bleeding. His breathing was messed up too. If I wasn’t careful, he could end up dying. But, before I could see to it that he got some medical attention, I had to get out of this dome.
I turned my gaze upward towards the drones, who remained unflinching in the face of All Might’s defeat. Lightning stirred overhead, as did the pitch black sky -- I had to destroy them all if I wanted access to my full Room. So, I formed two Mini-Rooms, each electrically charged, just outside the dome and from there, I only had to wait for nature to take its course.
Lightning struck down, following the path of least resistance, and hit the drone at the top. Lightning arced between the drones that were close enough, spreading across the dome with only a little help from me. One by one, they began to fall out of the sky alongside the rain. Within a few seconds, I felt the pressure that had been on my power vanish.
“Room,” I intoned, creating one, and I felt it sweep across the city. My maximum range had skyrocketed, nearly tripling in size. I didn’t cover the entire city now, but I did cover a massive chunk of it. And more importantly, I covered enough space that I was able to home in on who I was looking for.
“Shambles,” I said, taking All Might with me as I arrived at my destination. My arrival was treated like a bucket of water splashed over an open flame -- all around me, I saw people who were reacting to All Might’s defeat, the developments at hand, who suddenly froze mid-action the moment I appeared. My gaze bounced around as I let out a whistle, checking out the digs. Me and Asami thought a lot alike as she set up shop in a fissure, only this one was deep below the surface and out of the way.
If we were in the fissure business, I’d call the one we were in a gold mine. It was expansive, deep below the surface, far beyond what my range could have initially reached. It had been converted into a forward base, lab, and reactor all smashed into one by the look of things. Lights lined the walls, leaving the rough-hewn ceiling exposed while the actual floor of the fissure was smoothed out with a platform on which everything else was built.
“Law,” I heard from behind me, and I tilted my head, looking over my shoulder to see Asami. Her expression was pinched, and I could feel the fear and anxiety radiating off of her in waves, but she was putting on the best poker face that she could manage. Beside her was a girl- a teenager with dyed ginger hair, wielding a hammer and- Ah. I see. So she was the one that was hammering shit into my soul.
“Ah ah ah,” I said, wagging a finger. “I’m Heartless when wearing the mask! Don’t go spoiling my secret identity, Asami.” I said, my tone easing as I drank in my surroundings. I saw the reactor that was built on the far end of the area, and directly behind Asami was exactly what I thought I would find.
A Dias.
However, what I didn’t find was an exit. This fissure was completely cut off from the surface, so the Dias itself was both the entrance and the exit. Meaning… meaning that this bitch probably had a third Dias somewhere.
“You have been a sneaky girl, Asami. Honestly, I didn’t know you had it in you! You almost got me,” I said, heaping on genuine praise. “And I didn’t think you were capable of just abandoning a planet to my amusement while you built all of this up in the shadows. I guess dealing with the aftermath of my world going to hell taught you a thing or three about necessary sacrifices, huh?”
Asami twitched and her eyes narrowed, telling me I had just struck a nerve. “It did,” she admitted. “You gave me good advice. I didn’t realize it then, but I do now. You can’t save everyone. You can’t help everyone. And sometimes you have to damn the few to save the many,” Asami returned, her hands clenching into fists. I could tell that she absolutely hated it, but she was willing to swallow the bitter pill if it meant taking me out.
Only she hadn’t.
“You stop caring about the worlds you visit almost as soon as you leave them. It made it easy to operate out of sight,” Asami continued, and I let her get it off her chest. Partly because I was curious, and partly because I knew she was buying time. “We built other reactors on your old world while doctoring the numbers on the reports. We did the same in Fallout, coordinating with Soldier Boy, who supplied us with a stockpile of fissile materials. All of it to build an independent network around the one you established.”
She took a step forward, “We searched far and wide. One world, you led us to -- the one you brought Sukuna from,” she said. And that explained why the girl was able to use cursed energy. “Others, we found through trial and error. Until four months ago, when we found Rumi’s homeworld.”
“Oh, I have questions,” I admitted to Asami. “You almost pulled this off, and you did it right under my nose. Goddamn, I’m impressed,” I confessed. “But, the only question that really matters at the moment is this one -- where is Yoruichi?”
“Gone,” Asami said, her voice firm and projecting a confidence that she didn’t feel. “We put her somewhere that can handle her.”
“That,” I began, my voice even as my Haki pressed down on those around me. They wobbled, sweating profusely, or collapsed to their knees. “Is not what I asked.”
A bead of sweat dripped down Asami’s face, “What reason would I have to tell you?” She asked, still trying to keep her cool. She was managing it, if only by the slimmest of margins. This hadn’t gone according to her plan. As far as I could tell, she had really been banking on the girl killing me, and failing that, Eraserhead providing an opportunity for someone else to finish the job. I wasn’t meant to defeat All Might -- I could see that much in her eyes.
“How about a life for a life, hm?” I said, cocking my head. “Open the portal to Yoruichi, and I’ll give you All Might for medical treatment,” I said and her lips thinned while her face paled. There was an issue that she didn’t want to admit.
“We… can’t,” Asami admitted. “The world that we sent her, and Yamato, is a far off one. It’ll take the better part of a year to regain enough power to reach it.” That wasn’t what I wanted to hear, I decided. “We can give you the coordinates to that world, however. In exchange for our lives.”
“Hm,” I hummed, tossing my head back and forth as I pretended to consider the offer. “And what guarantee would I have that it’s the right world, Asami? The Multiverse is a big place, you know. You could pick somewhere at random, and I’d never be the wiser until it’s far too late. And you’ve already proven yourself to be far more sneaky than I gave you credit for.”
Her hands clenched into fists, “A hostage, then.” She already saw this possibility, though. That’s Asami for you. Always thinking three steps ahead. “I’ll remain behind as your hostage while you let the others go.” Always the self-sacrificing type too.
“No dice there, Asami,” I said, shaking my head. “You’d one hundred percent remain and still fuck me over, despite knowing how badly it’d end for you. It’s one of my favorite things about you,” I said, and with a quick Shambles, I brought the hammer girl over to my side and draped an arm over her shoulder. She stiffened next to me, and I didn’t even mind it when she immediately tried to brain me with her hammer. “She’ll be staying here instead.”
“But that-”
“Not really a negotiation, Asami,” I told her firmly. “She’ll be safe and sound until we reach the world you sent Yoruichi to. Once she’s back, I’d be happy to send whoever this is over to you.” Maybe. The girl was kinda winning me over because she wasn’t letting the first fruitless hammer blow deter her, and she was swinging with all her strength.
“Except you won’t be able to. Starlight destroyed your Dias,” Asami pressed, playing her hand. That was a little irritating to hear, but no point crying over spilled milk.
“That’s why we have the blueprints,” I returned, and that was an unwelcome reminder to her. “And the one behind you. So, Asami, the deal is this -- all of you except this girl go through the Dias. You get to live. Then either you will reach that world Yoruichi is on first, or we will. There, we will have the exchange. This girl goes back to you when Yoruichi is back with me, either by you giving her or me finding her. That’s a promise.”
There was a loud silence as she held my gaze, “Or?”
“Or I kill most of you here and extract the information from you with my power,” I said with a small shrug. Asami was hesitating, her eyes flickering to the girl, who paused her swinging.
“What a pain…” The girl moaned with a roll of her eyes. “Just make the deal. It’s better this way, I guess -- I don’t want this loser creep anywhere near Maki on her own,” she said, projecting confidence. She wasn’t nearly as shaken up by this as I thought she’d be. It was enough to pique my interest a bit. She was cut from a different cloth than most.
Asami, on the other hand, was simmering with an impotent rage. True, genuine rage that left her shaking and biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. Yet, she was still smart. One of the smartest people I had ever met. As stubborn as she was, we both knew what the smart play was. “I… we accept your terms, Heartless. Give him the data of our last use of the Dias,” she instructed one of her aids.
The information was downloaded to a thumb drive, which was passed to Asami, who then gave it to me. Her guard was all the way up, expecting a betrayal. So, I took off my mask and exposed the smile that was underneath.
“A deals a deal, Asami,” I told her, jerking my head to the Dias. “Get going before All Might bleeds out,” I instructed.
Others began to move forward, picking All Might up with no small amount of difficulty and spun up the Dias. Yet, Asami lingered. “You won’t harm her,” Asami said, half as a warning and half as a threat. “Any of them.”
That’s what stung her the most, I think. Rumi was being left behind. That Maki girl too, though she was more dead than alive, as was that guy who had been fighting Sukuna. Yamato had been whisked off to wherever Yoruichi had been sent to. Asami had given me some hard knocks -- I couldn’t deny that. She’d destroyed my Dias, but I had the blueprints to build another. She nearly killed Cinder and sent Yoruichi away, but I had taken four pieces off of her board. More than that, she had failed to kill me.
She put up a great fight, but it couldn’t be denied that she had lost. And now she was forced to run with her tail tucked between her legs.
“Don’t give me any reasons to,” I replied, jerking my head to tell Asami to move on. She lingered a second more until the girl next to me offered a small nod, and only then did Asami walk away. I could sense her anger. Her resentment. All of it hardened into an indestructible resolve almost before my eyes.
She was the last one through the Dias, and as it closed behind her, she glanced over her shoulder at us. Her eyes were full of determination and a statement that the fight was far from over.
As soon as the Dias closed behind them, the girl started to crack up at my side, brushing off my hand. “You fucked up there, moron,” she declared, sending me a downright smug smirk. “Asami is going to come back for you. Fuck finding that woman of yours- she’s going to spend the next year finding more people to kick your ass with.”
I laughed in response, and that took the edge of her grin off. “I know,” I told her, glee shining in my eyes as a smile consumed my face. “I’ve known from the very beginning what kind of person Asami was. That there was no way in hell that she would let someone like me use her Dias how I wanted to,” I said with a growing cackle in my voice.
This was always going to happen. I didn’t know when, how, or who -- but I knew since the very beginning that Asami would try this. Just as I knew how this stinging defeat would affect her.
“Hate to break it to you, kid,” I told the girl with a smile in my voice. “But my plan was just pulled off without a hitch. Asami is going to dedicate her life to taking me down. She’s going to scour the Multiverse for anyone and everyone who could hope to defeat me. Meaning… I don’t have to go hunting for a challenge. Asami is going to bring my fun right to me!”
Oh, I do love it when a plan came together. The cost was higher than I thought, and I had come so close to losing altogether…
But what was fun without a little risk?
Comments
Warden
I think you’ll appreciate this one even if we’ll all miss our chocolate. Serious Yoruichi is a proper relativistic death god who could wipe Piltover off the map with a dynamic entry. Vaulting Yoruichi raises the stakes for Law. I get the sense that the next act will be more combative.
Picklix
God Law is such a fun villian.
Alex Piskura
Based off of the description of the canon and the monster, I’m guessing Junon from FF7 right when I think Emerald? Weapon was coming up on it from the sea. I’m thinking original more than remake though since the petal-like limbs feels more like the classic design.
anon patron
Glorious
fireball77
What world is Yoruichi on? I hope it doesn't take *too* long to find her though, I dislike dragged out plotlines
