I opened my eyes. Not that it made much of a difference. I can't see a thing down here, but well, what did I expect? I'm still in the abyss, of course it's gonna be dark.
It's hard to breathe. I'm buried under who knows how much rock, thanks to the burning watcher. It's so heavy that I can barely lift it, and whenever I move a piece of the rock, another falls in place. Digging my way out of here isn't going to be fun...
After a bit of digging, I reached my hand out and couldn't feel any more rocks. I must be at the edge of the pile. I pushed the rocks out of my way and crawled out, into the open cave. I still can't see a thing, but at least I can move. Wait... There's something. In the rubble, there's a faint orange light... My sword!
I pushed away some more rocks, and sure enough, my sword was lying there, burning as bright as always. I picked it up and raised it over my head, illuminating the cave around me. In one direction, there was the rock pile, and in the other, the cave extended far beyond what the fire could light up. I was about to start walking, when I heard a muffled groan.
"Mmf."
I looked down to see the abyss watcher. His sword was no longer burning, and he was half-buried under the rock. Unlike me, he couldn't move at all. I stared into his eyes, and without a sound from either of us, I knew what to do. I lowered my sword, and held it above the watcher's chest. I held it there for a second, closed my eyes, and thrust it downwards. I hated the squelching sound it made, but I ignored it and held the sword there. I opened my eyes just in time to see his fade, the burning crimson now the same black as the air around us.
He didn't come back. I don't know why, but he didn't come back. I felt his soul merge with mine, the darkness once present burned away by the ever-burning embers that resided within him. He was all of the watchers, and now they could all be put to rest for the last time.
His body began to glow, and he was envelopes in a bright white light, before fading away entirely, leaving only his sword behind. Just as Artorias was, the watchers were corrupted against their will. In their honor, I picked up the greatsword and put it on my back, before setting off deeper into the cave.
I've never really been claustrophobic, but I just can't help but feel cramped down here. Even though the walls of the cave are rather wide, the darkness still feels like it's crushing me from all around. Thank god I have the sword, its light is all that's keeping the darkness away.
Tiny pairs of white eyes dance across the darkness, just at the edge of my view. The giant humanity sprites from before. Whenever the light reaches them, they move away just enough that they can't be seen. The way they sway around is almost mesmerizing, like a gentle breeze is rocking them back and forth. It's calming, almost like the bonfire was. It's peaceful... How is this the same thing we've been fighting so hard against? The same thing that's killed hundreds of people?
I shake my head. I can't stop and think, I have to keep going. Either to escape, or to find the source. The source... It should be deep down. The deepest chasm of the cave. Yeah, that seems about right. Just head deeper... Into the endless darkness. What a great idea.
This cave feels like it just goes on forever. At this point, I'm actually beginning to wonder if there's a bottom. With how the abyss has corrupted the earth, extending the cave forever doesn't seem like it's too far-fetched. But the seemingly endless depths definitely aren't the weirdest things I've seen so far. There are ruins down here. Stone walls and walkways show up every once in a while, half-corrupted and broken beyond repair. But the fact that any ruins are down here at all... I don't even know what to say. They definitely couldn't have been down here when this was a normal cave, so they must've been brought here by the abyss.
The ruins are growing in number, and seem less corrupted as I go on. At first they were hard to see with how much darkness had spread across them, but now they stand out against the black like a sore thumb, with only a few veins of darkness covering them. They're also more complete, and are more buildings than ruins. The stone walkways are almost untouched, and they're leading somewhere. To a big stairway, leading up to some sort of temple, or something.
I walked up the steps, and the temple was empty. Or at least, I thought it was, until a massive wooden spike covered in chains came barreling at me. I barely managed to dodge to the side before it slammed into the wall, leaving a crater that a wooden spike had no right to be able to make without breaking. It swung wildly, flinging around a ball-and-chain, blindly hoping to hit something. I ducked under a side swing and sliced through one of its legs, and as it stumbled, I stabbed into the mass of chains. I tried to pull my sword out, but the flailing of the spike-thing shook me off of it, and as I stood back up, it hit me in the side with the spike.
It sent me flying into the wall, and I crashed straight through it, which hurt, but the watcher hurt worse. I pulled myself out of the wall, and when I landed on the ground, the chain-thing charged again. I couldn't dodge this one, but luckily, the thing has terrible aim, so it only skimmed me before slamming into the wall. While it was stuck, I grabbed the handle of the watcher's greatsword, and slammed it down onto the mass of chains, cutting it in half.
I put the greatsword on my back and pulled my sword out of the chained corpse, before heading to the back of the temple. When I reached it, I was greeted by a staircase that led down to a pit of... nothing. Nothing at all. An empty pit. I took a step forward to peek over the edge, and something moved down below me. A stone plate, the edges now glowing blue, humming a sound kinda similar to Ochako's magic. A platform floated out of the darkness, and stopped right in front of me.
I stood there for a moment. Well, a stone slab just floated out of a hole, in a temple at the bottom of a cave. It leads deeper, so maybe this is where the heart of the abyss lies. Yeah, that makes sense. I stepped into the platform, and it floated back down into the pit.
I reached the bottom, and stepped off. There were cells with iron bars lining the sides of the room, and at the end, a busted wall. I walked through the busted wall, and beyond it was more cave. The corruption on the walls was completely gone though, with no traces left. The darkness was still there though, still making it impossible to see more than 10 feet in front of me, which is always fun. I took a step forward, and the same voice I heard before rang out from inside the cavern.
"Do you know what the flame really is, human?
I stayed silent.
"No, of course not... You wouldn't have so much blind trust in it if you did."
"What do you mean?"
No response.
I guess I'll just keep going then.
There's a path leading down the sides of the cave. I wandered through the empty chasm, spotting a few humanity sprites floating around. Unlike the others, these ones didn't seem to be afraid of the fire. They just kept floating, without a care in the world. They didn't even seem to care that I was here, as they weren't moving towards me. I even walked right up to them, and still they didn't respond. I continued on, and spotted a huge broken pillar leaning on the side of a cliff.
There was nothing below the pillar, just a pit of darkness. I climbed onto the pillar and slowly climbed down, it was broken in several places and I didn't want to risk it becoming unstable. The bottom of the pillar was resting on a ledge, and in the wall there was a tunnel. I jumped off of the pillar and walked into the tunnel, and after following the path a little while longer, I came to an opening. A drop into nothingness. I held my sword out, and could just barely see a bottom, probably 30 feet below me. I can survive that fall. I jumped, and descended into the darkness.
When I hit the ground, no sound rang out. The thump that you would expect from falling on solid stone was nowhere to be found. What was there, however, was that same voice.
"Human. Tell me, what do you know of the flame?"
"Who are you? Come out here, show yourself!"
"So impatient... Alright."
The darkness around me seemed to shift, as if a massive object was moving through it. Sure enough, a dark mass came out of the black. It was an animalistic head with no lips and massive teeth, and two weird fleshy lobes in the shape of a mustache. The head was a attached to a featureless, serpentine body that stretched into the darkness for who knows how long. It was massive, far bigger than anything I'd encountered so far, and was honestly a bit scary.
"I am the primordial serpent known as Darkstalker Kaathe. Now, tell me, what do you really know of the flame?"
"I know that it gave me a power that let me achieve my dreams, that it saved the life of my girlfriend, and has stopped the threats the Abyss has sent at it."
"That is just what you have experienced. Now, what do you actually know about it?"
I thought on that question for a bit. Now that I think of it, I really don't know anything about the flame, or how it works, or even how it got here.
"As I thought. You know nothing, and yet you trust it more than you trust yourself."
"And why wouldn't I? It's done nothing but good so far."
"Oh, has it?"
What does he- oh. The apartments... It destroyed them with an explosion of fire...
"The flame is not what it seems at first. It is not a blessing, but a destroyer in disguise. This world has no place for it, and I cannot let it burn another away for the sake of Gwyn's dead age."
Gwyn? Who's that?
...Was he the one that helped me stop Artorias?
"The flame is powerful. That doesn't mean it's inherently bad or destructive."
"It wasn't at first, I will say. But for this world, something that powerful cannot be allowed to take hold. It was tainted when Gwyn rekindled it, and disrupted the world's natural order. That is why I created the Abyss: to destroy the flame, and let the world take its course. I cannot let another world be burned away."
"You... Created the Abyss?"
"Yes. To fight the embodiment of light, you need the embodiment of dark. And with the Dark Soul fragmented, this was the only way."
He created the Abyss. The thing that has killed so many people, and caused so much harm to those close to me, was created by this serpent. What it must've done to the last world...
"I don't care about your grudge against the flame, or this 'natural order'. All I know is that the Abyss has killed many, many people."
I raised my sword and pointed it at Kaathe.
"And that makes you responsible for their lives."
He closed his eyes, and let out a sigh.
"Of course, your heroic spirit prevails. With that in mind, I have faith that you will realize the treachery of the flame. But for now, I cannot let you kill me."
A loud roar emanated from behind Kaathe, followed by the sound of stomping.
"Goodbye."
Kaathe slinked off into the darkness, as the source of that roar came just into view. It was a massive, almost demonic beast, a crown of enormous horns on its head, with several bright orange eyes inlaid on the bottom. Its right arm was a swirling black vortex, and in its left it held a giant wooden staff, with a crude axe-like head. The beast lowered its head and let out an ear-splitting roar, and the darkness began to swallow me alive.
Ochako's POV
"Keep everyone safe. Yourself, too."
I turned and ran back towards the group. Using the firelight to guide my way, I made it to them pretty quickly.
"OI, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!?"
"Making a way to help us, jackass."
"YOU LIT-"
A massive hand grabbed Bakugo's shoulder.
"Young Bakugo, this is no time to start a conflict. We need to focus on escaping, and if need be, recovering young Midoriy-"
An explosion rang out through the cavern, followed by flames racing down the tunnel, straight towards us.
"Oh shit oh shit OH SHIT OH SHIT!"
Most of them started running up the tunnel, but a few of us stayed back. Kirishima brought out his armor and stood in the way of the flames.
"GO, I'LL BLOCK WHAT I CAN!"
"SHUT IT SHITTY HAIR, I'VE GOT AN IDEA!"
He pulled out one of those little capsules and threw it at the side of the cavern, then sent an explosion at it. The second it was hit, it exploded into a massive fireball that shattered the rocks around it, caving them in.
"PINK CHEEKS, USE THE GRAVITY SHIT ON THE ROCKS ABOVE US!"
I trapped the falling rocks in place, an sent them to the caved-in wall. When the rocks settled, flames still jumped through the cracks, but they couldn't reach us before they finally died down.
"Nice quick thinking, young Bakugo. Now, let's focus on getting out of here."
After dodging some giant humanities and scaling a few rock faces, we managed to get out of the abyssal chasm. Aizawa and the Pussycats were still up there, a bit roughed up and with a few dead Darkwraiths around them, but otherwise ok.
"There you are. I was wondering when you would be done down there. Wait... Where's the problem child?"
"Oh, he stayed down there to fight a super powerful Abyss Watcher. He should be fine, but if he doesn't get out soon, I'll go back down to get hi-"
An enormous roar echoed out of the chasm, and the abyss exploded with it. The ground shook as a thundering crash tore through the air, and then dozens of Darkwraiths and those bulb-headed things crawled out of the sludge, and ran at us.
"Oh shit OH SHIT KILL THEM!"
I cast a few homing soulmasses, and then launched a few fireballs with the flame I took from Izuku's sword. Some Darkwraiths began to surround me, but they were blown away by a sudden explosion. Heh, didn't expect Bakugo to help anyone out, what a surprise.
A few of them got back up, so I cast a few soul arrows and put them down. There aren't any Abyss Watchers for some reason, which makes things a LOT easier. I guess that means Izu won his battle. But then what made that roar?
I felt a blast of heat from behind me, and turned around to see Izu stand up at the bonfire. Wait, that means he died...
"OCHA, WE NEED TO LEAVE!"
"What? Why?"
"BECAUSE THE THING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ABYSS KILLED ME IN A SINGLE STRIKE!"
"Oh god, THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS!?"
"YOU COULD HEAR IT!?"
"GET A FUCKING ROOM!"
Our heads simultaneously whipped to the side, as we stared right at Bakugo. Will he ever stop infuriating me!?
"Kaachan, this isn't an argument or anything, we all need to get out of here now."
"And why should we!? We can take these things out just fine, now that the watchers are gone!"
"Because the entire country, no, even the entire world combined probably couldn't do a thing to what lies at the bottom of the abyss. That thing could take the strongest things we could throw at it, and then tear us apart without trying at all. Hell, even nukes probably won't kill it."
Everyone went silent. They all simply stared in fear, knowing how close they were to something of that power.
"Really? There's no way... That something that powerful could exist..."
"With how we've been decimated by the things it's corrupted, does that really sound that unreasonable?"
"... You're right, it doesn't... How are we ever going to..."
"Doesn't matter, for now. As long as it stays down here, all will be fine, more or less."
A purple insomniac stepped in, in All Might's place.
"How would we know that thing is gonna stay down here?"
"We don't. But if it was going to come out, wouldn't it have done so already?"
"Good point. Still... That scares me."
"Yeah, it scares me too. I couldn't even land a hit before it just... Tore through me. Anyways, I'd say we've done enough for now. The watchers aren't a threat anymore, and we can deal with what's left, unless another Artorias-type gets thrown at us. Let's head back to U.A. and regroup."
Izuku's POV
I stepped out of the armored truck and touched down onto the ground. We were back at U.A., and it was a welcome sight, especially since the sky had color again. I was getting tired of the blackness.
Principal Nezu was standing outside as we walked towards the main building.
"Ah, hello my friends. I see there were no losses amongst heroes and students, so I would assume that it all went well."
"If you don't count me dying twice, then yeah, I'd say it would. For the most part."
"Hm? What does that mean?"
"A much bigger threat than Artorias is at the bottom of the chasm, but it seems to stay down there."
"... Oh. Well then. But, like you said, it stays down there, so nothing to lose sleep over, I would assume."
"Let's hope not."
"Alright, now how about we debrief on what happened during the mission. Shall we?"
We followed him into the school, up to his office. While we were walking, Ocha asked me something.
"Hey, you seem kinda off... You aren't telling us the full story, are you?"
Of course she was the one to pick it up. Why would I expect any less?
"...Yeah. I guess I'm not. I'm kinda still processing what happened down there."
"Well, maybe telling someone could make it easier."
"Maybe... How about I tell you later? We all want to unwind a bit, and we need it."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Tell me when you're ready, ok?"
"Thanks, I will."
She stood up and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, and even though I was burned half to death by the Burning Watcher a few hours ago, my face still felt hotter right now.
"Do I need to say it again!?"
"SHUT IT BAKUHOE!"
I love that girl.
The next day
Everyone was pretty much fine, so Nezu went along with having school today. You would expect some big event or something, but instead...
"You'll all be picking your hero names today. Midnight's gonna be here to moderate it. I'm going to sleep, wake me up when the day ends, maybe."
Silence. For like the 4th time this week.
"SERIOUSLY!?"
"AFTER EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED, WE PICK OUR HERO NAMES NOW!?"
"EVERYONE, BE QUIET! THE TEACHERS HAVE MADE THEIR DECISION, WE MUST RESPE-"
"CAN IT, FOUR-EYES!!!"
"Settle it down, everyone. I must say, I like the energy~ But now isn't the time for that."
"First up, Aoyama."
"The Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!"
That's literally an entire sentence...
"Go with 'Shooting Star' instead."
"Perfect, just like moi!"
"Next up, Ashido!"
"Alien Queen!"
"Like the creepy acid-blood things from the old movies!? Nope, not happening!"
"Wha- I haven't even seen that movie!"
"HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!!!"
"Ok, next up, Asui!"
"I've known what I would be since I was really young. The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy!"
"Cute! Next up, Kirishima!"
"Heh, well I was going to go with Red Riot, in honor of Crimson Riot, but with some recent developments, I've decided to change it up a bit. Now, I'll go with The Unbreakable Hero: Scarlet Stonewall!"
Oh wow, best name so far.
What's that giggling?
"Hehehe... Stonewall, huh? Try'na tell me something, Kiri?"
"Mina, we're literally dating."
Pfff...
"Earphone Jack!
"Tentacole."
"Cellophane!"
.
.
.
"KING EXPLOSION MURDER!"
"Yeeaah no."
"FUCK!"
"Next, Uraraka!"
I'm looking forward to this one. We were up for hours coming up with hero names, and I'd say we nailed it.
"Like Kirishima, I was going to go with something else originally, but I changed it due to what's been happening recently. I was going to be Uravity, but now... I'll be The Sorcerer Hero: Uramagi!"
Wait, that's not what we came up with last night... No, it's even better!
"Wow, that's really good! Taking the name from the crazy magic stuff you do, I see."
"Yup!"
"Now, we've only got a few left. Just Bakugo's revision, and then Iida and Midoriya. Now, Iida, your turn."
"Alright. As Ingenium is still in use, I will instead use... Ingendei!
"Where'd you get that one from?"
"Deinde means 'next' in Latin, and considering that the '-um' in Ingenium is rooted in latin, I decided that something similar would be the best option."
"Smart choice! And lastly, Midoriya!"
"Heh... I had no clue what I would've been before. But now? It's clear as day. I'm The Undying Hero: Firelight."
Anyways, this chapter happened. Izuku thinks he's gotten strong enough to take on almost anything, and then Manus puts him in his fuckin' place.
Had to get a bit creative with the hero names, and while Iida really isn't a part of this story, he did go between Ochako and Izuku, so I had to come up with something for him too, especially since Hosu never happened.
I'm trying so damn hard to come up with a way for Izuku to beat Manus without it being too bullshit that it actually hurts my head, I don't want to use the Gwyn possession thing again and Izuku definitely isn't even close to Manus's level, so it ain't easy. I think I've managed to come up with something though, and it's pretty wild. But with this story, what isn't?
Praise the sun \[T]/