In Another World With The Zero Mortals Plan (Goku Black x Nino Nakano)

Chapter 15: Justice

        We walked through the rubble in silence. Slowly making our way to the Kriegbloom field. The streets were ruined, nearly every building collapsed, and nearly all the cars were alight. Several flames grabbed a viewer's attention, before becoming rather boring, and so the only source of entertainment on this walk was the heartbeat of Jared and mine, being on edge completely.
We arrived at the field, a deceased Daniel lying atop an asleep Miku's lap. She stirred, and woke up. Seeing Jared, the man responsible for Daniel's death, she sprung up, punching him in the chest. It did nothing, but the sheer emotion she showed, being a monotonous girl, was astounding. After the hit, she fell to the ground, crying, clutching her hand in pain.
"Miku," I comforted.
"Yes?" She managed to ask through her tears.
"I'll kill him, for Daniel's sake."
"Thank you," she whispered slightly, before collapsing in exhaustion.
"I'll help you bury Daniel," Jared muttered remorsefully. "You think he'd want to rest here?"
"Yeah," I answered, still sad about the situation.
We cut to the digging in silence. The only noise was our shovels cutting into the ground. The gravel and subsequent dirt underneath were both heavy, soaked with the rainwater of the former day. It made a quiet scrunching sound with every prick of our shovels. The shovels themselves came from Jared, who had used his flames to form a pair of luminescent dark blue sets of tools. They were warm to the touch, and evoked peace. Once we had broken the ground, we lowered his corpse in. His body had been cremated by Jared's power, a burning blue flame quickly and cleanly inserted into his body, incinerating most of the major bits. And a special coffin I had made from several of the fallen trees was his eternal bed. After making peace with the events, we filled in the hole, and marked the spot with a single flower. Slowly, the two of us walked to opposite sides of the field, readying ourselves for the end.
"Black," Jared began, "what if we wait until tomorrow to fight. That way the loser can make their peace."
"Sure," I responded, wondering if I had the strength to continue onward.
"Well then, we'll meet up here at..." The sun rose up, lighting up the ground, showing us a world wet with rain, and simultaneously showing us the world itself. "Tonight, we fight at sunset." Jared concluded
"It works for me." I agreed looking at him. His face was covered in clear water. Tears. He's my opponent, but in this fight, we've both lost everything. I lost Daniel, and he lost Grant, Kianu, and Andrew.
"Perfect," He laughed pitifully. And instantly, he burst off. Flying off in the distance.
'And so, the pair divided going separate ways. Black returning to the Nakano sisters, Miku in tow.'
"No..." The quintuplets were in shock and awe.
"So, he and I buried him." I concluded finishing the story of the events that had occurred.
Tears fell to the ground as we mourned Daniel. Miku was hardly able to produce any thanks to her crying the day prior, but Ichika, Itsuki, Nino, and even Yotsuba cried. We sat there, on the outskirts of the city, just crying. We comforted one another, but slowly I had to break apart for my fight.
"The reason why I'm here..." I started, swallowing my sorrows, "is just to say, "If I don't make it out of this finale... Thanks for everything." You guys are amazing. Not the brightest girls, but you've given me and Daniel all too much. I'm honored to call you my friends."
"Black," I heard Ichika call out. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, thank you for everything you've done. You don't have the best intentions, or even the right heart, but you care about us a lot. So thank you."
Yotsuba chimed in next, "Yeah, as much as we've lost, we still have you. Daniel fought for your dream, and seeing you, still standing, its outright inspirational. So fight till you win Black!"
Itsuki followed Yostuba's speech. "You're outright insulting, a jerk, and a downright bitch of a human to be around, but seeing my family, brought to tears by the actions you've taken to succeed and win... make sure you kill Jared so our dreams can be fulfilled too!"
Miku stood up, ready to speak her heart, something she wasn't used to. "Black, Daniel meant a lot to me. And seeing Jared, unscathed, it hurts. So beat him down, for me, for Nino, for Itsuki, for Ichika, for Yotsuba, and most importantly... for Daniel!"
Hearing Miku's voice fluctuate with emotion was strange, but outright inspiring. Motivated, I continued walking, until I heard it.
"Wait." I heard Nino mutter quietly.
"Yeah?" I asked, somewhat annoyed at her presence.
"You've done so much for us. Teaching us, instructing us, learning with us. You're amazing! You're strong, composed, smart, and somehow you juggle between kind and caring, and outright obnoxious and jerky. But you're so willing to see this through to the end. And I kinda like guys who think and act instead of ones who just think, or just act. My point is, just win Black. You've got your whole life ahead of you!"
Nino's words were amazing. Founded in rhetorical strategies, and philosophical genius. She, for lack of a better word, was amazing. Clearly she could see my tears, because I was brought back to reality by "You ok Black?"
"Oh, yeah, right, it just feels off." I tried brushing aside her worries.
"What does?" She pushed.
"Being well, human. Having emotions, and everything." I answered, realizing my tears were present.
"You get used to it," She said, punching my arm. "Now, go kill that bastard."
"With pleasure," I smirked, flying off.
___________________________________________________________________
"Hey Chaos!" I greeted walking towards the girl.
"BIG BROTHER!" She shouted tackling me at mach speed.
My little sister: Chaos "Storm," Epsilon. A child with green hair that started off as black strands at the top of her head, and ended as blonde. She wore a tiny pink T-shirt, and purple shorts. A pair of shoes were clasped in her hands, and she was pretty small, even for the age range she would've been if she were human.
"Look kid, if I don't make it out of this final fight, you know what to do right?"
"Don't say stuff like that!" She shouted, "My big brother is invincible!"
"I am, don't worry, but still, if miraculously, I end up dead. Just follow through with the plan ok?"
"I will, if it comes down to that." She said in a serious mood. "But try to win, for me?"
"I'll give him hell five times over." I laughingly remarked before heading away from Chaos's lair. I headed to the nearby helipad, and instantly, I blasted back to the field.
___________________________________________________________________
"Good to see you Black," Jared greeted.
"As if I'd let Daniel's grave be tainted."
"Shows what you know. I let the dead lie. Let's just skip the small talk."
"Agreed." I say conjuring the slicer. It beautifully glowed, turning into a nice pink outlined in a dark blue. I found it strange how it had changed, but it wasn't important. As of right.
Jared burst to life, two blue wings sprouting from his back, and Ashweaver clasped in his hand. The flower field had vanished from our sight. Instead it was a black void, and the illumination from my blade, and Jared's wings and blade. It pulsed with every slight move we made, and color burst to life whenever we even thought about clashing.
Jared made the first move, connecting with my slicer. The two swords made golden sparks upon impact before I was forced off out of the struggle. Jared went in for a kick point blank. I dodged it, and thrust the slicer into his side. Jared Used his sword to guard the slicer, and used his sheath to attack me. I guarded with my right hand, still trying to land a side jab with my slicer in my left. Jared jumped back, propelled infinitely further by his wings. I took to the air, closing the gap between the two of us, and landing a holy light grenade on his back. He fell to the ground, unsheathing his sword, and quickly spinning in a circle before sheathing his sword again. The entire battlefield was covered in smoke, meanwhile, Jared spun around the smokescreen firing off small but powerful pulses of blue fire. I countered midair firing back my pink projectiles that neutralized the threat of jared shots entirely. Jared's smokescreen slowly faltered, and in response to this, he detonated all the smoke with a special spark made to burn the ash. I was far away from the range of the explosion, so I was ok. But in an instant, Jared had closed the gap, and was mounting a point blank head to head assault. We clashed blades, but in the end his skill was far greater than mine, and I had to play defensive.
I jumped back, firing of an impromptu Kamehameha in order to stall Jared. Jared cut the beam in half, and then rushed forward unrelenting in his strikes. I raised my arms up to shield, but was met by Jared's sword coming in contact with my abdomen. I vanished away, but Jared quickly chased me down, attacking with every single step. He was playing as aggressive as possible so he could make this end quickly. I played my hand at trying the counter game. As soon as Jared rushed in again, I parried his strike, and nailed him in the chest, sending him flying back. Jared realized I was onto his strategy, and alternated, opting to instead of using nonstop attacks, he would play his range.
He sheathed his sword, switching completely. In his hand now lay a blue pistol, and his left arm was now gone. Jared had chosen to create a different weapon than his usual sword with his bone. The pistol was fast, and fired high powered blue bullets that exploded three times. Once upon impact, once a second after, and the final one three seconds after. He fired the thing fast. Several shots per second, and the explosives hurt badly. The bullets he would shoot were sentient, and seeped into the wounds of anyone unlucky enough to get hit by one. I was hit by several. The bullets weren't the only change in strategy. Jared's wings rapidly fired randomized bursts of knife projectiles, going from firing one, to eleven, and then down to five, before evening out at nine.
I tried pushing him back with my pulse blasts, but there were too many, and I couldn't break the onslaught. I tried guarding, but Jared wasn't pulling any punches. So I did the only thing I could: rush in and hope for the best.
"THIS IS THE END JARED!" I shouted, pushing into my Super Saiyan form and rushing forward. Slicer in hand, I attempted to hit with a lethal blow. But Jared caught my arm. His wings still kept the knives firing, but I was out of range, and he had to drop his gun so he could keep my hand at bay. I kneed him in the face, and proceeded to use my newly free'd left hand to palm him in the chest, sending him sliding across the ground.
The pitch black world broke, and I could see we were in the forest, several flames had been blazed from the Kriegbloom field to here. It was a pure green forest but some trees had been cut down by our struggle. Jared stepped to his feet laughing at every second.
"This is going to be fun Black. We may be fighting for the fate of humanity, but might as well enjoy it." He chimed cheerfully.
Jared jumped at me, going in for a quick fatal blow with his Katana. I backstepped, to which I was met by several of the knives detonating right next to me, slotted into a tree. I was launched to the side, but stopped myself from going too far. Jared formed dozens of the knives in his hand, throwing them 11 at a time. I dodged the five volleys he threw, only to realize they had been made to act as boomerangs, all 5 volleys flying backwards. I weaved my way through the gaps, meanwhile, Jared kept throwing volleys of knives, 5 that exploded, 6 that acted like boomerangs. I jumped high in the air in order to avoid the several volleys, but was met by a rainstorm of explosive knives decorating the area. I guarded with my arms raised parallel, and lifted my legs to use them to shield as well. The knives made contact, but in my Super Saiyan form, they only hurt a little bit.
I crashed to the ground after avoiding any fatal damage from the knife storm. Jared sat there, watching, wearing an all red outfit, complete with a red T-shirt, and red Joggers. I looked around to see if he was using any traps, but to my surprise he wasn't. He sheathed Ashweaver, and then looked to the sky. A storm was brewing, and Jared's hand was raised. Red lightning coursed over the area, colliding in his hand. The stock, engine, and a cord was attached to what looked like a... weedwacker.
"A childish weapon like that has no right to the battlefield, Jared." I sternly condoned.
"A legendary weapon you mean? This "childish weapon," is known as "Donnerufer," the weapon that guides the storms of hell. And, getting hit by it HURTS." He said, revving the engine.
I formed a holy light grenade, but Jared used the tool to quickly and effortlessly divided it in two. The cord part spun fast, it'd be difficult to get in close without getting hit by it. Not to mention the range it had because it was mounted to a pole. Jared spun the weedwacker, slamming the base of it to the ground several times. The cord length had gone from 2 inches to a large 6. If he got close, he could probably kill me with that thing. So I needed to play from range.
I fired off several pulses to the nearby trees, collapsing them in Jared's path. Jared jumped forward, attempting to assault me with his "weapon," but I jumped back, landing into a clearing of demolished trees and a cave entry. Jared revved the weedwacker from afar, and I prepared a Kamehameha. As his figure slowly broke through the treeline, I let off the full power beam. But instantly, several red bolts of lightning fell from the sky, blocking my beam from making its mark. I looked up to see the clouds infected with a red glow.
Jared broke the treeline in a mad dash. I fired several holy light grenades, breaking the ground he would have to step on, stalling for a few seconds because of the route recalculations. Jared stopped on the edge of one of the craters, forming a red lightning bolt in his hand, and then throwing it at me. I jumped off the caveside, and made a break for the forest, evading every bolt he fired. Jared got lucky, and nailed my shoulder, but it did little to nothing to me.
I had gotten decently far into the forest when the trees started flying in from all over. Jared was spinning the weedwacker, severing trees and sending them flying chaotically. He intended to kill me whether the forest existed or not. I threw several holy light grenades out, attempting to hit him from a random location, but that was a bad move. Jared instantly jumped to my hiding place, and hit me with the trimmer, very nearly cutting off my neck. I had managed to jam the cord with my energy, and Jared was left trying to spin the weapon, while I quickly sealed up my wound with my energy.
"Black those fifteen-thousand people want you to pay. This blood is like pennies to a million dollar fine. I won't stop until retribution is upheld." Jared stated heroically.
Jared slammed me in the side with the burning hot trimmer engine. Instantly delivering a scorch mark, and sending me sprawling to the city outskirts.
"All the suffering you've caused," Jared began as he landed on the ground right in front of me, who was struggling to get up. "The people you've killed!" He shouted, bludgeoning my head with the engine. "The worlds you've destroyed!" He continued, using anything he had to finish me, firing bursts of lightning, bludgeoning with the weedwacker, and even burning my face with the weedwacker's exaust. "THIS IS THEIR JUSTICE!" He screamed, landing around seventy lightning bolts. I held my ground, fortifying my body however I could, depositing energy into the soon to be damaged points of my body. The lightning bolts ended, and Jared was left breathing heavily. I slowly stood up, and powered up to Super Saiyan 2.
"Jared, you're looking tired, you sure you don't want to activate a stronger form?"
Jared slowly made the weedwacker disappear, and his clothes shifted to a white variant, and the scythe came out. He launched forward, slamming the ground, freezing everything and anything unlucky enough to be sitting there. I jumped back, stepping into the destroyed city. Jared slammed down with his scythe, and I caught the blade itself. Jared put all his might behind it, but I kept him at bay. I readied my knee, and shoved it into his stomach. He lurched back, grasping it, and I took this opportunity to take his scythe. Now weaponless, Jared was on the ground clutching his stomach. A few more milliseconds, and he would get back up. I used the scythe and cut him in half.
"Big talk, but all show." I said walking off.
"Not quite," He said, blue and red tendrils combining to reform his body.
"Well then, ready for round two?"
"Show me a good time, Black," He smirked, raising his fists.
I slammed the scythe into the ground, freezing the area. Jared jumped up, and then propelled off the air, shouldering me. He landed on top of me, and began to relentlessly pound into my chest with his bare hands. I kicked him off, and then rolled to get the scythe. Jared stood back up, and rushed forward, catching the scythe I swung over his left shoulder. Jared began to pull incredibly hard, but I wasn't going to give up. I put my weight on one leg, and proceeded to kick his ribs as hard as possible. A loud cracking was heard, but through the pain, Jared's grip never faltered. He settled on spinning, propelling me in a circle, before slamming my body to the ground. I used my legs to lock his right calf into a scissor hold, dragging him to the ground with me. He kicked me away at the same time as I punched him away. We got to our feet, and it was a rush to get the scythe. Jared fabricated several icy javelins in order to slow me down, but I got to the scythe before he did. I spun it around, deflecting the javelins, and then rushed forward, attempting to nail him in the heart. Jared summoned several more javelins, using them to cover his blindspots. I couldn't get in close, and decided to just use the scythe like a boomerang. I threw it, and Jared quickly used the momentum inside to jump off, summoning upwards of twenty javelins. I rapidly fired energy pulses, and when the smoke cleared, I was on the ground, Jared's fist glued to my face.
"Wanna keep going?" He huffed.
"Don't leave me hanging." I smiled.
Jared picked up the scythe, making it disappear, and then reached to his back, his clothes changing half and half. His left side was completely red, coursing with lightning, meanwhile his right was on fire with blue. His clothes divided between the colors split straight down the middle, and his hair followed a similar pattern, red on the left, blue on the right.
He jumped in, wielding Ashweaver in one hand, and the weedwacker in the other. I blocked Ashweaver, but was hit by a heavy bludgeon from the wacker. I fired several blasts, only to be countered by Jared launching seven lightning bolts and seven knives. Our projectiles collided, bursting into a sort of purple dust. Jared sprinted through, going for a fatal blow to my heart with Ashweaver. I parried, only to be met with the wacker. I grabbed the string mid swing, and was flung off deeper into the city.
I slid to a stop in the entrance to a deep dark tunnel. Jared jumped before me, spinning the weedwacker in his left, and clutching Ashweaver in his right. He lashed forward, activating a smokescreen. I used my senses to find him, but it didn't work. The smoke was laced with something that would stop me from seeing his moves. I was startled by the wacker colliding with the back of my skull, and in an instant, the smoke detonated, leaving Jared walking forward rather menacingly.
I stood to my feet, summoning my scythe, and spun it around in a circle. The scythe was purely pink with a bluish hue. Jared lurched forward with the trimmer, but I cut off his left arm with the scythe. Jared then went to grab Ashweaer's sheath as a followup weapon, but he was taken aback by his arm not having regenerated. He jumped back, changing into a stance where his blade was pointed upward, and he was hunched down. He was going to try a rush attack. I braced for impact, parrying the massive volley of blows he made in advance. The charge began, and in a flash, Jared was in front of me. In an instant he was behind me, and then below me, and then above me, before kicking me in the back of the skull. I was launched off, and Jared quickly sheathed his sword.
"Sever," I heard him whisper, and in an instant my scythe was broken, and I had a massive gash across my chest.
Jared's face grew into a grotesque brown, two large hollowed out blue eyes replacing his earlier pair, and two well lit blue horns were clasped to his forehead. It was clear now, this was just a portion of the power Jared was hiding. His legs and arms were made of the same grotesque material, being clad in a brown, however his joints had dark spikes protruding. His arms and legs pulsed blue, as he prepared to strike with a newly powered up Ashweaver.
Ashweaver instead of a beautiful blue blade, was now a jagged brown blade with blue luminescent light on the blade portion. The hilt was grotesque looking like it was alive, and the guard had given way for a more medieval style hilt that somehow remained inanimate, but alive. It was longer, instead of being a normal 3ft Katana, it was roughly 5ft. It pulsed with every motion Jared made, and every swing Jared tested left afterimages of the blade.
"Ashweaver is one of my three birthright weapons. As I change, it changes too." He mockingly stated. "It'd be like fighting two Jareds as opposed to one, and you can barely handle one," He laughed rather menacingly.
He lunged forward, the air splitting into two with every move he made. I tried to block his sword with my forearms, but the blade hit hard, to a point where I had to back out thanks to the pain. I channeled my breath and powered up. It was Super Saiyan 3 time. I burst in power, sending Jared flying back, causing him to plant his sword into the ground to retain his balance. I flew forward, slamming into his face with my fist. His face cracked, spurting some black liquid that looked to be blood, before he retaliated by horizontally slicing my stomach. I raised my knees to guard, and was surprised to see that the blade couldn't cut through this form. Jared charged energy into Ashweaver, muttering a low, "Crown-Split." I quickly cross guarded the air, a large axe making impact onto the intersection between my arms. I held the block, desperately pushing back against the unstoppable force, but from behind, Jared appeared, kicking me in the side, sending me sprawling down several blocks of pavement. I slowly got to my feet, raising my arms to guard a high speed strike from Jared. I blocked the sword swing, but the resounding impact from the speed at which he traveled left a large bruise from the point of contact. I slowly turned to see Jared slowly sheathing Ashweaver, blue light slowly draining from the sword's form. Quietly, I heard Jared whisper a soft "Sever," and yet again several wounds appeared on my body, and I fell to the ground, quickly trying to seal them up with my energy. Jared rushed over, and kicked me, in the head, hard and far. I was sent flying once again, skidding to a stop four blocks down. Jared rushed in, using Ashweaver to propel himself forward, and doing a sideways helicopter rotor attack. I cross guarded yet again, hardly holding off the constant slashes of Jared's spinning. I channeled in all my energy, and pushed him back with a wave of my power. Jared was flung back, having to switch from offense to defense, and quickly planting Ashweaver into the ground. I jumped in, kicking him in the stomach. He refused to let go of Ashweaver, and instead fell down, clutching his chest. I continued my relentless onslaught of kicks, and Jared stayed down, clutching his chest still. I quickly lifted his crippled form up, and ripped out his heart. Jared collapsed to the ground lifeless.
"Good riddance." I muttered walking off.
I heard a slow shuffling, and in an instant, Jared was at my back, going for a decapitation slice. I jumped forward, turning around in mid air to see him just barely miss. He jumped towards my landing point, so I quickly switched to flying. Jared used his blue wings to propel him to my location, before downwards kicking me. Sending me crushing to the ground. I made a small crater of impact, and then rolled over, making Jared just barely miss his sword slam. I kicked his shin in, hearing a loud "Crack," and then force palmed him, causing him to drop Ashweaver. He skidded to a stop several streets over as I slowly picked up Ashweaver, only to be met with a painful burning sensation. I dropped the sword, and Jared slid right next to me, picking up Ashweaver, and shoving it into my gut. I honed my energy into a pink scythe, and cut away at Jared, who had now pulled Ashweaver out of my abdomen. Jared brought Ashweaver to parry every single scythe swing, but failed to realize the collapsing building behind him. I jumped back as soon as the tower fell on top of him, waiting to see if he'd make it out or not. Through the dust and debris, several tiny chunks of the building lie chopped to incredibly small pieces. Jared's form slowly emerged from the fallen building, spinning Ashweaver in his left hand. I fired several holy light grenades at him, only to see them all divided in an instant, little explosions ringing out through the city.
I honed in on my power, slowly channeling my breathing and letting my rage for what he's done motivate me. My hair burst to life in a red color, and a nearby dismembered car's side view mirror showed me that my eyes had turned red too. I quickly flashed back to the fight, seeing Jared rush forward. I grabbed his head, and slammed it to the ground, causing several cracks to appear in his body, all of which seeped that same black liquid. Jared reached forward, grabbing my arm, and slowly put a crushing force on it. A few cracks were heard, but eventually I did have to let Jared go so he wouldn't cause me the loss of a hand. Jared flipped back, only to be met by my fist colliding with his recently uncracked face. He flew halfway across the city, only to be met by my fist yet again. He flew upward this time, and I delivered a hefty kick to his chest, sending him spiraling into the ground. I landed right next to the crater he had formed, to see him slowly getting to his feet. I kicked his side hard, and he was flung even further down the street, bouncing against the pavement several times, before stopping after he implanted his sword into the pavement. He coughed out the strange black liquid, and then stood to his feet ready to fight again.
"You've earned it Black!" He said, ominously cheerfully. "25% time." He muttered, as his clothing disappeared giving way for a brown carapace chest piece that illuminated blue. A pair of brown leggings and greaves clasped themselves onto his legs, all illuminating blue through several cracks, meanwhile brown pauldrons anchored onto his shoulder with a similar design. The main difference however were the two new arms that had formed under his original two, and the second pair of wings on his back.
"We've made it past halftime, Black." Jared laughed. "But this second half is gonna be brutal as all hell."
Jared spun, opting for the vertical rotor cut. I guarded, my arms getting somewhat bruised in the process. Jared moved at an insane speed, dashing back and forth around me without breaking a single sweat. He went in for a punch with the lower right hand, to which I caught, only to be met by a downward sword swing, and two other punches. I released his hand and jumped back, reforming my scythe to counter his fighting style. I spun my scythe around rapidly in a 360 degree motion in order to counter all attacks from all directions.
During this period I got a good glimpse of Ashweaver. It was longer now, clocking in at 7ft. The sword purred with every move Jared even thought about making. And it looked much more corroded now. The same fleshy substance making up the blade, hilt, and guard, but the sharp edge was made of a spiny blue metallic substance.
Jared landed in, hitting my scythe as hard as he could, but I spun, mangling his arms that were trying to pull the scythe from me. From his stubs, a dark ice spouted, causing Jared to verbally freak out in surprise at the occurrence. He jumped back, using Ashweaver to cut off the three frozen arms. They slowly grew back, and I took this moment to strike, ramming my scythe into his chest. Jared used his wings to pull back, and then kept the pressure up by rapidly flapping them, pushing me back and flying towards some debris that was left over from the earlier city destruction. The ice spouted from his chest, as he desperately tried to cut it off, burning it, scorching it, doing whatever possible to remove it. I hit the ground, and then got to my feet, flying in and hitting Jared as hard as I could. Jared was flung back to the forest, and I flew to his exact point of impact. Jared slowly stood up from the clearing he stood in. He dusted off his arms and legs a bit, and then lunged upward, kicking me into the city, straight into delta tower. I hit a structural column at the base of the building, and slowly the whole thing began to teeter, unsteadily. Jared flew in at a great speed, and then struck me in the chest, flinging me into another support column. The building slowly fell on top of us, but we didn't relent in the violence. Jared and I clashed, and if any debris got in the way, it was immediately cut in half. Slowly but surely, we fought inch by inch. My scythe holding up well against Jared's sword. The constant clanging of metal was the main sound heard throughout the entire duel. Jared occasionally used one of his spare hands to fight back, but thanks to the ice power, he had to play much more conservatively with his attacks. Each blow we made was matched up against the following hit, similar in power, different in location. It was a perfect stalemate, we were unable to make any ground on one another. Soon the tower had finished falling, and neither of us were done yet. Jared and I fought in that same spot, our blades clanging even louder than before, pushing into even louder noises. Sparks of blue and pink flew off our blades with every single impact we made with one another. It was a boundless clash. Neither of us were willing to give up now. As the smoke and dust from the fallen building dispersed, both of us were left gasping for breath.
"Ready to give in Black?" Jared asked, smirking.
"Nope, you?"
"Hell naw, but I suppose it's time for me to get serious." He stated in a serious tone of voice.
All of a sudden, several large chains faded in from nowhere. They slowly bound me, and though I tried to escape, they were immune to damage. I tried to dodge, only to see that I was attached to the chains by some twist of fate. They were steely, a dark black shade with specks of red being the main color of the chains. I tried to pull back, but the chains had wrapped hold of every part of my body.
"How Jared?"
"This attack is called penance. It is the consequence of your killings."
Instantly I felt abnormal pain all over my body. It shocked, burned, froze, ripped, tore, and bit at my body. Blood drained from me while all I could do was struggle. I tried to break the chains with all my power, but they wouldn't relent.
"Black, this attack is known as "Chains of Justice." They value the lives of those you've killed over your idea of justice. This is your reward for your goals."
"Black," A far away voice whispered.
"Give up here Black, even if you break out of these chains, I'm powering up into 50% right now. You won't be able to escape your fate."
"Black," The voice yet again called.
"You won't survive, just give up."
"BLACK," The voice shouted. I looked up to my thoughts to see him. It was Daniel, standing in the clothes we bought that day. He was smiling down at me, raising out his hand. I took it, and he pulled me up.
"Black, I know it's hard to accept the fact I'm gone, but..." He trailed off. "Things are gonna be dark without me. I loved Miku, I loved the Nakano's, I loved being your friend, so use all my emotions, my power, my everything to escape. And then win. I know you can do it. You are the legendary Black. You can't lose. I won't accept the fact."
"How are you here Daniel."
"I waited in limbo so I could help you succeed."
"But why?"
"Because like it or not, Jared is stronger than you, you just need to outlast him and not give up hope. Right now, you should be feeling stronger. I couldn't do much, but I transferred the remainder of what little energy I had inside my body to you when you buried me. Just win this Black, I believe in you!"
I phased back into reality, the chains torturing me at an insufferable rate. I channeled everything I had in. My hopes, my dreams, my goals, my values, my friends, my family, and Daniel. All of it became my strength. My rage heightened as I thought of what this bastard might do. I rushed to life, putting everything I had into destroying these chains.
"Jared, I respect you as a fighter, and so, I can't give up here." I said burning to life, "But what I can do for you, IS BREAK THESE CHAINS!"
In an instant, a blinding light bloomed from the entombed chain chamber. It all crumbled revealing me, in my strongest form: Super Saiyan Rose. I looked over to see Jared glowing in a gold light, wielding a large glaive. The same glaive from the display, "Remnant of Reality." He spun it around awaiting my move, I looked at him nodding to entice him into making the first move. He yielded, and in a flash he had kicked me into the atmosphere.
We flew at each other constantly, ramming one another head on, and then recoiling back, neither of us could inflict mortal wounds on the other, so we settled on seeing which one of us would lose power first. We continued our clash to nearly the exit of Earth's atmosphere, bordering on an all out space fight. Jared had yet to use his glaive, meanwhile I was pulling out all the stops. No damage was visible on Jared, but I could tell he was getting tired. Meanwhile, damage was indeed visible on me, but somehow, I didn't feel tired. Our duel which once was one of blades, now fell to punches and kicks. Jared's brown carapace and armor had faded into a pure gold T-shirt, and pure gold shorts, a pair of gold and white shoes around his ankle, and some gold socks on him. His hair instead of going gold, had gone white. He lost the two extra arms, and all four wings, but he was much stronger than before. Each kick he made I felt something snap inside. Each punch he threw made me feel sick. His attacks were something else. Our clash spiraled out of control as we slowly made our fight outward. Somewhere between Mars and Earth, we fought tooth and nail. Jared using elbows, punches, kicks, jabs, and anything among the sort. I, on the other hand, played somewhat defensively, using a mix of heavier blow tactics, force palms and blocks. I could tell hand to hand wasn't his forte. His attacks were unrefined, and his style unregulated. This form was something he didn't fully grasp, but he promised to go all out, so he had to try his hardest to find a balance of discipline, and strength. During a gap in his assault, I managed to find it, an opening. Jared had gone in for a left hook, and in that split second, I was able to nail his lung with a two finger jab. I sent him spiraling downward, and quickly I rushed into him, first landing a kick, and then several punches to the chest, before going for a jab at his opposite lung. Jared flared to life, and reared back, creating distance.
Jared flew back, and coughed a lot of blood.
"This," he panted, "is the greatest fight of my life." He laughed, seeming somewhat insane.
He spun his glaive off his back, and reared it back in his hand.
"And this..." He panted yet again, "is my finale." He concluded, catching his breath well.
A large crack had appeared across the part of space we were in. It was followed by several alternative cracks, and soon, we were in an entirely different world. Jared wielding the glaive began to cast attack after attack.
"Hellfire Heart!" He shouted as I felt a burning sensation in my chest.
"Apocalyptic Blaze!" Another Jared shouted, causing a massive ball of flame to fall in from out of nowhere.
"Blue Inferno!" A large blue flame tornado began to make its way toward me.
"Wisdom Edge!" A powerful fast moving strike made contact with me.
My only option was to dodge. He was going all out with this final attack, refusing to give up yet. Suddenly, two large islands slammed together. One red, one blue. They both radiated power, and on either side, several "Jared's," attacked. They used attack after attack, lightning, fire, some ice, alternating multiple times between the several options they had. I could still only guard, feeling the pain of thousands of afterimages of Jared attacked relentlessly. Slowly the onslaught concluded, and a single Jared was left standing. Breathing heavily, he raised the glaive up to the sky, dropping several continent sized rocks onto my guard. I held strong, shielding the impact of every single continent, but by the time we had reached the twentieth one, I could feel myself slipping. Slowly, the barrage of continents slowed down, all of the large rocks disappearing into nothingness. I looked at Jared who glowed with power as three items were held up: a purple sword, a blue pin, and a highly decorated mask. I recognized the first two as Kianu and Grants, and could only assume the last one was from whoever Daniel fought. Jared absorbed the items into his body, and began to launch yet another attack. I quickly guarded as several roulette wheels impacted me. Blue sludge seeped up from the ground, meanwhile purple lightning coursed through the air. I quickly used the ice to protect myself from the sludge, and used it to reinforce my arms against the lightning and the roulette wheels. Jared quickly continued the barrage, realizing my unbalance at the scenario. I formed an ice javelin and threw it at the middle of his chest, breaking his rage, while all three of the items fell out of his body.
Jared looked down to his glaive, and barraged, warping in front of me, endlessly stabbing. Volleys of upwards of a hundred strikes were present, and in an instant, he had put the glaive on his back, walking off. I collapsed to the ground, as all the wounds detonated, but slowly stood up.
Jared slowly fell to the ground, and soon we were back at the flower field, the sun rising on a new day. I slowly made my way over to Jared, who was sprawling to his feet, and kicked him as hard as I could. He rolled over a few times, before getting on his feet, and punching me, causing me to fall to a single knee. I stood back up, and slowly made my way to him, with a rock in hand, and bashed his head with it. He caught it after several hits, and then kicked my shin, causing me to fall over. I got on all fours, and was kicked in the stomach by Jared. I rolled over a few times, and then got back up. Jared went in for a hook, but I guarded, and then kicked his ankle. He fell down to the ground, and I slammed his head with my foot. A blue aura ceased from around him, and he slowly stood up, walking off.
"BASTARD," I said out of breath, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING!"
"You win Black," he chuckled to himself. "In a few short minutes, my body will fall to ash. We've fought hard, we've given it everything we had, but you won. This world is yours. This justice is yours. It's like you always say, "True justice belongs to the victor." Well, you are the victor," He laughed, his walk slowly slowing down. Little flecks of ash fell from his whole body. "I suppose I should tell you my story?" He implied, "Well, there's no time to tell it, I'm not strong enough to finish it after all. And what good is an unfinished story. So tell ya what Black, the next time we see one another," He spoke as if we were old friends. "What if we just talk things out?" Slowly, Ashweaver appeared from out of nowhere, clipping itself to his hip.
"How do I know if I've killed you?"
"You exhausted my regeneration. I heal fast, but if I don't have enough energy to heal, I can't heal. That fight in the flower field was me out of energy. And that final blue aura was the sign that you've killed me."
"How are you still here if I've killed you?"
"A phoenix rises from the ashes of its former self. I'm turning into ashes, and in the future, I'll rise from those ashes. All in all though, It's been fun. Thanks for the fight." He gestured happily.
I watched him continue his walk down the trail, getting slower with each step. However, he quickly turned and shouted to me one last thing.
"Also, everything we've destroyed will be back here tomorrow, this world is up to your fate now, make the right choice Black." He said before collapsing to the ground.
I looked over my shoulder to Daniel's grave. Just a ways away from it was the "Remnant of Reality," Projecting a white light. I went to pick up the glaive only to feel its weight overbearing, and immediately had to let go. I made my peace with Daniel's grave, and slowly made my way to the last known location of the Nakano siblings.
I arrived at the camp to see the whole bunch worried for me. They screamed and pouted in my ear. It was annoying, but somehow, I welcomed it. They had pulled food from the rubble of the buildings and were in the process of serving it to me when Nino called me over to her.
"Black," She said rather sorrowfully.
"Yes Nino?" I wondered what she wanted.
"Thank you for killing Jared and protecting the world." She said, kissing me on the cheek.
"Of course, after all, who would I be if I let the guy who helped kill my best friend escape."
"Not just that, but for everything you've done. Please stay with us?" Nino begged.
"I don't have anywhere else to go." I laughed, "So that's totally a yes."
We slowly walked back to camp, the remainder of the quintuplets cheerfully keeping spirits high. I broke the mood by asking.
"Do you guys know where Isanari and Rahia are?"
"Yeah, they kept their distance from us, but I can take you to them." Ichika said rather gloomily.
"That'd be great."
We walked in silence through dark shrubbery and trees, and came upon a clearing where the father and daughter were crying. I changed my appearance and made my way over to the duo.
"Hey," I said rather quietly.
The two looked up at me, and whimpered a solemn "Hello, we aren't in the best talking mood."
"I'm so sorry for my actions. I thought of your race as nothing more than failures, but in truth, you're more than just that, your beings that deserve to live. I messed up, stole your son's body, and let your son corrupt himself with vengeance. I can't apologize enough, but I just wanted you to know."
The same two looked up at me, jaw agape, but instead of hatred, or fury, or even rage, the pair smiled in pure kindness.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pissed," Isanari started, "But you said it yourself, you've changed. Heck you saved me and Rahia yesterday. You've more than paid for my son's life. I want him back, I so desperately do. I want to hurt you as well, but I know that won't help anything. So instead, I'll sit here, and accept your apology."
"Yeah! What my dad said!" Rahia exclaimed, happy at the situation that unfolded before her despite her brother's life. "I'm glad that you've learned, and I'm glad that you saved me. I'm sad that my big brother is gone, but regardless, I'm glad that this world continues to spin, and I'm glad that you saved my dad too." She concluded, somehow ok with my actions.
"Why are you not scolding me to hell?" I asked, rather surprised.
"That won't do anything. Besides, you've suffered more than enough right?" Isanari pointed out.
"I guess, well thank you two, I hope I can make up the difference to you two in any way possible."
"Well can you let me meet the guy who saved me?" Isanari pondered.
"Daniel didn't make it." I said in a rather depressing tone.
"Well, then aside from that, I really don't know, but I'll keep you posted." Isanari concluded.
___________________________________________________________________
"They killed you big brother." Chaos said maniacally. "I will kill them for killing you, because big brother..." She maliciously blurted out. "Love is pain, that's why I feel so much pain for loving you now that you're gone."
But alas, that is a story for another time, and this time marks the end of "In Another World with The Zero Mortals Plan."