Chapter 8: Party in the USJ (Part 1)
Today's Heroics training was going to be different apparently. Their teacher; Aizawa, All Might, and another unknown faculty member were going to oversee Class 1A at an off-site location. The topic of the day? Rescue Training. They were going to be trained on how to handle many different kinds of disasters, and while to the average person that might have sounded harrowing, the general feeling inside of the room was one of excitement. Saving people from disasters was a hero's job, arguably it resulted in the most lives being saved out of any facet of the industry. They were allowed to wear whatever they wanted, an added bonus as far as she was concerned. Higher Beings were prideful beings by nature no matter how humble they could be, and recently her own costume had gotten a bit of an… upgrade. As she looked in the mirror again she couldn't help but smile lightly. Her decision to spare Shear had been a wise one. She held out an arm, holding the edge of her 'wing' and watched as it shimmered. She was staring at the exact same costume as before, but rather than being made of satin, carbon fiber, and spider's silk it was now made entirely of Weaver Silk. To most it would seem an odd decision, but comparatively Weaver Silk had a tensile strength magnitudes greater than carbon fiber. And rather than her costume being laced with trace amounts of carbon fiber as a reinforcement, her costume was now made entirely of a higher quality material. It retained the lightness and texture while offering greater protection, but the visual aspect was what pleased her the most. Weaver Silk was arguably one of the single most valuable commodities sold in Hallownest, and even then no one there saw it in its true glory. Right now in the light? Her entire costume was now an iridescent silver with those golden dream catchers scattered about her body. The iridescence wasn't overpowering either, just a shimmer when the light caught it the correct way. If Shear had been a part of her Tribe he would've been appointed to be her personal seamster.
"Woah! Was your costume always like that Myla?!" Mina exclaimed, eyes wide as the goddess' costume shimmered lightly.
"Hm? No, this is a recent development. I had a… friend, look over it and he made some changes." Mina took her mothwing cloak in her hands and marveled at the way the colors shifted.
"That's so cool! And who's this friend of yours?"
"His name is Shear, I could introduce you, but…" The class's collective reaction to the small spider came to the forefront of her mind. If Mina had problems with that tiny Weaver, she'd probably die of fright meeting Shear! "He's a bit shy. Perhaps sometime in the future?"
"Definitely!"
Outside a shrill whistle broke through the air, drawing their attention to Iida. "Gather around Class 1A! Using your student numbers form two neat lines so we may board the bus as efficiently as possible!" Myla blinked in amusement, as moments later his brilliant plan was foiled. The bus that was prepared for them had an open-design rather than the traditional style, so even though it was neat everyone boarded and chose whatever seat they wished for.
"It was a good thought," she patted his shoulder as she passed, though it did little to bring up his mood. Myla took her seat next to Mina, Iida and Kaminari while Midoriya, Tsuyu Asui, Kirishima, and Rikido Sato sat across from them. Now that she thought about it, other than trains this was the first automobile she had been on. It wasn't too much different, she noted.
"The bus's open layout ruined my boarding strategy…" Iida lamented, head bowed mournfully.
"Iida, you really need to chill," Mina said sympathetically. Again Myla gave him a pat on the shoulder. She had seen online that patting was like medicine for humans, so maybe it would help to bring his spirit up. Leaning back she closed her eyes and wrapped her cloak around her, half-listening to the conversation around her.
"If we're pointing out the obvious, then there's something I want to say," Tsuyu said while turning to face Midoriya. "About you actually."
Midoriya tensed. "About me? What is it Asui?"
"I told you to call me "Tsu."" she deadpanned. Ignoring Midoriya's apology she continued, "That power of yours, isn't it a lot like All Might's?"
"What?! Really? You think so, huh?" Midoriya's voice trembled, slightly panicked. He turned away, "I never really thought about that, I guess it's kinda similar…" He started muttering, only to be cut off—saved, really.
"Wait, hold on Tsu," Kirishima interjected. "You're forgetting that All Might doesn't hurt himself. That makes a huge difference!" Without anyone noticing Midoriya let out a visible sigh of relief.
Myla said nothing, her focus entirely on Midoriya's emotions. Curiosity, then panic, then relief. So there was a connection to All Might. Her antennae twitched. Some would claim that she was looking too far into this, but very rarely did people panic over innocent observations. According to her research strength Quirks were a geo a dozen, a comparison like that should've led to overwhelming joy. Oh, how tempted she was to dive in and find out the reason herself!
Suddenly the noise of the conversation petered out along with the conversation. In the distance she heard the ringing of a bell. Sighing, she opened her eyes. She was seated in a facsimile of the bus with glyphs floating about before disappearing. Outside was the same as always; clouds and a golden sky with no visible source of light. Standing up she walked to the door she entered from, willing it away in a cloud of glyphs.
"Are you here as well, traitor?" She said, her whisper echoing across her Dream. There was no response, she was alone in her Realm. Taking a step forward she dropped from the bus, a noiseless wind rushing past her body until she willed into being a platform to land on. Looking around she frowned. Master of it though she was, The Dream was still a fickle thing. Perhaps her new form was leading to… difficulties? It would be something she would have to explore at a later date. Another possibility was that perhaps The Dream was imposed onto an already similar realm. In her search of Japan she found traces, echoes of Higher Beings, long since departed for unknown reasons. A lingering Will perhaps? Plucking a dream-catcher shaped glyph from the 'air' she gently ran her hand across it. Unlike her usual golden glyphs this one was a pale pink. This was a facet of her ability she hadn't used in… She paused, a feeling of… something going through her. She didn't remember how long ago it was, and that was deliberate. This was a gift she imparted upon a select few of her Tribe, a tool so beneficial and so utterly useless.
Divination… The ability to predict the future…
She ran her hands across the pink glyph, causing it to 'sing' to her. Out of the uncountable glyphs that existed in her Dream, a very select few could hold facets. Things that were, things that are, and things that have yet to be. The most common of these facets were the Whispering Roots encountered across Hallownest. Glyph empowered physical manifestations, preserving echoes of the past. They were literally rooted in reality, ever unchanging. The facets of the present were present at all times, but completely unattainable. They were, in the simplest terms she could use, thoughts. The thoughts of living beings. In order to bring those facets into being, she had devised the Dream Nail, though its purpose may have changed substantially. That covered the Past and the Present. The Future?
Divination was a paradox, the things being 'seen' were only as accurate for as long as they were observed. The moment you stopped was the moment something changed. The future is exactly that, the future. Whatever she could see using Divination hadn't happened yet, and it almost never did. There was no way she could impart Divination as a physical tool or remnant like the Whispering Roots or the Dream Nail, rather, it could only be observed in its most pure form. Taking the glyph in both hands she closed her eyes and willed power into it. The pink glow burst into a brilliant blaze and her vision burned. She "jumped into the river." A mess of images and feelings rushed past her, and she picked out the brightest of them.
Pain was the most prevalent feeling, fear being the second. But coupled with fear was determination and resolve. Images rushed past her too, but nothing was clear. There was only one thing that was familiar. She latched onto one particular fuzzy image, peering deep into its being. It was a tall and lanky figure with pale blue hair, something covering his face with two red orbs staring at her hatefully. This person had the same aura, a storm raining blood, consumed by anger and hatred. This was the person responsible for the incident with the media. With a frown she let the glyph go, watching as it fizzled out of existence not that its use was expired. This was why Divination was useless as well as brilliant. That vision told her nothing she couldn't already infer. She knew this person wanted to cause harm, and that he had bad intentions for the school. But it didn't tell her when she would see him. Would it be in an hour? A week? A year? Or now that she stopped using Divination would she even meet this person at all?
She saw something that stopped her train of thought. Forming a pair of transparent wings she flew up through a cloud layer, coming to a stop at something that didn't belong. It was a glyph that looked exactly the same as the ones she used, but unlike her golden ones this glyph was a fiery red. It warped the space around it, creating an almost protective bubble that she couldn't get through. This was it, the seal that Grimm used to limit her powers. She glared at it hatefully but didn't make any move against it, there wasn't any point. She knew what it was and what it did, but its inner workings and defenses were completely beyond her. Given enough time she could eventually dismantle it, but 'time' to a Higher Being was different from time to a human. If she devoted herself fully to dismantling this glyph, everyone she knew could very well be dead by the time she finished. Her fists clenched. This abomination would not stop her forever, she would make that evident.
All of a sudden her Dream began going white, shaking violently just like before. She was waking up. Myla Grimm spared the glyph one last hateful look before closing her eyes and submitting.
"Hey, wakey wakey sleepyhead." Myla awoke to someone gently tapping her shoulder. With some effort she opened her eyes and noticed that the rest of the class was departing the bus, leaving her and… Now that she thought about it her cheek was resting on something fluffy… Blinking, she sat up straight and turned to see Mina's mischievous smile. In her brief moment of shock and mortification she all but threw herself backwards…
Thunk!
And straight into a pole…
"Stupid moth…" she disparaged herself, clutching the back of her head.
"Soooo—" Mina began before being cut off.
"Don't say another word…" The Radiance nursed the back of her head as the two heroes in training caught up with the rest of their class. At Mina's giggle Myla shot her a withering glare before wincing. Thankfully the pinkette followed her request and just hummed quietly until they came to a stop. A large domed building stood at the top of a ramp, and in front of that building…
"Hello everyone, I've been waiting for you!" Their entire class broke out in awed exclamations at the hero standing before them. She wore an approximation of a space suit with a black helmet and yellow boots. She picked out Midoriya's voice and learned that this woman was the Space Hero; Thirteen. She was a rescue-based hero who'd worked in disaster efforts around the world. She seemed to be incredibly popular, and apparently she was one of Ururaka's all time favorites. To Myla though?
"A… grub?" The fallen goddess asked quietly, head tilted. No matter how she looked at it, the plush and segmented way her costume was designed along with the big eyes reminded her of Hallownest's more docile inhabitants. It… she couldn't get it out of her head…
Thirteen held an arm out towards the building's entrance, "I can't wait to show you what's inside!"
Inside of the building was impressive even by Hallownest's standards. Myla could count out six different 'zones' arranged around a fountain in the middle. A large mountain, crumbling ruins, a large body of water, and two separate domed structures decorated with fire and storm patterns respectively.
"Holy crap! It looks like some kind of amusement park!" Kirishima said in excitement, echoing the rest of the students' thoughts.
"A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, et cetera!" The space-themed hero threw her arms out before continuing, "I created this training facility to help prepare you for different kinds of disasters. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, but you can call it USJ!"
Aizawa walked up to his fellow hero, "hey, shouldn't All Might be here already? Lemme guess; he booked an interview instead…"
Thirteen stepped close to him and spoke quietly, holding up three fingers. Myla narrowed her eyes. Despite her heightened senses she couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but Aizawa's sudden spike of irritation explained some things.
"That man is the height of irresponsibility…" he said before turning towards the class. "Time's ticking, let's get going."
"Excellent! Before we begin, let me just say one thing. Possibly two, or maybe three, four, or five." Thirteen held up a finger for each before clearing her throat. "Listen carefully. I'm sure you're aware that I have a powerful Quirk, it's called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust."
"Yeah! You've used it to save tons of people from all kinds of disasters, haven't you?" Midoriya asked in awe, with Ururaka nodding in affirmation.
"That is true, but my Quirk could also very easily be used to kill…" At the hero's words a wave of shock swept over the students. Did none of them come to that conclusion? It was the first thought that came to her mind, having a Quirk like Black Hole would put Thirteen squarely at the top of the food chain in Hallownest. Higher Beings excluded, of course. Myla frowned. That thinking was a result of Hallownest itself, a land of kill or be killed. Strength ruled here as well, but its utility was different.
"Many of you have Quirks that can be dangerous as well. In our Superhuman Society all Quirks are certified and strongly regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be. Please don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly. Even if you're trying to do something virtuous like rescue someone. Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests you have a solid idea of your Quirk's potential—" Excluding her, as she knew exactly what she was capable of— "and because of All Might's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people."
This time a rueful smile crossed her face. She also knew exactly how dangerous her powers could be when used against people. An entire kingdom, thousands of people, knew exactly how dangerous her powers were… Her Will…The one ability she hasn't used since coming here…
Thirteen continued, "Carry those lessons over to this class. Today, you're going to learn how to use your Quirks to save people's lives. You won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. After all, that's what being a hero is all about! Ensuring the safety of others." With a bow, Thirteen finished her speech. "That's all I have to say, thank you so much for listening."
All at once sound disappeared from Myla's world. A cold feeling seeped in until the only sound she could hear was the increasing beat of her own heart. Aizawa was saying something, the lights were suddenly getting dim, but her attention focused on the fountain in the center. The water was faltering, and all of a sudden a purple mass of energy opened in front of it. And inside of it?
Bloodlust…
Bloodlust so overwhelming she could practically smell it, could practically taste it. Her body flipped from ice cold to blazing hot, heart beating the fastest it had since her arrival. By now Mr. Aizawa noticed, followed by the rest of the students one by one. It was fortunate that everyone's focus was on the purple mass, because without even realizing it, Myla began grinning. It wasn't a kind grin, or a smile she would give her friends, but rather a cruel and manic grin that would better fit a villain. Aizawa was saying something, along with the students, but she heard none of it.
Familiarity!
Finally! Something familiar to her! She was acclimating but this world was still so alien to her, so completely opposite on every fundamental. A hand came through the veil, almost parting it before a set of familiar bloody eyes found them. A severed and bloodless hand was covering his face but it didn't hide the pure hatred resonating from within. A sickly excitement bled together with it to create a sickening concoction that was oh so familiar. More and more people stepped through the portal, adding to the maddening storm that was consuming her. And then she saw it… The last to step through the portal was a large beaked creature wearing a grin to match her own, and her heart sang! Her mouth opened.
"Come to me, oh jailer mine!~"
But no sound came out. Rather, she gasped instead, like she had just been punched in the gut. Images flashed in front of her, humanized but familiar nonetheless.
A confrontation.
Her Dream, but contained within alabaster horns.
A teenager weeping tears of void, two horns curving towards the sky.
A twisted version of her new form, lifting his chin to expose a terrified face.
Her own face met it, twisted in a bright smile full of frenzied madness and wrongness.
Eyes twisted in the same mania that threatened to consume her now.
A broken child calling out to his parents.
Her hand caressing his cheek as she leaned close.
"A voice is required to call out to your parents~ A mind is required to hope~"
The Radiance took a shuddering step back as if she had been struck. Sound crashed against her all at once, competing with the roaring beat of her heart. Too many things were happening at once. Her focus had been destroyed, and her traitorous human body was flipping between 'fight' or 'flight' too much for her to center herself.
"Even now I can hear your voice crying in despair~"
Her teacher leapt towards the army of villains as the rest of the class turned away. Mutely she could feel Mina tugging her along. This was pathetic… One brief relapse was bad enough, but to break her entirely?
She leaned close, drawing the terrified child into a mockery of an embrace.
"You are not a pure vessel~"
Myla felt something unknowingly brush against her mind and her feet slammed to a stop. Mina stumbled, but before she could rebuke the disguised being a swirling mass of purple and darkness appeared before them. Enough. With a deep breath her power flared and sound returned to normal. Her ears were ringing though, and a rush of nausea nearly floored her. The sudden transition from a panic attack to dead calm was too much. When her eyes focused she saw a cloud of smoke, Bakugo and Kirishima had foolishly attacked.
"I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades, and your deaths!" The purple mass bellowed before expanding towards them. For a moment she panicked again; the purple mist reminded her of the Void and of how close she had come to death. A small moan of fear drew her attention. Mina! A different kind of panic filled her, and without thinking she shoved the pink girl as far away as she could. For a single moment she saw the pinkette slam into another group of students, and then all she could see was purple.
Clarity found The Radiance as she fell to the earth. Reacting on instinct her cloak flared and she floated down until her boots met soft ground. Opening her eyes she found herself in a forest, and in the distance she could barely make out the fountain from earlier. She managed to take a step forward before stumbling to her knees.
PANIC
Sixteen unanimous moments of panic slammed into her at once, the screams practically boring through her skull. Sixteen of her classmates had found themselves in a life or death situation, and they weren't like her. This was a taste of the real world, of real combat. She noted with uncertainty that it was only sixteen instances of panic, but because of the sudden assault on her mind she didn't know if the remaining three were dead or if they simply controlled their emotions better. If it were the former…
"Well well well, look at what we have here~" a sleazy voice said from her side. Myla cursed under her breath, she was still in danger! Eyes glowing momentarily she cast a protective seal around her mind. The panic vanished, but so did her classmates. Her human brain wasn't able to process that much emotion at once, and it infuriated her to no end. She had cast a temporary fix; creating a barrier that blocked all incoming and outgoing emotions. She wouldn't 'hear' anything, and she wouldn't be able to peer inside of anyone's minds. With genuine clarity she stood back up, taking in her surroundings. Villains surrounded her entirely, but with that protective seal over her mind she didn't know how many. She visually counted ten surrounding her, so any others hiding in the trees would have to reveal themselves. Her eyes met the first one to talk, a man seemingly made entirely of stone with a leather tank top and ratty jeans.
"I would ask that you lay down your weapons and surrender," she requested. Essence gathered in her hands, unformed. "If you refuse… I can't guarantee your well-being." Fighting opponents who wanted to kill her, and retaliating nonlethally. What a pain…
The insects around her laughed, letting their guard down. Numbers, apparently, was their victorious guarantee. "Ya hear that? The little princess wants to keep us safe! How kind of her~"
"I asked, at the very least…" Myla muttered. She heard a confused "what?" before she launched her assault. Bringing her hands together she fired off a concentrated beam of Essence, sending the rock villain through at least four trees before she lost sight of him. Before the rest of them could react, two blades formed in her hands and she dashed towards the nearest enemy; a humanlike wolf creature holding a spiked bat. He flinched and raised his bat in defense, but her blades cut through the metal like it wasn't there. She nearly followed through with a decapitation before sighing irritably, instead she spun and knocked him out with a kick. That was two. A barrier raised on instinct, blocking an explosive red orb. A woman with electric hair snarled before throwing two more, cracking her barrier. Dispelling it she threw two orbs of her own, watching as they exploded into a brilliant cloud of orange, red, and gold. While hidden from view she vanished and reappeared behind the woman. All she managed was a confused noise before Myla grabbed the back of her shirt and slammed her head against her knee.
Having gathered themselves, the remaining seven villains and their six hidden compatriots all charged at once. Fighting them all one on one would be taxing, but… perhaps a gamble would be better. Her mind flashed to the entrance exam and one massive glyph formed over the forest. A dome-like barrier formed around her and she plunged her blades into the dirt below. A moment later? Chaos… Hundreds of spectral blades thundered into the ground below, spalling wood to the forest floor and exploding. Every villain charging her screamed in shock and pain as dozens of blades exploded into heat and glass-like essence. One by one they fell, without a single one getting within five meters of her. With an errant thought the glyph vanished and she took in the devastation she had wrought. Every villain was covered in cuts and splinters, moaning in pain or completely unconscious. She held no sympathy for them, they were barely even insects. Dirt beneath her boot, perhaps even less than that.
"YOU BITCH!" The first voice bellowed from behind her. She ducked on instinct and lashed out with her blades, eyes widening a fraction as they simply sparked off of his stone skin. SHe leapt away, cloak appearing like a pair of wings flapping as she leapt from place to place. Eventually she leapt straight up and simply hovered. The villain growled. "Get down here!" Rather than answering him she held out her hands and fired another concentrated beam of Essence. She held it this time for almost a minute before dispelling it. When he was still standing she did it again with more power, and again, and again before the man fell to his knees.
She gracefully landed in front of him. "What is your plan? Why target students?"
"Are you seriously that stupid?! I'm telling you anything!" The villain snarled in defiance.
"You will," she stated. "The state of your mind and your sanity depends on how I gather the information." She casually approached him, eyes glowing. "You will tell me what I want to know, or I will simply take the information I desire."
"A mental Quirk? You already played your hand in the fight! You can't take shit!" He laughed, spitting at her.
With a thought she got rid of the seal, and the thoughts from before returned. She winced in pain, but they were manageable now. For a minute she did nothing, rather, she was preparing to do something she had promised never to do again…
There was a power every Higher Being shared. For the Pale Light, he instilled intelligence and higher thought to savage beings. For the Root, she brought perpetuity. For Grimm, it was his Ritual. For The Radiance? It was HerWill… The complete mastery of her Domain, the Dream, and her ability to influence it… and anyone who entered it. When unconscious every living being entered The Dream unknowingly and unwillingly, and they left behind echoes. It was how she bypassed the necessity of the Whispering Roots, the Dream Nail, and Divination. She could enter the minds of any living being she wanted to, and once she did she could do anything she wished. Her Will… Out of The Dream she couldn't change anything beyond her powers, but within? Her Domain conformed to her desires. She wrote the laws there, it followed her every whim. The same went for one's mind. Her Will had received many names; The Light, Brilliance, Unity… and The Infection…
Her classmates were in danger, and she had claimed them as her own. She didn't have the time to be gentle, nor did she have the time to be patient. Her resolve hardened, as did her face. She lacked sympathy for the villains attacking her, why feel any for this wretch?
"On your head be it then…" And at once both his and her eyes glowed a sickly orange… And moments later he began screaming…
Chapter 9: Party in the USJ (Part 2)
The mind of a human was very similar to the mind of a bug, at least the bugs of Hallownest. Thoughts rolled past her, riding along the synapses of the brain. Unlike the bugs of Hallownest, however, the base savagery was fully unlocked. The bugs she had infected were protected by the Pale Light, the gift of higher thought was their shield. All she had to do was strip away that shield and the bugs returned to their base, savage, state. There was no such shield in the mind of a human. Rather, the savagery had been tamed and collared. The dichotomy was interesting; if the bugs of Hallownest were given time would they develop higher thought naturally? The Radiance did not believe so, for the humans learned cooperation and unity. Hallownest and its surrounding territories were and forever would be a kingdom of competition. But debating 'could haves' was not the reason she was here… No; her purpose was far more grizzly.
Myla plucked an errant memory from its home and forcefully observed it. A celebration of sorts, five smiling humans around a large cake of some sort adorned with writing and candles. It wasn't what she was looking for, and so she cast it away. The memory fizzled and disintegrated until it vanished entirely. She plucked another memory from the stream; a classroom full of people. It too was discarded, and now she had a baseline for her search. The villain's mind recoiled from pain as Myla bulldozed her way through his memories, frying synapses and casting aside any memory that wasn't of relevance. The human brain was only suited to carry a single mind, a human mind. Due to her nature Myla could join that mind without consequence, but she had to be especially careful in doing so. Unfortunately for the pest, she had neither the time nor liberty to be careful and cautious. The brain brought forth its defenses but she simply burned them away, causing even more damage. By the time she found what she was looking for, the pest's brain was in a sorry state. She plucked the last few memories she needed and the full picture was revealed to her.
Their target was All Might, and somehow they had been able to gather inside information about Class 1A's schedule and the teachers that were going to oversee them. The League of Villains had brought numbers, but those were simply meant to deal with her class and to act as cannon fodder for the teachers. Their true player was the giant beaked brute and the villain that had warped her to the forest. It was bioengineered, artificial. Her mind involuntarily called forth the Soul Master and his pitiful attempts to contain her. The mistakes were similar; living creatures experimented on and turned into monsters. Whatever the abomination was, it certainly wasn't human anymore. That simplified things. In her previous engagement she was hard-pressed not to kill anyone, not due to any reluctance on her part, but because if she resorted to lethal force as her first option… Heroes in this society saved people. Senseless killing would all but oust herself even if the people she killed had no value to society, and it would make fitting into Class 1A exceptionally difficult.
With a thought she left the villain's mind entirely, watching dispassionately as he slumped to the ground like a gutted fish. His eyes that were once filled with hate were suddenly vacant, slowly dispelling the sickly tangerine hue they had just had. Essence leaked from his nose, eyes, and ears in steady amounts along with a concerning amount of gray-matter. He was breathing, thankfully, but he might as well have been dead. The Essence would disappear in an hour or so, having lost its connection to her, but she would have to think of a suitable cover as to why one of the villains had been turned into an invalid. As she left the battlefield behind bile rose in her throat, a thoroughly unpleasant sensation that she forced down with what little guilt she had left. Her Will… Using it in that way left a hollow feeling inside of her, and it was only the fact that she had seen his crimes that she didn't empty her stomach. The pest was a horrible creature. Assault, rape, murder, and a whole list of crimes that could fill a tome. As far as she was concerned she had delivered just punishment, as was her right as a Higher Being. It was just… Any link to what she had turned into always left a sour taste in her mouth.
A wave of pain, killing intent, and joy slammed into her with enough force to send her back a step. Her mind expanded instantly and her heart turned to ice. Mr. Aizawa was in pain, so, so much pain! Three familiar motes of light watched in muted horror as their teacher was dispatched like a maggot, and all the while the source of the bloodlust laughed in joy. All at once she was just like before, but instead of a battle-lust she was just furious. Her cloak flared like a pair of wings and her eyes turned to a molten gold, and in a flash of glyphs she teleported. But it wasn't a normal teleport.
Midoriya, Tsu, and Mineta watched in horror as their teacher, a pro-hero, was soundly and easily defeated. His head was slammed into the ground with enough force to crack it, blood pooling from his skull and from his shattered arm. The villain had called the creature a Nomu, and it looked like it was as strong as All Might. There wasn't anything they could do, and all the while the villain with the hands all over him gloated. But then something in the air changed. A pressure washed over them, and a golden halo appeared above all of them, raining glyphs and something akin to glittering feathers. Then the entire plaza was blanketed by a blinding golden light.
Myla appeared near the fountain, hovering in mid-air, surrounded by a corona of golden light and two radiant moth wings. Her fury released as a physical presence, sending shockwaves imbued with light in all directions. Everyone nearby, including the abomination were rooted in place by the sheer presence she was exuding. The ground shook and cracked from the epicenter of the wave. Such was the power of The Radiance, that sound was carried by those shockwaves; a mix of a horrible scratch and tolling bells that echoed in their ears and minds in equal measures. Any nearby villains that Aizawa had missed or that recovered were sent to the ground in pain, the closest falling unconscious and the remainder holding their ears as they bled. Myla turned her gaze on the source of the bloodlust, and roared.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
She thrusted her hands forward and a barrage of human-sized swords hurled towards the abomination, impaling it and launching it away from Aizawa. She didn't give it time to respond, holding her hands out and firing a scatter of eight beams of essence strong enough to turn the ground to glass. She did it once, twice, and three times before calling down the biggest pillar of essence she had formed since coming here. She couldn't even see the abomination, and was physically pushed back from the force of the attack. She ignored the pain her own attack caused her, ignored how long cracks formed from her hands and spiderwebbed up her arms to her shoulders. Covered as they were, the glow was visible through her costume. After a full thirty seconds she relented, falling to the ground next to their teacher.
Aizawa had felt the wave of pressure even if he couldn't see the source, and after the scream came the heat. The voice he recognized as Myla's, which angered and worried him to no end. He didn't stand a chance against the Nomu, what chance would a hero-in-training have?! Then for a moment everything went silent and he was rolled onto his back. When he saw the state Myla was in he felt his heart sink. The girl stared at him with tear-stained eyes, but what caught his attention was that her tears were orange. Her eyes were glowing a molten gold with those glyphs of hers following the tears before disappearing, and there were cracks forming in the corners of her eyes. Her skin was already sweaty and pale, and he could see the cracks lining her arms. He knew the Quirks of every student in his class, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Myla Grimm had a unique Quirk that actively harmed her if she went beyond her limits. She was definitely beyond her limits, whatever she had done had been an "alpha-strike." She intended to end the fight as quickly as possible by doing an overwhelming amount of damage as fast as she humanly could. Now she was one wrong move away from crippling herself. Fury, sadness, relief, and worry crossed over her face. All tried to gain control and none of them succeeded.
Her gaze flipped up as low level villains watched her warily, some assuming that she was already out of the fight. Without even lifting her hands glyphs formed all around her and started firing beams of Essence, sending their targets to the ground or knocking them unconscious with hits directly to the face. He wanted to tell her to stop, the more power she used the more damage she was doing to herself at this point.
"Well this is annoying, you brats have an optional boss, what a pain!" The villain with the hands all over him scratched his neck in annoyance, glowering at Myla hatefully.
Myla looked up at him, still cradling Aizawa. "There are no words that can describe the hell I will put you through if you hurt anyone else…" she growled.
"So annoying," he whined. "Nomu, break her!" The ground rumbled and Myla whirled around with a look of shock before Aizawa's vision went bright. It felt like his entire body had pulled itself apart and put itself back together again, and for some strange reason it looked like they were in the clouds. Moments later they both tumbled to the ground with Myla flipping onto her feet, tossing him as gently as possible away from the confrontation. A barrier formed in front of her and instantly shattered as the Nomu punched it, sending her flying back. By some grace the thing was ignoring him, focusing entirely on Myla. He could only watch in helplessness as she leapt, flew, dashed, and teleported out of the way of the Nomu's monstrously quick attacks. Any attacks she couldn't dodge she tanked using her barriers, but those were becoming more and more frequent. Every chance she got she fired off one of her beams or impaled it with a sword, but nothing she did slowed it down. Every ability used, every shield, was one more nail in the coffin. Aizawa noticed the purple mass from before appear next to the leader.
"Tomura Shigaraki."
"Kurogiri," the now-named villain greeted back. "Did you manage to kill Thirteen?" What blood was left in the Erasure Hero's body went cold, his heart beating erratically.
"The rescue hero is out of commission, but there were students that I wasn't able to disperse. One of them got out of the facility." The change was immediate.
Shigaraki scratched his neck non-committedly but then his other hand joined the first. He was growling at that point. "Kurogiri… You fool… If you weren't our warp gate I'd tear apart every last atom in your body!" One of his nails broke the skin and a single rivulet of blood ran down his neck. Rage abated, he sighed irritably. "There's no way we can win if dozens of pros show up to stop us, it's game over… Back to the title screen, and I was hoping to finish this today. Damn it," his gaze shifted ever so slightly. "Let's go home."
"Oh, before we leave, let's make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken." Shigaraki turned his gaze to the lake, towards three frozen students, bloody eyes filled with glee. "Let's wreck his pride!" And the villain moved. Despite the pain Aizawa activated his Quirk.
Myla Grimm… had miscalculated…
Damn the human body!
The Radiance leapt into the air with a faux beat of her wings, swinging her two-handed blade in an arc that nearly took off the abomination's arm. Her head was pounding, Essence leaked from her lips with every ragged breath, and her vision was starting to go blurry. Her body was physically shutting down, organs were beginning to fail, blood was being replaced with the accursed liquid, oxygen wasn't binding with what it needed to. And the most sickening part? If Grimm's glyph hadn't been capping her ability she'd probably be dead right now! Myla formed a platform underneath her and stood on it shakily. She watched in fury and horror as the abomination stitched itself together, removing any evidence that there had been only sinew holding its arm in place moments before. She hadn't anticipated this, she had assumed regenerative abilities were a thing of the past. It hadn't healed fully of course, the places from her initial attack hadn't healed at all, but that was because she had incinerated the cells. But even then her Essence wasn't doing nearly as much damage as it should've, it was like it was burning and flowing off of him. She was in a battle of attrition that she couldn't win, not against an opponent that could heal. Oh how she wished to copy her opponents! The Pale Light healed itself, the Hollow Knight healed itself, the damnable vessel healed itself using Soul whenever it managed to attack her, and now this!
With a growl five glyphs formed behind her and fired explosive orbs of Essence. The creature didn't even move, it just tanked the explosions before jumping at her. The platform underneath her disappeared and gravity took hold of her, ducking just below his attack before flying backwards again. Another four waves of panic and fear slammed into her, and for a single moment she was distracted. A moment like that was a mistake, as a massive fist closed around her and squeezed. All she had time to do was form a barrier to the contours of her body and hold. The pressure was nearly unbearable. Already it was creaking and shaking, one large crack forming before spreading across the rest of it. A multitude of different strategies ran through her head. The brain was exposed, it might buy her time but who was to say that it wouldn't regenerate as well? One massive concentrated beam to spear through it? It was an abomination and hadn't reacted to any of her attacks, and who was to say it needed its organs to survive?
Another crack formed.
Could she fry its mind? A quick invasion of its mind repelled her. It was mindless, it's only thoughts being a confirmation and follow through of orders. Any massive attacks she could release were just as liable to injure her now as well, the first major attack had been her gambit and it had failed. As her entire barrier cracked and began faltering a sickening feeling spread throughout her gut.
I can't win…
She wasn't in her prime, her human body had limitations she had underestimated, and she had recklessly leapt into battle. She didn't know anything about her opponent other than what she learned by fighting him. A foolish idea borne of her old life and her shadow, because she was a Higher Being, and before that meant a world of difference. Despite it all she smiled ruefully, it was funny! How twisted was that? She made a vow to do better, to learn from her mistakes in the past, and when she was confronted with a major challenge she fell right back into her habits! She hadn't changed at all, and now it was going to mean her "death." Then the abomination was gone, moving so fast it genuinely shocked her. The barrier dispelled and she choked on Essence. Rolling onto her hands and knees she dry-heaved, clearing her airways of a mixture of red and sickly orange. It took nearly all of her energy to do that. More fluid dropped down and she furrowed her brow. Her vision was blurry… Was she crying? Her face remained stunned before she began laughing, throat beginning to constrict.
"The Radiance… The G-Great Scourge, the Despoiler of… Hallownest… Is that all I have? How pathetic have I become?" She croaked to herself, voice scratchy. She wouldn't break down, she couldn't let herself. It was one aspect she was thankful of, that despite having a human form her mentality remained the same. Another wave of panic hit her and her breath froze. Shigaraki was trying to grab Tsuyu, Midoriya was trying to hit Shigaraki, and the abomination was reaching for Midoriya. Aizawa was seemingly canceling their Quirks but he was losing consciousness. She herself was not far behind him, her heart was already slowing down and if she didn't do anything soon her organs would fail. She was spent, completely and utterly. A goddess and both heroes were out of the fight, so the children would have to save them. No… if that was the case then people were going to die here. And the situation was made exponentially worse when what was left of the petty villains started surrounding her. They wanted vengeance from her attacks earlier?
So be it…
A small glyph formed in front of her, a lethal blade peeking out of it. She tunnel-visioned on Shigaraki, staring at his chest through her blurry eyes. At a sufficient speed it would pierce all the way through the abomination and keep its momentum. If the rest of her class was forced to fight the leader and the abomination they'd die, so she'd deprive it of orders for good and when the villains killed Myla she'd fry their brains. Hopefully it wouldn't act at all if its commander was dead. She knew that she could fire the blade faster than the villains could kill her. The spike exited the glyph and hovered in front of it. Gathering the rest of her meager power she began to close her fist—
BOOM!
The entire building froze as dust and debris exploded from the USJ's door. Footsteps began echoing from the dust, and as a large shape gradually came into view the panic and fear was replaced by hope.
All Might had arrived.
He wasn't wearing his uniform, but rather a yellow office suit and blue tie. And then it all clicked into place. The abomination; it was a weapon purposely made to kill All Might. Oh the Irony! She thought to herself. All Might had no idea what he was walking into, the man couldn't regenerate. Normally he'd be able to match it blow for blow but Myla knew otherwise. The villains around her all stared in awe as well, forgetting her.
"Woah… it's All Might!"
"I didn't expect him to be so huge…"
"This is no time to talk, you idiots! First we'll finish the small fry here, then—" And then she saw All Might move.
Every villain surrounding her was knocked out faster than she could blink, and then her world turned into a blur as both she and Aizawa were hoisted into his arms. "I'm sorry… I should've been here."
"A-All… Might…" she tried saying. She needed to warn him! He was their best chance at winning but it was a trap! Then her world turned into a blur again and she was deposited gently next to Aizawa.
"Everybody back to the entrance. Take Aizawa and Myla with you, they don't have much time!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
"Ribbit!" Myla felt something two arms lift her as something long wrapped around her midsection.
"All Might, you can't! That brain villain took One For—" Midoriya caught himself, something that Myla did not miss. "I-I smashed him and didn't break my arm this time, but he wasn't fazed at all! He's too strong!"
"Young Midoriya!" All Might interrupted, smiling, and flashing a peace sign. "I got this!" She felt Midoriya's resolve harden and her own hope wavered.
"N… n-no…" she tried, only coming out as a whisper.
"D-Don't worry Myla, we'll get you both out of here!" He tried to reassure her. She wanted to argue, but a harsh wheeze was all that escaped her throat. She wanted to scream at them but they turned and carried her away from the battle. She wasn't even strong enough to break from Tsuyu's grip!
"Maybe we were worried about those bad guys for nothing, All Might's unstoppable." Tsuyu commented. Myla grimaced in anger, in humiliation. Then her face turned to horror when new feelings hit her. GLEE. WORRY. PAIN.
Enough of this! With the last of her strength she twisted out of the frog-girl's grip, bringing the three of them to a stop. She looked at Midoriya and delved into his mind.
"W-woah hey!"
"Myla, what are you?—"
'Midoriya!' She screamed into his mind. The boy recoiled, looking around until she gripped his chin and dragged his eyes to her own. 'All Might's in danger! The abomination can regenerate!' She could feel every emotion going through his mind. Confusion at her voice, turning to shock at the prospect of mental communication. Then what she said clicked and terror took over. He could focus on the important bits, good.
Before the other two students could intrude on the seemingly awkward exchange the dust cleared and all of them froze. All Might was separated into two, his suplex having delivered him straight into the waiting arms of the warp villain. They were going to cut him in half!
"Asui, can you and Mineta carry Myla and Aizawa for me?"
"Sure, but what are you going to do?" The girl didn't get an answer, and Myla could only watch in anger as the boy stupidly charged ahead.
'What are you doing?!' She yelled into his mind. He ignored her though, his mind was entirely focused on saving All Might. Fool.
The purple portal closed around All Might, squeezing his arms flush against his body. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind; plans, ideas, ways she could save him, ways she could keep Midoriya from getting himself killed. None of them bore any fruit… In her recklessness to save her teacher she had rendered herself completely useless. Any small uses of her power would worsen her condition and any major abilities had an uncomfortable chance of killing her. Essence it would seem, was as much a power as it was a punishment. Two people she found interest in were about to die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She hated the feeling it gave her, it made her sick to her stomach, though that could've been the Essence poisoning as well. With a realization, she put the feeling into place. It was helplessness… She, The Radiance, one of the most powerful Higher Beings, was so utterly helpless. This was a feeling she had only felt twice before, and both of those instances involved her 'death.' Yet somehow this instance was indescribably worse, and she didn't know why… Because of Midoriya? All Might? Her classmates? They were amicable, but they were ultimately a means to an end, people to tolerate as "equals" until their paths separated. And yet… Her helplessness stemmed from the fact that it wasn't her that was in danger, but rather those very same classmates that she saw as tools to further her own motives. Was this her human brain making that choice? Or was it that when she was "made whole" she forgot what it truly meant to be herself? She couldn't follow that train of thought, it would lead her to an existential dread she may not be able to return from.
Explosions and more noise drew her attention. Different sets of hands laid her down and a pink face full of worry invaded her vision. Words were being said but everything was starting to blend together. Her adrenaline rush was wearing off it seemed, and the full scope of her injuries were starting to hit her. Agony was an old friend, but that didn't mean it was a pleasant experience for her. Her eyes closed and Myla Grimm fell unconscious due to Quirk Exhaustion and self-inflicted injuries. The Radiance looked at her options. Two beings, one in the same. The Radiance gave her body a passing glance as the students fussed over her and their two teachers, trying whatever they could to heal them or improve their conditions. Mina was nearly in hysterics, and the goddess genuinely felt bad. The girl had been nothing but nice, she didn't deserve to worry like this. An invisible moth-shaped mote of light flew back to the fountain and… reflected as she observed the battle.
Todoroki, Bakugo, Kirishima, Midoriya, and All Might stood across from the warp villain, the Nomu, and Shigaraki. Two of them in particular stood out to her in detail. Bakugo reminded her so much of herself when she was a shadow, all of that rage built up inside of her, the utter disdain for everyone around her, her complete superiority complex. It truly was like looking into a mirror, and as shaken as she was it made her… uncomfortable. And a look to the ringleader, Shigaraki, filled her with a well of confusing emotions. She hated him. He was the instrument of her humiliation, the one who harmed one of the few humans she enjoyed, but most of all Shigaraki was another mirror into her past. If Bakugo was her anger and rage, then Shigaraki was her madness. For it wasn't just rage that led her to her death, but the total collapse of her mind. Those red eyes that found joy in harming others, not for vengeance but simply the act of causing pain? They belonged to her, she wore them like no other. She reveled in breaking apart the minds of the Pale Light's subjects, found pleasure in watching those bugs kill or infect their loved ones. It was that madness that led to the way she toyed with the "Pure" Vessel. Looking back, she very well could've just broken through its mind. The seals gave her the most trouble, after all. No… She broke down the Hollow Knight, ripped apart everything that made it whole, shattered its hope, revealed its darkest fears, brought its true nature into light. She enjoyed torturing it, the same way that Shigaraki found joy in killing children. Those eyes… When she saw them it made her call back on the pleasure of hurting others, and it was only the recollection of what she did to the Hollow Knight that broke her out of that trance.
It was a stalemate with both sides waiting for the other to make their move, and she had arrived at the perfect time. Power flared like a nova inside of All Might, eight unique and similar lights blazed so bright it rivaled her, and in the next second both he and the abomination were charging each other. It was hard for her to keep up with their fight, and it was only due to her non-corporeal nature that she wasn't immediately blown away by the gale-force winds being generated from the power of their punches. It irked her, stabbed at her pride, learning once and for all that she wasn't the strongest anymore. A leftover part of her pride perhaps, her status as a Higher Being, but the events of their trip to the USJ… changed something in her. Her gaze burned onto the abomination, furious that she had been so soundly defeated, furious that she had been reduced to a state of helplessness by beings lesser than her. It was a humiliation that she would exact tenfold. One ill deed befitted another, and even if the beast was mindless she would at least make this fight easier.
With a soundless snarl, The Radiance formed a spearhead and burrowed into the Nomu's mind, shattering the layer that had repelled her. As soon as she was inside, however, an all encompassing familiarity beset her…
EMPTY-DARKNESS-LOST-HATE-RAGE-VOID-SILENCE-FEAR-HATE-LOSS-LIGHT-CONSUME-VOID-DARKNESS-LACKING-ABYSS-EMPTY-LOSSHATE-RAGE-VOID-VOID-VOID-VOID-VOID-VOID-VOID-VOID
And moments later she began screaming…
It felt the flare of power in that moment. The Light was here, it had escaped from its prison. A roar of deafening silence shook the concrete room and it pulled on the reinforced chains holding it suspended in the air. It moved its cracked mask to the door as it opened, glaring its empty glare at the two strange bugs. One lacked the fuzz on the top of its head but had it under its nasal cavity, and two large lenses covered its eyes. The other was the one that had defeated it before, glaring back at it.
"You know, this thing killed seven of my guys the last time it broke out. I'm increasing the price; eight million for my services." The Hollow Knight had heard the screams from beyond its chamber, young, small. Others were trapped here the same as it, for what purposes though it knew not.
"Done. This specimen is worth the price, the substance we've gathered from it is unlike anything I've ever seen! It takes anything we give it and adds it to the whole, utterly consuming it. But I know genetic tailoring, what we're gathering is altered. It seems like the purpose is to contain—"
"Yeah yeah, I'm sure whatever you're talking about is super interesting and whatever, but in my opinion this thing's more trouble than it's worth. It's a rabid animal that can swing pipes, who cares what it's made of." The full empty gaze hadn't moved from the second man the entire time, willing him to die on the spot.
The new bug laughed, it was a dangerous laugh that reminded it of the Soul master. It was cruel. "So ignorant, look at the way it's staring at you. Animals can't hate." The Hollow Knight's gaze shifted to the new bug. "Look at it now, it's analyzing me! It's judging me, seeing if I'm a threat or not. What an amazing creature, a beautiful example of genetic engineering. What it must've been like in its prime!" The way this bug spoke about it made its hackles rise, its sole remaining hand was twitching for a nail that it would never see again. The bug that had defeated it was skilled and cruel, but whoever this bug was far more dangerous by far. The fact that it was experimenting with Void was enough to classify him as a target. After the two bugs left it twitched, judging the strength of the chains. They were strong, the strongest that it had encountered since being sealed in the Black Egg Temple. Not strong enough. There was one leak link, a sole crack had formed due to some reason or another, and it would be the crumbling foundation of its prison. Its empty gaze found the link and a tendril slithered out of the stump that used to be its arm. It glowed a faint white and slashed through the link, and with just that little bit of chain gone the Hollow Knight thrashed until another link snapped. Then a chain was ripped from its base, and the rest soon followed. It dropped to the ground unsteadily and eyed the door. Holding out its remaining arm it formed a dagger made of pale light and cut through it, breaking through the wall and into the hallway. Immediately the lights turned red.
[SECURITY BREACH, REPEAT; SECURITY BREACH]