2 A little early to the Party
Is there any word that could perfectly describe the annoying feeling of when you would be searching for something - turning chairs, flipping tables and all that shit- while cursing how the heck did that something go missing—only to realize that it had been on your person all this while?
Because I have searched the dictionary and it still eludes me till this day.
For example, you want to change a TV channel and you can't seem to the find the remote, and then you spend over 10 grueling minutes running yourself rag in searching the whole house. Just when you decide to give up, you then frustratingly, peevishly, and maddeningly realize that the damn remote had been on the cushion all this while!
Seriously, how did I not see it?!
Yeah, there's no denying the welling up voices within you that whisper that, maybe it would have been better for the remote have gone missing.
At least, that is how it is for me.
Now, one would ask why am I spewing all this nonsense rabble? Well, that's quite simple to answer. But before I do just that, allow me to begin by asking one unpretentious question.
As a Hollow and a Vasto Lorde Menos with at that, what are the powers should one expect from a being of my standing?
Let me to answer that - for the sake of the masses of course.
A [Cero] which in my case, comes with sweet variations when it is further powered up, and yes, ladies and gentlemen. The [Garganta]. A Hollow personal method of inter-dimensional transportation.
You see, after the fiasco with the irrational Devils, my next line of action was to set course for the human world.
After all, who the hell wants to stay in Hell…? Heh, see what I did there? Nice punchline if I have to say so myself.
Anyways, suffice to say; the magical path to the human world didn't reveal itself like a certain Diablo-lite door. I had spent hours over hours flying around and asking the nearby Devils if they knew the way out.
By the way, none of them really replied to me… Or actually they did—either by running away or charging at me to get one-punched.
Damn, it's like they're all having a Mortal Kombat fever or something.
I had already asked the Claymore Devil about the traditional method the Devils of Hell used to invade the human world -because that's what they do in reality- and the Claymore Devil's reply almost made me to almost slap all of his fanged teeth off.
Suicide. That damn bastard told me to commit suicide or to be more specific, I had to die in order to be transported to the human world.
Which is still suicide by the way.
Although, I suppose the Claymore Devil's words held some weight because I do remember that in the manga, any Devil that dies on the Human World would always resurrect in Hell and vice-versa.
So yeah, dying in order to manifest in the human world is one plausible option.
But…
Look, I'm a 16-year-old normal hormonal boy. Just because I'm now an uber-lite being with nuke powers does not mean that my 16-year-old memories of normalcy had just upped and vanished…
Just yesterday, the worst problem I had on my plate was how to save up enough dough to go buy a game disk for god-sake!
Anyways, suicide or any form of self-inflicted death, or even death in general was out.
Out, you hear me.
Out!
… Ok, I admit my emotions are getting the better of me. I wonder if there's a Therapy Devil or something… Nah~ that could possibly make things even worse.
Besides, this could be a good thing using a hindsight perspective. At least, not matter what, I still have my human tendencies.
Consequently, just as I was about to return to that red blood world to reminisce on the essence of life and see if I can find the courage to… You know… Off myself. My not-so-neighbor asked me if there was any special characteristics about my Devil Concept (I didn't tell it that I was a Hollow) that I could employ to leave Hell with my own will.
Its reason being that apart from the Hell Devil—the Transcendent Devils and the top-honchos of the Primal Devils could forcefully create a path to the human world without necessarily dying.
That, ladies and gentlemen brings me to the one ability I had forgotten while psychologically running myself dry.
The [Garganta].
So as I stand staring at the rift in reality that led to human world. I could only force back the raging frustration at the tip of my tongue and walk into the portal.
Besides, it is not like I could do anything about it, anyway.
ᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥ
Upon coming out from the other side of the portal, I paused, wincing a bit as soon as my eyes connected to the searing brightness of the sun.
"God, why does it feel like it's been quite a while time since I'd seen the sun?"
"Maybe it's because this is the FIRST time that you're seeing the sun." A voice behind me sarcastically commented.
Eye twitching, I pulled out the strapped claymore from my back and regarded the tiny ugly face on the weapon's hilt.
"Seems like someone's getting a tad bit too bigheaded for his own good." Reiryoku suffused with harmful intentions coursed through the claymore eliciting a familiar scream. "We don't want anything bad to happen now, do we, Claymore Devil?"
"You… Devil."
I shrugged carelessly. "Well, you did say that we're all Devils… Look, now that we're in the human world, I expect you to behave yourself and that means no attacking humans for attacking sake or we're both going to have a serious problem in our hands."
I narrowed my eyes and utilized the low electricity Kido; [Byakurai] to get my point across.
"And we both know how I deal how with my problems, don't we?"
"... Tyrant."
"Huh, what did you say?"
"I absolutely understand, sir! I won't do it again, sir!"
I nodded with a pleased smile - or at least, what could count as an impression of smile.
The Claymore Devil for all its grumbling is a total wuss. One that I can easily control through the use of both establishment of dominance and power boosting.
Yeah, I'm quite sure that most of you would be wondering, how did something like this happen? - The Claymore Devil's sudden transformation from a nightmarish titan into an unassuming claymore.
I want to come straight and say that this was nothing more than a coincidence.
A lucky happenstance born out of sheer idleness.
Back before I could begin the search for a way out of Hell. I was left with the conundrum of what to do with the sole surviving Devil that had survived my love-taps; the Claymore Devil.
Killing the Claymore Devil would send it to the human world—which would only lead to the Devil initiating a bloody rampage before it is sent back.
I really do not want the blood of any human caught in its wake on my conscience.
Speaking of that, it seems like I would have to add hunting Devils to my bucket list - the ones that I had killed back in Hell with my [Cero] and my fists, that is.
Who knows how many humans they must have killed by now?
Anyways, with my options being so few, I decided to spare the Devil and take my leave—when a ridiculous idea suddenly came to me.
A Zanpakuto is a medium by which a Soul Reaper or an Arrancar can utilize their power to their full potential. Zanpakuto in their essence contain a soul ideal to that of their wielder.
Of course, it is virtually impossible for me to procure a Zanpakuto due to not being in the Bleach universe. But that does not mean that I am entirely out of options.
Yeah, an option that is literally lying right in front of me.
The Claymore Devil is fundamentally a concept given awareness - a fear of humanity given form. While it is true that it does not possess Reiryoku that does not mean that it does not have a soul.
And the main feature of a Zanpakuto is its ability to house a soul.
So I decided to have a little test done to try and see if it is possible for me to gain a… Pseudo-Zanpakuto of my own. And what do you know, after some 'forceful' Reiryoku infusion and utilization of a forbidden sealing Kido, I've got this nice weapon for myself.
It does not have a Shikai state much less a Bankai, but the fact that it would still enable me to utilize my powers more effectively make it definitely a win.
Although, the amount of Reiryoku it took for me to force the Claymore Devil into a Zanpakuto was no joke.
I really thought I was going to die back there.
Shaking my head in a grimace, I temporarily dismissed that line of thought and turned to inspect my present location.
I was on the terrace of a story building, probably a 45 or 50 floor structure surmising from the view of elevation. And most importantly, I was not alone.
"Hey…" I cleared my throat and raised my hands, trying to appear as amicable as possible. "I come… In peace."
Gathered some meters away from me were humans, who from I can see, had been playing cards - had being the key term. Currently, they were all frozen stiff with agitation rolling off from them in spades.
I wasn't that surprised as from their point of view, they were before a potential abominable Devil. Technically, they weren't wrong about that. I did come from Hell, after all.
"De-De-De…" A man -probably a janitor from his dressing- stammered while frozen stiffed. "Devil."
"Devil!"
"E-eek!"
That lit up the racket as the others stood up, tumbling themselves while trying to run away. Well, that was a totally hurtful yet expected reaction to my greeting. Unfortunately, I can't let them go just yet.
With a small breathe intake, I flexed a bit of my Reiatsu -just a smidge- and the retreating humans immediately collapsed like a puppet cut off from its strings.
As I walked towards them, I couldn't help but note how small they were compared to me – I literally meant that. Like saying that they could reach my chest was just me being generous. Then again, I probably wouldn't have noticed as compared to most Devils I'm around the shorter size.
Setting some distance away from the humans, I crouched while furiously trying not to grimace at the smell of urine coming out from an elderly man.
"Relax, relax, it's not my intention to give you all simultaneous heart attacks." I said, disarmingly. "Yeah, I know I look like a Devil, so I won't fault you for behaving how you did… Even though, it kind of hurts to be honest. I just want to ask a few questions. Answer them and I'll be out of your hair before you can even blink."
Releasing my Reiatsu, I calmly watched as the humans (damn, sure feels strange to address them like that) gave each other anxious looks before a red hair young woman struggled to pull herself up.
"Al-All I have to do is answer your questions and yo-you won't do anything to hurt us?"
"Exactly what you said, Miss."
The woman looked back probably seeing as her co-workers egged her on, before she turned back to me.
"What do you want to know?"
To that, I smiled.
"The situation of the human race and Devils."
.
.
.
It was only some minutes after I had left the humans while leisurely flying did the Claymore Devil seem to be unable to contain its curiosity.
"So, Boss. All those questions back there?" The Claymore Devil asked. "Is there something you wanted to know about the human world?"
"Something like that?" I hummed, flicking the wing of bird who scuttled away in fright. "You did say it's been quite some time since you had visited the human world. The only useful information you could give me was about the Gun Devil's rampage and the power boost it gave all the Devils. What I really needed to know is at which point in time am I in relation to the Canon."
"Canon? What is this… Canon?"
"You… You won't understand and I don't want to bother myself explaining it to you. So just drop it."
"I got it. You're the Boss." The Claymore Devil replied giving the faintest impression of a shrug. "Anyways, now that we're in the human world what's the next step. If I had it my way I would started by ripping those humans to shreds. But… Alright! Alright! I won't do something like that as long as you are my owner. Just don't look at me like that, it's scary."
I coldly regarded the nervous Devil while once again reminded of its, or rather, its species brutal propensities for human slaughter.
Then again, this is THE Chainsaw Man universe I am dealing, so such sense of brutality even from a tamed Devil should not be that surprising - even though it actually is.
Sighing, I shifted back my thoughts to the more tangible situation at hand. The shocking fact that unlike in most fanfics, I had been transported to a pre-Canon timeline.
It has been 2 years since the Gun Devil's blitzing massacre and the human fear of the Devils has exploded to extreme levels ever since. For me though, that meant that Denji still hasn't become the Chainsaw Man. Makima still hasn't been contracted to Japan Prime Minister. Aki is still in his punisher x batman phase. And most Arc One characters are still alive.
Now what to do about it? If I had been anyone or anything else, I would have immediately absconded from Japan and looked for a quiet place to hang my head low. After all, interacting with Canon means going up against the badest of the bad - beings who's every battle would cost you a limb at best.
But I'm a motherfucking Vasto Lorde. Nuking an entire country much less a Devil isn't an impossible task for me to do…
There is also the fact that I want to see what I can change in the Canon story.
"Before I can even begin any of that…" I halted midair and close my eyes. "I'll start by sending back all the Devils I brought with me back to Hell."
I really don't want to be hearing sob stories about people who had died to Devils that I had unintentionally brought with me when Canon officially starts. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth.
An echolocation wave emanates from my form like a sonar as I used the Hollow skill, Pesquisa to search for any Devils that are around the city.
Like I had said before; while it is true that Devils do not possess any form of Reiryoku, they still have souls - however corrupt and foul it may be.
Sure enough, I got a signal. One not far from here.
"Alright, Claymore…" I pulled out my Zanpakuto while Reiryoku suffused my feet. "It's time to show me what you're made off."
With a single application of Sonido, I vanished.
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Now remember those common troupe in fanfics; the one where despite being in a big urbanized city, one way or the other, the SI would still meet up characters -main or minor- from the manga's timeline?
Honestly, I thought that was a total hogwash - a method writers use to integrate their characters into the storyline.
I mean, what really are the odds of such a thing happening?
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3 minutes later,
"Yeah, what are the odds?"
Purple blood caked my sword as the once powerful monstrosity; the Mosquito Devil, painted the Ferris wheel and edifices of the amusement park with their blood and innards, and all around me was pandemonium from the ones who seemed to be quite surprised at their survival.
But I really could not give a damn about that.
Why? Because placed on my free arm was a girl who has been fated to die. Of course I did not recognize her at first as she is currently much younger than portrayed in Canon.
In fact, from her dressing, I reckon that she's still in middle school.
Anyways, I still had to be sure.
"Hey…"
"… …"
The girl turned to look at me with dull eyes - ugh, looks like she lost someone close to the Mosquito Devil.
Pushing down the uncomfortable feeling within me, I asked. "I just want to confirm a little something. Can you tell me your name, again? I mean your full name."
"… … I'm Akane… Akane Sawatari."
My non-existent eyebrow twitched.
'Uh… Yep. She's definitely snake woman. Killer of eyepatch-chan and presently, a middle schooler. How am I supposed to deal with this?'
