Chapter 17: Chapter 16: To kill a Mockingbird.

~The next morning~

 

— P.O.V Reincarnator Aizan Hopewell —

 

‘Shit, I slept in again!’

 

[I tried to wake you up~]

 

‘Yeah, yeah Eve.’

 

[I am honestly surprised you didn’t run over to “your” girls when they texted you last night about the new villain.]

 

I frowned at that.

 

‘They are big girls, and all the training we’ve done has strengthened them greatly compared to how they should be. But this new villain does have me worried. Another Reincarnator?’

 

[I doubt it, Aizan. As your strength grows, as does mine you know! I’ve been searching for another person with a system like me, but I’ve come up empty.]

 

‘Could it be that they don’t have one?’

 

[Impossible, Aizan. This isn’t like the books you used to read, you know. Systems are needed to help guide you Reincarnators, and to help you grow. Otherwise, you will never be able to go past the current world's limits.]

 

I nod my head in acknowledgement at that.

 

‘I guess that is true, Eve. That kind old man (God) that reincarnated me did say that just giving out wishes without systems is wasteful. I remember. I take it, that is why?’

 

[*nod* Yes. Among other things. Like keeping you safe from higher powers that may be in the universe that you wish to go too. We systems can help mask your presence so you don’t get obliterated as soon as you are sent somewhere.]

 

I sweat drop at that, and give another nod. Being erased by something like the Presence or something similar before being able to even enjoy the new life would indeed suck.

 

Coming up to the school gate, I could see Momo and Mina waiting for me.

 

Momo: “You’re late!”

 

Aizan: “Would you believe that my alarm didn’t go off?”

 

Mina: “Yes. Because you’re always late when it doesn’t! Hehe!”

 

I just scratch the back of my head and look down a little.

 

Aizan: “Sorry sorry. Shall we go?”

 

Both of the girls each took an arm, and we started making our way into the school.

 

Momo: “I am surprised they are going to have school the day after such an event happened.”

 

Mina: “I am not! Nezu is a taskmaster I hear!”

 

I laugh at that.

 

Aizan: “Come now, Mina. He’s not THAT bad… most of the time. They probably want to make a show to the media or something, is my bet.”

 

[Most likely.]

 

‘Right?’

 

Mina just huffed in annoyance.

 

Mina: “It’d be nice to get a day off… Besides, seeing all those bodies was honestly really scary, Aizan!”

 

Aizan: “Speaking of which... What exactly happened?”

 

Momo: “It’s kind of hard to say. No-one saw anyone killing the villains except All Might and Midoriya-san.”

 

Aizan: “Oh?”

 

Giving me a nod, Momo also frowned.

 

Momo: “But he refuses to explain anymore. He said All Might asked him to keep it ‘hush hush’ for now while they figure out what exactly is going on.”

 

Aizan: “Sounds like All Might. Not wanting to spread panic with false information. Still, this villain killed every other villain?”

 

Both girls gave a nod as we entered the school.

 

Aizan: “That’s no good. They may be villains, but killing isn’t an option.”

 

[That’s right! They could always be redeemed! But, we do need to think of a way to keep people better contained while trying to redeem them. And failure in that, we can keep them locked away then.]

 

‘Agreed. Everyone deserves a second chance, no matter what they have done. No one is only 100% evil after all.’

 

After talking some more with the girls, we finally made it to our class room. Walking in, I could see our homeroom teacher is yet again in his sleeping bag.

 

Aizan: “Homeless-san, good morning!”

 

Shota: “Good morning, Brat. I am tired, so just take your seat for now.”

 

Aizan: “Ha! When are you not tired, homeless-san~?”

 

Getting a few giggles out of the girls, Shota just grunted and then ignored us.

 

‘He’s amusing, but I honestly do wonder why he has a job as a teacher. He should be an assistant teacher at best honestly. He just doesn’t have the personality needed to teach teens.’

 

[Eh, it’s not terrible I guess. But you’re right. Anime world?]

 

‘Anime world.’

 

Eve and I both gave a little laugh at our inside joke. Eventually everyone made it to class, and we were all talking about random stuff when the class bell rang, but Shota didn’t move from his spot.

 

Aizan: “Homeless-san~ Class has started~.”

 

Shota: “Yea, yea. I am waiting for All Might. He has an announcement for the class.”

 

Shaking my head at the usual laziness of our teacher, we all went back to talking.

 

Mina: “Come on, Midoriya-san! Please tell us!”

 

Izuku: “Sorry, Ashido-san, but I said I’d keep it under wraps for All Might. Besides, you heard Sensei-san. All Might will be coming here to make an announcement, maybe it’ll be about the villainess?”

 

Aizan: “So it was a woman?”

 

Izuku’s eyes shot open, and he covered his mouth with both of his hands.

 

‘Haha, he’s so easy sometimes. I like this version a lot better than the original though.’

 

[Yourself to thank for that though. Even the firecracker over there is much tamer because of you!]

 

Looking over at Katsuki Bakugo I couldn’t help but agree with Eve.

 

‘Yea, I was not looking forward to his attitude when I was first coming into this world if I am being honest…’

 

[I know what you mean. But you’ve done some real good Aizan! Be proud. But don’t let it get to your head! You’re still weaker than All Might by a lot after all.]

 

‘Well, that’s just the nature of our power after all. A slow burn.’

 

[And it has nothing to do with the fact that you’ve really eased off on the leveling right?]

 

Blushing in my mind I couldn’t help but give an internally wry smile to Eve.

 

‘Hey, it’s been 14 years since I’ve come to this world, and I am already level 52. So it’s not that bad!’

 

[All Might is 76, and would punt you out that window while yawning…]

 

‘Yes, well. All Might isn’t an enemy, and I have time till AFO sends the real heavy hitters. BUT. Since I can tell you are glaring at me, I’ll take the girls this weekend for another round of tower climbing.’

 

[Good! Speaking of girls…]

 

But before Eve could finish her sentence, a loud shout came from outside the door.

 

All Might: “I AM ONCE AGAIN COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

 

Closing my eyes and lowering my head while shaking it, I sigh at his antics.

 

[Uhhh… Aizan. You might want to look up right now…]

 

‘Hmm? What do you… mean… Eve…’

 

Looking up at her behest, I was confused till I saw All Might. He looked different. Very, very different. Pale skin, dull yellow eyes, and red almost glowing lines running up his neck to his face.

 

The entire class gasped at his appearance.

 

‘Why.. does that look very familiar to me, Eve…’

 

Izuku: “All Might?! What happened to you!?”

 

He put his fists on his hips and let out a loud laugh.

 

All Might: “Fear not, young Midoriya! I am most assuredly fine!”

 

[Found it! After delving into your memories, he looks like those Spirits from the Fate anime that were “Alter” versions!]

 

‘That… can’t be good.’

 

All Might: “As you all will find out!”

 

As he said that, one of my skills, [Danger Sense], started to blare at me. Screaming of danger.

 

Aizan: “Everyone, we need to ru-”

 

Sadly, before I could even finish yelling my warning the sprinkler system went off.

 

[AAAAHHHHHH!!!! Aizan, get out of this water! It’s pure evil! IT HURTS!]

 

‘Eve?!’

 

Without delay, I quickly created a protection bubble around myself and the closest near me. Which was sadly only my two girls. All three of us stared in horror as the rest of the students suddenly sunk into the layer of black water that was building up on the floor.

 

All Might: “I knew you’d be a problem young Hopewell. Shota, get up.”

 

Shota: “Yeah yeah.”

 

He yawned as he got out of his sleeping back, revealing the same corrupted look as All Might.

 

Aizan: “This isn’t good.”

 

Momo: “Aizan, what’s going on?!”

 

Mina: “Why do they look like that!? Where are our friends?!”

 

All Might gave a light chuckle and started to make his way to us.

 

‘This is really bad.’

 

[We can’t touch that water, Aizan. That really hurt me.]

 

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Giving Eve a nod, I focused back on All Might who was giving me an indifferent look.

 

All Might: “No luck, Shota?

 

Shota shook his head and replied, “No. I still can’t shut down his powers.”

 

All Might: “Take down your protection bubble, young Hopewell. You and the little ladies will be taking a dip in the water to gain clarity.”

 

Aizan: “No, All Might.”

 

‘Eve, is there a way we can save everyone?’

 

[I don’t know, Aizan… Looking at their status’ isn’t promising…]

 

Wanting to see for myself, I bring up All Might's status.

 

~Toshinori Yagi~

Hero name: All Might

Age: 49

Level: 80

Disposition: Pure Lawful Evil. Regards host as a threat to the new world order as is. Hostile.

 

‘Ohh, that’s not great. Me and my big mouth saying All Might isn’t an enemy.’

 

All Might: “Then I will take it down.”

 

My eyes widened, as his fist came crashing down onto my shield. And much to my expectation and horror, a single attack from him caused it to crack heavily.

 

Aizan: “Please stop, All Might! Come back to your senses!”

 

All Might: “I am clear headed as I have ever been young Hopewell. You will see.”

 

And with that, he brought his fist down again towards my shield. Time seemed to slow down as my [Accelerated Thinking] kicked into high gear.

 

[What are we going to do, Aizan? When he hits your shield and shatters it, it’ll go on a 20 second cooldown. The sprinklers are still going strong…]

 

‘I know Eve… I know.’

 

Looking at the girls at the edge of my vision, I steeled myself for what I had to do.

 

‘We can’t let that corrupt us.’

 

[It won’t be able to. It’ll just destroy us instead.]

 

‘What? Why?’

 

[*sigh* We are both blessed by all that is Good, Aizan. We can’t be corrupted. That black water, when it touched you, wasn’t corrupting us. It was destroying us.]

 

I let out a loud gulp in my mind at that.

 

‘This is even more serious than I thought. I am not strong enough to fight All Might. My shield breaks as soon as his fist hits… I have to sacrifice the girls to the black water, don’t I…’

 

[If we don’t want to be destroyed by the falling water… I am so sorry, Aizan.]

 

‘No, this isn't the end. There has to be a way to save them all. I am sure of it. Let’s work under that assumption. There isn’t anything the two of us can’t do after all!’

 

[You’re right! Even though it will hurt both of us to leave them like this, we can’t do anything. Yet! Let’s flee, and power up. I am sure once we reach level 100, something special will happen that will help us with this situation. It will take us a long time in the tower though.]

 

‘It will, but for them, it’ll only be a month or so with the time dilation at max.’

 

Giving one more look at the girls at the edge of my vision, I give them a silent apology.

 

‘I am so sorry girls, but I won’t leave you to this dark fate for long!’

 

And with a heavy heart, I bring in my shield to cover just myself and launch myself backwards towards the door.

 

All Might’s eyes widen slightly, but quickly takes control of the new situation and grabs the girls. He then throws them towards the black watery floor.

 

Aizan: “Don’t worry you two! I won’t leave you like that! I’ll be back for you!”

 

I give one last look at their horrified faces, before I turn and leave the room. Holding back the tears that threaten to leave my face, I run wildly down the soaked halls.

 

‘I feel like such a scumbag, Eve! The look on their faces… the look of complete betrayal.’

 

[I know, Aizan. I know… But I am sure they will understand when we finally free them, everyone, of this corruption.]

 

Wiping away the small tears from my eyes with my sleeve, I started to leap down the stairs.

 

‘Where did it even come from? The Dark Goddess that I am meant to fight eventually?’

 

[No, I doubt it. She can’t affect the world to such a degree like this.]

 

‘And you said that a Reincarnator is out of the question?’

 

[Most definitely. I can sense no-one else on this planet with a system.]

 

‘Then who or what cau-’

 

My question died in my mind as I turned around the final hall to the exit and skidded to a stop.

 

‘Oi. Eve?’

 

[...]

 

‘EVE?!’

 

Before me, blocking the exit was something I honestly should have expected once I saw the state of All Might.

 

‘EVE!! ANSWER! You said… you said a Reincarnator wasn’t possible!!!’

 

Blocking my way out was none other than Saber Alter. Standing there in all her glory with her sword stabbed into the ground and her hands on the pommel. Like a Dark Guardian.

 

[Impo… Impossible…]

 

Azian: “EVE!”

 

[It’s impossible!!!! Look at her status!!]

 

Doing so, I could only stare in horror.

 

~Artoria Pendragon Alter~

Hero Name: N/A

Age: 3,502,341

Level: Can not calculate

Disposition: Pure Lawful Evil(?). Hostile. K̴̪̙͉͓͌̾͐̄̌̎̐͘̕̚ͅì̴̧̢̭͙̊̃̆͐̿͒͛͜͜͠l̸̞̦̬̥͚͍͈̱͙̥̑̇͐l̶̢͓͓̠̫͖̇̈̈͆̅.̶̯̙̯͊͊̃͂̿̚͜͝͠ ̵͈͈̻̲̯̳̝̽̽̋̆̓̀͋͋͗M̶̢̰͖̠͉͋͊u̵͈̹͙̭̜̱͖̳̝͆̅̉̋͗̚r̴̼̦͇̠͙͓̞̭̳̤̬͛̎̋d̶̝̪̦͓̾̓́͐͘ë̶̡͎̬͚͈̖̞̼̣̝́̓͊̈͝͝r̸̫̦͈̉.̷̡̞͇̫͉͓͕̬́̀͆̋̉̈́ ̵̧̢̨̝̜͔̗̠̼̏͘D̵͕͙͔̿͝ͅȇ̸̗͇͕̜̜̾̇̊́̓̿̇͌͌̑s̵̛͔͔̎̀̽͠ẗ̵̛̛̲̟̹̞̻̳́̄̿̄̈́͝͠͝r̸̡̮̘̟̺̞͇͗̊̍̀́́͂ǫ̴̛̺̣͋̇́̏̑̑͊̋̕͝y̵̡͉̗̙̠̳̠̣̟̣̪͑̆̆̂̇̓͘͠.̷̝̘͖̹̺͈͌̒͂̓̅̈́͗͗̅ͅ ̸̧̺͖̣̿Ȍ̵̘̜͕̿̈͛̂̌̾̈b̶͕̙̝͔̫͙̯͎͛́̈́̓l̵̡͙̱̝̬̇̽͆̄́́̆ḯ̶͚̗̝͉̰̠͊͐̇̈́̉͌̔t̸̥͇͙͌̆̈͆̅͗̈ę̶̡̛̳̮̪̝̠̑͐͆̊̈͊̀̐͘̕ͅr̵͚̈́͌͒̽̂̉̏͊̚̚̚a̵̧̡̛͙̳̣̮̝̰͙͈̫̿͒͌̈́̊͂͌͝ṫ̵̛̟͓̼͉͂̒̀͊͋ȩ̶̢͇̺̰̅̊.̶͍̜̙̩̮͈̖͕̍̂͊ ̵͉̬̼͕̯͔̩͕̫̀͆͌̎̅͆̈̓̕͝͝ͅE̶̢̙̯̗͚̖̺̖̝̎͆ͅR̸̢̽Â̸̳̞͚̈́͗̽Ş̵̲̳͖͙͔̞̪̅͋̋͐̇̆̎̈́E̶̛̘̻̅̈͌̀̒̊͒!̷̯̜̃͗͂̈́͘͜

 

‘Oi…. oi! That’s…!’

 

[We need to run! RUN! That is why I didn’t sense any system or anything! She is the REAL DEAL! That is a real Artoria Alter from the Fate anime you know of! RUN DAMN IT!]

 

As I took a step back to run, she finally turned her head to look at me, and it felt as if the entire world came crashing down onto me. There was a splash, as I fell down into the black water on my knees.

 

‘What… what is going… on eve?’

 

[This is her warrior spirit! Her battle intent is crushing us! Your shield and skill [Clear Mind] is keeping you awake, but that's it! We need to flee somehow, Aizan! There is no way we can ever face this woman!]

 

Trying to raise my head to look at Artoria, I could only shakily move it a few centimetres. Never mind trying to look up at her face, I can’t look beyond her shoes!

 

‘This is just her intent?! It feels like the entire world is on me! The thought of her blood lust added to this, and I shudder…’

 

[I am going to be honest, I don’t think your mind could take the blood lust of a three and a half million old warrior… Even with [Calm Mind].]

 

‘I agree… But I can’t move an inch, Eve. What can we do-’

 

As I was talking to Eve, I started to hear heavy foot splashes coming down the hallway. Soon, a voice was heard and if my situation was beyond hopeless before, my fate was now all but sealed.

 

All Might: “Ahh. The lady who helped out at the U.S.J.”

 

‘So it was Artoria who killed everyone?’

 

[Seems like it. Aizan, I don’t see an out for us…]

 

All Might: “So, what’s the deal with young Hopewell here? Why is he on the floor?”

 

I heard the rustling of clothes and armour.

 

All Might: “Hmm. Silent type I see. Well, no matter. Thank you for containing him for us. I’ll go get his friends. I am sure they want to be here when he gains the clarity as we have. I’ll be right back.”

 

‘Come on, we need to think of something, Eve! They mean to dunk us into the black water! Which, now that I think about it, is “All the World’s Evil.”’

 

[I am trying, Aizan. But… I really can’t think of anything, I am sorry…]

 

‘What about using my skill to open the tower to escape there?’

 

[No good. We are considered in combat with Artoria.]

 

My time was all too soon up, as I eventually started to hear several foot splashes in the black water.

 

Momo: “You know, I am more than a little mad at you right now Aizan!”

 

Mina: “Yea! How could you leave us like that?! Sure, it was for the best really, but still! It’s the principle of the matter, you know?!”

 

Momo: “Can’t even talk to us, hmm? Well, no matter. You’ll get the clarity like us, and then you’re going to spoil us for an entire MONTH for ditching us like that!”

 

Mina: “Yea!!!”

 

I could hear All Might just chuckle a little.

 

All Might: “Ahh, to be young again. Alright ladies, go ahead and break his shield.”

 

Both: “Hooo!”

 

‘I am sorry, Eve. It looks like this is the end for us. Killed by my lovers no less. And they aren’t even trying to actually kill us…’

 

[I am also sorry, Aizan. If only I was stronger…]

 

‘You and I both, Eve.’

As the girls started to pound on my shield with their powers, I could only lament our fate. As my shield was about to fail, I finally said something I should have said long ago.

 

‘I love you, Eve. Truly. Thank you for being with me for these past 14 years.’

 

[Aizan! I love you as-]

 

My shield broke and Eve started screaming. And as I was sinking into the waters, I felt the pressure from Artoria vanish. Lifting my head to look at her, I wanted to hate her. To hate her for killing everyone, for killing me. For killing Eve. But I couldn’t. She was as much a victim to this black water as anyone else.

 

With Eve screaming in my head, tears started to fall down my face. Soon I was fully submerged in the water.

 

When Eve went silent, I knew she was dead. And it was soon my turn, as I experienced the worst pain I have ever felt or could imagine. As I was being ripped apart by the very evils of the world, I only had one thought as my world went dark forever more.

 

‘In the end, I couldn’t save… anyone… again…’