Chapter Text
-Loona-
Her introduction to the old man wasn’t as graceful as she’d hoped it would be, but it was less awkward than she’d thought it would be. Garou’s teacher seemed kind enough, though he did keep giving Garou cheeky looks, which neither of them really appreciated.
After the brief series of introductions, Bang led them inside the dojo, “So… if you’re going to be staying here for a while, I suggest we get you a room set up. Garou’s staying in a sizable enough room, if you wanted to share.” The old man said, adding with a quiet muttering under his breath, “ Can’t afford to clear out another closet… ”
Loona simply shrugged, glancing over at Garou, who gave a neutral shrug of his own, “I’m good with whatever.” He said casually.
And with that, the three of them were decided, immediately getting to work on clearing up the already quite bare-bones room Garou had been staying in, which Loona was fairly sure was a closet at some point in time.
Well, it didn’t really matter. It was big enough, and it couldn’t possibly be worse than in… other places she’d lived.
It wasn’t long until the room was cleared of whatever little trash was there, and Loona had set up a sleeping bag at the foot of Garou’s dingy bed, plugging in a phone charger at a conveniently-nearby outlet. As she began to set herself up, Bang had left the two of them alone, going back somewhere into the dojo to do… whatever he did, leaving her and Garou alone. Loona looked up as her new roommate flopped down onto his bed, gazing up to the ceiling with a furrowed brow.
“Something on your mind?” The disguised hellhound asked, a hint of concern plaguing her tone.
“Hmm… not really,” He said with a shrug, “I’m just… thinking about how we’re gonna do your training.” He explained, “I think I’ve got an idea for what style will suit you best, but… I’m not sure the old man’s gonna like it very much.”
“And what style is that?” Loona asked, genuine intrigue mixing with her typical sarcastic voice as she rolled out a sleeping bag and began to set up a suitcase of her clothes and things.
Garou glanced back, and for a fleeting moment, his sharp, piercing yellow eyes locked with her own deep red irises.
“Exploding Heart Release Fist.”
-Beelzebub-
The queen didn’t know what to do.
What could she do?
The news of this monster being stronger than even the sins themselves could absolutely not get out, and yet… it seems like it already was.
God forbit Lucifer or Satan caught word of such an occurance, they’d certainly be all up in arms. Luifer, she wasn’t so sure about, considering his already being busy, helping out his daughter and all - which Bee definitely supported. Good for him, right?
But Satan? The ‘King of Wrath’, the second strongest being in all of Hell?
She didn’t even want to know what would happen if that can of worms got opened to him .
She wasn’t sure she could sweet-talk her big brother out of that fight.
In a way, Garou reminded her of Satan. Strong, tenacious, skilled. Always hungry for some form of combat. Perhaps that’s why she’d bonded to the guy so quickly. The biggest difference she could pinpoint was Satan’s amount of downright aggressiveness. Garou always seemed calmer, in-control. Perhaps he used to be more impulsive in the past, but he’d absolutely dialed everything down to a comfy low.
She wasn’t sure if Satan was capable of that.
The sin of wrath was - as his duty called him to be - wrathful, impulsive, angry .
Loona was out in the human world now. Training with Garou to become stronger, to learn more techniques and become more skilled in her craft. To ensure that she would absolutely not be caught off-guard again. Not like she was before.
Just thinking about what that monster could have done to the Hellhound - no, to her friend - made the great Sin of Gluttony want to break out into sobs.
Still, she trusted Loona. She trusted Garou, too. Those two would easily get trained up as quick as they could, and - Bee hoped with all her might - Garou could get strong enough to defeat that flashy, platinum asshole.
Bee let out a bitter laugh to herself as the thought of that thing crossed her mind. How terrible was he, for just the thought of him to put her this on-edge when she hadn’t even seen him face-to-face? How terrible was he, to instil this kind of fear into the mind of a Sin?
How powerful was he, to threaten the entire infrastructure of Hell on his own?
And that wasn’t all. If Bee remembered correctly, he had a plan to gather more from the depths of the holding place of the Monsters. More who were nearly as strong as him to orchestrate an entire takeover of Hell’s infrastructure. To overthrow the Sins. To overthrow her .
And even worse, now all of Hell knew about it.
Even Vortex knew.
In truth, even though the Hellhound was the only one she felt she could truly confide in with those sorts of dark insecurities and fears - though Loona and Garou were starting to become nearly as close as well - she still wanted to maintain a strong front, to not make him worry for her. She was still a Queen of Sin, and she wanted to maintain that strength. Knowing Vortex, he’d want to be there to protect her, which - despite her endless appreciation for him - she knew he couldn’t handle. She was stronger than him, stronger than most of Hell behind only Satan and Lucifer themselves, and she still wasn’t even sure sbe could handle the war that was to come.
It was then as the Sin sat on a tall balcony of her mansion, looking out over the ring of Gluttony - her domain - that she came to a decision.
Garou and Loona were out there, taking action. They were getting stronger, preparing to take this problem by the horns and force it down themselves.
Why couldn’t she do the same?
The Queen of Gluttony slowly, with shaking hands, pulled her phone from the pocket of the comfortable skirt she’d worn for the day. Her finger hovered over the screen.
She’d not spoken to him in quite some time, but he was the best fighter she’d ever known, save for Garou. If she wanted to get stronger, he was her best bet.
She’d pay her big brother a visit.
-Stolas-
The Goetia hadn’t expected for the meeting to go as well as it did.
Sitch was more welcoming to the Demon Prince than he could dare to hope, pointing out that, in the battle they fought, they needed all the help they could get.
Stolas mainly kept to himself, letting Blast do the talking. The hero was obviously more informed on this matter of the “false god” than he, and Stolas needed all the knowledge he could get on this thing. It was like an urge, a pull in the back of his mind that urged him to learn. To know .
Towards the latter end of the meeting, Stolas was nearly shocked out of his feathers by the quiet opening of an elevator and the intrusion of a… rather strange trio. Two men - one of them with a thin, athletic build, long, blonde hair, a shimmering set of armor and a long, dangerous sword, the other a bald, completely average-looking man with what looked like a tacky yellow “hero suit” paired with a stark white cape and a pair of jaunty red boots and gloves.
And with them was what looked to be a strange, pink cyclops monster, no more than three feet in stature, wearing only a strange, wide belt.
Upon making eye contact with the two of them, Stolas immediately sensed an aura of pure aggression emanating from the armored man, the narrowed sapphire blue eyes sent a nervous chill down his spine. That man was dangerous.
Though, Stolas couldn’t quite place his finger on it, there seemed to be something going on with the bald man. Completely nonchalant, completely average , and yet… there was something about this man’s very existence that made Stolas’ mind go into overdrive with warning signals. There was something… supernatural about this man.
Something that should not be .
And yet, Stolas didn’t do anything, he couldn’t . Something in his mind stopped him from even attempting to engage the completely inconspicuous man. Instead, he simply introduced himself to the new trio with a dramatic bow after Sitch had assured them the Goetia was no threat, seeming to ease the trio for the time being.
The conversation had since turned from the ongoing experiment to a new subject as the ninja - Flashy Flash - took control of the room, asking about someone Blast had been fighting.
Asking about God .
This snapped Stolas back into the conversation as Flashy Flash approached Blast with bravado in his every graceful step. Blast’s expression growing darker by the second.
“If you’re thinking about joining the fight, then forget about it.” Blast said simply, “Someone like you would die against God for sure.”
This seemed to anger the ninja, who’s eye twitched with internal rage as he continued, “What..? Are you calling me weak? Don’t get ahead of yourself just because you got the better of me one time. I won’t be satisfied until I see that “God” showered in slashes. ”
More conversation took place, talks about people that Stolas couldn’t begin to place. A leader of ninjas named ‘Empty Void’ - who also happened to be a partner of Blast? That was news to Stolas. Either way, it was all drivel that the Goetia could barely understand. What he could gather was that Blast wished to capture Empty Void and bring him back to the headquarters so that he may be reverted back into a ‘human’ state, so that he could continue to help Blast instead of being corrupted by the form of a monster.
This all came to a head when Flashy Flash proposed an interesting question, one that Stolas wished to hear the answer to…
“Are you sure he’s the sort of person who can even be captured alive to begin with?”
Blast’s eyes widened.
In the back of Stolas’ mind, he felt a strange twinge .
The cosmos was turning in on itself.
“ OH NO! ” Blast shouted, bending over as energy erupted from his gloves. He quickly put his fists together, summoning the energy to warp spacetime in on itself in a massive bubble that covered the entire building. Stolas’ eyes shot around the room with panic as he felt the rumble of a strange cosmic power approaching from all sides.
It was inescapable
Undodgeable.
Undefeatable.
Then, the world went black… for only a second.
With a massive boom , the Hero Association Headquarters returned safely to the ground, Stolas, Flashy Flash, Saitama, Blast, and Sitch all having been teleported to the roof of the building by Blast.
Looking outside, Stolas could barely stand the sight.
Over the massive and barren landscape of what was once a city, now lay two great canyons stretching out across the ground in the shape of a gargantuan “X”.
At the center of it? The very building which Stolas stood on now.
“Great Lucifer , what was that?!” Stolas demanded, whipping his head around towards Blast with panic in his eyes.
Blast glanced towards him, then gave a small sigh.
“That was Void’s ‘Dimension Blade’... it seems as though he’s fully recovered now.” He explained, “I guess that was his way of ‘greeting’ us…”
Flashy Flash, despite his outward coolness, seemed utterly shaken as he cast a glance at the mutilated ground below, “Dimension slash..? Don’t tell me that’s one of his techniques…”
Blast only nodded, “Yeah…”
Saitama, who had been watching out over the cracked landscape, turned his gaze to Blast.
“Think you can win, old dude?”
Blast only paused, “Well…” He started, then gave a small, cheeky smirk.
“I’ll figure it out.”