Index and the World Rings, Chapter 7

“What up, kiddies? Uncle Deadpool’s back again!” said the assassin with his legs crossed around the neck of a Demon Hound. “While I’m waiting for my personal chopper, the author has asked me to answer some questions the audience didn’t ask. First, what are the codenames Negative Sector LN? Okka – Numbuh Fail; Ettol – Numbuh Single; Anaid – Numbuh Amateur; Aknimsaj – Numbuh Decrease; Adnama – Numbuh Ground; Ycus – Numbuh Life Count; Hannah – Numbuh Click; Arabrab – Numbuh Drop; and Eznatsnoc—holy f***, how the f*** do you pronounce that name?! Well, she’s Numbuh Dim. By the way, Akko’s Power Level is 1,220, and Diana is 4,082.”

“Master Wilson, there you are.” Kalluto Zoldyck approached him. “Hurry, the chopper’s waiting for you.”

“In a minute, little lady. (“I’m a boy.”) Next question, why is Queen Sherry so big? Well, it ain’t JUST because of candy; y’see, when she was a kid, Malladus’s demons captured her and did experiments with Gigantification, turning normal kids into giants. It was like early Bang Gassing, and Caesar attempted to replicate the experiments. Well, if there are no more questions, I have some puppies to kill.”

Thank you, Deadpool. Well, I hope you enjoyed the Witch Academia, ’cause now it’s time to head for the Hero Academia!

Night 7: Super Planet, Superbia

GKND H.Q.

Sector SA had gone up to GKND after leaving Avalar. They met up with Nebula and had her get in contact with Cheren. “Well, it’s nice to know things are going well up there. We’ve been making progress on the page collection, but we met a fair amount of resistance from our enemies.”

“I suppose I’ll have to send a small fleet to Avalar to try and chase the Big Mom Pirates away.” Nebula figured. “If you don’t mind, Cheren, we might keep Emily with us to help with that. Sector SA, you’ll find the Book Pages we collected so far inside Bender’s compartment.”

“Thank you, Nebula.” Nagisa replied. “Now, if you would point us to your guest rooms…”

“Hm hm, they’re located conveniently near the bathrooms.”

“Ha ha HAAAA!” cheered Killua, wearing only shorts as he plopped onto his round, comfy bed. “Back when me and Gon were on the road, we didn’t get any beds like this! HUUAH!” He grunted when Nagisa jumped on top of him.

“Hee hee hee, bet you won’t find any o’ this in Witch School!”

“WAAAH!” A portal opened above them and dumped pillows.

“Hey, I gained some of my powers back!” Hoopa beamed. “Hehehe, I can drop pillows now! Bet that was surprising, right?”

“Oh my, are we really sleeping in the same room as boys?” Lotte asked sheepishly, tapping her fingers and shying in the corner. “I’ve only ever shared a room with the girls, and in a witch school, you hardly see people of the opposite gender, this is so awkward, I hope I don’t say anything…”

“Look, we’ll build a wall between them later,” Goombella said, “just come join us in the bathroom!”

“Hehe, okay!”

After the girls had gone, Killua made a sigh and said, “Nagisa, now that we have a moment, I need to get something off my chest.”

The six girls were using one of the large tubs in the washroom. Maria was using a little sponge to wash tiny Alluka’s form, the girl sitting on a rubber duck. “Big Sis Maria, make more bubbles, make more bubbles~”

“B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b…” Maria stuck her mouth underwater and blew bubbles, smiling at Alluka’s squeaky giggles.

“So, that girl can grant wishes, huh?” Lotte asked, washing Goombella’s blonde hair.

“Yeah, but the price isn’t worth it.” Goombella replied. “Your power seems WAY cooler, Lotte. It would honestly be missed potential if we didn’t have a little fun with it. Like, we can explore ALL of our favorite books, the possibilities are endless!”

“I know it seems fun, but we still need to reunite the rings as soon as possible.” Index replied, washing Morgiana’s legs. “We don’t have time to waste goofing off with the Pleasure Ring.”

“That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Index.” Maria frowned. “Louise has the Rage Ring, doesn’t she? …So, does she have any special powers?”

“Yes. If there is any person Louise feels hatred for, the Ring of Rage will allow her to induce them with terrible pain simply by the touch.”

Maria gulped. “And the ring… it’s making Louise act this way, isn’t it? Making her all crazy.”

“Maria, no offense, but Louise has always been crazy, at least from what I’ve seen. The World Rings amplify your emotions for a short time, but you quickly regain control of yourself. I’m afraid Louise’s feelings and actions are genuine.”

“Sigh…” Maria already knew this was true, as hard as it was to admit. She glanced down at Alluka and gasped in realization. “That’s it! Maybe I can wish for Alluka to make Louise nice!”

“NO! Absolutely not!” Lotte shouted. “You can’t just force someone to feel a certain way! Louise has to forgive you naturally, and if anything, she’ll hate you even more.”

“You’re right… okay, then I’ll use Index!” Maria smiled. “Next time we see Louise, you hit her with lightbending and get rid of her negative thoughts!”

“By all means, I’ll try.” Index said. “But it might not work. True, Light or darknessbending can manipulate a person’s feelings on things, but if those feelings were too strong, they won’t change. And if those feelings are centered around people, they’re even harder to change.”

“I don’t think it’ll be THAT hard.” Goombella reasoned. “All we gotta do is set you up in a boss fight, play some epic music, and let your sibling rivalry resolve itself. It hasn’t failed before.”

Some game show music played as a list of screenshots were shown:

Abby vs. Cree Lincoln (Operation: S.P.A.C.E.)

Rachel vs. Mandy McKenzie (Operation: DUTCHMAN)

Ava vs. Aurra Sing (Firstborn)

Rachel vs. Possessed Harvey (Firstborn)

Jagar King vs. Yuki Crystal (Firstborn)

Sonya vs. April Dickson (Firstborn)

Violet vs. Scarlet (Firstborn)

Dimentio and Dimentia (Operation: NECSUS; okay, these two didn’t make up, but this was still cute)

Chimney vs. Mary (Art Saga)

“Except if Louise has the Rage Ring, she’ll win that battle easy.” Morgiana said.

“No.” Maria said firmly. “I don’t believe that Louise actually hates me. She’s just angry, and she’s trying to take it out on others. So, the next time I see her… maybe I should let her focus her anger on me.”

“Since Louise has one of the rings, we have no choice but to get her on our side, right?” Goombella asked.

“Unfortunately.” Index said. “I sincerely hope you two come to an understanding.”

“Then let’s make that our goal!” Maria stated. “First thing in the morning, we’re going after my sister. I’m going to bring her home, no matter what it takes!”

Index smiled, seeing a few Rukh fluttering around her. “You just may have a chance, Maria…”

Santa Hylia

“You tried to murder one of Queen Sherry’s grandsons?!” Vaati exclaimed.

“He was brainwashing the Diana girl with Pringles!” Louise shouted. “Isn’t that your policy?! To murder anyone who tries to rob people of freedom?”

“Yes, but my targets are the ones who stand at the top. If we eliminate the rulers and work our way down, then the underlings will be set free. Louise, I know that your goal is to rid the universe of villains, but you have to learn that some villains only act under the command of a superior. Some of them may not be truly evil.”

“Hey, Oi’m the captain, ain’t I? I’ll do whatever I want.”

“A wise captain does not act irrationally.” A thick Spanish voice spoke. They turned toward a creature who was shorter than Louise, yellow eyes seen behind a mask and cloaked in a blue cape. “Besides, we needed Jaune Pringle alive for our plan. Now that Roger has infiltrated the Big Mom Pirates, we may yet be able to uncover Queen Sherry’s weakness. Hm hm hm.”

Commander of the Star Knight Division
Former 12th Captain of the Sky God Pirates
META KNIGHT

“Who even cares? Once we have the Universe Book, we can CRUSH that fat old hag!”

“True, but it does not hurt to have backup plans.” Meta Knight replied.

“Plus, we have no way of tracking the World Rings on our own.” Vaati reminded. “It’s best to let Scheherazade find the rings and restore the book for us. Of course, you know that means they will be searching for you, too.”

“Greeeeat. I get to hear more of Maria’s whining.” She rolled her eyes.

“Louise, our mission would progress much faster if you were to join them.” Meta Knight said.

“Don’t be stupid. They already know I want the book for my own ‘selfish’ ends, so of course they’ll try to keep it away from me after it’s repaired. So, I’ll just use you guys to snag it from them when the time comes.” Louise smirked.

“I do not wish to oppose the Kids Next Door in any way.” The Nightmare knight said. “Ever since the Firstborn Quest, they have been my friends, just as your faster has, Louise.”

“Meta Knight, I thought you wanted to kill the Uno kids?”

“Absolutely not! I only wish to engage them in glorious battle! Or at least the one who holds the Galaxia Sword. I have trained for 23 years, growing stronger so that I may defeat Nigel Uno. Only to learn that he has met an untimely demise.”

“Oiii! Captain Louise!” A small hooded ghost came flying over.

“’ello, Hody. What’s up?”

“Our spies reported back from Superbia. There are Brotherhood goons looking for a World Ring—say it landed around there, they did.”

“And where were they looking for it?”

“In a town called Musutafu.”

“Then let’s go have some fun, mates! Let’s head for Superbia and try to steal the ring right from under them. Ready my ship! See ya later, mates!” Louise raced out of the room alongside her ghost crewmate.

“Vaati, forgive me for asking this, but did Louise not have an Italian accent when she joined us?” Meta Knight asked.

“Oh, she just likes to give herself accents. Heh, that vaguely reminds me of someone else.”

Earth

“Achoo!” Scarlet Bean sneezed. “Grrrr… can’t believe Meta Knight gets to reappear before I did.”

GKND H.Q.

After the girls (and later boys) had their bath, everyone was in pajamas and adrift in slumber. Index was wearing a pink bunny suit, quite a difference from her habit. She rolled on her side and gasped awake when she felt something pointy. It was Hoopa’s horn.

“Ouch! Hoopa!”

“Oops. Hehe, sorry. Hey Scheherazade, why do you wear that other dress? This one is WAY more comfy!” Hoopa snuggled up to her.

“I wear that to keep away darkness. Uh, not that I don’t welcome your hugs.”

“Mmmm… remember when we used to do this? You were always so warm…”

Index closed her eyes and made a slight glow, hugging him close. “You were, too…”

“Hey, didn’t they say darkness exists inside everybody? Where does it all come from?”

“Darkness comes from a lot of places. But I’m not sure where yours comes from.” And yet… part of me already knows.

There was no morning or night in space, but the operatives felt well-rested after a wonderful sleep and woke to a brand new day. “Ahhhhh.” Hoopa yawned. “Okay! Let’s look for the next World Ring!”

“YEAH!” Maria jumped to her feet, wearing a soft moon-blue gown and pointed hat. “We’re going to find Louise, no matter what! I have a pretty good feeling about… Oops, sorry, Alluka.” She realized the doll-size girl was under her left foot.

“Big Brotheeeeer, save meeeeee!” Alluka yelled joyfully.

Goombella hopped onto Lotte’s bed, but found it was empty. “Hey, where did Lotte go?” She noticed a green crystal ball by the pillow, glowing aqua. The group looked over Goombella and saw some text inside it: “‘Fairy Tail vs. Straw Hats: The Bonds of Friendship’?”

“Is that some kind of FANFICTION?” Killua asked.

“Well, let’s get her out.” Index said with disbelief.

“Gum-Gum KING KONG CANNON!”

“Dragon King’s LIGHTNING CLAW!”

Luffy and Natsu shook the world with their traded blows. Zoro could be seen fighting Erza, the Exceeds were fighting Chopper, and Carrot combatted Laxus’s lightning with her own.

“Please stop fighting, you guys!” Wendy Marvell pled. “The Kaido-Acnologia Alliance is going to be here any minute!”

Lotte was chowing on a bowl of popcorn as she watched the exciting bloodshed. “LOTTE!” She jumped with a start, seeing Index and co. behind her. “Have you been here all night?!”

“I couldn’t sleep! I was too excited to see if I could enter my own fanfiction, and once I was in here, I… well, I couldn’t stop.” She sheepishly tapped her fingertips together.

“Well, it’s time to come back to reality!”

“Okay…” Disappointed, Lotte used her new power to warp them out of the crystal ball.

“So, the Aqua Ring doesn’t just take you inside books,” Goombella observed, “but it takes you inside any object with a story?”

“First I’ve seen of it.” Index shrugged. “Alright, get dressed you all, we’ve got a Mustache Girl to find.”

Nicklodia Galaxy

“The Ring of Rage is on Superbia.” Hoopa pointed into the void. “It’s close to where the Ring of Sadness is!”

“Really?” Nagisa asked. “Is Louise trying to find it?”

“I’m not sure how she could’ve known.” Index said. “Only Hoopa can track the World Rings, unless she heard from someone who saw it crash onto the planet.”

“Sweet!” Maria beamed. “This means we can find TWO rings for the price of one!”

“Come on, you know Louise isn’t gonna wanna go with us.” Killua remarked.

“Not with YOUR negative attitude, she won’t.”

“There it is!” Goombella bounced. They were closing in on a planet with saturated colors, and looked like it had popped out of a comic book. As they entered the atmosphere, even the sky and buildings had the cartoonish colors of a comic book.

“I read my share of history on this world, and my Tattle can confirm it.” began the Goomba. “Superbia is one of the worlds born from the New Big Bang, the idea of which came from Sector V’s Dillon York. It is a counterpart to Avalar, whereas that planet was filled with magic and wizards, this planet has Bang Gas and metahumans. Nearly 80% of the world has superpowers, and as you could expect, there has been some discrimination.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Nagisa said. “Benders and wizards have to be born with their power, but anyone can become a metahuman by inhaling Bang Gas.”

“True: but those who wished not to have powers took Metahuman Antidote. And once you take antidote, you can never get back your powers. Their bodies became immune to Bang Gas, and that immunity was passed down to their descendants. Although, the antidote doesn’t have much effect on Caesar’s Devil Fruits. Fun fact: a lot of places here are named after Star Wars terms, which may or may not be Dillon’s fault.”

“Index, let’s land the ship on a roof. The streets look a bit crowded.”

Indeed, the streets were swarming with Mad Mod’s Britbots and other Brotherhood minions. After they landed and Index activated the ship’s barrier, they surveyed the situation. Maria gasped, seeing four top-hat ships fly overhead and blast down at the robots. “It’s Louise’s ships! She really is here!”

“The Purple Ring is across town!” Hoopa pointed. “But the Red Ring is running around a street down that way.”

“Which way should we go?” Nagisa asked.

“Sigh… Let’s go get the Purple Ring first.” Maria decided. “If she’s really looking for it, then we’ll run into her, anyway.”

“Good idea. Besides, I bet these Brotherhooders are here for the same reason.” (Play “Aurum Island” from Kid Icarus: Uprising!)


Stage 5: Musutafu City

Mission: Find the Purple Ring of Sadness!

Sector SA jumped down to the street as Nagisa swung a Tempest Kick to chop the first line of Britbots, which resulted in the entire platoon turning their guns on them. Lotte brought up a Protego shield while the others scattered, but the shield gave way before long. Luckily, the robots started to focus on the others, with Morgiana doing a Clap Kick to smash two robots’ heads together. Killua wrapped a yo-yo around one’s leg, imbuing a little Haki in it to rip it off, but the robot still blasted bullets after falling. Lotte ran up to the robot and could summon a Shock Spirit from its sparking leg, the ghost zipping to three different robots and stunning them.

Index conjured a large Light Sword to slice those robots while Nagisa and Killua took care of the remaining ones. The team progressed up the street, avoiding the slippery oil slicks. The burning oil and garbage cans grew arms and legs; they were minions of the Junkman. They spewed poison sludge that had no effect on Killua, so a few quick yo-yo hits could knock them out. The Fiery Junkies had stronger defense with their heated bodies, and by setting the oil slicks on fire, it made less room to maneuver around.

When the oil was set aflame, Lotte could command Fire Spirits to attack them, overpowering the Junkies with their own heat and exploding them. After defeating the rest, they realized a chunk of the road was missing. There was a parked car under a fire escape, and Maria bounced off the car’s hood to reach it. She grinned down at her friends, who shrugged and mimicked the act (while Lotte used her broom to fly).

Once atop the roof, they discovered a Britbot sleeping with its hat off. Maria tossed her own hat and possessed the robot, just as a trio of Common Cold’s Snot Ships hovered over. Maria’s Britbot was built with Sniper Vision, which she used to blast the engines of the Snot Ships. She shot down two, but had been standing and taking damage the whole time, so she inevitably abandoned the robot to let it get destroyed.

Morgiana blasted up with the aim to squash the ship’s nose, but- “HEY, GET OUT OF THE WAY!” A boy with spiked blonde hair and a black suit with grenade gauntlets flew up and destroyed the ship with an explosion from his hands, blowing Morg back down. “What do you think you’re doing, you damn girl?! Go back home and leave this to the pros!” the boy shouted before jumping to the next roof.

“I really want to kick his nuts.” Morg said.

“His name is Katsuki Bakugo,” Goombella Tattled, “and he has a Quirk called Explodey Hands.”

“That is NOT what it’s called!!”

They followed their own route of rooftops and were attacked by Katnappé’s Super Kitties. Maria possessed one and swiped its metal claws at the others, and Index chucked Goombella at some, calling her back with her Goomba Mitt. They reached another street and saw that it was covered in lava goop. There were dry spots in the goop that made the shape of Louise’s face, with lava to fill her eyes and ’stache. The group used these dry islets to hop across the goop, finding a fire hydrant that Maria possessed and used to spray water around and dowse the goop.

When one particular spot was cleaned, a pink alien girl with black eyes and a purple and turquoise body suit rose out of the ground. “Wow, thanks you guys!” she said joyfully. “I’m totally surprised I didn’t explode with all this fire! Hey, I don’t think I’ve seen you guys before. You new in town?!”

“You could say that.” Nagisa replied. “By any chance, did a mustached girl make all this goop?”

“Yeah, she had this weird magic stick thingy! You know anything about her?”

“We’re trying to catch her.” Maria answered.

“Well, if we find her, I’ll totally tell you guys, but I still got peeps to save. Laters!” She skied down a dry street, secreting some kind of acid from her feet.

“Her name was Mina Ashido, and she has an acid Quirk. (Quirk means superpower.)” Goombella reported. “Wow, she’s a Harnitan! You totally wouldn’t expect a pacifist race to be on a superhero planet.”

They decided to follow the route that she took, but a giant worm made of bread and jelly emerged from the road, a creature made from Gramma Stuffum’s oven. Killua tossed a yo-yo down its throat, then Morgiana swung a kick up at its jaw, forcing it to face skyward as the yo-yo string tore down its body. Index cut up the rest of it with her Light Sword, creating a rotting mess that no one wanted a piece of. “Ooo, supper!” except Hoopa, chowing down on the beast with a smile.

They approached a steep, muddy hill where Robin Food’s Hungry Men were perched on platforms and using hi-tech bows to shoot rapid light arrows. Lotte carried Goombella on her broom as they flew overhead and the Goomba dropped on their heads. The Hungry Men were dizzied, so the stronger teammates were able to jump up and knock them out with a few hits. From the top of the hill, they could follow the road to a massive building surrounded by a wall, and was labeled U.A. High School.

Just as they were about to cross the last road, a bronze tank came dragging along the ground on its side, being pushed by a man in white armor and engines in his legs. The tank’s red eyes died out as the hero turned to the operatives. “You kids should get home! It’s not safe out here!”

“For your information, we’re Kids Next Door operatives!” Maria shouted. “We’re allowed to do whatever we want!”

“What?” The hero took off his helmet, revealing him to have bluish-black hair and blue eyes. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you from a different sector? Ah, forgive me, my name is Tenya Iida, Leader of Sector U.A. Class 1-A.”

“A Sector Class?” Nagisa asked curiously.

“We’re Sector SA from Earth.” Index explained. “Do you know if a Purple Ring landed somewhere around here?”

“A Purple… Ring?”

“Sounds familiar?” Killua asked.

“What do you want with this ring?”

“We need it to save the universe. If you’re with Kids Next Door, surely you must’ve been told to find Golden Pages.”

“So, you’re here for that matter. Very well… come with me to the dorms. I may know what you’re looking for.” (End song.)

Iida led them to a building near the school, but rather than enter the front door, he led them to a small hut in the courtyard. Inside was an elevator, and Iida input a code as they were carried underground. “So, your base is underground just like ours?” Lotte asked.

“Well, it wouldn’t be very secretive to have giant treehouses all over the place. From our observations, our ways are far different than other KNDs.” Iida said as he put on some glasses. “Essentially, our KNDs are managed by adults, our Hero Schools so to speak. We have to pass a Hero License Exam in order to become operatives.”

“Seriously? That’s so lame.” Killua remarked.

“Well, when we pass as many supervillains as we do heroes, you can’t argue that it doesn’t hurt to learn responsibility.”

“What about kids who don’t have superpowers?” Goombella asked.

“They go under different training and serve other roles. Of course, normal kids are much fewer in our ranks…”

“Well, when you have a lot to live up to, it makes sense.”

The elevator let them off in a high-tech living room. “Hey, Iida.” a girl with short brown hair greeted. She and two others looked over; a girl with a frog-like face and dark-green hair, and a short boy with purple hair in round bulbs. “Who are they?”

“They claim to be Kids Next Door operatives from Planet Earth.”

“Actually, I’m from Avalar.” Lotte blushed. “And I think you’re…?” She pointed at Killua questionably.

“Hyrule.”

“Wait, I recognize those two.” The frog girl pointed at him and Nagisa. Her wide eyes and mouth were like those of a frog, her expression stagnant. “They were attacking everyone during Meet Your Heroes Day. You know, that wasn’t very nice.”

“For your information, we stopped Pervert-san over there from spying on you.” Killua pointed at the purple kid.

“I was learning an important lesson from Master Vweeb! !” Minoru whined.

“Well, it’s nice of you to visit! My name’s Ochaco Uraraka.” the brown-haired girl said with a friendly smile. “My hero name is Uravity. This girl is Tsuyu – Froppy, and he’s Minoru – Grape Juice.”

“What are your codenames?” Nagisa asked.

“Our hero names are our codenames.” Iida said. “We find them much easier to remember than ‘Numbuhs.’”

“We never use our Numbuhs, anyway. Makes you wonder why we even have them.”

“We’ve come here to find a Purple Ring.” Index explained.

“A Purple Ring?!” Ochaco exclaimed. “We know exactly what that is! Our friend Deku touched it, and then-”

“Hey, keep your voice down.” Tsuyu said. “You don’t want the whole school to hear, do you?”

“Oop-!” Ochaco slapped her hands over her mouth and blushed. “You’re right.”

“Where is this Deku person?” Index asked.

“He’s still in his room. He, uh, doesn’t want anyone to see him.”

“Would you please let us see him?”

“Well, okay…” Ochaco frowned worriedly. “Just promise not to tell anyone.”

They all walked to a dark room and faintly saw a figure hiding under a blanket. “Wh-Who’s there? Ochaco, is that you?” a boy asked.

“We have visitors, Deku. They’re here about the ring you picked up.”

“The ring? Are they going to get it out of me?” he asked with a voice full of worry.

“Actually, we need you to come with us.” Index answered.

“No! I can’t go out like this, I just can’t!” Deku cowered under his blanket. Index took note of the gray Rukh weakly flapping their wings as they were perched around his blanket.

“And I thought I was a crybaby.” Minoru said.

“What’s wrong with him?” Nagisa asked.

“He was like this ever since he touched the ring.” Ochaco replied.

Two days ago

“AAAAAAHHHH!” Deku cried as his body shone with the Purple Ring.

“DEKU!” Ochaco and co. ran to his aid.

In a few seconds, the ring dissolved into particles and flowed into his body. “W-What was that? Did something happen?”

“You still look the same to me.” Minoru said, walking around him. He punch Deku in the crotch, the taller boy falling to his knees and crying. “Yep, still the same.”

“What is with this story and nut shots?” Deku wept.

“And later after that, we had to fight some robots that were being controlled by an evil boy called Jack Spicer. That’s when we realized…”

“HAAAAAH!” Deku charged forward with a powerful punch, meeting Jack Spicer’s Armament Haki fist. The boy genius nearly shattered Deku’s knuckles and blew him back.

“MIDORIYA!” Iida exclaimed.

“Nnnnngh…” Deku weakly sat up and stared horrified at his aching hand. “M-My Quirk… w-what happened to my Quirk?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY QUIRK?!”

Current time

“Deku’s Quirk was super strength, but after he picked up that ring, his strength was just… gone.” Ochaco said regretfully.

“On his request, we refrained from telling the teachers or any of our classmates.” Iida mentioned. “Right now, they just believe he is sick. But sooner or later, we’ll have no choice but to come clean.”

“He picked up the Ring of Sadness.” Index explained. “It causes something to happen that makes the person lose all hope and belief in their self. And nothing is worse for most people than seeing their dreams be crushed. That’s why it can only be picked up by someone with powerful dreams and goals.”

“So, that’s why.” Ochaco said. “Deku’s dream was to become a hero people can look up to, but if he doesn’t have a Quirk…”

“Don’t worry!” Nagisa said positively. “I’m sure Index knows a way we can fix him.”

“I’m afraid I don’t. Until we unite the Seven Rings and extract them, he’ll be stuck without powers. Even if he were to overcome his sadness and learn to accept himself, it wouldn’t work.”

“So, do we really have to take this sad sack with us?” Killua asked.

“Have a little more sympathy.” Morg stated. “You don’t know how it feels to be rendered helpless. Wasn’t your friend in the hospital not long ago?”

“Hey, Gon was injured. This boy just can’t accept life without superpowers.”

“Well, we should still feel bad for him!” Lotte shouted. “No one likes feeling secluded from everyone else. I grew up around Muggles, and all they did was pick on me, probably because they were jealous. And besides, I can’t help but imagine Akko in this scenario. She lost some of her magic at a young age, so she has to work harder than anyone else. If she were to lose all that magic completely, she would be devastated. There’s gotta be SOMETHING we can do to help!”

“You know, I did wonder if Eri might be able to fix him.” Tsu said. “Ribbit.”

“Well chances are she can’t,” Index spoke quickly, “so I think we’ll just take Deku now and avoid going on anymore side quests. Killua, would you grab him by the arms, and I’ll grab the feet.” The two walked over and tried to pull down Deku’s blanket, but he insisted on keeping it on. “Grrrr, come on, you stubborn…” They tugged over the blanket until Deku kicked Index off.

“You were saying, Froggy?” Nagisa inquired.

“Just call me Tsu. Anyway, Eri is a girl we rescued recently. She has the power to Rewind Time on her targets.”

“So, she’s a timebender?”

“More like timebending mixed with Bang Gas.” Ochaco shrugged. “All she can do is Rewind. Like, if I bit out of an apple, she could reform the missing piece, and I could just keep eating it. Or if one of us were blown to pieces, she could put us back together. The villains we saved her from were trying to make a Quirk-destroying medicine using this power.”

“Why? I mean, you guys have Metahuman Antidote, don’t you?”

“True,” Tsu replied, “but the antidote has no effect on people who’ve strongly bonded with their Quirks. Heck, my whole family is frogs, so it’d probably do nothing on me. The villains thought Eri’s power would be even stronger than that.”

“Well, even if Eri’s power could work, the Purple Ring would quickly sap his powers away again.” Index informed. “Eri would have to be constantly using her power on Deku for him to be combat-worthy.”

“And besides, I don’t want her to see me this way.” They looked with surprise as Deku sat up, staring at his hand. He had messy green hair and eyes. The Rukh began to flutter weakly around him. “I don’t wanna get into all the details, but… I was the first person Eri-chan ran to for help. I was the first person that got her to smile. A true hero has to be able to inspire others and make people happy. But if Eri were to see me like this, find out I was beaten in one hit… she’ll never be hopeful again.”

“GRRRR, I can’t take it, anymore!” Lotte began crying. “We’ve gotta see if Eri can help him, we gotta!”

“But-”

“Listen, Deku!” Lotte grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up to her face. “A true hero isn’t one with godly strength, a true hero is someone who gets out of bed and keeps trying, no matter how hard the challenge is! Eri won’t be disappointed in you for not having powers, she’ll be upset when she finds out her hero is drenched in his own tears. All you have to do is walk up to her with a proud smile and ask for her help, and she’ll be honored to lend you a hand! Besides, lots of people don’t have powers, and they’re strong in their own right.”

“His Power Level is 20.” Goombella remarked. “We could squash him like an ant.”

“Well, we’re still going to give Eri a try, right?” Lotte beamed.

“WARNING: Incoming transmission from Moonbase.”

“Hey, so you guys have a Moonbase!” Nagisa laughed as Iida rushed out to the living room.

Everyone went after him as Iida answered the call. A boy with shining blonde hair and blue eyes displayed on the monitor. “Supreme Leader Lemillion!” Iida saluted.

“Iida, where’s Deku? He isn’t still sick, is he?”

“He’s, uh…” Iida glanced to the doorway, seeing Deku in the shadows behind Ochaco and Tsu. “He’s been getting better. What’s the emergency?”

“It’s Eri! She’s been captured by Jack Spicer!”

“Eri-chan?!” exclaimed a horrified Deku.

“Our reports claim they’re heading underground. Tokoyami says that he saw the Mustached Girl going after them; the same one who’s been covering the town with goop.”

“LET’S GOOOOO!” No later did Maria bolt toward the elevator, rapidly pushing the buttons. “UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP! Why won’t this thing go up?!”

“Uuuuuugh.” Index sighed. “I guess we’re going to save her after all.”

“Warning: Too many buttons pressed in rapid succession. Employing security lasers.”

“YAAAAAH!” Maria scampered around the room.

Somewhere underground

Jack Spicer and Katnappé were leading a band of villains as Jackbots were carrying a girl by the arms. The girl had white hair and terrified red eyes, and a distinct horn on her forehead. She wore a black dress and pants with white boots. “This is Jack Spicer to Caesar.” the boy spoke into his communicator. “We retrieved the timebender girl, but we still haven’t confirmed she has the World Ring.”

“No matter if she doesn’t! If my acquaintance’s report was correct, this girl’s power will prove EXTREMELY useful! It may be a stretch to say she could bring back the dead, but it never hurts to try! SHURORORORORO!”


So, Ni no Kuni II has a pirate girl that talks like Sheila. I love her. Oh, and now she’s BFFs with a scientist girl. Love her, too. Nice game, nice game. You know, with this My Hero Academia world, I’m planning to cover some weirdly complex backstory… but maybe later.