Canon Fodder

END OF BOOK 2 CHAPTER 201 FIRST CHALLENGE

I was in a wide open space. By wide I meant massive. The floor was black glass and the sky was painted gray. I couldn’t see any clouds, it was like I was in some massive room. No walls to be seen, the sky looked to be miles above me. I looked around, trying to get my bearings as I powered up, channeling chakra into my body. 

There were plenty of tricks I could do. I had to remember I couldn’t make as many shadow clones, but I had Kame Mode. If I could catch a break anywhere, I needed to remember to use it to replenish my chakra and strength. I could use my quirk. I had to remember to try to absorb strength. And of course my Berserker Mode. Trying to stay level headed may not be the best strategy. 

I turned as I sensed a presence behind me. He was a kid about my height and age. Blonde headed, he had dark blue eyes. About 100 feet away he and I stared at one another. Sizing each other up. I was in my Gantz armor. He appeared to be in a simple shirt and pants. He looked American, but that was my narrow thinking. Everyone looked American. A notification popped up. 

I wanted to win this. The Reward was too good. I had been through too much pain to plan on forfeiting. But I was sure he did as well. I couldn’t help it. My curiosity got the better of me. 

“Death Note huh?” I asked. “You wouldn’t happen to have the book, would you?” 

Daniel smiled at me. Pulling it out of his screen. The Death notebook was as I pictured it. Black with the words ‘Death Note’ written on the cover. “I hadn’t thought they would announce the worlds we beat the canon of. Was hoping to trick you into giving me your last name. But I don’t see the point now.” The kid had a British accent. Slight, but there. He put the notebook back in his screen. 

“So fighting to the death then?” I asked. He frowned but nodded. “Fair enough. I’m curious though. Was Pokemon worth going to?”

“It was,” he said. “Probably spent more time there than I should have.”

“Did it follow the canon of the game or the manga?” I asked. There had been a few attempts at manga. All never really took off. 

“For me it was…not what I expected. I’ll leave it at that,” he said calmly. 

“Fair enough. Any questions for me?” I asked. 

“I don’t know what Gantz is. But I’ve watched High School of the Dead. I didn’t pick it though. Was it worth it?” He asked. That was a good indicator he didn’t have Memory Meld. He either checked all the doors, but it sounded more like he remembered what worlds he had picked. 

“It was quick. I spent maybe a month, month and a half before I beat the canon,” I admitted. 

“What was the ending?” He asked, intrigued. 

“For me it turns out the government wanted super soldiers. The serum mutated and made everyone into zombies,” I said. “But the Moderator said that they pick worlds that have a me. Who knows if it's the same in all of them.”

“Super soldiers? Seriously?” He asked with a frown. 

“Yep,” I said. We stayed quiet after that. Staring at one another. This guy was going to be tough. He didn’t appear strong, but he had done Parasyte. That meant he could have one. 

In the Parasyte manga, plants or aliens or something released a parasite that took people over. The main protagonist got lucky and trapped the parasite in his arm. The parasite and he became more like symbiotes. The parasite was super fast and strong. Able to make his limbs into blades they moved so quickly that normal people couldn’t see them. I knew at the end of the canon the parasites died, but maybe he got a Weakness Eliminator or something that let him keep it. He could probably do what the parasite could. 

Black Clover was another concern. I needed to watch if he pulled a book out. In the manga, people had grimoires that had spells. They could use all different schools of magic. I kind of wish he had the main character's grimoire. It would be useless against me since I didn’t use magic. I doubted it though. Asta was 1 in a billion. 

I didn’t think there was anything to worry about from Death Note, as long as he didn’t get my last name anyway. I was lucky he wasn’t psychic. At least I hoped he wasn’t. The guy could be overpowered if he could just know what your name was. If he forfeited and I had to fight him again someday, this guy could be a problem. I hated to think it, but I needed to go for the kill, just like he planned to. I had to remember he brought his Death Note. He was willing to kill me without knowing anything about me. I needed to be that ruthless. 

Suddenly his arm split away from him. Deforming into a large scythe I pulled out my Seastone Jitte. This guy had no idea what I was capable of. I had spent 5 years preparing for this. It was time to see what I could do. 

Pouring chakra through my Jitte I blocked as his side thinned out. Attacking me faster than the eye could see my Haki told me where my hand had to go. I poured chakra through my body and met his bladed arm. He began attacking me over and over. My water coated Jitte blocking against the power of the parasite somehow. I ran at him. 

He didn’t move. His arm pulling back his other hand went into his screen. I dislodged some water from my Jitte and formed 2 ice bullets. Throwing at him the 1st was blocked by his blade arm, but the 2nd made it through, slamming into the hand going for the status screen.

Daniel roared in anger as his bladed hand turned into a normal one. Going into the screen I tried to make more bullets but was too late as he pulled out the red and white ball. 

“Fuck,” I mumbled as he threw it. He didn’t do me the service of yelling the name of the Pokemon. It was a mystery as the white light appeared from it. 

Pulling 4 droplets of water from the blade I froze them as I boiled the water on my Jitte. The white light turned into a pink squishy Wigglytuff. “Fuck!” I yelled as it began to sing, trying to put me to sleep without an order. The 4 bullets slammed into the pink puffball. Piercing it easily, the Wigglytuff didn’t have a chance to squeal as it died. The guy wasn’t too heartbroken as he threw another 2 Pokeballs.

“Please no, please no,” I mumbled. There were so many Pokemon it could literally be anything. Daniel made some distance as Charizard and Articuno appeared in front of me. “Thank god!” I yelled as I ran at Charizard. The giant lizard roared as it saw me. Belching fire. But I cooled the area in front of me. Making it through the flamethrower I punched the fat dragon in the gut. My arm strengthened by chakra and my Gantz armor.

It felt the blow, but wasn’t beaten. Pouring more fire on me I froze it. The area around me approaching absolute zero as I slid the water around the dragon. The fiery tail squelched but didn’t die out. The Charizard did weaken though. Moving the water around I thinned it out, slicing the wings and tail off in a fell swoop. He was too big of a chunky boy to cut anywhere else with confidence.

Charizard dropped and was down for the fight. I ducked down as the bladed arm sliced over me. It just barely missed, imbedding in the falling Charizard. I rolled to the side as a different bladed arm sliced. Then a cool wave of cold air hit me. Articuno had taken to the air, hitting me with an Ice Blast. 

I didn’t mind the cold though. Hiding behind Charizard’s body, Daniel was on the opposite side of the beast. I forced myself to calm down. Focusing on the water from my Jitte it took 15 seconds as the water empowered me. I didn’t wait. Pooling the water under me I jumped onto it and took to the sky. 

Articuno was taking a turn to attack me again, but it was much further away than Daniel. I went after it. Closing the distance I thinned out the water from my Jitte. As it screamed at me I sliced down. Cutting it’s head off. The bird flapped it’s wings a few times but began to descend. Dead long before it knew what had happened.

I took in a breather. Slipping into Kame Mode again. I needed every little bit at all times. I was tiring out way too quickly. Looking down as my chakra refilled I noticed Daniel studying me. Both of his arms were now in the bladed form of Parasyte. I continued to hover in the air, staring down at him as I planned. 

His normal body was weak, but his Parasyte forms were strong and fast. Not stronger or faster than my Haki could sense though. Could my Armament stand up? That was the real question. I needed to risk it. He had 3 Pokemon dead. He hardly looked like he cared. Either he didn’t care about his Pokemon, which I doubted, or there was something I didn’t know. Possibly something I traded in for the Memory Meld. 

“Wouldn’t happen to want to tell me your last name, would you?” Daniel yelled up at me. 

“I’m good,” I said. 

He nodded. “Let’s finish it then.” I could only agree. There was no reason to postpone this. I was 100%, or as close to it as I could be. He still hadn’t brought out a Black Clover grimoire, opting to stick to Parasyte for some reason. I counted myself lucky. 

I threw myself over to him. My water reaching high speeds as I stood atop it. My blade coated in chakra extended out, meeting his bladed arm. The other arm swiped up at me from the water. I dodged to the side just in time as it sliced through where I was. Landing on the ground I charged my chest with Armament Haki. Adding defense to my most vital organs. 

Both of his bladed arms sliced toward me at my sides. In a scissor move I blocked one side with my Jitte and the other I let hit me. The blade dug in to the bone, but stopped there. Not slicing through like a strong Parasyte could. I smiled as he pulled the blade back. 

Ignoring the pain in my arm both of my hands gripped the pommel of my sword. I centered it on him and sliced down. I was 8 feet away, but his arms were far away. Trying to pincer me again. The water at the tip of the Jitte extended out and out. Thinning ever so slightly as my chakra made it slice out and down. 

It slid through him with an easy effort. Splitting him in half from head to crotch. His 2 sides fell away as I stumbled to the ground. My left arm aching as I dropped the Jitte. Breathing in and out I looked up to make sure the Parasyte couldn’t go on. Both sides of Daniel laid still. 

I pushed myself up to a sitting position. Focusing on the water I switched into Kame Mode. My arm slightly healed, it still hurt, but my muscles were sore from the quick movements I had forced upon them. I was used to moving faster. I had been able to take this body to the brink. Far beyond what should have been normal. The Gantz suit had helped, but the body was still weak. I needed to get my World Lasting Physique as soon as possible. 

I thought about it for a bit. I was tempted to pick World Choice. That would let me find out where I wanted to start in Comics or Books. But for now I wanted a Weakness Eliminator. I needed to use it on Berserker Mode. I was still missing Aiko, Setsuko, and Jun. Then I could use the other on a devil fruit or a Titan form. I picked Weakness Eliminator. 

I was curious how the hell that worked, would the Weakness Eliminator be in all the worlds? I looked at my status screen but nothing appeared. Another screen popped up. 

“What the hell is this?” I mumbled, staring at it. I didn’t know anything about a path. I hesitated for a moment. Thinking on what I would rather choose. I ended up with Those Saved. Maybe it led more into the Protagonist Path. 

I was confused at first but then saw the quirks. Explosion was Bakugo’s, Search was that cat lady’s, and Water Gun was Khota’s. I had saved Bakugo and the cat lady from being kidnapped, as well as Khota from Muscular. It started to make more sense as I moved down. The top was maybe from High School of the Dead. Then MHA. Then Nico Robin’s Devil Fruit from when I saved her from the world government. Then Gantz. 

Thinking them over I really wanted Bakugo’s quirk, but I kept being drawn to Search. I could have sworn that All-For-One or somebody used it. It sounded really tempting. The skill also might be exactly what I needed to find my girls in Naruto. I clicked it. Nothing changed. 

I waited in the expanse of the gray skyed area. Daniel’s body was brought to my attention as it disappeared. His intestines laying around I felt bad, but he hinted that this was where things had to go. I hoped my next challenge would be with someone I could talk with. Maybe push them to forfeit. I sure as shit didn’t plan on quitting though. I liked it in these worlds too much. I had too much to live for. Too much to fight for. 

I planned on going all the way until the end. I wanted my wish. I just hoped by the time I got there I knew what to wish for. As time passed it all faded to black. It wasn’t long until the familiar red glow appeared around me. Showing me the worlds I had yet to beat.