Thread by @BrivioTomalyn

【𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒐: 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔】
〔Aᴄᴛ 3: Cᴏᴍɪɴɢ Dᴀᴡɴ〕

(Content Warning: Death, Self-Harm, Grief, Violence and possible Gore)

[Will update periodically.]

⠀
⠀⠀“...”

⠀⠀...Darkness... darkness... darkness...

⠀⠀Nothing but shade, like light being taken away... as if the sun was snatched from the heavens, leaving the earth in eternal frost...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀...But... then... it got bright.

⠀⠀Very bright.

⠀⠀And as Tomalyn once again found themselves awake in this dream, standing up... they heard a familiar voice, off to their side.

👿“...Your mind is clear now... isn't it?”
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“...!”

⠀⠀...Tomalyn blinked for a moment... those dark thoughts... it was all because of what happened recently, huh?

⠀⠀Merely a regression back to the person they were back then, thinking power was the end all, be all...

⠀⠀...no. They can't let that happen...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“...I still have a lot to go before I truly free myself, huh...?”

👿“...Of course. We have taken away lives that, even if it means saving many more by killing them, should've still gone through better justice than our own hands.”

⠀⠀...

👿“...that said...”
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“...there's... something I've yet to free myself from. That woman... the one that claimed to love Saeko...”

⠀⠀...The image of a pink-haired superhero appeared in their mind, brandishing a knife upon her own arm, within her own children's bedroom...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“I still... fail to erase the link between our souls... and Saeko...”

⠀⠀...They could barely utter their best friend's name, wavering out of their breath like just the thought of her heartbreak could tear their soul apart...

⠀⠀They're not strong enough...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“...Victoria... both versions of her...”

⠀⠀A memory flashed of the therapist girl they used to be with, suddenly turning on them every night for the things they've always been doing. Fighting, meeting new people, coming home battered and bruised, time and again...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“...Eater... if you'd allow me to call you such... I'm sorry... but I have to ask you this.”

⠀⠀...They took a deep breath... before gazing over...

⠀⠀“Please... could you devour the very link between me, and the Vicverse...?”
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀...The two Tomalyns slowly walked into position. One last fight... One last fight, to free Tomalyn not from Eater...

⠀⠀...but for Eater to free Tomalyn from the shadow that loomed over their past. From back then... and to now.


⠀

⠀
⠀⠀And so, the two actors took the stage once more... with Tomalyn on the left, and the Eater on the right...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀...or so you'd think.

𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀The aggressive demon lunged forwards, immediately closing the distance and going for a stomach punch... feeling it connect and immediately following with a chop to the neck, a roundhouse to the face, and twisting to do the same kick with the other foot!
†
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀Yet, the chained one simply used the impacts to reel back a swift, palm-heel strike, a lunging knee, and a grapple to the dark side's shoulders, finishing with a swift elbow to the back of the head...

⠀⠀...soon jumping back as the Eater swept the floor while rising!
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀A Mirage Blade passed their head, their arm, their leg as they swayed away...

⠀⠀...and the Eater's eyes now flashed red, with Tomalyn's Determination...!
⠀

⠀
「I see no, hear no evil!」

⠀⠀A lunging stab came from the chained Tomalyn, with a manifested Mirage Edge...!

「Black writing's on the wall!」

⠀⠀Eater, seeing the stab coming, swatted the blade tip from the side with their right, pixelated arm!
⠀

⠀
「Unleashed, a million faces...」

⠀⠀A swarm of Mirage Tomalyns surrounded the Eater, giving the chained Tomalyn time to hop back for a retreat as Eater hunched forward...

「And one by one,」

⠀⠀...Shooting a forehead beam all around them with a spin!

「They fall!」
⠀

⠀
「Black-hearted evil?」

⠀⠀Eater straightened, recovering from the blast... and quickly catching a metallic saber, its edge forged by ki... a Hate powered ki.

「Brave-hearted hero?」

⠀⠀...They pushed away... Nike the rat summon formed by Victoria's bond.
⠀

⠀
「I am all!」

⠀⠀Another Nike appeared behind them... slightly taller and older than the young rat woman.

「I am all!」

⠀One Nike manifested to their left, a hulking presence, a mature adult...

「I am!」

⠀⠀...And the last... was a child variation, at the right.
⠀
⠀

⠀
「I...」

⠀⠀They caught a saber in their left hand...

「I...」

⠀⠀Another, locked between their right elbow...

「I...」

⠀⠀Yet another, between their teeth, at an odd head tilt!

「I am!」

⠀⠀...Then they pivoted, smacking the rear attacker with her other selves!
⠀

⠀
「Here we go, buddy.」

⠀⠀“Krgh!!”

⠀⠀A ki sphere slammed into their face as they straightened...

「Here we go, buddy.」

⠀⠀And a beam barreled into their torso...!

「Here we go!」

⠀⠀“Foolishness...!”

⠀⠀They gripped into the beam as it tore into them...!
⠀

⠀
「Here we go, buddy.」

⠀⠀Dark chains wrapped around the beam of Hateful Ki, tensing around it...!

「Here we go!」

⠀⠀...And it dissipated, seemingly crushed by the chains' tension before said links faded...
⠀

⠀
「Go ahead and try to see through me...」

⠀⠀The Eater kicked upwards in a flip, flapping pixelated wings as they found the small variant of Nike on the other end of their counterattack... punishing their predictable approach further by taking the rat down in a chokeslam!
⠀

⠀
⠀「Do it if you dare!」

⠀⠀With their hand already near the ground, they pushed off the small rat girl, just to get out of the way of a rapid volley of ki blasts and...

⠀⠀...they started to just... walk slowly, dancing behind, in front, and besides more energy shots.
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀...Their movements seemed to lessen their usual efforts. 「One step forward, two steps back」 to simply dodge the love ki bullets...

「I'm here!」

⠀⠀And they danced again, in graceful sequence. 「One step forward, two steps back」 from the hate ki blasts...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“...!”

⠀⠀Ah, finally, the three started charging up something. So like their inspiration...

⠀⠀...They stomped their right foot-

「Do it.」

⠀⠀Then their right...!

「Do it.」

⠀⠀Mystic Lotus formed around their right arm...!

「Do it.」

⠀⠀They glared up!

⠀

⠀
「DO IT!」

⠀⠀And their teeth bared, as a thin laser shot from the gem at their forehead... at an overwhelming globe of energy, threatening to swallow this mental dimension with sheer size and might alone!!

「CAN YOU SEE ALL OF ME?!」

⠀⠀The beam kept the orb at bay...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“KRRRYYYAAAH!!!”

⠀⠀...and they lunged up and forward, still shooting that laser into the pink and red sphere, coursing with lovely and hateful energy...!!

「WALK INTO MY MYSTERY!」

⠀⠀The three conscious rat women kept putting energy into this emotional orb...!
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“KYYEEEEEEAAHH!!!”

⠀⠀Mystic Lotus drew back, the prosthetic right arm coursing with darkness, and the Mirage inside shifting red-violet...

「Step inside...」

⠀⠀They grabbed onto the sphere with that arm...

「And hold on, for dear life!!」
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“Krrrhhhh...!!”

「Do you remember me?!」

⠀⠀The chains from before wrapped around the sphere, creeping along its circumference... squeezing it to a smaller, denser sphere... looking like they were trying the same thing from before!

「Capture you, or set you free?!」
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“Devour!!”

「I am all...」

⠀⠀With darkness taking over the entire sphere thanks to the chains, the attack... suddenly faded into their arm, causing it to glow pink and red, with a dark aura coursing around it!

「I am all of me!!」
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“...Doushita...?”

「(I am! I am all of me!)」

⠀⠀They beckoned the rats with their left hand.

「I am!」

⠀⠀The oldest's fist crashed into the Eater, reeling them left...

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀Only for them to attack with their right fist, while damaged!
⠀

⠀
「I am!」

⠀⠀One down... the variant of that rat girl shattered into ki, displaced by time itself!

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀They held their arm out, in front of two sabers and catching their edges on the surprisingly durable arm... likely helped by their own energy.
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀“Disappear!!!”

「I am!」

⠀⠀They swung their arm, a short burst of hatred energy leaving it and turning the slightly older rat girl to nothing...

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀And the Eater lunged forwards, finally grabbing the main rat, pulling her to the floor...
⠀

⠀
「Here we go...」

⠀⠀With a squeeze, a burst of purple flame eradicated the former Rat Summon... along with the fainted, smaller version of her.

⠀⠀...Just in time for a new one to emerge, in front of the chained Tomalyn's focused posture...
⠀

⠀
「I see and feel the evil...」

⠀⠀...Eater slowly stood straight, meeting their former Monkey summon, before putting a fist at their palm, bowing...

「My hands will crush them all!」

⠀⠀...And an arm quickly raised, guarding against a giant Bo staff that came overhead!
⠀

⠀
「You think you have the answers...?」

⠀⠀“...a dishonorable strike. You really are begging for erasure!”

「I laugh and watch you fall!」

⠀⠀Taking the bo staff on their own end, Tomalyn whipped the Monkey summon into one of the pillars!
⠀

⠀
「Black-hearted evil?」

⠀⠀And... presumably, with heavenly power coursing through the summon, the collapsed pillar rubble suddenly blasted into the skies, with a blur heading the Eater's way...!

「Brave-hearted hero?」

⠀⠀Too fast! They barely caught the man...
⠀

⠀
「I am all, I am all!」

⠀⠀...And in this struggle, a Mirage Arm wrapped around the summon's neck, trapping him before Tomalyn leapt backwards, and slammed the Monkey yokai into the marble floor!!

「I am!!」
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀Quickly, they rose, and turned, pushing their hand into the core of their old summon... and making a similar eruption of purple flame...

「I, I, I...」

⠀⠀...They... seemed to devour the power of the summons themselves, seeming more nimble...

「I am...!」
⠀

「Here we go buddy, here we go buddy, here we go...」

⠀⠀The Eater's eyes narrowed... at the last target, slowly forming in front of them. One last summon, of a bond that was destroyed by the person it came from...

「Here we go buddy, here we go...」

⠀⠀...A white tiger.
⠀

⠀
「Go ahead and try to see through me...」

⠀⠀A chilling frost came from the tigress as a nodachi formed... seemingly keeping Eater Tomalyn at bay with its sheer length alone...

「Do it if you dare...!」

⠀⠀But they just scoffed, forming a pixelated broadsword...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀The tigress took「one step forward,」forcing Eater to take 「 two steps back」 with the blade size...

「I'm here...」

⠀⠀...And again, the tigress pressed with 「one step forward,」 with Eater taking 「two steps back...」 but smirking... beckoning.
⠀

⠀
「Do it!」

⠀⠀They glared into her eyes...

「Do it!」

⠀⠀She bared her fangs...

「Do it!」

⠀⠀Their free hand tightened to a fist...

「DO IT!」

⠀⠀And she lunged in!
⠀

⠀
「Can you see all of me?!」

⠀⠀Eater focused on defensive guarding, as the tiger woman tried to overwhelm them with sheer speed alone!

「Walk into my mystery!」

⠀⠀They tried a swift, non-committal cut, but only sliced a lock of white hair...
⠀

⠀
「Step inside!」

⠀⠀A brief stab went... and whiffed... the image of the tigress repeating all around them...

「And hold on,」

⠀⠀They gripped the Mirage Edge tightly, forced to guess... blocking behind them-

「For dear life!」

⠀⠀-and clashing, before pushing back!
⠀

⠀
「Do you remember me?!」

⠀⠀They gazed at the tiger girl for a moment... as the image blurred in their mind... turning to someone else.

「Capture you, or set you free?!」

⠀⠀And they frowned... because they remembered a smile... but the latest face they saw from her...
⠀

⠀
「I am all...」

⠀⠀...It was disgust. Disgust at what they chose to be... what they choosed to like, and how often they vocalized it.

「I am all of me!」

⠀⠀But, alas, the frost reminded them... that this was a battle. Not just a mere trip down memory lane...
⠀

⠀
「I am!」

⠀⠀An icicle breezed by!

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀They swatted two more that shattered mid-air!

「I am!」

⠀⠀Eater leaned back to dodge four...

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀They stood, and spun on their hands, kicking eight that surrounded them!
⠀

⠀
「I am!」

⠀⠀The Mirage Edge appeared when they pushed up, landing on their feet...

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀And yet... they threw it, making the blade horizontally grind through the air!

「Here we go...」
⠀

⠀
「I am, I am everyone, everywhere, anyhow, anyway, any will, any day!」

⠀⠀Frost built within the Tiger girl's right hand, before she launched a small, dense snowflake at the blade...

⠀⠀...and the sword slashed the snowflake to the side, causing its burst to miss!
⠀

⠀
「I am, I am everyone, everywhere, anyhow, anyway, any will, any day!」

⠀⠀When she tried a second time, however... the tigress' eyes went wide as she saw what Eater used to counter it.

⠀⠀...A wave of flame gliding along the floor, then shooting up a blazing pillar!
⠀

⠀
「I am! I am! I am!」

⠀⠀...Slowly, the Eater walked through the blaze... before floating into the air, wings flapping gently, arms folded...

「I am! I am! I am!」

⠀⠀And their fangs bared... before they dove in towards the stunned tiger girl!!
⠀

⠀
「Do it, do it, do it...!」

⠀⠀They flew around with her neck in their grasp... before soaring into the skies one last time...

「DO IT!」

⠀⠀And the Eater slammed the tiger girl to the floor, with a burst of flame shooting her back up to the air!
⠀

⠀
「Can you see all of me?!」

⠀⠀They watched as she descended down, and unleashed two uppercuts... then an upwards slash with their claws!

「Walk into my mystery!」

⠀⠀As the tiger juggled, they dashed, kicked once, and flipped to the air with another kick!!
⠀

⠀
「Step inside...」

⠀⠀They dived down, and swiftly chopped with their left hand, turning to do a backfist with the right and using the left hand again for a leaping uppercut!

「And hold on for dear life!」

⠀⠀Chains shot from their arm, before they flew forwards...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀...and launched up with their right leg, punched down with their right fist, and shot a laser blast at the tiger whilst airborne... before falling to the ground...

「Do you remember me?!」

⠀⠀...They slowly walked forwards at the end of all that...
⠀

⠀
「Capture you, or set you free?!」

⠀⠀...Their brow raised when the tiger girl lunged up at them, eyes narrow as they clawed at their eyes.

「I am all!」

⠀⠀But they interrupted by grabbing her face...

「I am all of me!」

⠀⠀And a violet burst of flame consumed her.
⠀

⠀
「I am!」

⠀⠀...They finally turned towards the person they were originally fighting... the chained Tomalyn...

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀...A chained Tomalyn that held a stance for quite some time. Fists raised straight up, near the sides of their head...
⠀

⠀
「I am!」

⠀⠀And the Eater begun, with a punch of their right fist downward, right knee brought up, a twist as they performed a left spinning kick...

「I am- I'm all of me!」

⠀⠀Their right foot hit the ankle as they jabbed with their left, whirled around again...
⠀

⠀
「I am!」

⠀⠀...And they struck once more with the left hand, sent a hook with their right, another hook with their left, kicked off the ground to whip their right leg into the chained Tomalyn's skull...!

「I am- I'm all of me! (Here we go, here we go!)」
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀One blast came from the gem at their forehead... they saw the chained Tomalyn's broken stance... and...

「Here we go!」

⠀⠀They flew over, dragged them through the marble... and summoned several daggers... this time light, all to pierce their arms and legs...!
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀...And with a burst...

⠀⠀...Tomalyn now found themselves... standing again, in their own body, in front of the Eater... chains... finally...

⠀⠀...gone.

⠀⠀The burden carried by those they thought they could trust, in the past, no longer pushing their back down.
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀Tomalyn's gaze wandered... as they noticed the Eater's body slowly fading into a violet light... no longer taking the form of darkness, merely being another part of their shared will..

⠀⠀Then it hit them.

⠀⠀As they stood... with that new power spreading along...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀And so... with their mind slowly coming to rest... they closed their eyes, head tilting up... as the world around them soon began to fade...

⠀⠀...After all... someone was waiting for them, in the real world...
⠀

⠀
⠀⠀...Even now, they can hear his song...

⠀⠀“‘Because you're lovin', lovin', lovin' me better...’”

⠀⠀“‘When I am under, under, under the weather...’”
⠀

𝑺𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑷𝒕𝒔
4495 pts 𝐒

𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒔 & 𝑷𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒚
𝙽𝚘 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚜 ×1.2

𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑷𝒕𝒔
5394 pts

【𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬】

𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔

𝐒