Systematic Shinobi: Multiverse Mayhem - Chapter 23.2 (Patreon)

It should have been another Stacking The Deck update, but I got a little blocked midway through, so hammered this part out in the meantime while I think.

_________________

"This is super wiggy, nya."

Not to mention, eerie.

A frown was on splayed across the lips of Tomoko Shiretoko as she stood atop a massive sky scraper and peered off into the distance.

Her eyes specifically settling on a soft, warm golden wall of light? Or was it clouds? Whatever it was, it was very, very far away.

And was in the shape of a massive spherical dome that encircled around the area she had suddenly found herself in not long ago. A massive city that dwarfed Tokyo in size.

A massive city, that looked like it was straight from a hundred or more years in the future. Even at just a glance, everything was just more. Buildings were larger, more grand.

Cleaner than they had any right to be. Even simple little things that looked like little corner sweet shops. Cars parked on the side of the road that made the latest sports cars worth hundreds of millions of yen look old and out of date.

Massive sky scraper apartment buildings like the one she was on, with penthouse swimming pools. Lush vegetation everywhere spread throughout the city in neat, aesthetic parks, gardens and such.

And that was barely touching the surface.

She grimaced as she looked over the place. It was just…too pristine. Too awe inspiring. Too…beautiful.

It was totally fake.

"Just where am I?" she sighed, slumping onto her backside and idly kicking her legs back and forth over the edge of the massive building she sat atop, uncaring of the unrestricted view up her frilly yellow skirt.

It wasn't like there was anybody that could see up her skirt after all, this city she found herself in all of a sudden, was completely and eerily empty besides her.

She had only one rough idea of where she was.

….And only because of the thing giving her a headache right now. Two sets of memories plagued her at the moment.

Or was it, twin perspectives?

It was weird. Like a hazy dream, she could see through her eyes as she went about her life after she had her quirk stolen and was then rescued.

Yet at the absolute same time, she was in a dark, cold lonely place. And had been ever since she'd been defeated and kidnapped by that Nomu.

Until all of ten or fifteen minutes ago. She'd felt a tugging sensation, beheld the face of a boy staring down at her, before suddenly she was just here all alone.

And the second perspective, of seeing through her own eyes, was just gone all of a sudden.

"Daiki, huh?" The hero known as Ragdoll tapped her chin with one big white glove clad finger. That was the name of the boy who she saw before she ended up here.

And also the name of the boy she saw on the news, who called out every hero on his way to Tartarus, who Tiger, Mandalay and Pixie Bob were all called into action against alongside practically every other hero in the country.

Of course, she couldn't go because she didn't have her quirk anymore.

Or rather-

'The other me doesn't have her quirk anymore.' Ragdoll hummed, because she did have her quirk. A much, much more powerful version of her quirk. She'd been able to scan this entire city with Search within just a few minutes of moving around.

…And there was a lot more information stored within her quirk now than she ever remembered.

A lot of it was absurd. Mind boggling even. She was suddenly privy to information that she never should have known.

Like One For All, the once quirk of All Might. How it worked, the information possessed by the one who held her quirk before. Even its origin.

It was awe inspiring history dating back over two hundred years. The greatest secret of her world more or less.

…Yet paled in comparison

Even enhanced quirks that would have the common people screaming in fear about the quirks doomsday theory, even a super enhanced weather manipulation quirk that could probably span the entire world, they all paled in comparison.

What was Willpower? What was Aura? What was Ethernano? What was chakra?

Or perhaps the better question was, just where did it and Daiki Yurei come from?

Because she knew exactly what chakra was.

Physical and spiritual energy. The manifestation of the energy of an entire planet. Nature given form, given purpose.

Where, how and why. She did not know, but she knew what it was. And she knew exactly what the young boy called Daiki Yurei was capable of at his utmost right now.

And it was a terrifying thing to know.

After all, if he so desired, he could end all life in her world within a day. And nobody could hope to stop him.

"…Is he a god, nya?" Ragdoll couldn't help but ponder, silly as it might have sounded.

"That depends on your definition of a god." a voice suddenly spoke up behind her.

But Ragdoll wasn't surprised at the sudden interruption, she knew he was coming after all.

How, she hadn't the foggiest, she just knew.

Perhaps because he had been using her quite liberally so far to scan himself and out his new abilities?

After all, she wasn't the real Tomoko Shirotoko, but rather just a clone of her. Her quirk Search, given form.

"Did you bring me to life?" Ragdoll tilted her head back to look up at the boy who stood behind her, a smile on his face.

It was her first time seeing him properly up close, and in person. He was young, yet there was no denying he was handsome either. Tall and broadly built and with powerful muscles.

Absurdly powerful muscles actually.

She knew exactly how powerful, intimately even. He could lift this massive building she was sitting atop above his head and toss it like a basketball if he really wanted to exert himself at his absolute maximum of ability.

A true punch from him, would liquify All Might at his very best.

"Technically," the boy shrugged and replied, rather accommodatingly actually, weird considering how arrogant he was in the interview the real her saw, "Quirks I've found out, are connected to the soul and basically contain small shards of the original users soul. Usually, you'd be nothing more than something akin to a wraith, a small remnant. But, since your inside me, you've been amplified by my energy."

"Your chakra." Ragdoll grinned at him.

He raised an eyebrow, "Mmmm, so you do get the information from me using the quirk as well, interesting," he hummed, before shrugging again, "But yeah, since you're basically inside my soul right now, you're connected to my spiritual energy and that's how you came to life. And should the original Ragdoll die while you're here, her soul that's tethered to you still, will be pulled towards you and you'll both become one again."

"Huh," Ragdoll blinked, so this entire city, was within his soul? And as long as she was here, when her real self died, she'd come here? Wait, then- "Is the after life real?"

"You're taking this really well." the boy noted, eyebrow raised.

She kinda was, wasn't she? Maybe she was far more resilient than she ever thought. Or maybe she was just numb? She'd learned a lot right now after all. It was kind of hard to process it all at once, so she was just taking it as it came.

Plus, he hadn't denied being a god. And she was still waiting on an answer to her previous question.

It was quite important.

"Nya!" so she just winked at him.

He snorted, "It depends," Daiki replied, "There are definitely places like heaven and hell that exist, where people go to upon death. But, is there one in this universe? No idea, I've only been here a few hours and I don't plan on staying much longer."

Then shrugged once more, he did that a lot, "As far as gods go, they also exist in many forms and in many different places, and I know at least that I'm stronger than a fair few," the boy casually revealed, "But whether I'm a god or not-"

"He is," a voice suddenly echoed all around them, making Ragdoll blink, that was one of the other things she felt inside him through Search wasn't it? "He's a human that ascended beyond his mortal limitations, and the divine authority of a god of life and death runs belongs to him."

Eh!?

He really was!?

"…Yeah just cut in why don't ya'." Daiki rolled his eyes, looking annoyed, "That's Isobu, he's well, I guess a god of nature that I sealed inside myself a while back.

There was a frown on the boys face, as if he were annoyed about something, but Ragdoll was a bit too shocked now actually to think much on that.

The afterlife was real. And this kid Daiki, really was a god!? A human originally that became a god?

How did that even work?

Wait wait, should she bow!?

"Then…if you're a god of life and death, does that mean this is an afterlife?" Ragdoll couldn't help but spazz out and fire one question after another, "Are afterlife's really just insides gods souls? Is there a hell in here? Should I bow? Are you really as young as you look? Not just like a super immortal being cuz you're a god?"

"No you don't need to bow." Daiki rolled his eyes, "And yes I'm as young as I look. Why would you even ask that?"

Hey, it was a legitimate question!

Maybe he was just a pervy old god like Zeus in one of those doujins she read and had a thing for Onee-shota stuff!

Thankfully, she was saved from having to reply.

"Technically there is neither a heaven or hell within this space, but it is something indeed akin to an after life." the voice, and other god Isobu hummed, "Well, until now at least. This city you find yourself within, is the first beginnings of the heavenly side of this afterlife. It's a new thing actually. You are the first resident of this heaven. You should be honoured."

The first person in heaven?

That sounded like a catchy song title!

"Wow." what else could she say, she was just stunned!

Daiki sighed, "Right then," Daiki cut back in, or should she mentally refer to him as god now? "Ragdoll, what do you want to do going forward?"

"Do?" Ragdoll blinked, confused. That was a weird question, she could only do whatever was here, right?

"Yeah, I'm very grateful to you in particular, your quirk Search has helped me get to an all new level," Daiki smiled at her, warmly even! Not a smirk, or a grin, a big wide warm smile. Nya! Oh my, a young handsome god giving her a smile like that, she might swoon! "So I'll let you choose. If you want, I can put you back with your original self, merge you both together again. I'll even bless you with anything you want I'm capable of giving. Or you can stay here if you want."

Wow.

That was an incredible offer.

Anything she wanted as a blessing from a god? That was very tempting. He was a god of life and death right, could he bring people back to life? Like little Kota's parents Water Hose?

But, a thought occurred.

"If I do, and when I eventually die, where will I end up?" the question plagued her almost immediately.

"No idea," Daiki shook his head honestly, "It's very possible there's an afterlife in this world, but it's also possible there isn't and when you die that's just it for you guys. Hell for all I know with how quirks are, it could be an evolution you guys went through in response to there being no after life and manifesting a physical fragment of the soul to keep your soul existing after death."

'Oh….' Ragdoll swallowed heavily.

That was…actually really scary to think about. Even if she did go back, there was the none zero chance she would end up in some form of oblivion when she died? Or would it be more like a purgatory of living within her own quirk factor?

Like…like that dark, cold lonely void she was in before?

An eternity, of that?

And not just for her, but everyone she cared about? Which granted, was an admittedly very small portion of people. She was an orphan. As was Pixie Bob. Mandalay had long since fallen out with her parents because they were abusive to her and her sibling growing up, and said sibling was now dead leaving her only family as Kota. And Tiger had been disowned from his family because of his 'changes'.

"If…If I decide to stay in here, can I still get that blessing?" Ragdoll asked quietly, almost pitifully really.

Nothing like her usual loud bouncy self!

"Well, since I was hoping you'd stay, sure," Daiki's big smile returned, "Just tell me what you want, if it's possible and within my power, I'll do it."

Ah, she was truly blessed.

Was this a reward for being a good person and a hero who strived to help others?

"Then is it possible for my friends to come here as well when they die?" Ragdoll asked, "And maybe…would you be able to bring little Kota's dead parents here as well just to be sure they're not suffering?"

Daiki stared at her for a moment, before tapping his chin in thought, "Well I assume you don't want me killing them and dragging them here, so the only option then is to take their quirks to act as tethers like you do for the other Ragdoll," he mused, "I suppose I could make copies of their quirks after taking them so they don't have to do without either."

He met her eyes, "As for Water Hose, It might be possible," he nodded, "You'll need to tell me where they're buried though."

Before she knew what she was doing, Ragdoll hopped to her feet and hopped atop the boy-god, wrapping her arms and legs around him like a limpet, "Thank you!" she squealed, nuzzling her face against his cheek.

And then she blinked and stilled a bit when she felt two hands reach up beneath her frilly yellow skirt and cup her backside, "Eh!?" Ragdoll gaped.

The smirk returned, "Now putting that aide, the big reason I wanted you to stay, well besides you being hot," he began, even as he casually groped her ass! He really was a god like Zeus from the doujins! "It'll be annoying to constantly keep track of everyone in here eventually, cuz more and more people will definitely end up here at some point. How would you feel like being something akin, to an angel? There's not gonna be any true ruling authority in here besides me, but it'll be your job alongside others in the future to more or less oversee this place."

He looked her directly in the eyes again, "You'll have a direct link to talk to me whenever you need, and that kind of thing."

Wow.

Like really wow. How many times had she thought or said that word since she ended up here? A whole wowzing wowzer lot for sure.

But really, wow.

"Me, an angel?" She let go of him with one hand to point at herself.

"Yup." Daiki confirmed with a nod.

"Cat angel? Nya?" she asked.

"Sure," he snorted, "I can even get you wings if you want, probably."

"Green wings?" she suggested.

"I was thinking more white or gold actually," he shrugged, "but if you want green, sure. It'll match that pretty hair of yours. I dig the green."

"Are you going to have your wicked way with me?" Ragdoll asked, before blinking, "Or is that holy way with me?"

"Well I'm not going to force you, but I'd definitely enjoy it," he snorted, "God or not, I'm still a teenager. Was human first too. And you're a hot older chick with exotic hair and cosplaying as a cat girl."

That made sense.

Sex with a god huh? That would be mind blowing for sure! And as his angel, she would obviously serve him in whatever way he desired right?

Plus he was pretty hot himself!

Pixie Bob would be super jealous!

Nyahaha!

"Daiki's Angels do do do do~" Ragdoll bobbed her head happily.

Daiki chuckled, before shrugging, even as he casually groped her butt! "Though, that'll have to wait until later, I've got stuff to take care of…more stuff to take care of even."

"Awww!" Ragdoll pouted.

________________

Daiki opened his eyes, finding himself once more standing in the physical world, and an annoyed frown appeared on his face, "What the hell was that?" he asked aloud in annoyance, "Since when am I an actual god?"

Sure he'd played the role to Louise and co, but he wasn't actually a god.

'As of a few moments after I realised Ragdoll had appeared inside your soul alone, I figure if your soul truly did become an afterlife, then the power of divinity would add more protection to your soul itself,' Isobu casually replied, 'As for how, some of Ankhseram's essence was left behind when he tried to attack us, I took it upon myself to nurture that essence. Both for a power up of my own and to create god slayer magic, but also to grant you his divine authority. I couldn't obtain it myself, I am of nature, but you're an empty human with no divinity beyond chakra itself. Congratulations Daiki, give it a few hours to integrate properly within you, and you'll be a legitimate god. Ganbare.'

'Heh, ganbare!' Atlas Flame chimed in with a snort.

….What?

WHAT?!

Why was he just finding out about this now!?

'Or should that be mazel tov?' Isobu mused thoughtfully.

'Mozel tov! It's a baby boy god!' Atlas Flame cheered.