Aku the Samurai

Kimetsu no Yaiba AU: Temen-ni-Guru (Arc 2)

XAKU

---

"Our Police Chief, responsible for bringing our Prefecture’s crime rate down to the lowest in our country. Xaku-sama."

Xaku stood rigidly with her arms clasped behind her back, unflinching. Her unique uniform was crisp and perfectly set on her figure as she waited without the slightest movement. She nodded as the announcer stepped back from the podium to let her go next. Without further prompting, she stepped forward.

Her intense scarlet gaze swept over the gathered crowd. Then, she began to speak, her voice clear and perfectly pitched.

"Good afternoon. As you have all heard, my name is Xaku. As of today, I will be serving as your new chief of police. I promise you today that I will do everything in my power to continue to defend the safety and livelihoods of the citizens of our prefecture. No crime in Osaka shall go unpunished, and all those who threaten the stability of our prefecture will be met with the full force of the law. All officers under my command will do the same. Thank you."

She finishes her speech with a short bow as the cameras start flashing and the questions pour out.

One step closer.

---

Rend.

The blood and viscera don’t so much as brush the edges of her uniform as demon flesh is sundered before her. Her gaze remains fixed on the pale, dismembered, barely healing demon kneeling before her.

“... I made myself clear. Osaka is off-limits.”

She doesn’t allow a response. The demon is split into a dozen pieces just as the morning sun starts to rise.

Xaku watches dispassionately as the demon’s remains are turned to ash. She remains in a shaded alcove. Safe, but only just. Suddenly, her head tilts to the side, though her expression is unchanged.

“... Do you require something?”

The shadow behind her shifts and speaks, low enough that only she can hear it. Xaku gives a sharp nod of acknowledgement.

“Very well. Inform him that I will arrive in Funachi by tonight.”

---

Xaku's arrival at Funachi was not as inconspicuous as she would have wished.

It was a given, really. The Police Chief of Osaka visiting Funachi city less than a day after her promotion? That got people curious. Not to mention, her recent achievements and her new position made her a very public and significant figure. Even then, a police escort was a bit much for her taste.

But that was just the price she had to pay for progress.

When the time comes, Xaku is the first to arrive at the Western Dragon Interior. Once there, she chooses to sit in a corner in a seiza and order a simple cup of unsweetened green tea. There she stays as the rest of her associates enter the establishment. She doesn’t greet them beyond a slight incline of her head, her gaze focused on her tea.

As they all settle in, a brief altercation takes place between the one who called for her and an ignorant child. Xaku still does not shift her gaze.

She takes a sip of her tea as she processes her orders.

“We shall see, Tsugikuni-sama.” Her words are polite despite not being a true agreement. Her position as the first set her on a level different from the others. Only the one above her could decipher her true intentions.

She bows her head slightly, her eyes softly shut. Then, she opens them once again, still having her gaze set on her teacup instead of looking directly at anyone.

She didn’t react to Keodis’ words towards her when she addressed him. Her gaze remained fixed on the tranquil stillness of the surface of the tea she held.

“Ryūnoko-san. Do not overestimate your value.”

For a brief moment, her eyes shift towards the direction of Ryoshu’s “statues”, not quite looking, but aware of them nonetheless.

“I implore you to rethink your medium of ‘artistic expression’, Ryoshu-san. An artist’s work is a reflection of themselves, and yours reflects poorly.”

Kimetsu no Yaiba AU: Temen-ni-Guru (Arc 2)

The White Devil

Human Xaku

'𝘟 𝘈 𝘒 𝘜'
'𝘟 𝘈 𝘒 𝘜'

A g e: ?? | R a n k: Chief of Police

^{P e r s o n a l i t y} :
Cold, efficient and uncompromising, Xaku is neither soft nor forgiving. Intelligent but detached, Xaku is an austere and pragmatic individual with zero tolerance for fatuity. Xaku is not one to raise her voice or even utter a curse. Her anger is quiet and glacial, and she keeps her thoughts and feelings, if she has any at all, guarded by a heart of steel. She values efficiency and results, detests dishonesty, rejects disorganisation, and hardly bothers to voice her thoughts beyond short, concise sentences.

To Xaku, weakness of the mind and body is a sin, and those who remain stagnant are the greatest of sinners. Callous, unfeeling and methodical, Xaku holds herself and her subordinates to a high standard of conduct, and she makes no effort to hide her disapproval when those standards are not met. Oftentimes, her words can be just as sharp as any blade, and she is adept at tearing people down with words alone. Her cold and merciless demeanour makes Xaku both feared and respected by colleagues and citizens alike for her ruthless but indisputably efficacious methods.

In battle, which is something of a rarity nowadays, Xaku always prefers precision over raw power, though she does not lack in either area. Collateral damage is generally kept to a minimum, and fights against her often last only seconds before her enemy is turned into nothing more than a fading memory.

Xaku does not start fights. But she always makes sure to end them.

^{S h o w a S e c r e t} :
A newly appointed, influential and notoriously ruthless Police Chief, and the only demon to have fully rejected the standard hierarchy of Michikatsu Tsugikuni.

Before there was Xaku, there was a girl called █████████████. An idealistic orphan from a small, forgotten, long-dead town who once upon a time dreamed of being a hero, of being someone with the strength and courage to protect others the way she herself had once needed. It was a child’s dream, shaped by years of loss, but it was hers nonetheless. To achieve that goal, she sought to join the Demon Slayer Corps to slay the wicked monsters of the night and protect the innocent from evil. And yet... the reality was not what she thought. As time passed, her idealism faded bit by bit as she was confronted with the true horror of humanity within her own country. Demons were cruel monsters, yes, but humans were a special kind of evil all their own. Weak in most cases, unthreatening, cowardly, and yet possessed of a capacity for cruelty far greater than any demon she had ever encountered.

Such evil. W̸h̶y̷?̴

Eventually, the pride she once held in her heart faded until slaying demons no longer held the honour and glory it once did, replaced with a more powerful feeling of uncertain, creeping despair. Then, a new thought began forming in her mind, terrible and insidious, poisoning her heart, feeding on her hesitance, dulling her blade. It was the thought that... perhaps humans were not worth saving, after all. Perhaps they were not truly different from the demons who sought to prey on them. Perhaps... humans themselves were monsters of a sort. At the very least, those demons did not pretend, did not smile and speak honeyed words while poisoning their own children, violating their own kind. Yet, through all those increasingly dire thoughts, she clutched onto her duty like a lifeline, believing that demons were still the worst danger, still the true evil that needed to be purged. Because, without that lifeline, without that purpose... she had nothing.

And she couldn't k̸ͭ͝i͛͠l̡͞l̢͛ live f̴̡o̢͌̀r with that.

And then, her hope was broken again and again and again. Her beliefs tested time and again over the course of her career, fracturing her already once rock-solid mentality and pushing her convictions to their limits until she broke entirely. Eventually, she could force herself to pretend no longer, and she made the choice to permanently cut ties with the Demon Slayer Corps. And yet... her idealism never quite died off with the rest of her compassion, instead crystallising into a cold, hard, and absolute resolve that she held above all else.

If humans were also wrong, then why should they alone be spared judgment?

It was undeserved. U̴n̴e̸a̶r̸n̵e̴d̸.

It was soon after that when she encountered Upper Moon One, Kokushibo, some time before the death of the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, at the hands of the Demon Slayer Corps. After a fearsome battle that left her blade shattered and her body broken, she was ready to accept her fate.

P̴a̸t̵h̵e̸t̴i̴c̷.̸

But it wasn’t the cold embrace of death that found her. Instead, the Upper Moon spared her life and made her an offer she didn't expect. Become a demon and live an eternal life. At that moment, faced with a choice she no longer cared to reject, she chose to abandon her previous identity and reinvent herself completely as something more than a mere Demon Slayer.

And thus, she became the first to be turned by Tsugikuni Michikatsu. Not one of his Blood Moons, but something else entirely.

Xaku was born from a corpse, but not of the physical kind.

Hider

Xaku has a confirmed kill count of exactly six hundred and twenty-five, including thirty-seven Demon Slayers and four Hashira.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

'K e k k ī j u t s u'
'K e k k ī j u t s u'

^{B l o o d D e m o n A r t} :

Disassemble (分解切る)

Precise, destructive and swifter than sight, Xaku's Blood Demon Art combines immense range, speed, and unmatched single-target damage potential. Xaku's attacks are fast, brutal and undetectable to the naked eye. Her slashes make no sound and do not even displace air before making contact with a target. Only those of great skill can even hope to avoid instant death when faced with this power.

✧ Signature — Rend (切り裂く): Never seen, only felt, this technique is the one used in general combat as both offence and defence. While usually undetectable, the results of this technique speak for themselves in the bisected corpses and split buildings it leaves behind.

✧ Secondary — Dissect (解剖): A far more powerful, yet somewhat less devastating, version of Xaku's "Rend", this technique has very little range, but is more precise and has far more destructive potential, automatically adjusting its output to cut through anything Xaku touches. Rarely used, but powerful nonetheless.

✧ Finisher — Shrine of Ruin (はいきょのしんでん): An all-out attack that unleashes hundreds of thousands of slashes per second from both "Dissect" and "Rend" to dismantle everything around Xaku. When the dust settles, nothing remains.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

^{T r a n s f o r m a t i o n} : Xaku's only known transformation is her current form, an entirely separate look from her original human appearance.

Kimetsu no Yaiba AU: Temen-ni-Guru (Arc 2)

@Yu Narukami My CS is... done.

Kimetsu no Yaiba AU: Temen-ni-Guru (Arc 2)

Xaku

Human Xaku

'X A K U'
'X A K U'

A g e: ?? | R a n k: Assistant Commissioner

^{P e r s o n a l i t y} :
Cold, efficient and uncompromising, Xaku is neither soft nor benevolent. Intelligent but detached, Xaku is a well-spoken and levelheaded individual with no tolerance for disorder. Xaku does not shout nor ever utters a curse, regardless of how livid she may be. Her thoughts, however, are another matter entirely. She detests dishonesty, rejects disorganisation and hardly bothers to explain herself beyond short, concise sentences. To Xaku, weakness of the mind and body is a sin, and those who remain stagnant are the greatest of sinners. As callous as she may appear, Xaku holds herself and others to a high standard, and she makes no effort to hide her disapproval when they are not met. Though it may not always be readily apparent, her words can be just as sharp as her blade, and she is adept at tearing people down with words alone. Despite her cold demeanour, Xaku is respected by colleagues and citizens alike for her ruthless, but fair and effective methods.

In battle, which is something of a rarity nowadays, Xaku prefers precision over raw power, though she lacks in neither. Collateral damage is usually kept to a minimum, and fights against her often last only seconds before her enemy is turned into nothing more than a fleeting memory of a pitiful decision.

Xaku does not start fights. But she always makes sure to end them.

^{S h o w a S e c r e t} :
A newly appointed and notoriously influential Assistant Police Commissioner, and the only demon to have rejected the standard hierarchy of Michikatsu Tsugikuni in order to follow her own path.

Before there was Xaku, there was █████████████, an idealistic orphan from a small town who once upon a time wished to be a hero, to be someone with the strength and courage to protect others as she herself had once needed. It was a child’s dream, shaped by loss, but it was hers nonetheless. To achieve that goal, she became a Demon Slayer to slay the wicked monsters of the night and protect the innocent. But the reality was not what she thought. As time passed, her idealism faded as she was confronted with the true horror of humanity within her own country. Demons were cruel monsters, yes, but humans were a special kind of evil all their own. Weak in most cases, cowardly, and yet possessed of a capacity for cruelty far greater than any demon she had encountered.

Eventually, slaying demons no longer held the honour and glory it once did for her, replaced with a more powerful feeling that perhaps humans were not worth saving, after all. Still, she held onto her duty, believing that demons were still the worst danger.

That belief would be tested time and time again over the course of her career, until she eventually cut ties with the Demon Slayer Corps entirely. And yet, her idealism never quite died, instead crystallising into a cold, hard, and absolute resolve.

If humans were also wrong, then why should they alone be spared judgment?

It was soon after that she encountered Kokushibo, not long after the death of Muzan Kibutsuji at the hands of the Demon Slayer Corps. After a fearsome battle that left her blade shattered and her body broken, she accepted her fate.

But it wasn’t the cold embrace of death that found her. Instead, the former Upper Moon spared her life and made her an offer she chose not to refuse. At that moment, she chose to abandon her previous identity and reinvent herself completely as Xaku, the lethal enforcer.

And thus, she became the first to be turned by Michikatsu Tsugikuni.

Xaku has a confirmed kill count of exactly six hundred and twenty-five, including twenty-seven Demon Slayers and four Hashira.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

'K e k k ī j u t s u'
'K e k k ī j u t s u'

^{B l o o d D e m o n A r t} :

Disassemble (Bunkai kiru) | 分解切る - lit. Cut Apart)

Precise, destructive and swifter than sight, Xaku's Blood Demon Art combines high range, speed and near-unmatched single-target damage potential. Xaku's attacks are fast, brutal and undetectable to the naked eye. Her slashes make no sound and do not even displace air before making impact with a target. Only those of great skill can even hope to avoid instant death when faced with this power.

✧ Signature "Rend": Never seen, only felt, this technique is the one used in general combat as both offence and defence. While usually undetectable, the results of this technique speak for themselves in the bisected corpses and split buildings it leaves behind.

✧ Secondary "Sunder": A far more devastating version of Xaku's "Rend", this technique has very little range, but is more precise and has far more destructive potential, automatically adjusting its output to cut through anything Xaku touches. Rarely used, but powerful nonetheless.

✧ Finisher "Shrine of Desolation": An all-out attack that unleashes tens of thousands of slashes from both "Sunder" and "Rend" to dismantle everything around Xaku. When the dust settles, nothing remains.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

^{T r a n s f o r m a t i o n} : Xaku's only transformation is her current form, an entirely separate look from her original human appearance.

Digimon: Dawn's Glimmering (Dead)

Kai & Agumon - Odd Ones Out

---

Kai did not fight.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to fight, but there was only so much he could do without any weaponstools on hand. And, he wasn’t exactly transported here with his arsenal or anything. He had to make that stuff all over again. Again. It definitely wasn’t because he slept through most of the action, or anything like that. Of course not. Why would anyone even think that?

That was stupid.

Anyway.

While he didn’t get to fight the whatevertheheckthatwas, he did, however, manage to scrap some stuff from the car junkyard and stuff it into his bag while no one was looking. Flawlessly. 10/10. Sneak level 100. He was the best. No contest. Hold the applause. And like, sure, it was absolutely useless to carry around any of that stuff without any way to use it, but that wouldn’t stop him. He was a genius lunatic and had the power of determinationhyperactive hyperfixation on his side. All he needed was time. And caffeine, just to see if it would actually make his heart explode. Probably a hat, too. To complete the look.

... Well, first he had to find a look. A thought for later.

Through it all, Agumon watched his ‘partner’ with a mix of curiosity and concern as he buzzed from place to place without any noticeable rhyme or reason. He wasn’t sure what Kai was doing, and he had a sinking feeling that was going to become a common occurrence.

---

The walk to the mountain was boring. Or, it would have been, if Kai didn’t have a talking dinosaur to talk to. Well, interact with. He was never one for much talking. That was for boring people. Ugh. Just the mere thought of that made him shudder.

At the mansion, however, Kai was nowhere to be found while the others were being welcomed. Buildings meant rooms. Rooms meant stuff. Stuff that didn’t belong to him. Yet.

He had to rectify that.

So, naturally, he had abandoned Agumon with the others the moment they actually got to the mansion. Not before snatching some of the strange fruits, of course. Nutrition was important. Almost as important as consuming strange foods from stranger people.... monsters? Things? Whatever.

Point is, accepting food from strangers was stupid.

He took a bite of one of the fruits anyway.

Hm. Crunchy.

Kai sat cross-legged and turned his attention back to his radio, laid out on the floor in an empty room he found. He flicked open his multi-tool and tinkered with its insides for a moment. Kind of like a surgeon. An uncertified one, sure, but whatever.

He closed up the radio and then turned it on, waiting eagerly for a reaction.

It crackled for a few seconds before sputtering out.

Hm. That didn’t work.

Not that he expected it to. He had no idea how anything in this world worked—Yet!—so, of course, that was a bust. Too bad it didn’t blow up.... well, actually, that would be bad. It wasn’t like he could get another one anytime soon.... or could he? He absentmindedly took another bite of the fruit.

Well, at least that failed attempt told him one thing. This place was freakier than he thought...

Nice.

Now, time to make a mess of things.

Digimon: Dawn's Glimmering (Dead)

Kai - Odd One One

Kai was in heaven. Or, as close to it as he would ever get. It was weird, considering he was 87.214% sure he’d never make it up there, but oh well.

Well, actually, to put it simply, he was stuffing his face.

The buffet table shrank in real time as he practically inhaled everything he could get his hands on. Everything else fell to the wayside as he put away an utterly inconceivable amount of food for someone of his size. He barely paused when the lights went out, merely tilting his head curiously and slowing slightly, very slightly.

Huh. What was this now?

It was quiet, save for the sound of him chewing. Working in the dark never stopped him before, and it wouldn’t stop him now! Someone tried the doors; they didn’t open. Odd, but whatever. That could happen for any number of reasons. Kai’s heart rate spiked nonetheless. Hopeful.

And then the computer on the table started glowing. Kai’s hand froze halfway to his mouth. It wasn’t plugged on. He stuffed the last deviled egg into his mouth and bounced over to the device. It flashed brightly and then exploded with light.

Kai cackled.
——————————
————————————————
——————————
When awareness returned, he found himself face down in the dirt instead of on a hotel floor. His first action was entirely reasonable–

He licked it.

Hmm. That didn’t taste like any dirt he’d tasted before. And he’d tasted a lot of dirt.

His second action was to survey his surroundings–

Huh. That’s a lot of cars.

The sky was odd, too, almost unnatural. Or, entirely unnatural. He wasn’t quite sure. Paying nothing else any mind, Kai approached the derelict vehicles and yanked one of their trunks open.

....

No engine, no transmission, no battery. Hmph. That was disappointing. What kind of car was this? Was it... magic? Magic cars?!

Hell yeah!

.... Wait, was that a dinosaur?! DINOSAURS?! Other weird creatures were there too, but—

Dinosaurs! Here!

Oh, there was so much he could do with that! People were going to freak out!

....

....

For the first time since he got there, Kai actually takes a full look around and sees all the other people who were there with him. They were the ones in the hotel lobby from before.

.... Hm. Smaller audience than he would have liked, but whatever! He could do something with this.... all he had to do was plot. And, plot, he did....

Woe to whoever fell in his path.

.... Hm. Did that purple one just say something? Well, it didn’t matter. Chaos was calling his nam—

“Hey, you alright in there?”

.... Huh? The... dinosaur.... was talking?

Taking.... Dinosaur....

.... This changed everything.

Kai shoved a card in the dinosaur’s face insistently. It only has a single word on it: “Kai”. No surname, of course, because who had those? Pfft. Probably some loser normies.

Of course, thinking it can read is just an assumption, but whatever was going through Kai’s mind at that moment didn’t take that into consideration. Instead, he just grinned savagely friendly.

---

Agumon - The Mystery

Agumon was.... confused.

The other Digimon were already conversing with the humans—their partners—but the one he approached was.... odd to say the least. Very much so. He hadn’t said a word yet, but the look on his face seemed a bit strange. Smile too wide, eyes too bright, sparkling, even, and his body was trembling, but not from fear, as far as he could tell. All in all, the look on his face was.... concerning to say the least.

“Hello.... Kai? I’m Agumon. I’m supposed to be your partner.... I think.”

Agumon couldn’t really be sure. The human hadn’t gotten a digivice, so—wait, the human’s expression was weird. What was going on?

Kai’s eyes were blown wide, and the grin on his face stretched even wider, almost unnervingly. And then, for the first time in a long time, he spoke, voice quiet, barely discernible, and uncertain from extreme disuse.

“.... Fricking.... A....”

And then, he just.... stood there motionless, grin still in place.

Agumon blinked, somewhat put off, “Um, okay....”

Meanwhile, Kai’s mind was overwhelmed by excitement. Dinosaur. Teeth. Cars. Magic. Materials. People. Victims. Mayhem. People. Havoc.

He fell asleep standing. Just for a minute.

Digimon: Dawn's Glimmering (Dead)

Kai - Odd One One

Kai loved the smell of smoke.

It reminded him of home.

It irritated his eyes and burned his nose, but he found comfort in it all the same. It tried reminding him of things he wished he hadn’t forgotten, and yet he could never recall them. A face. A voice. A song. A promise. ᴬ ˡⁱᵉ.

All gone in the blink of an eye.

Now, Kai hated the smell of smoke.

It reminded him of home.

Home didn’t exist anymore. Only noise. Only chaos.

That, at least, he could relish.

---

A single eyelid cracked open, peering unblinkingly at the high wooden ceiling before falling shut. A pair of headphones hung loosely around his neck, playing quiet gibberish into the empty air. A light grey hooded sweater was discarded over a wooden nightstand beside the occupied bed, pooling slightly on the pristine wooden floor. Various pieces of (expensive) equipment and clothing were strewn across the rest of the room, some newer than others, and several with tags still attached....

Technically, none belonged to the room’s sole occupant, but that was just semantics. They were in his room, so they were his by definition. It was all quite logical, truly.

Amid all the mess, Kai lay with a hand draped across his face, blocking one of his silvery eyes, completely dead to the world....

.... He was so bored.

Sleeping the day away had seemed like a good idea at the time (it wasn’t), but even after waking up some hours later, he was still bored out of his mind. The whole plane ride to Hawaii was uneventful, even more so since he missed his chance to do something about it. Being on his best behaviour was always exhausting work. Sure, he spent most of that time asleep, but still.

Jail time was starting to sound marginally more appealing than usual right about now.

There had to be something he could do to stave off this boredom.

Almost as if on cue, the television sputtered on, the screen pitch black and emitting awful static interference.

DO YOU SEEK FREEDOM? That was a dumb question. Who doesn’t? Koalas, maybe. And pandas. Actually, did those two even count for anything?

Er.... what was he thinking about again?

DO YOU SEEK–

Hold that thought.

Kai dug around the TV's internal cables, pulling and twisting the wires this way and that to input his honest reaction until the screen fizzled out entirely in a burst of static. A jolt ran through his fingertips, widening the grin on his face ever so slightly, disturbingly, before dropping entirely.

He huffed in disappointment.

Even possessed TVs didn’t have a sense of humour these days. Almost made him regret coming here. Almost.

Somehow uneventful TV possession aside, his appetite for mischief was nowhere close to being satisfied, so he set about finding a way to make a mess of things, in a fun way, of course, only for a card on the bed to catch his scattered attention. His head tilted towards it in confusion.

Weird. He hadn’t noticed it before.

Then again, he had crashed immediately upon getting into the room, so it wasn’t too surprising he missed it. Speaking of crashing, he wondered if this hotel had a parking lot of any sort. He’d never driven a civilian car before.

Well, that was a plan. Kai nodded to himself cheerily, completely bypassing the note on his bed in favour of his new mission. He put on his headphones to the sound of static, pulling up his hoodie to cover his bedhead. How lovely! Electrical interference was his second favourite genre.

The first thing Kai noticed when he made his way to the ballroom—he thought that was a movie-only thing, honestly—was the buffet table. Even from where he was standing, he could hear it calling his name. Mai, Mai....

Wait, that wasn’t his name. Oh, well, he did–

Huh?

Would you look at that? There were already victims people there. Oh, he could already imagine how much fun they would have. Well, he would, in any case.

But, first! Sustenance.

Fenix Tear [Invite | Ask Only]

Shinra Rudegarn

---

_{Location: ???}

Time seemed to move at a snail’s pace inside the “prison” Shinra found himself trapped within. Instinctively, his Ether Gear stabilised his body, though he could feel little else other than himself. And for the first time in a long time, Shinra was made to reflect.

Was this all his efforts amounted to? Helpless in the face of enemies who threatened his friends?

No way. He had to–

Shinra’s consciousness snapped back in a flash. His eyes flickered around as he regained his bearings and acclimated to his newfound freedom. Then, his eyes fell on a familiar figure.

Jaina?

Shinra almost didn’t recognise her at first. It was the first time he had ever seen her so angry. The current situation was a whirlwind of a mess, but his resolve remained steadfast.

He’d have to save his thanks for later! Right now, they had a fight to finish. The green glow surrounding his body intensified as the green lines of his Ether gear formed on both sides of his head, imitating a pair of horns. The energy coalesced into a sphere above his arm, pulsing with a bright light. Shinra took a step forward, clenching his fist.

“Magi-Mech Attack: Gravity Cannon!” Shinra roared as he tossed the super-dense sphere at Dantes with full force.

@Yu Narukami @Letter Bee

Accursed Tropes: The Last Airbender (Isekai; Fanfic Cliches infiltrating Canon, Lewascan gave me Permission)

??????? - Lì Yang

---

Fire Nation - AG 99

---

Lì Yang didn’t think much of it when he signed up. It gave him an excuse to leave the Fire Nation without raising any alarms and allowed him a level of freedom he didn’t have before, ignoring, of course, the terrible, horrible things the military was expected to do. His parents were accepting of his decision for the most part, though he had to endure more than a little worried coddling from his mother before he was allowed to set off with the rest of the recruits.

Military life would be a first for Lì Yang, different universe or not. The facility of wood, stone, and metal, which made up the military barracks of the Fire Nation, was a sight to behold. In this life, at least, he hadn’t seen a sight like it before. It didn’t quite bring about the same sense of scale or majesty that the royal palace had when he’d visited the capital a few years ago, but that was to be expected. What wasn’t expected was the “hazing ritual”, as they called it. It piqued his interest initially, but he lost that interest quickly when he realised what it all entailed.

Ineffectual bullying.

Of course, dealing with them the way he had was bound to draw attention. Once he was brought before his commanding officer, however, it wasn’t for a punishment as he’d believed it to be. Instead, they sought to put his strength to better use; to make him into a living weapon. For Lì Yang’s part, he was more than excited to be put through his paces.

It didn’t last.

At first, he was simply assigned to fight more experienced recruits, some of whom were armed with bladed weapons in the training rings. None of them lasted more than a minute against him. It wasn’t until the tenth unconscious recruit was being carried to the infirmary that they decided it was time for a change. Since regular fighters didn’t stand a chance, someone had the bright idea of letting him get into the ring with a fire-bender, thinking that would finally put a stop to his streak. Lì Yang couldn’t hold back a cheery grin at the look on their faces when he shrugged off getting hit directly by a fireball.

Eventually, they had only a single test left; Lì Yang’s greatest test yet. Going head to head with a fully-crewed Fire Nation tank headed by a fire-bending soldier. Most people in such a situation would be riddled with nerves, at the very least. Lì Yang was not most people. He was more enthusiastic than he’d ever been, and yet he couldn’t act on it.

Restraint. Sigh....

As much as he would have loved to cut loose, in the long run, it would only hurt his future chances to show his entire hand here. The full extent of his strength would have to remain unknown for now. Still, that didn’t mean he was going to lose. All it meant was that the tank would only be “slightly” damaged when he was done.

That was nice of him, right? Right.

---

Apparently, Lì Yang’s definition of nice was a bit incongruous with his peers. He didn’t even know what the problem was! The tank had still been functional, if inverted and a bit dented, when he was done. And, he’d even flipped it back onto its treads after the fact. That was good, right? No one else seemed to think so.

They’d even taken to calling him “The Monster” after that event. It wasn’t quite what he expected his first nickname to be here, but he was stuck with it now. Oh, well, there’d be plenty of chances to get a better one later.

Then came his first mission.

It was midday when Lì Yang found himself standing at attention before the local Colonel, a man named Lao.

“Private First Class Li Yang, you have officially been promoted to Corporal; your first assignment is to take a squad of fighters - some older than you - to the forests around the village of Gaipan, one of our outposts in the Western Earth Kingdom. There, a group of partisans known as the 'Freedom Fighters' are attacking Fire Nation troops and the occasional civilian. Kill their leader, a young man close to your age named Jet, and as many of them as possible, but capture a few survivors for public execution.”

“Understood, Colonel.”

While his face betrayed no emotion, on the inside, Lì Yang was.... well, surprised was far too tame a word for it, but it was the best he had.

As he left the Colonel’s office, his thoughts were troubled.

Hunting the Freedom Fighters? The Colonel obviously thought he would find some kind of glory in that as a citizen of the Fire Nation. Of course, Lì Yang had no way of knowing what exactly was going on inside the man’s head, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Refusing the mission wasn’t really possible at this juncture, but killing people who were fighting against the tyranny of the Fire Nation kind of rubbed him the wrong way. A not-so-small part of him was still thrilled at the idea of taking on guerrilla fighters, despite the obvious issues. It wasn’t like the Freedom Fighters were entirely innocent, anyway....

Ah, whatever, stressing over something that hadn’t happened yet wouldn’t do him any good. It would take several days to get to the Earth Kingdom from this base, so he’d just figure things out then.

He had time.

Digimon: Dawn's Glimmering (Dead)

The Rogues

Name: Kai

Age: 16

Important Items:

• A pair of dog tags, scratched beyond recognition with only a single letter, “A”, visible.
• A pair of white headphones, perfectly normal.
• Navy-blue sleep mask.
• Military-grade radio he “acquired” some time ago, modified to the point of being nearly unrecognisable.
• Multi-tool, heavily modified to improve upon its general purpose.
• Wallet with multiple questionable I.D.s and cards.

Short Bio: Chaotic. Infuriating. Manic. Terrorist.

As much of a menace as Kai was growing up, one could be forgiven for believing he had zero parental influence over his life, even if that wasn’t quite the case. Born on an island base in the middle of who knows where, to a mother whose face he could no longer remember, his life was bound to be a mess from the beginning. From the very start, everyone knew him as a problematic child, constantly making off with and taking apart anything he could get his hands on. Some might say it was a privilege that he was allowed to be there despite his disastrous attitude, but he didn’t see it that way.

When he was six years old, he watched his mother leave for the umpteenth time, but unlike before, she never came back. All she had left behind were her dog tags, scratched beyond recognition. He was young then, young enough that it didn’t hit him as hard as it should have, young enough that he didn’t start questioning it. Instead, he waited. And waited. Two years went by without so much as a whisper of her whereabouts, and despite his young age, Kai knew well that he wouldn’t get an answer from anyone even if he tried. That is, if he simply asked outright.

So, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Quite literally.

Breaking things came easily to him, and one would think the opposite would hold as well. They would be dead wrong. In Kai’s eyes, everything had a purpose beyond the obvious. He had the skills, but they were raw, unpolished, entirely instinctive. Refining them took time and materials that he didn’t have, so he learnt other things as well. He made himself useful, so much so that no one questioned him anymore. So much so that nobody saw him.

Then, when the moment showed itself, he took it and, for the first time in his life, he set foot on the mainland. They would start looking for him eventually, but he intended to accomplish his goal long before then.

When the invitation came, it was nothing but an idle curiosity that drove him to attend. Little did he know, it would change his life forever.

Personality: Outwardly cheery, alarmingly capable, perpetually frenzied, yet chronically lethargic, Kai is anarchy personified, with a slight sprinkling of terrorism. A wild and carefree soul who considers rules as little more than inconvenient suggestions to be ignored, he goes where he wants and does as he wishes without a care in the world. What that entails for those unfortunate enough to cross paths with him is a migraine that never quite goes away, distance notwithstanding. A loner by circumstances, if not exactly by nature, he is utterly incapable of making things easier for others and thus generally prefers not to bother.

Beyond all that, he is undeterred in the face of adversity, pushing toward his objectives with an ever-present devil may care attitude. Loyal almost to a fault, but ever the fickle one, he shows his care through action alone, however troublesome they may seem. Kai is trouble no matter where he goes, but (mostly) restrained chaos is better than uncontrolled mayhem.

Skills:

• Larceny. A thief by any other name, Kai learnt early on how to take from others without being caught. He's only gotten better at it over time.
• Engineering/Overhauling. The first thing he ever did as a fully conscious child was break something. Then he fixed it, sort of. Anything and everything can be taken apart, and he knows better than most how to do so and how to put them back together better than before.
• Multilingual. Kai is fluent in several languages, and he has his own way of interpreting the ones he can't speak.
• Sharpshooting. Kai is an excellent shot, whether with guns or other projectile implements (i.e. anything he can throw).

Digimon Character Sheet

Agumon

Name: Agumon

Age: ???

Attribute: Vaccine, Virus

Short Bio: Agumon doesn’t remember much about what happened before he ended up here. One of his earliest memories was of meeting a purple-furred digimon who made him an offer he couldn’t refuse to save their world from destruction. He was mostly clueless about things, but partnering with a human was bound to be an interesting experience.

Personality: A rather stark contrast to his partner, Agumon is a milder, yet no less vivacious presence. An amnesiac Digimon with a purpose that he can’t yet begin to understand, he takes whatever situation he finds himself in with stride, never allowing melancholy to cloud his mind. While he cannot help but desire answers to his being, he nonetheless chooses to live in the moment, making new memories instead of dwelling on what might have been.

Powers:
Pepper Breath: Spits flames at its foes.
Sharp Claws: Attacks with claws.
Spitfire: Shoots a small blast of fire from its mouth.
Claw Uppercut: Uppercuts the enemy with its claws.
Claw Attack: Rapidly jabs or slashes the opponent with the claws of both hands.
Fire Breath: Spews a very hot breath of flames at the enemy.
Baby Burner: Accumulates "Pepper Breath" in its mouth and then spits it out all at once as a much more powerful blast.
Wildfire Uppercut: A flaming uppercut with its claws.

Future Evolutions:
Agumon → GeoGreymon → RizeGreymon → Gaiomon → Gaiomon Fierce Blade Mode/Susanoomon
↕
SkullGreymon → BlackWarGreymon → BlackWarGreymon X