Buying My Way Through the Multiverse

As Gray’s power continued to grow, his hair started rising up, flashing a bright yellow here and there. Overhaul saw the newcomer but couldn’t move; he kept losing his balance, and Chronostasis was doing the same. Gray’s muscles bulked up, and at the same time, his veins started popping out.

Gray felt the dam break as the transformation took hold. ”HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” he yelled out as he finally achieved what he had been training for over the past few months. He had finally turned into a Super Saiyan.

The concrete walls around him began to crack deeply. Gray looked down at his hands and started getting a feel for the massive new power-up, but he decided to fully test it later. He had something much more important to do right now.

Finally looking up, he matched his gaze with Eri. Gray instantly appeared behind Overhaul and Chronostasis, completely bypassing them as he knelt down in front of the table.

”Hi, hope I’m not too late,” Gray said.

Eri cowered back, her voice trembling. ”Who... who are you?” she stammered out.

”I’m here to get you out of this place,” Gray said gently, extending his hand. ”Come, let’s get out of here.”

Eri’s eyes widened. She hesitated at first, but she finally reached out and took Gray’s hand. Gray pulled her into his arms, holding her securely as he turned and started walking out of the lab.

Overhaul finally broke free from the shock and came back to his senses. ”I don’t know who the hell you are, but you’re not taking Eri!” he roared, dashing forward to touch Gray. Chronostasis also moved up right behind him to coordinate an attack.

Hearing Overhaul get mad, Eri started shivering violently as she grabbed a tight hold of Gray’s weighted clothes. ”No... no, no, no, no,” she started crying.

Gray simply patted her back softly. ”It’s fine. Everything will be fine from now on,” he said, using the gentlest voice he could muster. Once Overhaul and Chronostasis got close enough, Gray whispered, ”Close your eyes, Eri-chan.”

Eri did exactly as she was told. The moment Gray saw that she listened, he spun around. He caught Overhaul’s extended arm cleanly by the wrist and flicked his hand hard, launching the Yakuza leader crashing brutally into the concrete wall. Chronostasis tried to use his hair clock arrows to slow down Gray’s time, but Gray dodged the projectiles effortlessly. He flicked a small Ki blast his way, sending Chronostasis crashing heavily into another wall.

Gray turned back and continued walking out of the underground area with Eri cradled safely in his arms. He raised his left hand, pointed it directly upward toward the ceiling, and launched a concentrated Ki blast. The energy beam violently destroyed the ceiling, continuing to travel straight upward through the layers of earth for a few seconds before Gray stopped the output.

With a clear exit, Gray flew straight out of the hole, rising to the surface.

As soon as Gray made it out of the hole, a few bright searchlights shone directly onto him. Looking up, he saw the news helicopters filming from above. Shielding Eri from the blinding light with his arm, he walked calmly down the courtyard toward the perimeter, where heroes and police held off the crowd and kept people from getting closer.

Gray approached the line, and Sir Nighteye turned around. He saw the little girl cradled in Gray’s arms and immediately noticed the way she looked: severely malnourished, bandaged, and absolutely afraid of everything around her.

”Can you look after her for a minute?” Gray said, his voice steady. ”I still have some business left with that guy.”

Nighteye held out his arms and carefully took Eri. Seeing all the new faces and the chaotic flashing lights, Eri didn’t want to leave Gray’s side, clinging tightly to his clothes.

Gray simply reached out and gently touched her head. ”It’s fine. They will take care of you.”

”No... no, don’t leave! He will come back, please!” she pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at him.

”That’s why I’m here, Eri,” Gray continued after a brief pause. ”I’ll make sure that guy never does anything to you or anyone else again. I promise.”

Hearing that promise, Eri finally let go and nodded, burying her face into Nighteye’s suit.

The moment Gray turned back around, his expression changed completely. He had put on a gentle farce to comfort Eri, but deep down, he had never been as angry across his entire two lives as he was right now. He had deliberately held back a massive amount of his power when he flicked both of those assholes underground earlier; he didn’t want them to die quickly. He wanted them to truly suffer for what they did.

Walking back toward the destroyed building, he found All Might emerging from the hole, carrying a restrained Mimic, with a healed Rappa and Hekiji walking right behind him. Seeing the terrifying, furious look on Gray’s face and his rising power level, All Might stepped directly into his path to block the way.

”That’s enough, Gray-shonen!” All Might barked, his face full of concern as he stood his ground. ”You already rescued the girl and beat them. That’s enough.”

”Move, All Might,” Gray said, stopping dead in his tracks as his blazing green eyes stared straight into the taller man. ”I will not ask a second time.”

”I will not move! I sti-”

All Might was cut off short. Gray snapped his fist forward and punched his face to the side. The Symbol of Peace was violently launched completely off his feet, flying at high speeds through a succession of concrete walls and nearby houses before crashing into the distance.

With the path cleared, Gray didn’t waste another second. He kicked off the ground and flew straight down into the dark hole.

Landing at the bottom, he saw Overhaul already out of the wall and completely healed. He looked deranged; his eyes were bloodshot, and he violently kicked the scattered rocks around him. Hearing the noise, he snapped his head around and came face-to-face with Gray again.

”You!” Overhaul roared. He slammed his bare hands onto the concrete, instantly manipulating the matter to send a wave of jagged stone spikes racing toward Gray.

Gray simply disappeared from where he was standing, leaving the spikes to stab empty air, and materialized directly behind Overhaul.

”I won’t fall for it again!” Overhaul shrieked. He spun around, swinging his arm out frantically to touch Gray and disassemble him into nothingness.

But Gray was already outmatched in this world, and now that he had unlocked his Super Saiyan form, he was untouchable. He danced through the air, casually dodging every single desperate swipe Overhaul threw.

”Where is Eri?!” Overhaul screamed frantically, his composure shattered.

Gray just stared down at him coldly, disgusted by the sight of his face. Done with the talking, Gray snapped his leg forward in a low, brutal kick right against Overhaul’s knees, sending him barreling violently back into the concrete wall. The sheer kinetic impact tore Overhaul’s legs completely apart from the knees down. As his torso smashed into the brick, he frantically touched his own flesh with his hands, using his quirk to forcefully stitch his legs and bones back together in a bloody instant.

”Yes, keep doing that,” Gray said, his blazing green eyes narrowing as his golden aura flickered. ”I’m not anywhere close to being done with you.”

”Why?! Why?! Why?! I was so close!” Overhaul choked out, his mind breaking as he lunged forward into another mad dash.

Gray continued effortlessly dodging the incoming strikes. Every time he countered, he delivered a precise, crushing blow that forced Kai Chisaki to use his quirk to painfully heal his own shattered body over and over again, sending him flying across the room each time.

Realizing he was completely out of options against this person, Overhaul used the momentum of his next crash to reach out and touch his unconscious companion, Chronostasis. In a sickening flash of gore, both of their bodies exploded into a mass of flesh and fused together a second later.

Overhaul ballooned in size, growing much larger and sprouting extra limbs. But he was running out of time. This stranger was stupidly strong, and he still couldn’t lay a single finger on him. Feeling the extra strength of the fusion surging through his new muscles, the monster lunged again.

Gray simply stood still, watching him squirm like a pathetic bug attempting to fight back. Because he had fused with Chronostasis, the monster’s hair now featured clock hands. As he threw a giant punch at Gray’s face, the clock hands violently shot forward to touch him and slow him down.

Gray disappeared from sight in a microsecond. He reappeared directly above the monster, driving a heavy fist straight down into his skull and smashing him face-first into the cratered floor.

”You know, it’s insane to me that people were actually willing to follow a deranged moron like you just because your quirk was strong,” Gray spat, his voice echoing off the cracking walls. ”Torturing a little girl over and over again just for her quirk for your stupid ideals... Seriously, what kind of monster do you have to be to just sit back and watch that happen?”

Overhaul struggled to support his massive, fused weight, spitting blood onto the ground. ”You don’t know anything! This quirk-infected society is what’s wrong, not me!”

”Seriously? That’s your pathetic excuse?” Gray’s fury spiked. ”You put her own grandfather into a coma just so you could take charge of the Yakuza. And what was your grand plan again? Destroy all quirks?” Gray let out a loud, mocking scoff. ”So you wanted to keep torturing Eri for decades to come just for your plan to work?”

Gray unleashed a brutal, full-force backhand across the monster’s jaw, the impact shattering the fused bone structure and launching Overhaul, who crashed helplessly to the far side of the laboratory.

”I’m done with this,” Gray said.

Chisaki started mock-laughing at Gray. ”Now what? You will arrest me?” he continued. ”I will just find a way to break out and come get Eri again! I’m never going to stop!”

”No, you won’t. I’m not a hero to be arresting anyone,” Gray said, continuing to step closer.

Chisaki tried to kick him in a blind rage, but Gray instantly manifested a razor-sharp Ki blade on his right hand and cleanly sliced off the villain’s extended leg.

”Come on, heal yourself. I will continue doing this until I’m satisfied,” Gray stated, kicking the screaming Yakuza leader hard to the side.

Chisaki desperately touched his body to regenerate the limb. He stood back up, breathing heavily and completely exhausted. Reaching down out of pure survival instinct, he touched the concrete floor again to reshape the terrain.

Up on the surface, the surrounding neighborhood could hear the devastating blows echoing from below. All Might finally made his way back to the main courtyard, a dark bruise already visibly forming on the side of his face where Gray had hit him. He stood near the edge of the crater but hesitated to jump back down. He knew Gray was extremely upset, and after feeling the force of that single swat, All Might realized that if Gray had actually wanted to, he could have easily killed him with that blow.

Before the Symbol of Peace could make up his mind, a huge body suddenly came flying up at high velocity from the hole Gray had made, launching high into the open air. Getting a better look, he saw it was Overhaul.

Live news cameras recorded every second of the spectacle. Some of the people gathered on the cordoned streets pointed up into the night sky in disbelief.

All Might originally wanted to jump down into the hole to check on Gray, but his danger instincts suddenly screamed at him to get away. All Might dashed away across the courtyard instantly.

Meanwhile, down on the lowest floor, Gray had dropped down into a deeply familiar martial arts stance. Cupping his hands at his hip, he rapidly gathered his raw Ki into a single point.

”Kameeeeee...”

A brilliant blue sphere made of pure Ki appeared between his palms, illuminating the ruined laboratory.

”Hameeeeeee...”

The glowing sphere grew bigger and bigger by the microsecond. The already busted underground facility started shaking violently, and deep cracks spread rapidly across the foundation.

”HAAAAAAAAAA!”

Gray threw the huge Kamehameha wave straight up into the air to hit the airborne Overhaul. Gray had mangled his physical body so badly during their one-sided beatdown that Chisaki was completely unable to use his quirk to heal himself anymore. Not wanting to make Eri worry about the monster ever coming back for her, Gray had decided to simply erase the person from the face of the Earth permanently. And what better way to do it than with a classic Kamehameha?

The massive energy wave traveled from the underground, the sheer kinetic pressure tearing the hole wider and wider. Up on the surface, the media cameras captured everything... the flying body of the Yakuza leader, followed a fraction of a second later by a towering, roaring pillar of blue light rocketing into the clouds.

The exact moment the Ki wave made contact in the upper atmosphere, Overhaul’s fused body started disintegrating. Once the body completely ceased to exist and nothing was left, Gray cut off his Ki supply, and the massive wave instantly disappeared, leaving the sky dead silent.