Daizo could be considered my first 'true' oponent, in the sense I actually faced some sort of resistance from him: in his giant form he was vastly stronger and tougher than King Shark had been, although the latter was mostly due to his sheer size, and because at that size and state of mind he wouldn't register the wounds I inflicted, and again because of his size I couldn't apply the pankration techniques I self-learned, so the fight ended up coming to a trading of blows and some ripping.
It still wouldn't save him (I was merely giving him hope so that I could crush it) but it did made me remember that there were things out there in the universe, most of them vastly stronger than Daizo, things that could actually challenge me.
And one of them was Raven's father. Which I had yet to find despite my technology, John's magic, and the aid of the future League.
And then my sight gazed upon Pausanias and Ayame. Both of them were dangerously close to the fight, the girl frozen because of the fear, Pausanias due to the astonishment of seeing Doom Slayer and a titan of ink duke it out right in front of him. I really didn't want them to end accidentally killed in case I not-so impossibly slipped up or Daizo noticed them and decided to drag someone to the grave with him.
Later I also found out that Pausanias was also one of the foster sons of Hephaestus, who being a god did in fact know Raven's disappearance... but let's not be hasty.
At that moment I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could use more help, if not for finding Raven, then at least to protect the innocent, given that, as I already told you, I'm not omnipresent. Plus, they had prove themselves to be capable of fighting: had Daizo been vulnerable to conventional means, they'd have killed him. Of course there were several issues, like Ayame understandably being wary of humans and refusing to leave her tribe, and Pausanias newly made inner turmoil concerning me for reasons you might already know.
First, however, I had to earn their trust, or something similar. That, and see their fighting capability against a colossus.
Which was why I decided to feign being momentarily overwhelmed by Daizo, and see if they decided to 'help' me fight him.
Again, this also gave Daizo hope.
Hope that we crushed.
.......
'And here I thought we'd be giving him his just deserves' Thought Pausanias as he saw a literal battle of giants unfold right in front of him, loathing of the soldier forgotten for the moment and admiration remembered.
Yes, giants: Doom Slayer was at least a foot taller than him, and Daizo... Well, nothing had managed to reach that size, aside from that giant chimp Superman had battled years prior, and even then, it was just that, an oversized monkey, not a giant made of ink.
The fight with the ink monsters had finally ended: those he and Ayame didn't kill either became inert or turned into ink once more to rejoin their master. He would have dispatched the former, but he was too busy observing the fight, reminding him of the stories of the Gigantomachia, the war between the Olympians and the Gigantes colloquially known as giants, that nearly destroyed Greece to free the Titans, of how Hephaestus himself caved countless heads with his hammer and fought alongside god and demigod to vanquish them underground.
Only this time, the size disparity between the combatants was rather excessive, given that the Gigantes weren't truly giants by human standards, and couldn't make themselves any bigger unlike their enemies.
Fortunately, Ayame wasn't so enraptured by it: after making sure her people were safe (they had been understandably terrified of Daizo's transformation, but Doom Slayer's attack help them keep their wits), she grabbed the plasma gun and continued destroying the remaining inklings, taking advantage of their paralysis.
Finally done, the yokai girl approached the amazed warrior, noting that he was dangerously close to the fighting, and still heavily injuried, enough to worry her more than the fact he was still carrying Slayer's chainsaw. At least he
"Pausanias, I think we should go with the others." Ayame said just as Doom Slayer slammed himself against Daizo once more, forcing him back to the ground. The impact was so strong, it created a shockwave that rustled every tree in sight, and even pushed the pair back. That only increased her fear of Pausanias, and her, being squashed by six hundred tons of ink. "And you need to have those wounds taken care of."
But Pausanias didn't budge a muscle even as she pulled from his arm, enraptured as he was by the fight. Ayame's worry only got worse by this lack of movement: at least when he had been crazy he walked and spoke (well, yelled like a maniac).
"My aunts are nurses, they can patch you up, c'mon!" She said before sighing and placing the gun's hot barrel on Pausanias' uncovered arm, making him yelp and finally getting him out of his daze.
"Uh?" He muttered in a confused tone, even blinking as if he had just gotten up from the bed. He then looked around and realized what happened. "Oh, sorry it's just... I've never seen this kind of fighting before... or Doom Slayer fighting someone for more than half a minute. It's amazing."
Ayame looked back to the fight and saw Slayer jumping on Daizo's face to punch it several times. "I guess it's incredible." As much as she loathed to admit it, she too was fascinated by the sheer scale brawl, but nonetheless she didn't want to be there if it scalated, which probably would. "We can still watch it with the others, at safer distance even. Plus you're bleeding like a stuck pig." She then grabbed him with her free hand and, seeing he wasn't offering resistance, began to drag him to the cliff. "C'mon, let's get those gashes cleaned."
However, they had barely moved three meters when Pausanias, still wanting to see the fight, looked back.
Just in time to see Daizo suddenly grab Doom Slayer out of the air and, with a roar, slam him against the ground with all his might. The attack made the earth rumble and even sent trees flying.
None of this registered on the pair, who stared at an equally confused Daizo with wide eyes.
"W-what did just happen?" Ayame muttered in a mix of shock. She really didn't expect Doom Slayer of all people to be taken out by that. It was as if Superman had been forced down by whoever that brute from Gotham was called.
"Daizo grabbed Doom Slayer and shoved him so hard he caused a short earthquake." Pausanias replied, just as shocked, if not even more.
"I know it happened, I just can't believe it!" She cried as she gestured at the giant form of Daizo. "Doom Slayer, beaten by some century-old ink monster turned cop, just like that!"
"Neither do I." Pausanias replied, just as surprised. And yet, something in his mind, something born of seeing the same videos of the man manhandling King Shark and holding up a fifteen-storey building told him this was just a momentary setback for the warrior from the future.
His hunch ended up being right, because a moment later Daizo screamed in agony as Doom Slayer tored his way out of the giant hand, his roar so loud that Ayame, because of her fine hearing, had to cover her ears until it died off.
"Nevermind then, it was just a lucky hit." Pausanias quipped as Slayer climbed his way up Daizo's arm.
Ayame, seeing that Slayer hadn't been defeated, released a sigh of relief.
"I thought for a moment we we're next." She breathed out. But then, a thought struck her: Doom Slayer had until then proved himself to be practically unstoppable, and at that moment reminded them of that little fact. And yet, how did Daizo manage to hit him at all? "Although it makes me wonder, how did Daizo get him?"
"I think your guess is better than mine, although that's because I don't have one." Pausanias admitted with a shrug of his sohulders. "What do you think?"
"Maybe he's holding back?" Suggested Ayame, although it was obvious by the tone of her voice that she wasn't sure herself. "Or didn't expect Daizo to be this strong?"
Pausanias shook his head. "I doubt he'd be holding his might with someone like Daizo." The possibility of Doom Slayer having observed them from before reared it's ugly head, but he pushed it aside for the moment. "And why do you suggest it?"
Ayame tried to think of a proper response. "Maybe to try and get Daizo to lower his guard? Or maybe he doesn't know what he's done and planned to do, otherwise I'm sure he'd killed him in the first minute."
Pausanias looked at her, then turned back to the fight just to see Slayer free himself and then uppercut Daizo. "Those are possibilities."
"Hey guys!" It was Ginta, who had finally discared his stupid mummy-wannabe disguise, alongside several other tribemates, both men and women, all of them young; apparently the group had come down the cliff to where were they stood while they were distracted. "Nice view ain't it?" He said with a grin.
Ayame was less than amused by their presence. "What the hell are you doing here! Can't you see the two forces of nature clashing and tearing the damn forest apart?!" She screamed at the group, making them wince. "It's dangerous in here!"
Ginta gestured at the duel. "To see it better and up close. I mean, it's Doom Slayer beating the holy shit out of a giant monster! Plus, you aren't exactly out of the fire, if you get what I mean."
Pausanias nodded in agreement, still not taking his eyes off the fight, just as Slayer twisted Daizo's right arm. "It's perfectly reasonable reason."
Ayame sighed in annoyance. "Only for idiots."
Pausanias was about to retort when one of the girls pointed at the fight. "Erm, guys?"
The group turned around to look at was she pointing at... and their blood froze on their veins.
Once more, Daizo had taken hold of Doom Slayer and tossed him off of him, only this time, very possibly due to sheer desperation and lack of options, he decided to go on the offensive. The moment Doom Slayer touched the ground, Daizo's giant fists fell down and struck once, two, three, more times at the spot he had fell on. And this time, Slayer didn't explode from below his hand.
This continued for a full minute, each hit shaking the earth and sending up clouds of dust, until Daizo finally stopped to catch his breath of all things, or maybe to calm himself down. Either way, it would have been comical, the sight of a hundred-foot giant being scared as Hell, but for them it was instead terrifying.
Didn't help that they could see Doom Slayer's prone body on the ground, motionless.
And maybe even, as impossible as it sounded, as much as their minds told them to not believe it, lifeless.
"He's not getting up." Ginta voiced what the others were thinking. "Big guy isn't getting up!"
And then Daizo, as if struck by something, turned to look to his left... and smirked when he saw them. Words could not describe the feeling the group had of being stared at by something that could take on one of Earth's mightiest heroes. Fear just didn't cut it.
Except for Pausanias, who only felt his anger rise.
"It seems I forgot about you pups." He said, his inhuman, reverbering voice sending shivers down their spines. "And it seems I underestimated myself of all people!" He chuckled. "Never expected to actually kill the fucking Doom Slayer! Too bad I can't brag about it, but I CAN brag of killing the man-eaters and the Spartan."
The yokai realized they were doomed, and that nothing could save them from Daizo.
But then, they had forgot that they didn't necessarily need Doom Slayer, only his weapons.
Pausanias didn't know what came over him. Maybe foolishness, maybe refusing to go down without a fight against the bastard who wouldn't stop at nothing to see him and the wolf tribe dead, maybe wanting to believe that Doom Sayer had been merely rendered unconscious, or even that he was actually testing them.
(By sheer coincidence, the last one ended up being partly right).
Or maybe, just maybe, he still had some rage left in him directed at both Daizo and Doom Slayer, the former for natural reasons, the latter because Pausanias still wasn't sure if he had let it all happen.
'Screw it, doubts for later.' Pausanias thought before raising the chainsaw and, with a shout, throw it at the head of the distracted ink titan.
Daizo's speech about how some people were made to become great and others to help those reach said greatness was rudely interrupted by a chainsaw to the head, and either by divine providence or sheer luck the tool landed right in the left eye. Again, words could not really describe the feeling of agony that fueled his roar.
The yokai, Ayame included, looked at Pausanias, completely aghast.
Pausanias didn't bother to look at them, focused as he was glaring at Daizo. "Stay back, I'll take care of him."
With that he did the most ridiculous and dangerous, yet brave thing he could have doen: he gave a battle cry and charged at Daizo, no longer wrathful and therefore cautious. Daizo, on the other hand, wasn't: he was hurt, he had lost and eye, but most importantly, he was winded after pounding Doom Slayer and coming victorious, and so wasn't thinking straight.
He wouldn't actually fight him, though, not if he did it right.
Pausanias' plan was simple: climb up Daizo's body, recover the chainsaw, and cut his head off. With his current form, Daizo was more than capable of killing him with a single blow; however, it also made him slow and sluggish, and it was obvious he didn't know how to fight much smaller oponents. Better yet, he apparently couldn't heal his lost eye.
Daizo stopped screaming before grabbing the tool on his eye and pulling it out, after which he looked at the approaching greek. "I'm going to shove an industrial printer worth of of ink down up your ass, you Achilles wannabe!" He roared as he, in a moment of pain-induced stupidity, threw the chainsaw at Pausanias, hoping to kill him.
Instead it impaled the ground right before Pausanias, who promptly grabbed it and jumped just as Daizo sweeped at him, grabbing onto his arm.
Daizo was about to squash the human pest when, suddenly, he was once more interrupted, this time by a hail of plasma bolts hitting him in the back. The damage was not minimal, trickles of ink fell down of Daizo, but it also made him angrier... and made him forget about Pausanias, and focus on Ayame, who refused to do nothing, not now that she could fight back and make him pay.
Most imporantly, however, she realized what Pausanias' plan was.
"Bitch!" Daizo shrieked at her.
Ayame merely grinned at him, showing her fangs. "I AM a bitch, you know!" She said. "A wolf to be precise!"
"You're gonna be a RUG when I'm done with you and your boyfriend!"
"You'll have to catch me first, then!" Ayame then flipped him off and shot some more plasma into his face before speeding off into the forest. Mad with pain, fear and rage, Daizo gave chase, followed closely by those tribemates also unwilling to stay idle, despite knowing they had no chance to fight Daizo.
"Shit, man, the bastard's fast!"
"Of course he is, his legs are longer than a bus!"
"Shut up and keep running!"
Daizo kept running after Ayame, smashing over trees and rocks as he went, too furious to remember Pausanias, who had jumped from the arm to the main body and started to climb. Other men would have fallen either because of the wild movement or the sticky-less nature of the ink composing Daizo, but Pausanis not only made of sterner stuff, he was also strong enough to just sink the fingers of his free hand on Daizo's 'flesh', using the chainsaw as an improptu climbing axe. The corrupt officer was simply too mad to care about the pain this gave him, not helped by Ayame sporadically shooting at him to keep his attention on her.
At least until Pausanias finally reached his right shoulder and sunk the serrated blade on it by mistake.
The sheer closeness of the pain and the fact it didn't come from the yokai's attack made Daizo stop and try to grasp his shoulder... only for it to pierced by Pausanias. As he looked again, he glared in fury when he saw Pausanias standing mere feet away from his head, glaring back and with the chainsaw revved.
Daizo growled, his hot breath washing over Pausanias. "You son of a bitch..."
Other men would have balked at the sight of a one-eyed, ink-bodied giant glaring at them.
Not Pausanias, not with his anger and determination, his goal to fulfill being so close, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins.
"I'm the son of a god, freak!" Pausanias growled back before raising the weapon given to him by Doom Slayer, and cleaving Daizo's head from top to bottom with all his might. From the open wound erupted a geyser of black ichor that nearly pushed Pausanias off of Daizo, but the saw blade, still lodged on Daizo's head, kept him anchored.
The now nearly-headless body of the titan stood frozen for a few moments, until whatever it passed as its nervous system keeping it erect ceased to work, at which point it fell, the earth shaking as several hundred tons of ink crashed against it.
Pausanias, winded, tired and heavily injuried but otherwise content and victorious, let himself drop off the giant corpse, chainsaw still clutched. He was promptly set upon by Ayame, who hugged him, followed closely by the cheering wolves that had followed them.
"You did it! You killed Daizo!" She cheered with a smile before stepping back and then helping him stand up.
Pausanias, who was still breathing, smiled at her. "I wouldn't have been able to do it if you hadn't dragged him into a wild chase, you know."
Ayame smile's widened at his appraisal, and was about to reply when, suddenly, she heard the rumbling of something large moving from behind them. Turning around, the group saw with increasingly opening, horrified eyes as the previously thought to be dead Daizo rose from the ground, ink leaking from his body but clearly alive. And, by the way his fists were clenched, pissed off.
The monster turned to face the wolves and the son of Hephaestus, and from it's chest grew a face that leered down at them.
"Did you really think you could kill me just like that!" He roared at them, or more specifically at his 'killer'. "This body's just a tool! You hurt me good, but that's it! That's ALL!"
"W-what does it take to kill that freak?!" Ginta cried in shock.
Pausanias just growled as he once again started the chainsaw. "We'll just have to keep attacking until he's nothing but a pile of black gore, then!"
Ayame, glaring up at Daizo just as Pausanias, aimed the gun at Daizo, while the rest of group, despite knowing they had no way to hurt him, took stances anyway, preferring to die struggling than to be hunted down.
Daizo laughed at their defiance. "I like your guts, kids, but in the end it won't really matter! I took out Doom Slayer by myself! Do you really believe you can defeat me, when HE couldn't?!"
Before they could do anything, a deep, guttural voice spoke right behind the group.
"You didn't."
Pausanias and the others frantically looked back to see the last person they expected at that moment.
Doom Slayer.
As the green soldier, after several seconds of silence, began to make his way towards him, Daizo didn't scream, he didn'tattack, he didn't even try to run to save his miserable pseudo-hide. He just stared at the man he really thought he had killed.
And whimpered as Slayer jumped at him once more.
.......
So, how was the chapter? Was it a good mix of action and narrative? And the ending? Sorry for focusing again on the crossover immigrants and not enough on Doom Slayer vs. Daizo, else the chapter would have been too short.
If some of you wonder how did Daizo even manage to put up a fight against Doom Slayer, it's chiefly for two reasons:
-Being a supernatural creature himself, Daizo can make his giant body obey a part of the square cube law (the larger a living organism is, the stronger it has to be so that its body doesn't collapse on itself, while also ignore. Granted, this is true for every giant monster in fiction, but I felt the need to point it out.
-Doom Slayer let him, both to see how well did Pausanias and Ayame fight him now that they had the means to do so... and to raise his hopes of winning.