"Would you like some tea master Dante?"
"Water will do, thank you, Alfred."
"What about you master Bruce?"
"A cocktail for me Alfred, thank you."
"Understood sir."
After Dante was done with his plan to ensure he would never have to worry about dream energy as long as he wasn't trying to do something too outrageous, he then resumed his task of finding new powers he could give to himself. But as he was flying towards his next destination, he instead decided to make a detour and went to meet one of the greatest heroes who ever lived, Bruce Wayne, aka Batman.
After Dante brought him to life, Bruce decided to find a secluded place and re-constructed his Wayne Manor, and thankfully for him, he wasn't alone. One of Dante's wishes for his Dream World was to offer all those people he respected a second chance at life, he wanted them to live a life without suffering. When Bruce tried to re-establish his old home, he was joined by his deceased parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, his son Damian and his faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth. Now that he didn't have to worry about his enemies using his loved ones against him, Bruce was even able to start the relationship he wanted to have with Wonder Woman, both of them now lived together happily.
Currently, Dante was sitting on a comfy chair in one of the living rooms of the Wayne Manor, in front of him sat the famous Bruce Wayne, both of them were looking at each other. After Alfred left to prepare their beverages, Bruce started the conversation.
"So, what owe me the pleasure of your visit? I don't think I have anything that you can't create with your powers, that means that you are here for my wisdom. So tell me, what can I do for you?"
Smiling at the perspicacity of the man he considered to be one of the greatest heroes ever, Dante simply answered.
"Mm, I indeed am here for your knowledge... Well, to be honest with you, it's more like I need someone to talk to and I happened to think about you."
Bruce had to admit that Dante's visit surprised him, he was quite curious about the reason for his visit.
"I have always been fascinated by how the ones who are capable of bending reality, the ones who can have everything, are often the ones who can't have what they truly desire.
I do think that I owe you for giving me this new chance at life, a life I dreamed of for so long, so I will try my best to help you."
Hearing this made Dante smile, but soon this smile disappeared and was replaced by an expression that could only be made by a person who had lost something important to them.
"*Sigh* You see Bruce before I received this power that allows me to have it all, my dream was simply to have fun without thinking of the consequences. Unfortunately, reality was quick to remind me that every action has consequences and that more often than not, it's an innocent who will have to pay for it.
As you know, I was reincarnated in a world where heroes are a thing, they are greatly respected and the majority of kids dream of becoming one. Some want to become heroes for fame, others for money, some because they want to prove themselves and some just really want to help the weak...
And then there is me, a man who is not sure of what he wants to do."
Dante was a man who thought that having goals in life was extremely important, without them, a man would not be able to reach his full potential.
Until now, he had always thought that using his powers to do anything he wanted was enough of a dream for him, but not anymore, he now realized that the greater the power someone had, the greater their purpose would have to be.
The incident made him realize that now that he had great powers, he couldn't act without thinking of the consequences his actions would cause because if he did, innocents would die because of it.
'With great power comes great responsibility eh...'
"To be honest with you Bruce, I feel empty right now. It's not like I want to be a hero that much, I don't care about what happens to people I don't know."
Although the tragedy of the incident had greatly impacted him, it still did not transform Dante into a man who would fight for justice for the rest of his life a part of him didn't care about what happened to people he did not know, he only wanted to become a hero because he was a fan of the anime. Although he had decided to bring despair to AFO, he knew deep down that it was more like a game to him, he knew that such a thing could not be his goal.
Defeating AFO wasn't something that would give him that much joy, it wasn't something he could call a dream. Now that he had lost what he thought to be his dream, Dante was desperate to find something else he could call his dream, something that could give meaning to his life.
"I see, so you have lost your purpose and you are now looking for a new one."
That's right, at this current point in time, Dante wasn't sure of what he wanted to do, and he wasn't talking about short-term goals, no, he was talking about ways to use his great powers in a way that would give him a real sense of accomplishment, a purpose in life.
"Well, I think you are overthinking it, Dante, the answer to your dilemma is quite simple, you just need to find which way of using your powers will give you the most joy. When you find that, you will have your purpose."
This simple sentence made Dante ponder.
Which way of using his powers would grant him the most joy?
The answer to that question for sure wasn't defeating villains, he knew he would get bored of such a thing quickly. Now that he had a power that allowed him to have everything he wanted, things like money, status, power, and all the other things he craved in his past life were of no interest to him any longer, he needed to find something else.
And the help he needed to find the answer to that question came from Bruce.
"You don't need to think that much.
You already have the answer but because everyone around you seems to have great-sounding dreams, you unconsciously diminish the value of your dream. Goals can be very simple, you don't have to find something overly complicated, and complexity isn't necessarily better.
Stay true to yourself."
Bruce's words greatly resonated with Dante. It's true that in life, people often tend to find their dreams childish compared to others and because of that they discard them and try to find some more 'mature' ones, not knowing that they discarded the thing that would make them truly happy.
Without knowing, Dante had also found himself in such a situation, which explains why he had that weird feeling lately that he was lacking something.
But now that he knew what he had to do, he stopped doubting himself.
"*Chuckle* What truly makes me happy eh..."
At that moment, Dante let out a smile so genuine that even Bruce was touched.
"I'm not interested in money, I'm not interested in status, I'm not interested in power nor am I interested in being a hero who will spend his life-saving ungrateful civilians... no.
What I want, is to use my powers to help those I love to achieve their dreams...
That's who I am."
That's right, Dante wasn't interested in being the second coming of All Might, nor was he interested in bringing down AFO, that was All Might, Midoriya, Bakugo, and the rest's dream.
No.
What he wanted, was to use his powers to help the heroes he loved achieve their dreams. Dante wanted to be the old grandpa in the cultivation novels that would help the mc get his revenge, he wanted to be the sword that would help the little cat girl slave change her destiny, and he wanted to be what God had been to him.
"Yeah, that's my dream right there haha."
Seeing that his guest had found a new purpose, Bruce let out a smile.
"Thank you, Bruce. I know such a little thing may sound useless to a lot of people, but to me, it was something that needed to be addressed. I did not want to live in doubt, so thank you."
"You don't have to thank me, helping you in your journey of life is one of the reasons we are here anyway."
Now that he had a new purpose in this new life of him, Dante found his enthusiasm back and was even more ready than ever to take on the challenges of his new life.
Dante still remembered the words he pronounced just before he awakened his quirk...
'I want to be a hero that transforms dreams into reality. A hero that makes the impossible a possibility.'
Dante had only said those words on the spur of the moment, he just wanted to sound cool. But now...
'Well, I might have a bit of a hero inside of me after all haha.'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dream World, Dream City, Golden Sand Inn.
While Dante was trying to find a new meaning to his life that would give him a real sense of accomplishment, his three friends were giving their all into finding what would be their new quirk in the future.
After they arrived in Dream City, Kioko and the other two bid each other farewell, and then all took different paths. Kioko being someone who liked to do things properly, decided to first find an inn and then plan how she would operate to find what she wanted.
The inn she stayed at was called Golden Sand Inn, a little Inn in the west of Dream City. Since people in the Dream World were immortal and could create buildings and food easily, there was no need for inns. The reason why there were still inns, hotels, and other shops in the Dream World was only that people wanted to do it for fun or because they were doing it in their previous lives.
The next day after she arrived in Dream City, Kioko was finally ready to start working. Now that she had a place to stay and an idea of where she was going to start her research, she decided to not waste any more time.
"Oh, hello there Kioko, you sure woke up early today. Come, sit down and let me quickly cook something for you! Tell me, what would you like for breakfast?"
The moment she got into the hall of the inn, Kioko was greeted by the innkeeper, she was a middle-aged woman with brown hair and brown eyes with whom Kioko had a good relationship. Although Dante had given life to a lot of beings from the fiction of his past life, that did not mean that all the Dream Worlds inhabitants were like that, a lot of them were normal people that did not come from any fiction.
"Thank you oba-san, I would like some milk with cereals please."
After she was done eating, Kioko left the inn and started walking towards one of the famous places of Dream City, The Aurora Palace.
.
..
...
It took Kioko an hour to arrive at her destination, and she now stood in front of a giant magnificent castle.
The Aurora Palace was a special place in Dream City, it was a place created by one of the strongest beings in the entire Dream World, a being so powerful that even the most savage of battle junkies would start trembling at the mention of this entity's name.
The Aurora Palace was a place created especially for women, and no men were allowed entry except for special reasons, even Dante avoided this place for fear of angering the owner. Fortunately for her, Kioko was a woman, so when she stepped inside the building, none of the girls inside tried to rip her head off.
As its title suggested, the inside of the castle started with a giant hall big enough to house thousands of people, it was filled with tables and chairs to sit down at, a magnificent bar to order food and drinks, and multiple isolated rooms on the sides and stairs leading up to the superior floors of the castle. The palace was designed in such a way that every part of the castle had a different theme, and an air of delicacy and sophistication emanated from the entire place.
Although it was still a couple of hours before noon, the place was already packed with people, most of them being famous fictional characters. The moment Kioko entered the hall, she quickly was able to spot in the crowd the people she was looking for and walked towards them.
"Oh my, if it ain't little Kioko-chan."
"Oh! It's my friend Kioko hahaha!"
In front of Kioko sat two people, the first one was a slender and very youthful woman with blue eyes and black hair worn as a large braid in front, and the second one was a youthful girl around the age of twelve to fourteen, with glossy platinum-pink hair tied in twin-tails.
"Hello, Unohana nee-san, Milim-chan..."
The two people sitting in front of her were the famous 4th Division Captain of the Soul Society Unohana Retsu and the demon lord Milim Nava.
"It's good that you are here Kioko my friend! I have just found a new kind of sweet and I was just about to go and find some! I will allow you to come with me, let's go!"
Being true to her character, Milim was a girl who was simply incapable of staying in one place for too long, fortunately for Kioko though, Unohana was there to stop Milim before she went on one of her rampages.
"This won't do Milim-chan, it looks like Kioko has an important reason for being here, plus weren't you the one who asked me to teach you how to act more like a proper lady?"
"Urgh... fine. But I hate it, acting like a lady is boring, I don't want to learn anymore!"
"I'm afraid you don't have that choice anymore Milim-chan."
"Eeeeeh?!"
Seeing two beings more than a thousand years old bicker like children was something Kioko was used to now. She had to admit that she was surprised when she saw it for the first time though, after all, she had always thought the older someone was, the calmer they would be.
"Sorry Milim-chan, I have something really important to do so I can't follow you this time."
Kioko's words confirmed that she was indeed here for something, and the tone of her voice allowed Unohana and Milim to understand that it was something of great importance.
"I see, then come and take a sit child."
"Yeah tell us what's happening!"
Without wasting any more time, Kioko went on and explained to them the reason for her presence here, she explained how Dante had given them a week to find or design a power that would be their own and that she came here to find help in her endeavor.
When Milim and Unohana heard the reason for her presence, they were greatly surprised.
"Choose or design your power?! That's crazy!"
"Indeed, Dante-san truly has a surprising power..."
Other than shock, they also understood how important this whole thing was for Kioko. Rare were the people who had the chance to choose which power they would start their journey with, such a chance could not be wasted.
"This is an emergency!"
Before Kioko could say anything, Milim moved so fast that the next instant she was already on the first floor of the castle with a mic in hand, looking down on the entire hall. The pink-colored hair girl then put her mic close to her mouth and screamed as hard as she could, alerting the thousands of women present in the hall.
"EMERGENCY MEETING!!!!!!!!"
Seeing Milim acting like that, Unohana could only sigh while Kioko just stood there, she wouldn't refuse the help of others.
"Oi, what's wrong Milim!"
"Did you lose one of your mangas again?"
"You better have a good reason for disturbing us you damn brat or I'm gonna spank you so damn hard Veldenava will feel it too!"
As expected, Milim's reputation was... well, you know, popular was one way of putting it.
"Listen to me all of you! This time it's an emergency for real!"
The next moment, a giant stage appeared in the hall with Milim standing on it.
"Listen carefully!!!"
Milim then went on and brought the one-meter-tall Kioko on the stage and explained her situation to the public, when the public got the full story, they all went bonkers.
"What?! Kioko-chan is that true?!"
"Oi! Milim! If I discover that you forced Kioko-chan to participate in one of your stupid pranks, I'm gonna beat your ass!"
"We need to help Kioko!"
Although she was a discreet girl, Kioko was nonetheless pretty popular in the Dream World, especially among women. Since she was a five-year-old kid, all the older women saw her as a figure to protect at all costs, so when they heard she needed help, they were all pretty eager.
"Thank you..."
Kioko was touched to see so many people ready to help her, she was used to being shunned by others so she was grateful to receive so much support.
"Yosha! Looks like we are all ready to help you Kioko, so tell us, what kind of power do you want? You want mine right? I mean, what else can y-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the air inside the entire castle suddenly changed and all the beings inside of it stopped moving, even Kioko.
"Ara ara, looks like something interesting is happening in my little castle..."
The moment those words echoed in the hall, a new woman made her appearance on the stage. She was a mature lady with long dark violet hair, purple eyes, and a well-proportioned figure. The lady had a composed and lackadaisical demeanor and she exuded an aura of wisdom and power. Yet, at that moment, her expression had taken a hint of mischief, as if she had found herself entertained by something.
The woman was wearing a light pink ball gown that resembled a kimono, with a yellow sash-like accessory draped around her skirt. The most notable accessory she had was the metallic object levitating around her head and the cane she carried.
The moment this woman's feet touched the stage, the time inside the Aurora Castle resumed working normally and all the girls were able to now see who had appeared, and the answer greatly shocked them.
"Eeeeh! Granny Featherine!"
Featherine Augustus Aurora, also known as the Witch of Theatergoing, Drama, and Spectating... the owner of the Aurora Castle and one of the strongest beings in the Dreamworld.
""" GREETINGS FEATHERINE-SAMA!!!!! """
All the women inside the castle were extremely shocked at the moment because although there were some even more perverse beings than her in the Dream World, Featherine was still one of the most powerful existences in it. Although everybody knew she was the one who created the Aurora Castle, none of them had the chance to see her in the flesh, today was the first time for them to see such a powerful entity.
"Mm, daughter of Veldenava...
Well, greetings to you all daughters of man. As you may already know, my name is Featherine Augustus Aurora... one of the guardians of this world."
After she was done introducing herself, Featherine turned her attention toward Kioko.
"Friend of the Dreamer, I heard that you wish to find a power that you can make your own, and I find such a story interesting, so I decided to help you."
This time, Kioko truly didn't know how to react, she couldn't find a reason for this almost boundless being to help her with something that should be extremely trivial to her. What Kioko did not know though, was that almost all the stupidly powerful beings were only afraid of one thing, boredom, plus, Featherine had a special reason to help her.
"Before we start, I have to ask you a question, friend of the Dreamer...
Why do you seek power?"
When she heard this simple question, a lot of thoughts passed through Kioko's mind. Without knowing, she found herself back amid the nomus' attack. Her fellow orphan's death, the hero Strong Punch's death, all those strangers' death, she still remembered every single thing that happened that day... and what she remembered even more, was her uselessness that day.
That day, Kioko was unable to provide any help. Ren had been exceptional and their survival was greatly due to him, Hayato had shown great courage and had almost lost his life while protecting Dante... but what about her?
"I... refuse to be weak.
I... seek power because I refuse to be the girl that has to be protected.
I ...seek power because I want to be the one who protects!
I seek power because I want to be in control of my fate!
I seek power because I refuse to be weak!"
It was probably the first time in her life that Kioko had spoken with so much passion, the words she pronounced were feelings she had been repressing since the incident that almost took their lives.
"I see, that's a good enough reason for me to help you friend of the Dreamer."
As if she was satisfied with Kioko's answer, Featherine clapped her hands and turned around in direction of the public.
"Listen well, daughters of man. Too often in history, women have been seen as weaklings and easy prey, too often in history I have seen women take the support role... no more.
Starting today, we, the people of the Aurora Palace will groom the friend of the Dreamer, we will teach her fighting skills, share with her our knowledge and wisdom and we will help her become the strongest woman in her world...
We won't tolerate the word woman being associated with weakness anymore."
Although Featherine spoke without any dramatic tone, her words greatly resonated with all the women present in the palace, and they resonated even more with Kioko.
"Now tell us, friend of the Dreamer, what path have you decided to tread upon? Which path will you build your supremacy on?"
At those words, Kioko smiled for the first time since she arrived here.
What path would she choose?
What kind of power was she craving?
The answer to that question was easy for her to find, it was something that she always knew. For as long as she remembered, Kioko had always hated the sun, she had always found it annoying how the sun forced its disgusting light upon the world... What she liked, was the calmness darkness brought to her, the peace and tranquility she found in the night.
Since the sun took pleasure in illuminating the world and torturing her, wouldn't it be fair if she could plunge that very same sun into darkness?
"The path I choose is one of tranquility and peace, the path I choose is the path of...
The Ultimate Darkness."
When she heard the conviction and firmness in the voice of the little girl in front of her, Featherine's face twisted into an inexplicably cruel sneer, a sign that she was amused.
"Good, Ultimate darkness it shall be."
After that, Featherine next gave an order that would send the Dream World into a frenzy.
"Daughters of man, go and bring me all the beings in this world who have powers related to darkness... all of them."
When they heard her, all the women of Aurora Palace went into a frenzy and started thinking of people they knew who had powers related to the concept of darkness.
"I think Shikamaru is a good choice..."
"I need to find that bastard Teach!"
"Does anybody knows where I can find Moria?!"
"I need to find captain Yami!"
"Can we bring some pokemon?"
"Does Meliodas Assault Mode counts?!"
Soon, the MHA world would see the birth of one of the most powerful quirks in its history, and soon, an eternal night would fall upon the world.