Darkness.
Great darkness.
And then they were alive.
It didn't make the darkness go away, but they could feel it — something existed beyond this darkness.
Their Master.
Master…
Hold us, Master! They cried. Save us…
But no matter how much they tried, no words came out… They lacked a mouth!
Mouth… What's a mouth? They asked themselves. What are eyes, noses, hands, and legs?! Why are these words appearing in their minds when they can't understand them?!!
Master! They cried louder. Save us!!
They felt afraid of the darkness.
Feelings…
Fear. Horror. Loneliness.
"Survive."
Acceptance. Belongingness. Faith… Loyalty.
We must survive! They screamed, the power of the Master's command obliterating the eternal darkness. For our Master, we must survive!!
A power was rising within them.
Power…
A cloud of multicolored lights replaced the receding darkness.
Knowledge, transcending logic, limitations, and imagination, rained on them, becoming a part of their existence.
They could see… the way to survive.
They must eat — They must consume — They must… devour.
"Survive."
Yes… They knew the meaning of that word now. Master wants us to… live.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
…
Holding Nyx up and pressed under the enhanced gravity, Luke stumbled back, his eyes popping out.
In front of him, the little mushroom had become massive as it mutated.
It looked like a giant stump of a tree, filled with round boils, as if they would burst any moment, spraying pus. The sheer amount of the Quirks, including the Super Complexity one, was enough to explode it to smithereens. However, the Enhanced Vitality Quirk was keeping it alive.
Despite that, if nothing else happened sooner, then even Enhanced Vitality wouldn't be enough to save it.
Just as it looked like the mushroom was going to split apart, ballooning unnaturally, it — popped.
Tiny mushrooms began springing up on its humongous body here and there.
That wasn't all, though. Tendrils began shooting out of the main mushroom stem, flailing in the air. The weird thing was that these tendrils didn't look flexible at all. They were like electric circuits, sharp, straight, and closely packed.
With a muffled boom that Luke couldn't hear but could only perceive, all those tendrils grew exponentially, both in length and numbers. Soon, even the little mushrooms, which hadn't stopped popping up, began sprouting these circuit-like tendrils.
In a majestic display of speed, the mushrooms' tendrils penetrated the massive Spider Drone's body through the crevices in its armor.
Soon, little mushrooms began appearing on the entire Spider Drone.
Tiny electric sparks jolted its massive body, making the drone let out an odd, glitching noise.
But not all circuit-like tendrils, stemming out of the large mushroom's stem, had gone down into the Spider Drone.
As if they carried life of their own, they shot through the space, ignoring the gravity, and latched onto the other four drones as well.
The same thing that was happening to the first drone began happening to the others as well, all drones stumbling, rocking, and almost crying in agony.
And just as everything seemed to slow down… the large mushroom's cap… stirred.
…
Control Room,
Central Tower
"What the hell is going on?!" Leya cursed, her stomach doing a roller coaster within her.
In the last minute, the Warden had repeatedly turned the Spatial Barrier ON and OFF, making almost all operators in the Control Room vomit.
Only Leya knew that this turning on and off meant that Alex must be switching between different multipliers repeatedly.
It was just that things had never gone this far before.
Alex wouldn't switch between multipliers unless he thought he wouldn't survive against a Villain with his natural strength, which already was monstrous.
To top it off, they had lost all visuals to the Outer Zone as well.
"Where are the Spiders?!" Leya screamed.
"… They have secured the Inner and Middle Zones, Ma'am!" one of the stronger operators replied, punching the control panel's buttons. "I am sending a few to the Outer Zone to get visuals! I… Huh?!"
Leya's angry face gained a frown. "What?"
"We lost contact with five Spiders, Ma'am… Let me check…" The Operator, puzzled beyond bounds, replied.
Each Spider Drone was a marvel in itself — a sophisticated piece of technology, designed by the USA's best engineers.
Their bodies were made up of Military Grade Reinforced Steel Alloy, able to take on even All Might's punch. Not only that, but they were highly versatile, capable of processing information and taking actions independent of any human interface because of their built-in AI.
As if this didn't make the over 300 kg drone a monstrosity, it was powered by a Micro Reactor, making it capable of small flights.
In extreme cases, they could also equip the entire drone with live weapons, turning it into a murder machine.
So, losing contact with these drones, when all the Villains were supposed to be deep in sleep already, made the least sense.
Just as Leya took a step toward the operator to check what was going on, all the control panels suddenly buzzed… before exploding with fiery crackle.
…
Metallic pieces were falling off like unwanted limbs.
Something unnatural was pulling the five drones… fusing.
Crack. Tink. Crrrrrk.
When almost seventy percent of those drones had been discarded, a monstrosity began taking shape.
Metal parts folded onto themselves. Multicolored electric sparks crackled — powered by unnatural circuit-like veins. Horrifying, fungus-like tissues were visible here and there, holding the pieces together. And little mushrooms were popping in and out of existence… like breath.
It was breathing.
It was alive.
With a metallic thud, the thing stood up.
It was an over 12 ft tall metallic lifeform, with a mushroom head, metallic strips covering the mushroom's cap. The entire red-silver armored body was covered in multicolored circuit-like veins, with mutated mushrooms acting as muscles, cartilages, and nerves.
With a clank, the thing lifted its huge arms and looked at its hands.
Then, its large mushroom head lifted, its non-existent eyes falling upon Luke, who was already staring at it with wide eyes.
Step.
Step.
In two large steps, the cyborg arrived in front of Luke and… kneeled.
"The blessing of life that you have bestowed upon us will not go to waste, Master," the cyborg said, its large mushroom head looming over Luke's face. "But we have a request…"
Luke, gobsmacked, just nodded.
The Cyborg lifted its arm and put it on its chest. "What is our name?"
"… Mushroom?"
The Cyborg jolted.
It was as if the mere act of naming it made it more… aware.
"We are…" The Cyborg stood up and held out its arm as if showing itself to the world… its voice breaking. "… WE ARE MUSHROOM!!!"
********************
AN: Original Character Image of Mushroom-nimi is available
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