Chapter 2 - Act 2: Predation

Ding....

Ding...

Ding..

Everything rang, It would've been ear piercing if Izuku hadn't been too dazed and confused to even process it properly. The world blurred in and out of focus with his vision spinning like a loose compass needle that pointed nowhere.

He was face down on cold pavement with the scent of scorched rubber and leaking fuel clawing at his senses. Somewhere behind him the fuel that leaked began forming a shimmering black halo that spread toward the gutter.

His limbs refused to obey him as it felt like gravity had tripled and began dragging him from below. He blinked once then twice and only then did the pain start flooding in. It rippled through his ribs, his shoulder, his legs, hell everything hurt.

He groaned and tried to push himself up but his elbows gave way and he collapsed once again. He wheezed against the wet asphalt as the taste of blood clung to his tongue. Above him, the streetlights flickered in uneven rhythms from the sudden attack, causing the shadows to stretch longer than they should.

He wasn't sure if that was the concussion talking or the world itself that was responding to the commotion. Metal creaked behind him from the now flipped over car with one tire lazily spinning in midair.

The car door he'd crashed into was torn off and the shattered window had scattered across the asphalt in glittering shards. The department store entrance still gaped wide like a broken mouth. Torn mannequins leaned in strange postures behind shattered glass.

"Is it...still in the store? I need to double back to the alley...then maybe I can get the family out. The only question is how..."

He forced himself upright with a grunt, his boots scraped across the broken glass and every crunch felt amplified. His head ached and throbbed but he kept moving, hugging the building's shadow as he made for the alley where he'd first entered.

Izuku's ears continued to ring just slightly now but that damn silence still remained and that pressed hardest on his nerves. Every little movement seemed magnified such as the drip of leaking fuel, the creak of cooling metal, even his own ragged breaths fogging the air.

His body was on edge with every nerve screaming at him in protest after whatever had hit him and it was still in there watching. One For All remained stubbornly silent inside him still but didn't need Danger Sense to know he was walking a razor's edge.

Then without warning the car horn exploded behind him, shattering the stillness like a gunshot which made Izuku flinch so hard that his heart leapt into his throat. For a split second the whole world felt as if it lurched sideways. The sound of the horn reached the walls of the buildings and echoed off them, setting every nerve in his body on fire.

He immediately ran as best he could and dropped into a sloppy roll toward a nearby electricity box near the opposite sidewalk. It was just far enough to keep him out of direct sight. He pressed himself low, every muscle screaming to move, but he forced himself to stay, listening.

As soon as Izuku ducked behind the concrete planter, the air pressed against his back like an unseen hand. His breaths came sharp and shallow at first while his body was trying to decide whether to fight or flee from the adrenaline flowing through him.

He forced himself to stay still and listen or at least to let his senses sift through the chaos all while the horn of the wrecked car screamed into the empty street. Its blaring horn bounced between the buildings so much it came back distorted like it had traveled too far and returned changed.

Izuku focused on his breathing but the fight or flight response made his mind change the world around him or at least that's what he thought. In the corner of his vision, the buildings seemed taller than they had been seconds ago. They leaned ever so slightly toward the street as if they were eavesdropping.

Shadows pooled unnaturally thick in the gaps between them before stretching like spilled ink across a canvas. He blinked but the angles didn't look quite right anymore. The street itself seemed to dip just enough to make the ground feel like it might slope him toward the dark.

He gritted his teeth trying to keep his focus but in the glass windows of a nearby store the reflections in them flickered with silhouettes where no one stood. They moved in ways that didn't match the world outside of it, a hunched silhouette turned its head toward him in the reflection but once he looked directly at it there was nothing.

Izuku swallowed the sudden knot in his throat while the horn kept going off behind him, its tone was almost like breathing between the blasts. With each pulse of noise the light from the streetlamps wavered before bending in on itself until the glow became thin distorted strands trying and failing to hold the darkness back.

Somewhere above him a neon sign shifted and for the briefest heartbeat, the letters rearranged themselves into something he didn't recognize before snapping back. With a shake of his head Izuku leaned out from cover ever so slightly to see if it was safe to move out from his cover.

The car slid more and more into view with each inch and the warped reflections in the windows that he couldn't see, seemed to follow his movement like curious eyes. He felt them watching and every instinct told him the car horn wasn't the real threat but rather it was the silence around it.

CRASH!

The car was tossed as if struck by an invisible sledgehammer. The metal folded in on itself with the remaining glass spraying into the air like glitter before the whole frame was sent spinning down the street. It flipped then slammed into the asphalt, bouncing once then crashed into a streetlight that bent under the impact.

The horn died and the world unraveled from its unnatural form as Izuku's focus slammed back into place. Buildings straightened, windows gave back honest reflections, and shadows fell where physics said they should. It was like someone flicked a switch and the city put its mask back on.

Silence rushed in so fast it felt like his ears could pop. The only sound left was the soft hiss of steam curling from the ruined car and the slow patter of glass settling into itself. A single receipt skittered across the asphalt and bumped his boot before it went still like it suddenly remembered it wasn't supposed to move.

Izuku stayed tucked behind the planter but kept his eyes on the street then the storefront and finally the blank slabs of building on either side of him, cataloging everything that was normal. The lamp posts were upright, signs were steady, and reflections held true so he let the facts calm him like rungs on a ladder.

"Just what am I up against? This is different from the kind of invisibility Hagakure has. At least with her's i'd still be able to sense her presence but i can't get a read on this thing"

Izuku's gaze slid across the department store's mouth like entrance. Nothing moved behind the crooked mannequins but somewhere deeper inside, a shelf had ticked and creaked as it settled.

"It doesn't seem to knows where I'm at for the moment" He muttered as he pictured the family pressed behind a self made barricade pleading for help in silence.

"I have to get back to them and get them out of here.." He couldn't stay pinned here and wait for whatever that was to choose another moment.

Without another thought Izuku eased up slowly with one hand on the divider and one knee under him, spreading his weight to keep the slightest debris from announcing him. The street looked normal again but the normal felt like a stage reset between scenes. The trick hadn't stopped it had only been covered.

He kept low and edged along the planter until he could see his path to the side alley. Every few steps he paused and let the stillness answer back. The kind of silence that made you feel loud for just existing.

"Okay, don't rush it just move calmly" He told himself

He left the safety of the divider and slid into the open making sure that his steps careful and his head on a swivel. Izuku kept himself low, his movements whispered against the pavement as he closed the distance to the alleyway. Every step was measured since he couldn't risk giving whatever was out there the satisfaction of hearing him.

The alleyway was only a few meters away when he veered onto the curb of the sidewalk and pressed himself against the glass wall of a bus stop awning. The cool pane pressed between his shoulder blades and the advertisement behind him stared back with a faint glow. It was a poster for a horror film tied to the Shibuya Halloween festival.

IT LIVES WHERE YOU CAN'T SEE!

The bold red letters screamed as the shadow of a clawed hand stretched over the image of a lone figure which Izuku unknowingly covered by standing in its place and beneath it was the tagline which was smaller but also in red.

Is it merely an illusion of the mind or is it a haunting reality?

A deep whoosh of air displaced by something moving fast was heard. Izuku's shoulders tightened instantly before turning his head sharply towards it, his eyes scanning the dark gaps between buildings and the reflective glass of a storefront across the street but there was nothing once again.

After holding still for a few seconds longer counting each second in his head like a metronome for his nerves Izuku decided waiting was worse than moving. He slipped out from the shelter of the bus stop and made for the alleyway in long deliberate strides, keeping his weight light so the soles of his boots made as little noise as possible.

The side door loomed at the end of the narrow passage just as he remembered it. He pushed inside and was met with the stale, stagnant air of the department store like before. The pale emergency lighting that illuminated the corridor with an almost a sickly hue. His boots tapped softly against the tile as he moved deeper to find the family all while hoping that they were ok

It didn't take long to find the family as they were huddled near the same spot just as before. During the scuffle they had created some more cover and from behind it a bit of relief flickered briefly across the child's face, although the father's brow remained tense along with the mother.

"H-hey your okay? that was one hell of a hit you took, don't push yourself" the man asked in a low voice.

"Please sit down, don't make any injuries worse by moving around" The mother expressed worriedly

"Is that thing gone? Are we safe?" The father asked curiously

"I'm fine don't worry, I'm tougher than I look but we don't have much time" Izuku answered quickly while shaking his head as if to clear it.

"There's only a small window for us to get out of here while it's gone. It seems like that car horn outside lured it away for the time being" Izuku continued while crouching down.

"Or at least I hope it went away after I heard that rush of wind..." Izuku rubbed the back of his head and exhaled

"We should get going, we need to get out of here before it comes back. We can leave through the side entrance I came in from" Izuku said while standing up

"Not the way you came. There's another entrance at the rear side of the building that's also used an an exit. It's less exposed since all the action happened up front not to mention it's probably safer too" The father motioned toward the back.

Izuku's gaze flicked briefly toward the shadowed area of the store that lead deeper into the store. Something about that path felt different, like the building itself was holding an unseen weight but even so he gave a quick nod.

"Alright lead the way but stay close" Izuku was unsure of the option given but it the father was right.

The group moved as one with there heads slightly down and their feet light through the dim back side of the store and toward the back doors. Somewhere behind them, the building settled with a hollow tick resembling a clock that had forgotten what time meant.

It didn't take long before they reached the glass double doors that waited at the far end of the store and beyond them was a slice of the night. Izuku lifted a hand for silence and stopped them before reaching said doors. Izuku went up ahead and edged along to the side to peer through the glass.

The cold air had bled against the pane and the outside was still silent as ever with a delivery truck backed into a dock on the left side of the building. Puddles from the rain that had occurred before he got here pooled in the uneven concrete next to a couple of dumpsters that lined the wall on the other side of the truck.

The back entrance area was more confined than the front of the stores entrance so they needed to be extra carful. There was no movement in the shadow under the truck or anywhere Izuku could see but If anything was still out there, it was patient enough to become part of the dark.

"See anything?" The father spoke in a hushed tone

"Nothing so far" Izuku didn't look back as he spoke

"Not that I could see it whatever it was that's hunting us anyway..." Izuku thought bitterly

He rested his palm against the bar handle to the glass door. The metal was colder than it should've been as it began leeching warmth from his skin through his gloves. His right hand curled into a fist at his side before trembling once before he forced it still.

"Get a grip Izuku...you're a hero" he told himself

"Alright, we go low and quiet. You two will be in front with the kid between you two and ill be close behind two steps back. Judging by how that thing attacks, its prone to surprise attacks so ill make sure I'm the one it focuses on" He lowered his voice to a steady whisper.

The mother nodded while pulling the child in front of herself. The father shifted in front of them as Izuku eased the bar of the door by a fraction. The seal broke with a soft kiss of rubber and a ribbon of colder air slipped in.

He held the door there and listened intensively but ultimately heard nothing again. He opened it another inch and the space outside widened in the gap of the door like an eye. Overhead of them a light hummed, providing some light against the dark.

"Get ready..." he whispered.

He pushed the door just wide enough to slide through and the family stepped into the alley. Izuku followed along, letting his eyes sweep left to right before he turned around to focus on shutting the door gently.

They paused in the threshold's shadow after which Izuku pointed two fingers to the to the truck's rear axle then to the dumpsters, mapping their path without words. The family moved first, slipping across the narrow stretch of open ground toward the shadow of the dumpsters.

Their shapes folded neatly into the darkness, the faint shuffle of their steps smothered by the damp air. Izuku followed at a measured distance, keeping himself between them and the empty space that seemed to watch from every direction.

He was halfway across when the silence of the night decided to speak. It came from nowhere, a cool thin thread of air that coiled past his ear brushing the skin just enough to raise the hairs on his neck. A sound rode in with it, not quite a voice and not quite a thought but distorted words spoken as if underwater with their syllables snagging on the edges of his mind before they faded.

The edges of the alley blurred and began pulling him into a pocket of stillness that existed just behind reality. The distant hum of the lights dimmed, the glisten of the puddles froze with ripples arrested mid motion. Even the smell of oil and rain felt suspended, trapped in a moment that belonged only to him.

Izuku didn't turn his head, he thought that any sudden moves could give away more than any silence would. Instead he let his eyes slide to the edges of his vision, sweeping the warped shadows along the walls, the sheen of wet concrete, and the reflection in a windowpane a few meters away. For an instant the glass held more than his own form, much like before he saw something in the reflection that stood where were it wasn't but it was something much taller than himself.

Then in a blink it was gone and the air thinned once again with time snapping forward, sound rushing back all at once. Izuku's pulse thudded once in his throat but he forced it down, forcing his breathing back under control. He took a single step then another before stopping, his gaze still scanning the places where light didn't reach.

"It's out here with us..." Izuku's caution levels were at the max

The family stayed tucked beneath the lip of the dumpsters ahead while Izuku took a another set of slow steps. At the roofline of the department store and just at the edge where the facade met the night some of the grit loosened.

A few pebbles skittered free then a sliver of concrete followed. They began their slow descent, tumbling end over end through the moon light. One flecked his sleeve while another nicked the pavement by his boot. A third fell so close he felt the air part as it kissed the right side of his cheek and as it passed, his eye was already beginning to track it.

The pebble clipped his shoulder and shattered into smaller pieces with a soft sound. He froze while looking down at the dust on his shoulder and his eyes widened. Izuku's brain had caught up to the moment and already knew what it meant. He turned his head slowly to the left then he let his shoulders follow.

Only then did his gaze lift, climbing the stacked dark windows and signage toward the roof's edge. When his focus began narrowing there was a faint flicker of golden flames that bled from the veins at his wrist, those same flames that had crawled over his hand earlier without his consent.

They unspooled into hair thin wisps then climbed up his forearms and ghosted across his temples like drifting motes. The world tinted imperceptibly at first with colors cooling at the edges, the blacks growing deeper with the highlights turning thin and sharp.

His vision adjusted and became normal but what was once invisible had now become visible. It crouched on the building's lip like a gargoyle someone had assembled wrong. Limbs were too long by a joint with elbows and knees that bent the wrong way along with fingers spread wide before tapering into a mix of fingers and claws.

They pressed near the brick without fully touching it and where its weight should have met stone, the air shimmered instead making it seem like this thing refused the ordinary terms of contact. Its surface wasn't skin so much as moving shadow, an oil slick darkness that drank the light and gave none back.

The glow of scattered light buckled around it bending like heat above asphalt. Dust in the air clung to its outline in a slow orbiting drift while tracing the shape in murmurs of gray. Where a face should have been was a suggestion only with two swirling white sinkholes and a seam that almost remembered how to be a mouth.

It tilted its head and the glass of the third floor windows below it dimpled inward like the act of noticing exerted pressure. Izuku didn't breathe but the gold at the edge of his vision pulsed once before fully sinking into his temple becoming a halo he hadn't asked for but one he wouldn't argue against.

The white hollows turned toward him like a radio finding a signal in the noise. The curse uncoiled one limb from the roofline and the night seemed to bend with it.

Bzzt!

"Danger sense?..."

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[Act 2: Predation]

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[30 Minutes prior]

SPLAT!

Yuji's boot came down hard, crunching the skull of the final curse into the tiles of the subway station floor. The creature dissolved into motes of black mist that scattered and sank into the stagnant air.

"That's new.." Yuji was put off by the unusual "exorcism" but ignored it

He exhaled while letting his shoulders rising and falling as he looked around at the mess of twisted limbs and broken forms left in his wake. Four of them in total, all were lower grade but the sheer number made his brows knit.

"Just how many are there? Feels like they're breeding down here or something" he muttered while wiping a bead of sweat from his temple.

His tone was was edged with irritation but underneath it was unease. Something about this wasn't lining up with what he'd expected when the operation in Shibuya was discussed. The sound of footsteps broke through his thoughts.

Mei Mei emerged from the shadows of the station entrance, her raven hair framing her calm, calculating expression. Behind her was Ui Ui who trailed faithfully at her side, carrying himself with his usual quiet seriousness.

"I've checked the perimeter" Mei Mei said smoothly, brushing a stray feather from her shoulder.

"My crows didn't detect any more in this area. At least not for the time being but the big one we encountered earlier is still at large" Her tone suggested little comfort

"The big one? You think it's hiding somewhere?" Yuji turned toward her fully, frowning.

"Curses don't hide, not unless they have reason to. If it's no longer above ground then it may have retreated into the tunnels below" Mei Mei tilted her head

Yuji's gaze flicked toward the yawning black mouth of the subway stairwell behind them. The steps seemed like they were a descent into hell itself. He clenched his fists, the lingering adrenaline from his fight mingling with unease.

He'd fought curses in countless places like schools, rooftops, and abandoned buildings but something about the tunnels made his skin crawl. Yuji dragged his feet for just a moment longer than he should have before following behind Mei Mei and Ui Ui.

Even though Yuji was somewhat against the idea, it was undeniable that the Fukutoshin Line was their best option. It was a straight shot to Jingumae Station that had no detours and no weaving through side streets teeming with potential ambushes. On paper it was the safest route although In practice Yuji wasn't so sure.

"Not a fan of tight, dark spaces are you?" Mei Mei asked casually while descending the stairwell with Ui Ui following close behind.

"Guess I just prefer curses out in the open. Easier to smash their faces in when I can see where I'm swinging" Yuji rubbed the back of his neck as he followed behind.

"Well visibility will be a luxury down here, every sound and echo matters so I hope you've been trained to listen" Mei Mei allowed herself the faintest hum, her pale eyes cutting to him briefly.

Her words sounded like a warning more than anything else but nonetheless they began their descent. Yuji's footsteps echoed with a hollow uneven rhythm, they had barely begun and he already caught himself glancing back up the stairs once, swearing the space above seemed to change to look like somewhere else entirely. He clenched his jaw and looked forward again, brushing off the thought.

The three of them moved in silence, their footsteps eventually falling into a rhythm with the hum of the red lights. The stairwell stretched, every landing identical, every shadow sharpening with each step they took downward. Yuji's focus wavered for only a second when the shadows along the wall rippled. He blinked and it was gone in an instant but then an odd distortion ensued.

"Eight... nine... ten..." He counted the steps unknowingly

The sharp rhythm of their footsteps against tiled stairs staggered and echoed slightly out of sync. Then with a flick of a switch the staircase fractured and the tiled walls warped and the space rippled. In that moment Yuji wasn't in the Fukutoshin subway stairwell anymore.

He suddenly found himself descending what looked like another set of stairs entirely, they were more narrow not to mention older and more wooden with rot building up the side. Before Yuji could make sense of it, a prickle danced along the back of his neck making him feel like someone or something was behind him. He turned in an instant without hesitation but stiffened once he met what was behind him.

Two steps behind him stood a figure, Its form wasn't solid but instead outlined in crackling static scanlines like an image caught between signals. The edges of its body flickered and blurred but the weight of its presence was undeniable and it was in the middle of reaching out toward him.

He could see its hand straining through the distortion with an intent Yuji couldn't name or place. For a brief moment they locked eyes, sealed in a moment that felt like fateful encounter or a curse playing tricks on him. He sense not one but 8 more pairs of eyes just beyond this figures form and each a distinct color but out of nowhere there was a 9th that showed up.

The color of the 9th pair were a faded orange, not quite as bright as the others. Before anything else could happen the interaction was cut short as the world snapped back into place. The static collapsed, the red lights returned to their steady glow, and the tiled stairwell was once again only a tiled stairwell.

Mei Mei hadn't even slowed her steps and Ui Ui trailed her as if nothing had happened. The only trace of the encounter that remained was just above the step where the figure had stood, a faint golden wisp drifted in the air, curling like smoke before it hissed out of existence. Yuji squinted, straining to hold onto the detail but it was gone before he could make sense of it.

"What the hell was that?" he said to himself but Mei Mei and Ui Ui hadn't heard him or chose not to speak up.

Yuji turned back to continue his descent with his team but unfortunately misplaced his footing. The sudden shift from what had happened must've made his equilibrium falter before falling.

The echo of his stumble rang through the stairwell and the lower platform which was followed immediately by the thump of his body bouncing down the flight of stairs. He landed with a heavy groan, laying sprawled across the cold floor at the bottom.

Blinking through the discomfort, Yuji pushed himself halfway up on his elbows with his face twisted in a mix of pain and embarrassment. Before he could even find his footing again, a shadow loomed over him as Mei Mei stood above him with her arms loosely crossed with a faint smirk tugging at her lips.

"It seems Gojo's training overlooked one crucial lesson. The lesson on how to use your legs properly" Her voice carried a thin bite of humor. Ui Ui tilted his head from behind her with a solemn gaze adding to Yuji's mortification.

"Ah c'mon! That wasn't even my fault!" Yuji barked back as he scrambled upright

"Excuses don't make the bruises heal any faster Itadori" she remarked as she swung her long braid behind her before resuming her stride.

Yuji grumbled under his breath before dusting himself off and jogging to catch to the duo. The platform stretched before them, abandoned and draped in half light with a few paper flyers and torn ticket stubs littering the floor.

Yuji's eyes moved across the platform seeing rows of empty benches, vending machines standing idle, and the glint of shattered glass from a light fixture overhead. The silence here wasn't natural. It pressed down on the chest, broken only by the distant hum of the city far above.

Mei Mei's pace never stopped while she cut straight across the empty platform as Ui Ui trailed close at her side. Once they were at the edge of the platform Mei Mei and Ui Ui hopped down onto the tracks with the crunch of gravel once they landed.

Yuji was the last one to step forward before pausing just long enough to peer down the yawning tunnel mouth ahead. It was like staring into an endless throat, the red lights pulsing faintly within its depths.

"Straight to Jingumae huh?...sounds easy enough" He thought while dropping down after them.

The tunnels of the Fukutoshin Line stretched on in a dim endless quiet. The tunnel air was still and heavy, clinging to his skin like a damp cloth. Somewhere behind them was a faint tremor that traveled through the rails that were too small to be a train and too irregular to be anything mechanical.

Yuji noticed it but so did Mei Mei but she didn't turn her head, only tilted it slightly to listen to the disturbance.

"We're seeing more activity than expected. Levels like this weren't even in the reports we were given" Mei Mei's calm voice carried

It wasn't just here it was everywhere they'd been tonight. It had started earlier with the flickers in his peripheral vision along with shapes that had no business existing where they were then gone the second he turned his head. At first he told himself that it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.

"You noticed it too huh?" His eyes darted to the edges of the red lit tunnel.

"Feels like there's been more curses than normal and before we even got down here, I kept seeing stuff. Stuff that shouldn't have been there"

The shadows along the tunnel walls seemed to lean closer as his words hung in the air. Ahead of him, Mei Mei's posture didn't change but her head turned slightly, one silver strand of hair catching the light. Mei Mei didn't answer right away as her boots clicked softly against the steel rail.

"Certainly, the curses tonight are agitated like something's guiding them" she said at last like she was commenting on the weather and not an unnatural spike in cursed activity.

"Guiding them? Guided by what?" Yuji's brow furrowed.

"That is what I intend to find out" she said simply

They passed under a section of tunnel where the lights had burned out completely. For a stretch of ten paces, the three of them were swallowed by pure darkness and Yuji's ears were filled with the faint scrape of something against the tunnel wall.

When they stepped back into the glow of the next set of emergency lights, Yuji glanced up without meaning to. The concrete above bore fresh gouges, something with claws had dragged itself along the ceiling. He opened his mouth to say something then shut it again.

The tunnel curved slightly ahead and above the curve, an old dust caked service sign hung dead. As they passed under it, a faint electrical hum crackled overhead. With a flicker, the sign came to life for the briefest moment with its green glow cutting through the red emergency lighting.

The symbol wasn't the usual "running man" exit sign. The figure was still running but instead of heading towards an exit, it sprinted toward a chunk that was damaged. The missing chunk resembled running into a void or maybe something else entirely. It blinked once then twice before the light died again, plunging the corridor back into the pulse of red.

As they continued a faint creak in the metal overhead was heard, reminiscent of an old ship groaning under pressure. Another came seconds later then again, the spacing was too deliberate and wasn't just random settling in the structure but more like the rhythm of knocking.

The sound deepened then traveled through the steel of the tunnel like it was hollow. With it came low and garbled whispers, slipping between the gusts of stale air. The words if you can even call them that were wet and guttural, inhuman syllables dragged through water before reaching their ears.

The deeper they went the worse it became. The creaks in the tunnel steel were no longer random they were patterns like the sound of knocking that traveled along the walls. Whispers threaded through the stagnant air with guttural murmurs that scraped across the edges of language, monstrous syllables vibrating against Yuji's bones more than his ears.

He slowed instinctively, the hair on his arms prickling. Mei Mei stopped first, one pale hand lifted in silent command. Ui Ui shifted closer to her side. The tunnel had gone too quiet between the knocks then suddenly a single distorted word shifted through the air.

"We are not alone.." Mei Mei said calm as ever.

"Why the hell did it have to be some dark tunnel" Yuji expressed somewhat annoyed.

Yuji's skin prickled so he widened his stance while scanning the tunnel. His fists clenched and unclenched, trying to anchor himself in the rhythm of his own body. The red emergency lights overhead bathed everything in that blood red haze.

"I don't see anything. You sure there's someth-" Yuji questioned

From the gravel at his feet a thin waxen hand emerged with its fingers moving as if underwater. One after another, dozens of hands clawed up through the ground reaching for him with desperate precision. They slid through the track ballast like it was liquid, dozens of grasping arms wrapping around his ankles, his calve and his his knee.

"What the?!" Yuji gritted his teeth and jerked backward but the grip only multiplied.

More hands lashed up to his thighs, torso, and arms before they began to pull with inhuman weight. Planting his legs caused his muscles to bulge as he strained, refusing to be dragged down. The lights above began to stutter, each flicker blacking out more of the tunnel.

"Shit! Mei Mei I could use a little...." Yuji tore his vision away from the hands but no one was there only amplifying his panic.

Yuji looked for Mei Mei and Ui Ui but both of them were nowhere to be found. He tried pulling free again but the hands gripping his legs already began pulling him under. The arms then seized his wrists, upper arms, and his torso.

He strained with clenched teeth by forcing every ounce of strength into getting free. Veins bulged from his temple as he thrashed his body against the invisible drag pulling him downward. The lights began to die and one by one with each click the darkness grew thicker, pressing in like water filling a chamber.

"Why are you so clingy! Get the hell...OFF!" Yuji continued to push against the clutching arms force.

The last light snapped out overhead leaving only a wash of pale red glow in the distance. The hands then began to seize the rest of his face, their cold fingers pressing into his cheeks before covering his mouth then smothering his vision. His breath roared in his own ears as he fought, his lungs burning, body writhing against the tide.

He forced his shoulders forward and pushed every ounce of strength into his frame to keep from sinking but it wasn't enough. The ground below him opened up like a black mirror and swallowed him whole. For an instant there was nothing, not even a sound nor a tunnel around him. His mind stretched thin, pulled in a dozen directions at once as if his very self was being split apart.

SMACK!

Yuji stumbled to the side gasping for air with the gravel crunching under his shoes as if he'd never left it. Mei Mei stood in front of where he was, her air still aloft in the air from slapping him to his senses. His chest still heaved with sweat running down his temple, every muscle still screamed from the phantom resistance of those hands. He stared at his trembling palms that were still raw with strain.

"Wait they....they weren't real?.." he muttered with a hoarse voice. His mind was a whirl of broken fragments.

He wiped the cold sweat from his brow realizing his whole body was trembling, it felt like his mind had been wrenched apart and shoved back together, it's threads pulled tightly in directions he didn't understand.

"So you're back, try not to lose yourself like that again" her tone albeit relaxed was edged with command.

"It felt so real...like it was peeling me apart..." Deep down in the pit of his gut Yuji knew illusions didn't leave weight behind. Not like that anyway.

"Whatever caused that wanted you to think they were real. Those "illusions" were more like projections forced into your senses and If your mind can't separate them from reality they might as well be real" Mei Mei dusted herself off before turning to Yuji

"So It was my own fear being pulled out of me?" Yuji's stomach twisted.

"You resisted longer than most who've encountered something similar. It even took big sis a couple seconds to get out of it" Ui Ui nodded along with Mei Mei

"As for what's causing it I'd say its the work of the curse we've been chasing. This one seems to be feeding off your fear until you can't tell your body from your shadow which is how it drags you under" Mei Mei continued

"Sister...the tunnel has c-changed" Ui Ui's quiet voice broke the silence.

"A barrier? or a domain?..." Mei Mei analyzed quietly

Mei Mei and Yuji turned their gaze to followed Ui Ui's outstretched hand and The Fukutoshin Line tunnel no longer resembled any human construction. The walls that should have run straight began to bend in impossible curves as if the whole passage were melting in on itself. The structure stretched unnaturally far into the distance with the end of it rolling away like a mirage.

Graffiti tags warped causing the letters twisting into inhuman shapes. The spray painted smiles and cartoon faces that once littered the walls now stretched grotesquely with their lips curling into devilish grins lined with too many teeth. The walls themselves groaned in long low vibrations that reverberated through the concrete like the structure was trying to mimic breathing.

"Just what in the hell is going on tonight" Yuji took an involuntary step back, the air thick with something that made his skin crawl.

A faint scrape rippled through the tunnel walls like something brushing against the concrete from the inside. They began to bulge outward in slow waves, distorting as though something massive was pressing outward. The lights trembled and flickered overhead, shadows sliding across the warped surfaces in sick, crawling patterns.

"Did that wall ju-" Yuji's breath hitched.

Before he could finish a deep thud sounded from within the structure before another. Followed by a series of erratic knocks running along the rails beneath them, moving in no clear direction, sometimes they were close then sometimes impossibly far.

The rhythm had no pattern nor a source. The entire tunnel itself were alive, shifting and breathing just beyond their perception. Mei Mei held a hand out to halt them.

"Itadori, watch the rear..." she said quietly

At first it was only one groan that crawled down the length of the tunnel. It was distant not to mention hard to pin point but thats when another answered and another. Soon the air was alive with the haunting chorus of something groaning and roaring, whispering, and dragging itself through the dark.

"They're close. No now they're far..." Yuji spun on instinct, scanning the shadows behind them. He squinted into the shifting dark ahead.

"They're all around us..." Ui Ui clutched Mei Mei's sleeve tighter

The lights overhead stuttered once, twice then plunged the tunnel into complete blackness. For a heartbeat there was nothing but the sound of breathing but with one violent snap, the power surged back. Now the shadows now clung to the walls like living stains, their shapes distorting and shifting against the light.

They weren't still or flat, they moved in rhythmic pulses. The walls themselves seemed to writhe beneath them like something underneath the surface was trying to push through. While they walked, Yuji felt something watching him on his right and his head snapped to it but nothing was there but there was something that seemed out of place.

"Theres gotta be something here..." Yuji's jaw tightened

He stepped forward carefully with his shoes crunching against gravel as lightly as possible. The lights flickered again which made the shadows twitch, reacting to his presence. He was nearing the wall while raising a hand toward one of the out of place section of it. The moment his fingers neared the surface the shadow rippled and something stared back

An eyelid shot open rolling beneath a translucent film that stretched across the concrete. Yuji froze then another opened beside it and within seconds the walls became alive. Dozens of eyes unfurling in unison, blinking wetly in the half-lit tunnel. They stared in every direction with their pupils twitching and dilating as if drinking in the sight of their new prey.

The groans returned louder this time, a chorus of throats dragging air through unseen lungs. The walls pulsed outward like flesh under pressure then a slick black shape tore itself free from the surface, stretching like melted tar.

"Mei Mei, I think somethings waking up!"Yuji barely had time to react before it lunged.

The thing's form was impossible to fully comprehend, its while body was dripping while it shifted, its limbs forming and unforming as it moved. It struck like battering ram by slamming into Yuji's chest and driving him to the ground with a heavy thud.

Its surface was ice cold and wet, its grip tightening like it was trying to drag him back into the wall it came from. Yuji's hands shot up to grab at its arms to pry it off but as soon as he did a seem formed along its face and began to stretch and rip itself open.

A mouth was in the making with the jaw struggling under the tension before the lingering strands keeping the top and bottom parts of the jaw attached snapped away allowing the curse to screech in Yuji's face. Yuji's muscles tensed as his teeth grit while the creature's scream tore through his ears.

"At this rate I might loose my hearing!" Yuji thought while trying to push the curse off of him

The sound was unbearable, something between metal scraping and flesh splitting. The curse's new mouth dripped a thick tar-like fluid, its jagged teeth gnashing wildly inches from his face. The screech wasn't just the sound of a hungry curse it was a call for the swarm.

Mei Mei who was about to rush to the scuffle Yuji was having was stopped when the call was answered back with dozens responding in unison. The shadows along the walls began to bulge, split, and pour outward as new shapes peeled themselves free.

"Head up Itadori! We got company and a lot of it. Deal with that one quckly!" Mei Mei twirled her axe and got into position.

"Workin on it! God you're one ugly bastard you know that?" Yuji snarled as he seized the creature's neck with both hands.

The veins in his forearms bulged with every muscle in his body flexing as cursed energy surged through him. The curse thrashed its long limbs and claws slicing gouges into the concrete beside his head. Yuji felt one graze his cheek, heat blooming as blood traced a line across his face.

With a shout Yuji flipped their positions in a single motion. The curse hit the floor with a sickening crack that echoed down the tunnel. The concrete splintered beneath the impact, black liquid splattering across the ground like ink. The curse screeched again but Yuji reeled back a fist infused with cursed energy and slammed it into the curses face.

He then grabbed the curses face before slamming it down, it was hard enough to make the floor crater. The curse's body convulsed once before melting into a puddle of black sludge that seeped into the cracks. Yuji looked up as the first wave of the swarm came spilling out of the darkness.

"Don't let them surround you" Mei Mei and Ui Ui backed up and stood next to Yuji

"Wouldn't dream of it" Yuji wiped the blood from his cheek

The first curse lunged but Mei Mei cleaved it out of the air before it reached Ui Ui and spun to parry another lunging in from the wall. Yuji ducked as two dropped from the ceiling, their claws raking sparks where his head had been a moment before. He drove a fist into one's abdomen feeling it crumple before it dissolved and swung the second into the ground with a brutal slam.

The swarm piled on in a storm of skittering limbs and snapping jaws. For every curse Yuji crushed three more pressed in. Gravel exploded around his shoes, scattering into the air like shrapnel as he twisted and threw another over his shoulder. One latched onto his back before digging it's claws into him, he tore it off with raw strength, slamming it headfirst into the wall until its body melted away.

Yuji ducked low under another lunging arm, his fist launching upward in a burst of cursed energy that shattered the creature's torso. He pivoted immediately before kicking off the ground to drive his heel through another curse's jaw, sending it sprawling into the wall. A third came down from above but he grabbed it mid-fall then used its weight to smash two more into the floor.

Mei Mei moved beside him with calm efficiency amid the chaos. Every swing of her axe cleaved through another shrieking form as their black blood sprayed across the cracked walls, the tunnel echoing with the sound of bone splitting and flesh hissing under cursed energy. Mei Mei sidestepped a strike, her axe flashing as she decapitated the attacker. She crushed another curse underfoot, her eyes flicking toward the endless dark ahead of them.

"There's too many of them!" Yuji slammed his fist into another creature's chest, his arm shaking from the impact.

"Whoever's controlling them is in here with us. If we don't find it then this will never end" She crushed another curse underfoot, her eyes flicking toward the endless dark ahead of them.

"You're saying we run toward that?" Yuji glanced at her, his breathing ragged.

"I'm saying we don't have a choice" She wiped black blood from her cheek, her gaze cutting down the twisting corridor that seemed to stretch forever.

"Alright...fine then. Let's clear these damn tracks!" Yuji gritted his teeth and slammed both hands into the gravel.

The impact thundered down the tunnel causing a rippling shockwave of cursed energy bursting outward in a tight radius. The ground split with a sharp crack, ballast spraying as the vibration tore through the air. The nearest curses were launched back, their limbs snapping like twigs as they slammed into walls and ceiling. Black smoke hissed into the air where their bodies unraveled.

Mei Mei split another in half then swung wide forcing back a cluster that had tried to flank them. The curses came thicker, pouring from every surface. They clawed over one another in their desperation, bodies folding into grotesque knots as they writhed toward fresh prey. The tunnel itself seemed to collapse inward under their weight, red light flickering across hundreds of burning eyes.

"Let's move!" Mei Mei snapped, her axe flashing into motion.

Yuji sucked in a sharp breath then charged the nearest survivor letting his fist crushed through its torso, splattering ichor across the steel rail before turning into mist. Behind him, Mei Mei capitalized on the opening letting her axe carve clean lethal lines through anything and everything that got too close.

The three sprinted through the twisting tunnel, their footsteps echoing off the warped concrete walls as the swarm continued to pour in from every direction. Together they cut the swarm down piece by piece as they ran.

The air was thick with the stench of decay and tar, their breaths coming ragged as they fought to stay ahead of the tide. Every few seconds, a curse would leap from the shadows which Yuji or Mei Mei cut down mid-stride before it could latch on.

"We can't keep this up!" Yuji ducked under a sweeping limb then his fist crashed into the creature's stomach without losing his momentum.

"Keep moving. The one controlling them has to be close!" Mei Mei's axe whistled through the air, slicing another curse clean in half as she motioned forward.

The tunnel seemed to stretch endlessly, the flickering lights above made the shadows dance and twist in mocking shapes. Ui Ui ran close behind as the distant howls growing louder with every step but something just up ahead made the trio freeze.

The tunnel widened abruptly into an intersection and both sides had curses surging in waves by the dozen. Their grotesque shapes tangled together, clawing and crawling over one another in their hunger.

"Damnit, there's gotta be hundreds of them" Yuji hissed while glancing over his shoulder. The swarm from behind was closing in too and their path was sealing fast.

Just out of the corner of Yuji's eye he saw an old rust stained emergency door tucked into the wall to their right. The faded words EXIT barely clung to its surface, the paint chipped and eroded away.

"That's our exit!" Yuji pointed

The trio veered off course, pushing through the narrow gap between the horde and the wall. Mei Mei's axe tore through the closest curses, clearing just enough space for Yuji to reach the door. He slammed his shoulder into it making the rusted hinges shriek as the door gave way.

Yuji shot through the door and for a second everything seemed fine. The corridor beyond looked...not so normal that's when gravity betrayed him. Yuji's stomach dropped after realizing the floor beneath him didn't go forward but downward. He tried to brace himself, adjusting his posture for impact but before he could land, the tunnel snapped violently back into place. Reality corrected itself like a whip.

Yuji crashed shoulder first into the floor with a heavy thud, pain shot through his side as he rolled before coming to a halt against the far wall. The world spun around him as what was up and what was down was no longer clear.

Yuji groaned from his body aching from the fall as he tried to push himself upright. Before he could even get a word out, two soft thuds followed which ended up being Mei Mei and Ui Ui landing far more composed than he was.

"Yuji, didn't we already have this talk?" Mei Mei's voice echoed with light humor

She was already at his side, extending a hand. He grabbed it, wincing as she helped him to his feet. His shoulder throbbed from the impact, but he forced himself to roll it back, ignoring the pain.

"Yeah yeah...thanks" he muttered under his breath.

"Try not to throw yourself into collapsing dimensions next time" she replied, her tone dry but not unkind.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I find one" Yuji managed a half smile before glancing past her and the expression drained from his face.

The tunnel stretched before them, dimly lit by the same flickering lights, the same warped curvature, the same heavy silence pressing down on the air. Even the graffiti distorted, tooth filled grins sat exactly where they had been before. The faint sickly smell of damp concrete and metal lingered, unchanged.

"You gotta be shitting me...we're back where we started" he said while dragging a hand down his face

"It's worse than that" Mei Mei tilted her head to also assess the space.

"Don't even-" Yuji turned to her

"It's resetting itself " Her gaze drifted upward, to the faint ripples running along the ceiling.

"Round two, huh...well at least we aren't being chased anymore" Yuji let his shoulders drop

The pressure began to ease but their path ahead was littered with twitching remains that started to melt. However, neither Yuji, Ui Ui nor Mei Mei realized what stirred below.

Beneath the rails deep in the ballast the gravel shifted then drifting aside as if displaced by something larger forcing its way through. A hollow vibration began beneath their feet was too deep to be heard clearly. Whatever had been driving the weaker curses forward was not done with them yet.

"Don't relax just yet, we still ne-"Mei Mei shifted her grip on her axe when a sound interrupted her.

A deep groan rumbled through the tunnel, it seemed to rise out of every space within the tunnel itself. It wasn't the screech of the curses they'd been cutting down or running from, this was an older one. From the gravel and rail ties below them the black liquid of the recently slain curses bled together. They began threading into one another until it formed a sluggish tide.

It slithered unseen beneath their shoes like a river current. Yuji froze noticing something brushing against his shoe, It was subtle but noticeable. His gaze fell to the floor although the gravel hadn't moved but the puddles along the tracks were shivering with their streams trembling from something disturbing the flow.

"Uh...Mei M-" He didn't finish.

The ground surged in a violent shockwave blasted upward from beneath the rails with raw force ripping through the tunnel. The ballast exploded into the air with pebbles scattering like shrapnel, the upward drifting stones suddenly rocketing out in every direction.

Yuji's body was lifted clean off his feet but he twisted instinctively to shield his head but the blast still hurled him back down the tracks. Mei Mei was sent skidding as well with one hand on her axe as it made sparks against the rail as she dug it in to slow her momentum while holding Ui Ui .

Yuji slammed down on the gravel but quickly recovered as he slid back before coming to a stop. Yuji groaned while pushing himself up on his forearms again. His chest scraped against the gravel with his lungs burning but he forced his head up anyways.

What he saw made his stomach knot, the fragments of curses they'd just fought weren't dispersing but gathering. The haze pooled, dragging itself into the shape of bodies climbing onto each other. It was dozens at first then hundreds with their claws dug into spines, twisted limbs folding unnaturally with their forms stacking into something greater.

First it was a single hand that broke the surface, its surface seething with black fluid that rippled like ink spilled into water. Then a second hand came dragging down against the wall as the mist condensed into shape. With each movement its body knit together from the writhing mass pulling itself from the abyss beneath the tunnel.

A grotesque parody of a human frame that stretched high above and wider than the tunnel should allow. The air bent around it along with the red lamps stretching thin as though their glow was being drained away. This wasn't just another swarm, this was the same curse they had been hunting earlier the shadow they'd only had a glimpse of.

Up close it was worse than anything his mind had prepared for, Its surface wasn't skin at all but a rolling ocean of shadow. Darkness moved over itself in slick oily waves, devouring light and reflecting nothing back. Its edges blurred as though even its outline was uncertain.

Where a face should have been was only a suggestion instead there were two sinkholes of white voids, gaping deeper than the tunnel behind them. Next was a seam down the center that might have been a mouth if a mouth could remember it was supposed to exist. The curse bent its head toward them and the tunnel itself strained under the weight of its presence. Yuji spat before he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and rose to his feet.

"I think we just found the one who's in charge...." Yuji muttered.

"Or it It finally decided to stop hiding" Mei Mei's eyes narrowed.

The beast pulled itself free of the abyssal mist beneath its oily frame. Even though it was standing still it felt like it was moving due to the shadows shifting over on another from the skin on its body, its form refusing to stay fixed.

A crushing weight rolled off the curse pressing his lungs tight and making the gravel shift under his boots. Mei Mei's axe trembled in her grip not from fear but from the distortion of the space itself. The weapon's edge flickered like its reflection was separating from reality.

Then the tunnel reacted causing the walls to bleed black as more curses peeled off in droves, a fresh swarm spilling toward them in waves. The floor warped, rails bending inward, pulling them down a narrowing funnel. Overhead, the red lights sputtered and stretched like melting wax, painting every surface in long, jagged shadows that moved even when nothing else did.

The swarm wasn't attacking in sequence it was collapsing in, piling on from every angle at once. Yuji hesitated just for a second and the fear that lingered at the edges of his chest whispered to him. That fear told him that this thing wasn't just another curse, that it was wrong in ways he couldn't fight with his fists.

That hesitation was all the curse needed. The curse's eyes swirled, its white depths folding inward like twin vortexes. The world buckled beneath Yuji's feet before suddenly the ground was gone and he was falling into a gaping void of darkness.

He was now falling with the white buzzing of fluorescent lights flickering above him. They were flashing into existence and vanishing again as he plummeted down the infinite. Wind roared against his ears, tugging at his hair, his clothes, and still he fell faster and faster into the abyss.

"Damn! What do i do? Where can i latch onto? How do i get out of this?" Yuji twisted his body to fight and steady himself in mid-air but to no avail.

The lights shut off completely from above and what was left in there wake was six eyes blinking eyes that had opened in the dark. They hovered impossibly high at first but grew closer with each heartbeat, filling his vision with their horrific gaze.

What followed them was not a shape so much as an enormity, a leviathan of shadow pulling itself downward after him. Its body stretched beyond comprehension, a vast slick mass that coiled and rippled without end. Each shift of its enormity drowned the void in oily waves of black and its six eyes burned like suns in the gloom.

It opened its mouth or what could be called a mouth, a seam splitting wider and wider until the sound of tearing cloth mixed with the groan of a collapsing world. The scream that followed wasn't noise but pressure, a force that pressed against Yuji's skull, trying to split him open from the inside.

SMACK!

The perspective zoomed out from Yuji's unfocused pupils and his body was frozen mid-stride. During the illusion Mei Mei had grabbed one of the pebbles in the tunnel and threw it at his head. He hadn't moved in what felt like minutes with his fists hung loose and his jaw slack.

"Itadori you need to move!" Mei Mei tried warning him while protecting Ui Ui

The effect of the beast's swirling eyes still left an after affect despite Yuji being pulled from it. The main entity lifted one colossal hand and slammed into Yuji.

Yuji however snapped out of his daze just before impact and blocked just in time to mitigate some of the damage. He tumbled end over end before catching himself before Its fingers unraveled like strands of ink, stretching and writhing into long tendrils.

"I'm alrig-" With a crack they lashed outward, coiling around Yuji's legs before he could react.

The tendrils where pulled then snapped taut before flinging him backward like a ragdoll. Yuji quickly readjusted himself and landed on both feet, skidding to a halt. He steadied himself but he was still reeling from whatever daze this curse inflicted.

"Ok...now I'm just getting annoyed! Screw this tunnel!" Yuji spat blood into the gravel and set his fists while vein popped out on the side of his head

The tunnel groaned again with shadows shifting like jaws preparing to snap. The entity leaned closer with its void of eyes swirling with hunger. A swarm surged towards Yuji but he didn't hesitate and sprinted straight into them. His fists slammed forward, breaking through the first cluster with explosive strikes.

A claw tried to rake across his shoulder but Yuji dropped under the strike and smashed his leg into the curses face. Another went for his leg so he side stepped it and brought down an axe kick on its head. Mei Mei slipped in behind him turning three curses into ribbons of shadow, their forms unraveling into smoke.

Mei Mei moved with the precision of a scalpel, her axe carving through the dark mass in sweeping, efficient arcs. Ui Ui stayed close, his smaller frame darting between strikes, using talismans and cursed tools to deflect stray limbs that reached for his sister.

"Itadori, fall back two paces" Mei Mei commanded sharply, her voice cutting through the chaos.

Yuji obeyed without question then ducked just as her weapon sliced overhead, cleanly bisecting a curse that had lunged for his throat. Its shriek dissolved into static as its body evaporated into a haze of black mist.

"There's no end to these things!" Yuji meanwhile slammed his fist through another's chest, his knuckles splitting as cursed blood splattered across his face.

"I know and thats what confirms it" Mei Mei answered, her expression unchanging even as she ducked under a clawed hand and decapitated its owner.

"Confirms what?" Yuji shouted back, twisting on his heel to crush another creature underfoot.

"That we're not just trapped in a tunnel, We're trapped inside its Domain" she said deadly certain.

"Wait so you mean that this whole tunnel... "Yuji blinked through the haze of movement.

"Yes. Everything we're seeing is all part of it and the more we fight, the stronger it gets" Mei Mei's axe tore through another curse, splitting it from neck to waist. "

"Then how do we break it?" Yuji responded

"We don't break free. We just have to get close enough the one maintaining it and kill it" Mei Mei pivoted, slicing through three more creatures in a single motion before answering.

"That's great, but how the hell are we supposed to do that when this thing's got an army cornering us" Yuji's teeth clenched.

"We use Ui Ui's Simple Domain." Mei Mei's gaze flicked to Ui Ui for a split second.

"What? Why didn't you use that earlier?" Yuji blinked while almost missing a strike as he looked between them.

"Because there's no point using a knife when you haven't found the heart. Now that that thing made itself know, we can now" Mei Mei's tone didn't waver as she spun, embedding her axe in the skull of another creature.

"You're saying Ui Ui's domain ca-" Yuji ducked another swipe, panting hard.

"Temporarily disable the guaranteed hit effect of the Domain. Once it activates, we push forward and exorcise it but we have to get close before we use it. We can't afford to mess this up." she finished with her eyes narrowing

Another cluster of curses erupted from the ground ahead, their limbs twisting unnaturally. Yuji cracked his neck, shoulders rolling as cursed energy flared around him like fire.

"Guess we're running through hell again" Yuji said with half a grin breaking through the blood on his face.

"That's the plan" Mei Mei smirked faintly even in the chaos.

The trio sprinted through the horde, a blur of motion and raw defiance against the darkness pressing in from every side. The tunnel shook beneath their feet, the screams of curses echoing like a thousand broken voices overlapping at once. Shadows lunged from the walls, clawing at their clothes and limbs, but every step forward carved through the chaos.

Mei Mei led with surgical precision, her axe flashed like a silver current, each swing cutting cleanly through the mass of writhing bodies. Ui Ui stayed close behind her, his small frame darting between her and Yuji as he drew talismans mid-run, flinging them like knives. Each one burst into sharp flashes of light, momentarily dissolving whatever tried to close in.

Yuji charged in the center, his fists glowing faintly with cursed energy, his movements a mixture of instinct and fury. Every strike he threw detonated with force, one punch split a curse's skull into mist, another shattered a row of ribs that never should've existed.

Yuji's knuckles split another curse's jaw, its body folding into mist as he surged through the mob. For a second, it felt like momentum was on his side until the beast's tendrils lashed again.

They struck from multiple angles at once, snapping into his ribs and shoulder like iron rods. The impact ripped the air from his lungs, hurling him sideways into the wall. Gravel scattered as his body skidded across the tracks, the sting of torn flesh flaring hot across his arms.

"Damn it!" Yuji dragged himself upright, chest heaving. For a moment he faltered with his knees trembling and body screaming to stop.

"Try to help others..." Like a spark through the haze, his grandfather's words struck him.

"Like hell I'm quitting now..." Yuji clenched his fists

The swarm poured over him again. This time Yuji didn't flinch. He pushed forward into them, cursed energy coating his fists raw and jagged, tearing through the mob with sheer refusal to stop.

"Outta my way!" he shouted, his fist burying itself into a curse's chest so hard the creature folded inward before bursting apart. Another lunged, claws slashing across his shoulder, but Yuji didn't even stop. He powered through the pain, the gravel exploding beneath his feet from the sheer force of his forward momentum.

The ground trembled with each step. The cursed energy radiating from him was so intense the debris around his boots lifted into the air, dancing in the shockwaves of his rage. The tunnel pulsed with his heartbeat, both syncing with the rhythm of battle.

Up ahead, Mei Mei was already carving a path through the horde, her movements sharp and efficient, each swing of her axe precise enough to split curses without slowing her pace. Ui Ui moved behind her, his hands steady as he traced the sigils for his Simple Domain into the air, his voice low and deliberate despite the chaos.

He ran straight into the heart of the swarm, not slowing as claws raked his arms and shoulders. One curse lunged from the side but Yuji planted a foot on its head, using the momentum to launch upward. Another scrambled to meet him, and he stomped down on its spine, vaulting higher.

Now airborne, Yuji reared his fist back with cursed energy surged with perfect clarity. Every nerve aligned and every ounce of focus burning hot in his mind and black sparks snapped into existence, crawling across his knuckles like wildfire.

"I'm so damn tired of you!" Yuji's fist reeled back, sparks crawling jagged across his knuckles, his teeth bared as the words tore from his throat.

"Black Fla-" The tunnel rippled.

A deep, resonant vibration tore through the tunnel, not a sound but a feeling, a tremor that rippled through existence itself. The air convulsed, folding in on itself as an invisible wave rolled outward from an unseen center. The ground shivered, then heaved like a living thing, sending waves through the gravel and rails.

The space itself began to distort with the walls bending and stretching as though made of liquid glass. The overhead lights flickered, elongating like melting candles before snapping back in fractured bursts of light. The floor beneath them rippled like the surface of a disturbed lake, each undulation carrying impossible weight.

Mei Mei stumbled mid-swing, catching Ui Ui before the wave threw them both from their feet. Her raven screeched above them, disoriented as the domain's boundaries twisted and warped like a shattered mirror.

Yuji's body was caught in the center of it all, suspended in the trembling air. His cursed energy flared uncontrollably, bleeding into the distortion that swallowed the tunnel. The surge carved black fissures across his skin that pulsed with crimson light from beneath.

The markings slithered and curved, branching outward like living ink. Black lines spread across his arms, crawling up his neck, coiling around his jaw. His eyes widened in shock, a guttural breath catching in his throat as the pattern reached his face, mapping across his skin in a form that wasn't his own.

Sukuna's tattoos glowed faintly, flickering into existence before the light swallowed them again. The markings didn't just appear they grew, etching themselves through his body with an invisible force that was equal parts alien and familiar, as if the king himself had brushed against the edges of consciousness.

The shadows recoiled like a wounded tide, peeling back from the walls in violent waves. The false swarm screeched as their borrowed forms unraveled, bodies shattering into streams of black mist that scattered like smoke in the shifting air. The lesser curses, once so relentless, now clawed at the floor and walls in frantic terror. Their shrieks devolved into pitiful wails as they fled, dragging themselves toward the deeper dark.

One by one, they slithered into the cracks and melted into the abyss, their retreat marked by a thousand fading whispers until the tunnel was left hollow and still. The oppressive pressure that had filled the air for so long seemed to ease, though not vanish completely. The haze of cursed energy lifted enough for Yuji, Mei Mei, and Ui Ui to finally see the truth. Where the swarm had stood, the puppeteer behind the illusion remained.

Its size was diminished now, stripped of the grotesque grandeur the domain had given it. It was still large compared to any human, but its borrowed bulk had vanished, leaving it hunched and twisted, its oily skin clinging to bones that bent at unnatural angles. The creature's movements were unsteady, its limbs twitching as though its own shadow tried to tear free from it.

Its face or what passed for one tilted toward them, the white voids of its eyes flickering with raw malice and something more primal: fear. The slick folds of its body pulsed in frustration, ripples traveling across its form as it flexed and convulsed in anger.

Mei Mei's weapon gleamed faintly in the fractured light, her stance unreadable but ready. Yuji stood opposite her, his breath heavy and uneven, Sukuna's fading marks still burning faintly across his skin. The curse's eyes darted between the two of them.

Then, with a guttural noise that was part growl, part hiss, its body began to fold inward. The oily mass bent and twisted, pulling itself into a smaller, denser shape. The shadows beneath it deepened and began to swallow it whole.

"Wait! Get back here!" Yuji's voice echoed but it was already moving.

The curse retreated in fluid, jerking motions, its arms and torso bending backward in impossible angles as it crawled into the distance. The sound it made as it fled was a distorted hiss that scraped against their ears. The creature dragged the darkness with it, pulling the shadows along like a cloak until its form vanished entirely into the black.

"Damn it... it's getting away..." He exhaled through gritted teeth, frustration twisting through his chest.

Yuji dropped to one knee, clutching his ribs where the tendrils had struck earlier. His breathing was ragged, his lungs burning from the fight. The black lines on his skin, the faint tattoos that didn't belong to him flickered once more before fading away like ash before the tunnel was finally quiet.

Yuji finally let his shoulders fall, his body sinking backward until he was seated against the wall. He tilted his head up toward the flickering light, its faint warmth brushing against his bruised face. For the first time since entering the domain, he could actually breathe.

"At least...at least that part's over" he murmured with a weary grin tugging faintly at his lips

"That ripple that displaced the space and the way the tunnel warped before the illusions snapped. These aren't just isolated events, theres something unusual cresting just over the horizon" Mei Mei's voice cut through the settling quiet

"Then whatever it is we better be ready for it..." Yuji finally said, his voice low but firm.

"Sister...you think this disturbance is connected to the earlier ripple we felt?" Ui Ui stepped forward beside Mei Mei

"Connected? No. I think it's the same one, whatever it was caused the domain to shut off" She looked toward the far distance

"If that thing's running to Jingumae...." Yuji began

"Then whatever caused that ripple has unknowingly caught the attention of this curse..." she finished

"If something was able to take that curses attention off of us we should be ready for it..." Yuji's fists tightened again

The three of them stood there in the hollow aftermath, the air thick with the scent of blood. The flickering lights hummed weakly above them, casting fractured shadows down the empty rail lines leading toward Jingumae Station.

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Izuku couldn't comprehend what he had just witnessed mere moments ago. The remainder of his power remained silent and unresponsive but his danger sense had flared up like a storm, with every nerve screaming simultaneously. His instincts told him that he had just stared at the center of the nightmare in front of him even though One For All had not returned his call.

The family stumbled close behind him, their footsteps scattering on wet pavement. Izuku stayed ahead of them, his boots pounding against the road with pieces of his ragged costume dragging behind him like shadows of a battle already lost.

"Keep moving! Don't look anywhere else just follow me!" he barked, his voice sharper than he intended. He forced himself to glance back, softening it with a nod.

The city around them was unrecognizable. Neon signs flickered weakly, some already shattered, their fragments glowing faintly in the gutter. Storefronts loomed like hollow faces, windows cracked and staring. Abandoned cars clogged the street, their alarms long since silent.

Danger Sense pulsed again, stabbing behind his eyes. Izuku spun mid-stride, scanning rooftops, alley mouths, anywhere something could appear. But nothing came. The pressure faded just as quickly, leaving his nerves raw.

"Why... why now? "Why is this the only thing working?" he muttered under his breath. His chest rose and fell in harsh bursts.

A newspaper skittered across the street in the wind, catching briefly against his boot before spiraling away. Its headline screamed about Shibuya's Halloween festivities with the date October 31st, 2018 still burning at the top like a cruel reminder.

His shoes slapped against the cracked pavement, breath misting in quick bursts as he ran. The family huddled close behind him, their steps ragged and stumbling but Izuku kept glancing over his shoulder, forcing himself to slow just enough so they wouldn't fall behind.

Danger Sense screamed in his skull. The sharp stabbing pulses dug into the base of his neck, warning him of any strikes. He twisted, pulling the mother back just in time as a jagged beam cracked loose from a storefront, smashing into the ground where she would've been. Another pulse, he ducked, dragging the father with him as a spray of shattered glass rained down from nowhere.

The silence of Shibuya pressed down heavier than the footsteps at his back. Cars sat abandoned, doors hanging open. Festival banners from the Halloween event swayed limply in the breeze, paper masks staring hollowly at them as they passed. The pulse hit again only this time it was stronger. Izuku's eyes snapped up to the shadows that rippled along the edges of the buildings like something swimming just out of sight.

"Keep moving. Keep them safe!" He stopped and signaled to cut down an alley.

The mother stumbled but the father caught her while the daughter nearly tripped but Izuku caught her before continuing his stride. He brought her back to the mother before he shoved himself back into the lead while making sure to keep an eye on everything.

A bicycle flung itself from the mouth of an alley, whistling through the air before clattering across the pavement just ahead of them. The family cried out, skidding to a halt. Izuku's Danger Sense spiked like fire in his skull.

"Move!" he barked, pushing them past the wreckage. His eyes scanned the rooftops and the alley mouths but there was nothing, the curse wasn't showing itself. Not fully.

Another strike followed as a loose sign wrenched from its post and hurled into their path. It exploded in a shower of sparks as it skidded across the asphalt. Izuku raised an arm instinctively, shielding the family from the debris.

The family stumbled onward, their breath ragged with the daughter clinging to her mother's coat. Izuku's boots splashed through a puddle that rippled unnaturally outward, the disturbed water trembling as if something had brushed past them.

A shadow darted across the broken glass of a storefront and gone before his eyes could lock onto it. Danger Sense screamed and Izuku lunged sideways, pulling the family with him just in time to avoid a hurling trash bin that slammed into the spot where they stood. The impact rang out like a cannon, shards of metal scattering into the night.

"Don't stop running! No matter what happens don't stop!" He turned his head enough to meet the family's terrified eyes.

They came up alongside the mouth of Cat Street that had a narrow alley stretching away into darkness. Izuku flicked his gaze toward it for just a second, the alley twisted and turned and It would have been easy to duck into its maze but it was also dangerous. His gut clenched at the thought of the curse cornering them in there where shadows stacked on top of shadows.

"Not that way" Izuku said sharply to himself, pulling the family left, away from the entrance.

The daughter glanced once into the dark as they passed before her mother picked her up. For a moment just in the reflection of a shop window facing the alley, something was crouched down then retreated deeper into the dark.

The streets widened again, rows of shuttered restaurants and bars stretching silent. Up ahead was the Tsukigime underground lot opened at street level, its ramp yawning down like a black mouth. His eyes darted left then right. The rooftops were alive with shifting shadows and the pressure was building. The curse was circling closer and they wouldn't last out here in the open.

"In there, Go!" Izuku raised his arm, pointing.

The father hesitated only a second before pulling his wife and daughter down the ramp. Izuku lingered a half second at the top, staring back at the street. A stop sign shuddered in the wind then wrenched sideways, slamming into the pavement hard enough to crater the asphalt so he turned and sprinted after the family into the underground lot.

Their footsteps thundered down the ramp, echoing off the concrete walls as they entered the yawning black of the underground lot. Fluorescent lights buzzed in weak intervals, leaving entire stretches drowned in shadow. Each row of parked cars loomed like a crouching beasts, their mirrors catching and distorting the pale light. They didn't stop until they hit the third floor, skidding to a halt between rows of sedans and vans.

The father bent down pressing both hands on his knees trying to drag air into his lungs. The mother pulled her child close against her chest trying to soothe her muffled sobs. Izuku leaned against the side of a dented sedan, his breath steady but his thoughts anything but. The family huddled close behind him, the mother clutching her child so tightly her knuckles turned white.

The father's chest rose and fell in sharp gasps, every exhale loud in the concrete silence. Izuku's eyes flicked across the rows of vehicles, tracing the jagged shadows cast by the dim lights. Every angle looked like a trap, every blind spot a mouth waiting to close on them. His brain screamed for answers, demanded a plan that would guarantee their survival but every scenario broke down in his head. There were too many variables and too many ways to fail.

He closed his eyes for just a second. Calm down. Think. You've faced worse before. But the echo of All For One's presence pressed at the back of his mind like a phantom, as if mocking his desperation. It wasn't just the curse that may have been lurking somewhere in the garage it was the weight of every failure trailing him like a shadow.

He tried to push it aside But no matter how hard he tried to focus on tactics, that shadow of a voice gnawed at him. It wasn't words exactly, not fully formed, but a pressure that coiled around his thoughts like barbed wire. You'll fail them... just like the others. Always too late. Always too weak.

The suffocating phantom weight of All For One's presence pressed down on him as if the villain's hand were still gripping his shoulder. It felt like it was steering his every move toward despair and the sensation grew until it felt like his skull would split apart. Izuku grit his teeth and shook his head violently but the whispers clung tighter, sliding in between every desperate thought.

"Stop it....get out!..." he hissed under his breath.

Then in a sudden burst of will he slapped both hands against the sides of his head, the sharp sound echoing faintly through the garage. The sting grounded him while scattering the fog for a precious moment. He sucked in air and forced the phantom weight back into silence.

His hands dropped and his gaze fell to the oil stained concrete below with frustration etched across his face. For a moment he looked broken, nothing more than a boy drowning under the tide of his own doubts.

Then his eyes lifted and across the rows of cars he spotted a narrow service exit tucked against the far wall. The faded lettering above the the door just barely legible, there was faint hope flickered in his chest but it was good enough for him.

"There..." he whispered more to himself than anyone else.

His posture straightened, his eyes sharpening with determination. The path wasn't safe, but it was something. And right now, something was all he needed.

"Quickly this way! Don't stop!" Izuku motioned for them to move with urgency burning in his voice.

He sprinted ahead and cleared the distance in moments with his heart hammering as he reached the door. His hand shot out toward the push bar only to freeze before it made contact. What stared back at him in blocky red letters was the warning plastered on the door.

EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY - ALARM WILL SOUND

The world seemed to close in as he pictured the shrill blare ripping through the garage, an unmistakable beacon to whatever was hunting them. His mind spun forward in flashes of if the hallway beyond was too narrow, if there were no side doors, or no cover then the family would be trapped in a straight corridor with nowhere to run. Izuku's hand trembled on the bar before pulling it away from it.

"If I open this it'll know exactly where we are but..." the thought trailed off soon after he spoke it

"They can't keep this up. Not with a child and especially not with that thing breathing down their necks"

His gaze slid back to the mother clutching her son close, her eyes wide with exhausted terror and then the father who was barely upright still catching his breath from the sprint. They were at their limit and with knowing that, a knot formed in his chest but an idea formed.

"What if...I stay?" The idea pressed into him like a blade.

If he drew it away he became the bait then maybe they'd have a chance to reach safety. They could escape through this exit, alarm or not. But he'd have to stand and face whatever waited in the dark. Alone. Izuku swallowed hard, his body taut with the weight of the choice. Every instinct screamed at him to protect them no matter the cost to himself.

"If that's what it takes then so be it" Izuku exhaled slowly to center himself then turned to face the family. His eyes were calm but his voice carried the urgency of someone who had already made up his mind.

"When I open this door the alarm is going to be really loud. You'll need to run as fast as you can and don't look back alright? No matter what happens just keep going" The mother's grip on her child tightened. The father's brow furrowed, confusion breaking through his exhaustion.

"What about you? You're coming with us right?" the man with a hoarse tone.

"No" Izuku shook his head firmly. The single word cut through the dim silence and their faces went pale.

"I can't. If I go with you that thing will just keep chasing all of us. We won't make it very far otherwise. Someone needs to hold it off or at the very least keep its focus here... and that has to be me"

"But y-you could be killed!" The woman's eyes welled with tears while her daughter whimpered softly against her shoulder,

"That maybe so...but if I don't then all of us will be and I can't let that happen" Izuku forced a small smile, though his chest felt like it was caving in.

The silence stretched, heavy and fragile. Then, slowly, the father stepped forward. His hand trembled, not from fear this time, but from the weight of gratitude. He extended it toward Izuku. Izuku blinked, surprised, but accepted the gesture. Their hands clasped firmly, and the man's eyes met his with a raw honesty that cut through the dread.

"Thank you...for everything you've done kiddo" he said thick with emotion.

"To us you're more than a stranger who stepped in. You're our hero" His grip tightened just slightly seemingly anchoring the words.

The words struck Izuku like a blade wrapped in warmth. His chest tightened with a burn rising behind his eyes that he fought desperately to hold back.

"Yes...thank you...truly. We'll never forget this" The mother bowed her head slightly still clutching her daughter.

Izuku swallowed hard then forced himself to lift his head. He couldn't let them see the fracture in his heart so instead he gave them the only thing he could, the same smile he had always given in the darkest moments. That infamous unshakable smile meant to ease fears even if it was built on trembling foundations.

"Everything will be okay" His voice almost cracking but it held true. He turned to the door, hand poised on the push bar.

"Three..." The family braced.

"Two..." Izuku's smile was unyielding in the face of what waited beyond.

"One!"

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To be continued...

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Somewhere far from the grind of concrete and smell of fear, a ripple crossed the skin of the world. Sukuna was the first to feel it and whatever it was it felt like an itch under the markings on his face. Not the rancid bite of ordinary cursed energy but a thin bright filament that slid past the rot like a needle through cloth.

This unknown strand gave him pause were he stood, it was one of those rare occasions where he did not sit atop his throne. Instead he walked the dim corridor of his inner shrine where the stone sweats and the lanterns burn without smoke. The air shivered again with another faint thread of that same sensation as it scissored out his presence just as quickly as it arrived leaving a taste like iron washed in rain.

"...Hn"

Sukuna had felt this ripple not too long ago which lead him to recall a lesser curse from that same point in time. It had staked a corner of Shibuya's dark edges skittering along the periphery of his awareness. Sukuna had let it babble on, the curse was jubilant with the scent of prey as it skittered and kept a watchful eye. You see Sukuna had used it as his eyes, letting the Images bubbled up of a boy in ragged resolve with a family tucked behind steel.

The boy he saw was unusual for a human, a human who should've be afraid amid his confusion and lack of knowledge. He was fast at the edges but calm in the center and the moment Sukuna saw the curse's strike land he was sure the boy had been laid to rest. He in turn tilted his head after re-examining what transpired and the lantern flame nearest to him seemed to bend as though to mimic bowing.

"What did you touch, exactly?" he asked the world or perhaps reality itself not expecting an answer back.

He recalled for a moment the way mortals sometimes speak in the face of certain death. The boy's posture wasn't begging for life nor was it bargaining with terror instead it was offering. Heroic in a way Sukuna found inefficient yet it carried a stubborn gravity that had drawn more kings than priests to ruin.

"Defiance without noise..." he murmured on.

Now the curse at the edge of his awareness yelped, it wasn't dead but it was deterred. That same golden thread dared to taunt him yet again which only caused his expression thinned further. There was no grin and no theatrics as he paced a single slow step forward. The attention he gave now was the attention he reserved for interesting puzzles, the kind that break kingdoms after a patient season of drought.

"That wasn't mine and it wasn't yours either" He meant the city. He meant the undercurrent of malice that fed him nightly, the dependable river of human fear and curse-born spite.

Now there was this fleeting thread that came from something adjacent to that river and yet it did not drink from it. He stopped beside a pillar laced in carvings that only he could read. One finger drifted across the cut marks thoughtfully.

"A boy who refuses to break and a scent that seems to clean as it burns" he said almost bored but the lanterns dimmed another fraction.

"But he's already decided to die for strangers even if nothing is added to his coffer?" He questioned.

"How pitiful...how utterly disgusting, he's just like that Itadori brat..." He closed his eyes. He listened as footsteps shifted near a metal door. Somewhere a child pressed a face into a mother's shoulder and the boy counted down without shaking.

"Three"

"Go ahead then, keep running in my shadow" Sukuna's eyes opened.

"Two"

The itch faded, leaving only the hush of his shrine. He neither laughed nor smiled, he simply turned away and let the stillness settle around him like an executioner shelving his blade until the neck is bared properly.

"Its only a matter of time before I speak to what I've caught..."

"One"