Chapter 37: Awakening
Eve's scream tore through the air as she descended - like a comet, a streak of pink energy cutting through the smoke-filled air to land beside Sukuna's fallen form.
The impact of her landing cracked the already damaged concrete, sending ripples through the devastated plaza.
"No, no, no," she chanted, her voice breaking as she gathered him into her arms, cradling his head in her lap.
Her hands trembled violently as they moved across his body, searching for any sign that the wound wasn't as fatal as it appeared. "This isn't happening. This can't be happening."
The executioner's blade had vanished, but the wound remained - a gaping hole through his chest, blood pooling beneath him in an ever-widening circle.
The blood spread across the broken concrete, seeping into cracks.
"Megumi, please," she whispered, tears streaming down her face as she pressed her hands to the wound, pink energy flowing from her fingertips in a desperate attempt to repair the damage.
"Please don't leave me. Not now. Not when we finally got together. Not when I finally found someone who understands me, who sees me for who I really am."
His eyes remained open but unfocused, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth in a thin, steady stream.
The wheel that had spun above his head throughout the battle had disappeared, leaving only the massive form of Mahoraga standing impassively nearby, its own wheel still spinning with that eerie metallic sound that seemed to cut through the chaos around them.
"You can't die," Eve insisted, her voice rising in pitch as her powers surged, molecules around them beginning to destabilize as her control wavered.
Small objects - pieces of debris, dust, fragments of glass - began to float upward as her powers began to get out of control. "I won't let you die. Do you hear me? I won't! We have too much left to do together. Too much life to live."
Mark landed beside her, his face pale with shock, his costume torn and bloodied from his earlier encounter with Battle Beast.
He himself was in disbelief. His best friend, the one he considered his brother, was dead. Yet as he was taught by him, he knew he would be a failure of both friend and student to lose his cool right now.
He had to be strong, had to think clearly, had to remember the lessons in control that Sukuna had drilled into him.
"Eve, I don't think-" he began, his voice catching in his throat as he took in the full extent of Sukuna's injury.
"Shut up!" she snarled, not looking away from Sukuna's face, her fingers desperately tracing over his features as if memorizing them. "He's not going to die. He can't. He's mine. MINE!"
The last word emerged as a scream, and with it, something seemed to break inside her.
Pink energy erupted from her body in pulsating waves, the ground beneath them cracking as her powers surged beyond their normal constraints.
The concrete split open in jagged lines radiating outward from where she knelt, as if the earth itself was responding to her grief.
Mark backed away, eyes wide with alarm as he felt the air around them begin to vibrate with molecular instability. "Eve, you need to calm down-"
"Calm down?" She looked up at him, and Mark recoiled at the sight of her eyes - no longer merely glowing pink but blazing with unnatural light that seemed to pierce through him.
The intensity of her gaze was physically painful, like staring directly into a sun that had somehow turned magenta. "He's dying! The only person who ever truly saw me, who understood me, who belonged to me! And you want me to calm down? How dare you!"
Her voice carried a new quality - an echo that seemed to vibrate through the very molecules of the air.
"He was the only one who accepted me completely," she continued, her voice breaking with emotion. "Not just my powers, not just my brain, but all of me - even the parts I tried to hide from everyone else.
He knew I watched him, that I studied him, that I wanted to understand everything about him - and he didn't run. He didn't think I was crazy. He thought I was worthy."
Her attention returned to Sukuna, her hands trembling as she stroked his face, leaving trails in the blood and dust that marred his features. "Wake up," she pleaded, her voice cracking as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Please wake up. I need you. I need you more than anything. More than air. More than life itself. Please, Megumi... please don't leave me alone again."
Battle Beast watched from a distance, his head tilted in curiosity at this display of emotion.
His own wounds - the severed hand, the multiple cuts across his body, the burns from Sukuna's flame - seemed forgotten as he observed the scene with the interest of a being who had witnessed countless deaths across innumerable worlds.
"The warrior has fallen," he observed, "A pity. He fought well. Better than most I have encountered in recent centuries."
Eve's head snapped up at his words, her expression contorting with a rage so pure, so primal, that it transformed her features into something barely recognizable as human.
Her skin seemed to glow from within, pink energy suffusing every cell of her body.
"You," she hissed, rising slowly to her feet, Sukuna's body gently lowered to the ground with a tenderness that contrasted sharply with the violence emanating from her. "You did this."
The pink energy surrounding her intensified, becoming almost blinding in its brilliance.
Her feet lifted from the ground as she began to float, her hair whipping around her face in a wind that seemed to affect nothing else in the vicinity.
The air around her shimmered as molecules responded to her unconscious commands, reality itself seeming to warp in response to her grief and fury.
"Eve!" Mark called out in alarm, sensing the dangerous shift in her powers - a fundamental change in how her abilities were manifesting. "Don't do this! You can't beat him! He's too strong - he'll kill you too!"
But Eve wasn't listening. Something had truly changed within her - internal limiters, subconsciously maintained her entire life, were crumbling under the weight of her despair and rage.
The mental barriers that had always regulated her molecular manipulation, keeping it within safe parameters, were dissolving like sugar in boiling water.
"A world without him," she whispered, her voice eerily calm yet somehow still echoing despite the chaos swirling around her, "doesn't deserve to exist."
The pink energy expanded outward in a shockwave that rippled through the devastated landscape, pulverizing concrete and warping steel wherever it touched.
The few remaining intact windows for blocks around shattered simultaneously, raining glass down on the streets below.
Battle Beast narrowed his eyes, recognizing the threat, and moved with surprising speed to avoid the blast, his massive form blurring as he leapt clear of the energy wave.
"If I can't have him," Eve continued, rising higher into the air, her form beginning to lose definition as her body became akin to pure living energy, "then no one gets to be happy. No one gets to live."
Buildings began to crumble as she extended her powers.
A nearby office tower groaned, its structural integrity compromised as the very atoms that composed it began to vibrate at Eve's will.
The very air seemed to vibrate with the force of her grief, creating a high-pitched whine that made those in the vicinity cover their ears in pain.
"Eve, stop!" Mark shouted, flying up to try to reach her, pushing against the waves of energy that buffeted him like a physical force. "This isn't what Megumi would want! He wouldn't want you to destroy everything in his name!"
"You don't know what he would want!" she screamed back, a pulse of energy knocking Mark backward with enough force to send him crashing through a partially collapsed wall.
"None of you knew him like I did! None of you saw him like I did! None of you loved him like I did!"
Her voice rose to an almost inhuman pitch, the sound distorting as it got out of her mouth, "He was mine! Mine to watch, mine to study, mine to love! And now he's gone, and it's all your fault!" This last accusation seemed directed at the world itself, at the universe that had allowed Sukuna to be taken from her.
Her attention turned to Mahoraga, still standing motionless beside Sukuna's body, its wheel continuing its eerie rotation.
"And you," she snarled, her face contorting with renewed rage, "his own creation. You betrayed him! You were supposed to protect him, to fight for him - and instead you killed him!"
She lashed out with a concentrated beam of energy, focusing all her power into a single, devastating attack attempting to disintegrate the Divine General at the molecular level.
The beam struck Mahoraga directly in the center of its massive chest, the impact creating a blinding flash of light and a concussive force that shook the ground.
But to Eve's shock and mounting fury, when the light faded, Mahoraga stood unharmed. The energy had dissipated harmlessly against the shikigami's body, the wheel above its head spinning faster as if in response to the attack, adapting to it in real-time.
"Why won't you die?" she screamed, redoubling her attack, pouring more of her power into the beam until it widened to engulf Mahoraga completely. "WHY WON'T EVERYTHING JUST DIE?"
Her voice cracked with the force of her desperation, the sound carrying for miles as her powers continued to escalate beyond anything she had ever manifested before.
Her form was now a towering pillar of pink light visible across the city, a beacon of destruction and despair that seemed to reach toward the heavens themselves.
Civilians who had survived the initial battle now fled in renewed terror as buildings began to collapse under the strain of her rage.
Emergency vehicles attempting to reach the area found roads buckled and impassable, the very infrastructure of the city warping under Eve's unconscious influence.
"A universe without him," she declared, her voice amplified by her powers until it resonated through the bones of everyone within miles, "has no right to continue.
If I can't have my happiness, I'll erase everything. Every molecule, every atom, every particle - I'll tear it all apart until nothing remains but darkness!"
Her power continued to grow and grow and grow, the pink energy now pulsing with a rhythm like a heartbeat - her heartbeat, accelerated by grief and rage.
"I studied him for months," she continued, her voice carrying that eerie resonance that seemed to bypass the ears and speak directly to the mind. "I cataloged every movement, every expression, every word.
I calculated the molecular composition of his skin, the precise rhythm of his heartbeat, the exact shade of his eyes.
I knew him better than anyone ever could. And now he's gone, and the world keeps turning as if he never existed!"
As her rage reached its peak, something unexpected happened.
A presence materialized behind her - warm, solid, and unmistakably familiar. Arms wrapped around her from behind - not two, but four - embracing her with gentle strength that somehow contained her despite the maelstrom of power she had become.
Eve froze, her attack faltering as shock coursed through her system like an electric current. The pink energy surrounding her flickered, momentarily dimming as her concentration broke.
"That's enough, Eve," a voice murmured in her ear - Sukuna's voice, but different somehow.
Deeper, more resonant, carrying an authority that seemed so him.
It was a voice that commanded not just attention but obedience, that spoke with the weight of divine right behind each word.
"This world may be flawed," the voice continued, "but it's still ours. And I'm not ready to let it end just yet."
Slowly, disbelievingly, she turned within the embrace, her powers receding enough to allow her to perceive clearly.
The being holding her was Sukuna, yet transformed in ways that defied her understanding.
His body was whole, but changed - taller, more powerfully built, with intricate patterns covering his skin like living tattoos - more evident and clearer than his original ones.
Most striking were his eyes - not two, but four, arranged in two vertical pairs on his face, all gazing at her with warmth. They seemed to see through her, past her physical form to her very soul.
"You're... alive?" she whispered, her voice small and fragile with hope.
"More than alive," he replied, his four arms still holding her securely. "Reborn."
As Eve stared in wonder, Sukuna glanced down at his own transformed body, a flicker of surprise and satisfaction crossing his features.
His movements carried a new fluidity, a perfect integration of power and control that made his previous form seem like a rough draft by comparison.
"Mahoraga didn't betray me," he explained, "It saved me. In its wisdom, it recognized that my soul and body were still not fully integrated - that at my current strength, I could never defeat Battle Beast."
He flexed his four arms experimentally, cursed energy swirling around them with newfound intensity, the crimson aura deeper and more vibrant than before. "So it forced the integration, completing what began months ago when I first awakened my abilities.
My soul and body are now in perfect balance - what was fractured is whole, what was divided is united."
Eve's powers began to recede further, the pink glow dimming as her shock and relief overwhelmed her rage.
The buildings around them stopped crumbling, the air ceased its vibration, and reality itself seemed to stabilize in response to her calming emotions.
"You're... different," she managed, reaching up to touch his face with trembling fingers, tracing the markings that adorned his skin. "Not just physically, but... everything about you feels different. More... complete."
"I am what I was always meant to be," Sukuna replied.
He leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss that sent waves of energy cascading through her body, a sensation that went beyond physical pleasure to something more fundamental - as if her very molecules were singing in response to his touch.
Eve felt her own form changing in response, her molecules rearranging subtly - growing taller, stronger, her body adapting to complement his transformed state.
The changes weren't just superficial - she could feel her powers expanding, deepening, becoming more integrated with her consciousness.
When they separated, Eve looked down at herself in wonder. Her costume remained intact - still covering her entire body - but she had evolved.
She felt stronger, more stable, more in control of her molecular manipulation than she had ever been before.
"What did you do to me?" she asked, not in accusation but in amazement.
"I didn't do anything," Sukuna replied, his expression softening as he gazed at her. "Your powers responded to mine, your powers perhaps recognizing something kindred in my transformation."
Sukuna gazed around at the devastation, then up at the sky, his expression one of wonder as he experienced the world through his transformed senses.
"Everything is so clear now," he murmured, his voice carrying a note of genuine awe.
"Every sound, every scent, every particle of energy in the air. I can feel the world in ways I never could before."
He extended one hand, cursed energy flowing around it with effortless precision.
"Mahoraga didn't just integrate my soul - it adapted my very essence, incorporating what it learned from Battle Beast.
My atoms are now 'smart atoms,' like those of a Viltrumite - responding to my will, enhancing my strength and durability beyond even what I previously imagined. The world is clear to me now."
His attention turned to Battle Beast, who had been watching this transformation with growing excitement. His remaining hand flexed eagerly, and a grin spread across his bestial features - the expression of a predator scenting worthy prey.
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"At last," Battle Beast rumbled, his fangs bared in a savage grin that contained no fear, only anticipation. "A true test of my skills. Show me what you've become!"
Sukuna descended slowly until he hovered only a bit above Battle Beast, his four arms relaxed at his sides but cursed energy swirling around him.
The two warriors regarded each other with mutual respect - apex predators recognizing each other's lethal potential.
"Before, I was merely playing at being what I was," Sukuna stated, "A shadow of my former self, trapped between worlds, between identities. Now, I am more than I ever was."
His four eyes narrowed slightly, studying Battle Beast, "The question, Beast, is whether you are prepared to face the consequences of what you've awakened. Few who have roused my true nature have lived to speak of it."
Battle Beast's grin widened, bloodlust and joy mingling in his expression as he rolled his massive shoulders, loosening muscles in preparation for combat. "I have traveled across galaxies seeking worthy opponents," he declared, his voice rumbling with anticipation.
"I have slaughtered armies and challenged gods, fought the champions of a thousand worlds and found them wanting.
There is no consequence I fear more than the emptiness of victory without struggle, the hollow triumph over unworthy foes."
He retrieved his mace from the rubble, twirling it with ease despite missing a hand - it not affecting the balance of his body at all, "Come then, Sukuna!
Show me the full extent of your rebirth! Let us write a battle in blood and bone that will be remembered across the stars!"
Sukuna's lips curved into a smile that hadn't been seen in this world before - the smile of a predator confident in its absolute dominance, of a king surveying his domain.
It was an expression that had once made armies tremble, that had heralded the fall of dynasties.
"As you wish," he replied, cursed energy gathering around his four hands, "But remember, Beast - you asked for this.
When the pain becomes too much to bear, when you beg for the mercy of death, remember that this was your choice."
Above, Eve and Mark watched in awe, joined now by Nolan and Uraume - carried by Nolan - who hovered nearby, all of them sensing that they were about to witness something unprecedented.
Battle Beast crouched, muscles tensing for his charge, "Our battle will be glorious!" he roared, the sound echoing across the devastated landscape.
Sukuna's four eyes narrowed, "Our battle will be brief," he replied, his voice carrying absolute certainty.
And with that, they moved towards each other, Battle Beast jumping towards Sukuna - who charged downward with flight.
The King of Curses and the Beast of the Stars, meeting in a combat that would be remembered long after the dust had settled and the blood had dried.
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(Author note: Phew! That took longer than I expected.
I had the image in my mind entirely, but writing it took a bit out of me.
So, do tell me how you found it?
I am very excited to write the next Chapter - which I will probably post in another 16 hours - gotta make sure the quality of this one is high.
It's freaking Sukuna vs Battle Beast after all!
So yeah, hope you all are excited and I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)