Alfred's eyes snapped open the moment he was thrown out of the black portal Only to find himself high in the sky, plummeting toward the ground at a speed that would kill most people on impact.
His body spun like a ragdoll in the grey color sky, caught in the merciless grip of gravity.
"Shit—!" he mutter as he gasped, instinct kicking in.
He shut his eyes for a second, then extended his right hand. A sudden blue glow ignited from his palm.
Black chains erupted around his forearm, wrapping tightly like serpents. At the end of the chain, a black, jagged blade shimmered into existence, glinting dangerously in the grey light.
Alfred twisted mid-air, wind roaring in his ears as he oriented himself downward. A cluster of tall buildings blurred below him picking one of them close enough him as he fall.
"I hope this works… nah," he smirked, "this will work."
Without hesitation, he hurled the chained blade at the side of the building.
THUNK!
It struck the concrete with a deep, satisfying impact, embedding itself into the wall. The chain instantly snapped taut, pulling hard against Alfred's descent.
He screamed not in fear, but sheer adrenaline as the chain ripped tight and his fall turned into a violent swing.
"FUUUCK—!"
Just meters from the pavement, the momentum snapped him upward in a slingshot arc, the chain still pulling, tension buzzing in his bones.For a moment, he soared in the air like spider man .
He let out a shaky laugh.
"Okay. Not dead. That's a win," Alfred said gruffly as he landed hard on the rooftop, the impact cracking the surface beneath him. He coughed once, shaking off the jolt to his ribs.
"Hah… that was satisfying," he muttered to himself.
Blue light shimmered around him once again soft, crackling like static as his clothes shifted. A red coat unfurled across his back, black cloth threading and weaving itself into place over his body like living armor. A white mask slid over his face, smooth and featureless with hole for his eyes to see from, sealing his identity from the outside world.
He rose to his feet slowly, stepping toward the rooftop edge.
Below, the city sprawled out in a twisted mess. Streets cracked and crooked. Buildings dark, lifeless, or flickering with failing lights. Smog curled between alleys like ghosts. It wasn't just rundown it was abandoned, almost post-apocalyptic. The skyline looked like it hadn't been maintained in years .
Alfred narrowed his eyes behind the mask, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
"What the hell is going on?" he muttered.Then, more sharply: "No… the more important question—"
He glanced around warily, watching the wind whip between the buildings.
"Where the hell am I?"
"Well, I can't exactly gather intel just standing around up here, right?" Alfred muttered to himself, stepping back from the rooftop edge. He eyed the street below a rusty old car directly in his fall path.
"Wait… I should probably do this first."
[Status Panel]
Name: Alfred Greenwater
Race: Human
Character Assimilation:
-none
Winry Rockbell-[30%]
Ash Ketchum-[2 %]
"Hm… this is not good," Alfred muttered to himself.
I've only got one panel slot free," Alfred muttered, tapping the air. A faint glow flickered in front of him as his interface came to life, casting soft light across his masked face. "I need to choose carefully…"
He scrolled through the character list. Immediately, he eliminated Taewon Kim and Pastis from Player.
"Too many restrictions," he mumbled, swiping them away. "Cool powers, yeah. But too conditional. I don't have time to babysit limitations."
That left two titans of power:Ihaw [Hero Killer] andAll For One [My Hero Academia]
Both were overpowered. Both had terrifying potential. But each came with difficult assimilation which could take a lot of time .
"This is hard," Alfred muttered, scratching the back of his head in frustration. "I didn't plan for only one free slot left. Dumb."
He paused for a moment, thinking back to how the assimilation system actually worked.
The system didn't just give powers. It made Alfred earn them by fully embodying the character. Speech patterns. Habits. Even worldview. If he wanted the assimilation to be done fast or he had to wait for assimilation to be done slowly which could take weeks , months or even years.
thinking about It reminded him of that he tried to assimilate a no-name assassin from fate that took him a whole year fucking year, because he refused to go on a murder spree or chant weird fanatical dogma.
In contrast, Aoi Todo from Jujutsu Kaisen only took a week. All Alfred had to do was win enough idol debates and ascend the ranks of DC Twitter's K-pop fanbase.
"…Worth it, honestly. Those songs do slap."
He shook his head. Focus.
After weighing his options, Alfred finally sighed.
"Ihaw it is."
Faster sync, less risk of personality bleed and her mindset was more aligned with Alfred's than All For One's ever could be. That compatibility would boost the assimilation rate far quicker.
"Let's go, Ihaw. We've got a world to copy," he muttered, a sly grin forming beneath his white mask as the final confirmation locked in.
He turned his attention outward again, standing tall atop the concrete rooftop.
Now came the real questions:
Where was he?
Just as Alfred took a step toward the edge of the rooftop, a low, guttural growl echoed from behind the rusted metal door leading into the building.
He froze mid-step.
"…Great," he muttered under his breath, slowly turning his head toward the sound. The growl sounded like human.
"I swear to any higher being," Alfred growled, eyes locked on the door as another guttural snarl echoed behind it, "if I'm in a zombie universe, I'm gonna—"
He paused. Blinked.
"...Wait. What can I even do about it?"
Then a slow, wicked grin spread across his face under the mask.
"This… this is a chance," he whispered. "No rules. No civilians. No consequences."
He raised the blade in his hand looking at the door in front of him with a smile
"I get to go on a massacre without holding back."A short, sharp laugh escaped him. "Hah."
The door banged once.Then twice.
Then it burst open.
Alfred's eyes lit up with a gleam of predatory joy.
"Let's play, freaks."