Jiren and Toppo- A Farewell to Justice
As silence filled the air, Jiren willed himself the speak again, his heart weighed down the by forces of fate. He had wandered down a rabbit hole, sliding down thousands of dark passages and pathways. He had gone so deep even sunlight did not dare to follow him, plunging his soul into blackness. This was the path he had chosen; the road less followed, its earth still rocky and unworn. There were times when he had doubted his own convictions. Perhaps, somewhere along to the way, he had started to fight to defy traditional justice. Perhaps it was the rejection of the force that had rejected him that gave him his strength of resolve and granted him the will to stand against the world. Maybe he had turned his back on the OMDA purely to spite Toppo. But the answers had stopped mattering long ago. He had made his choice.
None of it would matter in a few moments. By the time the sun went down, his paradise would be upon him, paving the way for the world he had always dreamed of. He could undo his mistake. He could make the OMDA see the light. He could make Toppo see the light. He could finally bring his friend back to his side. He could rewrite every song to fit his ears, he could demake every dish to his taste. Perhaps he could grant Schala the courage to join him too. The perfect world; his goal achieved; no more evils.
And the price was so small. All he had to do was throw away the joys he never had, and then it would all be over. He joined his hands in meditation, one last goodbye to this cold, uncaring world.
---
Toppo felt the tension rise in the room as all appealed to the Great Spirit. Jiren' manipulations continued, his face contorting into unusual masks of factory compassion and dollar-store pity. It sickened him to see his friend stoop so low. He had thrown away his pride. He had thrown away it all. He had gone from towering over his foes, dressed in gold and anointed with a crown, to begging for his life. His heart reached the point of concern. Something was brewing in Jiren's heart... and Toppo dreaded to think what it could be.
A ki Signature spiked, and with it, Toppo's alertness.
"Jiren... what are you..."
---
Beads of light began pouring from Jiren's person. A smile crawled across his lips. The feeling of release he felt... it was liberating. To finally let go of his mortal form and prepare for his ascension. It was what he wanted. It was all he wanted. Freedom from the pride that had blinded him. Freedom from the rage that had turned his eye away from Marian. Soon, it would all be over- the Great Spirit had given him the clarity to see that. It was either the grey or the void. Either way, he'd be free
----
Toppo watched as Jiren's aura began to calm and sooth, the flames dying down and transforming into a swirling red fog. He felt his foe's energy shift and change, transforming from a writhing mess to a single straight line of Ki; Jiren was balanced again, his centre completely focuses, far more than his own. Even as his power rose and fell with every breath, Toppo never felt the line stray- not by so much as an inch- will to be a statue by Jiren's iron heart. Until that moment, Toppo had never truly felt the strength of his old friend's convictions; he never knew how deeply Jiren had found himself depending on that goal. Maybe it had sealed the cracks and covered up the guilt he felt for his betrayal. Then again, perhaps his grey stoic friend was incapable of guilt. Perhaps his goal had become more of an addiction, something he had wanted, no,
needed to achieve to remain true to himself. As he reached forth with his mind, Toppo failed to sense where Jiren ended and his new mantra began, the growing so deeply entwined they had almost become one. Jiren had truly become Jiren the Grey, fully severed from any passion he had once had. Everything he had done had seemed so logistical, impersonal.
---
"For... the Greater good..." Jiren's lips moved, providing ripples of motion to his frozen face.
"For justice, for the Grey, for the New World and the Old" The fog grew thicker and thicker, with the beams of light that now radiated from Jiren's chest standing as the only light. The cutting rays of blue pierce the cloud, revealing flickers of the glowing figure beneath, his flesh becoming one with his silver Ki. Gray Ki. He continued his prayer, his eyes fixed forward at the base of the Great Spirit
"For Ben's Courage, for Schala's Resolve, For Will's drive, For Sorey's faith, For Max's clarity, For Rita's soul, and for all the Spirits I feel flickering out so far away. For Marian's kinship, and for Pucci's trust, here I kneel"
A tear made its way down his check, dancing along to slope of one of his burns before it too was pulled into his storm. Was it a tear for love? A tear for hate? A tear for pity? Or simple the last flickers of passion and guilt draining away from his person, lost in the wildness of his winter's spirit. A sigh, a sniff and a twitch. He raised his head to the skies.
"I have won. And I have lost. I have saved souls and I have snuffed them out. Centuries ago, I was cursed with the burden of this pain. I let it consume me. I let it eat into who I was. I harvest its power and in turn, it harvested me. For years I sought to break its hold on me but I failed. All the good in the world could not shatter to yoke of evil. It infested me. It was the cancer. Hate. Vengence. Fury. I thought that fighting for my new world could... I thought it would purify me... But all its done is given me new targets. New spirits to crush. More foes to overcome. And now... now that it's all over... I don't know if I am relieved... If I should be relieved. All it know... is that I've earned my rest..."
---
Toppo raised his hands before his face, guarding himself from the force of Jiren's storm as it expanded outwards, its cutting razor winds reaching out across the waves. Lighting cracked from within, its crystalized source remaining unmoving at its core. He tried to shout but his words were lost to the weather, his screams rendered mere whispers. His pleas fell on deaf ears.
---
"In all my years, and in all I've done... and in all I've seen... I can't help but pity this world I call home... But it cannot be pure whilst one of its pathogens still lives... I cannot clean the world whilst I still live..." He felt the burden shift slightly, allowing him to smile again. His neck loosened. He breathed again.
"It's a paradox... but while I still hate and while I am still hated and I still love... I cannot be clean. I cannot be trusted. I cannot overcome the ways in which this world has sought to program me..." His eyes peeled open. In his hands, he now held the golden chance. He could accept his burning nature. He could accept his passion and fury and hate and direct it to those who would do this world harm one more time. He could accept Libra's offer and fight beside for the OMDA one last time in a futile war against the limitless foe he created. Maybe that was what true justice was; goodness in the face of adversity...
But even if they could defeat Othinus, even they could save the Multiverse, then the foul pile of peace would follow. Hate would fester again. A new evil would arise. Perhaps the OMDA would impose martial law. Perhaps Will would lose control of herself. Perhaps Ben's aliens would find a way to free themselves. The Multiverse would find some way to endanger itself again. The zero- the passion- would still exist, and from its, the script of hatred would be written. Maybe he could fight to slow it in his own lifetime. Maybe he could not. But one day, that zero would multiple to 10000. No number of cullings could prevent the cycle from starting up again.
No. He had to stand true. He had to stand strong. He had to stand true. The Arrow and the Spear were the only things that could rewrite that code. They were the only things that could save mankind from its own fate... and for that good he would still need Othinus. For that good to come to be, he still needed to destroy those who would welcome him back home. Perhaps the tear was for them...
"My mind is ready for the New World... but this body.. this soul... they are still impure...I can see it now... I can see the pain that flows within us all... you... me... even Billy, DIO, Othinus, Marian... the soul itself is what Othinus must cleanse... even mine is... broken"
His follow eyes flickered. He spoke with the words of a shattered man, his world crumbling around him.
"I trust the shepherd to cleanse his flock. I trust in Othinus's will. I trust that she will remake this world for me... For what my mind knows to be true, and what my soul still seeks to deny. Mankind it sick... we're all sick... And if the sickness is what makes human.... then I am glad that I am not human"
The earth beneath Jiren began to crack and warp, unable to withstand the strength of his burning potential, uncapped by fear for his own health or the continuation of his story. This wasn't the final chapter. He would be immortalized in the gray... he would be a martyr, purifying himself in the name of peace. True peace.
He clung to that hope.
"So this is my destiny... to delay the horsemen who wish to destroy the Gray before it can come to be... So be it. My passion faulted me from the start. If my death must come... then I shall take all out you with me!!!!"
Flame leapt from Jiren's flesh once more, burning with a light so intense its negative would be imprinted on the eye of all who dared watch. The heat could be felt on every cheek. The smoke in the air filled every lung. The flames burned true, never flickering and never failing. Its fuel remained true. Jiren would burn himself to a cinder.
"I WILL BE REBORN!!! I WILL BE PURE!!! THE NEW WORLD WILL COME, WITH OR WITHOUT MY BODY!!! LET THE GRAY TAKE MY MIND! LET IT TAKE WHO I WAS MEANT TO BE AND MAKE IT TRUE!!!!"
----
In a heartbeat, Toppo knew what he had to do. While those around him flinched and winced, he walked. He walked true. One foot found its way in front of the next.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
The air burned his tongue.
Left.
Right.
The white light burned his eyes black.
Left.
Right.
His charred, once proud uniform crumbled from his chest.
Left.
Right.
His moustache was torn from his flesh.
Toppo broke into a sprint, the strength of a Kryptonian marching behind each step he took. He praised the gods for the might of fate. He praised them for Ben's gift; he praised them for the strength of the Superman. As the charred figure defied the unwavering, unyielding force, the two locked eyes.
Toppo became a bullet.
---
A swift strike to the check caught Jiren off guard, but his body had long since gotten lost in the flames. Through all his mutations and transformations, he barely had a form left, his very body dissolving into more ki to add to his bomb. He had every intention of giving his life to his cause... and so did Toppo.
No words were said between the two when they collided.
No words were said as Toppo slashed furiously as his ghostly foe, desperate to delay the blast by any means necessary.
No words were said as wave after wave of Justice Flashes were forced through Jiren's shell, only to shatter onto the ground behind him.
No words were said as Toppo's Kryptonian resistance was pushed to its very limits, pulling the old man to his knees.
One word was said as Toppo reached his limit.
"JIREN!"
A wave of Hakai leapt from his body, tearing through the spirit of Jiren. His focus shattered in an instant, the power of a god ripping through his Ki barrier. The two met eyes, each willing the other to cease their assault, knowing that neither had the humility to yield. Each was a Pride Warrior to the end, no matter how little that title meant to either party now. In a heartbeat, the wounded grey was within Toppo's grasp, his head lowered in a Nelson grasp. The raging fire returned to its master, birthing a chilling silence. The quiet before the storm.
"You cannot stop it, Toppo! The Gray will come! It's already begun! It's already here!"
Toppo tightened his grip, forcing Jiren's neck to its breaking point, his chin striking his collar. Jiren held on, his body willed to hold on to its last flickers of light as his energy storm brewed. Rivers of red began to flow within his hollow form, growing thicker by the second as two grey hands sought to tear themselves free from a great orange arm.
"F-Friends!" Toppo growled, resisting his foe's counter grip the best he could. He knew he didn't have time for goodbyes. He knew he didn't have time to ask for forgiveness. He knew that every second he wasted on the ground was a second Jiren's detonation grew closer... Yet, the last remnants of his pride returned to life by the kindness of Manson, willed him to stay for a single moment more. Long enough to say:
"Be good now... Fight for good... No matter how dark it seems, you get out there and fight until there's nothing left to fight for... then keep fighting. Stand for your pride. Stand for those who cannot fight for themselves. Stand for those you have lost and stand for those lost to you. Darkness can't destroy light--" Jiren placed an elbow between Toppo's ribs, forcing a cry of pain from his lips. He signalled for his friends not to interfere. It was simply another signal that it was time to go "But a single candle... can start the fire... that turns night... today. Never Yield. Gods... not as long as you still have sparks to light fires never yield. Find the light, and you'll find your way... after that... its all a test of your endurance..."
Any other words Toppo might have been trying to say were lost to the sound of two bodies cutting through the air, as Toppo, propelled by a newfound resistance to gravity and all the Ki that still burned within him took to the skies, far beyond the eyes of his allies. He smiles. How fitting that his journey would end with some grand sacrifice. To end with a bang and not a whisper... maybe the had been right about Toppo... maybe he was a hero after all...
---
"No! You can't take this from me! This is my destiny!"
Jiren was released from his grip, his body floating helplessly miles above the waves. His energies balanced again, his spirits focusing themselves again. He watched those he had fought so hard to destroy vanish against the plane of blue, half a dozen dots upon an infinite expanse of colour. He felt his ki burning within him, screaming to be free again, bringing a wave of pain even he could not will away. He couldn't hold it back... he couldn't make it stop... His time had come
"So my sacrifice... means nothing now? I'll die up hear... harmless... weak"
"You were never weak old friend. You were lost and you were hurt... but you were never weak"
Jiren looked his friend in the eye and, for the first time since the Tournament, he does so without the smallest hint of hate or disgust. He looked at him the way he once had: with the eyes of a friend.
"Toppo... you never gave up on me, did you? Beyond the tough words... beyond the catchphrases... you still held back... why?"
"Becuase..." He froze
"I... I don't know why. Maybe its because you were... because no matter what you have done you are still my friend."
"I... I've damned this world... I hurt good people in the name of Justice... You can't forgive me now. You won't"
"I can... I can do so quite easily Jiren... and I do so not because I am strong, or because I'm weak or because I'm compassionate or any other reason you might convince yourself. I do so because forgiveness is a choice. Good is a choice. It is not a response to evil like Ben claimed, or a byproduct of evil Libra and Schala suggested... It's a choice. You chose to become a Pride Warrior. You chose to fight evildoers. You chose to join the ODMA. These weren't passionate choices. They weren't strategic choices. They were choices made in the name of goodness"
"I chose to turn on the OMDA... to disband the Pride Warriors... I did those in the name of good too... and question if I was right in those too"
"Yes..." He spoke with a heavy heart
"Yes you did... But you remained true to yourself. You remained true to your own Justice. You lost your way, Jiren. It was human weakness. Human error"
"There shouldn't be such things... Soon, there won't be..."
"No. Those things will always exist, believe me. Even if penned by you, no one can write a perfect world. The Gray will have just as many holes as this world..."
"No! We will cover the holes! Fill them!"
"Jiren... hush... it doesn't matter now... For us... its over... You have faith in your Revanites... I have faith my friends will stop them...Yes... they'll find a way... so let us agree to disagree"
"Agree...to disagree"
"Old Friend..."
Toppo placed a hand in his friend's shoulder. Jiren did the same.
"My friend... for what its worth... I am-"
"You don't have to say it... I know"
"I'll see you on the other side them, Pride Warrior Toppo... Hero of Freedom"
"And I'll be seeing you, Pride Warrior Jiren... Hero of Justice...Hero of the Gray..."
The two men smiled and bowed their tearful heads...
"Goodbye"
----
A second sun of purple light erupted overhead, the heat of the Hakai raining down harmlessly over the waves. Sparks of white light rained down across the battlefield like shooting stars, cool and warm all at once. As the smoke cleared and the black hue of the blast faded from sight, neither Warrior remained. The Heat of their downfall faded into memory. The last of the Pride Warriors were no more.
@Ver @Cromartous @Atomic Knight @Crow @Hahli Nuva et.all