Mercer: Between Different Worlds

Meninas charges first at Mercer with hirenkyaku, places her hands together in a diamond shape in front of her as she charges at her opponent. In response, Mercer transforms into his armor and moves in to catch both of her fists.

She immediately cancels her intended Diamond Push attack and also catches his arms in return. Both of them interlocked hands as they enlarged each other's arms with The Power and Musclemass, respectively

They were fully engaged in a shoving contest, one determined to drive the other into a corner 

"Oi this isn't sumo, break away from it" Liltotto urged at Meninas 

"As if this was easier said than done" she smirked as she was struggling to push him back, let alone break free

"MENI, GET BACK" Bazz-B yelled at Meninas as flames lit up two of his fingers

She immediately gets the hint and yanks Mercer towards her position 

"Burner Finger 2"

A trail of fire emerges from his lit fingers before he swings it at both of them. Meninas pulls Mercer closer — right into the path of the oncoming flames

Mercer was struck through his chest before the flames turned into a small explosion. He lost a significant chunk of his biomass armor in his left side, exposing his left arm.

"He's open. Do it Lil" 

"You don't have to tell me twice. Spife"

Liltotto unfolds one of her bracelets and wields it as a bladed whip, which she uses to wrap it around Mercer's exposed arm.

Double guessing his durability, Meninas twists his left arm, causing it to snap. 

"Ooohhh, no wonder you can't feel at thing" Meninas sarcastically noted by what she saw

There were no bone stumps coming out of his broken arm; just pure red tendrils wrapped in Liltotto's Spife.

"Nice assist, Meni"

Liltotto immediately jerked the whip towards her, completely severing his left arm from the rest of his body. Meninas was still holding the severed arm when she felt his hold weakening.

"Gross, here's your arm-thing" She grossly said as she impaled him in the chest with the arm

Taken aback by her attack, Mercer quickly reverts into his normal form and immediately regenerates his lost arm. He then transformed both of his arms into his claws and stabs them into the ground

"BAZZ, MENI, GET AWAY"

Countless massive spikes of biomass erupt from the ground, creating a deadly circle of spikes in close proximity to him. Had Liltotto not warned them, both Bazz-B and Meninas would've been skewered by them.

"That was close, now it's my turn"

As the spikes retracted beneath the ground, Bazz-B descended immediately with three fingers lit up as he pointed to the ground.

The surface suddenly turned into super hot molten lava that quickly traveled towards where Mercer had stood. The hooded opponent immediately jumped away from the burning ground, right where Liltotto wanted her

"Spork"

Liltotto fires one of her bracelets as a high-speed projectile. As the bracelet flies, it transforms into a large bear trap. Mercer becomes caught by the projectile and is sent flying towards the fork between Karasu and Onose River 

To think I'll be forced into a corner like this, I really underestimated this bunch.

Mercer thought as he lay down the riverbed. Never before had he met such opponents that can outmatch him in a fight. 

Back when he still existed in New York, he had never met someone who could match him in terms of combat. The only ones who he can think of that he considers as a match were The Supreme Hunter, whom he defeated in order to save the city...

... And James Heller; who had bested him out of rage and sheer will.

Now that he had finally found himself in this world, a few more people came into his mind based on his encounters, and on what he sees through their victim's memories...

... Kensei Muguruma

... Shinji Hirako

... Buzzard Black 

... Bambietta Basterbine 

... Candice Catnipp 

... Liltotto Lamperd 

... Meninas McAllon

... Giselle Gewelle 

Now that he realized there are more people who can match him in a battle, he had thought to himself 

How much more may I encounter? How many of them can they stand a chance against me?

He then had another thought in his mind

Something that will change the course of time

I'll turn the tide of this war to my favor 

Then I'll try to take over the world

Just like how I tried to take over New York 

He let out a maniacal laugh, holding that thought to his head

First, I need to get out of this predicament 

Out of nowhere, small, purple cartoonish figures approached Mercer and started latching at him from all sides.

"What a pain"

He then grabs one and proceeds to slam its head into the ground, causing it to dissipate. The other figures quickly became more aggressive than usual. Infuriated, he shook them off with his Hammerfists, then immediately transformed his left arm into a blade and lashed forward, unleashing a series of slashing attacks from a standing position, slicing while running for a few steps.

"IS THAT EVERYTHING YOU GOT, ZOMBIE GIRL?" Mercer loudly dares Giselle to come out, having figured out who's attack are those 

"Bummer, I'm surprised you found out" Giselle immediately shrugged him off as she appears from the riverbed in her Völlstandig form

"Unlikely, considering you're the only one who has to play healer here, you had the guts to have these trash lunge at me"

Giselle was irritably annoyed at how he pointed everything out in a rude manner, still she keeps a smile right in front of his face before playfully begging 

"So what now? You're just going to finish me off? A girl who can only use most of her abilities to heal my comrades?"

"Really? You call yourself a girl? Cause from the very moment I first met you... You smell like a man"

Giselle's eyes twitched at what he said 

"Huh?... How so?..." she irately asks him

"A scientist"s nose knows better, little ladyboy. Your little dolls reek of a scent only present in men. Disgusts me so much I had to throw them away and rip them apart out of contempt"

....

"Huh... You really are begging to be killed for real" Giselle muttered as she hangs her head down in dismay 

She immediately clicked a heart container hanging on the left side of her belt, causing her Heilig Bogen to pop out above her. There is a heart centered at the middle of the bow with the two arms branching out of it. The arms of the bow are shaped like linked bones. 

Giselle grabs hold of the heart portion with one hand and pulls back further on a Reishi string with her other hand, aiming her Heilig Pfeil at Mercer 

"Perhaps you'll think twice about calling me a man when you get to hell" Giselle remarked at Mercer with a sadistic smile on her face 

She lets go of the string, firing her Heilig Pfeil towards Mercer at a faster speed. The arrow struck his chest, yet Mercer paid no mind. In fact, he felt no amount of pain the moment it pierced through him

"BAMBI-CHAAN"

A familiar foe emerges behind Giselle; Long, slender girl wearing a tattered Sternritter uniform. It was none other than Bambietta Basterbine. She immediately fires one of her attacks near Mercer, causing it to explode and sending him flying backwards.

"You haven't unleashed your Sklaverei yet. How sad" Giselle mocked at Bambi as she notices she didn't have her wings

"The hell am I going to release it for? I'm wasted fighting a man who I barely made a scratch. I don't even think I have enough to release it after that farce" Bambi justified her intentions, to which Giselle merely shrugged her off

"OI, QUIT YAPPING AND KEEP FIRING" yelled out Bazz-B as he and the rest of the trio arrived with their Heilig Bogen in hand 

The rest of the Sternritters present, sans Bambi, fired a rapid volley of Heilig Pfeil at Mercer. Most of the arrows hit their mark, yet their dreaded target wouldn't even falter.

"Damn it, what the hell is this guy? We fired so many Heilig Pfeil at him and he's still moving. If this keeps up, were gonna exhaust ourselves of our reishi" Liltotto complained at the fact that Mercer's resilient to their attacks 

"Just keep firing at him with everything we've got" Bazz-B urged her not to stop attacking him

All of a sudden, an idea popped up in Meninas' head. She immediately withdrew her bow and materialized two dumbbells. Bambi caught on to her plan and drew her spirit weapon 

"Keep firing at her. We'll make sure he doesn't get near us" She instructed at them as she heads towards Mercer

"Dumbbell Duster: Baton Beat"

She lengthens the handles of her dumbbells, turning them into long batons that she wields as dual staves. 

Bambi struck first at Mercer from above. As expected, he turns his arm into his blade and blocks her attack. Meninas appeared from behind and struck him in his sides, breaking his balance and allowing Bambi to cut through Mercer's defenses

"Nice one, Bambi"

"Fuck!!"

He immediately swept his blade to where Meninas was. She was quick to respond by using hirenkyaku, finding another opening. She slammed the stave into his leg, causing him to kneel on one knee.

Bambi then jumps from behind, using Mercer's head as a jumping pad, and brings the sword down on him. Landing in front, she drives the sword deep into his left chest before dispersing it out of thin air.

Undeterred, Mercer tries to stand up on his feet, only for Meninas to whack him in the head, causing him to slightly bend in place. All of a sudden, his back started to morph horribly

A number of tendrils slowly emerged from his spine, beginning to merge with each other. Bambi immediately recognizes the form

"BACK AWAY, YOU IDIOTS"

Another voice erupts from out of nowhere, followed by the sound of thunder. Both girls backed away as they looked above to see who yelled out at them

It was none other than Candice Catnipp, the bearer of the epitaph T for The Thunderbolt. The one nearly killed by Alex Mercer with his new powers.

"ELECTROCUTION"

Candice points upward with her arm, causing a huge column of electricity to surge around her. She concentrates this electricity around her arm, with some of it radiating from her eyes as well, before throwing it at Mercer in the form of a massive blast of electricity

Mercer never got a chance to unleash the same devastator he used at the Senkaimon. The moment he was struck by Electrocution, his tendrils retracted back.

He finally collapsed on his back, unable to hold out on his own anymore. 

The Sternritters cautiously approached Mercer, their Heilig Bogen withdrawn. They looked on at their downed foe, not showing any emotion towards them

"Huh... Well I'll be damned" Mercer let out a chuckle as he is surrounded by the Sternritters 

"Obviously. After all, you really did a number of us, snatching our well deserved victory against the soul reapers" Liltotto flatly replied 

"So what now?" She asked Bazz-B 

He never uttered a single word, his eyes focused on Mercer.

As if he felt something was wrong 

That felt too easy. Too unusually easy. Something doesn't add up. From the reports, he was able to fend off two Gotei 13 captains and murder a squad of soul reapers by himself. 

"I've never been pushed to the brink of defeat like this ever since I'm born in this world" Mercer muttered to himself 

"Well now you do. The only thing we regret is that we only get to do this once." Bazz-B retorted, breaking his silence

"What do you mean by that? We're just getting started" Mercer breaks a faint smile in his face

"What do you mean?

He then points his claws at Bambi

"Bambietta, was it?"

"What about it?" Bambi rudely replied

"My blood is on your uniform"

...

Shhhhkkkk!!!

Everyone around Mercer was aghast. Bazz-B was shocked at what just happened. 

They looked at Mercer, who slowly stood up and shrugged off his injuries like it was nothing 

Then they looked at Bambietta, on her knees as she's impaled in the chest by the spike coming out of nowhere