Mercer: Between Different Worlds

Bazz-B and the Bambies were in total shock at what just happened. 

The moment Mercer told Bambi his blood was on her shirt, a long, hardened spike suddenly grew from her right chest, piercing it through her right shoulder blades.

Bambi suddenly found herself gasping for air as she coughed up blood. She fell down on her knees, the spike kept her from falling to the floor. Much of her blood dripped through the spike.

"Help... me..." Bambi was begging for help as she looked on her comrades

Unfortunately, they were paralyzed with shock. The only thing they could do is look on in horror at her.

Mercer, on the other hand, stood up on his own two feet. His tattered clothes slowly turned back to normal. He merely dusted off the dirt caught by his jacket. He was completely rejuvenated

He approached Bambietta and grabbed the spikes from the base point, immediately retracting it back to his hands as if he and the object were one.

He then grabbed her chest and whispered something in her ear

"I told you before... You'll make a fine addition to my army"

Tendrils suddenly sprouted in his right hand, latching through where she was impaled. Bambietta let out a blood-curdling scream as the tendrils attached to her mortal wounds, before falling into the ground unconscious.

"What just happened? What did you do?" Liltotto shakingly asked Mercer

"She's not dead yet. I just saved her life... by infecting her with my virus"

Virus? 

"Back where I was originally made, the moment I'm always driven into a corner, this happens. The more living beings I consume, the more I become stronger, faster, tougher, you name it. It felt like adrenaline surged into my body." He then partially explained how he managed to recover from the fight

This whole time, we were fighting a sentient strain?

"Now I don't know how, but for some reason I feel more rejuvenated when I took all of your attacks. So rejuvenated it makes me want to let out anything excessive" he added

Oh no...

This man is not a Soul Reaper...

This man is not an Arrancar...

This man is not of this world...

This man isn't a 'he'...

This man is an 'it'!

While Giselle, Candice, and Meninas were confused, only Bazz-B and Liltotto realized the horrifying extent of his true nature, as well as his explanation;

They never managed to weaken him in the first place. They had been feeding him reishi the whole time, converting it into his biomass in the process. The only reason they managed to fell him down was because he baited them into thinking they had defeated him.

They were tricked into thinking they're steps ahead when in fact they're miles behind Mercer the whole time.

"Now that explanations are in order... let's get this over with"

Mercer spread his right hand wide. Biomass slowly enveloped his arms, enlarging it into his preferable size until it hardened. 

All of them activated their blut vene, readying themselves for another attack. 

Mercer makes his first step, only to disappear into a blip. Liltotto was the first to notice something out of the ordinary 

Shunpo, and hirenkyaku? How is that even possible?

Giselle was the first to fall among them. Mercer suddenly snuck up in front of him and threw a left blow to his gut. He had gasped at the force of the punch as he was sent flying from a distance.

Meninas dashes to attack him, enlarging her left arm into muscular proportions as she throws a fist at his face. Knowing better than to intercept her attack, he abruptly dodged it and grabbed her face. 

He then pushes her head down, nearly flipping her over before completely slamming the back of her head into the ground.

"GALVANO JAVELIN"

Candice, still in her Völlstandig form, plucks one of her wings and throws it at him. Mercer caught the wing and threw it back at her

"Shit-"

Candice was fortunate she had her blut vene activated as she shielded herself from her own weapon with her arms. As the smoke cleared out, Mercer suddenly appeared before her and broke through her defense with his Musclemass-enhanced punch, sending her flying right towards Giselle.

"Is this guy for real?" Bazz-B was astonished at his strength as he prepares for a Burner Finger 2 attack 

Liltotto flies to where Bambi was laying down. The latter was suffering from convulsions and her eyes were turning crimson red, but otherwise still half-conscious.

Before Liltotto could reach her, Mercer appeared behind her and grabbed the back of her uniform.

"There's nothing you can do to her anymore... She's now mine" Mercer coldly tells her before throwing her straight to the ground.

Meninas gets up on her feet and lifts a nearby rubble. She then tries to ram him with the rubble, but Mercer smashes it into little pieces before picking her up in a fireman's carry. Just as Liltotto managed to get up, Mercer throws Meninas at her, causing them to fall on top of each other just next to a barely-recovered Giselle and Candice

"Asshole... we're not done with you... GIVE BAMBI-CHAN BACK!!!" Giselle furiously called out at Mercer. He can barely move his body, having run out of reishi from healing all of their injuries 

"No... I'm done"

Turning his left arm into a Hammerfist, Mercer throws himself into the air, putting all of his strength into his left arm as he aims at the group. They had no more strength left to fight. They've been exhausted fighting an enemy impossible to kill.

Mercer lands near them, creating a shockwave that blasts the Bambies away from him. Liltotto and Candice tumbled their way into the riverbed. Candice and Meninas were thrown into the opposite riverside 

"Well then, who's ne–"

Just as he turned his back, Mercer was suddenly interrupted by someone grabbing his shoulder from behind.

"Right here"

It was Bazz-B, using hirenkyaku to sneak up on him. He then delivered a right hook that sent Mercer flying away from him. Just as he immediately recovers, he stomps the ground, generating a torrent of heat that evaporates the water in its path, travelling towards Mercer. The latter immediately transformed into his armor, taking the brunt of his attack while being pushed back at the same time 

"I'm not going to leave this realm without getting a piece of your own flesh" Bazz-B declared

"You sure don't know how to quit, do you?" Mercer replied with a smile on his face

Of course I don't. I know there's no way I can beat you. There's no way I can kill you. You're just like Yhwach, there's no way I can get around you

BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LET JUGO'S DEATH GO UNPUNISHED!! 

BURNING

FULL 

FINGERS 

He runs towards Mercer, knowing full well he's going to die. Generating fire around all five fingertips on one hand, Bazz-B unleashes a torrent of flame in a spiralling cone in front of him.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT"

Mercer begins to dash with claws in his hand, intending to intercept Bazz-B 

Candice looked on at the two, dashing towards each other with killing intent. She knew full well what would be the outcome of this clash. She helplessly crawled towards the riverbed and reaches out her hand

Bazz... no....

She tried calling them out to stop, but the pain was too much to handle. She blacked out to unconsciousness before she could even see the outcome.

As their attacks collided, a wave of spiritual pressure was felt throughout the area.

And then there was silence

…

Bazz-B's hand pierces through Mercer's left chest and out of his shoulder. His attack successfully landed.

"If only I was human... I swear would've been in pieces" Mercer muttered as he looked at Bazz-B, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Huh, you're one, tough bastard... Too bad I won't be able to take you with me" Bazz-B replied with a smile on his face

His long, metallic claws have pierced Bazz-B through his torso. Both attacks successfully landed on each other. Unfortunately, Mercer has his Blacklight composition, enabling him to withstand the brunt of Bazz-B's Burning Full Fingers.

Mercer slowly knelt down on one knee as Bazz-B's attacking arm and legs nearly gave out from his chest.

He looked on at his mortally wounded foe in the eye

He never faltered even knowing that I never die

He poured everything he had into that single attack 

He has my respect 

...

...

...

That's why it's a waste to let a man with such potential die like this

He placed his hand on Bazz-B's wounds. Just like what he did to Bambi, tendrils sprouted out of his arms and started crawling towards the entry wound as it slowly patches itself. Rather than scream in agony, Bazz-B grunted in pain

"You shall never die on my watch" Mercer boldly declared at Bazz-B before the latter loses consciousness 

He lays his new brethren down next to Bambi

"Now I have two new conscripts. Time to take them back to my realm"

Before he could even react, a portal suddenly opened a few meters behind him.

Out from the portal came a tall man with long, dark hair, wearing a white cloak, a dark mask obscuring the lower half of his face, an ankle-length trench coat with many buttons on its front and sleeves, and black boots. 

On his side is a muscular man wearing the same uniform, nearly overgrown due to his build, and a golden luchador mask with a hint of red. 

Emerging last is a tall and slim man sporting a medium length black hair with white streaks, with a strand hanging down in front of his face, reaching his mouth, wearing his customized uniform 

"Ai, what a mess they did around here" the slim man, Askin, complained as he observed the surrounding area

"So they did lose to this vile villain, such a pitiful tragedy. Fret not, the mask of justice is here to avenge the Wandenreich" the masked man, Mask de Masculine, answered optimistically while making a pose. This cringed Askin a lot

"Fool. We are here to help the soldats retrieve those who had lost in this fight." the tall man, Ås Nödt, scolded at Mask

He looked on at the surroundings and noticed the two familiar Sternritters behind Mercer

"You must be Alex Mercer, the one who killed Haschwalth and defeated his Majesty at Seireitei" Ås pointed at Mercer, his mask barely hiding a scorn in his face

Mask never hid his feelings at all as he also growled at Mercer. From their faces, they're extremely pissed off at the one who demoralized the Wandenreich 

Only Askin made no such face, only giving out a sense of curiosity towards Mercer instead. 

On the other hand, Mercer merely sat at the floor cross-legged as he observed the female Sternritters being carried away in a stretcher. He then looked at the three who appeared first before them using his reiastu vision

This tall man, he's giving off an immensely fearful aura, but that's just about it

The muscle-headed luchador of a clown, nothing's special about him

The guy in a funny uniform, is he really serious?

Mercer then felt something odd about Askin and double checked his vision 

Seems like you have my attention. Though you're all here to take away those girls, I'll let you off the hook for now

He rested his right elbow on his right knee, then rested his chin on the palm of his hand

"So, only the three of you came. Who's next in line?" Mercer issued a challenge to the three Sternritters