The Boys: Greatest Supervillain (Arcane - Current World) (JJK ✓)

"No wonder you and Law get along so well -- you both love your little experiments," Yoruichi noted as Sukuna glanced up from the book that he was reading, his feet propped up on a desk while he waited for the results of his latest… well, experiment was likely the correct word but it was more that he was indulging his curiosity.

He didn't have a particular outcome in mind or a result he'd like to see. He just wanted to see what happened.

"I'm almost impressed how Law managed to con an entire city into believing he's anything more than a moron," Sukuna replied blandly.

"What experiment did he rip off this time?" Law the Fraudulent One -- that was the epitaph that Law deserved.

"Nope, this time it's an original creation. Unlike yours," Yoruichi teased, holding up a brass cylinder. "Testing out Shimmer tolerance? Yawn." She added, making Sukuna glance at his project with a lower eye.

Edmundo was strapped to a table with reinforced iron clamps. A good dozen of them to make sure he didn't thrash about too much. He had undergone some changes over the course of a couple of months.

His skin now held a dark purple hue to it, as did his eyes, hair, and even teeth -- he nearly doubled in size both in terms of height and in muscle mass, and even now the glow of Shimmer shone brightly in his veins.

He was connected to a barrel of Shimmer that was drip feeding it into his body by an IV. As it had been for months now. By Sukuna's count, he had consumed six barrels so far, and he was working on a seventh with no more difficulty than he had the first.

"He just keeps going. I almost admire his gluttony," Sukuna admitted.

If Edmundo died, it meant nothing to him.

If he completed this transformation, perfectly adapting to Shimmer… it would still mean nothing to him.

The only conclusion that did hold his interest is wondering if Edmundo would be able to become entertaining when Sukuna decided to stop feeding him Shimmer.

"Now, what's this original creation of Laws? I could use a laugh."

In response, Yoruichi set the cylinder on the table and twisted it open, revealing… "Yeah, that was my reaction too," Yoruichi noted, Sukuna's surprise evident on his face.

Within the container were strands of a soul.

Altered somehow to exist outside of the body, made physical with no signs of degradation. They were kept in vacuum sealed tubes, all ten of them that were arranged around a refrigeration unit, keeping them well below freezing temperatures.

They were unlike anything Sukuna had seen before, even considering his brief interaction with the nature of souls.

"He went and did something unexpected. He also gave me this to pass on," Yoruichi said, producing a letter from a pocket and passing it on. Sukuna unfolded it and was rather unimpressed with its contents.

[ Findings:

>Weak synth souls = shitty soul noodle.

>Strong soul = strong soul noodle.

>Shitty soul noodle can absorb ambient mana up to 1 unit of mana. Excessive absorption leads to degradation.

>Channeling mana through noodle leads to degradation. 20% decrease in efficiency with each use.Soul noodles are malleable during creation process, less so after.

They're neat toys and I felt like sharing. Have fun! ]

"What exactly is he hoping I do with them?" Sukuna wondered, cocking an eyebrow as he removed one of the 'soul noodles' from it's place and inspected it. It was a soft silverish white with hints of a blue hue that seemed to shift in place.

"Nothing in particular," Yoruichi answered with a small shrug. "Laws trying to figure out how to increase their quality, as well as how to transplant them into a person without rejection. I watched a few of his attempts… they got messy," she added, her lips thinning.

"That doesn't explain why he's giving them to me," Sukuna noted, idly noting her… unease with the project.

Yoruichi and he were similar creatures in nature, just not in practice. She defined herself by those she saw value in, but this was the first time Sukuma had seen some kind of dissonance between her and Law.

It wasn't much, only notable merely because they were always so in sync.

"Mages of this world absorb mana, that then gets channeled through their 'Element.' Which sounded enough like an innate technique to get Law thinking that he should see what you, me, and Cinder can do with them." Yoruichi replied, making Sukuna tilt his head.

The similarities were there, he could admit -- he had also done his reading.

Mages could be broken down into three categories, but the lines between them were blurry and ill defined, nor did they dictate the class of power.

Elemental magic, Spiritual magic, and Celestial magic.

Celestial magic was, by far, the rarest form of magic with it having the broadest sense of application. Elemental was the most common, with Spiritual somewhere in the middle.

As for applications of magic -- the only one that had any amount examination was Elemental magic, but even it had a lot of question marks attached to it.

Was the element of Light an element or was it spiritual? Then, to complicate things further, a sufficiently powerful elemental mage could cross a threshold that saw them applying what would be considered Spiritual or even Celestial magics. Such as fire that heals.

He hummed, "I suppose I should appreciate the gift then."

It was interesting. Fascinating really. Like Law, magic had his interest, but so far, it was out of reach. That, and he had other matters to hold his attention.

These 'Soul Noodles' sounded next to useless, but they were a proof of concept. "And, perhaps, I underestimated him. I figured he'd only be good for copying someone else's work."

"Aw, is that a compliment?" Yoruichi said, a teasing grin back on her face. "I'll tell him you said that. It'll make his whole day." Sukuna peeled his lips back in an annoyed snarl, but she paid it no mind. Nor did she find him particularly threatening.

"Any idea what you're going to do with 'em?"

He did have a few ideas. Transplanting them into himself would be ideal, but they weren't ready for that. Using them as a conversion tool to convert mana into cursed energy or cursed energy into mana also seemed useful.

Just outside of the realm of possibility at the moment. Something more feasible was…

A cursed corpse. An artificial creation animated by cursed energy. Sukuna was aware of the practice, and he had even created a few during his lifetime, but they never managed to impress him.

Not even his own creations. They were simply too predictable. There was no higher intelligence governing their actions, just moving like puppets dancing on a string.

He didn't expect for that opinion to change, but magic opened up several possibilities… and one of them was laying on the table in front of him…

"I have a few," Sukuna replied with a faint smile, returning the soul noodle to the cylinder.

"Good. It's a project that you can work on in your own time -- for now, we're on the clock," Yoruichi said, throwing a grin his way.

"I think you've played with your food enough. The time is right -- Silco is getting a foothold into the Spire, meaning that this is the opportunity I've been waiting for to make an introduction."

Sukuna hummed, his interest dimming in comparison to the project before him. "And you can't handle that because?"

"I want them to see the big bad scary Sukuna the Cannibal in the flesh. You know, to put our best foot forward," Yoruichi answered and Sukuna considered that for but a moment.

Yoruichi wasn't the type for simple plans, however direct and lazy she was as a person. She was hoping to accomplish more with this than shock and awe. Sukuna found that he was just curious enough to see it through to find out what.

"Might as well," Sukuna agreed, yawning as he stood up. "Playing with the Slickjaws has gotten dull." But, first, he had to take care of something.

Walking over to Edmundo, he saw the man's sweat had a pinkish hue to it. He wasn't really sure exactly what that meant, but it was likely a sign that Edmundo was reaching his limit for Shimmer if he was sweating it out now.

That knowledge didn't deter Sukuna in the slightest from grabbing another barrel and hooking it up to him. A second IV now dripped more Shimmer onto his veins.

Either he would adapt to it, or he would die.

If he lived, then his regeneration should be able to keep up with the noodle transplant rejection.

If he died, then Sukuna would just use his body as a cursed corpse. It was all the same to him.

Stepping out while Yoruichi went out to do whatever she did, Sukuna gazed out into the Pit as people had taken to calling it. Over the course of months, the 'Goonies' had taken to building the place up.

The heavy darkness was pushed back with neon lights, buildings had been erected that were more than cobbled together leftovers. The odd hundred people that inhabited the Pit all wore the same dull look and vacant smile.

Raising a hand into the air, Sukuna snapped and instantly became the center of attention. Those that inhabited the Pit were the lowest of scum. Malformed addicts and those so wretched that they couldn't hope to cut it in what passed for an average life in the Undercity.

"Draw straws. I need about twenty of you," He decided as he walked.

Yoruichi truly knew what she was doing. Sukuna admired it -- the Goonies received nothing in the way of training. They were just kept high but it was drilled into their minds that their newfound bliss had a price that would one day be collected.

And Sukuna was calling in what they owed.

A hundred men and women gathered up, each taking a straw that was prepared for this occasion.

The selection was made without any fuss, the men and women chosen too high on Joy to even understand fear. It was pretty convenient, Sukuna decided. There was nothing more irritating than the sound of weaklings begging for their life. With the twenty chosen, he tossed them all a file containing the names and locations of corpses in the making.

"Pick one and grab a grenade."

They did so and Sukuna could see it still wasn't registering with them.

"Go kill them," Sukuna said, making a dismissive gesture that prompted the twenty to break out into a jaunty sprint, as if they were running home after a long day rather than to their own deaths.

Yoruichi really was good at what she did, Sukuna thought again as he trailed behind the assassins from above. The first mark was nearby and the assassination was… simple.

It wasn't that hard to kill someone. Even with their guard up. Humans were just humans, in the end. What made assassination difficult was the assassin's worry of survival, and sometimes fear of collateral damage.

Sukuna was sure some humans were harder to kill than others, but the tattooed gangster with five men following him wasn't one of them.

The Goonie rushed forward, pulling the pin on the grenade, and tackled the target. The man barely had time to register what was going on before the bomb went off. People started screaming as shrapnel and bone shards tore into those around them. Two of the man's group died, along with some fishman who was walking by.

It was simple. Efficient. No hesitation of any kind. It had never occurred to Sukuna that such trash could be polished until they shined like a diamond.

Even if only for an instant.

The process repeated itself again. And again. And again. And again. Some attacks were clustered together. Others took longer as the Goonies needed time to find their targets.

During that delay, word quickly spread of the attacks. It took longer for the who and the why to become clear amongst the panicking population, leaving a handful of Slickjaws to get picked off before they realized they were being targeted.

Not all of the assassinations were performed so smoothly. In one case, the assassin was shot full of holes, but even that didn't stop him from mindlessly charging forth and blowing himself and the target up.

Sukuna drank it all in, collecting the Tithe of cursed energy that the Goonies harvested for him. It was a trickle as he feasted upon the fear, pain, and horror of those affected. As it was, it'd take him a century to regain his previous strength. But, given that it had taken him nearly four centuries to get that strong originally…

It wasn't bad. Not enough on its own, but it wasn't bad.

The Slickjaws, upon realizing that they were being picked off, eventually did what they thought was a good idea. They contracted. Like animals, they sought safety in numbers.

It was then that Sukuna arrived at their headquarters for a second time. He landed in the middle of the road, giving the guards that protected the building just enough time to gaze upon him. To realize who he was and why he was there.

Then he clasped his hands together.

"Domain Expansion," Sukuna uttered, his Shrine appearing behind him. As irritating as it was, he couldn't go all out. Law had plans for the city, so it wasn't something he could destroy at his leisure.

So, he only allowed his barrier to expand enough to engulf the buildings before and behind him, while clipping the buildings adjacent to them.

"Malevolent Shrine."

The guards barely had time to scream before their bodies were broken down. The buildings vanished piece by piece as they were relentlessly assaulted with Cleaves and Dismantles. Within seconds, the only trace of the buildings, and the people therein, was the dust lingering in the air.

A smile tugged at his lips -- none of those watching were worthy of his attention, but he could feel the fear in the air as he drank it in. They should be honored. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even consider allowing such pathetic cursed energy to be added to his Shrine.

Yet, until he returned to full strength, he couldn't afford to be picky.

It was a frightful display of power to these people, making most of them flee in terror.

All except for one.

Sukuna's smile grew a fraction as someone approached through the dust, his gaze sliding over to the figure as they made no effort to hide their footsteps.

A blue haired girl emerged some feet away, brushing away the dust with one hand while in the other she carried a… minigun, was it? She looked at him with the complete absence of fear, though not without some surprise.

"Wow… you really do have a mouth for a belly button."

"You're the one that's been spying on me. Jinx, was it?" Sukuna said, tilting his head as he sensed Yoruichi's arrival. Meaning she wanted him to know she was here.

Meaning that this girl was part of Yoruichi's plans.

"That's me!" Jinx said, the barrels of the minigun starting to spin. "I got sent here to give ya' a talkin' to. Something something, don't break what doesn't belong to you, something something. I forgot. But you don't exactly strike me as the listening type. Or the talking type. Which is a little funny since you have two mouths." The girl half babbled mindlessly, yet her gaze was sharp.

At least until Yoruichi arrived next to her, announcing her presence by throwing an arm over Jinx's shoulder.

"But I am," Yoruichi said, reaching out with a hand and tilting Jinx's head to look at her as she went tense. Yoruichi gave the girl a cutting smile.

"I think I could talk to Silco about a few things… maybe you could arrange for us to have that conversation, hm?"

Jinx stepped away from Yoruichi's grasp, and Yoruichi allowed it. She considered the offer for a moment before she gave a huge dismissive shrug.

"Sure. Why not?