"Aomori, Aomori, wake up! Look at the time, the sun is high in the sky."
Aomori abruptly woke up, but everything before his eyes made him feel like he was still dreaming.
The bright room, the Saber poster on the wall, the scattered textbooks on his desk, the life-sized maid body pillow he was hugging on the bed, and a familiar, kindly face that he hadn't thought of in a long time, staring at him with wide eyes.
'What's going on? Shouldn't I be on the summit of the Rock Mountain in Pewter City? My powers are gone too? A dream? Was everything before a dream? Or did I travel back in time?'
Aomori's mind was a mess, his eyes filled with confusion.
"What's wrong? Are you still half-asleep?"
A familiar small hand waved in front of him. "Don't you recognize your mom?"
"M-Mom?"
"Oh, why are you crying? You're such a big boy, why are you tearing up just because I said a couple of things? There, there. You go back to sleep. Mom won't bother you anymore."
"No, it's not that. I just had a nightmare," Aomori said, using the excuse. He got out of bed and looked at his youthful reflection in the mirror, forcing a smile.
"Oh, alright. Well, Mom's going grocery shopping now, okay? You stay home and work on your homework."
'Grocery shopping? Wait!'
Aomori's pupils contracted. He grabbed the phone from the bedside table. It displayed the current time: Tuesday, October 12, 10:08 AM.
His heart seized up violently. Memories buried deep in his mind surged like a tide. Aomori covered his head, which throbbed with pain, and reached out his right hand towards his mother's retreating figure, crying out, "No! Mom, don't go out!"
But his mother's figure vanished behind the door.
Just as he was about to chase after her, an invisible shockwave swept in from the distance, slamming him against the wall. Every glass pane in the house shattered, and the once-bright room instantly became pitch black.
Screams rose and fell outside. Aomori ignored everything else. He scrambled to his feet, frantically flung open the door, and ran out.
Stumbling all the way, when he reached the outside of the building, Aomori looked up at the sky.
The once seamless, mirror-like sky was now ripped open by two enormous holes. A pair of colossal, bloodshot eyes, devoid of emotion, appeared in the gaps, looking down upon the land. Simultaneously, countless small black dots descended like dumplings pouring from the holes.
Aomori knew those were the countless one-eyed beasts, each towering five meters tall, invulnerable to conventional weapons, and possessing immense strength. They would soon emotionlessly slaughter every living being they encountered.
"Mom!" He saw the familiar figure lying on the ground not far away. But a one-eyed beast had also landed there and was raising its bony scythe at the person on the ground.
His mother seemed to realize something, raising her head, looking at Aomori, and giving him a gentle smile.
"No!" Aomori desperately rushed toward them, yet he couldn't run fast enough. "Lightning Breathing, Light Breathing, Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, 13 Totem Pole, Ittou Shura, move! Move now!"
In his desperate cries, a faint layer of purple light stained Aomori's eyes. But before he could reach her, the one-eyed beast's scythe pierced his mother's chest.
"No!" Aomori collapsed to his knees, clutching his head. Tears streamed down his face. Wisps of black mist floated up from his body and drifted toward the sky.
The scene suddenly warped and changed.
The one-eyed beast and the darkness receded. Aomori found himself kneeling in a closed, orange-toned room.
"Aomori."
Aomori's body jolted.
A mature, handsome man in a simple gray uniform stood before him, stroking his head and smiling.
"Dad has to go out on a mission, so you stay here in the base. Haha, your Uncle Kyo said you have quite the talent for mechanics. He's even planning to marry his daughter off to you. Make sure you learn well from Uncle Kyo."
"Don't go..."
"I can't not go. Dad is a Hero! I remember you were quite fond of that bald Hero before. While I can't one-punch every enemy dog head like him, your old man here is pretty good too! I will absolutely protect you and Mom!"
"You'll die..."
"You brat, why would you say that? Your old man is an ace pilot; I won't die that easily. Besides, some things in the world are higher than others. Even if I die, it will be a worthy death! Alright, I'm leaving now."
Aomori raised his head, his eyes awash with purple light. He compressed his lips, watching the broad-chested man turn and walk away, his outstretched right hand grasping forward, only catching an illusion.
At that moment, the scene shifted again. Aomori stood before a gray wall covered in names.
Beside him stood a grizzled, weathered man with stubble.
The man handed Aomori a box, his eyes filled with sorrow. "Little Mori, we ran into an ambush on this last mission. Your father stayed behind to cover our retreat... Old Omohara was a Hero! We all owe him our lives. If you ever need anything, you can come to us Uncles for help, okay?"
Aomori gazed at the newly carved name at the very top. His right hand involuntarily clenched, faint streaks of electricity crackling around it. "You..."
Seemingly disturbed, the scene shifted once more. It was still inside the base, but the ceiling was breached. Countless one-eyed beasts surged in, battling the survivors inside.
"Second Battalion Commander, where's my artillery?!"
"Attention all units, open fire!"
"Launch all reserve mechs! Let's blast these bastards to hell!"
"..."
Aomori watched familiar faces fall in pools of blood. He remembered. It was on this very day that the base was lost. He, who had fought desperately, was also decapitated by a one-eyed beast and transmigrated to the One-Punch Man world.
He clenched his left fist as well, faint white light glowing around it. "Just... how long..."
A one-eyed beast focused on him. Its six legs moved in unison, instantly bringing it before Aomori. The scythe in its hand swung down mercilessly.
Clang!
The small human before it had somehow produced a crimson sword, blocking the scythe. A purple light flashed in the beast's single eye, and its massive head flew off.
Aomori felt no joy in easily destroying the enemy. Gripping Ryuko, he unleashed hundreds of slashes in a split second, killing every one-eyed beast in the area.
The ceiling of the base completely vanished, revealing the two colossal eyeballs in the sky.
"...How long will you keep this charade up!"
As Aomori roared the words, the surrounding scene began to collapse. His own body also started to disappear gradually.
When only his head and one hand remained, Aomori suddenly clenched his fist, swung it forward. Thunder and Holy Light spread outward, and the collapsing scene rapidly reformed and solidified.
"Hey!" He pointed his middle finger at the pair of giant eyeballs in the sky and said, word for word, "Wait for me. I will definitely return."
The huge eyeballs seemed to gain a flash of consciousness. The moment their gaze fell upon Aomori, the scene collapsed once more, instantly vanishing completely.
...
On the summit of the Rock Mountain, Aomori, who had been resting against Absol, suddenly snapped his eyes open. He stood up, recalled Absol and Pidgeotto, who had also woken up in surprise, and turned to face the empty air.
A mass of black mist billowed there, coalescing into a Pokémon.
It had a mane of white hair that constantly swirled like a murky fog, covering most of its face, revealing only a pair of bright blue eyes. A collar-like red, jagged object encircled its neck, and long, black, tattered cloth-like appendages hung from its shoulders.
"It was you manipulating things, wasn't it, the Nightmare Pokémon, Darkrai!"
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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]