Fluids involuntarily spilled from her gut as she fell to her hands and knees. Her eyes burned as tears dripped from her face and into the murky darkness below her.
The cool water beneath her was a violent juxtaposition to the hot, cramped, and smelly locker she had found herself in moments prior.
Her entire body shook at the mere thought of the experience, making it all the harder to take in her new surroundings.
Where was she?
She seemed to be enveloped in a massive rib cage, pillars of white stabbing down in the distance of this dark, cold space.
Her gaze rose further as she stumbled to her feet, drawn to a massive pile of bones that towered over her.
Each bone seemed to resemble a horned beast's skull, making it look more like a pile of sea urchins when they were all stacked and clumped together like that. Her eyes darted to the top of the structure, where a man sat, dressed in a white robe and absentmindedly staring down at her.
"Did I give you permission to look upon me worm?" he droned in a cold deep voice that echoed throughout the area.
His words seemed to shake her very soul, sending her back to her knees as waves of tangible malice washed over her. Her breathing became labored and frantic as she struggled to even stay on her hands and knees in a desperate effort to not collapse into the water below.
It felt like every ounce of her strength was being sucked out of her body by a thousand needles simultaneously stabbing all across her entire body. Her throat clamped up and her entire body uncontrollably shook as the needles seemed to double—no—triple in number with each passing second.
This imaginary torture continued for what felt like ages, hounding her body and mind, tearing her to pieces. If she wasn't currently going insane Taylor could've sworn she was experiencing a trigger event.
The man scoffed, not an ounce of sympathy in his voice "Pathetic, you are not worthy to be my vessel."
She wanted to beg, scream, do anything in response to this overwhelming pressure laid upon her, but all she managed to do was inch her trembling head upwards to look at the man about to end her life. With a wave of his index and middle finger, something was launched in her direction. She refused to watch as the attack flashed forward, slamming her eyes shut.
Several seconds later, she was still in one piece. Anxiously cracking her eyes open she was met with the back of a black shirt and red hood.
A man stood in between her and the monster sitting upon his spiky throne. She suddenly collapsed into the water, the pressure seemingly lifted with a wave of exhaustion crashing into her like a pickup truck.
Spiky brownish-gold hair shifted when he turned to look at her. The first thing she noticed was the scars.
One arced between in right eyebrow and nose, stopping just before his eye. Another was splattered by the corner of his mouth. But the largest by far was the one around his neck, large and jagged like he had survived a freak chainsaw accident.
Before she could say anything he turned back towards the pile of skulls to address the man now glaring at them.
"You already forget? So much for the fearsome King of Curses, he's already lost himself to dementia!" he fearlessly mocked.
The man in front of her raised his right arm, where a chain was attached to his wrist. It extended into the water and towards the throne of skulls, Taylor could just barely see the glint of the chain running up one of the robed man's sleeves.
"King of Curses?"
"I remember all too well brat, don't get ahead of yourself." the 'King of Curses' grumbled before he slumped into his throne, resting a hand on his cheek and going from murderous glare to half-lidded stare.
The man who had saved her sighed "Sorry about that, he's a headache to deal with." he turned around with a small smile that pulled at the scar on his mouth.
"Who the hell are these people and why do they look so damn similar?!"
Taylor was still reeling from her initial arrival and things just seemed to keep getting crazier by the second. Slowly rising to her feet, she gave the man a wide berth, preparing to run at the first sign of trouble.
"W—Where am I?" she struggled out, trying to ignore the throbbing headache that was setting in.
"Oh, we're in that guy's innate domain." he pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the man behind him like that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Try not to make a mess, you won't hear the end of it if you make the mistake of destroying a couple of his dusty old skeletons." he further informed.
"Don't forget, this is my soul you so freely stand in brat." was called out from the throne.
The man waved him off and continued to look at Taylor with those...golden...ringed eyes.
He raised an eyebrow at her "What? Do I have something on my face?"
"I-It's nothing!" she sputtered out, tearing her eyes away from his.
"Ok...anyways!" he clapped his hands together with a great big smile "I'm Itadori Yuji! And you are Taylor Herbert, the next and final vessel of Ryomen Sukuna!"
Silence filled the air as Itadori stood with his arms splayed out in an attempt to further emphasize his words.
"I'm dead aren't I?" she finally whimpered out.
All of this was just the meaningless sputtering of her drying brain as she slowly rotted away.
Taylor brought her hands to her head as she thought back to the locker. The mere thought of it made her skin crawl.
The chemicals must have outright killed her after spending hours alone in a warm cramped space with them. She could only hope that Sofia, Emma, and Madison got what was coming to them when her body was eventually found.
Hot, angry tears began flowing down her cheeks as she thought about what the trio's actions had eventually escalated to. But it was quickly replaced with messy sobbing as her thoughts inevitably drifted to her father.
"H-Hey hey! You aren't dead—just asleep!" Itadori hurriedly tried to comfort the crying girl as Sukuna stared at her figure, choosing to stay silent.
"We just happened to crash into this crystal thing and then it suddenly started speeding off towards the planet! After a super long time, it just started going crazy and then you showed up!" he hurriedly explained, crouching down to her level.
Taylor wiped her face with a sleeve, coating it in a layer of snot and tears "What are you talking about?"
She watched closely as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and refused to meet her eyes.
"Maybe I've said too much—"
"What is that?!" she couldn't help but exclaim.
Like an alien tumor, a massive crystalline structure jutted out from the dark liquid that covered the entire surface of the domain.
And she meant alien like sci-fi, space-faring, bug-eyed baldies. Because despite its simple crystalline appearance it gave off the chilling feeling that she was looking at something beyond her comprehension.
Bright, multicolored lights pulsed beneath its surface in a constant and steady beat. Almost like a heartbeat, almost like it was...thinking.
"Hey! Don't touch it!" Taylor jerked her hand back, inches away from the glacier-sized structure.
When had she gotten this close?
Itadori grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back as she gaped at her still-open hand.
He placed them a good twenty feet back from the crystal before turning back to the glowing structure "I have no idea what that thing is, but I can tell you one thing: it's somehow-"
"Alive." she finished for him, eyes scouring the massive and jagged surface of the thing.
Taylor felt Itadori's gaze rest on her for a moment before confirming her suspicions "Right, despite how massive it is, its soul is about as complex as the average person's."
"Soul?" Taylor had half the mind to completely deny the statement, but at the moment you could probably tell her the Earth was being invaded by aliens and she wouldn't bat an eye.
Itadori nodded "Until I figure out what this thing is, I don't recommend messing with it. So far it's just been annoying Sukuna with the occasional flash of light, so that's a plus."
Taylor glanced at the mentioned King of Curses, who was still halfheartedly staring at her.
Creep.
"So...what now?" she turned her attention back to Itadori, who was still staring at the crystal.
He snapped out of his trance and gave her a big smile "I'm gonna teach you everything you need to know about being a vessel!"
"So it's basically magic."
"Yeah."
"But you have to be depressed to use it."
He hummed in thought for a moment before answering.
"Kinda? But not really."
Itadori sat across from her, atop the massive rib cage that enveloped the domain. She similarly sat on the bone, still unable to keep herself from nervously glancing down at the noticeable drop below them.
"Cursed energy comes from negative emotions, leaking out from those who don't know how to channel it." he jutted a finger behind him at the now seemingly slumbering Sukuna "According to him, no one in your world leaks cursed energy for some reason. Meaning you won't have to deal with Cursed Spirits." she could've sworn he mumbled 'lucky' under his breath before continuing.
"Those who can channel Cursed Energy and choose to fight Cursed Spirits are known as Jujutsu Sorcerers." Itadori let his eyes wander as he almost appeared to wistfully reminisce about the subject.
"Are Cursed Spirits really dangerous? Why is it that only people with Cursed Energy choose to fight them?
His gaze steeled, golden iris turning to magma when they peered into her "Cursed Spirits are evil. They are born from the negativity of the world and seek to tear down everything around them without exception." his words were as solid and sharp as steel "If you are to ever encounter one, promise me you will exorcise it the first chance you get. Only Curses can harm other Curses, you are the only one who would be able to stop it."
Taylor fidgeted under the pressure of his words. It wasn't like Sukuna's which forced her to her knees, but it still made her sweat as Itadori seemed to radiate a sweltering heat that made her spine turn to jelly.
Itadori seemed to have noticed her discomfort as he let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head.
"You won't need to be worrying about any kinds of curses if you learn to properly control your emotions and channel your cursed energy in tandem." he calmly reassured, dropping the subject entirely.
Taylor watched carefully as he lifted his right arm in front of him. His fist burst into blue and black flames.
She felt drawn to them from the moment they appeared, flickering around Itadori's fist they radiated a pure power she couldn't peel her eyes from. Something stirred in her gut as she leaned forward to get a better look at them.
"Careful." the flames vanished with Itadori's warning.
The feeling vanished and she frantically pushed herself back up moments before she would've fallen off the edge of her makeshift seat.
"You got a good feeling for it right?"
She nodded, more focused in this single moment than she'd been in her entire life.
"Now the first step is to bring up those negative emotions needed to power the Cursed Energy."
A breath hitched in her throat.
She had plenty of negative emotions, they were practically crawling between her skin, waiting to tear their way to the surface.
Now more than ever she felt the need to suppress those thoughts and feelings, out of fear of what she would become when combined with this new power.
A hand touched her shoulder.
She turned to look at Itadori, who had crossed the gap and was now sitting next to her, eyes filled to the brim with sympathy.
He needed no words to convey his message.
Taylor took a deep breath—and delved into her mind.
Years of pain, despair, and suffering flashed by.
The betrayal she felt when Emma stabbed her in the back and ruthlessly twisted the knife.
The anger that roared through her body when she finally found the flute.
The hate that coursed through her veins whenever the trio stood over her, smiles plastered across their faces like her life was just some big joke.
"Focus. Find something you can control."
She delved deeper, searching through her memories for the answer, brushing past the still-open wounds inflicted by the trio.
The fear that shot through her veins when she got lost during nature camp.
The sadness that sank into her when she saw her father cry for the first time.
She finally found it.
It sat deep and heavy in her heart, still prying at her years later.
It was the emptiness she had felt when Annette Herbert was pronounced dead at the scene of a single-vehicle collision.
Years later her mother's death still haunted her, a piece of her torn away the moment she left her and her dad's life. It was something that had threatened to tear her apart when she first encountered the feeling.
But it was a feeling she had become familiar with, one she wasn't going to burst at the seams at when it came bubbling up to the surface. Taylor reached out and grabbed it.
"Good, let that feeling flow through your body from your stomach. Visualize it running alongside your veins as it fills your body. Don't try to force it, let it run through like a stream."
She followed his instructions to the best of her abilities, letting the cold emotion flow freely within the paths she laid out for it. It rushed through her gut, to her chest, and finally—her fist.
Her eyes creaked open and were met with a flowing aura of energy surrounding her now outstretched hand. It seemed almost shy with how it clung so close to her skin, unlike the blazing flame that Itadori had displayed.
Yet it still filled her with renowned vigor as she observed its flow with her own eyes. She couldn't help but crack a smile.
She had powers.
Then it vanished back into her heart, scrambling away from the joy she had displayed like a vampire to the sun.
Once more she tried to bring it out, finding it easier than before now that she was familiar with the path it needed to take.
Itadori said nothing as she observed the Cursed Energy, slowly flexing her fingers as she tried her best to hold onto her chosen emotion.
Her face was frozen in a deep focus for quite some time. But eventually, she slowly raised her head and turned to Itadori, a tight blue aura still wrapped around her hand.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to get a handle on it so fast." he seemed genuinely surprised as he inspected her progress.
"Now all you've got left-" a loud, shrill screech cut him off.
All eyes turned to the crystalline structure, which was now shining like a disco ball. A wave of kaleidoscopic lasers fired out from the structure in a grid, sweeping over everything within the domain.
After they brushed over her and Itadori they abruptly winked out. A single white beam shot out of the crystal and directly into her chest. It felt as harmless as a laser pointer, but that was before Taylor felt her feet start sliding across the bone she was standing on.
"Uh, Itadori?" she frantically called out as the force started steadily rising with her resistance.
In a flash, his hand clasped onto hers moments before she would've fallen off the platform. His strong grip kept her rooted combined with her own efforts.
Apparently, the crystal didn't like that.
Taylor's feet launched into the air as the pull's force was significantly magnified, Itadori now being the only thing connecting her to the ground.
"Hand on!" he yelled as the shrill noise from the crystal filled the air, constantly ringing throughout the domain now.
Soon Itadori was also lifted into the air, his remaining hand gripping onto the side of the massive ribs hard enough to send cracks sprawling down its sides.
Between the screaming of the crystal and her own, all Taylor could do was hang onto dear life as she watched cracks further spread down the side of their bony life preserver.
The world seemed to go silent when a loud crack resounded through the domain.
She and Itadori were sent freefalling towards the crystal as the bone shattered beneath his grip.
Her eyes darted across the area, looking for anything to hold onto. All she came across was Sukuna, who was now standing upright with a nasty scowl on his face.
She didn't know to be thankful when she and Itadori plunged into the solid surface of the crystal like it was water.
It was like being inside of a giant geode. The multicolored crystals that covered every surface occasionally glowed as they passed them by, aimlessly floating through the otherwise empty abyss.
As if they had hit a brick wall their movement halted, suspending them in the air. Panic began to set in when Taylor noticed she couldn't move any of her limbs.
Her head, the only thing she could budge spun to Itadori, who looked as calm as could be. Though she would be a moron if she didn't notice the slight twitching of his fingers.
Moments later, two tendrils made entirely of polished crystal slithered towards them, their heads looking like the pointy end of a diamond.
Taylor couldn't help but think back to her and Itadori's initial investigation of the structure upon seeing the lifelike movements of the two spires.
They split off towards her and Itadori, those now suspiciously sharp-looking tips causing Taylor's mind to race.
"Itadori!"
He was still frozen, though the intensity of his twitching had been gradually rising.
The crystals began closing in on their heads, sharp tips seeming to be aimed at their necks.
Taylor thrashed her head and gritted her teeth, trying her absolute hardest to free herself.
3 feet.
2 feet.
1 foot.
She once again turned to Itadori, who was now deadly serious. His eyes were welded onto the tendril that was approaching him.
20 centimeters.
10 centim-
"Dismantle."
The two crystals were sliced to pieces by an invisible force.
A slash went through both of the spires to behead them, sending their spiked heads floating into the abyss as the rest of their bodies remained suspended in the air, motionless.
"You alright Taylor?" was called out to her.
The sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears, did little to calm her, but she did manage to spit out a 'Y-Yeah, I'm fine.' before taking several deep breaths.
"What was that?" she finally felt the need to ask, drifting her gaze over to Itadori, who was rotating his currently freed hand.
Despite still being mostly immobile she felt massively safer with Itadori by her side now.
"Oh, that was a Cursed Technique. One I actually managed to get from being Sukuna's vessel and eating his fingers." he somehow brushed over the last part like it was something to be mentioned in casual conversation.
The worst part was he had the gall to look at her all confused when she gave him a baffled look.
Sadly Taylor didn't have time to watch him bumble through an explanation of that subject, as the tendrils had started shaking.
They suddenly exploded into a dozen different spires altogether, flying towards her and Itadori.
"Dismantle." he intoned again, several of the tendrils being disabled in a single well-placed strike.
But it wasn't enough. Before Itadori could activate the technique again one of them slipped through and managed to insert themselves into her neck.
She watched helplessly as her blood was sucked into the crystal.
"Taylor!"
Distracted, Itadori met the same fate, grimacing as his own crystal ran red.
Before he could open his mouth to destroy the crystals, he was pulled away and off into the distance by an unseen force.
The tendril holding Itadori's blood slid over and joined into the shaft of the other. Then the crystal still stabbed into her neck began to glow.
Pain arced through her body like a lightning bolt. She was being torn apart.
Her body trembled uncontrollably as the edges of her vision went dark.
Her mouth opened to scream but nothing escaped her other than a desperate gasp.
The shrill screaming of the crystalline structure started up again as images began flashing through her mind, too fast to make out.
Her consciousness was slipping.
Taylor desperately fought against the feeling while trying to ignore the pain. It quickly turned into a losing battle, eyelids slowly descending to cover her vision.
Moments before everything went dark, Taylor could've sworn she was in space, watching something spiral towards a green and blue orb…
When she opened her eyes white flooded her vision.
She heard a groan as her hand came up to shield her eyes. It slowly came into focus against the light.
She blinked several times and the blinding light turned into ceiling lights, surrounded by white ceiling tiles.
Her feet shot out of the side of the bed she now realized she was lying in.
"Was all of that real?"
Was all that filled her mind as she took in her surroundings.
She was in a hospital.
Her eyes trailed to the window. It was dark outside, the artificial lighting of the city she had lived in for her entire life staring back at her.
She rose to her feet, something pulled at her hand.
Bringing her arm up she almost leapt out of her skin, if it even was hers.
Either someone had just grafted the arm of an MMA fighter to her or she had started going to the gym in her sleep. Taylor wasn't sure which was more probable.
Hurriedly tearing the IV out of her wrist and the heart monitor off her finger she walked towards the nearest door, the sound of the machines flatlining behind her.
Though with her new figure, it was more like she had stalked towards the door.
"Mirror…I need a mirror."
She paid no mind to the odd looks and occasional words that were thrown her way as her eyes frantically searched for a bathroom.
She burst through the nearest restroom and latched onto the sink, the door swinging shut behind her.
Her eyes slowly looked into the small square mirror hung above the sink.
Lean, but muscular arms gripped the porcelain as her eyes raked over her body, still covered in a spotted, blue hospital gown. She didn't need to tear it off to know she'd find abs underneath it.
She had to lean down to get a good look at her face, finding several inches had tacked themselves onto her already noteworthy height.
Her long curly brown hair remained, but her eyes had a slightly lighter hue to them now, something almost no one would notice. But what she doubted people would ignore were the scars underneath them.
Two thin lines just beneath her eyes.
Her hand was about to reach up to touch them when she felt something shift in her stomach.
"Don't touch that." a deep, familiar voice echoed in the empty bathroom.
Her body went rigid.
Her mouth hung open as her eyes trailed to her cheek in the mirror, where a small mouth with a single eye above it had appeared.
"If a brat like you is to be my vessel I won't have your pathetic hands defacing my eyes."
Taylor screamed.
Yo, Author here (I already regret typing that)
I'm just gonna tell you guys to not expect frequent updates to this story.
As JJK is still incomplete I'll probably need more information about Yuji Sukuna to write certain chapters I have planned. Even in the current chapter, there's some ad-libbing about what their connection entails as of chapter 257.
Though even when it ends I doubt how I get Sukuna and Yuji together in this story is actually gonna happen in canon, so there's something I'm safe on with an alternate ending of sorts I can use as a flashback chapter or something.
Another thing is that I've yet to finish Worm. Before you start picking up the pitchforks I'm a little less than halfway done, so I felt confident in writing a coherent 1st chapter to this. Additionally, I have sadly been spoiled on certain major endgame plot points as well so there's that.
Also, I just couldn't resist with how empty this crossover category is on this site.
I'll (probably) be back soon. Adios!