"We will reward the one who brings the dragon to us, dead or alive. Hopefully, this specimen will bring us closer to the truth behind the mist and Central Billion."
—-David Rossi, the Dean of Metaslica Faculty of Science
Mist of Doom is a Gungrave Overdose Fan Fic written by Legendary Biologist, separate from the Gungrave: Aftermath series. It was first published at ffnet on 26th August 2018 and is still ongoing. Mist is initially written during the author's severe case of writer's block when writing Twisted Death.
Mysterious mist hangs over Central Billion and is slowly spreading to the other regions in the state. It drives people mad, and those who enter the affected region never come out.
Mankind has built windmills across the state of Billion to blow away the mist, but it proves to be a temporary solution: a dragon destroys them and then returns to the depths of the mist. When the authorities set a bounty on the dragon's head, eighteen-year-old Mika Asagi sees it as a free entry to the prestigious Metaslica Faculty of Science and accepts the challenge. Despite knowing the infamous tale about the mist and Central Billion, Mika goes on a journey to slay the dragon with her one-eyed undead guardian, Brandon "Beyond the Grave" Heat.
Upon contacting the mist, Mika starts hearing voices. Part of her body turns glossy blue.
Tropes found in the work (beware of unmarked spoilers for both the game and the fanfic):
- Action Girl: Mika is very eager to slay the dragon. With Brandon as her personal trainer and later Orion teaching her to wield Seed powers, she is even more badass.
- And This Is for...: Glenn. Billy successfully avenges the boy's death with the help of Mika and Brandon.
- Barrier Warrior: Whenever Brandon is attacked, Scutum will cast a barrier for him.
- Big Damn Heroes: Mika, after learning how to infuse poison into her gun from a skirmish with a horde of orgmen, immediately saves Brandon from Scorpius' pincer.
- Child Soldiers: This is what David Rossi does on a regular basis. He will check the orphanage for a perfect child or teen to be injected with a Seed alien and send said child or kid to explore the misty region.
- Crapsack World: It may even be worse than Twisted Death.
- If you're slum dweller, the rich guys who live at the wealthy Metaslica region will look down on you. Yes, this also means that you pretty much have no chance to enter Metaslica University due to their elitist nature.
- If you're living in an orphanage, chances are, you'll be taken by Metaslica Faculty of Science to be injected with Seed. Then you, with a squad of friendly orgmen, will be sent off to resolve the mystery of the mist. What makes is worse is that if you're naive and extremely idealistic and Hot-Blooded like a typical Stock Shōnen Hero, you're guaranteed to be chosen by the dean. Problem is, you're still young and have very little combat experience, and you're mostly just relying on your Seed alien to guide you.
- When the mist comes, get ready to be infected by the dragonflies, who will overtake your body and mind just for the nutrients within you body.
- If you are a Determinator and try to resist, you'll face a more painful case called "incomplete infection." You can feel the dragonfly's struggle to overtake you, which includes it gnawing on your head and messing up your body coordination.
- What is actually happening in Central Billion?
- Death by Irony: Scorpius, whose trademark ability is his poison, is severely weakened by Orion's poison before Billy finishes him off. It's even more ironic when you bring in the mythology of Orion and Scorpius: Orion is killed by Scorpius' poison.
- Dramatic Irony: Especially apparent if you are familiar with Gungrave Overdose. Mika's objective is to slay the dragon so that she can get a free entry to Metaslica Faculty of Science. The dragon is actually Jyuji, her old friend, and she only finds out about it when she meets Billy.
- Fish People: Volans is a flying fish man.
- Healing Factor: All Seed-infected people have regenerative powers. Lost limbs and even upper-half of a body can grow back.
- Heartbroken Badass: Brandon. Sure, he has broken up with Maria during his mortal life, but he acknowledges why Maria is better off with Big Daddy: Brandon is turning into a Consummate Professional and can't provide the love and comfort Maria deserves. Brandon blames himself for that, and now that he's dead and has no more mafia organization to work for, he swears to not fall in love with another woman and spend the rest of his undead life to protect Mika, Maria's daughter, all to make up for breaking Maria's heart. He does it by kicking the asses of any Seed monstrosity that dares to get close to her.
- Instrument of Murder: Blue Lightning is a literal electric guitar. Billy wields it very well.
- Intangibility: Billy, being a ghost, cannot be harmed by any physical objects and even Seed abilities.
- Kid Hero: Deconstructed in Glenn's case. It's Glenn being naive as a typical kid/teen that makes David choose him to lead a squad of orgmen to South City. On top of that, Glenn is still inexperienced in combat and only knows to Attack! Attack! Attack! It costs him his life.
- Light 'em Up: Orion's power is all light-related, both for offensive and utility purposes.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Brandon's Doom's Rain involves barraging his enemy with rockets from his missile pods. The rockets are weaker than the ones fired from Death Blow due to their more streamlined design, but they have homing capabilities.
- Magic Enhancement: Katrina's power is all about buffing herself before charging at enemies. Her buffs include physical strength and durability (blue aura) and speed (green aura).
- Making a Splash: Volans can create very sharp water chakrams.
- Manly Tears: Brandon starts shedding tears when he's caught in Scorpius' pincer and getting his life squeezed out of him. He does not cry because of pain; instead, he cries for Mika, whom he will soon abandon because he knows that every single bone in his body is already broken and he can't break free of Scorpius' grip.
- More Dakka: Brandon's Raging Inferno is pretty much spraying bullets at enemies.
- Mythology Gag: To Chaos Wars. Mika's gun is a smaller replica of Brandon's Cerberus which is called Puppy Fang. Her ultimate move is infusing poison into Puppy Fang, which is pretty much Seed Puppy in Chaos Wars.
- Personality Powers: Glenn is a Hot-Blooded Stock Shōnen Hero with fire powers.
- Playing with Fire: Fornax and Draco grant fire power to their hosts. Glenn in particular can breathe fire and turn himself into a miniature Human Torch.
- Poisonous Person: Mika can fire glowing poisonous needles with her pistol, thanks to Orion's power.
- Hydra has poisonous fangs and breath.
- David can breath poison thanks to Ophiuchus.
- Rated M for Manly: Brandon. He's a very tall and muscular guy who wields a coffin full of guns. His arsenal includes his iconic Cerberus twin Hand Cannon, an assault rifle, a rocket launcher, a six-tubed missile pod, and dual railguns. If he feels like it, he'll just smash his foes with his coffin.
- His Heroic Build is briefly compared to the models of Men's Health magazines.
- Dragon? Coffin knocked away from him? How about some Metronomic Dragon Mashing?
- He wrestles an axe out of a minotaur mecha and begins using it after losing Cerberus and his coffin.
- Scorpion People: Scorpius is a huge scorpion man with four pincers: two big ones from his waist, two smaller ones from his humanoid torso. Then he has his trademark stinger tail, which has been implied to disable Seed powers. His scorpion-half is also covered in crystalline plates that grants him great protection.
- Shock and Awe: Billy shoots lightning bolts from his electric guitar.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Everything about being an idealistic Determinator is deconstructed.
- Everything about Glenn the Stock Shōnen Hero is on the cynical side. For starters, it's his idealistic Hot-Blooded Determinator type of person that makes David turn him into a Child Soldier. David easily fools him by saying that he can be a superhero. Later on, his Hot-Blooded and reckless nature cause the death of his squad of orgmen and eventually himself. To cap it all off, Scorpius later makes fun of his attempt to sputter out his "I won't give up" speech.
- The cause of incomplete infection. See Crapsack World.
- Despite that, there's Mika, who is an idealistic Determinator herself. She dreams of entering Metaslica Faculty of Science so that she can study more about Seed to get rid of Brandon's need for blood to stay alive. Then after finding out that Jyuji is the dragon she wants to slay so that she can enter Metaslica Faculty of Science, she chooses to either find a way to save Jyuji or spare him. However, by the end of chapter 11, it is a better idea to slay Jyuji and bring his head because Brandon is seriously injured and needs help from Metaslica people, who have just ignored Mika earlier because she is a slum dweller.
- Something about a Rose: Billy finishes off Scorpius with roses of shocky, explodey doom.
- Soul Jar: Billy's soul is bound to his guitar, and the only way to kill him is to destroy the guitar.
- Sphere of Destruction: Cerberus Overdose. The dual railguns fire two big destructive electromagnetic spheres.
- To some degree, the very basic of Orion's power. It doesn't cause as much destruction as Cerberus OD, but it's still good enough to crack an orgman's body.
- Stock Shōnen Hero: Glenn is a very loud and Hot-Blooded and idealistic young (Billy estimates that he is a boy who has just recently undergone puberty) Idiot Hero whose combat strategy involves Attack! Attack! Attack! and plenty of Leeroy Jenkins moments. Unfortunately, as lampshaded by Scorpius, the world where the story is set does not let miraculous Power of Friendship and sheer determination to triumph. Glenn pays very dearly for his recklessness.
- Theme Naming / Stellar Name: The Methuselah folks (known as Seed aliens by humans) are named based on constellations. Also overlaps with Meaningful Name because their abilities correspond to their respective constellations.
- Orion (Hunter) has various abilities, but they are mostly focused on utilities. They involve poisoning foes, lighting up a dark area, and temporarily blinding more dangerous enemies.
- Scutum (Shield) grants Brandon barrier-related powers. Dr. T deliberately chooses Scutum to infect Brandon because he is aware of Brandon's fiercely protective nature.
- Volans (Flying Fish) grants water-related powers and Fish People form.
- Draco (Dragon) grants fire-related powers and dragon form.
- Scorpius (Scorpion) grants Scorpion People form and also a poisonous stinger tail.
- Fornax (Furnace) grants fire-related powers.
- Lepus (Hare) grants rabbit person form.
- Corvus (Raven) grants raven person form.
- Hydra is, well a hydra with poisonous breath.
- Ophiuchus (Serpent Bearer) grants snake-related powers like poisonous breath and covering own body with scales.
