Hey y'all, welcome back to another chapter of TLR: After Darkness! I'm gonna be outta town for the rest of the month, so expect my uploads to be a bit more erratic in their timing, as I'll basically just write when I have a bit of time. Don't worry about it, though, I'm having great fun writing this, so there'll be no serious hiatus. Anyways, thanks to all of y'all for continuing to read this story, and leave a review or a PM if you need to tell me anything.
Disclaimer: I do not own the To LOVE-Ru franchise.
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(Jack's POV)
Jack: So, about how far from the school is Mikado's place, actually?
Momo: Not TOO far…it will take us about 30 minutes to get there, pretty much.
Jack: Far enough for me. Jesus, I've walked more since I got here than I did all my life…
Momo: Hey, Jack-san, I have something to ask you…
Jack: What is it?
Momo: Can you tell me what happened after the festival? I can't seem to remember…and I want to know.
Jack: Alright…you're gonna have to promise to not freak out, got it?
Momo: Sure, is it bad?
Why would I say that if it wasn't bad?
Jack: Judge for yourself…alright. Thing is: after you saw Rito was about to kiss Haruna, you…kinda yelled at her to get away from him. It kinda went downhill from there…you asked why he accepted her and not you…all yelling, by the way. I told 'em to leave, which they did, and you kept telling me about how you only made your plan in order to be able to be loved by Rito even if you had to share him with other girls. And…you remember the rest.
Momo: *looks down* … … … What do I do now?
Jack: Beats me. I tried to talk some sense into Rito's head, but that's a hit and a miss, really. Well…just try to be normal, I guess. That's the best I've got.
Momo: Wow…Rito-san saw all that…I wonder what he thinks of me now…
Jack: God only knows what goes on inside that guy's head. But I got the message, though.
Momo: What message?
Jack: I should NEVER piss you off. You can be quite dangerous while angry, you know?
Momo: *giggles* Yeah, not many people know that! And I didn't even use my plants…
Jack: What plants?
Momo: I can command plants I've met throughout space to attack based on my command through my D-Dial.
Jack: Wow. Definitely not gonna mess with you now. Although seeing as I now seem to have superhuman abilities…try not to mess with me either. The only thing that has hurt me since I came here is Nana punching me.
Momo: *giggles* That Nana…I think she likes you!
Jack: Hold on there, Cupid. Harem making activities are only available for harems of which Rito is the head. So don't even try.
Momo: Oh my, Jack-san…may you like her too?
Exactly HOW did she get that from my response?
Jack: Please do elaborate.
Momo: You were very defensive, Jack-san. That's usually a good sign! And you can't tell me you don't look at girls, can you?
Jack: Christ alive! Of course I look at girls, Momo. It's just being away from your own universe for just a few days doesn't make you think about getting a girlfriend or anything like that! Sorry to burst your bubble, though. And Nana is into Rito, after all, same as everyone else here, anyways.
Momo: Ohh…are you jealous of Rito-san?
She must be up to something. She can't just be grinding my gears like this for no reason whatsoever.
Jack: Fine, I'll bite, again. Why exactly do you say that?
Momo: Well…he is liked by a lot of girls! Doesn't that seem reason enough?
Jack: No it does not. Poor guy doesn't seem to be enjoying himself a lot.
Momo: That's because he hasn't become a carnivore yet.
Jack: So you plan to make him into one…if you ain't managed to do so already, I don't have high hopes for ya.
Momo: What do you mean, Jack-san?
She's gonna make me say it.
Jack: Well, you're pretty easy on the eyes, and you're laying all over him day in and day out, and still can't get him to consciously lay a finger on ya. That…that's…I'm sorry, I don't have an adjective to describe that that doesn't question his sexuality.
Momo: *blushes* I-I appreciate your compliment, Jack-san…but you can't do that!
Jack: Do WHAT?
Momo: H-hit on me like that. It's vital for the plan that you don't do that!
Wow.
Jack: You basically forced me to say it…whatever, ain't gonna fight. Sorry, Momo, I did not mean to hit on you. I just stated a fact. Deal with it as you want.
Momo: A-anyways! Mikado's house is just up ahead!
We approached a pretty big house, which Momo mentioned was Mikado's place, and rang the doorbell.
Mikado: Coming!
Jack: She's got a pretty nice house, huh?
Momo: …
Ok, fine. You want to play it like that.
Mikado: Oh, hello, Jack! And Momo, too! What brings you here?
Jack: Well, SOMEONE didn't leave me directions to her house, so she had to tag along to show me the way.
Momo: …what he said.
Mikado: Hmm…do I sense some sort of discord between you two?
Jack: I don't know. Ask her. Anyways, you wanted to discuss something?
Mikado: Oh, of course! Come in!
We walked into the house, into the spacious living room. Again: pretty nice house. Being a doctor must pay as well in Japan as in America.
Mikado: I wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind. Should we talk in private?
Jack: No need. I ain't got nothing to hide, and Momo is a friend, anyways.
Momo: We're friends?
Jack: Well, I'd like to think that!
Momo: …
Mikado: *cough* Anyways, shall we get started? First of all: have you suffered from any injuries recently?
Jack: On the contrary: I seem incapable of being injured. Just today I fell of a motor vehicle going at 150 mph, with THIS ONE *points at Momo* falling on top of me too, and got out unscathed. Might have something to do with why I survived the plane crash.
Mikado: Hm…I might have been right after all…Jack, may I take a blood sample from you?
Jack: Sure.
She did all the necessary preparations, and after the whole ritual tried repeatedly to stab me in the arm with the syringe, to no avail.
Mikado: Hm…that settles it.
Momo: What's the problem, Mikado-sensei?
Mikado: Seems my theory was true…Jack. It seems you've been…altered, for lack of a better term.
Jack: What the hell are you talking about?
Mikado: While you certainly are still a member of the human race…it looks like you have several physiological differences. For instance: your extremely hardened skin. Normally humans don't have that…but several alien races have found ways to engineer members of their species to be more agile, stronger, or sturdier, to name some examples. It's not unlikely that humans found a way to do the same thing…but the motive remains unknown.
Jack: I know you said the motive remains unknown…but might you have any clue as to how this ties into my leaving my universe?
Mikado: Hm…no clue as to that for now. It wouldn't be a stretch to believe that the same people that modified your body were responsible for your journey between dimensions. It's likely they did the modifications before the plane crash, if you weren't modified by then, you would have died for certain.
Jack: The plane crash…how? How did the plane travel between dimensions? How could it have been equipped with that ability without anyone being the wiser? That doesn't seem like a simple task: it would have cost not to mention the decades of research, but also gazillions of dollars, an immense amount of time to build it, and the secrecy would have had to be way over the top.
Mikado: Yes, that is still a mystery indeed. That brings me to another question: Yami mentioned something about you talking to yourself. Exactly why do you do that?
Well, this is awkward…they're probably gonna think I'm mad…but I gotta be honest.
Jack: Well…there's this woman who talks inside my head, tells me to be her servant. I always tell her to fuck off, but she's pretty persistent.
Momo: *eyes widen* It couldn't be…
Mikado: Seems like it. It makes sense now. We may have a potential culprit for your situation, Jack.
Jack: What? Is that woman behind it all?
Mikado: Unlikely…she is pretty powerful, but I don't think she has the power to pull someone here from another universe. The people that created her, though…
Momo: I thought they disbanded after father ended the wars…
Jack: CONTEXT, PLEASE!
Mikado: Oh, sure! Sorry, Jack!
Jack: You might want to start by telling me exactly who this woman is.
Momo: She is someone called Nemesis. She is Yami-san and Mea-san's old master. The interesting part for your case is: she controlled Mea by living inside her body. Also, she has always wanted to make Rito-san her servant…
Jack: I understand why the first part might be important…she might be trying to do the same with me. Maybe my being resistant to her dominion stops her from actually controlling my body. But the second part…what does Rito being her potential servant have to do with me?
Mikado: It leaves us with two non-mutually exclusive hypothesis as to why she decided to control your body: she was aware of the organization's attempt to make you into a living weapon, and thought that as she lost her past two living weapon servants, she might as well get herself another one; and/or she saw the same qualities she saw in Yuuki in you.
Jack: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's that about trying to make me into a living weapon?
Mikado: Your resistance to physical hits is unseen in any of the species currently known in the galaxy, not to mention humans. You're even more resistant than devilukians. There can only be one explanation for such modifications having been made: turning you into a "defensive" living weapon.
Jack: I see…Yami and Mea are clearly offensive minded. Maybe they wanted to try something different this time…but why me? What's so special about me? I'm just a regular good ole' boy from Texas! I mean, we ARE quite the sturdy folks, but really…
Momo: Hey, I have an idea. Maybe I could ask father for insight on this issue. He fought this people, after all, so he might know their motivations better than any of us ever could.
Mikado: You forgot what happened the last time he was here? We can't have him testing Yuuki again.
Momo: Well, I wasn't around here then, after all! But I thought a better idea would be to actually head to the castle ourselves.
Jack: Well, I'm sure out of ideas, so if your father is the great conqueror you say he is, he must have great insight in his former enemies.
Momo: Well…we shall do that, then. Warning, though…father is a bit of a…acquired taste.
Jack: Oh, whatever. Just…what was that about him testing Rito?
Mikado: Just this one time when he told Rito that he needed to become the greatest man in the universe if he wanted to marry Lala…and planned to destroy Earth if he failed.
Jack: …Actually he doesn't seem quite unlike my own dad…I could see him doing something like that if he had a daughter *laughs*
Momo: We should tell Zastin to get us there, then. He's always at father's manga workshop.
Jack: You're confusing me with this calling to different people "father"…but I'm pretty sure you mean Rito's dad. That actually works out great, I planned to pay him back the money he lent me.
Momo: Again, you don't need to pay him back, Jack-san.
Jack: Again, I do need to pay him back, Momo. I'm a grown man, I gotta take care of myself, or at least try to help out the people that help me. If he doesn't want me to give him the money, I'll just use it to pay some bills.
Mikado: Wow, you're so kind…
Jack: It's not kindness. It's basic decency. It's been instilled on me from a young age. And I'm thankful for that…I wouldn't wanna be a leach…also…what was that about me being similar in some way to Rito?
Mikado: *giggles, looks at Momo* You both know what it is…I won't spoil it!
Jack: Oh, bullshit!
Momo: Huh? Mikado-sensei, what do you mean?
Mikado: As I said, you already know it, albeit unconsciously. Anyways, you two should probably get going, it's getting late.
Jack: Yeah, sure. Thanks for everything, Mikado.
Momo: Really, thanks!
Mikado: No problem. Remember to contact me if anything comes up. See you at school!
And so, we left Mikado's place.
Jack: When do you think we should leave for your planet?
Momo: We should probably go see Zastin tomorrow morning…they barely sleep in that place, but they're in a really bad mood in the night…so I recommend we wait till tomorrow.
Jack: Duly noted. By the way, thank you for helping here, you really didn't need to.
Momo: Oh, Nemesis is a huge obstacle for my plan, so I really want to deal with her once and for all!
Should have figured this was all because of her plan…well, that's who she is, she just can't help it.
…
Well, I promised this chapter would be pretty important, and hopefully I delivered. I'm kinda starting to set up the appearance of the main villain, but I'm not sure exactly when he'll show up. I've got some pretty cool ideas for his/her character. Anyways, I'm done here, so I hope y'all have a great day, and I'll see y'all next time!