KRD: Hey there guys, Kamen Rider Duelist and Striberx here for another chapter of Dr. Stone: Future Formula! And… *looks at reviews* Huhhhhhh… the trolling never ends…
Striberx: Such is the fate of any fanfic writer. Either got amazing people who love it, ones who shrug it off/ignore it, those who see potential and give proper criticism, and then you got the new Jake Paul's trying to act funny or smart but just comes off as sad and try-hard.
KRD: I seriously thought they would be more mature than this, but they proved me wrong… once again.
Striberx: At least we have those who do enjoy it. Thanks, you guys.
KRD: Well anyways, let's start the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: We do not own Dr. Stone. All manga creative rights belong to Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi! All anime creative rights belong to Shinya Iino, Yuichiro Kido, Tatsuya Kato, Hiroaki Tsutsumi, Yuki Kanesaka, and TMS/8PAN. Any and all insert songs that may be in this story don't belong to us at all either. In other words, we don't own anything, except our OC's.
"Let me teach you guys," Senku began. "It's not that there are things that science can't explain. You look for the rules behind those things."
*CRACK! CRACK!*
"Science is just the name of the steady, pain-in-the-ass effort that goes into doing it."
*CRACK! CRACK! CRAAAAACK!*
With each passing second, the cracks on the sparrow statue became larger until it became a web of cracks, traveling along the stone before it finally shattered, freeing the sparrow and letting it soar into the sky for the first time in 3,700 years.
"UWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA!" Taiju roared in happiness as the sparrow flew around the base in circles before flying away to the sky.
"No way… we did it…" Kurogasa smiled widely. "WE REALLY DID IT!"
"Our Stone Formula is finally complete!" Cody cheered.
"Hehe, with this we can release more power." Senku smirked as he sat down on the black pedestal, looking up at the sky with a tired but satisfied smile, the sweat of hard work and perseverance trickling down his face. "One year since we started experimenting. It didn't take as long as I thought it would." With a chuckle, he added, "It's a slow and steady effort. But I'm going to beat fantasy with science. This is exhilarating."
「"Stone Formula" acquired!」
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we really do have a chance of reviving all of humanity." Cody smiled. "You did it, Senku."
"No, we did it." Senku corrected the ninja. "All of us worked together to get this far. While it is a huge milestone, this is just the beginning."
"So, Senku, who are we reviving first?" Taiju asked.
Senku chuckled at the simplistic question. "It doesn't matter at this point, since we're gonna revive everyone." He answered, as he stood up from his seat. "Hehe… although it would suck if we woke up a murderer right off the bat."
"Well, it's obvious who we're reviving." Kurogasa said. "Yuzu-chan and Kaa-san."
"Agreed." Cody nodded, "I don't know about you all, but seeing and getting help from a woman is needed. Men can't do everything alone, after all."
"Yeah," Senku agreed. "Besides, what future does humanity have with just us four dudes trudging on?"
"Gh… yeah, good point." Kurogasa flinched, turning blue from that mere fact.
"Right. Well, if you'll excuse me… I'm going to faint." Cody said, before he suddenly collapsed straight to the ground, unconscious.
"CODY!" Kurogasa and Taiju shouted, as they ran over to their fallen friend.
"Well, it's no surprise. He didn't even eat, drink, or sleep for a while during the last few weeks of experimenting the revival fluid." Senku sighed as he walked over to the other two boys. "C'mon, let's get him into the tree house and have him rest. Then we'll revive Yukina-san and Ogawa." He suggested, with Kurogasa and Taiju nodding, before they all carried Cody up the tree house and inside to let him rest.
Chapter 2: King of the Stone World
"Geez, I know Cody's a hard worker, but he didn't need to overwork himself like that." Kurogasa sighed as he, Taiju, and Senku walked down the path towards the camphor tree where Yuzuriha and Yukina were. It was only a matter of time before the two ladies were fully revived. Once that happens, they can truly start on rebuilding civilization from the ground up.
"With losing our history and technology? It's understanding as to why he did it. At least he's not trying to work himself to death. Even he knows that it's too much." Senku stated. "And literally overworking oneself to death was already a problem back then."
"Still, we at least perfected the formula and have enough for three people." Kurogasa said, as he looked at the three clay bottles that had the Stone Formula inside, hanging from Senku's belt.
"True. And then we can make more and more, until we save everyone on earth." Senku grinned. After walking for a while longer, they finally arrived at the camphor tree where the statues were. Still intact and waiting. "Alright, this is it."
"Are you really sure it'll work?" Taiju asked.
"Yeah. It should." Senku nodded. "I tried it on a piece of shattered statue and it turned back into a corpse."
"You're so disrespectful!" Taiju snapped, appalled that he would even do such a thing.
"Geez, even I had standards…" Kurogasa muttered with a look of disapproval.
"I did try putting the pieces back together first, but it looks like you can't save someone once they're dead." Senku shrugged. "They made a noble sacrifice so you might send a prayer or something."
"Oh, right!" Taiju said, before clasping his hands together and prayed, "Rest in peace, rest in peace, rest in peace, rest in peace…" He chanted over and over again. While the gesture was much appreciated, Kurogasa couldn't help but sweat drop. This wasn't the time for prayers.
"Anyways, I digress. Care to do the honors, Kuro?" Senku asked, handing the bottle to him.
"Yeah…" Kurogasa sighed then nodded, as he was about to take the bottle. However, Taiju realized something to his horror.
"Wait, we can't do it yet! Yuzuriha and Yukina-san are naked!" Taiju cried out before poking Senku in his eyes.
"GAHHHHHH!" Senku cried out, dropping the bottle. Thankfully, it had a cork to seal it up.
"Dude, what the heck!?" Kurogasa snapped.
"We have to get something to clothe them, and shield our eyes! We can't just see them naked!"
"Ugh… you and your illogical nonsense…" Senku groaned, rubbing his eyes in pain. Why was he on the receiving end of such immature indignity!? He shook his head, as his vision was able to focus before looking at Taiju with incredulity. "This is the Stone World and it's kind of an emergency! No one's gonna care if your butt's sticking out or your junk is hanging around!"
"Yuzuriha doesn't have that!" Taiju snapped.
"That's not my point!" Senku snapped back.
*SPURT!*
Kurogasa had his head down and eyes shadowed over as he covered his nose while blood slowly trickled out of said nose over his entire hand.
"Eh?! Are you okay, Kurogasa?" Taiju gasped.
"I'm fine… I'm totally fine…" Kurogasa muffled out.
"Hehe, he's just imagining Yukina-san and Yuzuriha in-"
"YOU SHUT UP, SENKU!" Kurogasa shouted comically while his face was the perfect color of a ripe tomato while blood still trickled out of his nose.
"What? You're imagining what?" Taiju questioned in confusion at Kurogasa.
"It's nothing! Don't worry about it!" Kurogasa exclaimed.
Taiju pouted, before shaking his head and turned around to carry Yuzuriha's statue over his head. "Anyways, we have to take them back to camp and clothe them first. Then we can revive them."
"Just how heavy is that statue, anyway?" Senku wondered aloud.
"Yuzuriha isn't fat!"
"That's not the point he's trying to make." Kurogasa sighed, before he decided to carry his mother's statue as well. "Still, he's right. We should at least make them decent first before we revive them."
"See!? He agrees!" Taiju pointed out.
"But wouldn't it be ten billion times quicker to wake them up and have them walk?" Senku retorted, sighing with a light facepalm. "Seriously, how illogical can you-"
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
Senku's eyes widened at the sound. Kurogasa and Taiju stopped in their tracks when they too heard the roar. Cold sweat trickled down their faces while they were frozen in place. The sound got louder and louder, and even a snarl was added into the noise. Their minds were going blank. Just what in the world was out there stalking them? They soon got their answer in the form of a muscular, deep-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. There were five of them and one of them was a male, as indicated by the prominent mane that wrapped around his head and covered his chest and back.
It was a pride of lions!
"You know… there comes a time when there's only one thing to do in a situation like this." Kurogasa gulped.
"Yeah? And what's that?" Senku asked.
"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Kurogasa shouted as he was the first one to run off, while carrying his mother's statue. Taiju followed him with hefting Yuzuriha's statue over his head while Senku was the last to run. The pride of lions soon followed the humans, officially beginning the hunt. "Where did those lions come from!? Better yet, why are they in Japan!?"
"They're most likely from a nearby zoo!" Senku cried out, "The staff must have been petrified while the door was open or something! Without caretakers, they fed on every herbivore in the zoo that's on the menu! And if they went out into the city, it's a free-for-all pet buffet!"
"So they're literally the king of beasts, and we're not on top of the food chain anymore!" Kurogasa said.
"Wah! Do something Cody!" Taiju shouted, forgetting he wasn't there with them.
"He's resting back at the camp, you big oaf!" Senku snapped.
"Then someone get him!"
"How, when he's passed out?!" Kurogasa snapped.
Unfortunately, they ran into a dead end as they ran off the edge of a cliff. Realizing this, they all fell down. "AHHHHHHHHH! CURSE MY ACROPHOBIA!" He cried out as the three boys fell into the canopies of the trees. The branches broke their fall as they came down, but it doesn't mean that it didn't hurt. Pain followed each time they hit a branch, until eventually, they got tangled onto some vines to stop them falling, but their weight was too much and the vines broke off, letting them fall on the ground. "Ow… I am not going through that again…" He groaned as the three boys slowly staggered to their feet. They heard the lions' roar again before they had to run again. They were aching all over, but there wasn't time to stop and rest.
"I don't get it though! Why haven't they attacked us yet?" Taiju asked.
"They haven't seen bipedal creatures before." Senku answered. "We're creepy to them, so it's only natural they get alarmed, since we're the only humans in this world. Besides, if we're lucky to get back to the camp, we could only fight with spears. This game was practically over before it even began. Unless we use the Stone Formula to revive someone to help us."
"Who would-" Kurogasa said, but then thought what Senku was thinking. "Oh no, nonononononononono! We are not reviving him!"
"We don't have much choice in the matter." Senku responded. "We either don't and die, leaving everyone hopeless. Or we revive him and live."
"Him?" Taiju asked.
"Tsukasa Shishio." He gritted. He didn't like it. The guy was practically invincible in the MMA ring, beating every single MMA fighter he came across back in the day. But given the situation they were in… "Fine, but we have to hurry!"
"Then let's go!" Senku said, leading the charge to get to Tsukasa and survive the lions. They kept running and running, non-stop. Their legs felt like they were on fire, but they couldn't stop. If they slow down for even a moment, then they're as good as dinner. And those lions will have humans in their bellies that will keep them full for days.
"There he is!" Taiju exclaimed as they arrived at their destination where Tsukasa's statue sat.
"Alright, here goes nothing! Wake up, Tsukasa!" Kurogasa shouted, quickly opening the bottle, and threw the liquid at the statue, splashing on the statue's face and upper body. The growls of the pride of lions closed in on them and before long, the lions had them cornered, causing the humans to back up. This was a bad situation since the Stone Formula needed a little extra time to awaken him.
"Crap… what do we do now?" Taiju gritted his teeth.
"Wait and pray…" Senku gulped.
"Not me…" Kurogasa said, as he placed Yukina on the ground and got into a fighting stance. "I'll try and hold them off until Tsukasa is revived."
"Idiot! You can't fight against a pride of lions! Even Cody wouldn't try this stunt!" Senku snapped. "You have a ten billion percent chance of getting eaten!"
"I have to try!"
The lions stalked closer to them, almost ready to pounce as Kurogasa stood his ground. Sweat dripping down his forehead in fear. Until…
*CRACK!*
"Huh?" Senku and Taiju towards the statue as steam came out and cracked in a spiral motion downward before pieces of it shattered, revealing Tsukasa's eyes and mouth.
"H-Hey, I know you probably don't know what's going on, but we really need your help!" Taiju panicked. Tsukasa said nothing, eyeing the situation from his shell, only to literally flex and break off the rest of his stone casing.
「Tsukasa Shishio revived!」
"What's the situation?"
"Lions." Senku answered. "They're at 9 o'clock and 2 o'clock."
"Okay." Tsukasa said as he stood up and walked towards the lions, not showing a sliver of fear or terror in his eyes. The male lion roared and charged at him.
"H-Hey watch-" Kurogasa called out.
*WHAM!*
Tsukasa literally walked up to the male lion, and punched it into the tree nearby. There was a sickening crunch from the male lion's back as it slammed against the tree, breaking it in the process before it fell to the ground, remaining motionless, as blood trickled down its nose. He literally killed the lion with one punch!
"Sugei…" Kurogasa said in awe. The female lions growled as all four of them slowly backed off from this new threat. They weren't going to mess with this strange creature, not after their leader and mate were killed. Eventually, they backed off and turned tail to run away. Kurogasa slumped down as he panted heavily from the near death experience. "Oh man… this was intense." He panted heavily.
"Do any of you have a knife?" Tsukasa requested.
"Huh? Oh… here." Kurogasa said, handing him a stone knife after getting out of his stupor. "Thank you for saving us. It would have gone bad, if things were different."
"It's no problem. Mm, you can fill me in on the details of the situation later. Now that you have me…" Tsukasa said, skinning the lion for its pelt, "You won't have to worry about predators again. From now on, I'll do the fighting."
"UWHOOOOOOOOOOA! This is great, Senku!" Taiju said happily. "Now we don't have to worry about anything!"
"Yeah," Senku nodded. "But this Shishio guy is way too strong."
"Is that a bad thing?" Taiju asked, "What's wrong with having someone like him around?"
"What if he turns out to be an evil bureaucrat with insatiable greed?" Senku retorted. "He's overpowered enough to kill a lion with his bare hands. In a world without guns, he's ten billion percent unstoppable."
Taiju thought about it for a moment before he imagined Tsukasa on a throne, surrounded by beautiful ladies and asking Yuzuriha to come to him. Taiju shouted as he shook his head furiously, not wanting to think of that outcome. "No way! We can't let that happen!"
"By the way, are we… eating the lion's meat?" Kurogasa questioned. "I mean yeah, we shouldn't be wasteful, but…"
"To survive, one must throw away one's self doubt to live. Even if it was in self-defense, I did kill it with my own hands." Tsukasa said before turning to them. "It's my way of giving thanks to the circle of life by putting all of it to use."
"UWHOOOOOOOOOOA!" Taiju yelled, as he felt inspired by this strong person. "He's great, Senku! He's no evil bureaucrat! He's a super good guy!"
"I hope so…" Kurogasa sighed.
"Gotta warn ya though, it tastes horrible and reeks of ammonia." Senku snickered.
"You ate lion!?" Kurogasa and Taiju gawked.
"Yeah, when I went to Africa to research Ebola."
"What kind of high schooler are you!?" They shouted comically.
Senku waved it off as if it weren't a big deal. "Well, I don't have a millimeter of interest in gratitude, but I do agree with not wasting meat."
Tsukasa didn't say anything as he raised the stone knife and brought it down to cut more of the lion open.
After the introductions, the group made their way back to grab the last two preserved miracle waters to revive Yuzuriha and Yukina, along with showing Tsukasa the shack and science room they have and giving him clothes, which was a crude brownish-red yukata. Cody meanwhile had just woken up from his long overdue nap after they returned, and he was shocked to see Tsukasa.
"Is… that Tsukasa?" Cody asked the two, pointing to him.
"Yeah, that's me." Tsukasa nodded, extending his hand. "Tsukasa Shishio."
"Cody Aldrich." He greeted back, shaking his hand. "I heard stories about you."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I mean no one's ever displayed that kind of strength before."
"I see. Although, I admit the stories and rumors may have been exaggerated."
"After you did a one-hit KO on that lion, I'd say it isn't." Kurogasa said.
"Oh… you guys had a run in with some lions?" Cody said, noticing the pelt on Tsukasa.
"Yeah. I was about to fight them too, but Tsukasa took care of it."
"Right. Well anyways, we should start making some emergency flares or something, just in case it happens again." Cody suggested.
"Agreed." Senku nodded.
"If I may ask… what have the four of you been eating?" Tsukasa asked.
"Before Cody, I only found mushrooms and nuts." Senku answered.
"Then I was able to add in some small animals and more edible stuff out here." Cody added in. "But mostly rabbits."
"I see. Mm. Since I'm here, you won't have to worry about living like that any longer. From now on, I'll be in charge of the fighting and hunting."
"Meaning we won't have to worry about food shortages either." Kurogasa nodded.
"And first on the menu." Tsukasa said, placing the large sack of lion meat on the ground. "Lion."
"That's… new to me…" Cody blinked. He and the others, other than Senku, have never eaten lion before. It was going to be a new experience for them. "I think I can find some way to make it taste at least decent enough."
"Hey, Chrom from Fire Emblem had bear meat. So this couldn't get any weirder. Plus, you'll have to somehow get rid of the ammonia."
"I know a few ways to get it off. First would need to be getting lemon and lime." Cody said, as he grabbed a nearby stick to spear the meat through.
"Are there any lemons and limes growing though?" Taiju frowned in thought, putting a hand to his chin. "I mean it's been 3,700 years after all."
"We just need to figure out if we're in an area with mild climates." Senku said.
"Given our surroundings, it's most likely the case." Kurogasa replied. "Well, no time like the present."
For most of the day, Tsukasa went out hunting. He tracked a sounder of boars that traversed through the forest and quickly killed them with his martial arts. He was then on top of a huge branch and ran off it to grab a goose in the air, choking it with his bare hands. He even went to the sea and harpooned a school of fish. For Cody, he found some lemons and lime to help remove the ammonia in the lion meat and to make it at least decent enough to eat. Using several fruit juices among other things before cooking the meat over the fire.
As of now, the five boys were sitting on the beach on the shoreline as Senku went to work on smoking the fish Tsukasa caught.
"I see. If you cook it immediately, then you won't have to worry about having a fridge to keep it from going bad." Taiju said as the fish were hung above the fire via their gouged eyes.
"He's not even cooking it. He's using the smoke to kill any harmful microbes the fish may have." Kurogasa replied.
"So no eating raw meat anymore. Our diets have to remove anything harmful from what we eat. And that includes stuff we can't even see." Cody added.
"If we all work together, we'll have plenty of preserved food." Tsukasa said.
"3.3 billion points to you three." Senku smirked. "Once we get things going, we'll be on the first step towards civilization."
"We're still at step zero!?" Taiju gawked.
"Of course, you dolt. All things take time, and with what we have? It's still going to take some time before we can even get to the first step." Cody groaned.
"Oh…"
After smoking the fish, the five boys sat down at their campfire and had their fill of the hunt. The boar and geese they had were delicious and lion meat was at least decent to eat and never wasted. Though, for some, it wasn't to their taste.
"Yeah, lion meat isn't my thing." Cody groaned, even though he finished his portions. "Even if I tried to cook it with better ingredients, this is all I think it could muster."
"Same here." Kurogasa agreed. "Well, at least we didn't waste anything. We Japanese were taught that anyway."
"We?" Cody smirked, pointing out about him still being an American.
"What? You're American. You waste more often than any other country."
"Yeah, I know that, Kurogasa." Cody responded, "But not all Americans are like that. Some can surprise you."
"And on that note, it's time for a fun pop quiz." Senku said, interrupting the two. "What's the most important thing needed for a technological civilization?"
"Oh! I know! Smartphones!" Taiju answered.
"No you doof." Cody sighed, facepalming. "Seriously, how many tens of billions of years ahead are you?"
"Iron, perhaps?" Tsukasa asked.
"Yeah, there's that, but that's for later." Senku said. "What we need… is calcium carbonate."
"Oh you mean lime." Kurogasa figured. "The powder used to chalk athletic fields and such."
"Really? I figured we'd find a gym storage room for that." Taiju blinked.
"Taiju, we're 3,700 years ahead." Kurogasa facepalmed. "None of those things exist anymore. Those shells Senku used to trim your beard during the winter? That has calcium carbonate. If you crush them into a powder you get calcium carbonate."
"Ohh! That I can do!" Taiju grinned.
"Then get to it." Senku said.
"Got it!" He nodded, rushing off to do so, with his basket in hand, running and picking up shells on the beach, left and right, going back and forth to make sure he had plenty to crush.
"Another pop question. What's four ways we can use calcium carbonate?" Senku asked.
"Hmm… we could use it for agriculture to blow away all the hydrogen ions. In other words, we upgrade the soil in order to grow our own food." Cody answered.
"Correct. What else?"
"Construction. If you mix and cook it with some sand, you can make basic cement, mortar, and make furnaces or houses." Kurogasa added.
"Correct as well." Senku nodded, "But there is one very important usage of lime that it helps make."
"Soap." Tsukasa replied.
"Ten million points to you, Tsukasa." Senku nodded. "We get sodium carbonate from seaweed, mix it with oil, and the reaction you get from it is soap. In this world, we can't afford to get sick or it's game over. It's our doctor without doctors. Our Dr. Stone."
"Yeah, plus I still feel icky from waking up from that prison." Cody shivered, "I could definitely go for a good bath."
"You're not the only one." Kurogasa got out. "It's like being in sleep paralysis. You can't move and the sudden shock you get when you do move…" He shuddered. "It's scary just thinking about it…"
"Then we should also get a working or at least some cover for us to bathe." Senku said.
"Right." Kurogasa nodded. "So then… what's the fourth way?"
"Ah, doesn't matter right now. Let's just get this going before that big fool comes back and ruins our progress." Senku waved off, as Cody quickly got up to help build a bathhouse or at least a cover for them to use to bathe.
"I must admit, Senku, you're an amazing man." Tsukasa spoke up, catching his attention. "In the moment I revived, too, you communicated the situation quickly and calmly. I've never seen anyone as clever as you. I admire you, truly."
Senku stared at him for what seemed like forever before saying, "A man who praises a man to his face is usually full of ulterior motives. It's been that way for ten billion years. So? What's your point?" He questioned.
Tsukasa looked a bit surprised at his question before smiling a bit. "Oh dear. I really didn't mean anything by it. I just have this feeling you might be able to build modern civilization from scratch. Mm. That's all I wanted to say."
Kurogasa looked a bit confused at the conversation between the two.
Later on that night, Taiju was fast asleep as was Cody and Tsukasa, however, Kurogasa couldn't sleep. The reason being the conversation that Senku had with Tsukasa. It's as if something didn't feel right. Kurogasa slowly got up as he didn't want to disturb the others. Maybe some fresh air would help him clear his head. He looked to his side and noticed that Senku wasn't in bed. Curious, he went outside and slowly went down the tree, only to find Senku doing something. He was making something and from the looks of it, it was… a crossbow?
"Kinda late for a night hunt, don't you think?" Kurogasa asked, as Senku stopped working momentarily.
"Nah, it's not for a hunt. This is a secret weapon." Senku answered.
"For?"
"In case of emergencies."
"Senku…" Kurogasa frowned slightly at the teen scientist in suspicion. "You don't really think Tsukasa has an ulterior motive, do you?"
"Who knows?" Senku shrugged as he sat on the ground. "We did revive him on the spot after all. And the guy is freakishly strong. You never know what might happen."
"I mean, yeah, but…"
"Don't worry. We'll know once we cross that bridge. I'm just being prepared." Senku waved off with assurance. "Go back to sleep."
"Well… okay, if you say so." Kurogasa frowned, before going back up to the tree house. He spared one last glance at Senku, and with a small sigh, he went back inside.
For the next several days, the boys lived off the land, provided by Mother Nature. After collecting so many shells, Taiju used a big stone hammer to crush them into fine powder. From there, the calcium carbonate was distributed equally to do their several projects.
「"Calcium Carbonate" acquired!」
Kurogasa and Senku worked on the mortar using the sand and calcium carbonate, mixing it with water to make mortar and spread it on the outside of the tree house.
「"Mortar" acquired!」
Cody and Tsukasa dove into the sea to collect seaweed from the shallow seabed in order to extract the sodium carbonate and mixed it with oil in order to make soap.
「"Soap" acquired!」
For Taiju… he kept collecting shells. It's best to keep it simple for him.
It was another day at the beach as Taiju kept collecting shells while the rest of the boys were resting on the shores from their work, looking out into the sea. "This world… is beautiful." Tsukasa said, looking at the view, along with the sunrise.
"It is." Kurogasa trailed off. "We're in a free world so-to-speak."
"Maybe the petrification was a blessing… A new way to restart the world." Tsukasa said, as he saw a human statue nearby, then walked up to it. "Maybe we should forget about our progress."
"Huh?" Cody looked to the strongest high school primate. "Why?"
Tsukasa was silent for a moment before he decided to tell a story. "Once upon a time, there was once a poor boy who had a little sister who was sick in the hospital." Tsukasa began. "He tried to make a seashell necklace for her, who was undergoing surgery. His sister loved The Little Mermaid. But then… a middle-aged man who owned the fishing rights to that spot arrived, and with him, the stench of liquor." He then looked down at the statue. "The boy who had been collecting shells… or rather, stealing the shells from what the fishermen claimed, beat the boy to a pulp so much that his face was unrecognizable. He was never able to help his sister be like The Little Mermaid."
"That's… a sad tale…" Kurogasa said, as the others began questioning Tsukasa.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Cody asked in confusion.
Tsukasa didn't say anything and the next thing that happened-
*BAM!*
Tsukasa punched the head of the statue right off their body and the head slowly rolled over to Senku. Kurogasa and Cody were shocked that he suddenly and literally knocked someone's head off!
"T-Tsukasa?" Kurogasa stuttered, looking at the strongest male in disbelief.
"You do realize what you just did, right?" Senku said. "You just killed a man."
"I did." Tsukasa answered, picking up the head as he crushed it in his palm, much to the other boys' horror. "Senku… do you plan on reviving everyone in this world? Including those grown-ups whose hearts are tainted? Sure, they'll be grateful to you at first, but once civilization starts up again, the rich will rob the poor and the young of their future again. We must not bring that world back. This is the Stone World, an untainted paradise. We will revive only the pure-hearted youth and live in a natural world owned by no one. It's the chance to purify humanity. Don't you agree?"
"Tsukasa. You should already know the answer to that." Senku responded. "Not at all. Not even a millimeter. I'm a technology loving boy who gets excited over mechs, space, Doraemon, and other kinds of stuff. I'm going to use the power of science to bring back everyone."
"Humanity can't survive with just good people. As much as I hate corruption, we need to do this. There's always a balance between light and dark." Cody added on. "Besides, who's to say that those good people will eventually turn into the very people you despised?"
"Mm. Then… it seems we have very different goals." Tsukasa said, "If I must, I will do what I can to make my vision a reality."
"You can't do this, Tsukasa." Kurogasa pleaded. "Please don't… we came this far and we can't stop now. It doesn't need to be this way. Have you really lost that much faith in humanity that you would kill others?"
"Humanity was a lost cause, the day we became greedy." Tsukasa answered.
"But two wrongs don't make it right,"
Tsukasa stared at him for what seemed like forever before saying, "I'm giving you a choice, Kurogasa. You either join me? Or Senku…"
"Gh…" Kurogasa gritted his teeth. How did it come to this? They were getting along so well, they looked after each other, worked together to get where they currently are, and now his vendetta to kill corrupt humans is halting their progress. It wasn't supposed to be this way. With reluctance, he got into a fighting stance.
"You've made your choice." Tsukasa said.
"I won't let you kill anyone. And I won't let you kill Kaa-san either…" Kurogasa vowed, clenching his fists tightly. "She's all I have left in this world."
"You can't win against me…" Tsukasa said, walking up to him. Kurogasa threw a punch, but Tsukasa easily blocked it before gripping his collar and flung him into Cody, sending both boys to the ground. "Senku…?" He called out, looking at him.
'Heh… well this is a big pickle we're in.' Senku chuckled in his thoughts. 'This guy is seriously bad news. Then again, if Kuro hadn't woken him up, we'd really would've been eaten by those lions. We really didn't have a choice. He really wants to help out the youth, too, so I'm sure he'll stay under control until he learns the recipe about the Stone Formula. Even if it kills me, I'll have to keep quiet about the cave.'
"Senku!" Taiju's voice called out, as the big oaf ran towards them with with two more clay bottles of the Stone Formula. "Senku! We got two more bottles of miracle fluid filled up! We can revive more people!"
'GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NO YOU BIG OAF!' Senku wailed in horror.
"Huh? Kuro, why are you and Cody on the ground?" Taiju asked confused, looking at them.
"We're trying wrestling moves…" Cody answered, with a deadpan look. "Why else do you think we're down here? Tsukasa-"
"What is this miracle fluid you speak of?" Tsukasa cut in.
"Heh, we might as well just show you." Senku chuckled, cracking his neck. "Ten billion times better than just telling ya."
"Good." Tsukasa nodded, before Senku pointed in the direction of the forest and cliffs.
"Just head straight in that direction over yonder and you'll see a cave where we're collecting the miracle fluid. You can't miss it."
"And if you're lying to me?"
"Please, why would I lie to you now?" Senku shrugged off.
Tsukasa pondered at his words. But seeing the sincerity in them, he turned to the direction of the cave and made his way off.
「Tsukasa Shishio has left the Party.」
"What's going on?" Taiju asked.
"No time to explain. We gotta head back to base now." Senku said, before darting off.
"Wait, what? Why? What's going on!?"
"WHAT!? TSUKASA TURNED BAD!?" Taiju gawked as the four boys had just arrived back at the base while Senku quickly went to work on the formula.
"Yeah. He's planning on killing everyone he claims corrupt. Which is why we need to work fast." Kurogasa answered. "And I'm not letting him kill Kaa-san."
"We have some time before he gets back. But once Yukina-san and Yuzuriha are revived, we have to book it." Senku said, "He most likely would need to know more and would come after us until he gets it."
"Taiju, get the girls' clothes put on now." Cody ordered.
"H-Hai!" He nodded, as he took off.
"I didn't think it would come to this…" Kurogasa growled. "If I hadn't revived Tsukasa, I-"
"We would've died. It was inevitable." Senku cut him off. "We had no other choice and had to survive. It's not your fault he would turn out this way. If it makes you feel better, I didn't expect it either."
"Senku…"
"Alright, formula complete." Senku said, draining the last of the fluid into the two cups. "Hey big oaf, are they ready?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's get those them awake and run!"
Taking the Stone Formula, they went towards the two statues of Yuzuriha and Yukina who were now dressed. Yuzuriha was wearing a white cloth dress that was split at her sides and had matching cloth shoes, with Yukina wearing the same thing. The teen scientist then poured the contents on their heads to the last drops. Moments passed by but it wasn't doing anything.
"N-Nothing's happening!" Taiju panicked.
"Relax. It takes a bit of time. It took a while to revive Tsukasa, so this shouldn't be different." Cody informed him.
"He's right. It's a type of cryostasis." Senku added. "It's like a type of protective coat made from trace metals in the body. Some mysterious mechanism is causing those elements to phase-shift, maintaining a petrified state."
"That's too complicated for me to understand!" Taiju groaned, holding his head.
"The point is, if even one part of it gets nital on it, and breaks down…" Senku smirked.
*CRACK!*
"?!" Kurogasa and Taiju gasped, seeing the statues cracking.
"It creates a cascade effect that travels across the entire body and the petrification is undone." Senku finished.
*CRACK! CRACK! CRAAAAACK!*
In mere moments, the two women broke free from their stone prison as the fragments fell away from them.
「Yuzuriha Ogawa revived!」
「Yukina Kururugi revived!」
"Yuzuriha!" Taiju cried out, catching her.
"Kaa-san!" Kurogasa shouted, doing the same thing. "Kaa-san, can you hear me? Kaa-san!"
"Taiju-kun…?"
"Kuro… gasa…?"
The two slowly opened their eyes, with warm smiles and hope filling their eyes, as they hugged their loved ones.
"Yuzuriha, I'm sorry I made you wait for 3,700 years!" Taiju sobbed as tears fell from his eyes. "I'm so sorry!"
"Thank goodness, you're alright." Kurogasa choked.
"I… have no idea what's going on. I just woke up." Yuzuriha said softly. "But yeah… I think I know what's going on. You saved me, didn't you. Wow… thanks."
"I knew… I knew that whatever happened I would see your face again, Kurogasa." Yukina smiled softly, tears in her eyes happily. "You're still alive. That's all that matters. You saved me."
"No…" Kurogasa shook his head. "I didn't save you. Senku did. He'd been working on the Stone Formula for a year in order to revive you and Yuzu-chan,"
"Kuro… kun?" Yuzuriha noticed, before looking at the other boys. "Ah… Cody-kun, Senku-kun, you're here too."
"Welcome back. Though we don't have time to enjoy the moment. We need to move." Cody stated to the girls.
"Ara?" Yukina looked confused as Kurogasa helped his mother stand up.
"He's right, Yukina-san." Senku nodded. "Right now, we're in a bad situation. Recently, we revived Tsukasa Shishio, the strongest primate high school fighter. He plans on breaking/killing any person whom he deems corrupt."
"Oh my." Yukina gasped.
"He thinks only the pure-hearted of the youth are worthy of surviving in this Stone World." Senku added. "So right now, we have two options. Plan A: All of you run now and live somewhere else, or Plan B: Stay and fight alongside me using weapons of civilization?"
"Why would he do this?" Yukina asked, saddened, "If that's the case, I'll have to be the one to teach him otherwise that not everyone is corrupt."
"Kaa-san, wait," Kurogasa cut in. "You're a possible target too. I can't risk that."
"And we'd rather not test fate." Senku added.
Yukina pondered at her son and friend's suggestion before she nodded in understanding. If what Senku and Kurogasa said was true, then she trusts their word. "Very well…"
"Besides, the answer's obvious! We're staying with you!" Taiju retorted. "If he's killing people, I'll-"
"Killing is such a strong word." A familiar voice said, as they all gasped to see Tsukasa standing there. "Mm. It's really a matter of perspective. I'm culling them… for the benefit of the new world."
"Tsukasa…" Cody growled.
"So, this is what you planned?" Tsukasa said, glancing at the women. He then threw the lion pelt down as he approached, not hiding his intention to murder.
"Senku…" Kurogasa muttered as he stepped forward. "If anything happens to me, take care of Kaa-san."
"Don't be stupid… I'm what he wants." He said, moving his neck again.
"All the more reason to protect you! You're our only chance of bringing back everyone!"
"Heh, you guys know the formula now. No reason for me to stick around when you all can make it too." Senku pointed out.
"It doesn't matter! You're the key to everything! I'll stop Tsukasa!" Kurogasa said, before charging in at said muscular teen.
"Kuro, you idiot!" Cody shouted.
'Dammit, I don't have a choice!' Senku growled, in his thoughts as he immediately went to one of the clay jars and pulled out the crossbow he made earlier and aimed it at Tsukasa. 'I didn't want to bring out my secret weapon, but he forced my hand. If I could at least stop them from fighting-'
*WOOSH!*
Without hesitation, Senku fired an arrow at Tsukasa's shoulder in hopes to at least graze or paralyze him, best case scenario. But what surprised them was… Tsukasa catching that arrow and throwing it straight to the ground! What happened next was Tsukasa spinning around and doing a high knee kick towards Kurogasa at full force. Kurogasa blocked it with his hand and skid backwards, but was still standing even as smoke billowed from the back of said hand. This surprised Tsukasa.
"Impressive. You're the first one to stay standing after my kick." He praised, only to glance behind him as he dodged an incoming stone dagger from Cody, before the blonde skidded next to Kurogasa. "Hmph, rather petty of you, Aldrich."
"Says the maniac." Cody countered, "Sides, within a fight of survival? There aren't any rules."
"Mm. You're right. There isn't." Tsukasa said before rushing towards… Yukina!?
"Kaa-san!" Kurogasa shouted before getting in front of her to block a punch, pushing him back with a few kicks. Yukina gasped in surprise from what could have been a near death experience as she fell to her knees with Yuzuriha catching her.
Tsukasa did a series of punches but Kurogasa swatted them away and countered him move for move. "Looks like my lessons in Wing Chun paid off," Kurogasa said as he got in a stance. "Kakatte koi!" He then zig-zagged towards Tsukasa and the moment he got close, they began close quarter combat.
Kurogasa charged at Tsukasa and did a series of kicks at him. Though the latter was able to dodge as he jumped back to gain distance. Tsukasa then charged in with a rain of punches and kicks before Kurogasa dodged around and went for retaliation with a series of roundhouse kicks which the strongest high school primate ducked. Tsukasa then did a swift low coming uppercut, trying to nail Kurogasa. The latter deflected the attack by slapping the offending hand away, but Tsukasa already came in with a kick which Kurogasa blocked with his forearm.
Tsukasa swung hard but Kurogasa dodged his fast and powerful paced swings. Tsukasa's fist went in for a thrust which Kurogasa slapped away and had to block the other with his forearm. Kurogasa then broke away to dodge an overhead chop, then followed up with a quick series of jabs which the Tsukasa blocked before he retaliated with a straight kick, aiming for Tsukasa's liver. But the latter was faster and blocked the kick by crossing his arms.
Kurogasa rushed at Tsukasa again, surprising him with the increased speed. He was having slight difficulty dodging his furious kicks, all aimed at his vital spots. When given the chance, Tsukasa swung hard with all the strength he could muster. Kurogasa dodged and broke away, then dodged a haymaker before he disengaged from him. Tsukasa came in with a fierce roundhouse kick which Kurogasa blocked, then retaliated with a snap kick which Tsukasa dodged.
"Not bad. If we had met sooner, you'd most likely be my best challenge yet." Tsukasa complimented. "But sadly, you're still green." He said, before suddenly closing in, giving Kurogasa no time to defend himself, and threw one punch to send the teen to a nearby tree.
"GAH!" Kurogasa coughed and did a spit take when his back slammed against the tree before falling to the ground.
"Kurogasa!" Yukina cried out for her son, rushing towards him. "Kurogasa, Kurogasa!" Yukina repeated his name as she slowly flipped him over.
"Kaa-san…" Kurogasa wheezed, looking at his mother weakly. "I'm… sorry, I…"
"Shh, don't talk. Just rest." Yukina said, as Cody came over.
"You idiot. Be glad I'm around, otherwise you'll most likely be dead." He said, getting his handmade kit out to start any way to heal his injuries.
Yukina then looked towards Tsukasa with a slight glare. "How could you do this? Why do you even need to? We're all human!"
"Human…?" Tsukasa muttered. "Humanity was a lost cause, the moment we became greedy. I'm on a mission to rectify that problem."
"If that's the case… then wouldn't doing this also make you imperfect?" Yukina pointed out. "You're trying to find the good without the bad, just like scientists finding cures without realizing some need the bad!"
"Hmph…" Tsukasa scoffed as he turned around.
"You've lost someone haven't you…" Yukina said, making him stop in his tracks. "Whatever happened to them back then, caused you to be what you are now."
"…" He remained silent.
"You don't have to use violence in order to have your voice heard. There are other ways."
Tsukasa kept quiet as he took in Yukina's words. He didn't know why, but she seemed different from other adults he had seen and met in his life. The weight in her words didn't seem light and flimsy, but they were heavy and have somehow struck a chord in him. After a moment longer, standing there, Tsukasa voiced his decision. "Be glad. You're the first adult I won't kill…" He said, then looked to Taiju and Kurogasa. "Taiju, Kurogasa, you protect Yuzuriha and Yukina-san, instead of worrying about statues of people you don't even know. And I'll do what I have to do. So don't get in my way." And with that, he grabbed his lion pelt, wrapped over his body as a cape and and grabbed a spear, before finally leaving, letting the others breathe.
"To think… Tsukasa would be able to stop an arrow flying at him at two hundred kilometers per hour." Senku pondered, as he took out the arrow from the ground.
"Yeah… he snatched it right out of the air." Yuzuriha agreed in amazement.
"What do we do?" Taiju asked.
"The answer's ten billion percent obvious." Senku smirked. "We have to advance civilization and make weapons of science. But first…" He said, looking at his tree house then laboratory. "We have to create a diversion."
"How exactly?" Yuzuriha asked.
"Leave that to me." Cody said, as he finished patching up Kurogasa, "I did take lessons from an actual clan leader." He said with a smirk, "After all, true ninjas are meant for gathering information, do silent take downs, and most importantly, make distractions, which I can do for a while."
"Heh, you're catching on." Senku smirked. "This is a race against Tsukasa. If we can make a weapon of science before he finds out then we win. That said, we need to head out towards the destination I had in mind."
"Where would that be?"
"Hakone."
Z=2 END