so, for some reason, the stats of this story suddenly skyrocketed since the last update. i'm like, 'damn, did they like the chapter that much?' looking at it again i realized my mistake. yeah, those character tags weren't supposed to appear until later chapters but they somehow did.
i was busy with other things when i uploaded the last chapter, and i only saw the outcome last week. now, i don't know whether i should remove them or not, but since a lot of you have seen it, maybe it's already a bit too late.
anyway, sUrPRisE! these are the characters that'll be the main focus of the story!
also, i just realized that the rating of this story was T instead of M. if you're expecting smut here because of the depicted romance, then you'll probably be disappointed because i don't even know how to write one that is compelling! though i do wanna write one, but that's besides the point.
the only reason i was supposed to mark this as M was because of the violence and blood that i'll put in this story, especially in this chapter. so if you're not a fan of that, go ahead, i don't mind if you leave. i don't plan to please everyone.
hope you'll like the chapter!
word count: 5178
The interrogation room was quiet once Nathaniel Newton claimed that he was a 'man from another dimension'.
Small snickers could be heard once he said those words. The majority of the heroes however only knit their brows in confusion.
"A 'mage'?" asked Mic, holding in his laughter. "'From another dimension', he says?" Nobody could blame him for laughing at such an absurd claim.
Naomasa heard the comment from his earpiece, and he couldn't help but agree. There is something that's out of place though. His quirk, Authentication, wasn't reacting to it. It can detect the truth in two ways: through a person's claim or by answering a yes-or-no question.
Scoffing lightly at the apparent silence, Nate gestured to his cuffs. "I'm pretty sure you want me to prove it to you, but these cuffs are blocking the flow of my Mana Circuits, so I won't be able to physically show you a proof."
He then shrugged at himself and taps his fingers on the table. "But then again, since I'm a suspect in your perspective, you're more than likely to take my word with a grain of salt."
Both are entirely true. In his current position, there is still the chance that he may just be fooling them by saying that he would cooperate and tell them what they need to know. Then there is his claim of being from another dimension, which is an outlandish statement both literally and figuratively.
While Naomasa's quirk did allow him to ascertain whether someone is telling the truth, there is a downside to it. Technicalities. Primarily, asking the wrong question and beliefs.
He assumes the case of Newton-san to be the latter. Something he didn't foresee.
If a person believes something or someone as being true, be it factual or fictitious, then it is the truth based on that person's mind.
In all of his years in this career, he has encountered some suspects that tackle the weakness of his quirk. What does he do to counter it? Simple. By validation of real evidence, i.e. research and his deductive reasoning, he was able to get around that weakness.
But what would you do with someone who literally has no valid information? Should he risk trusting this person? He bit his inner cheek, weighing his options. Newton-san, patiently waiting for his next move as he continues to tap his fingers rhythmically on the table, unaware of his current conundrum.
"Oh right." The voice of Nathaniel stopped his train of thought. "I do have my Identification Card. You should get it to confirm my story."
The detective blinked. Nate rolled his eyes with a wry grin. "Right, you don't know what that is..." He gestures his hands in a shape of a rectangle. "It's about this size and coloured black. I'm sure you haven't opened it, which you pretty much can't because it can only be opened with my mana signature."
He recalled seeing that device. Among the things they confiscated from his bag, one of them checks out the description of this particular device. At first, they thought it was his other phone since one side has tempered glass and some print smudges.
Naomasa pursed his lips. This may just be the only evidence to validate his origins.
"Alright." He nodded and stood up, walking towards the door. "Please wait here, Newton-san."
He got a smile in return.
Once the detective was out, he fished out his phone and quickly typed a text to his colleague to fetch the belongings of Nathaniel Newton.
"What do you think of him?"
Looking up, he turned to the voice of Best Jeanist. He looked back at the man on the other side of the room who was tapping away on the table. The speakers picked it up. He can recognize the beat as another song from the pre-quirk era.
'He really likes the songs from that time, eh?' he noted.
"I'm not sure..." The heroes now focused on him. "My quirk didn't react to him, but..."
"You believe that his mind is poisoned." finished Endeavour.
"What about the other villains?" asked Ingenium. "Anything you got out of them?"
Naomasa shook his head. "No. They've been pretty tight-lipped."
Gang Orca snorted. "Have you tried using force?"
Sighing, he crossed his arms. "Yes. In fact, one of them was on the verge of telling it all."
They focused on the keyword: was.
Mic took a bite at the subject. "What happened?"
"He blew up."
Whatever their minds thought of what actually happened, this wasn't it. Naomasa continued.
"We don't know how," though if their assumption on who is behind these villains, then he has a clue on who they are, "but 3 days ago, we decided to add some pressure on our method of interrogation. We picked one who seemed weak-willed out of all of them. It was going well, but right when he was about to spill it all out, he exploded. Not 'exploded' like bursting in flames, but 'exploded' in the sense of..." he stopped for a moment and swallowed. Ever since he started as a cop, moreover a detective, he was prepared to see blood and gore wherever he was sent into. But never in his life did he see it happen right in front of his eyes.
"Popping like a pimple..."
Mic visually gagged while the rest's reactions varied. Some are shocked while others blanched.
Mirko shuddered. Though that's to be expected in this line of work. She hasn't really seen anything like that, even in her fight club days. Staring at how carefree the guy is, she sighed. She doesn't know what to feel about him. At first, she felt bad and wanted to make up to him since he healed her and also because she inadvertently caused the destruction of his home.
But when she saw those glowing writings on his wrists, she immediately doubted his actions. She really should've judged the situation better and used her brain. A snicker caught her attention as she turned to Mic chatting with Eraser and Midnight.
"Ya think he's a real deal wizard or just a loon?" the loudmouth asked.
Eraser buried his face deeper into his bandage-like scarf. "I'm not sure about that 'wizard' theory, but surely he is connected with these elemental villains. Those writings that I saw were enough of an indication. It may be different from the usual, but they are the same."
Midnight crossed her arms under her chest, eyeing the man on the other side. "Do you think there's a chance that he may be the mastermind of all this?"
Mirko's not really betting on that, but if so, he wasn't what she expected the mastermind would look like. Well, looks can be deceiving. A real wizard though? Now, wouldn't that be something? She can already picture the guy wearing a long robe and pointy hat with a wooden staff, casting his spells dramatically.
She internally laughed but stopped. A thought crossed her mind as she recalled what he said when she first met him. What was it again?
"Pyromancy..."
"Something on your mind, Mirko?"
She turned to the voice of Ingenium who must have her saying it out loud, his head tilted to the side. She voiced her thoughts. "Pyromancy. When I first saw him, I remember him calling the fire guy that. I think he's talking about his abilities. From the tone of his voice, I think he wasn't expecting him to show up."
Seems like the detective heard her as he too has his attention on her. She continued. "This may be a bit far-fetched, but I have a brother who's a big fantasy nut, and in one of his video games, he plays as a wizard. One of the skills there says, 'Pyromancy', some type of skill that relates to fire."
Ingenium hummed, "And if he knows the terminology for these villains, then he might actually know something." He turned to Naomasa, cradling his chin, assessing his thoughts on the suggestion.
"You think he's actually telling the truth?"
Just in time, a knock came on the door. It opened to reveal an officer with a head of a cat carrying a box.
"Detective, here's all of Newton-san's belongings."
Taking the box, he nodded at the officer. "Thank you, Sansa. That'll be all."
With a salute, the cat officer left the room.
Box in hand, he turned to Mirko with a nod. "I'll keep that info in mind, Mirko. Thank you. With this, we will be able to get some answers."
Once the detective went to the other room, Mic nudged at his friend. "Bet you he's actually a real wizard."
The underground hero rolled his eyes, though a small smile was hidden under his scarf. "If you lose, then you'll be handling the students' papers for the next 3 weeks."
His blonde friend merely scoffed as he adjusted his sunglasses. "I can take 'em! But if you lose, you'll be joining my karaoke session tomorrow!"
Nathaniel noticed the box Naomasa was carrying and he assumes that's where they kept his stuff. He placed it on the table with a soft thud and opened it. Founding what he was looking for, he held it up where Nate could see.
It was a thin black device the size of a hand. With a keen eye, you can see there are some engravings at the back depicting a book on fire.
"Is this it?" asked Naomasa.
"Yes!" he said, reaching out to it. "That's my Identification Card."
Before he could get his hands on it, it was pulled out of his reach. He raised a brow at the detective who has a stern look on his face.
"Tsukauchi-san, I'm only going to turn it on," Nate stated calmly. "It can only activate if I let it detect my mana signature."
Naomasa remained still as stone for a few moments, staring into his eyes. Then, he finally relents and hands it to him.
Muttering a thank you, he places his hand on top of it for a couple of seconds until it emitted a low hum. With a beep, a holographic screen popped up, surprising the detective and the heroes.
It showed multiple panels of text in English, Driver's License, Birth Certificate, and more.
"Here are all the records on me," said Nathaniel.
Pointing his finger at it, Naomasa realized that it works like a touchscreen. Fascinated with such technology, he forgot why he was doing this in the first place. So he tapped on the Birth Certificate panel.
The first thing he looked for was his birthplace, finding it to be in... Blary Village? Must be rural, he thought. Next was his birthdate. He was born on April 3, 3349, which is today.
Naomasa's eyes softened somewhat. Sympathetic that the man spent his day of birth here in the interrogation room.
Wait...
"3349?!"
His outburst surprised both Nate and the heroes, though the former knew why.
"That's impossible..." muttered Naomasa. "That's... 500 years from now...! This can't be real."
He navigated through the archives that are everything about Nathaniel Newton. He sees the file that contains the papers for owning the building of E. N. Ar. J. corporation and his academic records. After several minutes of comparing them with the evidence that he knows, everything seems to line up and he sees no inconsistencies. He sat there, massaging his temples as he recuperates.
"So... Remember when I told you that my origins are hard to believe?" Nate sheepishly commented.
The detective weakly chuckled, prying one eye open at the man in front of him. He sighed as he slowly gains his bearings.
"Still working on believing actually," Started the detective. "But how did you even wind up here? Better yet, why?"
With a smile, Nathaniel leaned in and told his story...
He started with the making of Space Magic which lead to the E. N. Ar. J. corporation and Jerry's discovery of the multiverse with his experiment on finding a way to traverse it. Then came his expedition to their world, one which Mirko finds oddly familiar as he continues. It finally dawned on her when he mentioned them; namely 'muscled man', 'ninja guy', 'dragon lady', 'cat cosplayers', and her hero name, Mirko. He doesn't even know Ryukyu, Edgeshot, or the Cats!
"Wait, is he that teleporting guy?"
The heroes turned to her. "You've met him before?" asked Jeanist.
"Well, he did say that his 'Space Magic' allows him to teleport, yeah? So, maybe it was him."
The hybrid animal hummed on the shoulder of All Might. "Yes, I do remember the report of an earthquake in the Coruscant Park at Aichi prefecture. That's where you caught the villain Muscular with the Cats, Edgeshot, and Ryukyu, correct?"
The detective heard it all with his earpiece. Looks like another part of his story lines in with the others. Nate continues as he recalls his objective of rebuilding the machine and his small heist of breaking into libraries due to not having any valid ID.
Naomasa laughed, "So, I assume you're the 'Library Breaker'?"
He paused. "I'm the what now?"
"Do you wear a white suit and mask with a blue vest?"
Nathaniel blinked as he chuckled as well. "Oh, yeah! Is that what they call me?"
"Yes." The detective began to brief him on the report. "There have been reports of break-ins from several libraries, showing their security footage of a man with that same suit rummaging their selections. Since you didn't really steal anything from them, we were only going to charge you with trespassing."
They shared a small laugh at that. "Well, sorry about that."
"It's alright. Now that we know your purpose for doing that, I suppose we could let that slide."
He heard someone from the other room asks whether he was some sort of hero in his world, and so he asked in their stead.
"No, I wasn't."
His sudden shift in tone and short response caught him off guard, especially the heroes. Staring at him, he gave him a small nod at the holographic screen. Eyes narrowed, Naomasa swiped through the files and sees one labelled Criminal Records.
With a tap, he scanned over the screen, reading out loud the charges against him. Vigilantism, Property Damage, Trespassing, Illegal Mercenary. Each one makes the entire room tense as they slowly see the man named Nathaniel Newton in another light. Then, like a final nail in the coffin, the detective read the last one, eyes wide.
"Mass Murder...?"
Nate felt multiple eyes boring through him. Probably from the people on the other side of the room. Strangely, the temperature also felt pretty high as he can feel the sweat pouring down his forehead.
Looking at the detective, he sees the silent demand for an explanation. Nathaniel spoke, his words just above a whisper but the occupants of the room heard him.
When I was a kid there have been rumours of some shady people kidnapping children at night. My friends and I thought it was just a way to keep us at home and because we were just some dumb kids, we paid no heed to their warnings.
That night, we learned the hard way that these 'shady people' were real.
We were caught by some cultists, planning to awaken their so-called God by offering us. A few adults who were caught as well made a plan to escape and we set to action. It was a success, but we weren't without loss. Few of them were my friends.
When I grew up, I discovered that they were still going and reported it to some enforcers of the kingdom. Only to realize that the cultists have ties with the authorities.
That was when I took the responsibility of taking them down on my own hands. I saved people when they were about to be caught and tracked their bases, binding the cultists and leaving them at the mercy of the authorities that I trust. My actions made the public dub me 'the Huntsman' because of my methods and attire.
Just when I was dwindling down their numbers, another problem popped up. A conqueror was on a quest on finding the Rings of Valiance and take over the world. Typical bad guy shenanigans.
It just so happens that my mother was one of its wielders.
When the news reached me that Mr. Conqueror already got to the kingdom my parents lived in, I panicked. I rushed to the nearest teleportation pods to help them, but the deed has already been done as I see the kingdom in ruins. Buildings were destroyed, and bodies littered the streets, citizens or knights.
I ran with dread certain on my face as I reached my parent's house. And there I see my mother's body covered in white, defiled, while my father lies in front of her. Both battered and bruised, the Ring of Valiance was gone from my mother's finger, including the digit itself. I noticed that there were trails of ice and burns across the pavement, and I took solace in the fact that they didn't go down without a fight.
But due to a recent event in my personal life that I will not disclose, I was already mentally unstable. And seeing them in such a state was what broke and pushed me to the edge.
I was enraged.
My emotions clouded my judgement as I left to find the man who did this. My friends and brother who knew of my vigilantism tried to stop and reason with me. God bless their hearts they tried but I was already deep down in the hole of revenge and faced the conqueror by myself.
For two days straight, I slaughtered them all and his crew in cold blood. Not caring when I lost an arm in the process. When I was done... It gave me some sort of closure.
A raiding party came in the aftermath to take down the conqueror. But when they saw the battlefield with me at the centre of it all, they concluded it was a victory. They realized I was the vigilante Huntsman since I fought the conqueror without a mask, and they took me to trial to face my charges.
I was sentenced to life, but the protests by the citizens to set me free in the next years moved the officials, and so the King granted me a pardon for my actions.
After I was free, The King offered me to join the ranks of his knights, perhaps even his secret service. I said I'll think about it. For now, I want to put some rest on my vigilantism and focus on my main life. Teaching and nursing at my alma mater, doing business for E. N. Ar. J. corp, and spending time with my brother.
"At first I thought that my criminal record would cause the company some serious backlash. Turns out it was the opposite! It only made our products more popular and their support also helped their protest when I was in prison."
Though the story was short, they were speechless. Astonished and unable to put into words to describe the ups and downs of Newton's life. The tone of his voice and its cracks at the end, you didn't need a quirk like Naomasa's to figure out if it was true. Those feelings of loss and sorrow were genuine. Nate gained an amount of respect for his tenacity.
Nate saw the look Naomasa was giving him. And with how silent he was, he took a guess at what he is thinking.
"If you're wondering what the 'Illegal Mercenary' was about, it was just some big misunderstanding," the detective stared at him incredulously. Nate shrugged. "I was using the bounty board as a reference because some of them are cultists. I didn't even get the money from the bounty, I swear!"
For the first time since the beginning of this interrogation, Naomasa's quirk rang inside his head.
He lied.
The detective raised a brow at him.
After a few seconds of silence, Nate snickered. "Alright, sure. I did take some." he reasoned. "I was far from home and I was tired from the fighting, so I couldn't spare the time to hunt some food. In the end, I took some of the money and bought myself some grub."
His attempt to lighten the atmosphere failed, but it was appreciated. Naomasa shook his head.
"No, that's not what I have in mind, but thanks for explaining that one." he pressed his lips in a thin line, voicing the thoughts of many heroes in the vicinity. "It's just that... I can't believe someone so young would experience something like that..."
Smiling at the sentiment, Nathaniel continued where they left off. He told them what he was up to in the past 9 months, filled with the normalcy of singing, delivery, and some hunting exercise to keep him in shape.
He finished it off with his discovery of his predicament, trapping himself in his home, and his fate that he is stranded in this world forever.
The detective spared a glance at the one-way glass. "What he said is true. He's safe."
Nate raised a brow at that. He already guessed that this man has some ability to figure out lies, so no surprise that they would bring him in to interrogate him. Nate is safe? What does he mean by that? Was the purpose of this not about asking him about his nonexistent records?
After a few moments, Naomasa nodded at whatever the people on the other side had said. He stood up and reached into his pocket revealing it to be a key. Grabbing the cuffs on him, it unlocked with a soft click, and he can feel his Mana Circuits' flow coming back.
"Am I... free to leave?" chanced Nathaniel.
"Technically, yes," Naomasa replied. "But we would like to ask for your cooperation on another thing."
"It involves me... how?"
"Can you demonstrate your magic?" was the response.
Shrugging, he clapped his hands as the dark blue runes of Space Magic materialized on his wrists. Motioning at the box, it was covered in a blue aura as he lifted it up in the air.
"Some sort of telekinesis?"
Nate shook his head. "No. This is the gravity manipulation spell of Space Magic. Along with spacial manipulation and teleportation."
The detective paused for a moment and hummed in thought. "Someone said that teleportation works by bending space and time, allowing one to transport from point A to point B, correct?
A nod.
"Then, by that extent, can this Space Magic control time as well?"
A good question, actually. Jerry has made a couple of theories about it, though none has been put to test.
"It should. My friend has made some theories, but we haven't tested them," he explained. "Besides, time is relative but weird."
The detective nodded. His face became stern. "Now, to answer your question on how our problem involves you... You see, 3 weeks ago, there have been some elemental villains popping up out of nowhere."
Nathaniel adjusted his posture as he listened. Though with the pretext, he may have an idea of where this is going. He kept quiet to see if he is right.
"We don't know where they got it, but all we know as of now is they are powerful, some writing and a symbol appears at the back of their hand when they use it, and based only on elements. Lastly, our forensics suggest that these are different from quirks."
The occupants watched Nate's reaction to it. Leaning in as he wordlessly flexed his right hand and yellow writings with a symbol depicting 3 jagged lines converging to the centre materialised.
Naomasa barely heard someone say, "So he does have them as well..."
"These are Divinations," said Nathaniel. He sees Naomasa fishing out a pen and a notebook. Nate continued, "Divinations are a type of magic, mostly based around the main elements of nature, that are assigned through the power of the leylines,"
"Assigned by the leylines? They are not artificial?" A nod. "Can you elaborate on how they assign them with elements?"
Nate obliged. "Studies suggest that leylines assign you a Divination and base your element with your virtues and character. For example, if you are courageous and honest, you are most definitely assigned with fire.
"And before you ask, no. As far as we know, leylines are not sentient by any means. They are merely like sources of pure energy that grow where nature thrives. Though that does raise the question of how is there anyone with Divination in this world." He cradled his chin in thought. The detective and heroes listened with apt attention. "Last I checked, which I think was the first time I got into this world 9 months ago, the leylines here are pretty weak. Making them unable to grant any Divinations."
"Yet they still did..." said Naomasa.
Thinking back on his last sentences, Nate has a guess on how that may be possible. And it is probably his own fault... He needs to confirm whether there are changes on the leylines though. Nate can sense their radiation, but not the leylines themselves. He can make a device to help him with that, but it'll take a while with his limited resources.
Looking at the detective, an idea formed in his mind.
"Tsukauchi-san," he looked up to him, "I'll help you with tracking down the origins of these Divinations. But I'll need your help with making a device to help us with that."
Naomasa turned to the glass for a moment then back at him. "Deal. A friend of mine agreed to help you with that. We appreciate the help, Newton-san."
He held out his hand to shake, and Nate took it.
"So, I guess I'm good to go now?" he asked.
The detective nods. "Yes. But there are still some things I'd like to talk about with you, so you'll be coming with me to my office."
Not seeing any harm with it, he agreed. He took the hat from the box and wore it as relief came over him. Next was his bag. Opening it, he waved his hand as the rest of the box's content flew right into his satchel.
Taking note of how Naomasa's face morphed in amazement, he gave him a wry smile. "A helpful spell, especially when you're late."
He laughed at that. "Definitely needed that for a lot of time back then."
"Right~?"
He opened the door for them and Nate finally sees whoever was on the other side of the glass. Pretty colourful, while quite menacing for some, like the guy who has fire on some parts of his body. But it's more like his giant stature and eyes are menacing, since he already knows a lot of people who can set themselves on fire, including his brother.
A little surprised that they manage to fit themselves here though.
Looks like they are already leaving as well. Strangely they gave him a pat on his shoulder or a nod as they left. Now, it is only him, Naomasa, All Might and some sort of animal in a suit on his shoulder. Beside him were a heroine that definitely shouldn't be allowed near kids and the Disabler guy who is held by a grinning blonde man with speakers around his neck.
The detective gestured at the animal hybrid sitting on All Might's shoulder. "This here is Nedzu. He is the principal of U.A., the most prestigious hero school here in the East."
"I will also be the one providing the materials you need for this device you're talking about." said the principal.
Now that Nathaniel has his Mana Circuits back online, his sensors detected something strange with this principal, though he didn't mention it.
He bowed. "I appreciate the generosity, sir."
Nedzu waved his paw, "Please, no need to be formal."
"Come, let's meet at my office."
Before they could leave though, a voice called out to them. It was Mirko. Nate was surprised he didn't see her, given her attire and hair colour.
"Can I talk with him for a sec?" she asked.
He looked at Nate.
"Don't worry. Now that I have my Mana Circuits back online, I can just track your quirk and find you." was his reply.
"A useful ability." Nedzu comments.
When they left, Nate turned to the heroine, just realizing how short she is, but kept quiet about it. Experience tells him not to mention the height of someone of her stature. "What's up, Bugs?"
The rabbit raised a brow, a smirk on her face. "Isn't it supposed to be me who should say that, Doc?"
Nate shrugged.
"Anyways, I wanted to say sorry about the way I acted towards you back then." She said. Nate thinks that she's probably talking about how she suddenly became hostile back in the forest. "I kinda panicked really. I also wanted to apologise for burning down your house, so, uh yeah."
"Well, you didn't technically do that, the Pyromancer did. Although you are the one who brought him to my house, then aight. You did. Apology accepted." He robotically replied. Mirko gave him a dry look as he chuckled. "Hey, it's alright. Besides, you already saved my life. So, I owe you one."
"But you did heal my wounds as well." Before he could reply, she cut him off with a raised hand. Mirko sighed as she scratches the back of her neck, "Look, the point is, because of me you are basically homeless and I wanted to make up for that. So, as compensation and thanks for healing me, do you wanna come live with me for a while?"
She gave him a sidelong glance with a sheepish grin, "I know that you probably have some wizardry spells to handle that, but I insist."
Nate stared at her for a few moments, thinking about the offer. As she said, he does have an alternative, namely his Adventurer's Pack. Looking back though, all he does when he gets home is build the Gate. Now that he doesn't need it anymore, from now on, his days in his extra-dimensional house would be kind of lonely.
Maybe all he needs is a bit of company.
"Well, when something is free, take it!" He nodded. "Alright. I'll take you up on that."
"Sweet! I'll wait for you in an hour. Because of you, I missed all action in the past hours!"
With a skip and a hop, she opened the door. Before she left though, she called out to Nathaniel. He turned.
"Name's Usagiyama Rumi. Better remember that, now that we're going roommates!"
The irony of her name and quirk made him laugh.
"Nah. I'll stick with Bugs."
She shook her head with a smile and stuck her tongue out. "See ya later, Doc!"
and then they were roommates.
seggs? maybe.
the end.
luv u
:D:D:D