Reminders of the Past

A Tenchi Muyo and Invinsible Crossover

Chapter 8 - No Need For Homecomings Part 3

Mark had changed back into his costume. The feel of the supermesh that Art Rosenbaum had used on the suit felt comfortable. Again, it was almost like wearing a second skin. He looked at those gathered, but it was Eve that seemed the most upset. She ran to him, hugging him around his waist, refusing to let go. Washu had explained that she had a complete genetic copy of his memories. That she knew him, and in essence she knew him better than several others did.

"Don't go," she said in a whimper, "Please, don't go."

He returned the hug, and then he gently lifted her. She hugged him around his neck, and he held here there as she pressed her little face into the space between his neck and shoulder, "Please, don't go… Please…."

He gently rubbed her back, knowing that he didn't have to hold her too tightly. She already had her Viltrumite strength, and he didn't doubt that in this state she likely could do some real damage to a normal human. Still, he rubbed her back, letting her hug him, hold onto him, and he shushed her gently as her whimpering became tears and soft sobs. It was breaking his heart, and he honestly didn't realize what it was like to be a parent until he met her. He didn't know what all it meant, but now he had an extremely good idea.

"Eve," he said, his voice gentle and calm, "I've got to go. I have to go back and make sure that everyone is safe, and I want to make sure it's safe for you to come over."

She sniffed and pulled back to look at him, "I…I can come visit you?"

He smiled, "Once I'm sure that you'll be safe, absolutely."

She seemed relieved, but she didn't let go of him. He didn't force her to, and instead he simply continued to hold and comfort her. The realization that she was his daughter had long since come and gone, but in its stead was another realization. Eve was a little girl that was worried about her father. She was a little girl trying to understand why her Daddy was leaving, and it was playing havoc on her. He looked at Washu who nodded. He looked at everyone else.

"Anyone want to step through with us?"

Ryoko laughed as she stepped forward. Tenchi was right behind her, and soon Mark realized that the entire Masaki clan had more or less adopted him as one of their own. It reminded him of something that he'd heard over and over again, and it was something that he knew was the truth.

"Not all families are blood," he said softly as they began walking through the portal.

The light of the portal illuminated the old warehouse, and he could see what looked to be a large tank and small collection of computers near it. Taking a moment to really look around he recognized the warehouse. It was one of the few where the Mauler Twins would set up shop when they were running from the law. The warehouse itself had a few places where various beams and sections of the wall had scorched damage. Again, he could only believe it had been caused by the Mauler Twins.

Looking around he saw the breaker box. Naturally it had been torn open, various wires from the equipment had been spliced into various breakers, but before he could move something moved past him in almost a blink. For a moment everything flickered, and then the soft illuminating light from the old fluorescent lights began to glow. He heard the sound of a surge and one of the lights shattered in the distance. Still, it was bright enough for him to see the mostly abandoned warehouse for what it was.

He could see a large group of Burger Mart boxes sitting together near the tube. Again, it was a tell tell sign that the Mauler Twins had used this warehouse. Still, for the most part it was fairly clean, the area was mostly empty with the exception of the equipment and old boxes. The fact that it wasn't more disturbed told him that this was likely a potential place they were going to use. He began walking, but he noticed the Washu blinked out of existence and then back into existence a moment later.

He could see that she was standing near the equipment, taking in everything about it, and then she shook her head. He watched as she walked around it, seeming looking at it from every angle, until the rest of them neared where she was at. It was at that point that she let out a small bit of laughter.

"It's not badly designed," she said with an amused voice, "But I can see the limitations of this cloning equipment. I'd say that it likely takes a minimum of three to four weeks for complete growth. The data transfer does so in blocks, and it seems to copy a complete set of memories. All in all, for the level of technology available a decent attempt."

She grinned as she walked around it a few times, "I could easily make better, maybe tweak the gestation time, oh, I could certainly change the configuration of the data transfer so that it doesn't just do memory blocks. Instead I could have it transfer individual memories over, and none of that would require using anything that isn't above the level of technology available here."

Mark shook his head, "I'd suggest leaving it alone," he replied as he neared her, "It belonged to the Mauler Twins, and they weren't known for being moral."

The entire time he walked Eve refused to let go of him. It was obvious that she was determined to stay with him. He watched as Washu neared them, "Eve," she said her voice just as gentle as his had been, "Come here, please."

She reluctantly let go of him and floated down, "Do I have to go back?" she asked, her voice crestfallen, "I'll be good."

Washu smiled at her, "Yes," she said as she looked at the young girl, "But it's not forever. Once we're sure it's safe you will be able to come and go."

She nodded, and looked up at him again, "Daddy?"

He smiled at her, "Go ahead Eve. I'll make it safe," he replied before he looked around, "And besides, I want you to meet some more of your family when it's settled. I know that your Grandmother is going to be looking forward to meeting you."

Reluctantly she let go of him, and she floated to the ground. He took notice that she was getting a far better hang of using her powers than he had been able to. She reached for Washu's hand, he watched as Washu took it. Seeing her looking dejected, he tried to wrap his mind around something, anything, that would make her smile. The answer came from outside of all things. The sound of a radio, most likely being used by the workers that were nearby, could be heard from inside of the warehouse.

The song itself had been something of a meme when he was younger, and it still managed to make its rounds every so often. He could remember William talking him into trying to do the stupid dance that went with it. Knowing that it was going to make an absolute fool out of him, but likely it would get her to smile he got ready. The dance was simple enough, the song was harder to get though. Still, he looked at her, "Want to see something silly?" he asked, watching as she turned around and nodded, "Okay, now watch 'cause I only plan on doing this once."

Raising both hands just above his ears he began to sing as much of the song as he could remember, and make out, while his fingers curled down making it look like he had flexing cat ears. He bent at the knees and threw his hips to the right, went straight, then bent his knees again and threw his hips to the left. He did that a few more times while he sung Caramelldansen, after a couple of times of doing that he clapped his hands, where the song said to, and stepped to the left before doing the cat ears and hip throwing.

Soft giggles escaped her, and he watched as she began to copy him. Mayuka, not to be left out, joined in, and before long the rest of the crew had joined in the ridiculous dance. He knew that it was nothing more than just doing something to make her smile, to give her a little bit of happiness, but it was working. She had went from a few giggles to full out laughing and having a grand time as she danced. The song began to come to an end, and she rushed toward him again. He caught her, giving her a hug, and felt her return it.

"Promise I can come visit?"

He nodded, "Cross my heart," he said, before he felt little lips kissing his cheek, "I swear that when it's safe you'll be able to come visit."

She let go, again reluctantly, and then she walked toward Mayuka who walked with her through the portal. Everyone else began to leave, but Washu took a moment longer. She smiled at him, "I am sorry that I had to make a snap decision," she said as she looked at him, and then toward the portal, "But I am not sorry for the end result. It's weird, and I know it, but I think that we can co-parent. Besides, I'm certain that you're going to want me to explain a few things to those that are closest to you."

He nodded, "No kidding. I'm sure that Samantha and I will be fine, but I know that it's going to take her some getting used to."

She grinned, "From what I've seen, from Eve's genetic memories, I'm sure that she will be completely accepting of Eve. Your mother even more so, but I'd suggest you hold off on introducing her to any other Viltrumites for a while."

He nodded, watched as she walked through the portal, and then a small floating ball came through. The ball hovered near him, and before he could ask below it appeared Washu again. Only she seemed to be a hologram, or a hard light construct. The Washu that was formed walked around a bit, taking notice of the Warehouse, and before he could ask lights shined out of her hands and seemed to shine on every surface.

Moments passed, and then she nodded once she had done a complete three hundred and sixty degrees. She then faced him.

"This is a Washu-2 Drone. Its sole purpose is to be a relay between yourself and Washu! Washu, the single greatest scientific mind in her, and likely every other universe, has decided to bless you with a hard light version of herself! Please ask for assistance from the hard light version, but please be sure to not ask for specific favors!"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, thanks but no thanks," he said as he looked around, "Alright, are you going to be okay here, or are you going to follow me?"

The construct smiled, "This Washu-2 has been assigned to protect and ensure the portal remains in perfect working order," it answered, "So this construct will be staying right here!"

He nodded, "Alright, I'm going to go check in with everyone, good night."

He took off, and the construct's smile became more realistic, "Good night Mark," Washu's voice said softly, "Thank you for everything, and thank you for being okay with me having a chance to be a better mother to all of them."

The construct reached out, bowed, and then it faded leaving only the floating drone. Mark of course hadn't heard it, but it didn't matter to him. The first thing he was going to do was head straight toward home. He wanted to check on his Mom. Samantha had taken to living there with them, and he was fine with it. He landed, just outside of their house, and heard the sound of someone running. He watched as the door opened, and he saw Samantha. Her eyes widened, and she ran toward him. He caught her, feeling her arms wrap around him.

"Mark?!" she cried as she held him, "Mark!"

He hugged her back, taking in the feeling of her again. For a moment, a single moment, everything seemed good. Samantha would deny the fact that she had cried, and he wouldn't push the issue. Instead he just held her, enjoying the closeness, or did until she finally broke the hug and hit him. He stepped back and rubbed his head, "Sorry."

She glared at him, "I know that it's not your fault, I get that, but damn it I was worried!"

He gave a half smile, "I know," he replied, "And let me say that I've bounced around the Multiverse for a while. There's universes out there that you can't even begin to believe."

He smiled, and then he closed his eyes, "I've got to go deal with someone. I needed to make sure that you were okay, but someone that's close to us did this," he said before opening his eyes, "I've got to go see Cecil, and I've got to tell him exactly what happened."

He could see her expression, the need to know, and he closed his eyes. There had been so much that they'd been through, the entire collection of everything weighing in on them, and he knew that there was absolutely no way that he could keep it from her, "Robot," he said, his voice low, as if he was trying to keep from being heard, "I don't know what's happened to him, but he's changed. We followed a villain into a parallel dimension, and once there Robot killed an alternate version of me. Then he killed the villain, and he left me stranded. I didn't know how to get back, and all I could really do was use a portal generator. Instead of coming back here, I ended up going throughout the entire multiverse."

"Robot, but… What happened to him?"

Mark shrugged, "I don't know, but I have an idea that it has to because of them being taken to that alien universe. They said they were there for about twelve years, but who knows if that's right," he replied, "I've got to let Cecil know, and then we need to bring him in."

She studied him for a moment, "I'm going to come with you," she said, "You need me to come with you."

He knew that there wasn't any amount of arguing that would change her mind. Samantha was a bunch of things, and one of the biggest was the most loyal person he'd ever known. There was so much that he needed to fill her in on, the last world he visited and his daughter was the biggest on the list. In addition, when this was over he needed to let Cecil know about the possibility of Kagato existing here.

Nodding he watched as she changed her clothes into her costume, and the two of them flew toward the base of operations for the Global Defense Agency. They arrived and were cleared to go inside. Once inside they made their way toward Cecil's office, and Mark stopped when he saw Robot standing there.

"Cecil," he said as he neared him, "Whatever he's telling you, don't believe him!"

Cecil looked at him, and even though the simple mechanical head of Robot couldn't show emotion Mark was certain he saw it flinch. Almost as if it was surprise by his being here, "He trapped me in an alternate universe, and I have universe hopped until I finally found my way back!"

"Invincible, I believe that you are incorrect," Robot answered, his mechanical voice sounding different, almost as if there was a hint of worry, "I am glad to see that you are alive, but I assumed you were killed."

Mark almost growled, "You abandoned me there, you said that I would mess up your plans, but I'm here now."

The head looked toward Samantha, back at Invincible, and then without warning robot moved behind Cecil. A blade stuck out from his lifted arm, and it started to move, to slice through Cecil's neck. Samantha however stopped him. She used her powers to transform the blade into a banana, allowing it to harmlessly squish against Cecil's neck.

"I see," Robot said as he backed up, "This is a contingency I did not anticipate."

He studied Mark, "I believed that you would come straight for me, that once you returned you would bypass those you care for, and instead you would head directly for me or Cecil. This action was not in my calculations. For my calculations to be so different it means that at some point you had an encounter that changed your world view."

An ear piercing sound came from Robot, and Mark screamed as his ear drums burst. With that distraction Robot moved again, only to be stopped by Samantha. He was lifted into the air, and the various joints of his drone began to become brittle and fall apart. After a moment it was in pieces before them.

"You were a variable I did not account for," the voice from the speaker inside of the head said, "I did not account for your being here. It doesn't matter, I've already started my plans, and at best you have inconvenienced me."

Mark stepped forward, slammed his foot down, and crushed the head. He looked at Cecil who nodded, and then moved, "We have contingencies set up for the possibility of any of you going rouge," he said as he looked at them both, "We're prepared to deal with Rudolph."

Samantha looked at him, "You mean Robot, right?"

Cecil shook his head, "His actual name is Rudolph Conners. He's a certifiable genius, and he has an uncanny ability to control machines. Whatever it is that he's started, or doing, I'm sure we can put a stop to it. I want both of you to be prepared for…"

They looked at the monitor before them. Around the world, hundreds of cameras showed what looked like millions of different versions of Robot. All of them moving in on different cities, attacking heroes and armed military personnel. The entire scope of what he had been planning was there for everyone to see.