Worlds Apart
Mako felt like today was the universe's way of balancing out the books over the past few months since his father and he fought. It hadn't always been easy, but he liked to think that things were going pretty well for him all things considered. But then an alien dressed up like his favorite comic book character showed up, suckered him into getting into a spaceship that's a week's flight away from Earth at his normal speed, then reveal that his father was here and not only did he take over his planet, but he also now had a bug wife and a small purple child who was looking at him as he sipped something from the juice cup in his hands.
Yup. The universe worked in strange…..strange ways.
He watched the infant, who looked identical to a regular human baby but with purple hued skin, play excitedly with his mother. Mako's head swiveled to his father, anger boiling over as tears burned in his eyes again. "What. Is. This?" he growled out through clenched teeth.
Nolan remained calm but took note of the anger in his son's eyes, "Mako, please, calm down." He said, raising his hands.
"Calm down?!" he hissed out, looking over his shoulder at the mother and child, keeping his tone low as to not upset the baby. Grabbing his father by the arm he forced him back into the larger room off from the nursey. "Explain. Right now!" he said, pointing his finger at his father.
The older viltrumites sighed, "Mako I told you that I've been trying to move on-" he began.
"Move on?! You have another wife and kid!" Mako exclaimed before shaking his head, "This…I should have known! God I'm such a idiot!" he said as he began to storm off. Nolan reached out and grabbed his son's shoulder.
"Mako, please, let me explain-"
"Is she a pet too?"
Nolan froze at the coldness of his son's voice, he turned and shoved his father's arm off him, "Guess you did like you said, what's seventeen more years right?" he asked bitterly. Nolan's arm dropped and his head bowed in shame as his last words to his son came back to haunt him. Mako stormed off through the large double doors, pushing the large steel squares as through they were regular sized and slamming them shut behind him.
Kali sighed as she looked over the paperwork for her latest court case.
Many people had the misconception that being a lawyer was a neverending adventure filled with courtroom drama, in which verbal debates were held to either put away a horrible murderer, or save someone who was clearly innocent. Kali could say that was without a doubt the biggest load she had ever heard. At least in Japan, the criminal justice system on the island nation was different then the courts seen on TV from America.
For one thing, she worked mostly litigation cases, meaning lawsuits against groups of people who are in turn protected by their own lawyers. Case in point, the current case she was working on regarding Aldera Junior High's treatment of non quirk students. Normally litigations like this were cut and dry, someone who is targeted for unfair treatment due to possessing a quirk that's seen as undesirable, or not useful, comes to her with evidence and she in turn uses it to prove that whoever is responsible for their unfair treatment pays.
The problem with Aldera was the fact that there was a insanely low number of students who attended the school who did not have a quirk like Mako or Izuku did when they attended. And even then that point would be argued to be moot since they both developed their quirks later on. Which while not the point of the trail since it was based on past actions, would also bring into question why bothering with it.
So instead she was looking into any reports of students with quote, 'Useless' unquote, quirks that have faced some form of discrimination from the school staff. And to her surprise there had been a number of students whose parents complained over the last few years. Right now she was compiling the last of the names, as well as the statements the parents had given her.
As she finished moving the files on her laptop to the appropriate place, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Reaching for it, she saw the time and smiled to herself.
Standing up from her desk, she closed her laptop, slipped it into her bag, and left her office. "Metuki?" Kali's head turned at the sound of her superior, Junji, "Clocking out for lunch?" he guessed as he walked beside her towards the elevator. Junji Miti was a older man, slightly puggy, but with kind features which made him very approachable.
The firm he ran wasn't small by any means, but it also wasn't one of the larger ones, but Kali liked working here mainly because of their clients. "Yeah, a friend of mine is meeting me at a diner a few blocks away." She told him with a smile. "Celebrating my first day back." She added.
Junji nodded as a forlorn expression crossed his face, "I want to apologize again, I know that you chose to stay away from the office after the incident. And putting you on research for cases was the only work I could give you." He said sympathetically. Kali's smile faltered somewhat at the roundabout mention of Nolan, but she sighed in response.
"It was my decision Junji, at the time I couldn't go anywhere without…..well without someone reminding me of my husband." She admitted, recalling the crowds of protestors outside her apartment building for weeks on end. They had dispersed now, and even when a few people seemed to get good and angry enough, the building's security was enough to stop them from doing anything. "But things are finally starting to get better now. And I'm ready to get back to work fully." She said with a smile.
Junji replied with one of his own and a curt nod, "Very well, I'll let you get back to your lunch. I'll see you at the meeting later." He said, stopping at the elevator.
Kali took it to the ground floor of her office building and then made her way to the diner a few blocks away from her work. Sliding the door open, she saw Mitsuki Bakugo sitting at the corner booth waving at her, "Thanks for calling to arrange this Mtisuki, I'll take eating out with a friend instead of leftovers in the break room at work any day." She greeted warmly.
The spikey haired blonde woman grinned at her, "It's your first day back, and I needed an excuse too. I had the day off and my brat son has been moping since the final exam." She said with a roll of her eyes. "I try and check up on him, but he just calls me a old hag and tells me to screw off." She said dismissively.
Kali rolled her eyes, when Mitsuki had told her at first how her son would refer to her with such names, she was half tempted to go down to her house and smack the kid upside the head herself. But once Mitsuki explained that it was in part her own fault since she herself tended to not put a filter on at home, and the fact she was the only daughter in a family of five children, things started to piece together.
It didn't stop her from telling Mako that if he ever talked to her like that, she'd shred all his comic books while he wasn't looking. "I thought Bakugo passed his exam?" she asked in confusion as she picked up the menu and read over what was available. They both ordered their desired food before Bakugo's mother replied.
"That's the best part, he did but I got a call from U.A. the other day, apparently because he didn't play nice with Midoriya or Mako during the exam, they want him to take some extra summer classes as a way to discipline him." She said, making Kali blink in surprise. "Apparently they wanted to confirm with me that it would be ok, explain why it's happening and everything. But as far as I'm concerned? This could be the best thing for him."
Kali stifled a giggle, she quickly raised her hand, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Mitsuki said before frowning, "When you told me about how Bakugo treated Mako and Midoriya back at their old school…..I'm not going to lie, I was going to pull him out of U.A." she said.
Kali's eyes widened, while Mako had asked her not to confront Mitsuki on her son's actions for what he said, she wasn't going to just stand idly by and instead decided to tell her friend about her son's actions. "Really? What stopped you?"
Mitsuki looked down at the table, "I know that Bakugo is abrasive as sandpaper, and has personality to match." She said bluntly. "But he's my kid, I love him, I'll always love him. Yeah we'll bite each other's heads off, but that doesn't mean he's a monster." She said before a fond smile crossed her face. "If you bring this up he'll deny it until he dies, we both watch this cooking show together. I started watching it because I was bored and wanted to spice things up, but one day he comes home, crashes on the couch with me and watches for a minute." She began.
"There was this pretty easy thing they made, I forget what it was, something Chinese I think, but he says that looks good. I tell him 'I'm glad you think so because we're having it for dinner.' And you know what he does? He comes into the kitchen and helps me." She said with a smile. "I wasn't even going to ask but he comes in, washes his hands, and helps me prepare everything. Doesn't say a he wants to, he just asks me where stuff is and gets to work with me." She explained as the food they ordered comes over, "Masaru comes home and we all sit down to eat, I don't tell him Bakugo helped me make it, and we have a nice family dinner. And I just see him smiling to himself when his dad says how good it is."
Kali stared at her friend in disbelief, Mako had nothing but bad things to say about Bakugo, and while Midoriya didn't do the same, he also didn't have anything nice to say about him. "And I think about pulling him out of U.A. and then I think back to when I was a kid. I did dumb shit, nothing horrible or anything but still some dumb shit that probably hurt a few people's feelings." She said, recalling how as a young woman she was no stranger to detention or worse. "He's the same way, and I hate that he's got that from me…..but I also see this spark in him, this drive to be the best, and damn if I'm not proud of that." She admitted.
Kali smiled kindly, "Of course your proud of it, Bakugo's a determined kid."
"Yeah but the problem is that he's a total ass to anyone in his way between him and his goal, and he sees that everyone is between them." Mitsuki countered. "I keep telling him that his attitude is gonna get him in trouble, he ignores me. Well this time? It does, and he's got to face the consequences for it." She said sternly.
Kali nodded in understanding, "I get it." She agreed.
"Mako and Bakugo aren't exactly…..close." she said.
Mitsuki snickered, "Considering we met because they were caught flighting each other at school? Yeah."
"But honestly…I think that your right, honestly there's times where I could have seen Mako be more like him if he got his powers when he was a kid." She admitted. "And that makes me think if Bakugo had gotten his quirk later on in life like Izuku? Then maybe he'd be more like they are now."
Mitsuki sighed, "I've wondered that myself…..it's hard because on the one hand I'm proud of him and what he's accomplished, but on the other hand I feel like he needs a reality check." She admitted. She suddenly tittered, "You know we talk about Mako and Bakugo, but I can't imagine any way that Izuku turns out like either one of them."
Kali snorted as she took a sip of her drink, hitting her palm to her chest to keep it going down the right pipe. "How is Inko? She told me about your guys' uhh…..visitor, yesterday."
Kali tittered as she thought back to their unexpected guest, "She was a little freaked out, but when Mako came back and explained what was going on? She was more worried about him going into space." She said.
Mitsuki arched an eyebrow, "And your not?"
"The boy can fly into space and hold his breath for a couple days. I mean he's already been abducted by aliens before, what's the worst that could possibly happen?" she asked.
As soon as Mako left the palace, he just took off into the sky and shot off in a direction at top speed. He wanted to hit something, mainly he wanted to hit his dad again even though it probably wouldn't so much as leave a bruise. He just felt so betrayed! He wasn't sure which stung more, learning that his father had been lying to him his entire life about being a hero, or learning that his father started a new family with some bug woman he just met in the span of six months!
It took him an hour to encircle the planet, by that time he was still mad but not enough to act upon it. But he still landed on the outskirts of the capital, sitting down on a cliffside with his mask over his shoulder while he watched the constant bustle of the arching cityscape. What the hell am I going to tell mom? He asked himself. Nolan leaving Earth after being revealed to be a traitor nearly broke her, and there were still times when she would be affected by it. He would hear her sobbing alone in her room at night, trying to muffle the sounds so not to disturb him, or the times she set dinner for three instead of the two of them, all those echoes of the now separated family.
His immediate thought was to just not tell her, when he got back he would make up a story and say he had a fun adventure. Nothing she needed to know, he couldn't hurt her again, he just….he couldn't.
"Excuse me?" Mako's head shot up and turned to the voice, he tried not to visibly react to the sight of the woman his father had introduced as his mate earlier, along with the purple skinned baby in her smaller arms. "Oh, I didn't mean to startle you." She apologized.
Startle was not the word he would use, "It's fine…..Andressa right?" he asked, recalling what his dad addressed her as. She smiled and nodded as she approached, Mako glanced down at the baby in her arms, he reminded him of the baby pictures of himself that his mom had shown Melissa when she visited.
"It is, forgive me for intruding, but I thought it be best if I come to greet you instead of your father." She explained softly. Mako pursed his lips together, not sure how to respond, "I'm sorry that you had to found out about your sibling like this…..about all of this really."
Mako sighed, "It's…a lot to process." He agreed, he closed his eyes and bowed his head before lifting up and looking at her, "But you and your people are in danger, and if I can do anything to help. I will." He assured her. Even with the shocking revelations of the past twenty-four hours still fresh in his mind, that didn't mean he was going to simply pack up and leave. His dad believed these people were in danger, and he had a duty to help.
Andressa smiled, while her alien features weren't easy to read, Mako felt like it was genuine. "You are just like Nolan said. A noble hearted young man." She praised.
Mako blinked, "Really?" he asked, "Um…..how much did my dad tell you about me?" he asked with a hint of caution in his tone. He didn't know the extent of which these people knew about his dad, or what his past actions were, and saying anything that might undermine or cast doubt on him wouldn't do any good right now. Especially to his current wife.
The woman sighed as she looked down at the baby who cooed happily in her arms, "He has told me everything Mako. About you, your mother, your planet, your….conflict with him." She explained. She saw the young man's shoulders sag slightly, "You should know that his actions that day eat away at him."
Mako was tempted to scoff, "Yeah well it should." He said bitterly.
Andressa shook her head, "You have a right to still hold ill will, but I ask you to look around at my home. What do you see?" she asked him. Mako looked once more at the city, "Does this look like a planet conquered by the Viltrumites that your father told you about?" she asked.
Mako thought back to his father's words, how the Viltrumite empire would enslave entire planets, force their people to work for them, rule over the universe bit by bit. But what he saw here was…..none of that. People went along with their daily lives, seemingly without any complaint. "I've only been here for a few hours; I can't exactly judge him based on that." He replied. He glanced down at his half-brother, it wasn't that he was unsetting to look at, in fact he had to admit the little blueberry was cute.
But what he represented, his father fulfilling those vile words of making a new offspring, those rung in his mind. "Would you like to hold him?" Andressa suddenly asked.
"W-What?" Mako asked as she smiled, she shuffled over to him and held his younger brother out in her arms. Mako hesitated for a moment before ever so gently reaching out, making sure to cradle the infant's head in his palm and support the rest of him in his arm. The baby looked up at him with curious eyes, "Uh….hey there buddy." He greeted awkwardly.
He looked to the child's mother, "What's his name?" he asked.
She shook her head, "Our people do not bestow names upon our children, when they grow up in a few weeks, we let them name themselves." She explained as his bother cooed in Mako's arms, reaching up with his tiny hands to clasp the ungloved portion of his pointer finger.
"Really? Huh, kind of odd to me. But then again I wouldn't mind it. Wouldn't have gotten stuck with Sabastian as my middle-" he said before realizing something. "Wait, you said in a few weeks?" he asked. Andressa nodded, Mako looked down at his younger brother in concern, "Will….how old is he now?" he asked.
Andressa sighed, "That….is the problem. He is a month old now." She explained.
Mako looked at the baby once again, while he didn't have an exact reference for how a month-old baby should look, he looked like he was almost a toddler now. Andressa saw the expression of deep thought on the teen's face, "We believe that due to his father and my species' genetics that he will age sporadically. He may be a infant now, but by three months he could be a little boy, in a year maybe a pre-teen, in four years maybe your age at the time." She explained.
Mako blinked owlishly, "I…..but your species…." He recalled what his dad said, things move fast here, nine months was the species' lifespan.
She nodded sadly, "I won't live to see him grow." She said with a twang of regret. She reached over and raked her hands through the infant's black hair. Mako stared at her in disbelief, she saw the expression he had and smiled kindly, "Do not be upset, parents always go before their children, it's as they should."
"I….I'm sorry." Was all he could think to say. She nodded solemnly, before he could offer up something more to say, a siren suddenly began to blare. "What is-" Mako started before three white streaks flew down from the sky and swooped THROUGH three of the archways that supported the city!
Mako scrambled onto his feet, "What the hell was that?!" he asked as he handed his half brother back to Andressa, the woman watching in horror as swaths of her people inside and on the archs that were destroyed fell to their deaths.
"Mako!" the two turned to see Nolan fly over with a grave look on his face, "It's the Viltumites, they're here." He informed him as he hovered in front of the two. Mako swallowed as he pulled his mask down over his head, Nolan put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "Listen to me to the North of here is the entrance to a cave system, they run throughout the planet and will hide the beings here, you need to get Andressa and your brother there now." He ordered him calmly despitethe sweat on his brow.
"What?! I thought you wanted my help in fighting these guys?" Invincible asked in confusion, gesturing to the destruction underway as the Viltrumites toppled buildings over.
Nolan shook his head, "Your brother's safety is more important, if they see him and realize that I care for him, he'll be put to death. You need to get them to safety, once that's done, come find me and we'll attack together." He told him. Mako swallowed and nodded, as Nolan flew off, Mako scooped Andressa up in his arms and took off at top speed towards the North as she directed him.
It took him only ten minutes to find the cave, with Andressa's directions it was easy to see why it was chosen, going at top speed he almost flew past it. Landing at the mouth of the cave, he carried his little brother securely in his arms as he followed his father's mate into the cave. "These caves were used as bunkers during the annual storm that comes over the planet back when we were primitive, now we use them as the nexus of our world. We have hundreds of labs down here where we develop our technology." She explained to Mako, following her down the cave with he walls and ceiling lit up by glowing green inscriptions.
"So it's secure down here." Mako said hopefully, looking down at his younger brother. The little guy was being a trooper, not a single cry since he took off or the sounds of crumbling buildings filled the air. He was little fussy but honestly given the circumstances, Mako thought this was the best possible reaction for the baby.
"I wouldn't say that." A deep voice behind them said, Invincible turned on his heel and saw that they were unfortunately not as careful as they thought they were. Standing between them and the exit of the cave was a dark skinned Viltrumite. Like his father he had a mustache over his upper lip but the rest of his head was shaved cleanly. He also was a similar size to his father, he looked like he was in peak shape, and while Mako wasn't anything to sneeze at with his more athletic build, it didn't make him any less intimidating.
"So it is true, the great Nolan has had an offspring." The man said, giving Invincible a once over, he tilted his head to the side until his neck popped. "Very well, face front Viltrumite. If you are strong enough to withstand my assault, then you shall be allowed to live and join the Viltrumite Empire. If not, then you'll die." He explained in a customary tone. "I am anxious to see which."
Invincible frowned, "Well that makes one of us." He replied flippantly before holding his brother to Andressa, "Andressa, take him and get out of here through the mouth, quick." He told her.
The Viltrumite watched in bafflement as the human like child was handed to his mother, "You…..your protecting these two? Why would-" he began before looking at the child more closely. "Nolan wouldn't have….there's no way, he actually….he actually did it." He said, his attention squarely on the woman and her child while in absolute shock. "I'm just…stunned, its unbelievable." He said, turning his head as he followed the woman who was rushing out of the cave.
Invincible's fist struck him in the side of the head, "Tell me about it!" the hero complained before shooting forward, scooping up Andressa and her son while the Viltrumite rubbed the side of his head in pain.
Gathering himself up from the ground he shook his head, "Keep your guard up Lucan, this is why you haven't advanced in rank yet. You don't turn your back on the enemy. Stupid." He chastised himself before taking off through the air at a faster speed then Invincible did.
Meanwhile with the superhero, his hand was still sore from hitting the Viltrumite in the head, So that means he might be just as strong as dad, perfect! He thought sarcastically as he held onto Andressa and his brother tightly, Ok I need to find somewhere else to hide her and the baby, if I can lose him I'll double back, take them to the caves, and find dad like we planned. He thought to himself.
"Mako?" Andressa said, he turned to her and saw she was looking back.
"Aw hell. It's him isn't it?" he asked, behind him miles away but steadily gaining was Lucan, the more experienced viltrumite was gaining on him and wasn't burdened with passengers like Mako was. Shit! With how fast he's going I can't take time to set them down on the ground before he'll be on us, and he'll totally kill them! "How fast is he going?" he asked, pushing himself to fly as fast as he could. All the mornings with him taking a flight as fast as he could didn't seem to be doing much now, but he knew he was faster than before….it just wasn't enough!
"He'll be on us any moment!" Andressa said to him.
An idea suddenly came to his mind, "Tell me when he's right on us!" he said.
Lucan was gaining quickly, the child was fast for sure, impressively so for a half breed, however he just was not fast enough- "NOW!" the woman said, suddenly Invincible's direction changed in a complete 180! Lucan didn't have time to react before the teen's foot slammed into his face, the blow disorienting him and sending him tumbling through the air and through a mountain from the speed which he was going at before being clipped.
Invincible winced from the impact of his foot but he shook it off, Thank you Miruko! I swear I'll never complain about my Maneuverability training with you. He thought to himself as he made a line for a forest on the ground with enough coverage that someone from the air couldn't see the ground.
With Lucan, the vimtumite groaned in discomfort as he picked himself up out of the rubble, wiping the speck of blood from his nose, "Hnnngggg, alright. The child's not a fool. Promising, he might be of value to the-" he began to say to himself before Nolan crashed down onto him from directly above!
Mako was breathing heavily, that was the hardest he's pushed himself to fly at so far and his whole body felt like it did after a workout. Leaning onto a tree for support, he felt the sweat on his face run down to his chin, "Mako are you alrght?" Andressa asked in concern." He turned to her and nodded, still out of breath, taking a few more gasps before standing upright beneath the shade of the trees.
"I'm-huff-fine. Just haven't ever gone that fast for that long before." He told her, a bottle of water sounded like heaven right now but his bag with it was back on the ship. "Ok, ok…..these trees should provide us with cover so they can't see us overhead, we have a few minutes to think of our next move." He told her.
Andressa nodded as she looked down in thought, "If we can't make it to the caves, then there's the Mines of Collerage, it's not entirely comfortable but I could easily hide in there." She told him.
Mako nodded, "Ok, that's a good back up plan. I'll take you there, then go find my dad and help him. Where are these mines, are they close?" he asked her.
"She's going to the caves." Mako nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his father's voice, looking up he saw his father come down from between the canopy of the trees, the white sleeves of his tunic and hands covered with blood. With specs across his chest.
"Dad! Are you ok?" Mako asked in concern.
"This isn't my blood."
"…ah." Was Mako's only reply, "So the viltrumite?" he asked.
"Dead. And since he's the only one who knew where the caves were, your safe to go there." He said, picking up Andressa in his arms and taking off into the sky with Mako at his side. "When you didn't come back right away, I assumed you ran into problems, I was about to take him down when you made your move. Nice work." He praised. Mako nodded but didn't answer, Nolan looked at him in concern, "Mako? Are you ok?"
"Yeah I just…..dad I knew that these guys were strong, and I've been working to get stronger but…..it wasn't enough." He said with fear as they flew through the sky, "I pulled that trick out to get some distance but if that guy had gotten me….." he swallowed. "It's still not enough."
Nolan closed his eyes and inhailed a deep breath, "I know son. Your stronger. But it's just not enough….not yet." He said as they flew down towards the entrance of the caves again. Setting Andressa down, he turned to his son and put his hands on his shoulders, "Mako your not ready for this." The teen felt himself wince, it was blunt but it wasn't like he was lying, "You stay here with Andressa and your brother. I'll return to the city and fight the remaining Viltrumites."
Mako stared at him in disbelief, "What?! Dad! No! It's two against one! And these guys are strong as you are!" he told him.
Nolan grimaced, "I already killed one of them son, I can handle these two. And…you and your brother are more important."
Mako blinked, six months ago he was laying on a mountainside in a puddle of his own blood by what his dad had done to him. Because he wouldn't be like him and conform to the viltrumites ways. But here stood the same man, who had hurt him worse then anything else in his life, the man who he even questioned ever loved him and his mom to begin with, he stood here telling his son that his and his family's life was more important than his own. Than the Viltrumite empire.
His dad….had changed.
Nolan gave him one last smile before turning to Andressa, and kissing her again, this time Mako didn't feel the sting of betrayal that he did the first time he saw it. Nolan took off towards the capital city, leaving Mako and Andressa with her son.
Cecil Steadman was hoping to turn his day around, first one of his agents decides to disobey his orders and go off into space for the weekend. Leaving Earth open to whatever threat decided to pop it's head up next. Then the leader of the Guardians comes out and tells him how he tricked two wanted felons into creating a new body for him. At least Rex had the decency to set the Muller Twins up for failure, like he had predicted the teleportation device that he had provided them blueprints for worked, and they had ben teleported right back into the cells they were in before Angstrom Levy sprung them.
Donald walked beside him, tablet in hand, as they walked through the GDA facility, "The Guardians safehouse in Rome is operational, Egypt's is proceeding as planned as well but due to sandstorms in the region it's going to take time to get everything into place." He informed Cecil.
The older man sighed, "Christ, you'd think that with everyone who has a superpower, we'd find one guy who can control the weather somehow." He said before shaking his head. "But it doesn't matter, how's observation of I-Island going?" he asked.
Donald scrolled down his tablet, "So far no word, we've beefed up security at airports that will have flights to the Island, we've also deployed deep sea probes to search for anything under the water that they could infiltrate by." He explained. "But honestly I don't see how they could hope to take anything from the Island. Even if they disable the security measures in place, there's easily a few thousand heroes located on the Island during that time of year." He said, looking over the number of visitors from past years for a quick comparison.
Cecil's eyes narrowed, "That's what makes me worried. For something like this you got to have time, money, and power. The first two don't concern me, the third one?" he shook his head and sighed. "Back in the day quirks weren't as powerful as they are now. Someone could shock you like a taser maybe, but now people can electrocute you like your on death row." He said. "You get someone with the right quirk in the right place, at the right time? You can make a disaster happen."
Donald nodded, "Yes sir. And with I-Island being home to the top support companies on the planet…." He trailed off.
"Disaster could be the least of our worries." He said as the two approached a large metal security door. As they approached, a light scanned over the two of them from atop the door's fame before sliding apart and allowing them to enter the lab. "Give me some good news." He called out.
In the middle of the room was D.A. Sinclare, in front of him on a medical table was his latest Reanimen he was working on. The young scientist's smock was covered in blood from his operations, reaching his gloved hand up to his facemask, he pulled it down before addressing the head of the GDA. "So far they're proceeding as planned, the materials you've given me are far more acceptable then what I've been forced to work with before." He said, gesturing to the fresh corpse on the table. The control helmet was over the head but the internal circuits and motors were still being applied, "With these improvements, they'll be much faster and stronger than the first generation, however their durability is something I'm currently working on." He explained.
Cecil approached the workstation with a grim expression, "Considering they're corpses, this is already impressive. But what do you have in mind?" he asked the scientist.
Sinclar gestured to a tube that connected to the body by what would normally be a blood bag, only the substance was black instead of red. "This formula for stopping the decomposition process I think is the key. Do you have anyone on staff who could change chemical properties? If we can make the human cells not only sustain themselves, but repair as well? Then these could be in service for much longer then my original projections."
Cecil nodded, "Alright, I'll see if we have anyone on staff and if not, I'll have some people feel around support companies for someone matching the description." He told him, looking down at the work. It made his skin crawl to look at these things, but they were necessary,
It was something that took him a long time to understand, necessary evils.
With the age of heroes, people had a tendency to look at the world though rose-tinted glasses, the world focused on the bright and colorful and tended to ignore the dark and grey parts that came from those bright colors. That was where Cecil worked best in, of course the irony of that was that he had to manage the very people who caused the grey area he worked inside of. With most heroes who were vain, idealistic, and unable to see the big picture, he needed to be a realist who saw everything.
So he'd use these monsters, these soldiers who would fulfill their duty once more. Because it was what needed to be done.
The capitol city of Thraxa hadn't taken as long to build as some of Earth's great cities, but that didn't mean that Nolan saw it as anything lesser than his own old home of Japan. So upon returning from the caves and to see the once great city utterly destroyed, to see the citizens that he had ruled over for the past six months shrewn about the ground in splotches of blue and red, to see the same scale of destruction he had wrought on countless worlds in his long life….he felt himself enraged.
Setting down on a pile of rubble that used to be one of the taller buildings, he felt his fists clench in anger and confusion. Why?! Why was he upset? These beings were just….lesser creatures. Yes they had their uses, they were a good vassle that he had ruled over but they weren't related to him. They were not Viltrumites, they were not HIS people!
But…in a way they were….
'Maybe, MAYBE you were a cold hearted viltrumites when you came here! But I've seen you risk your life a hundred times for these people! You've changed! You were happy!'
Nolan's inner conflict grew at the echo of his son's words, "There you are!" Nolan's head snapped up to the voice to see the two remaining viltrumites flying towards him. The two men, one older with white hair and the other younger with black hair, approached him from the air, Nolan moved before they got a chance, blasting through them, knocking one aside while tackling the other into a pile of rubble.
"WHY!?" He roared at the vimtlumite who responded by kicking him off, the force making him e slide back through the air as he sneered at Nolan.
"Simple. To piss you off." The man replied before charging into Nolan, "I heard stories of the Great Nolan! The prime example of our race! But to learn how far you've fallen?" he asked, Nolan blocking the punch aimed at his head and dodging the follow up, only to have the second Viltrumite with white hair drive his fist into his back, "Killing you is a mercy you don't deserve!" the black-haired one said, following up with a blow to Nolan's head.
The one with White hair grabbed him by he back of his head while the other landed blow after blow to his face, "You were part of the most glorious race in the universe! And you gave it up! For what?!"
"Me." The white haired Viltrumite as sent flying back from the unexpected haymaker into the side of his head, Nolan used the chance attack the one in front hm, dim, striking him in the gut, as he kneeled forward, Nolan's hand grabbed him by his head and slammed it down onto his knee as he flew up into the air.
Nolan wiped the blood from his mouth as he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, turning his head he was shocked to see his son. "Mako?!"
"Invincible." The hero corrected with a smirk, "Figured it's about time we ha a team up." He added lightly.
Nolan felt a small urge to tell him how foolish he was being, but it was easily overshadowed by the pride he felt in his son. The father and son turned to the viltrumites as they flew to meet them. Invincible barely had time to get a word out before the white haired one engaged with him, the younger one taking on his father. "I always enjoy weeding out the weaklings at a young age." He said, grabbing Invincible by the throat with an iron grip and squeezing.
"Some of our people like to get bloody, I don't fault them for that. Me though? I love the slow death, seeing the light drain out from their eyes. Feel their heartbeats slow to a stop. There's nothing else like it." He told the teen as he tried to break the hold on his neck. When that didn't work, he reeled his fist back and struck him dead on in the face, all it did was bloody the Viltrumite's nose. He kept hitting him as hard as he could, the man's grip didn't falter despite the accumulated damage that was being done.
Only when Nolan based his attacker's head into Mako's did the man finally let go, allowing Invincible draw a breath and uppercut the man properly, knocking him away and allowing him to go on the offensive. Invincible kept the assault up, punching him back and flying after him to follow up with another haymaker, the Viltrumite blocked the attack and countered with a blow to Mako's gut, as he doubled over in pain, he brought both his hands over his head and slammed them down into the young Viltrumite's back.
Nolan's battle meanwhile was more evenly matched, his fist crashed into his opponent's face, the blow sending him past Invincible as he crashed not the ground. Nolan flew to intercept the Viltrumite attacking him but was tackled from the side, his foe delivering a flurry of shots to his side where his kidney was to simply cause pain. Nolan bit out a roar before driving his elbow into the man's head, the blood splatter from the new wound splashing on Nolan's face.
Invincible rolled out of the way of the Viltrumite's foot as it came down where his head was, shooting forward he drove his knee into the man's head, finally breaking his nose with a crunching sound. As he was sent back a few feet, Invincible flew forward, summersaulted in midair, and landed a drop kick into the Viltrumite, sending him through one of the overturned and toppled buildings! Taking a second to breathe, he glanced over to his father and saw as the golden chest plate he wore was crumbled from the punch his enemy threw into his shoulder at the joint.
The hero flew up to try and aid his father, but only to have his own opponent flyby with a fist to the side of his face, knocking the right side of his mask off the front of his face and shattering the glass lens. Invincible responded by slamming his boot into the man's throat. Blood coughed out of his mouth and down his chin but he didn't stop, grabbing Invincible by the foot he spun him around in midair before throwing him towards his father, colliding with him in midair, Nolan was knocked aside and his opponent took advantage of it by landing a hard left cross on the older viltrumites.
Nolan felt his own blood leaking from his nose and over his face, the blood splatter from their fight covering his face. "Mako-" he began to say before the Viltrumite his son was fighting grabbed him, his son rallied by a one-two combo strike to the Viltrumite's head and sending him back down through the sky. Nolan focused on his own attacker, blocking a kick aimed at his chest. Pulling the leg towards him with one hand he raised the other and slammed it down into his chest as the man was pulled in.
The man spung backwards and recovered in midair, shooting up into Nolan, taking him up into the sky as he grabbed him by the shoulders of his cape and headbutted the ruler in the face, blood splattering around from the impact before he wrenched Nolan around, tearing the cape and upper part of his tunic off and flying him straight down into the ground.
Mako threw another haymaker into his opponent through a stone wall that he used to break his line of sight, tearing the left arm of his costume off, his bloodied and bruised knuckle ached but he knew he couldn't stop fighting. Though his opponent was visibly older than his father, he was around his level of strength, and like Nolan had said, Mako had gotten stronger these past few months. But it wasn't an easy fight. The man slammed his foot into Mako's gut, making him double over and cough blood out onto the neck of his costume as he flew around and tried to follow up his attack, but Mako was quicker, throwing his elbow back and cracking his opponent across the face.
The spun back, Mako pursued and was met with a fist that tore off the rest of his mask and remaining lens from his face, now both his eyes were bleeding from the blows he has sustained.
He saw his father out of the corner of his eye, knocking the Viltrumite off him and into the air, as he flew up with his left hand drawn back, he threw it out on a fist into the side of the Viltrumite he was fighting, while the one Mako was fighting swung his fist up into his rips that made a crunching noise.
The father and son fought for what seemed like hours, the sun that had been set when their fight began now rose on the horizon, and the already bloody ruins of the capitol city was now soaked with even more blood now. "DID THE EMPIRE TELL YOU THEY WERE SENDING YOU TO DIE WHEN THEY SENT YOU HERE?!" Nolan roared in fury as he slammed the bottom of both his fists into the ides of the Viltrumite's head he was fighting. Blood erupted from between his gritted teeth and nose like a fountain. Nolan felt something give under the weight of his fists but his rage didn't allow him to fully register it. "Do you regret what you've done now?! DO YOU!?" he yelled at the man as he turned him around.
The Viltrumite's head swung limply to the side of his neck…..though he was not dead, he wasn't able to continue.
The revelation seemed to snap Nolan out of his rage, "Son…..son have you-" he began to ask as he turned around and saw the Viltrumite that Mako had been fighting standing over him with his hands wrapped around his throat! "MAKO!" he roared before flying over to the older Viltrumite. Grabbing him by the back of his head he pulled him off his son, "You'll die for this!" he roared, grabbing the man by the throat, he tried to pry Nolan's hands off in response but didn't see Nolan rear his head back before it was too late.
Nolan slammed his head forward and caved the Viltrumite's skull in, killing him as well.
Dropping the man to the ground, Nolan breathed heavily as he looked down at his son, the sleeves of his costume were gone and his hands were covered in blood. In fact there was blood splattered across his body, it reminded him somewhat of how he looked after their confrontation. The thought sent a sobering chill through Nolan, "Mako….son….it's…..over." he huffed out.
Just before the Viltrumite who followed Mako to the cave dropped down and drove his foot into Nolan's back!
The loud 'SNAP' was heard over the sound of the impacting crater on the ground; Lucan, who was covered in his own blood, and was trying hard to hold his intestines in with one hand on his tunic. Stepping away from Nolan, whose torso was bent against a rock at a ninety-degree angle, Lucan huffed out, "Next…time….confirm…your….kill…." he said before falling over to the side due to blood loss.
Silence hung over the battlefield, Mako was unconscious along with Lucan and his father, the Viltrumite that he had been fighting was dead on the ground with his face caved in. And the warrior who Nolan had headbutted, reached for the still intact communicator on his belt, raising it up painfully to his face he said, "It's….done…." before joining the others.
The next time Mako opened his eyes it was midday, to say he opened his eyes might have been an overstatement since they were welted like a professional boxer's at the end of a twelve-round fight. He heard voices, but they were muffled and he couldn't exactly make them out. Leaning up by his torso, he felt his cracked ribs burn in protest in tandem with his sore, and probably broken, arms. But when his eyes adjusted and he could make out what he was seeing, he wished he hadn't even bothered.
Eight. Eight viltrumites were here, two of them standing guard in front of their ship with the bay door open in front of him. One standing over the Viltrumite his father had been fighting on a medical stretcher like-thing. One escorting the one his father had killed in a stretcher, two fastening his father to a stretcher as well, only this one with clamps that encased his hands in place. And the last escorting the one with the first Viltrumite that Mako had encountered in the caves. "Shiiit." He groaned out.
The simple noise made some of them turn to him, his father, through bloodied face and eyes, turned to him, "Mako….my books….read….my books…"
Mako was sure his dad had a concussion, his books? His dad never wrote anything. Did he?
Mako shifted and felt something drag across the ground that wasn't his leg, looking down he saw his torso was wrapped in bandages, and his arms had metal splits on them with one on his right leg. "We've tended to your wounds." Mako looked up at the voice and saw a middle aged Viltrumite looking down at him, floating a few feet in the air, he had short, black, hair that was cut down to a widow's peak. Like the other male viltrumites he encountered he has a mustache, however the most prominent feature was the right cybernetic eye he had, the black egg-shaped eye had a red pupil that looked into his.
'W-Why?" he asked in confusion.
"Because by all accounts, you are worthy to be a member of our empire." He said, pointing at Mako. "You are to temporarily be designated as the Viltrumite Agent in charge of taking over the planet Earth." He informed Mako dutifully as he locked his hands together behind his back. "We're aware that your retaliation against us was due to your father. As such, you have one hundred years to put things in order. If you do not have Earth under your control by then? You shall be detained and Executed upon our arrival. Am I clear?" he asked.
Mako felt dizzy, "….whatever." he groaned out before his head fell back with a THUD.
The Viltrumite looked down at him unimpressed, turning around, he flew back to the ship as it was loaded up with the prisoners and survivors.
Andressa waited by the entrance to the cave on bated breath, it had been a whole day since the other Thraxians from smaller towns around the capital had reported the end of the fighting. As well as the arrival of a strange spacecraft. Their scouts had followed the ship as far as they could, but had lost track of it. It was unclear if the Viltrumites had left behind a contingent of their warriors or not, until they could ascertain if they had or had not, she had ordered that no one approach the capital. So now she waited, hoping for her husband's swift return. Glancing out at the pink sky, she stopped her pacing with her son in her hands when se saw a single dot in the sky flying towards them.
She felt her heart squeeze when it was Mako who flew down from the sky and landed at the cave entrance, wounded from battle and alone, "Mako….'
He looked at her through bruised eyes, sadness clearly within them, "Andressa….I'm sorry…..they took him."
AN: PHEW! This one was doosey, I felt like the last one was too short and I wanted to get a bigger sized one this time around. I'll be honest I felt like I should have dragged my feet a little since season 2 is coming up fast (WHOOOOOHOOO). Seriously I'm so excited, and the Atom Eve special was amazing! Can't wait for more.
Now for reviews:
TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r: I think it's because Bakugo has the most character development in the show. Yes he's an asshole and was a bully to Deku for years, but he's not the same person he used to be. And it's really rare to see that sort of development in media in general. That being said whenever something bad happens to him, I don't feel bad. I recognize that he's come a long way, but in my mind? It's just balancing the scales.
Messiah of Authors: Yeah and I think having Mako be what sort of is the thing that does that for him makes sense. Now in fairness Izuku in the main cannon doesn't really look at the big picture because he simply isn't aware of it. Yeah the League of Villains keeps coming back but to him, there's a billion pro heroes out there, he's still learning and in school, and he's going to eventually take All Might's mantle one day. He doesn't expect it to be within two years of meeting him is all. And as soon as he sees the bigger picture? He's on it.
Abarrow899: I have a few ideas but that one is pretty good!
Dragon King of the West: Yeah I'm really curious how the TV Show will handle this when we eventually get there.
For'Sleep 3rd: Well he still has to go to school, And you'll see why later on. But also keep in mind that he can't just….go anywhere in space. Like Thraxia is the only planet that has a breathable atmosphere within a week's flight from Earth. That's the only reason Nolan was able to make it there.
Junior: Yeah, not as much anymore because not as many interest me.
ByEmmet: It would take a few minutes if you managed to get them to expel all the air out of their lungs while their underwater. But otherwise no, they can hold their breath for about a week IIRC.
As for calling the aliens 'villains', keep in mind that they attacked first. And considering that the last alien they had turned out to be a super murderer? I'd understand in assuming all aliens are hostile.
Guest: As far as I'm aware, Viltrumite's bodies are the only thing that are super strong, not their….bodily fluids. And there's never been a viltrumite whose been able to do like, sonic attacks. Also that's kind of Shigaraki's whole deal in regards to not controlling his power. He didn't know what his quirk was, or that he even had a quirk, until it finally came in and we all know how that turned out. That's kind of the whole point with the villains in MHA, a lot of them had quirks that they didn't want, or didn't conform to being easy or 'normal'.
Guest 2: No, no, that's fair. I didn't get past Volume 4 myself, gotta fess up to that. But your right, honestly I might do shorter stories while I'm doing this just to break up the monotony.
