Kohaku took a deep breath and dashed forward, weapons in hand. Kinro rushed after, followed by Ginro. "This is siege warfare! If we can buy even a little bit of time..." Magma and Kokuyo followed them.
"Yeah, sure!" Gen called out in concern. "But in case you forgot, we're out of chemicals and stuff! There's no way!"
This didn't deter Senku or Sumi at all as they smirked. As the battle team continued forward, the two ran off while still holding hands. Chrome followed behind the two as they headed for the miracle cave. "Run, scientists! Sumi, grab Ukyo!"
"On it!" Chrome replied as Sumi nodded at him.
"Okay!" Sumi moved down her arms in one fell swoop, grabbing Ukyo into her arms. She gripped his wound to put pressure on it once again.
"They'll be dying for nothing," Hyoga sneered a little. "I suppose they're just brain-dead barbarians after all." He and Tsukasa leaped off the tree branch. Once the spearman landed, he wedged his kudayari into the ground. This was impactful enough to send Kinro, Ginro, Magma, and Kohaku flying backwards. Tsukasa landed safely soon after. He stood up straight, keeping his hardened eyes towards the group.
In this primitive stone world... Sumi, Senku, and Tsukasa all thought in unison. The winner will be decided by...
Tsukasa looked toward his fist. 'The force granted to humanity by nature...strength.' He then cracked it, giving a small glare.
Sumi panted while hugging Ukyo close, her determined eyes kept forward. Senku had a small smirk on his face. The fruit of humanity's endless efforts...science! The two thought the same thing as each other. Senku put a pipette into his teeth. Sumi put a pouch in her teeth, gripping Ukyo's arms tight. The nitric acid dripped again from the ceiling. Tsukasa took a fighting stance while Senku reached out to the jar of nitric acid. Sumi slid over to the side of the cave as both sides were prepared to see this through and win for each of their purposes.
"This is the final battle!" Kohaku cried out as the sun shined down on them. "We have to defend the Miracle Cave!" Sounds of battling were heard as Sumi put Ukyo down gently. She bent down in front of him.
"I gotta do this quick before he potentially bleeds out," She reached out to his shirt and then ripped it open, gritting her teeth to see the injury from the spear. And while seeing his half-naked body was something she could get flustered over, now was not even the time. And she only disliked it when people were mostly naked. Ukyo let out a small groan as he slowly opened his eyes. He saw the woman in front of him taking out some gauze, a funnel, and a test tube filled with a brownish-grey powder. "Some acetanilide should help with the pain..."
"Sumi..." She, Chrome, Gen, and Senku all gasped while turning to him. His eyes were barely open as his voice was weak. "Don't save me. It's pointless to try." She looked down while her teeth were still gritting from hearing this. "Hyoga and Tsukasa, they're-"
"I don't care!" She shouted to interrupt him and he blinked at her. Her head was facing the ground as a tear flew from her face. She was shaking as her tears fell rapidly. "We promised that nobody dies, remember? So you can tell me all you want..." She finally looked up, snot from her nose with tears pricking her eyes and her face red from crying. "It won't convince me to not save you! I have faith in all my friends...that we can stop all of this. So kindly shut up and let me help you like you did for me with Chrome!"
Senku gave her a proud smile. Even when the odds were against her, or if the person she was treating did something wrong...she always put herself on the line to help them. It was a lesson she learned from her grandmother all those years ago...Ukyo's eyes shook and he gave her a small nod...since he didn't need to say anything. Sumi pulled out the gauze and then started to unravel it, but she had to feed him the powder first. She placed the funnel into his mouth gently. She then undid the cork from the test tube with her mouth to pour the powder into his throat. Meanwhile, Senku placed the pipette's tip into the jar of nitric acid. It slowly followed into the glassware.
"Don't tell me you're gonna try to make some science-y weapon type thing while the battle team's out there holding off Tsukasa!" Gen panicked a little.
"Yup," Senku replied simply as Sumi looked over her shoulder.
"But they totally destroyed all of our science-y chemical type stuff!" Gen retorted back with a worried look. "We're legit out of everything now!" He then saw from the corner of his eyes that Chrome was standing outside. He seemed to be looking for something outside, though Gen didn't understand why. "Focus, Chrome!" He called out and waved to the brunet. "Get over here and help us, would you?"
"Heh, look. He's probably got some ideas. Leave him be," Senku assured the mentalist, who looked flabbergasted.
"Sen is right," Gen turned to Sumi working on Ukyo. "Chrome's ideas are never without purpose. So let him look for a solution, okay?"
"Your trust in him is ext-nay level," He gave the two a sheepish smile. He could see that the two didn't question Chrome not once. Just like when he built the waterwheel back at the village.
"Well, Chrome is the best at exploration. Especially in times of need like right now," Sumi responded while taking out a glass jar of some sulfa drug. Thank goodness that she had some extra. And that Tsukasa had told her to hold onto it if she felt any pain later that day. Otherwise she would've been in trouble...
Chrome was looking around, not paying attention to the conversation behind him. Something caught my eye. I've built up some crazy bad intuition over the years. And it's telling me there's something on the battlefield that's a scientific game changer! He let out a small breath and raced off, determined to find the item that he knew they needed. My science starts with hunting for materials!
Sumi applied the sulfa drug to the wound and took out a needle from her pouch. She looked at her bloody hand with a small sigh, grabbing some nylon thread from her belt. Senku noticed her hand and stepped up, confusing her as she looked back. He chuckled as he reached into his own pouch...to reveal hand-stitched gloves. Her eyes slowly widened at them as they were the same color as her clothing, and soft looking. It looked to be made out of fur too.
"Can't be our local doctor without one of these, can you?" He smiled a bit towards her. "I made them before you came back...when Gen told me you got hurt." He glanced away briefly as Gen stared in silence. She blinked slowly, wondering if he made them in case she ever had to deal with wounds like that again. Before she could ask, he bent down and took out some soap, cleaning her hand with it. He then placed the gloves over her hands, smirking as they were a perfect fit. "You've got this, Sumi. I don't carry any doubt about that."
"...Thank you, Sen. That means a lot to me," She smiled a little at him as they stared at each other, both of their hearts beating. The moment was broken as Gen cleared his throat, getting their attention.
"Have you two forgotten we need our science weapon and Ukyo to be alive?" He gave them a small teasing smirk. Both of them flinched as Senku coughed a bit, standing up. Sumi quickly whipped around to Ukyo.
"Yeah, let's get on that," Sumi said quickly as he walked back to the nitric acid. She had a small smile still on her face.
"Exactly what I was thinking," He flushed a bit, trying to hide it with his wrist, but Gen knew better. He chuckled to himself.
Even in times of crisis, Sumiku always proved to be just adorable as they've been before.
Kohaku stared at the two fighters, sweating in unease. "Keep 'em surrounded, but maintain distance!" She ordered the rest of the battle team. "We don't wanna face Tsukasa and Hyoga in a head-on fight!" The two stared down the villagers before Hyoga gripped his spear. Tsukasa gave a knowing look in silence as he moved his feet a little. He then jumped high into the air, shocking everyone. He did a front flip as Hyoga started to spin around his body in a circle, his spear doing the same in rapid speed. Kokuyo held up his katana as the spear grazed it repeatedly. Ginro braced himself as the same thing was happening with his own weapon.
Meanwhile, Tsukasa was above Hyoga's head still. "Aw, man, they're like the ultimate tag-team!" One of the guards exclaimed in awe.
"For real!" Another one grinned at him. "And they're both unstoppable on their own!"
"He's vulnerable while he's up in the air!" Nikki called out while holding the copper paraboloid. "This could be our last chance to beat him! Taiju!" He glanced over to her while standing in front of a guard who was close to the miracle cave. He was still holding the carbon shield. "Use the shock cannon!"
Tsukasa's eye glanced over to them and when he turned his body, he threw his spear hard. It hit against the copper paraboloid, Nikki gasping in disbelief. And the force of the throw was powerful enough to send her flying backwards. She crashed into Magma, who then crashed into Mantle, and all of them hit a tree.
"Nikki!" Taiju screamed while looking at them. "You guys!"
Tsukasa finally landed on his feet, touching the ground. Hyoga was in a stance as smoke came from the crater the two were in. All of the battle team had been knocked down. The two fighters stood in silence while staring at them.
"Alright! Let's go!" One of their men shouted, the others charging in with a yell. Sumi bit her lip in concern from hearing it, but focused on Ukyo. Having faith in the battle team was the only way to not mull over it too hard. Because then it would prove to be a distraction when she was almost done. She finished stitching him up and then wrapped the gauze around his chest. The black-haired scientist got onto her feet, checking him over one last time. She then ran over and bent down between Gen and Senku. The former was scooping up a substance on the ground.
"Urrrgh, nasty," He whined with tears in his eyes. "So you want me to mix this snake or lizard poop or whatever in here?" He then put it into the beaker of nitric acid sitting between him and the green-haired scientist.
"Nitric acid plus urea makes urea nitrate," Senku explained to him. "It's not the most effective weapon, but it's better than nothing."
"It's a fertilizer-based incendiary chemical," Sumi revealed with a small smirk, Gen flinching. "People used it in various terrorist acts and it's similar to ammonium nitrate, which is a high-nitrogen fertilizer, heh heh heh..."
"It's astonishing how terrifying you can be sometimes even though I have no idea what any of that meant," Gen commented while having white eyes and shaking.
"Aw. Thanks," She replied with a small grin.
"But I'm afraid I'm not following either of you," Gen shook his head, his eyes in shadow.
"If the uric acid in the feces is intact, meaning it's quality poop, we'll get white crystals," Senku elaborated while holding up a finger.
"You're saying if we're lucky, we can use these white crystals as some kind of science weapon?" Gen questioned the two of them with hope in his eyes.
"Yeah," Senku confirmed as Sumi nodded with a hum. "It's up to the luck of the draw!" Sumi blinked slowly as she thought that Senku didn't believe in luck. But she guessed that even in this situation, he had to partly rely on it. The three stared down at the beaker as they waited...and waited...and waited. As they sat there, Gen let out a small knowing whine.
"Oh, I remember now..." The mentalist started off as they all looked deadpanned. "I've said this before, Senku, but your luck of the draw pretty consistently...eally-ray ucks-say."
Sumi facepalmed while dragging a hand down her face. "Of course...out of all the things to happen..." She murmured knowingly at their results. Out of all people, she should've been the first to realize this. Now it was just a little embarrassing...
Kinro charged forward, spear ready as he let out a yell while heading for Tsukasa. The man simply dodged to the right, glancing at Kinro. "Not so bad. I'd rather not kill you," He commented, as he would admit that he was slightly impressed. Ginro then jumped in from behind, shocking him. The little one popped up from behind...it's a two-man move. Except that it wasn't, because Magma came up from behind while wielding his axe.
"Looks like they've distracted him and triangulated," Hyoga commented while staring at them. "They're more capable than I expected. Still, I'm sure Tsukasa won't have any trouble dealing with them."
Kohaku let out a grunt as she had jumped and pushed against his kudayari. She knocked him back a bit as she landed, holding her katana. "I won't let you get in the way, Hyoga. You're up against me," She had a small smirk on her face. "Let's just call it a revenge match." It was not only for burning down her village, but also injuring Kinro and Sumi getting hurt from the fire.
Ginro and Magma yelled while charging in from opposite directions of Tsukasa. He let out a small chuckle as he jumped up and hit Ginro in the back. The blond let out a yelp as he hit the ground. Once he landed, he whipped around to Magma and raised his knee, hitting him in the chin. The brute blond let out a shriek as he was sent flying backwards. Kinro screamed as he came charging in, only for Tsukasa to move to the side like it was nothing. The guard looked up, only to be punched in the face. He was knocked into a tree and he grunted in pain. He let out a painful breath while squeezing his eyes shut.
Tsukasa glared while getting out of his stance slowly. He looked at all of the fighters being down. "Magma...Kinro...Ginro," Kokuyo gritted his teeth while clenching a fist. "Hang on..." He shook a bit while trying to fight the pain in his body.
"Isn't there something else we can use besides poop?" Gen asked frantically as he was removing everything he had from his haori. There was paper, flowers, and pouches on the ground. "You know, maybe like some nice flowers or even paper. I'm a magician, so I have all kinds of tricks up my sleeves."
Senku gritted his teeth and Sumi turned to him with a small frown. He then turned to Gen sheepishly. "You got any sulfurina?"
"I definitely wouldn't have that stuff on me," Gen replied while shaking. "I make it a habit not to carry anything that dangerous..."
Sumi sighed while looking away. "It'd be a great help right about now, I can tell you that much..." She mumbled a bit grimly.
"If we had sulfuric acid to mix with the miracle water, nitric acid, we could make a mixed acid and then use that to...no point," He looked towards the ground with his eyes closed. "All hypothetical and a waste of time-"
"I have some!"
The three looked up towards the entrance from the interruption. Chrome had finally returned from his search, panting and sweating. "I've got it," He smiled at them confidently, holding up a glass bottle, which had a few cracks in it. "Sulfuric acid." And sure enough, there was some inside the bottle.
"Whoa, Chrome! Where the heck did you find that?!" Gen asked the brunet in shock.
"What, did you forget already?" Chrome remarked in response. "It's from our opening volley. It's the leftovers from our bluff tank cannon!"
"You're the best, Chrome! You came just in time with what we needed! And a great idea to remember the cannon, I must say," Sumi smiled happily at him and he grinned as he poured it into the miracle fluid.
"Nice work, scavenger king," Senku complimented him, the others looking relieved. "And we'll throw this in to top it off," The two men looked up in confusion to reveal the soap he used with Sumi earlier. "It's chock full of glycerin."
"Soap?" Chrome and Gen asked in confusion, as they wasn't expecting this item at all.
"Here we go again," Sumi gave a small smile. "We have calcium carbonate to thank too, though."
Senku let out a chuckle, remembering when he and Sumi used it on the pulley to free Kohaku. It's been useful as hell from the very beginning. Come to think of it...this was one of the first science items Sumi and I showed Tsukasa. He smiled a bit while holding it up. Sumi looked at it as well with a knowing grin, as she recalled it as well. It's a life saver in a world without doctors other than Sumi. You can call it Dr. Stone. The two then looked towards the beaker of nitric acid. Our battle started out with soap...and it looks like now, soap is gonna be what ends it.
Kohaku was running while chasing down Hyoga, who was on the opposite side with his spear outstretched. He then turned the corner to head right for her. She gasped and jumped backwards, using her katana to block his spinning spear. She leapt backwards a great distance and he jumped after her, the blonde gritting her teeth. He blinked in shock as once she landed on the ground, she held onto the tip with her hands. The blade was right next to her hip.
"This was just the thing I was after!" She revealed to him. "Even if you stab me with it...I'm still not letting go," She snarled a bit in determination. "Hyoga! Without your precious weapon, you're powerless!"
He just sighed in return, holding out his hand to a guard. "My spare." The guard gasped as he ran forward with another spear just like the one Kohaku held onto. "You can keep that one. In times of despair, mediocre people always resort to futile resistance."
She let out a scoff in return. "I'm far from despair." He dropped his hand in confusion while staring at her. She had a small relaxed expression while looking up at him. "You really don't get it...everything starts to add up. Be it strength, or science."
Taiju rushed forward with the carbon shield ready. "We might be weak on our own...but all our contributions combine to form something greater." One of their allies from the Tsukasa Empire clashed with a guard. Magma slowly willed himself to get up. "The battle team buys time for Senku, Sumi, and the science team to turn things around!" Kinro and Ginro were panting heavily, the former getting up and running off. Kohaku had stood up at this point, a hopeful smile on her face. "Because all of us believe...in Senku, Sumi...and in science!"
Senku held up the pipette above the mixture as they had a yellow liquid inside of the pipette now. "What's this yellow liquid?" Gen asked them curiously.
"It has a really sweet smell to it," Chrome sniffed it, though he noticed that Sumi had her nose pinched instead of taking in the smell herself. And that was a little out of the ordinary, given her great sense of smell.
"Does your head hurt too?" Gen added, a hand on the side of his head.
"Shh!" Senku shushed them afterwards. "Don't breathe. One little drop of this stuff makes a big boom! We'd all be beyond dead meat." The two gulped while staying quiet and he looked up at them. "It's nitroglycerin."
"Nitro...?" Gen paused for a second. "I've definitely heard of that before! It's like, uper-say dangerous! Wait, was this what you meant when you said that chemical from before was used in terrorist acts?" He turned to Sumi, who blinked at him.
"Well, if it had worked, then yeah that's what I meant. But we would've needed steps to control the temperature, so it wouldn't have exploded...maybe," She gave a playful grin and the two gasped in disbelief. Senku let out a chuckle from her behavior and patted her on the head.
"Heh heh heh. She's just joking...maybe," He remarked in a mysterious tone.
"Is she or is she not?!" Gen yelped in fear and then freaked out even more as he put the pipette into the nitroglycerin.
"As a matter of fact, this stuff is ridiculously dangerous!" Senku cackled while continuing with Sumi. "So I should say don't you dare try this at home, kids."
"Or anything else you've learned today!" Sumi gave a wink.
"Nobody's going to try this or the other stuff you did," Chrome deadpanned at the green-haired scientist. He then gave a look of shock as he realized something. "Hang on! Are you guys planning on blowing them all up?!"
Why would I let Senku blow people up when we're not even interested in killing people? Sumi sagged her shoulders in disbelief towards him. Are we really that malicious?
"No, you idiot," Senku corrected and turned away. "The two of us are planning on saving everybody. The question is...how do we get this to the other side of the battlefield without making it explode first?"
"Nitroglycerin can be used as an explosive and a vasodilatory drug. The explosive itself is highly reactive and a hazard, making it extremely sensitive. It's highly exothermic as well...if we send it off now, then our condition with Ukyo is over," Sumi glanced up towards them as another drop of nitric acid fell.
Tsukasa ran towards the miracle cave since it was now unguarded thanks to most of the battle team being down. He could finally reach Senku...reach Sumire. Before he could get any closer, Taiju stepped into his path, holding the carbon shield. He then slid to a stop, Taiju letting out a yell. "No, you don't!" He gritted his teeth, determined to protect his friends from further harm. "I won't let you get near Senku or Sumi!" He froze as Tsukasa had a stunned face looking towards the sky. Taiju looked up as well, and everyone was frozen in place just like them. High up in the sky was a paper plane that soared near the sun. And it was dipped in yellow liquid.
Senku chuckled, getting their attention. "Hey, Tsukasa!" He called out, as he was the one who threw it. "This isn't a battle between strength and science!" He then looked up with a smirk. "Because science actually is strength."
"You know why I say science is unlimited? Because anything can go in hand with it...even with those you say don't deserve to be revived," Sumi gave a small smirk, a hand on her hip as she held a paper plane of her own. "Science doesn't nullify strength. It only enhances the skill."
While Senku and Sumi were in thought, Gen tapped Senku's shoulder with a paper plane. The two looked up in shock to see it. Gen had a small smile on his face while holding some paper. "This design won the Guinness world record for longest flying paper airplane!"
Sumi gave him a small grateful smile. He held it out and Senku placed the nitroglycerin over it. "This has about the 100 times power of gunpowder. There's a word you know that came straight from the ancient Greek word for power." Senku explained as the airplane then hit a tree.
"And that's dynamite," The two revealed in unison with small smiles. The ground shook ferociously as there was a big explosion.
"We can take this dynamite paper plane, and use it to save everyone!" Senku grinned as thick shrouds of dust emitted into the air. It fogged the entire battlefield as Tsukasa and Hyoga braced themselves. Seconds passed and once the dust was starting to settle, there was barely anything left of the tree affected.
"W-W-what was that?!" Ginro shrieked in fear.
"If someone got caught in that blast, they'd be gone in an instant!" Kinro added while in shock.
Kohaku was at first surprised by the power of dynamite. But then she gave a triumphant smirk as she knew she could trust the science team. "Human strength is just pathetic in comparison. That's the power of science!" She stated proudly to both Hyoga and Tsukasa.
Senku chuckled while taking a step forward with Sumi. Magma panted while looking up ahead with a pleased smile. "We made it just in time. Thanks for stalling 'em for us, battle team. Never could've pulled it off without you."
They all smiled at the science team. "After all this, you guys deserve a day off from labor. You held on for as long as you could against these guys. Never thought we'd come up with these, huh?" She gave a confident look while waving her own paper plane a little. Gen was to her left and Chrome was to Senku's right, both of them also holding the dynamite paper planes.
"The Kingdom of Science has just acquired the amazingly dynamic power of dynamite!" Gen declared and then had a malicious grin on his face. "It has the overall blast power force of ten billion megaton joules!" After hearing this, the enemies were now uneasy.
"Yeah?" Senku mumbled while leaning forward to glance at him. Sumi rubbed a temple at this complete lie. And for using Senku's catchphrase to over-exaggerate...did Gen really think they wouldn't notice this? "Ten billion megatons, you say? That's a huge lie."
"Shhh!" Gen put a finger over his lips. "That's not important! Let me take this negotiation, Senku! You always just start by ulrting-blay out the facts! I could've used Sumi too if I needed given how she never falls for my methods! She can get way too effective during deals!" Like the time she convinced Gen to help them out with Magma during the lightning storm. She didn't tend to be too blunt like Senku, but she could be a bit scary at times.
"Is that supposed to be taken as a compliment?" She raised a brow at him, since she genuinely didn't know.
"Huh? Megatons?" One of them repeated skeptically. "Dynamite? In this age?"
"They'll never be able to hit us with little paper planes, though..." One of them spoke up.
"Yeah, they don't have a chance!"
Suddenly, an arrow in a bow was being pointed at them. The tip of it was dipped into the dynamite. Ukyo was standing at the front, smirking. "We've got something more accurate than paper planes. How about dynamite arrows?"
"Ukyo!" Chrome exclaimed in shock.
"Thanks for patching me up, Sumi," He glanced over his shoulder and she gave a small smile, relieved that he was actively standing up.
Gen then clapped his hands with a Cheshire cat smile. "It seems the tide has turned! The war's over, folks! That's it, the end!" They realized that they were at a true disadvantage. And with the dynamite, their spears would be useless, especially with the blast they witnessed. And so, they dropped their weapons and raised their hands.
No one noticed Hyoga silently approaching the tree that got hit with the dynamite. He let out a gasp of astonishment, reaching up to pull down his mask. His de-petrification scars were all around his mouth. His eyes widened as he smiled. "Oh, wow!" He murmured gleefully, continuing to stare at the tree. "Magnificent...!"
"Ha ha!" Taiju laughed happily while raising his fists. "Yes, we won!"
"The war's actually over!" Chrome grinned while clenching a fist of his own.
Gen had an uneasy smile as he couldn't feel like celebrating. We won the battle, but the war's not over quite yet. The grunts and underlings have been dealt with, but they weren't the only thing in our way. There are big problems looming overhead. I'm sure Tsukasa, Sumi, and Senku must've had that same realization. What happens next? That's an onundrum-cay.
It was dead silent between the three, as they were all thinking the same thing. Sumi herself felt a bit awkward since she knew that she had been in the middle of this war the whole time...it didn't even seem possible until moments like this, as well as when she confronted Tsukasa not too long ago when he saw Senku again. Tsukasa then let out a sigh after a few seconds.
"If I block it or smack it down, it'll still explode," He deduced correctly to the two. "And there's no way to dodge the large blast...yes. We can't avoid this new weapon of yours. But still...an explosion would mean collateral damage. Your own villagers would get hurt," His own men stared at him in confusion. And that was because Tsukasa knew that the two wouldn't risk the lives of their friends just for the sake of winning. "Senku, Sumire, it's clear that you can't abandon people. And you'd never sacrifice yourselves."
"Well, well," Senku shrugged while stepping forward. Sumi stepped in sync with him in silence. "Kinda looks like the three of us are stuck, huh? It's a classic stale-mate situation."
"It's not like we would allow anyone to get hurt. We still have a condition in place," Sumi gestured to Ukyo.
"Obviously, this is all going according to your design," Tsukasa pointed out to them. The two then came to a stop. "Which means, Senku and Sumire...your objective is..."
"Yup," Senku finished for him in confirmation. "To negotiate. Sound good?" He didn't wait for an answer and then turned to the mentalist. "Gen, you said you first met Tsukasa on the set of some kinda television special?"
"Huh?" Gen blinked in confusion from the sudden question and why it was asked. "Yeah, that's exactly what happened," He replied while blinking.
"But did you ever stop to think why that even happened?" Sumi raised a brow while crossing her arms underneath her chest. "How he even got to that point?"
"The whole thing doesn't really add up, does it?" Senku remarked to him. "This guy could have anything he wanted—well, almost everything. He did screw up with our dear Sumire," He chuckled as Sumi looked annoyed at him for bringing her up to begin with. "And his big goal in the stone world is building a society free from the rich and corrupt. Turning away from established powers or whatever. All these lofty goals. That's the kind of man Shishio Tsukasa really is. But in the old world, he did all those big-time fights and TV appearances, raking in a ton of money. Even had this public persona...the strongest primate high schooler. If you ask me or Sumi...it just doesn't feel like his style."
"A fair point," Gen rubbed his chin in thought behind the two. "Making a ton of money seemed like such an obvious and natural thing to want that I never had a second thought about it!"
"Because everyone just assumed that he wanted money or that it didn't matter to him, but if you really sit down to think about it..." Sumi closed her eyes in thought. "You start to ask..."
"You needed the money for what, exactly?" Senku continued for her, getting straight to the point. "Or rather, for whom. She's still alive...isn't she? The two of us are talking about your sister." Tsukasa stood there, stunned. "Hey, Sumi..." He turned to the black-haired scientist with a knowing look on his face. "Tell everyone who your grandmother was," He gave her a small smirk.
Sumi paused for a few seconds before opening her eyes, staring right at Tsukasa in the face. "My grandmother...was Dr. Rika Yakushiji," She revealed slowly, all of the villagers very confused right now.
Tsukasa gasped sharply from the name...a name he hadn't heard in thousands of years...
A young Tsukasa stared down at his little sister in the hospital. Dr. Yakushiji was walking by when she paused, seeing the open door. She peeked inside to see what was going on. She was just about to head home to her granddaughter for the night, but didn't expect a visitor at this hour. "Clinically, she's brain-dead," The doctor said gravely and the woman blinked to see a little boy...alone. She then remembered that this was his little sister and that he had been the only visitor. "There's no possibility that little Mirai will ever regain consciousness. I'm sorry."
Her eyes widened as she didn't think they'd ever have to tell a little boy...that his sister could never recover again. After the doctors left, the little boy stood there for a few minutes. He squeezed his eyes shut while shedding a tear over her. Rika slowly got out of hiding and he looked up, gasping.
"I-I'm sorry, doctor. Do you...need some time alone with her?" He mumbled, thinking that she was just gonna check on Mirai.
"I actually wanted to speak to you, actually," She gave a warm smile and he blinked in shock from how kind she was being to him. "My name is Dr. Yakushiji...your little sister reminds me of my granddaughter," She looked towards Mirai, her eyes shaking. She didn't want either of them to go through this...part of their job was to heal people and yet supposedly, there was nothing that could be done for her anymore. She didn't want that. She didn't want to just give up and continue to let this girl be brain-dead. Somewhere deep down...she could tell that Mirai did want to wake up, see her brother again, keep growing... "You really care for her, huh? You're the only one I've seen visit her daily."
Tsukasa nodded silently, looking towards the ground. "...Your sister will continue to be on life support as long as the funds keep coming in," She spoke up slowly and he flinched at that. She looked back to him and given his reaction...their situation wasn't exactly the best. "As her brother, I trust that you'll continue to visit her...don't worry about the money." He blinked in confusion as she stood up with a soft smile. "I'll take care of it."
"W-Wait!" He stammered as she was about to leave. "I-I can't ask you to do that, doctor. This is too generous..."
"Nonsense," She gave a small smirk while opening the door. "In my house, we do anything we can for family...and I'm sure that someone I know will help too. You just focus on looking over little Mirai."
He frowned deeply while watching her leave. He couldn't fully accept her help...but he would do as suggested, and figure out a way to repay her back. He then went to the beach as the sun set, collecting shells. He gave a small smile...and then he was knocked onto the sand by the drunk man. He let out a small groan on the ground, his shells broken. He was shaking from the hit. Meanwhile, Rika was explaining things to Sumi at home, who smiled and nodded in agreement to help out. She then showed Sumi one of her old science books when she was in medical school. The girl read it in awe as she sat on her grandmother's lap.
Rika and Sumi were then looking over Mirai, Sumi wearing her mask and surgeon cap. It was to help sell the illusion that she was her grandma's nurse. The two then blinked to see Tsukasa walk in slowly, and he ignored them at first. Rika gasped as she blinked, seeing his injuries. He slowly placed a shell next to Mirai's pillow...and it broke. "Oh my!" The woman rushed over to him, bending down and holding his cheeks. She looked over to Sumi, who nodded and ran off into the corner. "Come with me," She guided him over to the bed next to Mirai's as Sumi ran in with a first-aid kit.
Rika pulled out a cold pack, placing it on his cheek. "Are you hurt anywhere?" She asked him in concern.
"N-no," He stammered nervously, a bit hesitant from the medical attention. Sumi held up a warm compress and Rika sighed, placing it on his cheek.
"I won't ask what happened if you're not willing to tell us, but...if this happens again, I'll have to get an answer," She said carefully and he looked away.
"It won't," He snarled a little, both of them taken aback. "I'm sorry to trouble you so much." The two stared at each other in silence as Rika let out a deep breath. She then gently patted him on the head and he looked up in confusion.
"Think nothing of it, Tsukasa," She said softly and he was surprised that she knew his name. "I should tell you...that I plan on finding a cure for little Mirai," His eyes slowly widened from this news as Sumi closed the first-aid kit. "I have a very dedicated person that will assist me. It will take time...and I don't know how long that'll be. But I promise that I will do everything I can to save your sister. Nothing in science is impossible if you work hard. So I dedicate the rest of my life to help her."
He felt like he was in a dream...that this woman couldn't be dropping everything to help his sister. Sumi held her grandmother's hand, smiling even though he couldn't see it. "...Thank you," He said tearfully to the woman, who looked on happily. "Thank you so much..."
When he returned home, he still had the cold press against his cheek. The living room was dark, and garbage bags were everywhere. He walked past a small room, an adult sitting in front of the television drinking away. He was constantly visiting his sister, and yet the adult in the household hadn't so much as done anything except drink. Unlike the kind and determined doctor he met... "I understand," He glared with tears in his eyes. "But still...!"
As the week went on, he started running every night with a hoodie. He also did push-ups in the pull-ups in the park. Meanwhile, Sumi was selling freshly-baked cookies to people in school to help raise money for Mirai. Senku stared at her in confusion as she had been doing that for a while now. Rika was using up a trust fund to help support Mirai's medical bills. One day, months after these events, Tsukasa got a phone call, telling him to come to the hospital.
He then sat in front of Rika, who looked very exhausted as she explained to him the next steps. "It is possible...that she'd be in a vegetative state once we carry out the transplant," She coughed into her fist and he flinched in shock. He stood up, but she waved a hand. "I'm alright. But her chances of regaining her brain function and a physiological response are high. If you consent to it, we will start as soon as possible."
He slowly sat back down, not even hesitating with his answer. "I know you'll succeed, Dr. Yakushiji. This is only a small part of giving back your kindness that you've shown to me these past few months."
She smiled softly and held out the clipboard for him to sign. "And please, call me Rika." Sumi stood at the counter in the lobby with a smile, paying for Mirai's bills. The receptionist gave a fond smile to the girl before taking it. She couldn't help much inside the hospital room next to her grandmother, but she could still help pay for Mirai...because she didn't want that girl to suffer. Rika came out a few seconds later and Sumi ran up to her happily. The woman then bent down while coughing, alarming the little girl. She frowned as...her grandmother's health had taken a significant toll trying to find the best transplant for Mirai, and for the amount of research she had done the past few months.
Tsukasa stood in front of a man, as it was now his first fight. His opponent was much taller, but that didn't bother him in the slightest. He got into a stance, moving his fists multiple times. The man started to taunt him by dodging with ease. He then moved around and kicked Tsukasa into the fence hard. He yelped as sweat flew from him, a trickle of blood down his mouth. He panted slowly before letting out a scream. He lunged forward to punch the man in the face hard.
He was then tended to by Rika that night, Sumi sleeping in a hospital bed nearby. Tsukasa still couldn't tell her appearance, though, as she had a blanket over her body and it was turned away from him. Her hair was tucked into the blanket, so he could only see the top of her head. Once he was treated, he bowed gratefully to Rika. She smiled and turned to look at Mirai, as the surgery was a success, and she was now being monitored. Tsukasa smiled back at her, hugging the woman. She blinked in shock before returning it with a small smile.
Once he was gone, though...she coughed immensely and fell to the ground, unable to stop. She coughed into her hand as Sumi woke up, shouting in alarm and running over. She placed down the woman onto her back and opened the door, shouting for help.
The next day, only Mirai was in her room, confusing him. He turned to another doctor, asking where Rika was. The doctor told him the woman was placed in her own room, bedridden from her fall. His eyes widened in shock as Sumi was currently in a private room with her grandmother. Rika was breathing slowly, her eyes closed as the machine beeped slowly. Sumi's eyes were red from crying as she just watched.
And that was the last time he had heard about either of them. After that, the two had completely disappeared into thin air. And without knowing what Sumi looked like or even her name...he had no way of finding her. The only evidence of them was Mirai's medical bills, but they were now being paid without any visits.
Years went by as Tsukasa continued fights, easily defeating everyone to the cheers of the crowd. A man clapped as the boy walked up. He chuckled while pulling out money from his suit. Tsukasa then made the papers, his name everywhere. He had officially become the strongest high school primate. He gave interviews, and thanks to his wealth, he had placed Mirai in a private hospital. He spoke to a doctor in the hallway, bowing his head. He slid open the wooden door, a paper bag in his hand. In the middle of the room was Mirai lying in bed. She had The Little mermaid gifts: a book, a clam plushie, and a pink clam toy. "Hey, Mirai," He murmured while placing a mermaid plush next to her. Her condition hadn't changed ever since the surgery. And he never figured out what happened to Rika either... "I'm back," He then sat down in the chair with a heavy sigh. He then looked at his sister with a fond smile.
"Listen...I'll protect you. It may take years...or even decades...but someday. I promise you."
But he never thought that day would be thousands of years later...
"So tell me...you still think it's all worth it?" Sumi opened up an eye.
His mouth didn't wanna close as he stared at her. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from her. "You knew of me...because of your grandmother...all that time?"
"Heh. It's funny," Sumi looked away wistfully. "Even though I put the pieces together myself a year ago...in 3,700 years, anything can be forgotten. But what you never lose sight of...is helping your family work until her death to prevent a complete stranger from the same." Tsukasa let out another gasp.
Rika had gotten sick thanks to never stopping her work on Mirai...her age wasn't even a factor, but thanks to months of no sleep and constantly on the move, it finally caught up to her. She held her grandma's hand, and Rika smiled. "Sumi...I know it's hard, but...please don't give up on science when I'm gone."
"But Grandma-"
"Mm," She gave the little girl a small smile. "Promise me, darling. I know you'll do great things in the future...if you just keep applying yourself. Your mind could never forget it...could it?"
Sumi sighed slowly and nodded. "I'll be back, Grandma." She left the room to find something to drink. She stood in front of the vending machine, waiting for her soda to come out. As the can fell, a bunch of doctors ran past her and she blinked, looking up. She stared as she had a bad feeling about this...and she was right as they headed into Rika's room. Her eyes widened in horror as she dropped the can immediately and ran off.
She reached the room within seconds, seeing her grandmother in bed. All of the doctors were standing there in shock as the machine was giving a long and on-going beep. "Grandma?" They whipped around to see her in the doorway.
"...Sumire," One of them spoke up sadly as she stepped inside.
"Grandma, are you there?" She asked slowly since she didn't learn from Rika what this meant. The woman didn't think she had to teach Sumi when she was still so young. "What's wrong?" She looked up at the doctors, who were all in a tense silence.
"...We're sorry, but...we're afraid that your grandmother...she..." The explanation got tuned out for Sumi as she listened and once it finally hit her, she fell onto her grandmother's body.
"No. Grandma, no! No..." She sobbed into the blanket, the doctors all frowning sadly at her having to experience this.
Sumi let out a heavy breath, her hand over her face. It was the third time she had spoken of it ever. The first time was when she eventually told Senku months Rika died, even though he had a feeling the whole time. The second was when she told Chrome. "Stopped visiting your sister after she was gone. Didn't think it was going to bring either of them back..." She murmured quietly enough for him to hear. Everyone except Senku was in shock while staring at her, trying to process everything.
Her grandmother died...trying to help my sister?
No wonder why after all that time, he didn't see her again...because she had passed away...in the minutes that Sumi stepped out of the room. And it was why she never really mentioned the event. Because she felt like the moment she left, her grandmother couldn't hold onto life anymore...it was probably a little dumb, but she was a kid back then. She didn't think it was because of how hard her grandmother worked at the time. But Senku explained it to her about a few hours after she had told him. And she didn't think she'd have to tell anyone again...until now.
"We might be able to heal her," Senku held the bottle of revival fluid and a drop fell from it. It de-petrified a swallow. "Because the revival fluid has a residual healing effect," The bird then took flight between the three. Tsukasa let out a quiet gasp, his eyes wide. After so long...he might see his sister again...actually alive. "I can't promise it'll work, but it's the only chance she's got after Rika...well."
"That's right, Tsukasa!" Taiju exclaimed enthusiastically from behind. "And don't forget that we were able to fix Senku's neck after you broke it."
"By the way..." Senku placed a hand on the miracle cave. "As for that revival fluid...oh yeah!" He turned around with a wide grin on his face, taunting. "We just happen to have control of all of it!"
Kohaku and Ginro gave deadpanned looks towards him. Scumbag.
Total scumbag
Is that really necessary? Sumi sweat dropped at him, her eyes white.
"So what are your terms then?" Tsukasa wasn't bothered by Senku at all.
"The terms are pretty simple, really," Senku answered him seriously. "We'll do our best to revive your sister. And in exchange, Sumi and I are asking for a cease-fire."
"And no marriage either," Sumi opened her eyes while staring at him.
"And why should I believe this isn't a bunch of lies?" Tsukasa snarled a bit. Senku sighed a bit while looking towards the stone pieces on the ground. He then looked up at Tsukasa, the sun's rays hitting him from the side a bit.
"All you have is my word. I never lie about science. Is that not enough?" He murmured softly and Tsukasa stared at him with wide eyes. He then turned to Sumi next.
"I haven't forgotten that you could be lying to me again...like before."
She sighed slowly while glancing up at him, her bangs flying to the side a little. She expected this response at some point... "If my grandma and I were the ones who tried to heal her before when we were just kids and I didn't even know you...why would I lie now thousands of years later? Even if you never wanted me as your wife, you would still believe me. Because in your eyes...I was the ideal person you wanted to save. As someone who learned under a doctor, I can't promise anything. All I can do is try, just like Grandma and I did all those years ago...I haven't spent...one full day without thinking about how much she would've wanted to see Mirai walking again...just like you," Her eyes glistened while staring into his eyes. "Is that finally enough for a truce, Tsukasa...?"
He was flabbergasted by her response. After over a year...despite their clashing ideals...their stances never changed. And after finally learning of Rika's death...he couldn't ignore her perspective either. She might not show it, but he knew that no matter how much time passed...she could never unsee how hard her grandmother worked. Not only for him and his sister, but for Sumi as well. And it along with Senku, inspired her to pursue science, with her knowledge in medicine being a constant reminder of her grandmother. He moved his eyes to the ground, shutting his eyes and tilting his head back.
"Yeah...that's plenty. That's enough."
Kohaku gave a small smile. And so, the war was officially over, and with no casualties. Taiju let out a happy scream while Chrome wrapped his arms around Senku and Sumi.
Suika had her hands pressed together, praying that everyone made it out safely. She then looked up, seeing the team come back safe and sound. She beamed happily, rushing over to them. Meanwhile, Tsukasa helped Ukyo up, and thanks to Sumi, he'd heal soon. And Kaseki...was heartbroken to see what happened to the Steam Gorilla of course. He let out a lot of tears, Sumi smiling apologetically to him. He was still sobbing over it when the men from Tsukasa's army were pulling it out. Senku, Sumi, and Tsukasa gathered the revival fluid. Tsukasa was wearing a white shirt now thanks to Yuzuriha. Senku stood up once he had the beaker, he smiled. Tsukasa just gave a curt nod in response. Sumi was standing to the side of them, just relieved that it was all over.
Soon, Tsukasa led the way while the others all were wearing woven baskets on their backs. All except Gen, since he had to drive the car. "Wow. I never even knew you had a sister," Nikki commented to him.
"All that time...you did everything for her," Kohaku stated as she could relate.
"The thing I don't understand is, why would a good guy break the statues? That's the biggest jerk move. Well, except what you did to Sumi's face," Taiju mumbled that last part to himself, looking away. Tsukasa still heard it, though and closed his eyes, trying not to relive that.
"The biggest jerk move. You're not wrong about that, Taiju," Gen deadpanned a little, closing his eyes. "I guess you can be pretty unt-blay when you feel the need, huh?"
Ukyo stared at Tsukasa, still recalling when he first saw him break a statue. After so long, he could finally state his opinion. "The way you wanted to go about purifying humanity was...really horrible," He stated as calmly as he could, Tsukasa a bit taken aback. "As well as trying to force someone to be with you."
Sumi turned away with her eyes closed while walking next to Senku. He said nothing for her sake.
"Horrible, huh?" Tsukasa repeated grimly and then looked up to the sky. "Well...you may be right about that. But what would you all had done?" Ukyo blinked at the question. "If you were suddenly reborn in the stone world with practically nobody else around...then you found out there was this revival fluid. A primitive world can't sustain a large number of people. There's no guarantee we can make unlimited revival fluid, anyway. Well, Ukyo? Who would you have chosen?" Ukyo flinched back in a bit of surprise, and...he didn't have an answer. He then looked towards the ground. "I had to pick and choose lives at a necessity. It's a scary thing to have to do. I've always believed playing God was a sin. I decided to carry them myself. It was the only way to build a new world, to...cherish and hold onto someone I admired so much. That's why I did it. My goals haven't changed. What's more, they won't in the future. For that reason, Senku..." Senku gasped a bit at being addressed. "This is just a cease-fire."
He chuckled while looking away. "That's fine with me."
"Sumire..." Sumi blinked while looking back towards him. "I've always wanted to know...why?" He asked softly and there was silence for a bit as she had a shadow over her eyes. "Why did you do it? Why didn't you tell me she was your grandmother?"
Sumi slowly came to a stop while staring at him. Everyone else slowly stopped as well, glancing back to her. "Why? Mm...I don't like talking about my grandmother much. I guess it's just too hard for me," She gave a small weak smile. "But I did it because...I knew what it was like...to feel like you can't live anymore without a loved one. Let's just say my biological parents were full of crap. I always say science has no limits...but the day she died, I thought I met mine for a while. And then you know the rest," She let out a small sigh. Tsukasa kept his back to her, his eyes softening.
"This isn't an apology...not yet. Or to express my gratitude. You aren't the reason why things couldn't progress, Sumi," She blinked in confusion as he looked up to the sky. "It's because I refused to accept...that you couldn't agree to my new world by my side. The woman that stands before me, here and now...wasn't the same person I met the day I was revived. I didn't realize that until it was too late."
Her eyes slowly widened from what he said. She then gave a small hum as she went back to walking. "I'm not wife material. But even if you knew about my past with your sister, you had a feeling I'd be the one to ensure your future. Although it's still ten billion percent not happening."
"...I understand that now," He murmured as he continued on, Sumi walking between Tsukasa and Senku now. The green-haired scientist gave a small chuckle that his former enemy finally realized...that Sumi wasn't a pawn or an object to fight over. Because it was ridiculous to even think of her as one, that would've destroyed her if she really was forced to pick and then get hurt in the process...plus, Senku felt that it would've been typical drama that they didn't need from this war. And thankfully it never got that far.
They arrived at the edge of a cliff. "The hospital's around here," Tsukasa pointed to an open area. "At least, it used to be."
"Looks like some of these folks ended up drifting away..." Gen murmured as he was out of the car, and now standing in front of a statue. It was surrounded by all the bushes.
"I guess we just need to dig 'em all up then, huh?" Senku suggested while holding the strap to his basket. He then held up a stick of dynamite. "We can mine 'em out with dynamite!"
"Now that's a really bad idea!" Chrome exclaimed with his eyes bulging out.
"Won't that just destroy them in the process?" Gen asked with a small frown.
"Yeah, there's a chance of that, and then that'd be giving us more work that we don't need!" Sumi exclaimed a bit furiously with white eyes and sharp teeth.
"Ah, don't worry, it's only to break up the hard bedrock. And if a couple of them happen to get blown up by accident, oh well! We'll just glue 'em back together, won't we?" He gave an evil smile while Yuzuriha did not look happy with him. She ground her fist into his back.
"Um, and who do you think will be the one to do all that pain-staking work, Senku? Please don't!" She pleaded with him.
Once the science team hid as far away as they could, a large area was detonated. Once the dent was in the ground, Taiju began digging rapidly with Yuzuriha helping out. "There's some debate on why Alfred Nobel invented dynamite." One spot wasn't enough, so they used dynamite again twice. "Was it intended for warfare? Or for mining and civil engineering?"
"Like science, dynamite is meant to help people," Sumi spoke up next. "And instead, it was used for war, and yet Alfred had a vision. That's what you always need when you're implementing science..."
Gen put down his water cup. "So which one was it?" He asked the two scientists curiously as they were digging.
"How would I know?" Senku replied simply while planting his shovel into the dirt. "And why should I care about what some old fart was feeling? Yuck."
"Wow, and so respectful about it too," Sumi deadpanned a bit at him while digging between him and Gen.
"The only thing I can tell you for sure..." Senku ignored her remark. "Is that he used the money he made from the destructive power of dynamite...to hype up science by establishing the Nobel Prize." The sun was starting to set as everyone was still digging. Minami and Tsukasa were digging in the same hole. "And here we are...using that same destructive power of dynamite...to dig, dig, and dig." Tsukasa flinched in shock as he looked down at something. "So we can save lives."
Tsukasa slowly reached out to brush off the dirt from a statue. "And eventually...all of humanity."
"It's a weapon...but also can be a major development in the long run. It's worth it if it means we can revive every single last person...including those that didn't have a chance before," Sumi gave a wistful smile while looking up towards the sunset.
A sleeping girl petrified was laying in front of Tsukasa as his eyes glistened. He stood there in astonishment...as he laid eyes on the same person he was fighting for years...He then gained a small smile on his face.
"Mirai..." He murmured quietly in a soft tone.