~~000~~
Tales of the Multiverse Bit 136
Interesting~ I think I know what happened to your friends.
After calming down Clyde McBride and Liam Hunnicut, the group of friends made their way towards the Science And Research Department where they told Dr. Michael Pating what just happened and after a few minutes of examination, the doctor came up with a conclusion.
~~000~~
The story opens with Dan Gotanda and Yosuke Hanamura travelling across a long path located between two meadows, and the pair are currently riding on the former's motorcycle with the latter on the sidecar.
They are currently back in London and apparently, they are heading towards a certain mansion where a certain family live.
"It's been a while since we've seen the Campbells huh?" Yosuke mused.
Dan nodded in response, "Indeed." he said in agreement, "And I'm still surprised that the staff detected another Blessed from that family." he admitted.
"And to think it had to be Xander's sister of all people." Yosuke commented.
A few minutes later, the pair arrives at the entrance gate to the Campbell estate, the two then got off the vehicle with Yosuke ringing the doorbell which had a speaker above it.
"Hello, welcome to Campbell Manor, is there anything I can do for you today?" a male voice with a British accent answered in the other end of the speaker.
"This is Dan Gotanda and Yosuke Hanamura..." Dan introduced themselves, "... we're from the Heroes Coalitions and we'd like to see Mr. Campbell, it's about his daughter." he explained.
There was silence for a moment before the voice replied, "Ah, yes..." the voice uttered, "... we've been expecting you." the voice announced, "Please come in and you'll meet up with someone at the entrance, they'll be the one to take you to Mr. Campbell." the voice explained and with that, the gates to the estate opened.
The pair then proceeds to enter, "Guess they were expecting us." Yosuke presumed.
Dan shrugged in response, "Not surprising, considering that we'll be coming to pick up their daughter since she's a Blessed like Xander." he stated.
When they arrived at the entrance of the mansion, the two are greeted by one of the household's butlers.
The butler was a tall young man in his mid-30s with short combed brown hair, slim and average build, fair skin, a short boxed brown beard and brown eyes. He's clad in a modern butler outfit composed of a white button up shirt with buttoned cuffs and a black necktie with the Campbell family emblem on it under a light gray vest and a black blazer with a white handkerchief on the left pectoral pocket and a pocket watch on the right side pocket, a pair of black trousers with a belt, a pair of black dress shoes, a pair of white gloves worn on his hands and a pair of black square framed glasses worn over his eyes. This is Cedric Gordon, the Campbell Household Butler.
Campbell Household Butler
Cedric Gordon
Cedric greeted them with a bow, "Good afternoon gentlemen." he addressed, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Cedric Gordon, one of the butlers here at the Campbell household." he introduced himself.
Dan and Yosuke nodded in greeting as the butler then proceeded to take them to Mr. Campbell and hopefully pick up their Blessed.
A minute later, Cedric guided Dan and Yosuke to the gardens where up ahead was a gazebo where the Campbell family composed of Alexander "Alex" Campbell I, Angela Balashov Campbell and Claudia Campbell are currently sitting around in a big round table that could fill about up to fifteen people, and at the side where the Campbell family were sitting on was filled with tea and cakes.
Claudia is now clad in a new outfit, she wore a white formal blouse with a green ribbon, a silver signet ring on her right index finger, a wristwatch on her left wrist, a light blue dress skirt with a belt, black stockings and white high heeled combat boots that reaches up to her shins.
"Master Campbell, you have guests." Cedric announced with a bow while gesturing a hand towards Dan and Yosuke.
Alex put his teacup down before turning to them, "Ah, a pleasure to see you again Mr. Gotanda and Mr. Hanamura..." he greeted, "... we've been expecting you, care to join us for some tea?" he offered with Angela and Claudia greeting them with a nod.
Dan and Yosuke accepted their offer before sitting down on their table when the former spoke, "I believe that you all know what we came here for." he assumed.
Alex nodded, "Ah, yes, we knew you'd be coming for Claudia the moment we discovered her powers come to light." he admitted.
"Yes, so we wanted to prepare Claudia for the day she'll be leaving, so we helped her practice her powers a bit and taught her a few extra skills." Angela explained with a smile.
Dan nodded, "I see." he uttered before turning to Claudia, "So, how long have you had your Gift?" he asked.
"Well, I discovered them about awhile after Xander left and that was about two months ago." Claudia answered, "Now that you mention it, I think I might've received my Gift just right after Xander left." she recalled.
~Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaashback~
After Alexander "Xander" Campbell II left to Neo-Earth, the Campbell heiress looked up at the sky for a minute before returning to the mansion, little did she know that a strange ball of light started to descend from the sky and headed towards her direction.
Claudia was walking down the halls when she didn't notice the ball of light headed straight towards her from behind, the ball reached Claudia before entering her body and felt a sensation as if she was pushed, causing her to yelp and stumble forward in surprise.
She managed to regain her balance and turned behind her only to see nobody, she raised an eyebrow in confusion before shrugging it off and continued walking down the halls.
"Awhile after that, I was on my way home from school one day when all of a sudden, someone tried to mug me." Claudia narrated.
The scene then changes with Claudia in her school uniform walking down an alley when she accidentally came to a dead end.
"Why are you in an alley?" Yosuke questioned in disbelief.
"It's the quickest route, I guess?" Claudia replied sheepishly.
"Honey, we're going to have another talk about taking shortcuts." Angela said.
When she turned around, all of a sudden, a thug came out blocking her way to the exit, "Hi there girlie, mind giving me your wallet?" the mugger asked while pulling out the knife.
Claudia gasped in response before slowly taking a few steps back.
The mugger made a sadistic smile, "Come now..." he beckoned, "... let's not be difficult." he advised but little did he know is that Claudia was thinking of a plan to knock out the mugger before escaping.
Suddenly the mugger lunged at Claudia with his knife pointing towards her taking her off-guard, she screamed in response due to the sudden lunge and closed her eyes and held out her hand on instinct preparing for the lunge.
But for some reason, it never came.
When she opened her eyes, she saw to her shock that the mugger was still lunging towards her but he was moving in slow motion and when she looked at herself, she discovered that she was the only one moving normally and she looked around her and saw that there was some kind of forcefield and whatever's inside its vicinity moves in slow motion.
Claudia immediately focused back to the mugger and wasted no time and gave the mugger a couple of karate chops and a knee kick before she finishing it off by grabbing the mugger's arm and threw him over her shoulder and upon impact, the forcefield disappeared while the mugger groaned in pain and fell unconscious.
This allowed Claudia to run away and escape, returning home safely.
~End Flashback~
"And that's what happened." Claudia concluded.
"Have you gained control of your Gift yet?" Dan asked.
Claudia nodded, "A little bit." she answered.
"We've helped young mistress Claudia hone her newly found abilities since then and prepared her for the time you come to take her to your organization." Cedric shared.
"Guess this concludes it." Yosuke said, "Claudia's an A-Blessed just like Xander." he declared.
"An A-Blessed?" Claudia asked in confusion.
Dan then explained to the family of the recent happenings in Neo-City and the discovery of a new kind of Blessed, and due to being a different kind of Blessed, they had to find a way to differentiate them.
"I see..." Alex uttered while holding his chin in thought, "So that mean's both my children are Accidental Blessed." he mused.
Claudia giggled in response, "No wonder, I got these powers all of a sudden, they ended up with me by accident!" she said jokingly which made everyone chuckle in response.
"So, what are your powers?" Yosuke inquired.
"Well, it's kind of complicated to explain." Claudia admitted, "To put it simply, I can create a barrier in any area I choose and time slows down inside that barrier and whoever's inside gets affected all except me and whenever I'm inside the barrier." she explained, "Well... let's just say that I become a super free runner and acrobatic and I also become somewhat of a dangerous adversary." she furthered, "I personally like to call this power of mine, Flowmotion." she added.
Yosuke raised an eyebrow, "Your ability sounds awfully familiar." he commented before shrugging his shoulders, "Oh well..." he uttered, "Cool Gift by the way." he complimented.
And with that, Yosuke and Dan continued to have a conversation with the Campbell family and their butler, Dan even advised Claudia about how to deal with the Training Camp's rather 'killer' schedule and giving her a heads-up for about her living arrangement in the Dormitory Village.
After an hour or so, Dan checks his watch, "I think it's about time that we leave." he announced.
Alex nodded in response, "Indeed." he said in agreement before turning to Angela, "Angela dear, how about helping Claudia prepare for her trip if you will?" he asked politely.
"Of, course Alex." Angela replied with a smile before standing up from her seat, "Come Claudia, I'm sure you're excited to see your brother again." she beckoned.
Claudia stood up from her seat, "Oh, I am mother." she complied.
"Cedric, please assist them." Alex ordered.
Cedric bowed in response, "As you wish Master Campbell." he complied.
And with that, Angela, Claudia and Cedric left the gazebo, Alex then turns his attention to Dan and Yosuke, "Now gentlemen..." he uttered, "... how about we talk business?" the Campbell Patriarch beckoned.
"What kind of business?" Dan questioned.
"You see..." Alex uttered, "... there's this secret agency I work for." he shared, "That agency is known as the Kingsman." he revealed.
"Kingsman?" Yosuke questioned.
Dan then spoke, "It is a secret independent international intelligence agency based in the United Kingdom dedicated to protecting the people of the world from terrorists and other major threats." he explained, "Agents of Kingsman are given code names, based on Knights of the Round Table." he furthered, "The leader of Kingsman is a man or woman known as Arthur, while the technical expert is known as Merlin." he concluded.
"Whoa! You're a secret agent!" Yosuke asked in astonishment.
Alex nodded in confirmation, "That's right, our codenames are based off of the Knights of the Round Table from the Arthurian Legends and our leader's name is of course 'Arthur'." he confirmed, "And I go by the name 'Galahad'." he shared before turning to Dan, "I'm surprised that you know about the Kingsman." he admitted.
Dan tips his newsboy cap, "The Heroes Coalitions are known to have a large database about everything and these data are often share to staff members like me, so that's why I had knowledge about the Kingsman." he explained, "By the way, does your children know about this?" he questioned.
"Well, my wife and staff know, but Xander doesn't know about me being a Kingsman." Alex answered, "Sadly, Claudia found out about the Kingsman about two weeks before discovering her powers and it was by accident I must say." he revealed with a sigh, "Claudia was quite upset about it, but after calming down, she swore to keep it a secret and I'm sure my son will also keep it a secret once Claudia tells him when she leaves." he stated.
"I see." Dan uttered, "Though I got a feeling that this conversation is about forming an alliance with the Heroes Coalitions?" he assumed.
Alex nodded in response, "Indeed," he confirmed before checking his watch, "In fact, you're about to meet our leader." he revealed, much to their surprise.
"What! You mean like now?!" Yosuke squawked.
"Yes." Alex confirmed, "Is there a chance that we could arrange a meeting between us and your higher ups?" he asked.
"I can arrange a schedule for you." Dan offered
Alex nodded in gratitude before taking out what looked like two pairs of glasses similar to his, "Here, put these on." he beckoned, much to the boys' confusion.
"What are these for?" Yosuke asked.
"These glasses allows you to see holograms of people you're in contact with and only those wearing these would be able to see those holograms." Alex explained, "Apologies if this is all of a sudden but our leader requests that he meets you as soon as you come here." he reasoned.
The boys nodded in response before putting on the glasses when a hologram suddenly appeared on one of the empty seats.
This hologram was of an elderly man with short white hair, fair wrinkled skin and gray eyes. He's clad in a suit composed of a black jacket over a white button up shirt with a black tie, black trousers with a belt, black shoes, a wristwatch on his left wrist, a signet ring on his right ring finger and a pair of glasses worn over his eyes. This is the current leader of the Kingsman, Charles Alister, also known as Arthur.
Leader of the Kingsman
Charles "Arthur" Alister
"Greetings, Galahad." Arthur greeted before turning to Dan and Yosuke, "Am I to assume that these two are the ones you spoke of?" he asked.
Alex nodded in response, "You assume correctly, Arthur." he confirmed before turning to Dan and Yosuke, "Gentleman, this is the leader of the Kingsman, Charles Alister or better known as Arthur." he introduced.
"A pleasure to meet you." Arthur greeted with a nod.
Yosuke's eyes widened in shock, "Wait a minute?" he squawked, "Alister? As in Alister of one of the four noble rich families?!" he pointed out.
Alex nodded in confirmation, "You are indeed correct Mr. Hanamura, all four of the noble rich families: The Alisters, Becketts, Campbells and Darwins are a part of the Kingsman, providing the agency with whatever resources we can afford for them." he explained.
"Cool." Yosuke commented.
"Now..." Arthur uttered, "Let's have a little chat, shall we?" he beckoned.
Later that day, after arranging for a meeting to form an alliance between the Kingsman and the Heroes Coalitions, Claudia returned with her luggage and she's now fully prepared.
In addition to her current attire, she wears a white ladies coat, a cup rapier strapped to the left side of her belt with a symbol of her family crest on the hilt strapped around the waist of her coat on her left side, a white akubra ladies Milan hat with a blue ribbon worn on her head and held in her hands is a black umbrella.
"Are you ready?" Dan asked.
"Of course, I am!" Claudia chirped with a smile, "I look forward to joining the Heroes Coalitions." she admitted, "And I also look forward to seeing my little brother again." she added.
Cedric then walked next to Claudia while carrying a bag with him, "And I as well look forward to seeing young master Xander again." he shared while wearing a black overcoat and a black bowler hat worn on his head and he's also carrying an umbrella similar to Claudia's.
"You're coming along?" Yosuke assumed.
"Indeed." Alex confirmed, "I've assigned Cedric to join Claudia to the Heroes Coalitions to support her and my son in their stay there." he stated, "He may not look like it but Cedric is actually a former marine in the Royal Army." he shared.
"He also happens to be a former Kingsman agent candidate." Angela added.
"Indeed..." Cedric confirmed, "I was a candidate for becoming a Kingsman agent taking the codename Bedivere but unfortunately, I hesitated in the final test and failed, so I returned to the marines but after an incident, I was discharged and turned to my family's other known career which is being a butler or maid and thus I became a well devoted servant to the Campbells." he explained.
"Cool!" Yosuke commented in awe.
"Then there's nothing wrong with Mister Gordon coming along." Dan concluded before offering the butler a hand, "Welcome to our family, Mister Gordon." he expressed.
Cedric then accepted the handshake, "It's a honor." he replied with a smile.
Note: This chapter is edited by moi but is originally written by AuraBolter, so all the props goes to him.
A/N: Inspired from someonestupED, damnlastwords, Jamesdean5842, Hope the Victor and Ace Neptune. All OCs and concepts not created by moi were given permission for me to use by it's respected creators.