Chapter 34: Galactic Shopping List -
Izuku and Momo's Home Universe -
The situation was a mess.
"CARS!" Mirio yelled as Gigantomachia kicked the ground and shot them a solid wall of flying cars and giant slabs of concrete like a deadly hail.
"DENVER SMASH!" All Might answered by punching in front of him and using the blast of air to turn concrete to dust and blow back the cars.
"Wasn't he supposed to be a mindless brute? It took him far too little to understand how to keep us from jumping him all at once!" Tamaki asked, he had turned his arms into big tentacles and was using them to throw parked cars and fragments of the street at the giant Villain, hoping to either hurt or at the very least distract him.
"I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT, BOY!" Gigantomachia answered while trying to catch him.
"Whatever." He answered, growing wings right after to fly away and avoid being grabbed.
"FOCUS ON ME, YOU GIANT MORON!" Mt. Lady joined the scene by turning giant and delivering a jumping elbow hit to Machia's chin.
"That smarts!" The Villain answered, smirking and just scratching his chin.
"Not enough unfortunately." Mt. Lady hissed with a frown.
"We need to push him out of the city!" Nejire, looking dishevelled and bruised, said while charging two giant spirals of energy in her hands.
"Are you okay!? That thing slapped you away." Nemuir asked, worried.
"I am tougher than I look and got a few tricks up my sleeve… But that still hurt a lot." Nejire answered, still with laboured breath and a some blood still smeared on her mouth.
"God… Even with ENBU and whatever power-up I got from Food Honor, that slap almost did me in! Had I not had all that, that slap would have killed me… And probably turned me into a smear on the floor." Nejire thought, shivering in horror at how close she was at dying.
"You need to step back." Nemuri said.
"Not until that guy leaves or drops down unconscious! Spiral Cannon!" Nejire answered by blasting Gigantomachia with her biggest shot to date, one big enough it engulfed the giant Villain's torso and pushed him back of a couple inches.
"My Master told me to get here and test All Might and his Pupil, you others are in the way! Now Die!" Gigantomachia, albeit smirking savagely, gave a deafening roar of rage and charged the Heroes like a speeding train.
"INCOMING!" Nighteye yelled with wide eyes.
Meanwhile – Other Dimension – Ark Galaxy – Dr- Grogor Secret Base -
The mad scientist was laughing in amusement while enjoying his favourite show on a giant screen.
"Ehm… Master Grogor?" One of the man's followers interrupted him.
"What?!" The Scientist growled annoyed, and pausing the video before a new load of living fluffy kittens could be dropped inside the giant roaring blender.
"We almost caught Yamus, but they escaped. We still have not recovered the AI Core for the Bio-Obliterating Ballista.
"GODDAMNIT!" Grogor pulled-out a gun and shot the innocent servant with a laser that caused him indescribable pain and then made him explode like a water balloon full of blood.
"Find Yamus! Find my AI Core! NOW!" He ordered, pressing a button that made a random space station full of thousands of orphans (That Grogor himself had kidnapped from many orphanages) crash inside a blackhole before a ship containing the children's parents, that the kids didn't know were still alive, could reach it to save them… Then he made that ship explode too.
"Yes, Master Grogor!" The assorted soldiers and servants answered as one.
"And remember! I am not evil! I am just misunderstood! I will skin alive the grandpa of whoever says otherwise!" He yelled with an insane spirt-riddled snarl.
"Yessir!" The Scared people answered in chorus.
"Good." Satisfied by the answer, the Mad Scientist returned to watch his favorite show while sitting on his recliner made in leather created with the skin of cute puppies he personally tore apart by hand while laughing maniacally. Only the cutest and fluffiest puppies had been used, of course.
In the meantime - With Izuku and Momo – Space Station -
Izuku, Momo and the others were watching Yamus scientist friend rapidly tap on her computer while mumbling to herself.
"We had to come all the way here." Pat said, sighing.
"I need to connect to the mainframe, and from that, to the collective data storage shared by my colleagues, and a direct connection to their own computer so to chat with them."
An Allotriomorph, a Terrorix and a Geopollux, those were the three animals Izuku was tasked to capture for his Restaurant storage island where they will breed and prosper for Izuku to use as Ingredients.
"No traces of what an Allotriomorph is even supposed to be, but…" The Scientist said.
"But?" Jorik echoed.
"Well, I can tell you where to find a Terrorix." She said, removing her glasses to clean them.
"And the Geopollux?" Momo asked.
"Those can be found in every Museum of decent size, they all went extinct when their home planet Dustina went through a climate catastrophe that turned it into a desert planet 3470 years ago." She explained.
"Extinct?!" Izuku shrieked.
"Yep! I might know a guy good at cloning…"
"But?" Momo asked.
"Cloning has been declared Super-Illegal after the "Bonka Carfuffle" of 7590." Pat said.
"Eh?"
"Basically, a guy, Billy Bonka, had a dream: A Chocolate Factory as big as a planet! But he also wanted to cut corners when it came to workers and other expenses, so he cloned a single guy into the Billions of workers he needed. It was a very poor idea." Yamus explained.
"Cloning is a delicate, VERY delicate thing. A single 0,000000000000000001% error and the clone is a mess. Bonka's clones were very badly-made. And yet the guy made so many he actually sold the extra ones for cheap." Jorik said, shaking his head.
"Sold them?" Izuku asked.
"At the time a Clone, even of a sentient race, was not legally recognized as a sentient being, so a Clone could be sold and it's not considered slavery."
"That is why people loved to use and buy clones: no need to worry about work safety or other laws if the workers are not legally People or Robots. No rights to worry about." Pat said.
"And the Bonka ones were very badly made." Momo said.
"Have you ever seen those cheap comedies on Space TV? Where one of the characters is so clumsy it defies even the Laws of Physics?" Jorik said.
"You mean like: slip on the wet floor and pushing an old lady against a chair that flies off and hits a car that starts making noise from the alarm and distracts a painter that falls down from the ladder and drenches a passing guy in paint and makes him slip and so on and on with an escalating crescendo of excessive and ridiculous chain reactions of accidents?" Izuku asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Exactly that, but in real life. Even now scientist have no clue how it was possible for those Bonka Clones to be so clumsy slapstick worked in real life." Jorik answered, nodding.
"That is why cloning is illegal?" Momo asked.
"That and the billions of property damages they caused, and the trillions of people that got hurt by those Clones' accidents, by sheer miracle only Bonka died because of his clones, but the number of people that got hurt and even put into a coma for a while was astronomical. The guys in a coma have all recovered and woke-up years later, by the way." Pat answered.
"HE DIED!?" Both teens yelled with wide eyes.
"It was so big it even made a mark into history books. The complete destruction of Bonka's Chocolate Factory planet 'Diabeetus 6'." Yamus said.
"Even a planet got destroyed…" Izuku muttered in dismay.
"Those damn Clones were walking disasters, each could bring an entire planet on the brink of ruin, and Bonka had an army of billions of them working in his Factory Planet." Pat said.
"Imagine: volcanic eruptions of chocolate, geysers of mint syrup, a giant caramelized plumbus sixty meters tall rolling downhill and flattening everything on its path, rain of candied porlobong the size of space golf balls raining down like lethal hail, storms of Grungu Cheese dust rattling everything in a planet-wide endless sandstorm… It was apocalyptic." Jorik added, shivering.
"When the rescue teams managed to cut their way through that giant mess they found every Clone dead and Bonka's corpse floating in a giant vat of boiling-hot nutmeg of Svervos Nuts. They still don't know what killed him, if he drowned first or if it was being boiled alive, or even his lethal allergy to Svervos nuts." Pat added, shaking his head.
"Luckily, besides him only those Clones died, every other victim of the clones' incompetence only came out from the various accidents heavily wounded and traumatized, some say it was a joke of the Gods to punish Bonka for being a cheap bastard." Yamus added.
"And what happened to the planet factory?" Momo asked.
"It exploded soon after, by the recordings of the communications between the Space Ship that tried to save Bonka from that disaster and the very last Clone alive, that very last Clone thought that dropping several billion tonnes of giant Space Mentos inside their giant Vats of ultra-pressurized Space Cola would have took-out the fires and everything else with the resulting foam… The planet exploded instead." Pat answered.
"Ooof!" Both Izuku and Momo hissed with a grimace.
"Ever since then, Cloning is Illegal… Meaning that if you pay enough money, somebody will still do it for you." Yamus said.
"No need to pay for overpriced Clones made by an unemployed Neckbeard, Host. If the System sent you here, it's because there are two living specimen, a male and a female, that the Host can capture." The System said.
"Let's not go for cloning… Are you really sure they went extinct?" Izuku said.
"I mean, I can check again, but it is basically common knowledge that those giant beasts are all gone." The scientist answered, shrugging.
"Please?" Momo asked.
Sigh! "I guess I can. In the meantime I can tell you were to find a Terrorix, that fluffy nightmare is instead still alive and kicking. You can find entire packs of them on planet Calippo,"
"That Ice-covered Hell-Hole?!" Jorik shrieked in dismay.
"You can remain on the ship, I will accompany them." Pat answered, shrugging.
"You Pulinpas and your hatred for cold climates… I will accompany you too." Yamus added, shaking their head.
"You go there, in the meantime I will keep looking just in case a Geopollux actually popped-up alive against all notions of science." Dr. Greens said with a thumbs-up.
"It's a good start. While we travel there, I'll put out the world that some disgustingly rich guy is looking for a living Allotriomorph. If there is something that makes the Underworld give you their attention, that's the promise of a giant stack of cash." Yamus added.
"Aah, Illegal Channels, the one place where you can actually find everything." Jorik joked, chuckling.
"We will be on our way then, thank you for the help, Miss Greens." Momo said.
"It's fine, dear! Keep communications open so I can notify you if I find anything about those three animals you are looking for!" The Scientist said with a thumbs-up.
"Thank you! Let's go! Your beasties won't hunt themselves, izuku!" Yamus answered, pushing the others out of the small cubicle.
"Okay!" They all answered, hurrying towards Jorik's space ship.
Meanwhile – Space – With Faye -
Faye was finishing watching a cheap video on a small screen, smiling wide while the guy with unshaven beard and dirty bathrobe stretched over his bulging belly and the thin shirt covered in spots of grease and tomato sauce, as if he was recording the video from the broom closet of the cheap restaurant he worked in.
"And with this, I pronounce you a Master! Well done, Young Paddlewan." The guy said in a thick accent.
"DONE!" Faye said with a wide smile.
"The hell have you done now?" Pando asked, and every time he looked at Faye the button that would open the hatch and jettison the woman into outer space without a space suit looked more and more tempting.
"I just finished watching a collection of videos that taught me how to fight! I am now a Master in The Borce, The Corce, The Dorce, The Eorce, The Gorce, The Horce, The Iorce, The Jorce, The Korce, The Lorce, The Morce, The…" She started listing improbably names while counting on her fingers.
"Yeah, Yeah… Besides that, how long was each video?" Pando interrupted her with a groan.
"Five minutes!" Faye quipped with a wide smile.
"You can't become a master in anything in five minutes, Faye…" Pando answered, pinching his nose.
"I can because… I AM A WOMAN!" Faye answered, hamming up the world-breaking revelation.
"Yes, I know you are a woman." Pando answered, rolling his eyes.
"And that is not an acceptable answer either."
"Hush! Stop man-whining and man-ruining my revelation about my being a woman. You won't hold me back!" Faye said with an annoyed pout.
"I am not holding you back. I am just saying that you got scammed, nobody can learn to Master Mystical Space Powers in five minutes… Come on! Nobody buys those videos, everybody in the entire damn Galaxy knows that they are a scam. They just steal your money and give you some crap videos filmed in a garage or behind the parking lot of a Space Fast-food chain." Pando said, once again falling victim of a strong headache thanks to Faye.
"Stop Man-doubting me! If I say I am a Master, then I am a Master and can beat people that for example trained in the Porce for years, even if trained by a personal tutor!" Faye answered.
"My God… Arguing with you is like arguing with a Space Soccer Mom, a Space Karen or just a five years old spoiled brat…" Pando muttered, desperately massaging his temples.
"Beep! (Here!)" The tiny robot said while offering him a big glass of water with a big aspirin pill already melting in it.
"Thank you, pal." Pando said.
"Stop Man-grumbling, I said! I haven't even wasted money! I used your money to pay for the videos after all!" Faye said, rolling her eyes.
PFFFFFFF!
Pando gave a giant spit-take in answer to that.
"FAYEEEE!" Followed by a scream of murderous rage as he chased Faye through the ship while brandishing a giant wrench with the intention of bashing the woman's head to pieces.
Some time later – Ice Planet Calippo -
The frigid wind howled through the jagged peaks of the ice-covered mountain, carrying with it a biting chill hat cut through even the thickest of furs.
"Almost there…"
Under the pale light of twin moons, the landscape was a desolate expanse of white and blue, a stark, frozen wasteland where only the bravest-or the most desperate-would dare to tread.
"Don't worry, Baba, I will save you from Jubho..." Theo wrapped his cloak tighter around his slender, scaled form, his breath visible in the frosty air.
The young alien's eyes, a deep, turned reflective black thanks to a protective membrane, scanned the treacherous icy hell ahead, with every step becoming a calculated risk due to the lack of any proper path leading to the mountain top, only the desperate search for any decent foothold not too slippery to stand on.
One wrong move could send him tumbling into the abyss below, but Theo still pushed forward, one shivering step after the other; he had to prove himself, not just to his tribe, but to Baba, the woman he loved.
"All this to stop Jubho from putting his dirty hands on Baba. I really hate that guy." Theo mumbled in annoyance.
Terrorix, a monstrous behemoth and a legend among his people; with scales said to be impenetrable, a breath as cold as a freezing gale that legend said could turn the bravest warrior into an ice statue…
No one in their right mind would face the Terrorix alone, Yet here he was, ascending the mountain in the dead of night, driven by a fierce determination and a Love hat burned hotter than the cold around him.
"… I admit that it sounds poetic if I put it like this… But I still feel like my balls are about to freeze and fall off…" Theo thought in misery.
Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the path for a brief moment. Theo caught a glimpse of the entrance to the Terrorix lair, if the many skeletons of animals and fallen Hunters decorating it were any good indication.
"A dark cave that looks like an animal maw on the side of the mountain. The beast must have a flair for the dramatic." He muttered while tightening his grip on his spear, its tip coated with a rare venom that could paralyze even the most fearsome of beasts, a family recipe of Theo that he fervently hoped will work on the Terrorix too.
He had one chance, and he couldn't afford to miss, especially since Vore was not in his list of fetishes.
As he approached the cave, the storm intensified, the Snow swirled around him in blinding flurries of razor-sharp blades, and the wind screamed like a banshee; Theo paused at the entrance with his heart pounding in his chest like a drum.
"Here comes nothing… Either I get back with a dead monster and marry the girl I love… Or I become a mid-night snack for the same giant monster…" Theo muttered with a shiver, with each step bringing him inside the cave weighting seemingly tonnes to his legs.
The air inside the cave stunk, it was thick with the stench of decay and dead stuff, sometimes acre and sometimes unnaturally sweet, and he could hear the deep, rumbling breaths of the Terrorix' sleeping echoing from deep within.
Theo took a deep, shaking breath.
This was it, either a success or a colossal failure, this was the moment of truth.
"Baba… Watch over me…" He muttered as he stepped deeper into the darkness, with the icy ground littered in bones crunching beneath his feet.
"…" Silence broken rhythmically by deep monstrous breath echoed in the cave's vast ceiling lost in shadow, and the only light came from the faint glow of bioluminescent fungi clinging to the walls.
"There he is…" Theo muttered under his breath when the hulking silhouette of the Terrorix came into view.
Even while asleep, the beast was even larger than he had imagined, its massive form coiled on itself and looking like a boulder of fur and scales shimmering faintly in the dim light.
"Gods and Matriarchs… It's so big…" Theo's hands trembled when it finally downed on him how massive the thing actually was in person, but he forced himself to stay calm.
He edged closer, with every muscle tensed.
"Just a few more steps…" He told himself, and trying to not notice how much bigger the Terrorix became at every step he took to get closer.
CRACK!
"… Fuck…" Theo whimpered with a small voice when a bones snapped loudly under his feet, so loudly that the noise filled the entire cave like an explosion.
The Terrorix stirred, its eyes opening slowly to show the big golden and blood-shot orbs hiding under the eyelids, and almost glowing like twin embers in the darkness.
For a moment time seemed to stand still while the storm still raged outside with the wind's howling reaching faintly into the cave, but inside, there was only the sound of Theio's racing heartbeat and the low, threatening growl of the Terrorix as the beast slowly got to its feet.
For a non-native of the planet, the Terrorix looked like the four meters tall unnatural mix of a bear and a sabretooth tiger with the legs covered in deep-green scales and a thick coat of pure-white fur on the beast's back and a lizard-like tail thick in strong muscles, in fact, the beast was big and imposing, with fat and strong muscles coexisting in perfect balance to make the Terrorix as tall and wide as possible to be a true Monster, far bigger than any human or any alien like Theo.
"Roar!" The Terrorix gave a deafening roar, then, with a sudden fluid motion, it got up on its hind legs and then lunged forward.
"DIE!" Theo as well screamed, thrusting his spear forward towards the creature's hopefully-vulnerable underbelly.
The Terrorix roared again, a deafening sound that shook even Theo's bones when the spear actually pierced through the beasts' massive ribs and deep into its flesh.
"Ah!" Getting sent flying by a wide retaliatory paw swipe of the beast, Theo felt pure adrenaline burn in his veins while he bounced on the floor.
Pain exploded through his body as well right after as he felt one of his ribs break as soon as the beast's paw hit him.
"Grunt!" the Terrorix only gave an annoyed growl at the pain and wound, but Theo refused to let go and recovered his spear from where it had been throw off by the beast's hurried shaking.
The young alien scrambled to his feet, dodging another swipe from the creature's claws while circling its wide round body.
He had to keep moving, had to stay one step ahead of the Terrorix' furious hunger.
"Roar!" The monster jumped forward, and Theo rolled away just in time to avoid getting beheaded with a single bite by a few mere millimetres.
"Just die, please!" With a final, desperate effort, Theo shoved and twisted the spear deeper into the Terrorix body, aiming for its heart.
"Roar!" The beast let out one last, ear-splitting roar of defiance, even while getting pierced, and to Theo's horror the thing actually twisted its body to avoid having the spear pierce its heart.
With a loud dull crack and thump, the Terrorix's paw slammed heavily on Theo's chest again, snapping another rib of his and the same spear he used, and this time with a loud crack noise he slammed against the wall and fell down boneless.
"Ugh…" Theo's vision was blurred and he could tell he was about to lose consciousness, and a small part of him almost welcomed it in the hope of avoiding the feeling of being eaten alive.
"Grrr!" The Terrorix growled in what almost sounded like vitory as it slowly advanced towards him.
"At least… I tried…" And yet, even if faced with certain death, Theo couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer irony of him going through the effort of looking for the cause of his own death.
He closed his eyes tightly and waited.
"… There it is!" And he heard a voice exclaim in relief.
"Eh?" Theo muttered.
BANG!
A white thing jumped between him and the Terrorix while a strange guy dressed in green actually punched the Terrorix straight in the face and actually sent it flying.
"You okay?" Another alien, female Theo wondered by the high-pitched voice, asked while helping him to stand.
"Guaooooh!" The Terrorix howled in fury, rising to its feet to glare in hatred at the strange Alien that dared humiliate it with a punch.
"Be careful!" Theo yelled with wide eyes.
"Don't worry, it's not the first time we hunt a creature like that." Momo answered with a gentle smile.
"Uh?"
"Knocking: Brahmastra!" Izuku said, and a short combination of hits later the Terrorix gave a strangled whine and co0llapsed on the floor.
"… Just like that?" Theo asked, dumbfounded.
"It's the sixth Terrorix we capture, by now I know where to hit to knock it down." Izuku answered.
"THERE WERE SIX OF THEM?!" Theo shrieked in horror.
That was why nobody could hunt that thing! He had five friends backing him up somewhere on the mountain!
Between that dramatic discovery, the wounds and maybe a concussion, Theo finally fainted.
"Oh, crap! Izuku! Healing Cuisine!" Momo yelled.
"Yes! Of course!" He answered, recalling Dragon Knife and Turtle Wok from his tattoos.
Few Hours later -
"… And this is why I need that beast." Theo finished explaining, his head was covered in bandages and he was eating the warm chicken soup empowered with healing properties Izuku made for him.
"Very backwards." Izuku admitted, sighing.
"I know, but the Hunting Group is what keeps our village alive during the Great Winter of our world… So if the son of the Leader, and future-Leader himself, makes some demand 'Easy to fulfil', many will close an eye. In the end, it's just a marriage to buy their services." Theo tried explaining, shaking his head.
"So you made a bet about hunting this thing alone?" Momo asked.
"Baba begged me to find a solution, and poking Jubho on his Ego, his weak spot, was our best option."
"And you did it because you love her?" Izuku asked.
"Eh! Yes I do. She is free to love whoever she wants, and yet she choose me… How could I not repay her trust and love in me with all myself? Jubho is prideful, if I win this bet even if he hates it he won't be able to refute this. He will have to stop bothering Baba." Theo said, hopeful.
"Good enough for me!" Izuku said.
"Me too, do you need help taking that Terrorix down?" Momo asked.
"Thank you, but I need to bring it back to the village by myself, as part of the bet." Theo answered.
"Very well. We will wait for you at the base of the mountain then, we will pretend to walk into your village by chance then." Izuku said.
"Thank you. You both saved my life and helped me save Baba from becoming Jubho's new plaything… Also, your food is good!"
"Hehehehe! Thank you! If you want, I can cook the Terrorix for you and your Village too! So I will be able to test few recipes I plan to make with Terrorix meat.
"Oooh! That sounds tempting! I hope you won't mind if I accept!" Theo answered, smiling.
"Sure thing!"
"Izuku! Momo! We finished loading the unconscious Terrotix in the cages in the ship! Let's go!" Yamus yelled from outside.
"Sure! We will go then." Izuku answered.
"Safe travel, I'll see you at my Village. You can't miss it, there is a giant Bolon Skull dangling from the main gate." Theo said.
"Of course, safe travel to you too!" Momo answered.
"See you later, friends!" Theo said, waving as his strange new friends left.
"… Now that I think about it… How am I supposed to bring this giant dead thing down this damn mountain by myself?" It was after a short pause observing the giant dead Terrorix that Theo noticed how the monster was three times his sizes and probably weighting ten times more than him. And he was alone.
"… Fuck." He muttered in dismay.
Few hours later – Side of the mountain -
"COME BACK HERE!" Theo yelled as the dead Terrorix rolled and slipped down the mountain at high speed like a rag-doll.
"This is not going as planned!" He yelled, grabbing onto the dead animal and getting dragged behind the thing.
Slippery ice had offered a good way to push the Terrorix down the mountain, with the plan of letting it slide down by itself, unfortunately Theo had underestimated how steep the mountain was, in fact the Terrorix had started sliding down the mountain at insane speed as soon as he managed to make it roll out of its cave, and now he had been chasing the Terrorix corpse for more than two hours down the mountain.
"This is why I am a member of the Fishing Clan! Hunting is too stressful!" Theo cursed while gasping for breath.
When finally the faint lights of his village came into view, Theo sighed in relief and hoped that the dead Terrorix won't keep rolling so fast to blast through somebody's home.
"IT'S THEO!" He heard his beloved Baba yell, and Theo's heart swelled in happiness.
"Almost there!" Theo yelled.
"Whitey! Grab that thing!" And luckily the strange puppet of his new friend managed to catch the rolling Terrorix before it could run over the small group of people waiting for him.
"Thank you… for catching it…." Theo said, gasping for breath once he reached the group.
"That is why we hunt in group, young Theo. Not just for hunting, but for transportation too." One of the Hunters said with a friendly chuckle.
"Yes, I noticed the problems of logistics of solo hunting…" Theo answered, still breathing heavily.
"May the Elders shake me, you actually did it." Another hunter said with a low whistle.
"Yep! That's a spear stab wound… and that is the spear head." A third one said.
"Yes, sorry about that… The Spear snapped in two while still inside the Terrorix." Theo answered, sheepish.
"It's okay, did you use the berry toxin?" The Head Hunter asked.
"Yes, the yellow berries one."
"Ah, a good one, we'll need to bleed the meat then before eating it. Or else there will be a long line to the bathrooms after eating." The Head Hunter said, laughing.
"True."
"I can take care of that!" Izuku said, smiling.
"Ah, yes! Theo, this is Mister Izuku. He is a wandering Chef. He asked us for help in finding Terrorix meat." Baba said.
"Oh, nice to meet you." Theo answered, shaking Izuku's hand and pretending to meet him for the first time.
"I was told you were hunting one… Would it be too pretentious of me to ask to borrow it?" He asked.
"Oh! It's okay! I hunt the Terrorix for a bet between gentlemen, so the Terrorix is mine to do as I please. I just ask you to share with the entire Village what you make." Theo answered.
"Sure!" Izuku answered.
"Wonderful! Then we will leave the Terrorix cooking to you." The Head Hunter said.
"It will take the entire day to bleed it properly, I can cook it tomorrow, is it okay to you?" Izuku asked.
"Of course!"
"Tomorrow? Then… Baba?" Theo asked.
"Yes?"
"Do you want to treat this feast as a celebration?"
"Celebration? For what?" She asked.
"Well… It will be a celebration if you actually… Marry me…" Theo said, sheepish.
"…" Baba's face slowly turned bluer and bluer in their race's blushing.
"You want to marry me?" She asked with a timid voice.
"Yes, Baba. I love you." Theo admitted.
"Then… Then yes, I will marry you!" Baba answered with a giant smile.
A loud roar of happiness (and one of dismay from Jubho) echoed in the entire valley in celebration of the two lovers promise of marriage.
The Next day – Village Kitchen -
Izuku was happily watching the giant mountain of meat, all separated into the various cuts, he assembled from processing the giant bear-like creature.
"Similar to bear meat, but more tender and pretty fat… Yes, I can work splendidly with this!" He said, regaling the pristine meat cuts with a loving gaze.
"You said you wanted to try few recipes you normally make with bear meat?" Momo asked, giving the last touches to the spread of secondary Ingredients she helped him prepare.
"Bear meat is extremely gamey, and need careful handling to prepare it, but it can be extremely delicious. This animal, the Terrorix, has not the same strong wild taste, and a slightly more tender meat, meaning that it won't need the same hard work to make it soft and edible, and also it will accompany better the flavor of the other Ingredients I will use… Especially the fat, this chubby alien Sabretooth Tiger-Bear has a meat with very delicious fat. Impressive." izuku answered, selecting the first few cuts he will work with.
"I'll help you. We are cooking for a Wedding Party after all!" She answered, tying the strips of her apron behind her back.
"Of course! Pass me the oil then, so we can start!" Izuku answered with a happy smile.
"What's the first dish?"
"Terrorix Chili, of course!" He answered, smirking.
The Star-Eating Turtle Wok was set on its retractable legs and a small ball of Heaven-Earth Obsidian Flame breath out of Izuku's mouth to over under it to heat the oil in it.
"Won't chili need a pot instead of a Wok?" Momo asked, curious.
"It does, but my wok is special," Izuku answered, winking.
Ding!
Tapping the base of the wok, the thing rang like a bell and contracted on itself until it switched shape to that of a very big pot more suitable for the preparation of dishes like chili and stews.
"Sometimes I forget that your equipment is truly extraordinary!" Momo commented, chuckling amused.
"Ho, sometimes I forget that too, but it is always a nice surprise to learn how peculiar my pots and knives are!" Izuku answered, snorting, and when sure the oil became hot enough, he added the diced onions and the diced green peppers and sautéed everything until soft and brown on the edges.
"Terrorix meat, please!" He asked.
"Ground Terrorix meat, all for you!" Momo answered, passing him the raw grounded meat.
"Thank you," He answered, and added the meat to a pan to brown.
Once the meat was cooked, he added the garlic to it, then his home-made chili powder, a tablespoon of cumin, salt, and pepper.
"Hmmm! I like this scent!" Momo admitted.
"It's the spices!" Izuku answered, proudly.
Done with the first round of cooking, the young Chef then added in the beer, the same Stout dwarven beer he learned to produce from Drunkhilde's recipe, and some vinegar.
"Are you deglazing the pan?" Momo asked with a mischievous smile.
"Yes, I… Hey! Are you…" Izuku answered, before looking at her in surprise.
"I am studying the more intricate details of cooking, yes." She answered, smirking.
"Wow."
"Well, you love it, so I wanted to learn more about it," She answered.
"You are amazing," He admitted, clearly proud and head over hills for her.
"Thank you!" Momo answered with a beaming smile.
Izuku kept cooking the meat until the alcohol from the beer cooked out a bit, then left it bubble in the pot for about 5 minutes before adding all of the remaining ingredients.
"Almost done!" Finally he stirred everything well to combine everything together and waited to bring the pot to a boil over medium heat.
"The chili is boiling… We can focus on the other dishes while it finishes cooking." Once happy with the result, he commanded the fire to turn the heat down to low, and partially covered the pot with a lid to let the chili simmer.
"How long?"
"An hour, more or less. Once done we will top each portion with some chili toppings." He answered.
Terrorix Chili.
"Okay. Next dish?" Momo asked.
"It's a one-pot-meal that has lots of different flavors."
"Lots?"
"There will be a 'Smoky Undertone' from the chili powder, cayenne and smoked paprika, faint and not overpowering; some vegetables for extra nutrition and color, dumplings as the "comfort food" role and so on."
"Ho… That sounds complex."
"Not really! This dish can be quite fast and easy to make. You'll see!" Izuku answered, winking.
"But without your wok…"
Izuku smirked, grabbed one of the handles of the Turtle Wok, and somehow pulled out an identical wok from inside the first one.
"… Godly Wok… Right." Momo said, sighing.
"This is how I cook every dish for my Restaurant with a single wok." Izuku answered with a tiny and somehow-adorable smug smile.
Once again turning the Turtle wok into a pot shape, he added in the Terrorix meat and break it up to brown it for few minutes, then added in the pot diced mushrooms and minced onions.
"Parsley, please!" He asked.
"Here!" Momo answered, handing him the Ingredient and watching him stir the meat with the it to mix the Ingredients together.
Then chili powder, cumin, cayenne and smoked paprika went added.
"We don't have garlic powder or onion powder." Momo said.
"I'll chop them finely by hand, don't worry. You just stir this for me, gently please." Izuku answered.
"Okay…" She answered, and while doing as asked, she watched him handle the Sead Dragon Knife to turn garlic cloves and onions into tiny cubes in a flash-
Added those two to the pot together with salt and pepper, Izuku recovered possession of the pot to add some fresh water and stir delicately to make sure that nothing was sticking to the bottom.
"Is the broth ready?" Izuku asked.
"It's boiling as you said." Momo answered after checking a small side pot, a normal one.
"Good, pass it along, please." Still stirring, Izuku added the Bouillon to the pot, then poured in it some diced tomatoes and some beans.
"Beans?" Momo asked.
"Somehow they can grow beans in their caves here, thanks to the light and heat produced by some cave fungi… I tried them and they are surprisingly good, so I think they will go well with this recipe." Izuku answered, shrugging.
"Beans… On an ice planet?"
"In the Gourmet World there are beans that grow literally out of Magma pools. It's not as surprising to me to see some born in sub-zero temperature." He admitted.
"I really want to visit that place." She admitted in awe.
"Hope you never do that…" Izuku answered with a low whisper she didn't hear and a shudder she didn't see.
His expert hands rapidly prepared several crescent rolls and added them into the pot in one layer.
"Normally this dish needs an instant pot for pressure cooking, luckily the Star-eating Turtle Wok can imitate the properties of every pot, pressure ones comprised." Izuku explained, and at his will the Turtle Wok now shaped like a tall pot got sealed closed on top by a gold lid decorated by a turtle shell motif that grew out of the rim to close like the eyelids of an eye.
Once done cooking the content at low pressure, Izuku added and stirred in some zucchini, resealed the lid and left pot sit on a side by itself to let it rest.
"I think I understand why you like that wok and your knives." Momo commented, chuckling.
"I know, right?" Izuku answered, laughing.
Smokey Terrorix Casserole.
"Final dishes?" Momo asked.
"A stew and a variation of the Pulled Pork, very simply called by myself Pulled Terrorix," Izuku answered.
"Delicious," She answered, smiling.
The stew was done relatively fast, with Izuku mixing flour, pepper and salt; tossing the stew-worthy cut of Terrorix meat on a chopping board and lightly coating it with the mixture, followed by him shaking-off the excess power and browning the meat in skillet with 3 tablespoons butter.
"… Lightly browning the meat helps keep the meat whole while cooking… Right?" Momo muttered with a scrunched nose and closed eyes.
"Exactly! The browning process is not meant to cook the meat but just brown the outside, so it won't breakdown." Izuku answered, sounding extremely proud of her.
Once again cloning the Turtle Wok, the young Chef used the clone Wok like a 'Dutch Oven' and filled it with the stock, some Dwarven Beer of his own production, tomato paste and mixed all together with 4 large carrots he roughly chopped, slices of a large brown onion, two chopped celery stalks, chopped cloves of garlic, quartered potatoes, bay leaves, rosemary, and the browned Terrorix stew meat.
Izuku brought everything to a boil, then reduce heat to low and left simmer until meat is tender.
"Hmmm! What a delicious scent!" Momo said.
"Thank you!" Izuku answered.
"How long does it need to simmer?"
"Uhm, five to six hours."
"Six hours?!" Momo yelled with wide eyes.
"Hahaha! That is the normal time! With this wok, if I strain myself a lot I can reduce the time to three hours." He answered, laughing.
"… Just in time for the dinner. But, will you be okay?" She asked, worried.
"Yes, just extremely tired, I need to connect to the Wok and keep the connection going to make the Wok continue compress time to cook faster, the more it accelerates time the more strain it brings on me, normally I could reduce it to four hours, but I want to make it on three both as training and to not make people wait too long." Izuku admitted with a sheepish smile.
Sigh! "You overdo sometimes," Momo admitted, sighing in dismay.
Terrorix Stew.
Later that night, Izuku's dishes were considered a perfect frame for the future Wedding of the two young aliens, and the Terrorix meat proved itself a worthy Ingredient just like the System promised, and while the live exemplars went easily added to his Restaurant's Island Storage, the remaining meat of the dead Terrorix izuku had already cut and cured was added to the various fridges of both Restaurant. Obviously labelled as simple normal Bear Meat.
Pulled Terrorix.
The next day – Space -
"Slept well?" Pat asked once seen Izuku surface from his and Momo's room on the small ship.
"Yes, sorry if I slept so long. Cooking that tired me more than I anticipated." Izuku answered with an ashamed expression.
"It's fine, don't worry." Yamus answered.
"Thank you for your patience. Where are we going?" Momo asked.
"The closest Resistance HQ, I may have gotten a lead on the AI Core I need and the Geopollux you two need, so we will catch Two Shulblu with One Blargan." Yamus answered with a thumbs-up.
"…"
"I guess 'Two Birds with One Stone'." Momo whispered to Izuku in answer to his confused silence.
"… Ooh."
"Now that we are all awake, get ready for hyper-jump!" Jorik said, happily.
"Jorik never wanted to install the upgrade to not kill sleeping people during hyper-jump." Pat said.
"I am not spending two Space Bucks on a piece I don't need!" The short alien screamed in anger.
"Cheap bastard." The Robot rolled his optics and initiated hyper-jump.
"How is this Resistance Group?" Momo asked.
"They basically fight against the Senate Tyranny and often against Doctor Grogor. There were once the Sedi doing the same, but then their war against their "Evil Counterpart" the Jith, they killed each other so the Resistance had to take their place and continue their fight." Yamus answered.
"Eeh… Sedi VS Jith, that was a messy affair." Pat commented, shaking his head.
"It was nice in the beginning, both groups had their points of interest, then they became cheap knock-off of themselves. I am almost happy they murdered each other to extinction, at least they died with still few shreds of dignity left." Jorik commented, scoffing.
"Bit too harsh," Izuku commented.
Ten minutes of hyper speed space travel later -
The ship exited hyper-space with a noiseless plop into reality to enter the atmosphere of a giant planet covered most by the sea and only a single giant continent.
"Here it is! Planet Antantera! Where we can find one of the biggest bases of the Resistance." Yamus said.
"I hope they are well-hidden." Izuku asked, worried.
"Welcome to the Secret HQ Planet of the Resistance. After the sound alert: Press 1 if you want us to overturn your Government. Press 2 if you want us to kill the dictator ruling your world with an iron fist. Press 3 if you want us to violently bring peace to the Galaxy by brutally murdering and desecrating the corpses of the people in charge. Press 4 for pre-ordering a copy our new Cookbook. 100 Easy Dishes to make while fighting the Power! And remember: Death to the Senate!… Beep!" A pre-recorded message blared from the ship's speakers as soon as the got in range.
"They still have not fixed that automatic transmission. It keeps playing whenever a ship gets too close to the planet." Pat commented.
"They are not well-hidden, Izuku." Momo answered, rubbing her temples while Izuku face-palmed.
"This is Yamus, I have an appointment with Roger." Yamus said to the radio.
"You are here, finally! Land so we can talk!" Whoever was at the other side fo the radio answered with a happy voice.
"We got landing permission. Well, let's go meet those bad guys." Jorik commented and pointed his ship straight down to enter the planet's atmosphere at high speed.
"Landing gear ready." Pat confirmed when ground became visible and started getting closer fast.
A giant slice of the ground slid aside to show a deep hole from which a landing platform rose out from the underground.
"Let me do the talking while we are there, okay? I know how to handle them." Yamus said.
"Okay." Izuku and Momo answered.
Thump!
The space ship touched the metal platform with a soft thud and remained glued to it through powerful magnets, then the platform rapidly moved down like a lift while the tunnel's cover slid back in place.
"I don't like being underground." Pat admitted, and his eyes started projecting light like torchlights.
"Same," Momo answered.
"Pretty deep too." Jorik added as the lift kept going and going, deep down underground.
The giant lift kept descending until darkness fully covered the ship, then finally lights went turned on to illuminate the big shaft just in time for the platform to touch the bottom with a loud clanging metallic noise.
"Yamus! You took your time!" The Leader of the Resistance arrived with a small group of freedom fighters.
And all of them, to Izuku and Momo, looked like a very cheap knock-off Cosplay of Mad Max, as if a group of amateur actors tried to remake the movies on a shoe-string budget, looking at how cheap their 'Resistance Fighters Uniform' looked.
"I had to make a couple detours, so? The informations about the AI Core?" Yamus answered, already in Business Mode.
"Follow me." The Leader said, and with him and his soldiers acting as guides, the small group made its way through the hidden base.
"izuku…" Momo whispered while pointing to her left, inside a rather big and empty room.
In there new Recruits were standing in line to join the Resistance.
"Strip!" The woman sitting at the desk said.
"Okay." The Recruit stripped down to his boxers and got inside an inlfatable kids' pool full of mud to lather himself and get dirty.
In the meantime his clothes went shot, stomped on and even briefly burned with a flamethrower.
"Perfect! You can get dressed now." The woman said, watching the guy wear again his ruined clothes and tying a bandanna on his forehead.
"Sign here… Here… initials here. Welcome to the Resistance!" The woman congratulated the guy, gave him an overly-designed futuristic riffle and shook his hand.
"Now go kill people in the name of Freedom and Justice!"
"I am happy to be here!" The New Recruit answered with a proud voice.
Back to Izuku and Momo -
"I hate it here…" Both teens muttered with a groan full of annoyance.
"Here. Behold! The AI Core!" The Leader said, opening a door to show the group a giant glass tube full of green liquid and a cube of metal so big it would need two people to lift it floating in there.
"So you have it?!" Yamus hissed.
"Yes, sorry, we needed you to act as distraction while we stole it." He answered.
"And what do you plan to do with it?" Yamus asked.
"…" The Leader looked at Izuku and Momo with narrowed eyes.
Sigh! "Yeah yeah, super secret plans. Come, you two. We will see if this place has a cafeteria of sort, while they plan whatever crap they want to see happen in the Galaxy, we will eat something." Jorik rolled his eyes and pushed the two teens out of the room.
"… They are gone." One of the Freedom Fighters said after a short pause, then she locked the door.
"You see, Yamus. This AI Core is the key to control Grogor's most terrible and greatest creation: The Bio Obliterating Ballista." The Leader said, and a projection of an immense Space Station filled the entire room.
"A space station the size of a Moon, completely filled in only two things: Weapons and a small factory to produce more weapons." He explained.
"Hn?" Yamus uttered.
"The station already has every weapon you can think of, but in case the AI needs it necessary, the inner factory can collect 'Useless Weapons' and disassemble them into their basic components and create new ones perfectly tailored to the AI needs. The Space Station can literally create the weapons and gadgets it needs to spread death and destruction with the greatest efficiency." The Leader said.
"And the AI?" Yamus asked.
"The smartest, most advanced AI in the entire Universe. This Thing doesn't just react or analyse: this thing Thinks, it's technically Alive. We suspect it can self-update and self-upgrade too, learning and evolving."
"And you want to use it against Grogor?" Yamus asked with crossed arms.
"Imagine what we could do with this thing! This weapon has been created to kill dictators and bring Peace! Imagine all the people we can liberate and how many planets we can save!" The Leader said, and his companions roared in hype.
"But you can't make it work." Yamus countered.
"… Yes." The Leader answered, and the hype died immediately as fast as it came.
"So what do you want me to do?" Yamus asked.
"I need you to steal something for me, for real this time. Otherwise we can't use this stupid thing!" The Leader said, kicking the glass tube in anger.
"What do you need?"
"The Yayland-Wutani is creating a new super decrypt device, one our spies believe can hack basically everything. They plan to use it to steal data from the other Big Corporations, but we need that to try and force this AI to collaborate."
"I see. So I steal that thing, and you use it to force open the AI and rewire it to obey you." Yamus said.
"Precisely."
"And what's in for me?" She asked.
"Fame! Glory! And the satisfaction of helping the Resis-"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Bounty Hunter gave a thundering laugh in answer to that.
"…"
"Oh, sorry! You were being serious! Let me laugh harder!"
"Fine! You will have your dirty money!" The Leader spat in anger.
"Yes, that usually pays the bills, contrary to Fame and Glory."
"Also, that Alliotromorph or whatever, may be between the secondary projects of the Corporation. Something about a new Bio-Weapon they are making under direct request of the Senate 'To sedate the Violent rebellions'. So if you can kill whatever that is too before they unleash it on us, we will be very grateful." The Resistance Leader said.
"Now I am interested! They asked me where to find that thing. And the Geopollux?" Yamus asked.
"That is instead wrecking havoc on their origin planet, apparently some excavation group, a small one, has awakened two of them from hibernation. Whoever that rich moron asked you for them can find them there." He answered.
"Thank you very much!"
"Just remember, kill the Allio-Whatever instead of delivering it to who asked you, we will pay you the same sum they promised you."
"Sure, whatever. Give me all the info you have on every Target, and I'll take care of the rest."
"Thank you, Yamus."
And during all this, the AI Core watched and heard everything from the solitary confinement of its sealed prison.
With Izuku and Momo – cafeteria -
The ample room full of bland and simple metallic tables was full of Freedom Fighters eating and chatting and drinking in a giant mess of different voices.
"Bleah… What's this grey paste? It tastes like an used space-ashtray." Jorik asked in disgust.
"Korloxian's nutritive paste. Those guys believe in eating being just a means to survival, so they perfected food into being 200% more nutritious than normal food. Flavour though I am told is either non-existent or purely plastic." Pat, drinking oil from his hip flask, answered.
"I woke-up in pools of my own vomit after wild party nights that tasted better than this." The short alien answered, and yet he kept eating.
"Ugh!" Momo took more distance from Jorik's plate and only enjoyed the glass of water she got.
"I'll cook you something once back on the ship." Izuku said.
"Thank you." She answered.
"Yo! You want a Wisp?" A guy asked.
"A what? I don't do drugs." Izuku answered.
"Wha? Not drugs, man! A Wisp! A tiny robot organizer!" The Freedom Fighter said, showing at Izuku a white tiny flying spherical robot the size of a golf ball.
Similar to this, more or less, but golf ball size.
"A robot organizer?" Izuku asked.
"Very minimal intelligence. They just keep track of your appointments, take notes for you, set alarms and reminders or play music from Spacer Internet Radio… Very basic stuff. Honestly, calling it an AI is an insult to us, possessors of real AI." Pat spat in distaste.
"So… Basically Alexa?" Momo whispered.
"So it seems." Izuku whispered back.
"Those things are not cheap, though. Are you in such a bad place you need to sell it for money?" Jorik added.
"Nah, man! I just not use it, so may as well recover part of the money." The guy answered.
FRRRRRZ!
Suddenly the small flying thing gave a loud buzzing sound and fell on the table while smoking.
"…"
"… I swear the that the thing was brand new…" The guy muttered with bulged-out eyes.
"Sure! I am sure it was damn new when you got it out of the dumpster," Pat answered.
"Hey!"
"I'll give you three Space bucks. It is not worth more." Yamus said, joining the scene.
"But!… But!…"
FRRRZ!
The small robot gave another loud flash of sparks and kept emitting smoke.
"… Fine…" The guy accepted, dropping his head.
"Here, izuku. Take it to the ship, I'll fix it for you. It's my present for you." Yamus said, chuckling and paying the guy the pittance promised.
"Thank you…" Izuku answered, and cradling the small things in his hands.
"Let's go, I got a big clue about the other two targets you need, the easiest one will be the Geopollux, at least that won't need me forcing my way inside the secret lab of a filthy-rich Ultra Mega Corporation."
"That sounds dangerous." Momo said.
"Oh! You have no idea! Let's go!" The Bounty Hunter answered with an amused laugh.
"Horray… Where are we going?" Jorik said, sighing.
"Desert Planet."
"But I don't like sand! It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere! In every crack!" He answered, whining.
"We promised we would help, Jorik. Yamus got our asses in a choke hold." Pat answered, sighing.
"Godsdamnit."
Meanwhile – " Secret" Lab inside an Asteroid shaped in the exact likenesses of Grogor's face -
The mad scientist was at the moment punching babies in the face under the horrified eyes of their tied-up mothers while wearing boxing gloves made with the skin of baby bunnies he personally skinned alive; he was wearing fluffy slippers made with baby otters fur.
"Master Grogor?" A servant asked.
"Yes? It's my BBQ of Pandas and Koalas ready? And I hope they were still alive when you turned on the grill! Their pain and anguish make their meat softer!" He answered.
"Not yet, we are still sautéing them in the tears of Nice Guys we told will still die virgin no matter how much simping and donations they do to their Space Utube Waifu." The Servant answered.
"Then why are you disturbing me?!" Grogor yelled, so angry that he took a rare albino penguin (only seven exemplars still existing in the entire universe), made a medium-rare steak out of the poor animal and force-fed it to a Vegan-Crudist-Animalist girl tied to a chair next to him.
"We found the AI Core, sir."
"Really?! Where is it?!"
"In the Resistance HQ, sir! They just posted it on Y." The soldier answered, showing the post to the mad scientist.
"Lol! Feeling pretty and rebellious, may use AI Core to save planets from oppression! #SecretPlans #SecretResistance #GrogorPoopyface." Grogor red aloud.
"Their planet?" He asked with a furious growl.
"Still the same, Sir! They haven't changed planet after we attacked it six times, for some reason."
"Good! Time to attack it for real then! This won't just be a mere visit to annoy them, it's time to impale them alive, burn them alive and then piss on their ashes!" Grogor answered, happily.
"I'll tell the soldiers to drink a lot of water then, sir."
"Good! Prepare our biggest attack yet! I am not Evil, so I won't be bullied by people that just don't understand me!" The Mad Scientist yelled.
"Hail Grogor!" The Servant answered, and marched away to fulfil his orders.
"Time to recover my AI Core and show the Galaxy what happens when they label me as an Evil Psychopath with no proofs!" Grogor declared with an insane smile and already imagining the endless destruction, despair and death he will plunge the entire universe in to avenge all those "false accusations".
"False Accusations" …
At the Same time – with Faye -
"I got a vision!" Faye declared.
"No, you got food poisoning from eating cheap Plundun Sushi on sale you insisted we bought in that dirty Space Gas Station." Pando answered, rolling his eyes.
"Stop Man-underplaying-my-achievements! It was a vision!"
"And the Diarrhoea?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Just a coincidence! Same with my fever, puking, bleeding from my eyes and nose and the various epileptic attacks! All those things just so happened to happen at the same time during my vision." She answered, annoyed.
"Sure, whatever."
"… Don't you want to know about my Vision?"
"No. Cause I am dropping your smelly, gaping ass in the first Space Colony I find and forget you even exist." He answered.
"Stop being afraid of a capable, brave, independent and Strong woman like me! And my ass is no longer gaping, I healed from that cheap sushi."
"Beep! (Don't take the bait, it's not worth it)." The tiny robot said.
"I… You are right, thanks, buddy." Pando answered, and the two exchanged a thumbs-up.
"It's simple! I had a vision of my parents! My mother was amazing, loyal, strong, powerful, beautiful with her giant squared chin, broad shoulders, thick beard, round belly and vitiligo skin!" She said.
"Uh-hu…" Pando muttered, aware that she had just described the male character of the movie they saw the night before, but deciding to not mention it.
"And yea, my dad was there too. But he is less important." Faye added.
"Okay. And?" Pando asked, clearly not interested at all but just giving generic answers.
"I saw them call out to me from a big planet covered completely in a giant city."
"Like every damn planet in this system…" Pando muttered, groaning.
"They are waiting for me in one of those planets! We must search them all!"
"… All sixty thousand?" He asked, horrified.
"Yes."
"Beep! (hang on, the next space station is close! Just a couple more hours and we can dump her somewhere and leave her)," The tiny robot said.
"I can't wait..."
End of the chapter, next one will close the Sci-Fi World Sortie.
Sorry for the long wait, besides trying to take more care of myself, I bought the DLC for Elden Ring, and I pretty much focused only on that so I started later to write this chapter.
SORRY!
Here is the Omake, but:
BEWARE OF SPOILERS!
DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 3/P3 RELOAD!
Thank you.
Omake:
Dimensional Ingredient Hunt – The birth of the Big Bang Gutsy Challenge!
World of the Subconscious – Seal -
An old man with a very long nose and dressed in a very elegant black tuxedo was looking at the gaping hole on the walls of a prison holding inside Night Herself, Nyx, a prison that now lacked both the seal holding it closed and a great deal of the walls around it.
"What has happened here?" The old man asked with a calm tone, unfazed even by that unforeseen event.
"What happened to the seal? Where is Yuki?" Elizabeth asked right after.
"I… I don't know…" A Goddess crowned with an aureole of dark mists and draped in long flowing black robes coated with the void of space and glimmering distant stars answered, she looked dazed and confused while she sat on the floor.
"Lady Nyx, why is the Seal holding you gone? Where is Erebus?" Igor asked again, voice calm and manners impeccable, as always.
"Erebus… Is dead?" Nyx answered, unsure.
There were two monstrous heads lying on the floor behind her, looking at the three of them with empty eyes, everything else that used to be the grotesque creature's body was now just a giant smear on walls and ceiling.
"I am aware of his demise, what I don't-"
"No, I mean… He is dead dead. Forever." Nyx corrected him.
"I must apologize, I must have heard wrongly, because I am aware of Erebus' unfortunate habit of returning to life after death due to its connection to Humanity's sense of misery and apathy, and their longing for your coming." Igor asked, his everlasting smile dropping of a tiny fraction.
"His connection to that has been severed… It's mine now…" Nyx answered, her attitude almost child-like as she showed them the strange mark on her left hand.
"I don't understand." Elizabeth said.
"Unfortunately, this is beyond my knowledge as well. I was not aware Erebus could truly be killed." Igor admitted, humming and adjusting his tie with a thoughtful tone of voice.
"Indeed nothing in the world of Mortals can kill Erebus." A new voice said.
"Lord Philemon." Igor immediately bowed to his Master as he passed by him, Elizabeth as well offered the new arrival a respectful bow.
"Philemon?" Nyx asked with a low voice.
"Everything is fine, Lady Nyx. Please, can you tell us what happened?" The handsome God wearing an elegant dress and a butterfly-shaped mask covering half his face asked while gently helping Nyx to get up from the floor with one hand.
"I… I was trapped, like always… I was talking to the poor boy that was acting as a Seal between me and Humanity when I heard a voice." Nyx answered, unsure.
"A voice? Can you describe it?" Philemon asked, he was talking slowly and with a warm voice so to not stress the poor Goddess further.
"It was… Strange? It didn't sound like a voice at all, as if it was not sound carrying it."
"What does it mean, Master Igor?" Elizabeth whispered.
"That it was not a human to open the Seal, most likely." He answered.
"And what did the voice say?" Philemon asked.
"Something… Something about Hosts? And Completing Tasks? I…" Nyx answered, groaning and grabbing her head.
"Please do not force yourself, Lady Nyx."
"When me and the boy heard that, I felt the Seal being blasted open and his soul being forcibly pulled out. Then I saw his soul return inside his body and the boy faint."
"And Erebus, Lady Nyx?" Philemon asked.
"He… He immediately rushed to me to beg me to commence The Fall, and… He blew-up? I barely saw a ghostly shape strike him and his body explode instantly. Then… Then something touched my hand and I felt Erebus' powers and role join mine… I… I sat here for a wile, then you all arrived." The Goddess answered.
"Uhm."
"Do you know what happened, Master Philemon?" Igor asked.
"Erebus can't be killed, not even by Gods, because of his role as embodiment of Humanity's Grief and Negative Emotions. No Gods or Mortals can kill him for good and strip him of his duties and powers." Philemon answered.
"Then-"
"Gods and Mortals can't… But a True Ancient can. They are exempted from the ancient treaties, too bad they are all dead, Hahahahaha!" A new voice said, chuckling deranged.
"Nyarlathotep." Philemon said, unfazed, and looking at the shapeless mass of writhing tentacles and faces that appeared on the ceiling above them with bored eyes.
"Hello, Phily." Nyarlathotep answered, chuckling, its body was an ever-changing blob of living shadows whose appearances could drive Mortals to instant Madness if witnessed as he was, in his True Form.
"The Crawling Chaos," Igor hissed in distaste.
"The God of a Thousand Forms," Elizabeth echoed, and already summoning as many powerful Persona she could behind herself.
"The Dweller in Darkness?" Nyx asked, confused.
"All pretty names I got through the ages, yes! Although The Faceless God, The Floating Horror and The Haunter of the Dark are between the ones I prefer the most." The Chaos Outer God answered, amused by their reactions.
"May I know to what do I owe your visit?" Philemon asked, so used to the God's antics to be pretty much bored of them already.
"You tell me, Phily!" Nyarlathotep asked, taking a shape similar to Philemon, albeit made entirely of dripping black goo and humanoid faces screaming silently in agony.
"I was certain that the True Ancients were all dead! Then why something that feels like one of them instead descended in the Mortal World? And why have they not erased it? I was certain they liked to reset Reality at the first misstep!" The Chaos Entity asked, sounding extremely displeased at Reality being still standing instead of achieving Reset.
"The Seven are still alive, Lord Philemon?" Igor asked.
"All of them are dead. I think." Nyx said.
"One is indeed still alive instead." Philemon answered.
"Oh reeeeeally? Which one?" Nyarlathotep asked with a mocking tone.
"Among its many names, we commonly know them in our Realm as Orexis. Although I am aware that their name changes completely depending to which Realm and which world in those Realms you ask for tales about them." He answered, making complete silence befall in the small realm.
"… Why the most unreasonable of them all had to be the one still standing?" Nyarlathotep asked with a small voice, smile and amusement instantly disappearing from his face and voice.
"Because they are the one that killed the other six, apparently they got tired of their meddling and methods." Philemon answered.
"And you know this, how exactly, Phily?" Nyarlathotep asked.
"They recently visited me and gently told me to let them work with their current Chosen. A warning I was told needed to be delivered to you too."
"And then why you didn't tell me?!" Nyarlathotep hissed.
"I was curious myself. I wished to see if you could survive an Ancient's strike." Philemon answered with a small, friendly smile in absolute contrast with the content of his answer.
"That's not fun! That's low even for you, Phily!"
"Consider this my punishment for your using that horrid nickname when addressing me, Nyarlathotep." Philemon answered, amused by the Chaos God's enraged scream.
"Mean bastard!" Nyarlathotep screeched, he then faded away to return wherever he normally resided.
"Good to know the threat of an Ancient is a good incentive to make him behave." Philemon commented, pleased.
"What now, Lord Philemon?" Igor asked.
"Now? I will personally help Lady Nyx recover from her long slumber and the quite taxing meeting with an Ancient, that usually weights a lot on a God's mind if they are not prepared, and by the lingering anger in the air, Orexis is also in a bad mood."
"And us, Master?" Elizabeth asked.
"Feel free to check on the poor Wild Card that used to act as our Seal, and if you can, try to locate Orexis' Chosen and keep an eye on them, poor Mortals chosen by that Ancient hardly ever have a quiet life. Try to assist whoever they are, a friendly shoulder is never a bad thing." Philemon answered.
"Of course, master." Igor and Elizabeth answered in chorus, bowing to the retreating Gods as they walked away until they disappeared like fading mist.
"Good to know the Seal will no longer be necessary. Try to locate both our Wild Card and that Chosen, Elizabeth." Igor said.
"Yes, Master Igor." The Attendant answered, following her Master back into their Velvet Room.
The next day – Dorm -
There was a sombre silence in the dorm, nobody was in the mood to talk or even smile, every student inside in fact simply sat by themselves in silence.
"…" One of them kept looking at the entrance with a longing expression.
"Junpei, it's been two weeks… Stop." One of the girls begged.
"He's going to enter. Any moment now…" Junpei answered, sniffling loudly.
"Let him, please. We all cope in a different way." Another girl answered, flicking back a fringe of her long red hair with an expression seemingly carved out of stone.
"At least we are showing some emotion!" Yukari yelled.
"…" Mitsuru only looked away, and her shoulders shook faintly.
"Sometimes, the ones hurt by something do not cry in public, but prefer to cry when alone with themselves." Fuuka said, sniffling.
"I feel pain, Yukari… I feel a lot of pain…" Mitsuru admitted, still shaking but refusing to look at the others.
"Akihiko… Please stop…" Ken begged while changing the bandages on Akihiko's hands once cleaned the wounds on the guy's bleeding knuckles.
"Not until the pain in my chest goes away…" The older boy answered with a growl.
"Punching a sandbag until your hands break apart is not the solution." Ken said.
"I lost two friends because I was not strong enough…" The other replied.
Even the dog Koromaru felt the sorrow in the air, and lied next to the door in wait for somebody that maybe will never return.
Knock! Knock!
"Who is it?" Yukari asked, not in the mood for visits.
"It's me again. Sorry to disturb you." Izuku said, entering the room accompanied by Momo and Shiro, and with Whitey silently following behind them.
"Who are you?" Junpei asked.
"Oh, Mister Izuku… Sorry but it's really not the moment right now." Fuuka greeted them as the only one that already met them.
"You know those strange guys?" Ken asked.
"He asked me to help talking with few Restaurants, but I am not really a friend of them… Yuki-kun was…" The girl answered, and she almost started crying again.
"Your friend you talked about?" Momo asked.
"Yeah, the greatest…" Junpei answered, starting to cry again and soon falling into sobbing.
"About him," Izuku started saying.
"Sorry! We are not ready yet to talk about him, okay?!" Akihiko snapped angrily and sent his most savage glare towards Izuku and Momo.
"… Why? Something I said?" Their missing friend asked, he too joining the room behind the two Dimensional Travellers.
"…" No silence deeper than what followed Yuki's entrance could be achieved while the eyes of his friends slowly grew larger and larger.
"As I was about to say, we got him back." Izuku said with an awkward smile.
"… Surprise!" Momo tried adding with a very forced smile.
The entire island shook like in an earthquake from the combined scream of awe, shock and joy of Yuki's friends.
A long explanation later -
"There was a time I would have not believed in Dimensional Travel, but by storming Tartarus I saw things far beyond what Humanity decided was possible or not, so I have to at the very least give you the benefit of the doubt." Mitsuru admitted while emptying her third cup of tea to calm her nerves.
"I know it's strange, but it is true." Izuku said.
"Very strange. And congratulations, this Rose Scent Chamomile Tea you made is simply marvellous." She answered.
"Thank you, it's a blend of my own creation." He answered, smiling.
"May I please ask you to share the recipe?"
"Of course!"
"STU-PEI! STOP HUGGING HIM!" Yukari yelled with a spoiled child tone.
"I CAN'T! MY BRO IS BACK! I KNEW IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF DAYS! BUT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!" Junpei answered, still crying his eyes out and hugging Yuki with all his strength.
"I say let him go! It's my turn!" Yukari yelled, pulling Junpei off from their friend by somehow lifting and throwing Junpei's entire body by his ear to launch him against the wall.
"I missed you all too." Yuki only had the time to say that before Yukari's own high-pressure hug almost snapped his spine in half.
"It was my turn!" Fuuka countered with an annoyed pout.
"So you got a way to enter again Tartarus," Akihiko asked.
"Yes, my Sponsor quite literally blasted a hole in the Wall separating that place from Reality," Izxuku answered.
"But after that, we had to navigate and climb the place by our selves." Momo added.
"That's a very harsh trial." Ken said.
"You have no idea, luckily we are no strangers to fighting, so we managed." Izuku answered.
"And as a prize, Izuku's Sponsor freed Yuki-san from his role as seal." Momo added.
"And what about…"
"My Sponsor is a similar Alien Being, and apparently they got a reputation strong enough that whoever was sealed there, they just decided to behave."
"Stop asking, Host. Knowing more about The System is not necessary to your Ascension to God of Cooking." The System anticipated Izuku's question once again and sent their answer.
"Gods threatening each other. Now I saw everything." Mitsuru admitted with a small chuckle.
"Who cares about that crap! We got our friend back!" Junpei said, still deliriously happy.
"Crude as always." Ken said, sighing.
"Fuuka said you needed something from me?" Yuki asked.
"Well, yes. I need your help to challenge few Restaurants in exchange of their secret recipes." Izuku answered.
"… That's it? You climbed Tartarus to save our friend… Just for that?" Akihiko asked, shocked.
"Well, yes." Momo admitted, awkward.
"I'll ask The Gourmet King then." Yuki answered, shrugging.
"I love that nickname, because many foodies back in my life as Zaus had that edgy nickname online…" Izuku muttered to himself, laughing fondly at the memories.
The next day – Iwatodai Station -
"Here they are! These guys are the owners of the best restaurants of Iwatodai Station. When I told them that a guy wanted to challenge all of them by making their best dish and improve on it, they laughed." A fat student, that Yuki introduced as Gourmet King, said.
"And yet they are here." Momo said.
"That is because I made them taste that crazy good sushi you made, so I promised them that if you failed you would have worked for them for free for ten years." He answered, unfazed.
"HOY!" Izuku yelled in horror.
"They won't cheat. They still have some dignity buried in there somewhere." He answered.
"Good evening, I represent Wild-Duck Burger Inc. and have called along the HQ Chef that creates the recipes we then email to every store of our Franchise." A woman with a heavy nasal voice said while adjusting her glasses.
"Still I was curious, because it took me three months to perfect my secret Wild-Duck Crazy BBQ Sauce. And I have no intentions to share it." The Chef the woman took along said, with crossed arms.
"But you still accepted." Gourmet King answered.
"Because I enjoy watching people make a fool of themselves and fail miserably." The Chef answered with a savage grin.
"Very Unpleasant." Momo answered, glaring at him.
"Still, you accepted," Yuki said.
"We have no legal obligation to go through with it. This is just a publicity stunt, boy." The woman said with an annoying nasal laugh while walking away with their Chef.
"Izuku…" Momo said, worried.
"It's fine, they can choose to not share their sauce recipe." Izuku answered.
"But… Your Mission… You will lose your ability to cook just because they are being petty!" She said.
"That is why I will do like I did any other time somebody insisted in being a petty sour loser."
"Uhu?"
"I will taste the sauce and figure out the Ingredients and preparation method by myself." Izuku said, smirking.
"… Oooh!"
"With my future, Restaurants and my very Skills on the line… I am ready to do everything." He admitted, sheepish.
"Except illegal stuff."
"Of course."
Luckily the other Restaurants owners were less butt-hurt, and accepted to share their secret recipe ONLY if Izuku was deemed truly mind-blowing.
And as luck would have it… It was mind-blowing! It was extremely mind-blowing!
Sushi, takoyaki, burgers, ramen, beef bowls, every single dish Izuku made surpassed even the tasters wildest imagination.
"HOW DID YOU LOSE TO A BRAT?!" The Woman with nasal voice shrieked.
"I don't know! That hamburger was a miracle in food form! I don't know how he did it!" The Chef answered.
"You are fired! I won't give him the sauce recipe! And you better don't do that either, or I will destroy your life!"
"Too bad I memorized taste and texture, I'll re-create it later." Izuku answered while shaking his head.
"Don't tell her, she looks like some psycho that would try to kill us to protect the secret," Momo answered.
"Yes, I am not testing my luck with that." He answered.
"The others were good sports at least and shared their dishes' recipes," Izuku said.
"True."
"Come on, ask her." They both heard Mitsuru gently push Fuuka forward.
Both teens muscles tensed.
"Yeah, I don't think he will be against it! He can teach us both!" Yukari added.
"He may need a miracle to help you, Yuka-tan!" Junpei said, laughing.
"Shut up, Stu-Pei!"
"They are running away." Yuki said and pointed at the running Izuku and Momo.
"Eh? Why?" Ken and Akihiko asked.
"NO! WAIT! We are not that bad!" The girls yelled while chasing them.
"Come on! Young Fuuka is also an amazing girl! Don't be afraid of commitment!" Yukari added, making Fuuka blush crimson.
"Hey! Come back! Come work for me, my Takoyaki Prince!" The Owner of the Takoyaki shop yelled, joining the chase.
With Igor -
The strange man with the big nose was looking at the scene unfold in curiosity from the limits of a blue door standing by itself in a corner of the road.
"Very curious…" He said, humming and closing the door.
Year 2011
Years later he opened the door to check on his current Wild Card.
"I tell you, the best BBQ I ever tried!" A young man with earphones around his neck said.
"I see. Still doesn't explain this…" The current Wild Card answered.
"STOP! MY BBQ KING! GIVE ME A CHANCE! I CAN BE ROMANTIC TOO!" Chie yelled in despair while chasing Izuku.
"No! Choose me! Let me be your angel! Let me repay you for being a new light in my life!" Rise countered, she too chasing Izuku and Ochako.
"Again?" Igor muttered, humming in curiosity, and closing the door to the Velvet Room.
Year 2017
Igor opened the door again to check on one of his Wild Cards…
"...Hn." Ren watched the blue door appear behind Izuku, a door only he could see, the man with a long nose and the young girl in a blue dress with him just nodded their heads, and hurriedly slammed the door closed (And made it disappear) as soon as Izuku turned around to see what Ren was looking at.
Igor then re-opened the door to see what was happening...
"So what have you done?" Ren asked.
"I was told she was brainwashing people through her sense of despair and desire for freedom and revenge. My Sponsor offered to cut her connection to the outside force that was helping her, but the Exorcism of that darkness was up to me. And I did." Izuku answered.
"How?" Makoto asked for Morgana, since Izuku could not understand the cat's words.
"With this!" Izuku answered, showing them the tray with a giant Dual Fromage cheesecake…
And after those people tried his food, again, Igor saw once again Izuku run away, this time chased by Ann and few other girls.
"That guy looks like somebody chased by the devil, dude." Ryuji said, whistling.
"Very curious." Ren admitted.
"What a curious curse." Igor admitted while closing the door again to return to his desk.
And in the void beyond Reality, The System screamed and screamed.
A fury that knew no bounds, beyond human comprehension.
End of the Omake.