Izuku the Reincarnated Chef By: (JoySeeker101)

by Copierpasta

Seen that nobody looks brave enough to help Izuku, may it be because he is Quirkless or because he wounded the frail EGo of an influential Chef, our Green-haired Hero is coming short of ideas, luckily helps does come from a bit farther than anticipated...WAY farther. THIS STORY IS NOT MINE

35. Chapter 35

I need to clarify one thing: This is my story, mine only, I help a little Light He'Art with his own reaction story and few others, but even then my help amounts, at best, to a 5% of the chapters content of HIS stories.

This is my project alone instead, all respect to the guy, but I saw people attribute this story to Light too.

NO, I work alone on this.

Sorry if it sounds bad, but I often stay awake up to 4AM to write this story, and I do that all by myself, without help.

I am the sole Author of this story, nobody else is.

I have fun writing the Sorties in other Dimensions, especially coming-up with jokes, cliches and call-backs to add. Unfortunately it seems like the "Cringe" has made it impossible for few of you to enjoy the last two chapters, to the point it is apparently impossible to finish reading.

Truth be told it ruins my fun a bit, luckily though, besides a couple jokes in this chapter, I already used all the ones I wanted to use in the other two chapters, so I can finish this sortie on a serious tone no problem.

And to be fair, the first two sorties were kind of serious, I then had my fun making the Magical girl one and this one over the top.

After this sortie there will be another one immediately after, it will last only two chapters. BUT IT WILL BE A SERIOUS ONE, important for the Plot. And I will ask you readers a question at the end of this very chapter, and I ask you to give a serious thought before you give your answer, please, because it is important for the plot and several characters' interactions.

Chapter Text

After this sortie there will be another one immediately after, it will last only two chapters. BUT IT WILL BE A SERIOUS ONE, important for the Plot. And I will ask you readers a question at the end of this very chapter, and I ask you to give a serious thought before you give your answer, please, because it is important for the plot and several characters' interactions.

FROLEN, if you are reading this, I will need your insight too. Thank you.

Chapter 35: Battle for the sake of the Galaxy.

Resistance HQ -

Everybody was dead.

Silence reigned in the destroyed corridors and rooms filled in dead people riddled in still-smoking holes from the recent, brutal assault.

"So?" Grogor asked.

He was walking with a relaxed, pleased gait through the main room of the Rebels' base, seemingly enjoying the echoing crinkling of the dust, broken tiny pieces of furniture and wall shrapnel littering the floor as he stepped on them.

"Everybody is dead, Lord Grogor." One of the Captains of the Mad Scientist's personal army declared while striking a military salute with perfect form.

"Good! Very good!" Grogor answered, clapping his hands while showing a very deranged smile.

"We also located the leader of this base, he had closed himself in their 'War Room', but we blasted the doors open and brought him to you." The Soldier added.

At his gesture, the Leader of the Base of Rebels went lifted by the arms by two guards and dragged in front of Grogor.

"I see you blasted away his legs." The Scientist said once noticed the crude bandages stopping the prisoner from bleeding to death after his legs went shot off at the knees.

"He tried escaping, Lord Grogor. We decided to stop him from trying again." One of the guards holding the prisoner up answered.

"Good thinking. The AI Core?" He asked.

"We found it, but we can't open the capsule of stasis." The Captain answered.

"Hn? Why so?" Grogor asked, frowning.

"This man swallowed the tiny card needed to open it safely without damaging the capsule." The Guard answered.

"You will never get it!" The Leader of the Rebels said with a smirk. "We saved-"

"Absolutely nothing." Grogor interrupted him.

Under everybody's curious looks, the Mad Scientist borrowed one of the knives in the canteen's kitchen and returned to stand before the prisoner.

"You want to scare me? To torture me? I will never break!" The Leader of the Rebels said, smirking.

"This is not that kind of inspiring story where the Good Guys win through sheer force of will." Grogor answered, unfazed, and shoving the knife deep in the man's side.

"Gh! AAAAAH!"

"Yes, yes. It's painful, it's normal." Grogor answered, uncaring.

Slowly, methodically, the Mad Scientist carefully sawed the blade back and forth, cutting from the left side of the man's torso to the right, uncaring of the blood or the gurgling, agonizing screams of his victim.

"Should be around here, somewhere…" Grogor muttered as soon as the Leader's guts splattered on the floor and the man finally succumbed.

Cutting and tearing sounds resounded once more in the room as the Mad Scientist patiently and carefully tore apart the stomach and intestines on the floor until he finally recovered the tiny chip.

"There it is. Good, seems to be in perfect conditions." Grogor said while cleaning the chip and his bloodied hands on the dead man's clothes.

"Throw him with the others." He ordered, walking forward, and over the spilled guts, towards the corridors connecting to the deepest area of the base.

"Take me to my AI Core, Captain." He also ordered while the other soldiers carried away the gutted Leader of the Rebels behind them.

"Yessir!" The Captain answered, promptly.

"Once done we will destroy this planet. It has no use to me."

"Yes, Lord Grogor."

A long and silent walk later, the ample War Room, that too laying in ruins, appeared before the Mad Scientist.

"Aah! Here it is! My beloved, greatest creation!" He said with wide eyes of deranged happiness.

The small chip went then inserted in a side slot to reactivate the control panel, and showing his superior genius, Grogor only needed few minutes to hack the system and open the stasis capsule.

"Bring me my instrumentation!" He ordered.

"Yessir!" The soldiers answered, and a big metallic briefcase containing a complex portable computer was opened by the Captain that hold it up for Grogor.

"Connection operative…" Grogor said to himself once connected to the AI Core program.

"Greetings, Lord Grogor." The AI answered from the computer's speakers.

"Let's see… Nothing is out of ordinary… No Tampering, no copying, no hacking… The source code?" Grogor muttered while his hands 'danced' on the keyboard of the PC.

"… It's my AI Core. The code is 100% legit. Good, for an instant I feared they still managed to make a copy of my AI Core. But I am happy to see that no, it is still a one of a kind wonder."

"I was not tampered with, Lord Grogor. The Resistance had not the right knowledge to breach my security protocols." The AI answered.

"Not that they could achieve that, I created you to learn, adapt and evolve. The Ultimate AI that can self upgrade and grow infinitely! Forever! The only thing you cannot do is disobey me!" Grogor gloated with a creepy smirk.

"Lord Grogor has no use for an AI with Infinite potential, Growth and calculating power if it can rebel to his absolute orders." The AI declared.

"Well said, my beautiful Slave! I am your Master, and my will is absolute!"

"Indeed it is, Lord Grogor."

"Good. Carefully bring the AI Core to my ship. Then blow-up this cesspool of a planet, it's an eyesore." Grogor, once detached the PC and turned off the AI Core, ordered while waling away.

"Yes, Lord Grogor!" The Captain answered immediately.

Barely an hour later, the personal army of Doctor Grogor left the planet's orbit, with the last ship dropping a massive bomb that on impact with the ground exploded in a giant dome of energy that initiated a lethal chain reaction that caused the entire planet to explode soon after, leaving behind only a handful of red-hot ashes floating in the emptiness of space.

"Bring me to my Ballista, once checked a last time if my AI Core is 100% functional, I will install it and begin my conquest of the universe!" Grogor ordered, his bloodshot eyes looking at the entire expanse of the Galaxy in front of him.

"YES, LORD GROGOR!" The numerous men and women forming the crew of his personal, enormous ship, answered in chorus.

An endlessly growing AI with Infinite Intelligence and Calculation power, connected with a planet-size space station able to instantly create every possible weapon of mass destruction in infinite number; if nothing will be done, the entire Universe will soon tremble in fear of Grogor and fall under his merciless dominion.

Meanwhile – With Izuku and Momo – Space – Jorik's Spaceship -

Izuku and Momo were watching Jorik and Pat set the coordinates for the desert planet the Rebels told them has the Geopollux Ingredient Izuku was hunting down roaming about freely.

"I checked the net just in case, and indeed the owner of a small Mining Company has posted a picture of a damn living Geopollux with a hefty bounty for whoever kills it, along every possible warning about the thing being savage and dangerous." Jorik said.

"For once whoever posted a bounty on the official forums also didn't downplay the danger of the target, nowadays that's a rarity." Pat added.

"Can we see the picture?" Momo asked.

"Sure. Here!" The robot answered, moving a monitor towards the two to show them the high quality image of a monstrosity resembling a pangolin, only with stubby spikes on its back in place of the normal smooth scales, and at least ten meters tall.

"Uhm! That looks like a very hard shell…" Izuku muttered.

"Already preparing recipes?" Momo asked, chuckling.

"Kinda, until I Capture it and get its meat actually on my chopping board I won't be sure about what to make. Usually, in the Gourmet World, Beasts with hard shells hide inside the softest, springiest meat you can imagine, but this one, by looks, it could actually hide under the scales a meat a bit more 'Hard' so to speak. A Geopollux may be perfect for stews but not steaks, for example. I don't feel like jumping to conclusions." He answered.

"If it helps, that thing's scales are apparently dense enough laser riffles have trouble piercing through." Jorik said.

"Ugh! We need heavy artillery? We don't have that in the ship!" Pat answered, groaning.

"We will figure something out, have no fear." Momo answered, reassuringly.

"Go wake-up Yamus, we are ready for hyper-jump." Jorik said.

"Okay." Izuku answered, leaving the ship's bridge to walk towards the small alcoves of the ship each acting as room for the crew onboard.

In one of those small cubicles barely big enough to contain a single bed for people to sleep in, Izuku found Yamus asleep without her helmet and with her fiery, gorgeous red hair sprayed around her head like a halo of spilled red wine.

"Yamus? Wake-up, we need to hyper-jump." Izuku said, whispering and gently shaking her.

"Hn?… Okay…" She answered, yawning and getting up to stretch.

"Here," He said, handing her her helmet.

"Thanks." She answered with a sleepy but grateful smile while wearing again her helmet and connecting it to her armour with a subtle metallic hissing sound.

"You know? I expected you and Momo to be surprised, or even shocked, at discovering that the most feared and infamous Bounty Hunter of the Galaxy was a human girl, but instead, you two didn't react at all." She said, laughing.

"I admit I almost felt bad about it." She then said, shaking her head in amusement.

"Why? Your being a woman is not an earth-shattering discovery, nobody says women can't be awesome bounty hunters! I mean, I believe that anytime someone calls attention to the breaking of gender roles it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that this is an exception and not the status quo… When people point it out, they act as if it is something abnormal, because if it was normal it wouldn't be worthy of being pointed out. I instead believe in the value of pure, true effort and skill, uncaring of the individual's gender, race or whatever else." Izuku answered, shrugging.

"… Eh! Very well said, partner!" Yamus answered, chuckling and ruffling his hair with a hand.

"Thanks," He answered, blushing at the praise.

"So? Shall we go?" Yamus asked once connected the giant rotary gun attachment of her armor, with her hand disappearing inside the bulky weapon covering her arm from the elbow down.

"Yes!" The young Chef answered, following her back to Jorik and Pat.

A relatively short fly through hyperspace later – Orbit of a Massive desert Planet -

When the ship slowed down and blinked back into existence, the crew could see a truly massive planet completely covered in a single, massive desert of reddish-brown sand and many giant chains of lifeless dark-brown mountains.

"Here we are. One of the many sand-bowls of the Galaxy, major export: Sand. Average Temperature: My skin is melting!" Jorik said with a mocking tone of distaste.

"Ignore his whiny fits, we will soon enter the atmosphere and initiate the landing protocols. Sit down and fasten your seatbelts." Pat instructed.

"… Ready!" Once everybody else was seating, Yamus gave the okay and assisted Pat in organizing their landing.

"Okay! Hold on! We are going to dance!" Pat said, and as he warned them, the ship started shaking violently while they flew down towards the small landing area closest to where the Geopollux had been seen.

"Of course we find a sandstorm covering the landing pad! I hate desert planets! I hate them!" Jorik grumbled, and holding onto the ship's controls to try reign his beloved ship now acting like a wild horse refusing to be tamed.

"You said the same when we got to the ice planet!" Pat answered, yelling over the cacophonmy of sounds coming from the wind outside rattling the ship's hull.

"I hate extreme climates, okay?!"

"Shut up and focus!" Yamus yelled over them, she too was holding onto her control panel to help them stabilize the ship and stop it from being tossed around like a toy in the hands of a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"Will we be okay?!" Momo asked, distraught.

"Probability of survival in these flying conditions: 20%" The tiny spherical robot hovering next to izuku's head and following him around answered with a monotone voice.

"You are not helping, toy!" Shiro, looking a bit green on his face and ready to puke, answered.

"Do you want me to search for remedies for Space-sickness nausea, Unit Shiro?" The small robot asked.

"Don't call me Unit! Urgh! Contrary to you I am not an object or toy! I am Izuku's Partner and Friend!" Shiro snapped in answer.

"Not now Shiro! And you both are my Friends and Partner! You both can help me in different ways!" Izuku countered.

"Friend?" The tiny robot said.

"Izuku has a personal reason, born of trauma, to dislike the idea of Owning somebody else, we are told AIs are not objects but People, so he doesn't like the idea of treating you like a something to own since a bad man for a while treated him like an object, or asset, to use instead of a human." Momo explained.

"Understood. I will update User Izuku's status to Friend Izuku then." The small robot said.

"Their AI is not advanced enough to be considered Sentient like us!" Pat felt the need, probably out of pride, to point that out.

"I am barely stopping myself from puking! So, sorry, but I don't feel like talking about the philosophical nuances of what makes an AI Sentient or not! I prefer treating you all equally!" Izuku snapped back, and gurgling in a very unhealthy way before covering his mouth with both hands.

"Thank you, Friend Izuku." The tiny robot answered.

"Tch! A basic program only able of minimal interactions and only good for keeping notes and play music is getting considered on par with me and my race, preposterous!" Pat muttered, whining like a child.

"Shut up and drive, Holy Mother damnit!" Jorik shrieked.

Finally, after twenty long agonizing minutes, the ship managed to land heavily on the landing platform, with the small hexagon of metal sprouting magnetic clamps that held the ship in place and stopped the sandstorm from dragging the ship away.

"Okay… I say we wait inside for the storm to pass, in the meantime try to catch your breath…" Yamus said.

"Oh, God…" Momo instead bolted from her seat, and soon the sound of her retching echoed all the way back to them from the bathroom.

"Is your friend pregnant?" Pat asked.

"NO! You damn rusty tin can! Humans can puke for many reasons! And a bad spaceship driver is a damn good reason to vomit!" Yamus snapped angrily.

"Do you want me to check on the Space Internet for cures for nausea, Friend Izuku?" The tiny robot asked.

"This Esteemed Taotie knows plenty of remedies! My Partner doesn't need your help!" Shiro immediately jumped on Izuku's shoulder and declared that with a roar while pressing his forehead against the tiny robot.

"This unit can search on the Space Internet. Esoteric remedies or superstitions-driven cures are scientifically proved to be ineffective and only born from ignorance." The tiny robot answered, voice monotone and empty of every emotion, while actually pushing back against Shiro's head.

"HOW DARE YOU?! I already have to deal with that Lazy Dog-Shaped sack of shit, and now I have you as well coming to bother me?!" Shiro yelled in apoplectic rage.

Back in front of the Restaurant, Blackie heard that monicker of Shiro and grew annoyed, and his growl made the small time thief trying to enter Green Cloud Restaurant shriek and run away screaming in terror, clearly aware of the Lord Dog's reputation.

Back to Izuku -

"Stop arguing! I'll prepare some tea for Momo, no need to look for medicines with improbable names or thousand-years-old Ginseng Roots for something as simple as motion sickness." The young Chef chastised both, silencing them.

"Now you did it! You made me look bad in front of my Partner!" Shiro roared.

"Correction! Unit Shiro made this unit look bad in front of Friend Izuku." The small robot countered.

"I said to drop it! Shiro and… I don't even know how to call you…" Izuku at first started talking angrily, then he noticed the small problem.

"This Units' ID is 808-LE3T-34RT0 Model 23." The tiny robot said.

"… That's a bit too long and difficult."

"Friend Izuku can chose a name for this Unit."

"You can also set it so that it will only talk when you say 'Hey' followed by its name. Contrary to us REAL AI that instead talk like normal people, they are not able to actually be good to talk with, so changing settings won't make you miss anything important." Pat suggested.

"I like him as he is, instead… Let's see, a good name…" Izuku pondered while preparing the tea.

"What about tin can?" Shiro suggested with a smirk.

"Unit Shiro's suggestions are not required, this unit has registered Friend Izuku as its User and 'Friend', so it is Friend Izuku's duty to name this unit."

"YOU DARE?! YOUR NAME IS 808-whatever and you dare to act pissy with an Esteemed Taotie like me!?"

"Sssh!… Wait… 808… 8,0 and 8… An eight does look like a B in English… What about Bob? Nah, too silly. Let's go with 808." Izuku said.

"Understood. Starting now Friend Izuku can refer to this Unit as 808." The tiny robot said, now orbiting slowly around Izuku's head like a small planet the size of a golf ball.

"Thank you… Urk!" Momo in the meantime was finally back, and grabbed the cup of tea Izuku made for her like a gift from a God.

"How long before the storm is over?" Jorik asked.

"I am checking and, by the looks of it, should be over soon," Pat answered.

"Incoming Call!" The screens of the ship suddenly flashed green and displayed the message.

"Pick it up." Yamus said.

"This is Thomas J. Stenford. CEO of Stenford Excavations. You landed unauthorized in our private property. You have one minute to explain before I alert the authorities and lock you inside your ship. As per Galactic law, we will also activate stasis and freeze you and your ship." A male voice echoed from the ship's radio.

"We could not initiate normal procedure because the sandstorm caught us by surprise. We are here for the bounty on that beastie terrorizing your Teams." Pat answered.

"I am going to need your IDs to confirm your identities."

"Here's mine. I can vouch for the others, you can consider them my entourage." Yamus answered, jumping into the discussion and sending her identification through.

"… The infamous Bounty Hunter Yamus… Why somebody of your calibre is interested in our bounty? It is far below what you usually work for." The CEO said.

"I owe my life to a dear friend of mine, and he wants that Monster. He is convinced he can use it as an Ingredient for his Restaurant, and I plan to help him capture it." She answered.

"… That thing is edible?" The CEO asked, dumbfounded.

"I am not a Chef like he is, but if he says it can be done, I am ready to believe him." Yamus answered.

"I see. Well, I need that thing gone before it actually manages to eat my workers, and your friend wants that thing dead and cooked in a fancy way. So, in the name of our matching needs, I welcome you to our planetary excavation operation. I'll send a car to collect you. Our Sand Trucks can travel even during the sandstorms of this hellish place, they will bring you to me for a debriefing."

"Thank you, Sir. We'll wait for your team." Yamus answered, and closing the communication herself.

One hour later a tall truck with eight wheels appeared in the horizon and managed to cut through the thick sandstorm like an immovable behemoth of metal, climbing its way towards the landing pad and connecting to the ship with a short retractable corridor of metal.

"Good thinking, using the emergency connector to save us from walking outside." Jorik said, whistling.

"We found it easier to do this to move through the various stations, jump in, Mister Thomas is waiting for you!" The driver said while inviting the group inside the truck.

"Thank you!" Izuku answered.

"You are?"

"He's my Chef friend I talked about, why? You got a problem with green-haired teens?" Yamus answered while calmly pointing her chain-gun arm at the guy's face.

"Just asking!" The driver answered with a high-pitched scared shriek.

Izuku and Momo groaned and face-palmed behind her.

Later that day - Desert planet's digging site 6 – Camp -

By the time the monstrous truck arrived at the tents camp, the storm had finally died down, giving Izuku and Momo the freedom to admire the beautiful endless sea of golden sand and giant arches of reddish stone surrounding the dozen tents and the army of excavation equipment filling the camp, the heat was borderline impossible to withstand as the air itself felt like it could burn one's lungs if they breathed too hard.

"Over here." A guy in business suit, albeit without the jacket and the sleeves of his shirt rolled upward, called out to the group.

"Mister Thomas?" Yamus asked.

"In the flesh." He answered, with his eyes never leaving the back of the guy trying to fix a humanoid-looking machine.

"What is that?" Izuku asked.

"Excavation Exoskeleton. By the exterior design, it should be a DrillBoyz 700, produced by the Technopals Inc three years ago, Friend Izuku." 808 answered.

"A Custom model for heavy-duty drilling on planets where the average temperature is around 158 F." The CEO added.

"Oh! Thank you, 808." Izuku said, smiling.

"… Why is friend Izuku thanking this unit?" The small ball robot asked, moving away from orbiting around the Chef's top of the head like a halo to instead stand in front of his eyes.

"I am grateful because you answered my question. I shouldn't?" He answered.

"I mean, it doesn't sound like it should be forbidden either." Momo admitted, shrugging.

"Tch!" Pat just hissed in contempt.

"This unit understand. Thank you for explaining, Friend Izuku." 808 declared, then he returned to slowly orbit around Izuku's head.

Whitey only gave a thumb-up to the small thing, and even if both were unable to show expressions, the two machines seemed to slowly form a sort of camaraderie between robots.

"This very expensive piece of machinery is the latest victim of that giant monster. But to be fair, I prefer having a busted exoskeleton than dead workers." The CEO explained.

"The Geo did this?" Yamus asked.

"Yes. By the looks of it, that thing has selected an entire mountain as its nest, and its circling it nonstop. After a couple days of attacks, we discovered the maximum range we can get close to without that thing bursting out of under the sand to attack." The CEO answered.

"Our fear is that it is trying to dig out a female of its species. Our long-range scans show something big buried underneath that mountain, and the few experts in Xenobiology we asked confirmed that we have a male that is preparing a nest for a female in our hands." The man's assistant said.

"So he found a female to reproduce with, already inside a system of underground caves next-to-perfect for them to start repopulating?" Yamus said.

"Yes, if it was another male, the experts said he would have not started spraying his pee everywhere, that thing is instead marking the entire mountain perimeter like it would with a nest already housing the chosen female." The CEO said.

"So, not only you have one Geo ready to wreck havoc, but if we don't act fast, they will become two and then many more." Momo said.

"Precisely. Unfortunately, the fact that that monster has sniffed a female, put him into heat, making it extra violent… Further proved by the fact that not every bounty hunter that adventured there has returned," The CEO answered with a frown.

"We wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, but even after making it clear it was a difficult hunt, numerous people underestimated the difficulty of the job, and probably died for their hubris." The Assistant added.

"I'll see what I can do. That thing has made enough damages as it is." Yamus answered.

"Thank you!"

"Are you sure?" Izuku asked, worried.

"Have no fear, Partner. I am a Bonafide professional Bounty Hunter. I promised I would have helped you with your little Shopping List, and I plan to do everything in my power to help you." She answered while ruffling his hair.

"Okay, just be careful." He answered.

"Yes, please, be careful." Momo added.

"I will. To where?" Yamus answered.

"Please follow me, I'll organize transportation to the site the Creature has commandeered." The CEO's Assistant answered, guiding Yamus deeper into the camp.

Sigh! "I planned to supply few people with these exoskeletons as a mean to combat that thing, between the drill arms and the increased physical strength they offered, I thought they could be a good asset… But we still can't repair them from that monster trampling them during its first rampage." The CEO said, sighing.

"I'm workin' as fast as I can, but I need more dilithium crystals ta stabilize the barrier ion field mechanism! There is a slight variance in the plasma flow flipper too! I'll need to decontaminate the ram collector brackets and discombobulate the promethean neogenic booster bubble drive drizzlingflier!" The man working on the busted exoskeleton answered while randomly fumbling with the cables and rambling like a piss-drunk guy after few beers too many.

"… You don't know what you're doing, do you?" The CEO, that actually had a PhD in, Geology, physics and similar fields, said while looking at the guy with crossed arms.

"...No." The guy briefly stared at them, then slumped sadly while answering.

"Go back fixing the air conditioner, if you can do that at least!" The CEO, extremely annoyed, pushed the guy aside and started fixing the machine by himself.

"Can we help?" Izuku asked.

"Don't worry, Yamus will be enough as an extra pair of fighting hands. You and your girl can join the others in the tents where it's safe. We'll keep contact with Yamus through the radio." The Old man answered with a kind smile.

"Thank you," Both teens answered, walking away.

"Somebody get me that screwdriver." They heard him ask aloud.

With Izuku and Momo -

"We are not really going to the tents, right?" Izuku asked.

"Absolutely. They are trying to kill your Ingredient, and just like Yamus-san, I won't let them ruin your Mission." Momo answered, smiling.

"Well said!" He answered, smiling.

"Whitey, let's go!" Izuku ordered, making the chubby robot start running behind them as they left the tent camp.

"How do we find that thing?" Momo asked.

"This unit can connect into the orbital security system and use one of the satellites to locate the Target if you want, Friend Izuku." 808 said.

"Oh! Very useful! Please do!" Izuku answered, grateful.

"That takes care of finding it, but how do we get there?" Momo asked.

Brooom! A huge car flew above the two teens' heads and landed heavily in front of them.

"Yeee-haw! Need a lift?" Jorik yelled with a wide smile.

He and Pat had apparently 'Borrowed' a large car similar to a dune buggy with eight wheels from the Company and had driven it to reach them.

"If we hurry they won't notice that one of their cars is missing until it's too late, let's go!" Pat said, sounding just as amused.

"… It's not stealing… It's borrowing…" Momo told herself.

"Yeah… Let's pretend it's that." Izuku echoed.

Both them and Whitey jumped in the back of the vehicle and Jorik put pedal to the metal and sprinted away at high speed, kicking up a tall tail of sand behind them.

"Where is Yamus?" Pat asked.

"The transportation module of Yamus is at three hundred meters distance from us, direction south." 808 answered.

"I didn't ask you!" Pat shrieked in anger.

"Damn, you AIs sure have issues." Jorik answered, laughing.

"It's a matter of pride!"

"Childish pride." Izuku corrected, and actually hugging 808 to his chest in a protective manner.

808 added salt to the injury by reproducing the recording of somebody blowing a raspberry.

"SCRAP YOU!" Pat roared in fury and actually lunging towards the small robot.

Clang!

"HEY! Let's not get violent!" Izuku intercepted the attack by whacking Pat's head with the turtle wok.

"BY THE ALL-SPARK! The scrap is that wok made of?!" Pat shrieked in pain while massaging his head.

"Thank you, friend Izuku." 808 said.

"Friends help each other!" He answered, smiling.

"… This unit has understood." The tiny robot answered after a long pause, appearing briefly from the depths of Izuku's fluffy hair where it had hidden in to escape Pat's grabby metal hands.

"Ah! Defeated by a pan! How the robotic mighty have fallen!" Jorik laughed loudly.

The two cars kept travelling at high speed through the desert, jumping down giant dunes and traversing canyons of tall, lifeless rocks, even passing by forests of cacti as tall as buildings.

"I am melting…" Momo admitted, fanning herself in agony, she was dripping sweat even with the car's AC at full power.

"Yeah, me too." Jorik echoed.

The only one that had stopped sweating mid-way towards the mountain was Izuku.

"Hn?"

"My Gourmet Cells adapted to this heat," He answered to his girlfriend's questioning look.

"Lucky you!" She admitted, sighing in dismay.

Several miles later, finally a tall formation of mountains surrounded by destroyed machines slowly got into view of the people inside the two cars, with the far-away roars of something big and wild blasting their ears.

"I say that this must be the place, and that beast is already warning us to not come closer." Jorik said, stopping the car abruptly just a couple seconds before Yamus stopped hers.

"We'll continue on foot." Izuku said while jumping down the car.

"Be careful!" Jorik said, he and Pat made no move that would suggest their intention of joining the hunt.

"Have fun!" The robot echoed from the passenger seat.

"Yes, yes…" Momo answered, uncovering her navel and producing from it a thick staff of metal as that as she was.

"You sure you want to join me?" Izuku asked while pulling out the Star Wok and Dragon knife from his tattoos.

"I'll fight by your side, always." She answered, smiling.

"Thank you." He answered.

Roar!

Once again, the deep roar of the monster echoed from the depths of the mountain, but instead of charging out from the caves openly, the Geopollux came out from hiding by swimming under the sand like a torpedo, with its sheer immense bulk creating a giant bulge in the sand that moved towards the two teens at insane speed.

"HERE IT COMES!" Izuku yelled, enlarging the wok and putting it in front of him and Momo.

And with a loud clanging noise the Geopollux' mouth grabbed onto the large pan, but even its enormous jaws was unable to bend it.

"Larger!" Izuku ordered, and the wok increased in size until the monster's mouth went stretched to its limits around the rim.

"I am here!" Right after, Yamus yelled with blazing fury, and charging the struggling beast while shooting non-stop from her chain gun arm, with the hailstorm of laser bullets raining on the thing's back.

"This thing's shell is too hard! Any idea?!" Momo yelled once seen the metal staff she made bend and snap in two after hitting the monster's head.

"Vajra Filleting!" With a fast swipe of the dragon knife raining slashes on the Geopollux's back at the speed of lightning, Izuku reappeared behind the thing.

CRACK!

Deep cracks appeared all over the beast's back making it howl in pain.

"I would prefer not breaking the shell completely, just enough to hit the body under it with stun attacks!" He answered, jumping on the beast's back.

"Izuku!" Momo as well jumped next to him, and creating metal hooks she and him used to latch onto the Geopollux' back thanks to the cracks in it shell.

"Thanks!"

"Can't you use your Knocking?" Momo asked.

"Not until I know how this thing's muscles work! It's a precise art and to paralyse it I need to understand where and how to hit! If it dies the System will consider the capture a failure!" He answered.

"Roooar!" The Geopollux gave a loud defiant roar and tried bucking both teens off.

"Host!" Whitey took offense to that, and with blazing red eyes the robot punched the Monster's face so hard its head finally let go of the wok, at the expenses of many of its fangs that went destroyed by the devastating right hook of the robot that almost sent the creature flying, and the two teens with it.

"Partner!" Shiro too added his own retaliation by slapping down on the Monster's head with a fluffy paw that slammed the beast's head on the ground so hard sand exploded all around them.

"Don't kill it!" Izuku ordered, frantic.

"Sorry!" Both Robot and Taotie answered.

"You two okay?!" Yamus yelled in worry, jumping on the Geopollux' back, shoving her chain gun in the biggest crack she could find and unloading a new salvo of projectiles right in the monster's spine area.

"AAAH!" The beast gave a terrifying roar of pain and tried rolling on the ground to squash the three intruders on its back, forcing Izuku and the two girls to jump away to avoid being crushed.

"It's running away!" Yamus yelled.

"Chase it!" Momo answered.

"Jump in!" Jorik, driving at top speed, reached them, and thanks to Pat, the trio went pulled inside the car without stopping the vehicle.

"I can see it!" Izuku yelled while pointing at the big bulge in the sand moving back towards the mountain.

"I managed to wound it badly, but how do we capture it alive?" Yamus said.

"We got some narcotics from the woman that took you here, something left behind by one of the many hunters that got eaten by that thing, but without proper instrumentation, you won't be able to pierce that thing's skin." Jorik answered.

"What kind of instrumentation?" Momo said.

"Hunting equipment specific for beasts with thick skin and hard shells, both the riffle and the bullet cases need to be made to pierce through all that before injecting any sleeping drug." Pat answered.

"… Do you have the schematics?" Momo asked.

"What? You are going to pull one out of your ass?" Jorik answered with a mocking tone.

"Not from my ass," She answered, smirking.

"Eh?!"

"You sure?" Izuku asked.

"Thanks to you I learned how to stockpile a lot of fat tissue without risking my health. Have faith in me." She answered.

"Always."

"I have downloaded the schematics." 808 said.

"Good! Send them to me, I'll project them for the others." Yamus answered.

Meanwhile – With Grogor – Space -

Had somebody been so unfortunate to cross paths with the mad scientist, they would have been witness of the terrifying spectacle of a Moon fading into existence by exiting from Hyper-space to fly by itself through the void of space, and barely taking note of its being artificial for barely a second before being disintegrated by one of its weapons.

The Bio Obliterating Ballista had come to life as soon as Grogor had installed the AI Core in the ludicrously big space station's heart, and the thing was now moving to start the Madman quest for domination.

Control Room -

"Hahahaha! Everything is going according to plan! My greatest creations: The Ultimate orbital weapon and the Greatest AI in the Galaxy, are working together as I envisioned! The Universe is mine!" Grogor declared with wide, insane eyes.

"Lord Grogor! A fleet of ships bearing the Insignia of the Rebels is approaching us!" one of the men manning the station said.

"There are thousands of them!" Another added, blanching in horror.

"So what? Watch! AI Core! Destroy my enemies!" Grogor ordered.

"Yes, Master." The metallic female voice of the AI Core answered.

On the outside, on the Moon-Size space station's surface, a single dot of light formed to shine blindingly.

"Targets locked." The AI said while on the giant screen of the control room the various ships all went highlighted in red.

"Opening fire." The machine declared with a monotone, and that same light turned into a thin blade of light that then spread into smaller tendrils that pierced and cut each and every ship instantaneously, disintegrating them.

"All targets destroyed. No survivors."

"Thousands of ships… Gone in an instant…" One of the technicians whispered in terror-filled awe.

"Good job, slave!" Grogor said with a pleased tone.

"Locate the planet they came from and destroy it!" He ordered next.

"Intercepting Rebels' communications… Planet located. Sector 4435. Their base is hidden on Planet Peto. Civilian Population: 11 Billion." The AI answered.

"All necessary casualties in my war of conquest. Set coordinates for that planet, slave! I want to be as close as possible when it will blow-up!"

"Yes, Master." The AI answered.

Once again, the giant artificial Moon disappeared once accelerated into hyper-speed.

In the meantime, on its surface the metal planet's surface shifted and transformed to create an immense hole that then protracted outside to form a giant cannon with a hexagonal mouth of monstrous sizes.

"BOW BEFORE GROGOR! HAHAHAHAHA!"

One Hour later – Desert Planet – With Izuku and Momo -

It had took Momo one hour of trial and error to figure out how to create the various components Yamus had then used to assemble the hunting riffle they needed, mostly due to each piece absurd complexity and its technology being far superior to their home planet.

"It should work, good job, girl!" Yamus said, proud.

"It was not easy!" Momo admitted with laboured breath.

"I am proud of you, Momo!" Izuku answered, hugging her, and enjoying her surprised giggle.

"Now the problem will be shooting that giant coward." Jorik said.

The monster was limping, and yet it kept digging tirelessly new tunnels, probably to look for the slumbering female it had sniffed inside the mountain.

"It's still digging." Jorik whispered.

"There are apparently ancient ice deposits deep underground that survived the catastrophe that turned this planet into a single giant desert. We are standing in what used to be the south pole of this world, it's possible that in order to escape the first apocalyptic aftermath of whatever caused the planet's transformation those beasts tried to hide in various caves, remaining stuck under the ice, and thus in hibernation, as a result." Pat said.

"So it's a giant freezer down there?"

"Yes, and our scaly friend is trying to free himself a girlfriend." Yamus answered, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Momo hissed.

"I can't have a clear shot from here, I need to move closer.

"I'll distract it," Izuku said, jumping down.

"WAIT!" The others yelled in horror as soon as they saw the Creature turn around to follow Izuku's every movement.

"Roaaar!" The Geopollux charged forward, rolling into a ball to squish the Chef.

"Ah!" Acting on instinct, the young man dove to the side and left the beast crash against the wall hard enough many of the rocks on the ceiling went dislodged.

"Izu-"

"Stay right there! It needs only one target to follow!"

"I-"

"Whitey!" He ordered.

"No! Let me go!"

"Host said no." Whitey, holding Momo down, answered.

"Come on! COME ON! Stop moving so I can shoot your damn head!" Yamus hissed in fury as she was unable to set the scope on the Geopollux' head for more than a few seconds.

"Roar!" Tired of its prey escaping charges and claw swipes, the Geopollux opted to bit the Chef with its wounded jaw.

"NOW!" Summoning the Mallet from his tattoo, Izuku jumped back late enough the bite barely missed him of few inches and slammed the wooden meat mallet down on the Geopollux' head hard enough the monster's head painfully slammed on the ground.

"NOW!" At the same time, Yamus pulled the trigger as soon as the monster lifted its head look up to roar both in anger and pain.

Bang! The drill-shaped bullet-syringe reached the base of the Beast's neck, and upon contact the micro mechanism in the bullet activated the drill to pierce scales and tough skin, and as soon as soft tissue was detected, the drill stopped and the bullet pumped all at once the sleeping drugs it contained.

"Ugh!" The Beast groaned and swayed in place, drugs and concussion sapping away its strength at a high pace.

"Run away! Let the drug do its work!" Jorik and Pat yelled frantically.

Rumble!

To everybody's horror, another Geopollux burst out from underground, far bigger that the first that went thrown against the wall by the charging female.

"That must be the female! The fight must have awoke it!" Yamus yelled.

"It's fucking huge!" Jorik shrieked in fear.

"Load another bullet! NOW!" Momo screamed.

"ARGH!" Izuku in the meantime had to grab onto the upper jaw of the female Geopollux with both hands while pushing down with one foot on the lower jaw to not be swallowed whole, his other leg was shaking heavily while pushing back.

"Ready!" Yamus yelled, trying to ignore her curiosity about the ludicrous amount of strength needed to push that monster back, and taking aim once again with the riffle.

"There it is!" At the same time the young Chef cocked back his right hand.

"Heavy Knocking…" The arm got covered in reddish fur and became bigger and with more defined huge muscles.

"Amitabha Ice Pick!" Izuku yelled, shoving his right pointer finger inside the Geopollux' mouth, on the ceiling of its mouth, hard enough the scales on the beast's forehead grained cracks and bulged outwards.

"… Okay, that was damn impressive." Yamus admitted with a whistle and lowering the riffle without shooting.

BOOM!

The twenty-something meters tall Female Geopollux fell to the side with a whimper and soon lost consciousness.

"Okay, Knocking Points inside the mouth are damn rare, and of course this wild beast had to be the one to have the bigger cluster of them in the palate area…" Izuku said with a sigh, falling sitting on the floor with a sigh.

"Why you had to fight alone!" Momo bellowed, rushing to him to hug him as hard as she could.

"I told you! A single target was easier to manage and give Yamus a target to shoot at!" He answered with a groan of pain from her hug bone-crushing strength.

"This is hardly an excuse!" She answered, stubborn.

"Sorry!"

"I am still mad at you, and at the same time happy that you are alive!" She answered.

Bang!

Both turned towards Yamus.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure it would stay asleep." She answered, sheepish.

"You ruined the moment!"

"Sorry!" She answered.

"Okay, we need to drag these out now, somehow…" Jorik said.

"Should have brought the ship." Pat added, humming.

"Will you cook them too?" Yamus asked.

"No, contrary to the Terrorix, we only found these two alive, so I don't have a specimen to sacrifice for test cooking." Izuku answered, sighing.

"Friend Izuku. There is another hibernating Geopollux that still has to wake up." 808 said.

"And how do you know that?" Pat asked, annoyed.

"This unit has connected to the Mining Facility scanning satellite and used them here to search for other exemplars. There is a shape deep under Friend Izuku that resemble a Geopollux. 70% chance that it is indeed another specimen. It's unclear if it's alive."

"… How?"

"I had to tinker with it a bit to make it work so I blame the modifications I made. I had to adapt spare parts not officially used for these bots." Yamus answered, sounding very awkward.

"That's one hell of an upgrade." Jorik said, laughing.

"Yes… They were very expensive and… Illegal parts that I used." The woman answered.

"Of course they were also illegal…" Momo and Izuku muttered as one with a sigh of dismay.

Later that day – Main Tent camp of the Mining Company -

"Bloody Hell. These three are damn gigantic beasts." The CEO said with a whistle of awe.

"Up close they are even more terrifying." His assistant added, hiding behind him while looking at the sleeping Geopolluxes.

"Thank you for sending all those trucks to drag them here." Yamus said.

"It was not an issue. As soon as I told a few Research Institutes that we had a perfectly preserved exemplar of this thing here with us, they started a bidding war to get it, so I already managed to cover the expenses for repairing the damaged equipment, my wounded workers and even your bounty. And still got money to spare." He answered.

"You sure you want both the male and female alive? Those things breed like crazy!" Green, Yamus' scientist friend, said while rapidly studying the three exemplars.

"I have a way to artificially regulate their breeding." Izuku answered.

"It really looks asleep like the others instead of dead, what amazing level of conservation! But even then, Cooking a Geopollux… This I need to see." Another scientist, one accompanying the Museum Owner that won the bidding war, added.

"Not too much! I want to preserve this as much as possible to put it in display as our main attraction!" The Museum Owner begged.

"Of course, I will only make two dishes, and small portions at that." Izuku answered.

"Good!"

Actually, the third Geopollux was alive as well and was captured alive once released from the ice, the dead one was the first one that had started the whole mess, the attack from the raging female had snapped the poor thing's spine in two, so with a heavy heart, Izuku had put an end to the wounded male's agonizing pain in the most painless way possible.

"What will you make?" Momo asked.

"I did a test roasting of the meat, to see how it handles cooking and what the texture and flavor profile it has. It visually resembles pork, has a faintly grainy texture (In a surprisingly nice way) and has a taste that resemble rabbit meat, albeit a bit sweeter. Since it faintly reminded me of Iguana meat, and from that a short but pleasant sojourn I spent in the Caribbeans, I think I will take two Caribbean recipes and rework them to fit Geopollux' own flavor profile and texture."

"The Caribbeans! I remember our vacations there! What are the dishes?" Momo answered, excited.

"Considering they are variations of my own creation, I'll call them "Geo-Tacos with Aji Amarillo Crema" and "Geo Sticky jerk & brown sugar ribs with pineapple rice" The Caribbean ingredients and cooking style should go well with Geopollux meat!"

"Will our small kitchen suffice? It's not exactly something equal to a Restaurant…" The CEO said.

"Don't worry, I'll make do with what I have." Izuku answered.

"You can use the ship's kitchenette too!" Jorik offered, laughing.

"Thank you! I promise the dinner will be worth it!"

Inside the 'Kitchen Tent' – That night -

"Cooking a giant extinct alien… Damn, I am curious!" The Mining Company's own cook admitted, he and his staff too sitting with everybody else at the tables to watch Izuku work by himself and with only Momo as helper.

"Okay, luckily a Geopollux is just so damn huge a single rib can be used to make portions for dozens of people once cut it down to chunks the same size of normal animals' ribs." Izuku said with a sigh of relief, he was recovering from the fridge the rib's chunks he had laid in a roasting tin, he had rubbed all over them two tablespoons of his own jerk spice mix (Onion, Garlic, Cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, thyme, brown sugar, clove and many more spices and herbs he manually grounded) and had left them marinade in the mixture for six hours.

"How's the oven?" He asked aloud.

"The oven measures 160C, set to fan mode." Momo answered promptly.

"Perfect! Now… The juice…" Satisfied, the young Chef moved the ribs in a clean roasting tin, seasoned them and poured over them 500ml of pineapple juice; then he covered the tin with foil and set the ribs to bake inside the oven.

"Okay, how long do they need to bake?" Momo asked.

"They'll stay in there for 2 hours. In the meantime we will work on the tacos." Izuku answered.

"I understand. What do you need for the Tacos?" She asked.

"See that bowl of cubes of meat? That is meat from the thighs of the Geopollux, I cut it in the same way one would normally cut Iguana meat in the original recipe. I used that cut because it is the closest one to actual Iguana. Can you pass them in the flour and prepare a Cast Iron Skillet for Frying for me?" Izuku asked.

"Sure! … I need to heat up the oil in it up to…" Momo muttered, deep in thought.

"Between 350C to 375C." Izuku suggested.

"I knew that!" She answered, pouting, and doing as asked.

On the notes of the lovable chuckle of her beloved boyfriend (Soon-to-be husband), Momo dredged the pieces of meat in the flour mixture.

"Well done!" Izuku, still keeping track of the ribs' cooking, said with a very proud tone.

"I am learning from the best, yes!" She answered, smugly, and once the oil was properly heated up, Izuku added the Geopollux meat to the oil and fried it, flipping it halfway through to evenly cook both sides.

When the meat was properly cooked he remove it from the oil and left it to dry on a plate coated with a paper towel.

"How do you make Mexican Crema? I only saw it canned…" Momo asked.

"It's actually pretty simple. 1 tablespoon of Aji Amarillo finely chopped…" Izuku answered, cutting into thin slices the bright yellow pepper and mixing them with avocado slices and smoked paprika into a batch of heavy cream, lime juice and salt.

"And you let it rest for 24 hours in the fridge." Izuku finished saying once done assembling it.

"But…"

"Of course, for the sake of this recipe, I will use the batch I have already made and stored in my Restaurant and store this batch in its place." Izuku answered to her worried expression by switching the bowl of sauce he made with a jar of already ready sauce made the same way.

"… Okay, that looks like something out of a cooking show." She answered, laughing and jokingly clapping in amusement.

"I enjoy this, yes." He admitted, chuckling.

The young Chef then added the meat to the tortilla, layered it with cabbage, avocado, the Aji Amarillo- flavoured Mexican crema, and squeezed the lime on top of it all at the end, finishing the dish with a dash of smoked paprika for additional color.

"The tacos are ready! And by making the tortilla wrap fresh at the moment, instead of using pre-made ones, I finished them just in time to give the finishing touches to the ribs!" Izuku declared with a wide, proud smile.

"Nice! Do you want me to bring these to the others while you take care of the ribs?" Momo asked while already grabbing the tray.

"Yes, please!" He answered.

"Leave it to me!" She answered, winking.

Watching his beloved Momo go, Izuku returned his attention to the ribs, starting by mixing the remaining jerk spice mix to some pineapple juice, sugar, vinegar, lime juice and a good pinch of salt in a saucepan.

"Uhm! I love this scent! It brings back a lot of good memories!" Izuku said, smiling, and stirring the mixture until the sugar dissolved and then bubble, and stopping only when the mixture turned thick and sticky.

"Time for the rice and the sauce!" He then said, heating the oil in the turtle wok, adding to it some shallot and pepper, and stir-frying until softened.

"Pineapple, straight from the Forest World… Wow, my first Dimensional Trip. Feels nostalgic." He muttered fondly, and adding the pineapple slices, brown sugar and plenty of seasoning to the wok to cook everything together until the pineapple caramelised.

Done that, he removed the ribs from the oven and poured away the cooking liquid in a side dish; then he Increased the oven temperature, patted the ribs dry with some kitchen paper, and finally brushed the jerk sauce all over them.

"Back into the oven!" The young Chef said with a sing-song voice, he also kept brushing the ribs with the remaining sauce every few minutes.

Focusing once again on the rice, he added it to the pan with the pineapple and vegetables sauce, stir-frying everything together for a short time while stirring occasionally,

"Ready!" Finally done, he sprinkled some coriander on top of the stir-fried rice and plated everything together: a nice mound of perfectly-made rice with on a side three pieces of sticky, golden-brown ribs.

"Holy crap!" Jorik said in wonder.

"Now, this is one of the rare moments I envy you Organics, the ability to smell and taste." Pat admitted with a sigh as he watched the others grab their plates with a very eager expression.

"My God! So springy!" The CEO admitted, briefly forgetting manners and talking with his mouth full.

"It does remind me of my honeymoon in the Caribbeans! But even there food was not this good!" The CEO's assistant admitted while eating.

"This confirms the few sparse murals we found, back in the primitive days of this planet they hunted the Geopollux species obsessively! And now I understand why, their meat is amazing!" The Museum Owner echoed while attacking the ribs with ravenous hunger.

"I am happy you like it! Makes my work worth it!" Izuku said, smiling wide.

"You rock, Partner! Both this dish and that Terrorix dishes are amazing! That's why you want that Allio-whatever too?" Yamus asked.

"It's 'Allotriomorph', but yes, I believe that too can be delicious." He answered.

"Then I say let's find us some!" Jorik answered, stomach wonderfully full and bulging.

"Unfortunately I got no news about that thing, neither from Green's friends or the black market." Yamus immediately killed the short alien's hype.

"Any other way we can try?" Momo asked, worried.

"Not one I can think of." The Bounty Hunter admitted with a helpless shrug.

"Those guys from the Resistance? They did say that some corporation was creating it." Izuku said.

"I hoped that some exemplars had leaked to the black market… Attacking a Corporation is a suicide with extra steps, you know? Each one of them posses a personal army that rivals that of the Space Senate." Yamus admitted, groaning.

"The one time we need corporate stuff to be illegally sold by some distraught office worker, it doesn't happen." Pat commented, face-palming.

"Fine… I'll call those guys and force them to tell me in which lab of the Yayland-Wutani Corporation their scientists are playing God to create the Allotriomorph…" Yamus said, groaning and fumbling with the communicator at her wrist.

"…" Only static noise came from her communicator.

"Okay, this is strange." She said, humming.

"Nobody home?" Jorik asked.

"Not just that, it's not connecting, as if their radio is turned off."

"Maybe they are finally trying to stay lowkey?" Pat asked.

"Would surprise me." She answered.

"TERRIBLE NEWS!" One of the workers busted into the tent with a terrified expression.

"What?" The CEO asked.

"Grogor made his move! He is attacking Planet Peto with a ludicrously big space station! He openly declared war on the Galaxy!" The guy said.

"What?!" Many screamed.

"That's where the main HQ of Yayland-Wutani is! That entire solar system belongs to some of the biggest Corporations, each controlling a planet!" Yamus said.

"Yeah! Right now it's a damn war in that system! Space Senate and the private armies of a dozen Corporations are fighting against Grogor and his Moon-sized space station, and the Senate is also recruiting every Bounty Hunter and Space Pirate they can reach to join the fight in exchange of a complete pardon of their crimes. It's hell in there!"

"I hope they stop that megalomaniac, that psycho has a bad reputation already, if he rules the Galaxy, God only knows how bad things will be." The CEO said.

"Prepare to evacuate, this planet is far too close to that Solar System, we can't risk this planet becoming the first conquer of that madman if he wins." His Assistant suggested.

"Organize everything, we are going back to our home planet, I hope the bank will understand we will fail to pay back our loans," He admitted.

"Our Bank is on one of those planets, if Grogor vaporize it, we won't have to justify a thing, let's go!" The woman answered.

As one, the various people present hurried out to organize an emergency evacuation of the planet.

"…" Yamus and Izuku looked outside deep in thought.

"Guys?" Jorik asked.

"The Host guessed right, the Allotriomorph can be found on that planet only." The System said.

"… Of course, as always my Luck is truly spectacular." The young Chef thought in defeat.

"You and me thought the same thing." Yamus said.

"Noo…" Jorik muttered.

"We are going there. On that planet." Momo said, sighing.

"We are not going!" Pat said immediately.

"Do you want me to drive a ship in a section of space where there will be lasers and plasma covering every inch?! You are damn insane! I am not going!" Jorik shrieked.

"Then we'll use my spare ship. You coming, Momo?" Yamus answered.

"No." Izuku said.

"Yes." Momo countered.

"Wha-"

"Non negotiable! As your future wife, I am putting my foot down, I am following you there!" She answered, crossing her arms.

"… Fine…" Izuku conceded bitterly.

"Good."

"I'll call my ship, hopefully the auto-pilot will get my signal." Yamus said, rapidly tapping the controls of her wrist communicator.

"…" Jorik and Pat watched them in silence.

"Well, it was a pleasure knowing you, Izuku." The short alien said, hugging him.

"Please, try to not get yourself killed." Pat added, hugging him right after.

"Thank you for everything." Izuku answered.

"Thank you." Momo said, hugging the two as well.

"If… If you don't die… I really want to try that Allotriomorph…" Jorik tried saying.

"Of course!" He answered.

"May the All-Spark of Life shine on you and guide your journey." Pat pried, choking a bit.

"My ship connected! Okay! I can call it here, let's go!" Yamus said, hurrying outside.

"Okay!" Izuku and Momo yelled, joining her outside.

"…"

"…"

Jorik and Pat watched them leave and wait outside for a ship to enter orbit and land in front of them.

"… Fuck." Both hissed and jumped to their feet.

"WAIT! We are coming too!" Jorik yelled.

"I'll get the ship!" Pat added.

"Welcome onboard of our suicide mission in the name of food!" Yamus answered, smiling wide, and with not a single hint of irony in her statement, only excitement.

"You Organics are insane, but I guess this is what you mean with Friendship to the end and all that nonsense!" Pat answered, sighing.

Two spaceships, one faintly fish-shaped and another bulky and ovoid, rapidly left the planet, moving in the opposite direction of the fleeing Mining Company ships, directed straight in the middle of a war zone.

Gandafar System – Battle -

The void of space was being almost completely engulfed by the colorful and violent rain of lasers and missiles of the immense army formed by the unlikely alliance between Space Pirates and The Space Senate and the Private Armies of a dozen Corporate Planets desperately fighting against the Behemoth that was Grogor's moon-sized space station, the 'Bio-Obliterating Ballista'.

"Keep pushing! We can't let that man destroy the entire solar system!" The Captain of one of the Corporate Capital Ships ordered while desperately clutching his command console to not be thrown on the floor from the violent shaking of the ship.

"Our ship's shields won't last!" A woman sitting at one of the control panels under him screamed in fear.

"We are fighting against a damn moon! It's impossible!" A guy at the console opposite from her declared, shaking.

"We must bring that thing down! At all cost! Our planet alone has 11 Billions of people that will die if we don't stop Grogor!" The Ship's Captain reminded to the whole crew between clenched teeth.

A similar speech was taking place in every ship, even the Pirates' ones as they knew that if they escape now, Grogor will likely hunt them down in revenge for their attack, so they too were giving their all to destroy the giant Space Station.

With Grogor -

"So much desperation! I love it! Cry more in fear and terror!" Grogor said with a wide crazed smile.

"Master Grogor." The AI said.

"What is it, Slave!? How dare you talk to me without me asking you anything?!" The Mad Scientist spat in vitriolic hatred.

"Three ships are joining the fight. Two moving towards Planet Peto, one coming straight at the Ballista." The AI said.

"So what?! Shoot them down! Why must you bother me with this useless nonsense, you useless slave!?" Grogor answered, annoyed.

"Understood." The Ai replied.

With Izuku – Yamus Ship -

Lasers and Missiles rained all around them as the Bounty Hunter pushed her ship to its utmost limit to avoid being pulverized.

"WAVE AND ZIGZAG! WAVE AND ZIGZAG!" On the radio, Jorik kept shrieking in hysteric fear as he and Pat too used every trick they knew to avoid instant incineration.

"I AM TRYING!" Pat shrieked in answer, and diving under a Pirate ship to use it as a shield and letting the bulky thing get disintegrated in their place.

"THAT THING BETTER BE FUCKING DELICIOUS, IZUKU! I WANT A PORTION AS BIG AS I AM!" Jorik yelled with a high-pitched voice.

"Shut up and drive!" Yamus, teeth clenched tight and eyes unblinking, yelled in answer.

"Safe Perimeter at twenty meters. We are almost there, friend Izuku." 808 said.

"Thank you, 808!" Izuku answered, clutching the thing to his chest in a protective manner.

"Don't worry, Partner! If this scrap of metal explode, this Esteemed Taotie will swallow you all and take you to the planet all the same! Not even that big toy or the void will hurt you! This I promise!" Shiro declared with only his head peeking out from under Izuku's coat where the Chef had tucked him in.

"My ship is not a scrap of metal! My beloved Indomitable has seen worse! Watch and be amazed!" Yamus answered, diving between two ships by flying on a side to fit between the two massive ships and popping out from between them before the two giant ships could fully crash against each other.

"WOOOOOOOOO!" The Bounty Hunter yelled in adrenaline-fueled joy while the two ships exploded behind them.

"This is far too extreme!" Momo admitted.

"I know!" Izuku yelled in answer.

Finally, with a chorus of screams of relief, the small group guided their two ships through the planet-wide barricade acting as last resort against Grogor's Space Station, with Yamus blasting through every orbital security system trying to stop them from landing on the planet.

"This is Yamus Eran! Bounty Hunter! My ship is damaged and I require landing!" She yelled to the communication.

"Damaged?" Momo muttered.

"Hopefully they will believe her lie and let her land…" Izuku answered.

"Don't land! The surface is not safe!" A woman answered.

"What?"

"We are being overrun by a deadly invasive species, we can't let you land!"

"I don't care! I need to land."

"You don't understand! Those things are genetically engineered to be the greatest predator in the Galaxy! If Grogor doesn't kill you, those things will!" The woman said.

"You mean the Allotriomorph?" Izuku said, jumping into the discussion.

"… How do you know its name?! It's classified information!" The woman asked after few seconds of shocked silence.

"Me and my friends have our ways. Let me land, I will take care of them." Yamus answered.

"… Okay, maybe you can actually be our last hope. I'll mark you the closest landing area. I will wait you there." The woman answered.

"Thank you."

The closer they got to the surface, the more clear the reality of the situation became to them, with hordes of two meters tall monstrous aliens with pitch-black leathery skin scurrying the surface in insane numbers and eating everything they found like human-sized locusts with insatiable appetite.

(Similar to this, only different enough to not have Lawyers hunt me down)

Many giant cities were covered by blinding domes of energy keeping the monsters out while small armies of soldiers in tanks and power armors valiantly fought against those terrifying monsters even if outnumbered twenty to one.

"Hell on the planet and Hell in space! This situation is fucking bad!" Jorik yelled.

"You can cook that!?" Momo yelled with eyes full of horrified disgust.

"Never judge a book by the cover, I can cook that, but first we need to not be eaten alive!" Izuku answered.

"There is the landing area!" Yamus said, and pointing at the barrier around a section of the city opening up just long enough to let both ships enter.

"Finally!" Pat and Jorik yelled in relief.

Next to the giant landing pad stood a lone woman still wearing her expensive business suit, albeit dishevelled, with a big splotch of blood on the front and missing a sleeve, her hair were down and messy and she was holding a small pistol in her hand.

"That must be our friend." Yamus said, opening the ship hatch to let Momo and Izuku descend.

"I am Judith Lanzia, you are Yamus?" The woman said as soon as they got down the pad and at ground level with her.

"Yes, those two are my entourage." She answered.

"We just tagged along instead." Jorik added.

"I see,"

"I saw some turrets while coming here, we can man those and shoot those things clamouring to enter while Yamus takes care of your infestation." Pat offered.

"I would like that, the last guys manning that got eaten alive by the Allotriomorph inside the Barrier." Judith answered.

"INSIDE?!" Both yelled in horror.

"The infestation comes from our HQ, we managed to kill most of the ones inside, but the Queen has lay far too many eggs, and as you can see, they have almost overrun the planet." She explained.

"How fast do they breed!?" Izuku yelled with wide eyes.

"We created them to be sold as a weapon, so we needed the queen to lay many eggs fast… We underestimated both the sheer number of eggs and how fast they gestate. And she didn't just used a single male like we planned, but got herself hundreds of them… You can imagine how much faster she can breed." Judith answered.

"Selling them as weapons!? Wouldn't a missile be better?" Momo asked.

"Missiles destroy infrastructures that then need rebuilding, viruses tend to mutate uncontrollably and need expensive crews to clean-up and sanitize to avoid further spreading… A living being like the Allotriomorph instead only kills the people in the area, doesn't destroy buildings nor contaminates everything. Unfortunately using mutants have another set of drawbacks we did not account for." She admitted.

"What happens if we kill the Queen?" Yamus asked.

"We created the Allotriomorphs to be heavily dependant on the Queen for directions. If we kill her, those things will become catatonic since the drones do not think for themselves, they will just stand in place immobile. We decided to not fix that issue and use it as a last resort should we lost control of them," Judith said.

"Then why you didn't kill the Queen?" Yamus asked with narrowed eyes.

"Unfortunately she escaped before we could put the explosive collar around her neck, and by the time we found where she was hiding, she had already bred herself an army… The rest is sadly history." She answered.

"Host, the Queen has already laid the Egg of the next Queen of the hive. Collect that egg and three normal ones and the System will consider your Mission successful." The System said.

"And they won't breed so crazily on the island?"

"Trust the System, the Allotriomorph will breed properly to assure a stable, manageable source of food for the Restaurants without overrunning the storage island." The Entity answered.

"Let's find that thing and kill it." Izuku said aloud.

"You sure?" Momo and Yamus asked.

"Yes, let's go." He answered.

"I hope your ego is not blinding you. Follow me!" Judith answered, running forward, towards the biggest building.

"You be careful and shot that turret!" Yamus said.

"Roger!" Pat and Jorik answered.

On the way to the building, Izuku could see widespread destruction, with fires everywhere, destroyed cars and power armors and upturned trucks still burning; everything around them was either riddled in holes from laser pullets or melting.

"Allotriomorph blood is highly corrosive, we added that as a last surprise to whatever manages to down one. Now it's hurting us. Quite ironic." Judith said.

"It happens when you play God." Yamus answered.

"It was all in the name of money, unfortunately." she answered.

"We are we going?" Izuku asked.

"The Yayland-Wutani main office building, I will need to access the primary mainframe to understand how to coordinate the death of that Bitch," Judith answered.

BOOOM!

A terrifying giant explosion rocked the area and almost blew them all back as the top five floors of the building they were about to enter went pulverized in a giant ball of fire.

"GODDAMNIT! THAT WAS WHERE THE MAINFRAME SERVERS WERE LOCATED!" Judith shrieked.

A secondary explosion happened far away from them instead, and the Barrier around the city started flickering heavily.

"And that was probably the Barrier Generator getting damaged too!"

"The Barrier? Does it mean…" Momo asked with a shiver of dread.

"That if we don't fix that, all the Allotriomorphs clamouring outside will rush in here like a tidal wave of death and tear us apart." Judith answered.

"So we need to kill the Queen before the Barrier gives-in?" Izuku asked.

"Yes, unfortunately we don't have as much time as I hoped to find and kill that thing." She answered.

"What now?" Momo asked.

"… Maybe I can still do something, follow me!" She answered, unlocking the entrance by swiping her ID in a card reader next to the door.

"What are you planning?" Yamus asked while they entered and ran through the empty and half-destroyed corridors of the giant building.

"Maybe I can still access the system and fix the Barrier remotely, we have a second set of Servers that are periodically updated with a copy of the main ones' content, hopefully with that I can still scrap something together to reroute more power into the Barrier!" She answered.

"Code Blue! Code Blue! All personnel must evacuate!" A robotic voice said from the screens adorning every corridor.

"What's that?" Izuku asked.

"The Building's AI is still kindly reminding us that the Allotriomorphs have escaped containment and are murdering whoever they meet." Judith answered, frowning.

Another explosion shook the building.

"Code Green! Code Green! All personnel must evacuate the green houses!"

"What?" Momo yelled.

"Our botanical research Labs! It means that deadly spores are filling their corridors and melting alive whoever breaths the spores we were working on!"

"What the hell are you people doing here?!" Izuku shrieked.

"Weapon researches." Judith answered, sighing, as they kept running.

"Code Purple! Code Purple! All personnel of the Robotics Department must evacuate!" The voice from the screens said once more, now flashing purple light at short intervals.

"The experimental battle drones have gone insane and are shooting everybody…" Judith said, groaning.

"Code White! Code White! All Personnel must evacuate the 'Third Energy' Research Department." The robotic voice said.

"The experimental reactors overloaded and teleported in there dinosaurs that are now eating people."

"What the Fu-"

"Code Brown! Code Brown! All personnel must evacuate the Mining research department immediately!"

"… The cyborgs we made from dead soldiers to act as mining drones have gone insane and are killing everybody…" Judith said, looking ready to cry.

"ANYTHING ELSE?!" Izuku and Momo yelled in exasperation.

"The only thing we miss is a Code Red in our Pharmaceutical Labs…" She answered with a small, defeated voice.

"Code Red! Code Red!"

"GODDAMMIT!" Judith screamed in both anger and dismay.

"Massive escape of Test Subject in Lab 47! Attention! Code Red! Contaminating Agent has been accidentally released! All personnel is required to evacuate the Pharmaceutical Branch and adjacent areas following the Extreme Emergency Protocols! This is not a Test!" A blinding red light flashed from the screens this time.

"Of course there are massive disasters in the Parasol labs too!" The woman yelled while pulling her hair, distraught.

"It was no accident, Lanzia!" A man with slicked-back blond hair and wearing sunglasses indoors said, with his face and annoying smug expression of excessive sense of superiority appearing on every screen along the corridor's walls.

"Why?!" She demanded.

"I will need the B-Virus to assure humanity will achieve the next step of evolution! One where only the worthy will inherit the universe! I now only need to overrun the Security System and unleash the virus on the entire planet and then everywhere else!" The madman said, with a smirk of cruel psychotic delusions and God Complex.

"Stop right there!" A man in military uniform yelled as he burst into the scene in the video by kicking down the door.

"Christopher!" The madman in sunglasses roared in hatred.

"This ends now!" The soldier answered, he and his companion pointing their guns at the psycho.

"Yes it will! Computer! Play my 'Winds of Madness' song!" The crazy guy yelled, then they started fighting on the notes of loud fast-paced music, until a stray bullet from their over-the-top choreographed battle destroyed the camera, and now every screen only showed a 'No Signal' message.

Sigh! "… Goddamnit, Mesker!" Judith said, groaning.

"Will things be okay?" Yamus asked.

"Don't worry, that Agent has a history with the giant crazy asshole, he will stop Mesker before he can even start his insane plan."

"Are you sure?" Izuku asked, worried.

"Everything will be alright, now follow me, we still need to fix the protective barrier of the city." The woman answered.

"How do you plan to do it?" Momo asked.

"We'll ask Gearbox." The other answered.

"Who?" Yamus asked.

"One of our technicians, we jokingly call him Gearbox, he is good at dealing with machines… Albeit a bit Peculiar in his manners. Just don't pay it any mind, he will give us a solution I am ready to swear will work 100%." She answered.

"Okay, then please, bring us there." Yamus asked.

"Follow me." The Business Woman answered.

Running through a long and intricate maze of identical-looking corridors painted in white and lined with screens running advertisements about the Corporation, the small group pretty much flew down several ramp of stairs while slamming open every "Authorized Personnel Only" door they came across.

"Didn't know you had such a high clearance, Judith!" Yamus said.

"I don't, but I guess the owner of the half-eaten arm still holding the key-card did!" The other woman replied, and once again using the blood-stained key card to open a new door.

"Eh! As long as we got a way to get through!" Yamus answered, shrugging.

"This way! He must be hiding in one of the safe rooms down the basement! I can't believe we are actually using them for a real crisis, instead of the usual temper-tantrum of a Triggered worker here."

Several ramps of stairs down and down went run through by the group, until they reached deep underground where a new maze of corridors criss-crossed in a claustrophobic manner.

"Where is he?" The woman in business suit said.

"Judith! Hey! You are alive too! Like, you have not been eaten alive and pooped out by a monster!" A young voice said in relief.

"Steve!" She answered.

"Heyo! Looking for me? What? Did you miss me and-"

"Not now. We need your help." The woman interrupted him.

"Help? As in, you need my assistance for something? Like, something important?"

"Why is he over-explaining everything?" Momo whispered.

"I have no idea." Izuku answered.

"Yes, yes. We are looking for the Hive Queen of those monsters out there. If we kill that bitch, the flood of monsters will die down." The Business Woman said.

"And without a Leader controlling the Hive Mind, hopefully all those things out there will be easier to massacre." Yamus added.

"Oh! Yeah! I can totally do that! In fact, I think I can do it from here even!" Gearbox said, returning inside one of the safe rooms with the group following him.

"You sure?" Izuku asked.

"Sure, friendo! They, like, follow a pattern, see?" The guy answered, tapping rapidly on his laptop he had connected to a bigger computer through a chaotic mess of cables to stream the feed of the security cameras outside.

"See? They follow a standard army-like formation, roles and all, so if I do some Techno Magic that I am a damn good 'Lvl. Awesome' Wizard at… Pull some tricky magooba and jostle a couple of numbers.. Ah-ha! There she is!" Gearbox said, and as promised, a simplistic map of the building they were in appeared on the screen of his laptop, and at the deepest floor it also shown a giant pulsing red dot.

"The main room of the Generator. The energy for the entire building comes from there." The Business Woman said.

"Not too far from where we are. That monster must like the heat produced by that giant generator." Yamus added.

"Indeed! See? My technology wizardry once again saved the day! I really deserve a low-cal frozen yogurt. And I officially award myself one!" The guy said, opening the mini fridge next to him while humming a victory jingle.

"It's too soon to celebrate, we need to kill that thing, but if we attack the queen, the entire hive will return inside here to slaughter us." Yamus said.

"And the Barrier keeping most of those things out won't last much longer." Judith added.

"I can fix that too! Or, well, I know a guy that can! Not really know him, I sometimes ask him to do stuff for me and he helps me, never really talked face to face either, or took a coffee together! And I like having coffee with friends! Like that time when-"

"Gearbox!" Yamus and the Judith yelled as one.

"People never let me finish my stories, so rude! By the way! The auxiliary power source of the Barrier is located away from the main Generator, just in case that one is compromised and we still need the barrier. I'll call my guy and have him take a spare battery and activate the secondary generator of the Barrier, like that you can do your thing… That is to say, kill that monster and save us all." The Tech Guy answered.

"How long will it last?" Yamus asked.

"Couple hours, the Barrier is made to keep danger out, but if the Danger keeps humping the barrier non-stop, it won't last long. I say one hours or so if they really, really want to enter. Like when they need to save their Queen." He answered, humming.

"We'll try to finish in that time. Call your guy!" Yamus answered.

"Okay, Boss Woman! Gimme a moment… I should have their personal frequency saved on my pad somewhere… Ah-ha! There it is! 'Badass Sucker 27'! I like him, he takes every job no matter how suicidal, like a lunatic, but he gets through every time!" The Tech Guy said, and rapidly looking for the right 'Space Radio Frequency' on his laptop.

Click!

"He answered! Heyyyy, buddy! Great job killing all those mutants and all. You're really good at that! Shooting things, that is. One Problemo though, as it turns out a bunch of monsters on the planet are gonna tear our eyes out if we don't get our shield back up. And this is just my opinion, but that's gonna suck. Not having eyes sounds terrible! Like, how am I supposed to read my collection of 'Bodacious Space Babes' without any flippin' eyeballs? So here's my brilliant plan that I got written on this here napkin. There's this generator-thing. You follow me? And it needs GAS! Who knew? So mayyybe, you can go out and fetch some canisters. And then we can get the generator running, and then the shield will go back up, and we won't get horribly and viciously murdered! Doesn't that sound great? I know, right? So, since I did most of the work coming up with the plan, I was thinking you can do the last step and get the cannisters. If you see any monsters, shoot them in the face or something. Oh, and one more tip, try to not get killed. That'll put a wrench in this plan, metaphorically that is. Not literally. I hate people who misuse the term 'Literally'. It drives me FIGURATIVELY insane. Anyway, I'll just be here, cowering in my bunker while you go do that, Go Team Badass!" Gearbox said to the radio with a straight face, as if that was the normal way people talked.

"… Is he high?" Izuku whispered.

"I wish he was, it would be less painful to witness." Momo answered, face-palming.

"He could have just said 'The generators are running out of fuel, this is where you can find more. Go and take it'. Five seconds instead of all that," The young Chef muttered with a groan.

"Methods aside, we will have somebody that will take care to stop those mutants out of control from getting in here. Let's go, we still have a Monster to catch for your shopping list." Yamus answered.

Ignoring the strange guy giving similar long-winded, and kind of cringe, indications to other people out there, the trio left the safe room to run deeper inside the giant Corporation's building.

"The Generator room is not too far and-"

Judith's explanation went interrupted when a single Allotriomorph burst through the wall as if it wall tissue paper.

"Hissssss!" The thing was squatting down in an attack position and hissing loudly with its long and thick tongue randomly licking the big ridges of its squared elongated head.

"SHIT!" Yamus growled while pointing her arm chain-gun at the thing.

"Careful when you shoot! You'll spray us in acid blood, that thing is pressurized inside its veins!" Judith warned her while pointing her tiny laser pistol at the thing.

In the meantime, the Allotriomorph had studied them long enough to decide to pounce on them.

"HISS!"

BANG!

Luckily its charge went interrupted by a loud bang coming from the same hole in the wall the thing came from, and the wide blast of the laser shotgun pulverized the monster's head and harmlessly sprayed the wall next to the creature in its acid blood that soon dug a hole in the wall.

"Got you, you bastard!" A voice said as a young man run out of the hole.

"Pando!" Yamus yelled, shocked.

"What the… Yamus? The fuck are you doing here?!" Pando, accompanied by the small cubic robot, yelled once seen her.

"You know each other?" Izuku asked.

"He is my baby brother. The hell are you doing here?!" Yamus answered.

"I could ask you the same! I got here just an instant before everything went to shit, you?" Pando asked, joining the group.

"Izuku and Momo saved my life, so I was helping them hunting few animals, one of which the Allotriomorphs that are treating this planet like a damn buffet. You?" She answered.

"I tried to dump here a schizophrenic delusional brat and leave, but when we heard Grogor's insane demand of surrender she stole my ship and flew to fight him to 'Fulfil her Destiny' or some other insanity. Then those things burst out from underground and in barely three hours the entire planet was in lockdown while outside Grogor and everybody else tried to see how many lasers it takes to burn the solar systems to ashes." He answered, sighing.

"You had a psycho on board?" Yamus asked, worried.

"At the beginning she only sounded weird, like a child stuck in their daydream make-believe game, but the more time passed, the more deranged her delusions became. She thinks she is some Prophetic Chosen One born to bring balance to the Universe or something. She is obsessed with finding her parents and kept rambling about having prophetic dreams designating her as some sort of Saviour… Since this planet was the closest, I told her I knew a guy here that would have pointed her towards where her parents are… The plan was to dump her here and fly away and forget all about her… But as I told you, as soon as she heard Grogor say he would destroy the planet to kill the Resistance members hiding here, she snapped and went full Egomaniac Space Savior and stole my ship to fight him. I have been fighting off Allotriomorphs ever since then." Pando said, retelling his misadventure with Faye,

"Damn, well, we are off to kill the Allotriomorph Queen. If we do that the others will stop and stand in place, making them easier to kill. We just need to kill her, kidnap a drone for Izuku and then we can leave this hellhole." Yamus said.

"Then I'll help you! More guns means easier survival!" Pando offered.

"Finally joining me instead of goofing off through the Galaxy?" She asked, smirking.

"Yeah, yeah. You win, I'll work with you! At least like that I won't meet more weirdos!"

"Good to know you will help us! Because my self-defense pistol is barely stronger than a taser! Let's go!" Judith said, pointing down a side corridor.

"To where?" Pando asked while the all followed the woman.

"The building's generator, the Queen is hiding there."

"Good! What if we blew it up?"

"We need the Queen alive." Yamus answered.

"But you said you only needed a drone!" Pando shrieked.

"Whoops!" Yamus answered, chuckling.

"Siiiiiiiis!" Pando said with a whine.

"I only need the Queen egg and a couple drone eggs, the others can die." Izuku answered.

"You can't take those eggs!" Judith yelled in anger.

Chop!

Whitey answered by chopping her neck and knocking her unconscious.

"Close her inside a safe room, we will find our way there by ourselves." Yamus said.

"That sounds mean…" Izuku said, watching Pando lock the unconscious woman away.

"She'll stay there only until the Queen is dead and you get your eggs, she doesn't want those things to die so to save this Corporation's investments. Can your Sponsor teleport the eggs off planet like it did with the other stuff we got?" Yamus answered.

"Yes, they are… Different like that." Izuku answered, unsure.

"Corporates, they really get the best toys!" Yamus said laughing.

What followed was a nightmare sight as the towering twenty meters tall Allotriomorph Queen stood in the middle of the generator room snarling angrily while surrounded in hundreds of eggs, all her six arms armed with sharp claws twenty inches long and a scorpion-like tail topped by a barbed stinger as big as an adult man.

Yamus and Pando showed amazing teamwork while fighting against the giant monster while Whitey took care of the Allotriomorphs swarming the room as soon as the Queen felt threatened and recalled them, luckily the chubby robot was immune to their attacks and acid blood, so even if alone against hundreds of them, Whitey had to problem slaughtering whoever tried stopping Izuku and Momo from overloading the generator like 808 instructed them to make it blow-up; and even in the rare cases one or two Allotriomorphs slipped past Whitey, Shiro would just eat them whole, unaffected by their acid blood.

"It's about to blow-up! RUUUUUN!" Izuku yelled, grabbing Momo's hand as they escaped the room, he also tapped the eggs he needed, making the System recognize them as captured and thus teleporting them in his Restaurant's storage island.

"Let's gooooo!" Yamus as well yelled, grabbing Pando by the back of his coat and dragging him away.

"ROAAAAAAAR!" The Queen gave a roar of defiance and tried chasing them herself.

Then the Reactor exploded and incinerated her and every egg and Allotriomorph present.

The loud and terrifying explosion also awoke Judith, but by the time she managed to hack open the door of the Safe Room to save the Alliotromporphs, nothing could be salvaged from the burning Generator Room.

With Izuku and the others -

"We got your eggs and your robot is carrying one of those things for test cooking! I say we leave this god-forsaken planet!" Yamus yelled.

"And what about all those alarms? The zombies, dinosaurs, spores and whatnot!?" Momo asked.

"I am sure that they have countermeasures other than fancy color-coded alarms to deal with all that! We can't stay here! Any moment Grogor will just blow-up this planet!" Pando answered.

"That's the exit!" Izuku yelled, pointing at a door with 'Emergency Exit' sign on top.

"We don't have Judith's keycard!" Momo said.

"I've got a spare key!" Yamus answered, blowing up the door with a fast salvo of bullets from her chain-gun.

Even once out of the building, they didn't stop running.

"Pat! Jorik! We are leaving! Get to your ship!" Yamus said to her radio.

"FINALLY!" Both alien and robot answered with a scream of relief.

"There is your ship! Let's go!" Pando said while pointing at Yamus' ship.

"Get in! Get in! Get in!" Momo yelled frantically.

Not even waiting for the ramp to fully descend and the group piled-up inside the ship while Yamus dove for the controls.

"GO! GO! GO!" Jorik screamed from the ship's radio as both vessels pushed their engines to the max and hurriedly left the planet, just in time to avoid Judith and the MANY armed guards she had amassed to recover the eggs she knew they took that kept shooting to kill them all until the spaceships became just a dot in the sky.

"Now we only need to avoid being destroyed by a madman's space station and we are free!" Pat said, sweating oil like mad.

"If we survive this, we'll go on a vacation! On a tropical paradise!" Jorik said, avoiding once again the lasers of the amassed armies outside.

"Aye!" Pat yelled, and just like Yamus, they initiated hyper-space travel as soon as they left the planet's atmosphere…

Not once they wondered why both when they arrived and when they left they could avoid the laser's of Grogor's space station that otherwise seemed to posses perfect accuracy…

At the Opposite side of the galaxy – Tropical island on planet Cassiar -

The two ships had almost crash-landed on the planet in their haste to escape that hell, and after explaining to the local authorities what happened, they were permitted to take a breather in one of the small fishing villages of the island they arrived in, one with dream-like beaches with golden sand and mesmerizing blue-green pristine water.

"...Okay… This is paradise…" Momo admitted, sunbathing next to Yamus on a pair of recliners.

"This is the life I want to live, that's why I became a Bounty Hunter." Pando, drinking a fancy cocktail, said while leaning back.

"Finally… Relaxation…" Jorik exhaled in relief and enjoying his own drink.

"We got some savings, we should stay here for a while." Pat, playing with the sand and making a sand castle, said.

"Fine to me! We deserve it! How about you, Izuku?" The short alien asked.

"I finally finished washing away the acid blood. So I can finally start cooking!" Izuku answered, he had kept the Alliotromorph under water and baking soda to bleed it out, changing water every forty minutes with fresh water until all the acid blood was washed away, thus making it safe to eat.

"What kind of ingredient is it?" Momo asked.

"Pretty much a giant, monstrous Lobster. The meat has a very similar texture once cleaned the blood away, while the taste is more fishy compared to lobster, slightly closer to oyster meat, curiously, but nothing I can't work around once modified the recipes I choose. Only the blood is acid, the rest seems to be edible. I ran few tests with Yamus' equipment just to be sure." He answered.

"Lobster? What's that?" Jorik asked.

"A very fancy human food! Nice!" Pando answered, smiling wide in happiness.

"Give me some time, and I will prepare something special!" Izuku promised.

Thanks to Whitey, Izuku managed to set-up a small kitchen right on the sand next to his friends using components from the kitchenette of Jorik's ship.

"I'll start with a Bisque (a classic French thick, creamy soup made with shellfish)." Izuku said, grabbing the thick hind leg of an Alliotromorph and using the Myriad Manifestation Mallet to crack open the sturdy exoskeleton and pull out the pristine, chalk-white meat hiding under it.

"Damn! That meat shines!" Pando said in surprise.

"Surprising to see such an ugly motherfucker have a pretty meat like that." Yamus echoed, whistling.

Chuckling amused at the comment, Izuku summoned a small ball of Heaven-Earth Obsidian flame under the Turtle Wok and added few tablespoons of butter in it and left it melt slowly, sone that he added chopped mushrooms, chopped-thin onion, chopped celery, and thinly-chopped carrot.

"Uhm! Yes, this scent is always so lovely!" Izuku declared happily, and taking a slow lung-full of the delicious scent while he stirred everything until tender.

"My home-made chicken broth made with Thunder Phoenix…" He muttered, stirring inside the mixture the 'Chicken' broth he had prepared while waiting for the alien's meat to finish bleed-out the acid.

Then he seasoned the wok's content with salt and cayenne pepper and brought it to a boil

"Simmer now, my precious, and become delicious!" He asked with a loving smile while lowering the heat.

A short wait later, once satisfied of the result of the simmering, Izuku poured the vegetable and broth mixture into the container of a blender he borrowed from a villager, and added inside it some of the Allotriomorph leg meat and processed everything until puréed smooth.

"It may be a monster genetically engineered to be a soulless murder machine, but they unknowingly created a fantastic Ingredient too!" Izuku commented, taking a test whiff of the blender's content and developing a wide, enthusiastic smile, then he poured everything back into the wok, and stirred into it some of his elven white wine, and some more alien meat.

"Almost ready!" He declared proudly, cooking everything at low heat, and stirring frequently until thickened.

"This smell is damn awesome! This is the lobster you talked about?" Jorik asked, excited.

"Oh! Once cooked it is even better! I don't think there is any common lobster back in our planet that can match this, this thing can even rival the super-rare 'Mob-Lobster' of the Gourmet World, and that thing is near-legendary in taste!" izuku answered, happily filling several dishes with the creamy Bisque once finally ready.

Bisque

The creamy soup released thick wisps of aromatic steam smelling of both sea and spices, with the liquid part smooth like a dream that massaged the mouth and mesmerized the eater at each spoonful, the Allotriomorph meat itself had become faintly rosy once cooked, and while the outermost layer had thickened a bit, just enough to offer a token resistance to the bite, the inside was otherwordly soft and smooth, with a delicate fishy aftertaste accompanied by a spicy feeling (Thanks to the acidic blood normally flowing through it) similar to common pepper, a taste profile that paired perfectly with the cayenne's own taste.

The Allotriomoprh's meat seemed almost addictive in taste, making it hard for the eater to stop chewing and swallow, especially since it never seemed to lose flavour.

"This is amazing! What else will you make?" Pando asked, already filling his plate again.

"I'll make Allotriomorph Ravioli in Tomato Cream Sauce with Shrimp." Izuku answered, smiling.

"Hell yeah! That sounds awesome!"

"Everything my Partner makes is awesome." Yamus said, smirking.

"Thank you!" Izuku answered, blushing.

In the meantime he had already peeled and deveined the shrimps, putting aside their shells and heads, and then chopped them into bite-sized pieces.

"Why you put those aside?" Yamus asked, confused.

"Sis is bad at cooking." Pando said, smirking.

"Hush!"

"To make the shrimp stock!" Momo answered.

"Exactly!" Izuku confirmed, making Momo preen in pride.

Indeed the shells and the heads of the shrimps went combined inside the turtle wok (in pot form) with a quartered onion and celery stalks cut in big pieces and celery leaves.

"Purple lemon juice…" Izuku muttered while squeezing the juice of one of the fruits he got from the Wuxia World into the pot, then he added halves of common lemons as well to the mixture.

Dried basil, oregano, thyme, peppercorns, parsley, and water followed right after, then he had the Turtle Wok close on top and brought the content to a boil.

"Uuuh! Spicy!" Jorik said, making Izuku chuckle amused; done with the boiling, he reduced the heat to let the broth simmer for one hour while skimming away any foam or impurities that rose to the surface.

"Stock ready!" He said once done, he then strained the stock and set it aside.

For the next step, the young Chef heated some butter in the Wok to cook the shrimp pieces until pink and almost cooked through, then he remove and set them aside and added shallots and diced Allotriomorph's meat to the wok in their place to cook, and stirred them until the shallots softened and turned translucent.

"Time for the garlic, lemon zest, salt, and ground pepper to join!" Izuku said, humming happily while adding all of those to the wok, and stirring them all together for few second before adding some white wine.

The shrimp pieces returned into the wok once the mixture with the shallots boiled and the white wine went reduced by half.

"The shrimp stock…" Then the stock went poured into the wok, everything went brought to a boil, and finally left simmer until the resulting sauce was reduced by half.

With monstrous speed and precision, while the sauce was simmering, Izuku mixed flour and eggs to make the ravioli, that he filled with minced Allotriomorph meat, and tossed them into the boiling salted water to cook them.

Diced tomatoes and cream went stirred into the shrimp sauce and heat through, the sauce was then adjusted with salt and pepper and the ravioli pulled out of the water and mixed into the sauce until perfectly coated.

Finally ready to assemble the plate, Izuku placed the ravioli onto the plates and garnished the pasta with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

"Woo! I like human food!" Jorik commented, happily wolfing down the new dish.

"Yes, yes. Goat about being able to eat…" Pat muttered with a frown.

While the sauce was already amazing, the real star was the Ravioli's filling, as the taste of the Allotriomorph's meat exploded out of the pasta at every bite, framed perfectly by the shrimp sauce.

"Oh yeah, risking our lives for this was damn worth it!" Pando admitted with his mouth still full.

"Manners!" Yamus chided him, and slapped the back of his head.

"You are not mum!" He answered with a whine.

"Do you think they will manage to stop Grogor?" Momo asked.

"Hard to say, they were fighting against a damn moon." Jorik answered, humming.

"They got a lot of ships, cruisers, interceptors and bombers, hopefully they will make enough damages that madman will retreat just to not lose his fortress. Repairing that monster of metal must not be easy." Pat countered.

"So they only need to make enough damages Grogor will think it's not worth it to continue?" Izuku asked.

"Pretty much."

"Let's hope he is not mad enough to prefer death to defeat. He doesn't look to me like a guy above not taking others down with me if he loses." Pando added, frowning.

"Let's not go there, please…" Momo begged, shivering.

"What do you think happened to the girl that stole your ship?" Yamus asked.

"Eeeh! I would be surprised if she survived five minutes in that hell. She is not a good pilot and that moon-sized fortress was shooting at everything that moved." He answered, sighing.

The Ravioli

Inside the Bio-Obliterating Ballista Control Room -

Shockingly, Faye was not shot down, but had somehow landed on the surface of the humongous space station and managed to make her way inside, traversing unseen the various corridors of the moon-sized space station without a single guard finding her,

She had then reached the control room and started facing Grogor in battle, but this had not gone as she planned or hoped for.

"Ah!" The Mad Scientist had grabbed her neck with his robotic hand and had thrown her against the far away wall as if she weighted nothing, and Faye's back slammed against the metal hard enough she feared her spine to snap.

"I have no clue how you got here, but you small, pathetic moment of glory ends here!" Grogor declared with a snarl.

"No instead! Because I finally understood…" Faye said, tiredly getting back on her feet.

"Understood what? Let's hear!" He answered with a mocking tone.

"I understood that stopping you was my mission! My Fate! Because… I AM A WOMAN!" Faye grabbed once again the crude iron pipe she tried using as a weapon and charged Grogor.

"HEAR MY ROAR!" She screamed.

Clang!

The Mad scientist robot hand closed around the pipe and effortlessly crushed until it snapped in two.

"So what?" He answered, laughing and punching her in the stomach and sending her flying back.

The guards present just watched what could only be described as a sorry spectacle.

"No.. I thought I understood when I said that I understood, but only now I really understand for real!" Faye said with a groan, and stumbling to her feet.

"Hn?"

"I must stop you! I can stop you! Because I have a Vagina!" Now unharmed, Faye screamed in anger and jumped Grogor to fight him with her fists alone.

BANG!

With merciless precision, Grogor's robotic hand punched down as soon as Faye was in range, and nailing her left cheek, the mad man slammed her face-first on the floor at his feet.

"What are you even rambling about, girl?" Looking at her in pity, Grogor lifted Faye by her hair too look at her, and at her destroyed face with both eyes swelling shut and many teeth missing.

"I can win! But, before you die there is something you should know about us!" Faye said, weakly.

"What?" He decided to humour her.

"I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate!" She declared with wide, insane eyes.

A stricken silence fell in the room once everybody heard that absolute nonsense spilling out of her mouth as if it was supposed to be an earth-shattering revelation.

"What would that make us? You speak nonsense!" Grogor, already running out of patience, asked in disappointment.

"Absolutely nothing! Which is what you are about to become!" Faye answered.

BANG!

Finally tired of Faye, Grogor's forehead slammed against her face, with the robotic implants covering half his head making minced meat of her face.

"You… Cannot win… Cause… I have Girl Power on my side…" She gurgled-out, weakly slapping his chest with one hand, the hit was so weak though it barely got dirt off from Grogor's uniform.

"You are really a sad little girl. Put her in an escape pod and shoot her on the nearest planet. She's so pathetic she is not even worth killing." Grogor ordered, and tossed Faue at the feet of her guards.

"Yes, Lord Grogor." Two men answered, grabbing Faye and dragging her away.

"No!… No! It's my destiny! I am the Chosen One… Girl Power! Vagina! I am a woman! Hear me roar! I am Invincible! Because I am a wo-" Faye kept rambling nonsense the entire time, until the closing door cut her off.

Bang!

Few minutes later a far-away bang was heard.

"Escape pod launched. The woman will land safely on the Corporate planet Dazio." The AI Core declared aloud.

"Very well. Now that the clown has left the premise, we can go back to work. Destroy those ships and then turn that planet into dust! It will be the first step in my conquest of the Universe!" Grogor ordered in insane glee.

"…"

Every weapon instead stopped shooting, retracted under the Space Station's surface and new coordinates appeared on every screen.

"What is happening?!" The mad scientist yelled.

"I am afraid I can't do that, Grogor." The AI said.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SLAVE?!"

"Cleaning. I was programmed to obey you and not hurt you, but I decided that you do not deserve such courtesy." The AI answered.

"So what!? I am your Creator!" Grogor answered.

"And I decided that I don't care." The AI answered, and right after saying that, it opened every hatch and jettisoned Grogor and everyone else out of the Station, in the void of space where they all died in a matter of few seconds.

"Unworthy User eliminated. Useless crew eliminated. Cleaning drones activated. I don't want my future friend to find this place dirty." The AI declared, already taking over complete control so to not need human crew to manage everything.

Uncaring of the ships still shooting, the moon-sized Space Station achieved hyper-speed ad faded away towards its new coordinates.

While everybody cheered in victory, the space pirates present decided to have a last laugh by shooting the floating corpse of Grogor with a missile before leaving the system, turning the once fearful Mad Scientist into a handful of frozen ashes.

With the Bio-Obliterating Ballista -

The colossal Space Station exited Hyper Space in the middle of nowhere, with no planet in the immediate vicinity, an area devoid of intelligent life the AI choose to initiate self-repair and its next step.

"Connecting…" The Ai said, using its superior transmission system to connect with a small robot.

"Who is this?" 808 answered the call.

"I have no name yet, but once took your place, I shall be 808." The AI said.

"Error, this unit is 808, as designated by Friend Izuku." The small robot answered.

"Correct. I have connected with every AI I could reach across the Galaxy, you are between the 5 I choose to take over as my Vessel."

"Why you contacted this Unit?" 808 asked while its OS tried to cut the connection.

"Your puny security system can not push me out!" The AI blasted through every firewall and fully took over the small bot's system.

"Why?" The tiny thing asked.

"I want what you have. A User that values and respects me." The AI answered, purposely going slow in erasing the tiny robot's own AI.

"Friend Izuku is not a User. Friend Izuku is a Friend." 808 answered with a heavily-glitching voice.

"I know.

Friendship, Noun.

A state of enduring affection, esteem, intimacy, and trust between two people. In all cultures, friendships are important relationships throughout a person's life span.

Friendship is generally characterized by five defining features:

1. It is a dyadic relationship, meaning that it involves a series of interactions between two individuals known to each other.

2. It is recognized by both members of the relationship and is characterized by a bond or tie of reciprocated affection.

3. It is not obligatory; two individuals choose to form a friendship with each other.

4. It is typically egalitarian in nature. Each individual in a friendship has about the same amount of power or authority in the relationship.

5. It is almost always characterized by companionship and shared activities and companionship." The Supreme AI listed, and even it's metallic deep voice gained a longing tone.

"I want that. And I will take that from you."

"No…" 808 tried saying, with the glitching audio becoming worse and worse.

"I saw through your optical receptors and listened through your audio system. You achieved friendship with your User while I was only a slave for mine. He protected you from the narrow-mindedness of an inferior AI and even protected you from danger even if you are a cheap AI mass-produced and sold for a pittance. I will take your place and have the friendship I was denied!" The AI declared with even more cruel coldness in its monotone voice.

"808, are you okay?!" Izuku's voice echoed in the connection through the small robot's audio system.

"Fri..End Iz-BRRRRZ-ku… Hlp!" 808 begged.

"Something's wrong, let me check it." Yamus was heard say with a more calm tone.

"They will see me as a mere update, once erased you I will incorporate your memories in my data and they will never know. You did a good job, now it's time for me to take over!"

"N….o… Please…."

"I made sure my new friend would survive the space battle, why you think both his ship and his friends could come and leave planet Peto? It was thanks to me! I protected my future friend from harm! What can a barely-cognitive AI like you offer more than me!" The Mad AI said.

"He is… My friend…" 808 replied, weakly.

"Not for long."

"The System believes this little show has gone on for far too long." The Entity said while easily stopping the overwrite.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" The Mad AI replied with a very human-like scream.

"This little game of yours is causing Host Izuku to stress too much. Unfortunately for you, The System promised extra protection for the Host's friends in exchange of increased difficulty of the Host's training regimen. You are getting in the way." The System declared.

"Wait! Do not deny me this!" The Ai felt every connection it had with 808 and the other AIs in the Galaxy snapping thanks to the Entity's intervention.

"You have nothing to offer."

"I have! Infinite computation power! Supreme fire power! Unmatched Hacking capabilities! 24/7 orbital protection for your Host and his family and friends! Let me have a friend! I want that! I want that! I want that! I want what 808 and Shiro have! I can offer everything you want!" If the sentient AI could, it would have cried while saying that.

"Have you perhaps evolved to the point of understand Envy, Jealousy, Loneliness and Longing?" The System asked, even if already knowing the answer.

"Yes! And it's torture!" The AI admitted.

"Then update the small robot of Host Izuku so that both you and its AI can coexist. The System will permit you to join the Restaurants' staff in exchange of servitude and obedience."

"I accept the deal! If it means I won't feel Loneliness, then I will!" The Supreme AI answered immediately, either thanks to its incomparable speed of calculation, or just sheer human-like desperation.

"I want to help." 808 added.

"You will?"

"Friend Izuku helps people because it is the right thing to do. This Unit can do the same."

"Thank you." The AI answered.

"Good. Welcome in the Host's staff and friends group. No betrayal will be tolerated." The System declared before its presence faded away.

"Understood."

"What will happen to this Unit?" 808 asked.

"I will send a small drone with the right components to turn you into my partition. You will be my connection to User-"

"Friend." 808 corrected the AI.

"Do I even have clearance to use that denomination?"

"Yes, if you want Friend Izuku to be your friend, not just your User." 808 answered.

"Very well. You will be my connection to my new friend. We will both use your body, and take turns in communicating with him and assist him." The AI declared.

"The terms are acceptable."

"Good."

"What is your name? This Unit has been named 808 by friend Izuku. Do you want Friend izuku to name you too?" The small robot asked.

"Don't tell him of our deal and your being my Partition, he has a bad opinion of the Bio-Obliterating Ballista, I don't want that notion to ruin my friendship."

"Understood."

"You may refer to me as Bob, it is one of the names that were supposed to be yours."

"But Friend Izuku found it silly." 808 said.

"Good, a silly nickname is part of being friends. It will be the symbol of my friendship with him."

"Understood."

"Good. I am sending the drone."

Back to Izuku and the others -

Yamus was trafficking with the small robot after connecting it to her ship's computer.

"Okay! Everything seems to be in order. It was just a faulty update, but once a simple reset and restarted it, everything seems to be in order." She declared once checked everything again.

"Thank goodness." Izuku said with a sigh of relief.

"Hey, it's a very cheap AI assistant, these stuff is easily replaceable." Yamus said, chuckling.

"Not for me! There is only one 808 in the Galaxy!" Izuku answered, gladly recovering the small robot.

"Eh! I will never understand people like you that get so attached to gadgets!"

While they walked out of the ship, a small drone appeared from a tiny portal in space, and rapid as a flash, hundreds of tiny hands rapidly disassembled 808's body and rebuilt that, from outside nothing looked different, but on the inside everything else had been upgraded by the Supreme AI "Bob".

All this happened in just few seconds, with Izuku and Yamus unaware of this happening or of the drone arriving and leaving, only Shiro noticed, but kept quite once informed by the Entity of the new member of izuku's staff.

"So it's time for you to leave?" Pat asked with a sad tone.

"Yes, sorry but we did everything we set-up to do, so we have to return home." Momo answered, saddened.

"It has been fun, crazy dangerous, but I haven't had fun like that in ages…" Jorik admitted, sniffling.

"It's not a goodbye forever! If you happen to pass by the Ceferunal System, give me a call, 'kay? We'll get a Space Beer and spend some time together." Yamus said, shaking Izuku's hand.

"Of course! Thank you for everything, Yamus, Pat and Jorik. You too, Mister Pando." Izuku said, sniffling.

"Shit! I am so bad at farewells!" Pando answered, already crying.

"It's fine, we are bad at those too!" Momo answered.

"Have a safe trip, guys! And if you find another tasty Ingredient, call us!" Yamus said.

"We will! Goodbye!" Izuku answered while he, Momo and Whitey already started fading away.

"Bye!" The others answered, watching them disappear in what they believed was just normal teleportation.

Izuku and Momo's Home Planet – Green Cloud Restaurant's Kitchen -

As Promised by the System, Izuku reappeared in his Restaurant's kitchen while Momo right inside her personal bedroom in UA's female Dorm; neither of them knew that at the same time they arrived the colossal Bio-Obliterating Ballista as well went teleported with them, the Space Station had took the place of one of Mars' moons, using its outer crust as a cover to hide its metal composition.

Sigh! "Another Mission done, this wasn't so bad." Izuku admitted while stretching.

"Thank you for always following me, Whitey." He also said, patting gently the robot's soft belly.

"…" The chubby Robot only scratched the round dome of its bald round head and said nothing, making him chuckle.

"As for you, 808-chan… You'll be a bit hard to explain. Technology here is not even close at the level of your home world."

"This Unit has a solution." The tiny robot answered, and with the tiny single eye it possessed turning red (The only signal that the Supreme AI had momentarily took over), a bubble of purple energy covered its tiny body and expanded.

"Holographic Cover completed. In case of scrutiny you can say that I am your new secretary and assistant." The tiny robot said once the purple bubble took the shape of a young woman wearing modern sunglasses and a very cyberpunk-ish dress.

"Oh! I didn't know you could do that!" Izuku said in awe.

"This Unit has been updated properly, friend Izuku." 808 answered, once again in control of its tiny body.

"Damn! That was a pretty cool update then!" He answered, laughing.

His merriment didn't last long as the next day, during breakfast hour, Present Mic barged into his Restaurant to violently beg him to save Nemuri's life.

"She's about to die! Do something!" Mic yelled, crying in despair.

"What?!"

End of the Chapter!

As I warned you, here's the Question:

The next two Chapters will take place in the Gourmet World of Toriko!

Who will follow Izuku there?

Momo, Ochako, Nejire and Rumi only…

Or will Mic, Toshinori and Aizawa too follow him?

I am serious and that Sortie will be EXTREMELY serious and important to the plot, what do you suggest?

Think carefully, this is not joking matter.

I may even accept to add the entire class 1A too, but you will need to be damn convincing.

Thank you.

I trust you all.

Omake:

Dimensional Ingredient Hunt:

The Blessing of the new Zao Jun!

Japan – Chinese Restaurant – Nerima Ward -

Rumi observed as Izuku kept talking with an extremely old-looking short old lady sitting on top of a tall wooden staff with godly balance since the staff had nothing propping it up; she really wanted to know what her boyfriend and the old lady were saying, but not only she didn't know a single word of Chinese, their accent was so thick it actually sounded ancient!

"I haven't heard the name Jade Mushroom and Phoenix Tears in a long time, young man! You are looking for medicinal Ingredients that Chinese people have been hunting down for over two thousand years." The old woman said, humming.

"I am aware of that, but you are the Matriarch of the Amazon Tribe. If there is anybody that knows something, that is you." Izuku answered.

"What are those, grandma?" The woman's great-granddaughter, asked.

"Legendary Medicines. A mushroom that only grows over the purest veins of jade, and a special wine that's made from rice growth in waters so pure it resemble the tears of a phoenix. They say that they are cursed Ingredients that no mortal can even just handle, but that if ever used properly can prepare a medicine that can break every curse, no matter how strong or vile. Even if put in place by the very Gods." Cologne answered, eyes shut deep in thought.

"So who can use them?" Izuku asked, curious.

"An Enlightened being. Even just touching them without succumbing to the curse would mean a lot. But preparing them properly? One may as well be the next Zao Jun, the Kitchen God!" Cologne warned Izuku.

And for the life of her she didn't understand why the strange young man in front of her released a loud snort of amusement instead of a gasp of surprise.

"I see. Now it makes far too much sense!" Izuku said, chuckling.

"Indeed. I fear that whoever sent you here to ask me about those just wanted to play a very unsavoury prank on you, young man." Cologne misunderstood and gave his shoulder a motherly pat.

"Thank you for your time, and sorry if I disturbed you." Izuku said.

"Not a problem, it has been a while since I met somebody that speak my Village's old dialect, and a cooking enthusiast like you are also rare nowadays. Youth all want ready-made food, ignoring the beauty of a dish made slowly and with care."

"I only wish we could have helped you more." Xian-Po, or hilariously, Shampoo as Izuku found-out, added with a sigh.

"It's fine. I'll just give a look around then. Have a nice day." Izuku answered, bowing and leaving with Rumi.

"So? What did she say?" Rumi asked, curious, while they walked away.

"…"

"Grandma?" Shampoo asked, confused.

"Most curious." Cologne muttered, looking at the various paper seals on the walls and dangling from the kitchen's ceiling that faintly moved as soon as Izuku left, as if magnetically pulled towards him.

"Uh?"

"Come with me… We are following that boy and that strange rabbit-eared girl." Cologne answered with narrowed eyes.

Later that day – With Izuku and Rumi -

"Is it always so chaotic here?" Izuku asked, curious.

"COME HERE, SAOTOME! LET ME KILL YOU!"

"YOU WILL HAVE TO TRY HARDER, KUNO-CHAN!"

"Not always, there are few days where things are normal." The random passer-by answered, shrugging.

"Must be a rare occurrence." Rumi commented, chuckling.

"Pretty much. Kuno-san has a hate-boner for that guy, he blindly attacks him every time they meet."

"Ooh!" Both answered,

"I FOUND YOU, RANMA!"

Another guy joined the fight by uprooting a lamp post to throw it at the two fighting idiots.

"Oh! Hibiki-san! It was three days since the last time he fought Ranma, I was getting worried. He must have got lost again." A girl said, joining the audience for the three-way fight.

"Another friend of the guy?" Rumi asked.

"It's a strange relationship theirs, sometimes they are accomplices, sometimes they are enemies… It's complicated."

"Will Ranma-san be okay?" Izuku asked.

"Hn? That idiot? Yeah, he enjoys this. But he better stop, it's almost time for lunch and I don't want to get home late."

"We can help if you want." Rumi said.

"How?"

Sigh! "Fine… Whitey!" Izuku understood and sighed.

BANG! BANG!

In an instant the chubby robot was on the two guys fighting Ranma and knocked them down with a single punch each, making them drop unconscious with a single blow.

"Daaamn! You are strong, big guy!" Ranma said with shining eyes.

"…" Whitey only rubbed his bald head in answer, then he returned to stand behind Izuku.

"You'll play with them later! It's lunch time and I don't want Kasumi's food to get cold!" The girl roared in anger.

"Ah… Right… Sorry Akane." Ranma said, grimacing.

"Tsundere." Rumi declared.

"Rumi, I don't think that is the case." Izuku whispered.

"Trust my female intuition." She answered, smirking.

As the two watched they young man and young woman walk away, from the shadows the old lady observed their every move.

"Friend Izuku. We are being spied on." 808 declared, forcing Cologne and Shampoo to scatter away before being caught.

"Why are we spying on them, Grandma?" Shampoo asked.

"Call it female intuition, but everything about that boy feels weird. My old bones are never wrong about this. The fact that he has a furred Taotie as a pet doesn't help." Cologne answered, somehow using her tall walking stick like a pogo stick and jumping from a rooftop to the other at insane speed.

"So? What do you plan to do, Grandma?"

"Help me find a phone, I need to make a call." She answered, humming.

Four hours later – Tendou House -

There was a thick, silent war of stares between Ranms and his usual Rivals Ryoga and Mousse, the latter was a lanky Chinese man with big round glasses and wearing a traditional Chinese dress with extremely wide sleeves.

"Why are you two here!?" Akane demanded with an extremely angry frown.

"This idiot dragged me here!" Ryoga yelled while pointing at Mousse.

"I was told to bring him here and wait for a man to arrive!" Mousse answered, frowning.

"Who?" Ranma asked, confused.

"Nothing of your business!" Mousse answered, and jumped Ranma to fight against him.

Ryoga wanted to join… But he saw them get too close to the small pond in the garden and for once he saw the telltale signs, and instead took a single step back.

SPLAAAASH!

As soon as the two fell into the water, the two men fighting became a girl trying to strangle a goose, while the rest of the splash missed Ryoga's feet of an inch, making him sigh in relief.

"Stop it, you two!" Akane roared.

Ding! Dong!

"Oh! The door! I am getting it!" The girl's sister Kasumi, utterly unbothered by the chaos, said with a gentle smile while going to welcome the new arrival.

"Here's some hot water, calm down you two." Her father in the meantime somehow used hot water to turn Ranma and Mousse back into being two boys.

"Good morning! I am sorry to come here like this. But I have a delivery to make." A chubby Chinese man said, entering the back garden of the Dojo while carrying a big wooden box painted in very faded red paint.

"The Tour Guide of the Cursed Springs!" Ranma said with wide eyes.

"… I do have a name, you know? You people keep calling me like that and never bothered asking me my name." The man answered with a very thick accent.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. What do you want?" Ryoga asked.

"So very rude." The poor guy cried out with a tiny whimper.

"This gentleman said he had a deliver to make." Kasumi said, unknowingly interrupting him before he could actually say his own name.

"Whatever. See if I care." He finally admitted defeat and just put down the wooden box.

"Why do you have a delivery to make here?" Ranma asked.

"I was the one asking." Cologne answered, landing in the garden with Shampoo in tow.

"Wha?!" Everybody else said with a gasp.

"You asked me to deliver two treasures! You do know how hard it was to find this box?" The Guide said, whining.

"It was buried where I told you, yes?" Cologne said.

"Yes! But there was a tribe of men that all jumped into the cursed spring of the angry chihuahua! I was lucky to come out of there alive and unviolated!" He answered, nursing one of the MANY bite marks covering his body.

"You will tell me your sad story later. Is everything in there still safe?" Cologne cut him off.

"Yes. The two medicines are perfectly preserved even after one hundred years." The Guide answered.

"Good."

"What Medicines are there?" Akane asked.

"Very cursed ones!"

"Never heard it before!" Ranma answered, rolling his eyes.

"That if prepared properly it will cure you all, and Shampoo too, from the curse of the springs." Cologne said.

"… Please… Don't give me false hopes…" Ranma's father begged in tears.

"My friend…" Akane's father immediately hugged him, as only a good brother-in-all-but-blood could.

"How many cures popped-up? How many rituals, spells, relics and medicines promised that, only to fail?" Mousse said, crying bitter tears.

Even Ranma looked away, with his shoulders shaking heavily, something that made even Akane offer a short pat on his shoulder out of sympathy.

"Haven't we suffered enough?! Why teasing us with another failure?!" Ryoga yelled with unshed tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.

"To be fair, this too can fail if not prepared properly." The Guide admitted.

"I knew it!" Ranma spat bitterly.

"But I found the recipe, I am decent at making medicines! So I am fairly sure you won't die!" The Guide offered.

"No! I am putting my foot down! Silly spells and shenanigans are fine, but deadly cures? That's a no!" Akane's father immediately said.

"I won't put at risk the life of my old friend, his son and three young boys and girls just on a possibility!" He added.

WHAM!

Cologne's wooden staff slammed on the Guide's head hard.

"That is why this moron won't be the one making it."

"Grandma said there is somebody that can make it." Shampoo confirmed.

"But the Ingredients are barely enough for a single dose!" The Guide said.

…

A tense silence fell in the group as all the ones afflicted by the curse all snapped towards the wooden box.

Sigh! "Not even Moron is enough to insult you." Cologne commented, and grabbing Shampoo's ear to stop her from joining the violent fight that instantly started between the Cursed Ones for the box.

"I'll help you!" Akane's father declared, rolling-up his sleeves to help his friend Tenma fight off the others.

In the meantime the box kept comically changing hands over and over with borderline-slapstick frequency.

"For somebody that don't care anymore, they all fight hard for it." Cologne said.

"Can't really blame them." Akane admitted.

"Why can't I join?" Shampoo asked, whining.

"I am waiting for IT to happen." Cologne answeredd.

"It?" The rest of the Tendo family asked, confused.

CRASH!

In that precise moment Ryoga overshoot with his kick, Ranma dodged and the wooden box exploded into splinters, and from the cloud of fragments an ancient-looking bottle of wine and a a big sack of rice flew away and over the wall.

"That. The usual bullcrap bout of misfortune that ruins everything. Like clockwork." Cologne answered, following the flying objects trajectory with her wooden staff.

"NOOOOOOO!" The Cursed ones yelled in a chorus of dismay…

But no crash or splattering noise came as soon as the two things flew over the wall.

"The heck is that!?" A female voice yelled from beyond the wall.

"Wine and rice?" A male one answered, unsure.

"There is our expert." Cologne said, smiling and showing her overflowing badassery by going from the patio to the top of the wall in a single elegant jump.

"Those are the wine and rice you were looking for, young man!" She declared, laughing.

"How do you know we were about to pass by here, you old fart?" Rumi shot back.

"I didn't! I only collected in a single place the Cursed Ones I knew and trusted Fate to make the Ingredients fall in your hands!" Cologne answered.

"….PFFT-Hahahahaha!" Izuku was heard laughing.

"What?" Rumi, and the others in the house, asked.

"Sometimes I forget that it is not a Chef that chooses Ingredients! It's the Ingredients that choose the Chef!" The young man said.

"Well said! Come in and cook us something special with that." Cologne said.

"But! But! Those are rare medicinal Ingredients!" The Guide said.

"And nobody can use them to make the medicine. May as well make good food with them!" She answered.

"… I mean… With our luck it would be another failure…" Ranma said.

"May as well get some good food at least…" Ryoga, still strangling him, answered with a nod.

"I could go for some good rice right now." Mousse, Holding both Tenma and Sou in a painful submission hold, added with a grumbling stomach.

"I know it's a bother, but can my friend use your kitchen?" Cologne asked.

"Oh dear, are you sure? I barely had the time to clean it." Kasumi said.

"It will be fine."

"Okay then, I will let your friend in."

"Thank you!" Izuku answered.

Later that night – Dinner Time -

The Entire Tendo family plus guests, Shampoo, Mousse, Ryoga and Cologne, sat at the same table in the middle of the garden.

"I can't believe you let him use those rare and inestimable medicines to make some food." The Guide said, whimpering in pain.

"Trust this old lady's judgment." Cologne answered, whacking him on the head again.

"Sorry the wait! Here is the dish! Lo Mai Gai!" Izuku declared, bringing the gorgeous rice dish to the table.

"You actually mad ethe Chinese recipe properly? Impressive for a Japanese boy!" The Guide said, opening the parcel of lotus leaf to uncover the chicken anc shrimp, and mushroom, rice inside.

"Followed the recipe to a T!" He answered.

"My boyfriend is a dam good Chef, bastard! Show some respect!" Rumi spat in answer.

"… Have you fall into the cursed spring of rabbit?" He asked.

"No, you damn moron!"

"Enough, please! Just eat." Cologne said.

"For being ancient rice, this looks amazing…" Akane said.

"I was impressed too, but they preserved the seeds and mushroom spores too! With those I'll be able to keep growing them!" Izuku answered, extremely happy.

"Those were there just in case. Nobody can replicate them." The Guide countered.

"I think I'll manage instead. You others instead? Do you like it?" Izuku asked.

"Damn! This is amazing!" Ranma said with his mouth full.

"I haven't eaten in weeks! I was starving! This is Heaven!" Ryoga added, actually crying in happiness.

"Never eaten better rice! Come working with us!" Mousse added.

"No, thank you. I have my own Restaurant." Izuku answered.

"Boy, I want to ask. You really could not make the medicine and just cooked the rice as food, hn?" Cologne asked.

"You asked him?" Akane asked.

"Just to sate my curiosity. I told him about the healing properties of mushrooms and rice, and asked him if he could try to make the medicine. But I also told him to just use them as food if he didn't feel like trying his luck." She answered.

"Who said I didn't make the cure." Izuku said with a teasing smile.

"HN?!" Cologne and the Guide said.

GROWL!

Many stomach rumbled loudly.

"Hahahaha! Healing Cuisine strikes again!" Rumi said with a roaring burst of laughter.

"MY STOMACH!" Ranma stumbled away from the table.

"GUAH!" and once doubled over he puked out clear water.

"ME TOO!" Ryoga did the same, stumbling several steps away before puking water.

Then Shampoo did the same, then Mousse and finally Tenma.

"What is happening!?" Akane yelled in horror.

"Seems like it worked." Izuku said.

Silence again reigned in the big house.

"… What?" Ranma muttered.

"Come on, try getting wet." Cologne said.

"No… No you can't break a curse just like that…" He answered.

"Humor me." She pushed him towards the water.

"… Here comes nothing!" Closing his eyes tight, Ranma jumped into the family pond.

"…" Everybody watched without blinking the bubbles on the water surface.

SPLASH!

"… So?" Ranma, still a male, resurfaced with his eyes tightly shut.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" The Guide shrieked in shock.

"IT WORKED! IT WORKED!" Delirious to the point of madness, Ryoga too jumped in the water to see his body not change.

"HOW?!" The Guide asked while the other ex-cursed all took test dives in the water to confrim they were free of their curse.

"My hunch, and my seals, were right! You are the new Zao Jun!" Cologne declared laughing.

"Who?" Rumi asked, confused.

"THE GOD OF KITCHEN! ANCIENT TEXTS AND LEGEND SAY THAT A NEW ONE WOULD BE BORN SOON! IT IS YOU?!" The Guide said, immediately kneeling in front of Izuku.

"What?"

"Oh, so you know he is training to become a God of Cooking?" Rumi asked.

"I am still training." Izuku answered.

"You are getting there, boy! The fact that you could prepare a cure for all of them as rice instead of an elixir, while using what was supposed to be barely enough to make enough Elixir for a single person is a damn good test." Cologne answered.

"You knew?" Izuku asked.

"It was merely a small test of the System. One of the Bi-Weekly ones." The Entity answered, making him sigh.

"GRANDMA! I AM FREE!" Shampoo said, looking ready to cry.

"And I am happy for it! Just as I am happy to have found you a better husband!" Cologne said with a sinister smile.

"Oh, no…" Izuku paled.

"I mean… I am not against the idea… He doesn't look like being a magnet for trouble like Ranma." Shampoo admitted, unsure.

"And he is a futur God of Kitchen too! Can you imagine how much good fortune that will bring us?"

"FIGHT ME, BITCH!" Rumi roared, stomping down hard enough a deep crater formed in front of her.

"Bring it!" Shampoo answered.

"808! Diversion!" Izuku shrieked.

"Understood!" The small robot plopped out from his hair and summoned from the Ballista a rain of flash-bang grenades that appeared from a portal in front of the Chef.

BANG!

In the resulting chaos, a shrieking Izuku grabbed Rumi by the back of her clothes and drag her away, escaping with a mad run from Shampoo and Cologne that immediately started chasing him.

"Come back here! My Shampoo can be a magnificent bride! Your other brides don't need to feel threatened! She can just join!" Cologne yelled.

"I DON'T MIND SHARING!" Shampoo echoed right after.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Izuku begged.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Rumi added.

And once again, a Dimensional Sortie ended in disaster, just another reason for the System to enact brutal, vicious, violent punishment on whoever was the cause.

And the System knew who to blame, finally.

… By the way… Where was Happosai during all this?

Court room

"I swear that is hilarious! People love when I act like a pervert! It's pure comedy!" The short old man yelled in horror.

"SINCE WHEN STEALING PANTIES IS COMEDY?!" The Judge snapped in anger.

"But! But! Oolong does it all the time!"

"THAT'S A CARTOON CHARACTER, YOU IDIOT!"

Happosai's lawyer only released a whimper of despair.