Super Science

Ch.110: Family Reunion

"Hankoyo. Hankoyo! HANKOYO!" Egon's voice reverberates in his ears at a low pitch before growing louder and louder.

Finally, the man was shaken out of his stupor at the last loud call of his name, and he shook his head while blabbering, "Huh-what!?"

"Earth to you. Are you back down from orbit?", Egon asked while waving his hand in front of his face.

Hankoyo was sitting at his desk within the Sound division, paperwork scattered about the large desk, a computer sat idling nearby, and the man sat staring off into space. Something he has done quite a bit over the last two weeks. Only being stored by any outside force.

After shaking himself back to reality, Hankoyo apologetically said, "I'm good. I'm sorry about that. I must've spaced out."

"You sure have been doing that a lot lately. What's up with you? You know Hatsume is getting ahead of you in that contest you two are in. Don't tell me you miss Ungoliant again?", Egon inquired while sitting on his messy desk.

Hankoyo tapped at a splinter suspended in a small camber by sound waves, keeping its radiation at bay, and answered, "No, it's not her I miss; it's…my siblings."

"Siblings?", Egon prompted him.

"Remember when I told you my deep dark back story?", Hankoyo began with a sigh.

"I do.", When answered.

"Well, lately, I've been thinking more and more about them, and I think it's starting to eat at me.", Hankoyo continued to explain.

"What is?", Egon pushes further, trying to get the point.

Finally, the man broke, and he exclaimed, "The guilt, the sadness, the anger, everything and more." He took a moment to breathe as his head tendrils wrapped around him and coiled like snakes. "I want to see them, talk to them, apologize to them. But I can't.", he said.

"Why not?", Egon asked in confusion.

Hankoyo shot his face towards him, and half yelled like it was obvious, "Because I'm sure they hate me! Sure, it wasn't my fault that my parents made me their golden child. But it still doesn't detect the fact that they were abused because of me. They left the house and never came back because of me, and I can't stop how they feel."

"But how do you know that's how they feel?", Egon carefully asks him after letting the man simmer down a bit.

"I've seen enough daytime dramas to know.", He replies while looking away.

"That's a bad basis for real life.", Egon tells him. Rubbing his eyes under his glasses, he says, "Look, Hankoyo, don't you think it would be best to, at the very least, reach out to them? It's been a couple of decades; surely they're willing to hear you out, if nothing else. If you don't, the thought of never trying will eat you till the day you die."

"I know, but I just can't.", Hankoyo begrudgingly agrees.

"Well, what if they came by out of the blue or tried to reach out to you? Then what?", Egon prompted him.

Hankoyo shrugs and replies, "I'm not sure. I've played out the scenario in my head a thousand times already. And I never feel closure."

Seeing that he wasn't helping the man anymore, Egon got up and left the man to stew in his own depression. Once he left the office, he turned the corner to see Izuku standing there! The sight of him shocked him and the boy so much that they both jumped! After calming down, they moved away, and Egon quickly realized the boy had been listening the whole time.

Something that Izuku figured that Egon figured out and said to him, "Geeze, I feel so bad for him."

"Same here.", Egon agreed until an idea came into his head, and looking at his ward, he asked, "Hey, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Izuku seemed to get a sense of what he was inferring and vehemently stated, "No."

"Yes.", Egon argued.

Izuku groaned in irritation and told him off, "Egon, we can't! It's an invasion! And you heard what he said; he's not ready."

Egon rolls his eyes and tells him, "And at the rate he's going, he'll never be. After all, were you ready to talk to your mother? Remember what lengths had to be met when you finally did so?" Izuku says nothing besides looking at the floor, knowing he had a point. Egon placed a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Do you really want them to reconcile on his deathbed or worse?"

"You're right.", Izuku finally relented.

"Besides, he said he wanted to find them and makeup with them in the future. And I say that over two decades is long enough," Egon said.

"But what if things go wrong?", Izuku asked with a concerned expression.

"If they do, I'll take full responsibility. Can't worry about every single "what if" in life. Especially if it's manageable.", Egon assured him, though Izuku still didn't look at it.

A few days later, Hankoyo was sitting at his desk and trying to think of a way to make his invention work. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get his mind off his siblings and would always end up stuck. So he sat there tapping at a paper with nothing in his head. He was able to drop off into space again when the P.A. system shocked him awake.

"Professor Hankoyo, could you come down to the main lobby? You have visitors," Morgan said over the speaker.

Wondering what he needed for the lobby, he got up to see what it was all about. He just hoped it wasn't another intruder or something. Luckily for him, it wasn't, as he turned the corner to the lobby so as not to hear any sort of chaos. Instead, he saw two people whom he had never expected to see in such a long time! Even though they were much older than he vividly remembered, he remembered them right away.

"Colt, Sally?!", Hankoyo exclaimed at seeing his two long-lost siblings after nearly two decades.

Both the man and woman were around ten years older than Hankoyo, taller, and obviously of English descent, yet they all shared the same eye color. Both were casually dressed, with the woman in a teal sun hat and flats and the man in a business casual suit. Both had semi-living head tubes like Hankoyo, but they were different. The woman had twenty in total, acting like her hair, which only came past her neck, and the man had two sprouting from his shoulders and one at the base of his spine lined with a tail.

Upon seeing them, Hankoyo was in a flurry of emotions. Looking around the room for an escape or answer, he found the latter standing off to the side. Egon, Izuku, and Goto were all there but stayed in the foreground so as not to interfere. But Hankoyo was more focused on the skinny blonde, whom he vented to in confidence.

"It was you, wasn't it.", he hissed at him.

Egon sighed, not expecting him to react like this or even knowing how to react, and just told him, "I think it's time you finally confront and put your demons to rest, so to speak."

He looked back at his siblings and saw them standing there with the same mixed expressions as him. He took a deep breath, thinking about how this would go. Playing this exact moment in his mind for so long until he finally spoke and started to say in English, "I know what you two are gonna say. How could I do what I did, and why didn't I do anything before or after? Well, how could I? What could I have done for you?! Either of you!" But they said nothing as they slowly approached the man, who began to bask away while continuing to rant, "I was a child too, ya know. I was also at the mercy of our parents." Hankoyo was quickly back against the wall with nowhere to go as his head tubes began to with and hissed in fear while his siblings still moved towards him. "But they sent me into a dark place, and I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner to you both!", he said in a fearful voice as Hankoyo pressed himself against the wall and his siblings were just feet away from him. Looking back and seeing no way out, he exclaimed, "Well, what are you waiting for!? Scream, shout, say something! Stop being so stoic and do what you've wanted for the last two decades!"

But he was surprised when his brother lunged and wrapped him in a tight hug, followed by his sister! He gasped as his breath was caught in his throat, frozen in fear and confusion as the two hugged the smaller man.

After a minute of silence, Colt finally spoke up and said, "I missed you. So so much, little brother."

Hankoyo was confused beyond anything else as he stammered out, "But…But I thought you two hated me?"

Sally spoke next, bringing up her head to meet his eyes, where she answered, "No, no, no, little brother. We never hated you."

"We missed you so so much.", Colt agreed while looking him in the face.

Hankoyo didn't say anything for a long time until tears welled up in his eyes, and he finally told them, "I…I missed you too."

Colt then kissed his brother on the forehead while Sally kissed his cheeks, all before Hankoyo broke down into a crying mess, sobbing harder than he ever had before into their bodies! All three siblings hugged and cried in one another's arms for what felt like forever, and they were finally reunited. The three men in the background watched in silence while tearing up at the beautiful sight.

In the background, Egon and Izuku, both of whom were well-versed in the English language, understood every sentence of what they said except for Goto, who only understood the key emotions at play and nothing else.

Egon blew his nose and said to his two compatriots, "This is so sweet. I just love family reunions." The other two nodded and wiped their own eyes until Egon said under his breath, "Too bad ours couldn't be the same."

Goto stops feeling mushy inside and switches to irritation as he gripes, "Oh, here we go again!"

"Not. 'Here we go again' you know what you did.", Egon scolds him.

"Oh! And it was such a big deal!?", Goto yells at him.

"Yes, it was! You had four life sentences with no parole. You were this close to getting the death penalty!", Egon yelled back while exemplified with two fingers that were nearly touched.

"Oh, cry me a river!", Goto exclaimed with his arms out and rolling his eyes.

As the two brothers began an incoherent argument, the other three siblings stopped their tender moment to stare at them. Colt asked, "Does this…happen often?"

"You have no idea.", Hankoyo said with an exasperated sigh.

One Hour Later

"After getting out, I made friends with a jumping spider and went to college to try to restart my life. And now I'm here.", Hankoyo finished explaining his origin story to his siblings.

After reconciling, they went to the break room, where they talked over tea and snacks. Now Colt and Sally were staring at their brother with wide-eyed expressions, unsure of what to say in return.

That is until Colt took the plunge and said, "Wow! I can't believe you went through so much, Gus."

But he held up his hand and informed them, "It's Hankoyo now. I kinda want to forget my past with that name."

"Even us?", Sally asked with a hurt expression.

"I never once forgot about you two," Hankoyo told them. But seeing their disappointed expressions, he gifted and conceited, "But if you wanna call me Gus, I'll allow it." This made his siblings smile as he stirred his cup and exclaimed, "But enough about me. What happened to you two when you left?"

Colt took over again, looking over to Sally for permission, and began to explain, "Well, if you don't know, I was fresh out of high school, and your sister was still in middle school. So I had to give up any chance of college and help her through the rest of school and college."

Sally added, "And when I was out and had a job, I helped put your brother through college."

"Then we worked, found people we liked, and started families.", Colt paraphrased.

"But we never forgot about you," Sally told Hankoyo sweetly while holding his hand that he was clutching a bit too tightly.

Hankoyo made a huffing sound of amusement and said, "I wouldn't blame you if you did. I forgot about you two when I was in the loony house. I always felt guilty about that.", he admitted while looking at the table.

Colt held up his head and assured him, "We felt guilty for not doing anything to save you. We could've tracked you down, convinced you to leave, and made a daring escape from our parents."

Hankoyo smiled at the sentiment but said with a dry chuckle, "Knowing them, they'd probably hunt us down."

"At least they're gone, and we're free.", Sally added.

"Thanks for not hating me.", Hankoyo said while smiling at his siblings.

"Thanks for not hating us.", they both said while smiling back at him.

Just then, their tender moment was once again interrupted by Egon, who knocked on the wall beside the open door and told Hankoyo, "Hey, I hope I'm not interrupting something, but you have more guests."

Hankoyo shot him a terrifying glare as he yelled, "Oh geez, who the hell did you invite this time!?"

Egon raised his hands defensively and said, "No one. It was just supposed to be your siblings."

Now curious by this, Hankoyo got up to investigate with the professor, as his siblings followed behind in equal curiosity. Once they got to the lobby, they were met with the sight of two extremely old people! So old, in fact, that it was a miracle that they looked like they could still stand or walk!

The man was taller than the woman and wore a large feathered coat with man-upturned feathers at the top and a cigar holder clasped between two bony hands with a lit cigar at the end, a pompous and sour expression on his face. The woman was far shorter by a while head and wore an elegant dress that had a leopard print on it. She had a long nose, and her white hair had been dyed black and done up in two weird buns that made her hair look like a croissant.

In addition, they both had the same tube structures on their bodies, like Hankoyo and his siblings, but they were white in color. The man had his wrapped around his waist while the woman had her around her neck like a shall.

All siblings recognized them, making Colt and Sally exclaim, "Nana? Pop-pop?"

"Are you two still living?", Hankoyo hissed under his breath.

"These are your grandparents?", Egon exclaimed in shock.

"Yikes, these people look ancient.", Izuku, who was beside him, said under his breath.

"Where is Augustus?" the old man asked in a very thick, almost comical British English accent.

"Augustus?", both Egon and Izuku looked to the siblings.

Hankoyo sighs and says, "Yes, Augustus is my full name."

Hearing his voice, the two old people look and see Hankoyo, whom they quickly approach. The old man says in an insulted tone, "There you are, child. What in heaven's name are you doing here?"

"Never mind that. What in the world are you two doing here, and how did you find me?" Hankoyo asked them.

"There is nothing money can't accomplish.", the old man answered.

Egon said under his breath to Izuku and Goto, "She ain't wrong."

But before he could even breathe to reply, the old woman grabbed his arm and began to pull him away, saying, "Come along, child. Your break is far over. It's time to rejoin the stage and-."

But Hankoyo fought back before he even got one foot away and yelled, "Woah woah woah! Back up!"

"Augustas?", the woman said in shock and confusion.

Hankoyo growled at his name and corrected while explaining, "First off, my name is Hankoyo. Second, I'm not going back to the stage, and I will never do that! And third, I am not a child! You can't tell me or force me to do anything!"

"Of course you are. How old are you now, 16?", the old man said in a pompous tone.

Hankoyo looked at them like they had both grown second heads and exclaimed, "I'm over 30, you crazy old bag!"

"Nevertheless, you're coming with us. After we leave this awful place-", the old man began to say.

"Fuck you too, Methuselah.", Izuku grumbles under his breath.

"We're finding your parents next.", he finished off saying while trying to grab him.

Only for Hankoyo to back away as he asks, "Wait. You don't know?"

"Know what, child?", the old woman asks.

"Gus, did you never tell them?" Colt asks him in a suspicious tone.

Hearing the tone, Hankoyo growls, "Well, I didn't know these two were alive; I was on a funny farm, and sue me, I forgot!"

"And I thought our family was crazy.", Goto whispered to Egon, who nodded with him.

"What are you jabbering about? Speak up.", the old man demands while snapping out his cigar.

"Mom and Dad are dead. They've been dead for years!", Hankoyo explained to them.

The two old people gave very loud British-style gasps before asking, "What on earth happened to them!?"

A flush of two emotions crossed over Hankoyo's face as if fighting one another for the right to act on the question. So, under his breath, he said, "A part of me really wants to tell them."

Just then, the old woman, overwhelmed with emotions, placed the back of her hand on her head and fainted, only to be quickly grabbed by her husband. While trying to hold her up, he announced while leaving through the door, "We'll be back, Augustus, once your grandmother is back in order."

The moment they left, Egon ran out and shouted, "I hope you don't! Never come back!" Closing the door, he walked over to the receptionist's desk and said in a low yet serious tone, "If they come back, get rid of them!" to which Morgan nodded.

While this was happening, Goto noticed something and said to the other two siblings, "They didn't even notice you two."

"We're used to it," they both said at the same time, shrugging nonchalantly, though it was apparent that they were hurt.

Trying to change the subject, Hankoyo asked his siblings, "How about I show you two around?" They agreed.

Just as they left the lobby, Sally turned to her younger brother and asked, "Whatever happened to Mom and Dad's bodies?"

Hankoyo shrugs and explains, "No clue. Since Nana and Pop-pop weren't in the picture, I was their only soul dependent, but since I wasn't of sound mind and body, I couldn't take anything, let alone custody of their bodies. So they just incinerated them."

Colt stated firmly, "As far as I'm concerned, it's fitting for what they've done to us."

"Yeah, let those two old windbags search for them till they drop!", Sally agrees.

"Hopefully, that's sooner rather than later.", Hankoyo adds, making all of them chuckle. After things settled, Hankoyo popped a question that had been in his mind and asked, "Changing topics, you two said you started families? I'd love to meet my nieces and nephews if that's alright."

"We'd love to!", they both replied with excited gusto.

"We'd also like to meet the lucky lady in your life.", Colt inquired, only for Hankoyo to look away.

"Oh? The lucky man?", Sally guesses.

Hankoyo gives a big exasperated sigh as he says, "Just stop, you two; I don't have anyone. And that's probably a good thing."

"Oh, come on! Surely there's someone who's caught your fancy.", Colt jostles him a bit, elbowing him.

As he says this, they all pass by the Technology Department run by Purah and Robbie, where the two scientists are talking about something and laughing. Hankoyo's eyes fall upon Purah's laughing face, and he feels the world go in slow motion for a moment as he takes in all her features. Everything about her looks so radiant, and he can't take his eyes off her even as they walk past the open hallway.

There, Hankoyo finally replied, "No one…in particular."