Chapter 41
[58]
Masayoshi Shido stepped into the lab of his facility. Scientists and engineers scrambled about the floor while avoiding his gaze. It wasn’t often that the corporation’s CEO came down here, and whenever he did, it was never good.
The leading scientist in charge stepped in front of Shido, quaking in his boots.
“M-Mr. Shido uh sir, I know that we’re currently behind schedule on the Silver Centurions. But I can explain! There’s an issue with the AI, you see, they have a tendency towards violent-”
“I don’t care about the Centurions. I’m here to check up on the progress of my personal project.”
“Y-You mean project O? Well um, you see…There’s been some problems with that as well. The neural interface has proved quite difficult to establish, at the moment it seems impo-” The head scientist was interrupted as his throat was grabbed.
Shido lifted the man off of the ground with one arm, the scientist struggling to breath. Shido’s orange tinted glasses obscured his eyes as he stared the man down.
“I’m sorry, it seems I mistook you for a scientist, someone who solves problems. However, all I can ever seem to recall you doing is causing them for me.” His grip tightened and the man’s face turned purple from lack of air. “If you can’t seem to get anything to work then what the hell am I paying you for!?”
The scientist clawed at Shido’s hand desperately, his eyes began rolling to the back of his head. Just before consciousness left him, he was released from Shido’s grasp and fell to the floor wheezing for air.
“Fix. This.” Shido turned around to leave, noticing that all eyes in the lab were on him. When he turned towards them, the scientists all resumed their work as if nothing had happened. “You have 72 hours.” Was the last thing he said before exiting the facility.
Miles away, in his own laboratory, Dr. Takuto Maruki had just finished the latest version of his formula. As he prepped for the next trial to take place, he couldn’t help but wish he had some extra hands to help him out.
Usually, Maruki would have the help of his assistant to perform these tasks. However, Haru Okumura was currently in Hawaii helping supervise the trip. Unfortunately, the other student he was looking to enlist the help of, Ren Amamiya, was also on said trip.
When it finally succeeded, Maruki’s formula could revolutionize the medical industry. The Body Accelerated Regeneration Formula, lovingly referred to as BARF, would allow the body to heal from any wound, even missing limbs and organs, near instantly. To call it world shaking would be an understatement.
Sticking the hypodermic needle into one of 3-legged lab rats, he injected the revised formula into its veins.
“Alright Fred, here’s hoping for lucky number 13.”
Maruki turned on the camera to observe Fred’s progression overnight. Stopping for a moment to watch the rat’s behavior, Maruki sighed holding the stump of his right arm. Recalling the reason he started down this path to begin with.
“Please...please work.”
The biologist let out a yawn before checking the time on his watch, surprised by how late it was, or rather early, Maruki took a seat in his lab’s armchair. He was just going to rest his eyes for a minute.
The doctor was out cold in less than a minute.
Many more miles away, two teenagers sat outside of their motel at night with their feet in a hot tub. The sound of strings being plucked carelessly and horribly with absolutely no skill echoed through the otherwise empty space.
Ryuji covered his ears in pain at the sound. “Dude, while it’s cool you found a souvenir, why the fuck do you need to practice it here?”
Yuuki Mishima stopped playing his new ukulele, offended by the question. “There’s no need to be mean Sakamato. I’m trying to learn to play the guitar to help pick up girls. Chicks love guys that play guitar.”
“Actually,” A female voice chimed in. “Ukuleles aren’t considered to be guitars. Guitars have 6 strings while a ukulele only has 4.” From out of the shadow of the motel, 3 figures appeared walking towards the hot tub. The one who spoke being a dark haired girl with a red ribbon in her bangs.
Ryuji only recognized Ann out of the group, the others were strangers to him. The girls walked up the stairs and dipped their feet in the tub as well, enjoying the warm feeling against the cold night air.
“Hey guys! I’m back with the sodas!” Ren called from behind them. “You guys owe me 6 dollars! However much that is in yen!” The superpowered teen hopped up to the tub. “Oh, hey Ann...and friends.”
“Oh that’s right!” Ann said. “You guys haven’t met. Guys this is Hifumi Togo, she’s in Class 2A.” Ann gestured towards the girl with the ribbon. “And this is Haru Okumura from Class 3B.” She pointed to a girl with short fluffy light brown hair.
“Hello.” The fluffy haired girl gave a shy wave. She seemed sad for some reason, like her mind was a million miles away dealing with its own problems.
“Hey I know you!” Ren pointed to Haru. “You T.A. for Dr. Maruki right?”
Haru seemed surprised to be recognized. “Uh, well yes on occasion. I’m planning on becoming a biology major in college. Botany to be specific.”
“Me too!” Ren said. “Well, not botany, but I am interested in biology. Mostly cross-species genetics. I think it’s really amazing what can be accomplished with CRISPR.”
Haru’s face lit up at this, excited to discuss science with another like-minded student. As the pair began to discuss their common interests, the other 4 present were completely lost.
“I read a magazine on frogs the other day!” Ann chimed in.
Everyone present stared at the blonde. The girl cringed in embarrassment over her loud comment.
Not knowing what to do, she decided to continue her thought. “Uh, they discovered a new kind of frog, I guess? A moropuke-something?”
“Oh. A moropukaqumir?” Haru answered. “I read that article as well. I think it’s fantastic that despite frog populations suffering from widespread fungal diseases, they’ve still discovered new species!”
“Uh...Yeah that!”
Ryuji placed his head in his palms, could Ann be any more obvious? If even he could see it, he had no idea how Ren couldn’t.
Next to Ryuji, Mishima stretched his arm. “Boy, it's pretty warm out here isn’t it?” The blue haired boy removed his t-shirt, leaving him in just his swim trunks. Besides his malnourished looking body, something stood out to Ryuji about Mishima.
“Holy shit dude, is that a tattoo?”
On his left bicep, Mishima had a black tattoo of Spider-Man’s symbol. It was small enough and high enough up that a short sleeve shirt could still conceal it, but it was definitely visible now.
“Oh this?” Mishima said with a smirk, he’d obviously meant to show it off. “Just got it the other week. Wanted to show my support for Tokyo’s hero y’know?”
“Are your parents alright with you having that?” Hifumi questioned.
This flustered the boy. “O-Of course! Well at first not, but then I told them I’m a m-man who can make his own choices!”
Ryuji raised a skeptical eyebrow at his friend.
“S-So what do you guys think? Spider-Man’s pretty awesome right? The new one, I mean.”
“Oh I’m a big fan as well!” Haru said excitedly. “Especially after he captured the Vulture!” The girl looked off into the distance as if remembering something before turning back to the group. “He is definitely a great hero!”
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryuji saw Ren blushing while rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’m not so sure.” Everyone turned to face Hifumi who had a serious expression. “I mean, don’t get me wrong I do believe he’s trying to help. But his theatrics can sometimes cause more damage. He destroyed part of an apartment complex in Sumida, they’re still repairing the damages he caused.”
“But he did that for a good reason!” Everyone turned in surprise at Ren who was uncharacteristically defensive. “I mean, the news said that he brought it down to stop Molten Man right? Plus, they evacuated the building, so no one was injured.”
“True, but those people were left without a home for the time being. Wouldn’t a true hero be able to stop a villain without causing harm to the public?” Hifumi pressed further.
Ren was left unsure, only looking down while fiddling with his hoodie’s zipper.
Before Ryuji could reassure his friend, Ms. Kawakami appeared from behind him, scaring the boy and causing him to fall from his seat onto the concrete.
“Hey there *hicc* kids! You all gossiping amongst yourselves?” The woman was holding a margarita in her hand and was clearly drunk. “Oh man, I remember when I was *hicc* you kids’ age. Hoo boy, did I get up to shenan-sh-shenanig...stuff. What was I talking about?”
The 6 teenagers stared silently at the adult who was supposed to be supervising them. Looking around at her students, the teacher was confused by the judgemental looks she was receiving.
“What?”
[59]
Morgana was lonely. With his beloved Lady Ann out of the country, he’d spent the past 5 days trying to keep himself busy. While his family was glad to have him help out at their club, he could only stand to be around his siblings so much before he had to get away.
Unsure of where else to go, the boy found himself at Leblanc in the mid-afternoon. The bell rang as he entered the empty cafe and Sojiro turned to see him.
“Oh hey, you’re one of Ren’s friends. Uhhh Mona right?”
“Morgana actually.” The boy in question looked around. “Are the others around?”
Sojiro pointed his thumb upwards. “They’re upstairs. You’ll have to knock if you want to get in, they said they’re working on a ‘secret present’ for Ren. I don’t know what they mean by that, it’s not like it’s his birthday or anything soon, but I don’t hear anything bad going on up there so I’ll leave them be for now.”
With a nod, Morgana headed up the cafe stairs. He didn’t remember there being a door at the top but he supposed it was a recent addition.
Knocking on the door, there was a brief pause before Futaba’s voice came from the other side.
“We’re all good on coffee Sojiro!”
“It’s Morgana.” He replied.
He thought he heard whispering on the other side, then the sound of the door unlocking.
“It’s open!” Futaba’s voice called.
Morgana opened the door and entered the room. He was surprised by how dark it was, the blinds were closed and the only sources of light were computer screens that lay open strewn across desktops, shelves, and the floor.
The boy recognized the form of Yusuke Kitagawa, hunched over a desk with a needle and thread, his project illuminated by a tiny desk lamp. He seemed intently focused on his task and Morgana wasn’t even sure Yusuke knew he was there.
Futaba was sitting on the floor in her pajamas, she seemed to be typing furiously on two laptops at once. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun with two pens sitting in it, seemingly forgotten. Futaba also seemed completely caught up in what she was doing, however she seemed aware that a third person was present.
“Lock the door.” She said without looking up.
Morgana complied with the request before walking to the center of the room. As he stepped further in, he was suddenly struck by the room’s smell. Holding his nose in disgust, Morgana could only assume that neither of the room’s inhabitants had bathed in days.
“What happened here? It’s disgusting!”
Without looking up from his work Yusuke answered. “We were struck by inspiration! With Ren gone, a once in a lifetime opportunity presented itself!”
Morgana raised a questioning eyebrow at the boy.
“Since Ren’s not here, we can mess around with his Spider-Man stuff.” Futaba explained. “I’m working on the tech and Inari’s working on the suit.”
“Ah, I see. Aaaand what part of that involves not showering for days?”
“Pfft, it's only been like one or two days max. I showered Tuesday.”
“It’s Sunday.”
Futaba glanced up from her laptop, her face confused before she looked back at the computer, presumably checking the date.
“Oh shit! It is Sunday! Do you know what that means!?”
“That you both need soap and deodorant badly?”
Futaba ignored the comment. “Ren’s home tomorrow! Oh god, I need to get ready!” She stood up and began desperately trying to fix her hair. Pens clattered to the floor and Futaba rushed out the door.
Morgana turned to Yusuke who continued his work.
“Aaaaand...finished!” Yusuke held the suit up with pride. Setting it down next to him, he placed his head on the desk and ceased moving.
“Uhh, Yusuke?” Morgana asked in concern.
The sound of snoring cut through the silence and reassured Morgana that the boy was not dead. Morgana placed a blanket over the older boy’s back before exiting the attic.
Morgana left the cafe, waving to Sojiro as he went out the door. As he headed towards the Yongen subway station, he noticed a woman struggling with her suitcase. Morgana considered himself a gentleman, so of course he assisted the woman in need.
As he helped her place her items in the suitcase, the woman looked up. She was older, but still very pretty. Her short hair and glasses gave her an intelligent and refined look.
“Thank you so much young man. I really appreciate it.”