Chapter Text
The group is being attacked by a plane that's not even supposed to be existing in the day or era.
The worst part is they are shooting at them with guns using real bullets. Senku can practically hear Gen wailing about karma because of how many times they lied and bluffed about having firearms on their enemies before.
Ryusui piloted the lab car with precision, speeding as fast as he could since he knew the lab and boat they had couldn't withstand the damage for much longer. The fighters' team is trailing behind them. They are trying their best to cover themselves since they are roofless.
Senku is looking around the lab.
"What's the plan here, Senku-chan!?" Gen cries from behind him. Chrome is standing next to him, waiting for a command. Suika is holding onto Ryusui for dear life.
He could make a scientific weapon to stop the plane without possibly killing the enemy. But that wouldn't get him anywhere. Or that may be the reason the whole fight happened in the first place.
Alright, Senku had decided.
Senku strengthens his posture. Everyone in the lab car notices their leader's change in mood. Good news for them: this means that Senku had come up with a plan. Bad news for them: Senku had come up with a plan.
"Senku-chan? What's wrong?" Gen asked. Senku, as usual, did not satisfy him with an answer yet.
"Find me a long stick and some fabric! The whiter, the better!" Senku yells out his command. Everyone in the lab car started running for the supplies for their leader.
"Ryusui, keep the lab steady, but slow down a bit." Senku tells Ryusui, who has some doubts about the strategy followed.
"Hah! His plans have never led us astray before!" Ryusui thought to himself as he slowed down the lab.
"Here you go, Senku-chan. Would this be big enough?" Gen asked, holding some of the spare fabric they made from the hemp. The size is as big as a pillowcase. It'll do.
"I can't find any stick. But I found this telescope that extended." Chrome shows his findings. Senku grabs it with no comments.
He began tying one end of the fabric to the telescope. Chrome and Gen are rushing him for an explanation.
Finished, Senku opens up the roof opening and sticks his head out.
"Wah! What are you doing, Senku-chan?" Gen yelled out in distress. Senku can hear Kohaku and Tsukasa also yelling at him to go back inside, but he ignores all of them.
Senku raises the telescope with the fabric attached and waves it to get the pilot's attention.
" 'We surrender!!' " Senku yells out loudly. Both the lab car and boat yell out in confusion.
"Oh, interesting..." Stanley, who was piloting the plane, smiled in interest. He stopped his shooting and slowed down the speed of his plane.
"Senku, what are you doing?" Ryusui asked the scientist. Senku paid him no mind.
Some people in their group look confused at their leader's choice of words since Senku had spoken in English. Ukyo looks distraught but understanding nonetheless.
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The lab car slowly stopped and reached land, and so did the boat with the fighters. The plane landed quite near, but not close enough for them to snatch it.
Senku clicks his tongue in annoyance.
"Of course this guy would be smart enough for that." Senku thought to himself as he exited the lab car. He told Suika and Chrome to stay inside.
A man in some weird armor that's covering all of his upper body walks towards them. On his shoulder is the machine gun that he used to shoot at them.
" 'So you decide to surrender?' " The man asked. The whole group is on high alert. Tsukasa, Hyoga, and Kohaku in battle-ready position.
" 'Yeah, wouldn't do us good if you just massacred us with those guns of yours' " Senku answered in English with his trademark confidence.
" 'Oh, I guess you're not as dumb as you look,' " Stanley said with the unnecessary comment.
Both sides can feel the tension in the air. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
" 'Very well then, your boat will follow my plane then. If I see any funny business, I'll gun you down myself. Ok?' " the man asked. He opened his mask to reveal himself to the group. A blonde young man in his twenties, maybe thirty, wearing a black suit with weapons all over his body.
" 'Alright then.' Everyone get back to the boat! We're following this guy to where he wants to take us!" Senku explains to the rest of the team.
"Senku-chan? Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, he could be leading us to a trap." Gen asked Senku, who oddly handled that transaction better than he usually does. Senku only smirks at his questions.
"He he, there's no point in him doing that. Not that we have anything to combat his weapons. They are clearly on a whole new level." Senku dramatically explained. Most of the team got his message that they're clearly not winning this fight despite having the higher numbers.
" 'Alright enough sitting around. "We're wasting time, let's move! ' " the man returns to his plane.
Everyone, while hesitant, returns to their respective vehicle. None of them understand what their brilliant leader is thinking, but they trust him with their lives, and he has never let them down yet.
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During the trip to their unknown destination, everyone spends the time asking each other what they think the enemy base will look like.
"It must look amazing!" Chrome shouted. Gen looks more worried than excited at the thought.
"I'm surprised you can still be this optimistic, Chrome-chan." Gen said, smiling. despite the never-ending sweat running down his face.
"I mean, they must be pretty advanced to make that bad plane!" Chrome yelled back.
"Ha ha! Well, no matter how impressive they are, we must keep our wits together. But yes, I do agree their technological advancement is quite amazing. I desire it!!" Ryusui snaps his fingers excitedly. If Gen wasn't worried before, he certainly is now.
"Alright! Enough yapping. We're here, so be ready!" Senku yelled to everyone in the Kingdom of Science. Everyone shouted back a response and began preparing to leave the river.
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They arrived at a patch of land that seems to have been cleared by a group of humans. The place is filled with corn. There's a gigantic castle-like structure in the middle of everything. Smoke is coming from one of the towers. The group watches in awe.
"Oh my, I hope these people are much more reasonable than our enemies before." Gen voices out his worries. Mainly because if it comes to them actually needing to negotiate for their lives, he knows that the job would be left to the mentalist.
"Ha! I doubt they would welcome us with open arms even though we have already surrendered." Ryusui said with a serious tone. The captain's words only made the mentalist shrink more.
"Ukyo, send a message to the group that we have come in contact with people and tell them to stay put until further notice." Senku tells the sonar expert he rubs his neck lazily. Ukyo nodded and began to send a brief message on the situation.
As Ukyo began typing a message to the Perseus, his ears caught an unfamiliar sound.
"Is Senku wearing something on his chest?" Ukyo ponders to himself.
Gen watched the whole interaction, briefly analyzing the look on the scientist's face. His eyes trail to his neck. There was a different color, not similar to the color of the usual coat the scientist is wearing. A different shirt? No, that's not it; it's too thin to be a shirt. Is there something on it?
The kingdom of science made their way through the field towards the building. Senku stopped walking a few feet from the building. This made everyone stop walking.
"Senku?" Chrome asked worriedly.
Stanley stopped walking when he realized the group of children had stopped following him.
" ' What's wrong?' " He asked, keeping his hand steady on his weapon.
The silence was deafening. Ginrou swallowed worriedly. The whole team was ready for anything. Senku let out a sigh.
" 'Yeah, we are not going inside. We're meeting your leader here.' " Senku explains as he picked at his ear. The group was stunned at their leader's decision.
" 'Huh? I don't think you are in a position to make demands here.' " Stanley retorted back. Gen carefully stepped in front of him.
" 'Woah woah, it's not that! But we're worried that there might be a trap or something. Clearly if you were in our shoes, you would do the same thing?' " Gen explained as he tried to reason with the soldier. Stanley only stared back at him. Gen could feel the sweat coming down his face.
" 'Fine' " He walked away. Gen let out a deep sigh of relief. Senku had not said a word on anything.
Stanley called upon some people. From what they understand, they are told to stand guard while he goes to get someone.
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" 'Oh who are these people? 'They look tiny!' " Some big buff lady walks towards them. Suika ran to hide behind Francois, who shielded her the best they could.
" 'Everyone looks small to you...' " Another guy said to the lady. The group of people had given them some space to stand and wait. But it's within their eyesight.
"What should we do when we meet the leader?" Tsukasa asked. The whole group turned to him.
"We should just prepare to fight in case they won't accept peace as an answer!" Kohaku answered loudly.
"We should try our best to make sure that doesn't happen…" Ukyo chimes in; his trademark smile is wavering a bit. He turns to Gen, who already knows that he is in charge of making sure that doesn't happen.
"Oh my, things are just never that easy for us, huh?" Gen said before turning to Senku. Senku looks serious but has no fear in his posture or body language at all.
"Senku-chan, perhaps you stay out of this until we're sure they won't kill us. Unless you have a big scheme that you haven't told us?" Gen asked, having known Senku long enough. This man has been giving Gen heart attacks with how terrible and blunt his negotiating skills are.
"Nah, not really." Senku answers while picking at his ear. Naturally none of them believe that.
A few minutes later, Stanley returns with a man behind him. He wears a lab coat, with a gigantic X mark on his face.
Everyone instinctively stands in a defensive position. With the fighters' team at the front, covering Gen, Senku, Chrome, and the rest behind them.
Gen looks worried at the fact of talking to this man. Suddenly he hears Senku let out a small laugh that is barely heard by the people around him.
"Huh?" Gen tilted his head in confusion, but before he could say anything, the enemy began talking and shifted all attention to him.
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"Hello there, newcomers of the new world!" The man in the lab coat said he raised his arms dramatically.
"Pardon my broken Japanese, but surely it should be enough for people like you to understand." He speaks in somewhat fluent Japanese with an accent. He had walked in front of Stanley, who pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
The team had to practically hold Magma back from charging at the man.
"My name is Doctor. Xeno and these people are my subordinates. That man over there who for some reason has a bizarre habit of sucking toxic fumes into his lungs is Stanley." Xeno explains with a grin on his face.
" 'Shut up, they're just cigarettes.' " Stanley retorted back. Xeno only smiles at the soldier's comment.
"And who might you people be? Clearly you are smart and capable enough to build a moving vehicle that's powered by burning fuel. Do you have your own set of scientists?" Xeno asked with curiosity.The man was bombarding them with questions.
Before Gen could come up with a good reply, his train of thought was broken when Senku started laughing again, but louder this time. Weirdly enough, it's not entirely the classic evil scientist laugh that they had known and loved.
"He he, I never thought this would be how we officially met. But beggars can't be choosers, I suppose." Senku said mostly to himself, making himself known to the enemy. His hand is covering his face as he looks at the sky.
"Do we know each other?" Xeno asked, his face looking oddly hopeful towards the young scientist.
The group had made an opening for Senku. Letting Xeno have a proper view of him. The young boy did not move towards him at all.
Senku pulled his hand away from his face and took a deep breath. He turns to face Xeno, who is standing 10 feet away from him.
"Hello there, Doctor Xeno, or should I say Doctor X?" Senku said with a soft smile on his face.
Xeno stopped breathing for almost two seconds. Before breaking out into a hopeful smile. There was only one person who calls him that.
"Doctor Senku?" He asked to confirm. The smile that never left Senku's face was all the answer he needed.
The whole group was shocked at this revelation. Senku knew this guy, and this scientist knew Senku? The moment felt so important that not a single person moved to do anything.
Senku walked slowly towards Xeno, then his walking became faster. It turns into a full sprint.
To the naked eye it looked like Senku was running in joy. But something doesn't feel right…
Xeno, who was shocked at this new discovery, was stricken when his mentee started running towards him. He had never struck Senku as the type to be emotional about these things, but it has been 3700 years since they last saw each other. So oddly enough, he spread his arm slightly in a way to catch the incoming young scientist.
Suddenly, the moment Senku got to be face-to-face with Xeno, his eyes became sharp. Stanley saw this and got ready to push Xeno away and attack the kid.
"Gotcha!" Senku thought to himself; his smirk never left his face.
He pulled on his neck area, and a rope was in his hand.
"A rope? A necklace of some sort?" Stanley thought to himself. He pulls out a knife to attack Senku. When all of a sudden he hears.
"One meter. One second." Senku swings the rope towards Stanley. The rope had an odd trinket at the end of it. Before he could do anything, a familiar light came out of it, and he was petrified.
Everyone screams at the light that petrified the soldier. Xeno, who was shocked at everything that was going on, was ultimately confused about what was happening.
"What!? Senku-chan, why do you have the Medusa!?" Gen yells out worriedly.
"How did you get it to work? Didn't we finish the charge on Tsukasa!?" Chrome asked loudly, demanding answers.
"Senku, explain yourself!" Ryusui commanded living up to his title as the captain.
"That's impossible..." Ukyo is still in shock at what he just witnessed.
Senku did not answer any of his friends' questions and instead turned his attention to Xeno. He pulls out something from his tool belt. Usually they are filled with small bandages, minerals, or digging tools like a small hand shovel. But this was not one of them.
He pulls out a gun that is supposed to be in Yo's or Ryusui's care. It looks different, though. More slick in the design and smaller, but you can easily identify that it's a gun. Senku places the gun barrel under Xeno's chin, staring him in the eyes.
"He he, you and that soldier of yours have been the biggest nuisance of my life. Which is a pretty tall list." Senku said with a manic grin on his face.
"Senku?...what?" Xeno asked; he couldn't even hide his confusion if he tried.
"Heh, don't worry; you can bring him back later. 'And as for all of you in the back, I can turn you back to stone when I feel like it, so don't even try anything.' " Senku had yelled out the last sentence in English before switching back. The group of soldiers surrounding him step back slightly. None of them knew what to do with their petrified captain and Xeno being held at gunpoint.
"Now, you and I are going to talk, and you are going to give me access to your lab. Don't even think I won't hesitate to shoot you. Trust me, I have ways to bring you back in case you die from bleeding out." Senku explained, or more likely, threatened Xeno. Xeno took a breath before composing himself.
"Very well then." Xeno agreed. Satisfied with that answer, Senku let go of his hold on the older scientist and began walking towards the lab.
Before he was out of sight, he yelled back at the group.
"Oh, and you can turn your little soldier back. It's only been a few minutes, so not much change for him to happen." He said to Xeno. Then he turns to his comrades, who are still frozen in shock.
"And the rest of you can contact the Perseus to tell them that we're alive and whatnot!" Senku said before walking away. His tone sounded like this was a normal day in their daily life, and he was not threatening a guy with a gun and a working Medusa.
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The five wise generals, minus one, follow the scientist to the supposed laboratory in the enemy territory.
"It's baaad! This place looks amazing!!" Chrome yelled out in excitement.
Ukyo and Gen also look at the structure in awe. But Ryusui was having none of it.
"Senku, You still have not explained anything! How do you know the enemy leader? Why do you have an unknown gun? And why is the medusa still active?!" Ryusui rapid-fires all of his questions. Gone was the laid-back personality that the captain always wore. Senku only turns his head to look at Ryusui as if he is asking a ridiculous question.
"Huh? I knew Xeno from my rocket-making days. I made the gun a while back as a backup before we left for America, and for the Medusa, I just changed the battery." Senku answered nonchalantly that the whole group was taken aback at everything he just said.
Senku continues rummaging through Xeno's stuff. Knocking some of it down on the ground but not breaking them.
"I would prefer if you handled my equipment in a more elegant manner." Xeno walks in with Stanley trailing behind him with a gun in hand. He looks pissed.
"Oh Xeno, there you are. So questions, How advanced is your technology level right now?" Senku asked, still rummaging through Xeno's inventions.
"I have computers, but they are not as advanced as the 21st-century version." Xeno answered. Most of the generals and Stanley were shocked that Xeno even answered anything.
Senku hums in response.
"Mmm, is it possible to make a vacuum chamber quickly then? And knowing that you could communicate with your soldier boy over there even at long range tells me you have some pretty good communication equipment." Senku rambles. He looked quite excited looking through the other scientist's collection.
Half of the group are most confused at what he just said. The other half, while understanding what he wants, is confused at what his goals are with these things.
"Why do you actually need these things, Senku-chan?" Gen asked; he was really hoping whatever the reason would clear up all of his confusion. Stanley pushes aside everyone and points his gun towards Senku.
" 'Who the hell cares what you want? You can't just barge in here demanding shit like you own this place.' " Stanley spat out. Personally, Senku is ten billion percent sure that he's not mad that Senku petrified him. Stanley is only attacking him because he considers him a threat and nothing more.
"Nah, you're right. I shouldn't. But if you think that this is going to scare me, then you are wrong." Senku's smirk became wider. "I died so many times I might develop a liking for it or something…" Senku jokes. The group just looks more uncomfortable with each word.
"But as much as I enjoy talking to all of you, it can be lonely when there's no one you can actively relate to in your situation..." The scientist continued talking. To whom? Nobody is sure anymore. Xeno, while intrigued, cannot hide the slight confusion in his face.
"And why do you think I would provide you with this equipment you want? I can still tell all my men to gun down all your friends outside," Xeno threatened, trying to balance out the scale of control. Or most likely tipped it back to his favor.
To this, Senku only laughs.
"Ha ha ha, you want to know why? Because you will ultimately help me. Because I can assure you that what I have going on is ten billion percent way more interesting than your stupid world domination plan." Senku said with a smug grin on his face. Xeno looks taken aback and offended that Senku had rejected his goals before he even presented them to the young scientist. Wait, he never did that, so how did he know?
"And pray tell, what might that be?" Xeno asked the question that's on everyone's mind.
Everyone in the room waits in anticipation for his answer. Gen was sweating profusely. Ukyo looks like he's ready to die at this very moment. Chrome looked confused but still waited with never-ending bravery. Ryusui looks prepared for anything.
Red eyes staring ever so fiercely at them. The bravado that pours out of his body is just like when he's showing them the new blueprint for a project. Yet a somber smile betrayed the classic excited face to the untrained eye.
"I'm from the future. And this isn't the first time I went back."
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Well, who could expect that...?