*eats sopas(soup)* I'm sorry, I had a running nose and killer headache for the last two days. It isn't COVID-19, don't worry. I finished this for you, darlings. I'm sorry for the late update :(
Not beta-ed, I die like real men.
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[Asagiri Gen's depterification... Happened 10 days before he met Senku and the others...]
Pouring the revival fluid on the mentalist's head, Tsukasa watched as it effectively broke the petrification.
"...............!!? What is this? A hidden camera prank? My manager didn't stop this? I'm a mentalist, damnit. I mean, I'll take work for publicity and all, but..." Asagiri Gen observed, looking around wildly and seeing a nature scenery instead of the room he remembered he was in.
"It is currently the year 5739 A.D. But you are still as you were at age 19." A deep voice spoke from behind him. Alerted by the voice, Gen turned around to face the owner and seeing a familiar face.
"If I recall... You were with me on the psychological magic TV special... The strongest primate high schooler... Shishiou Tsukasa...!" To think that he would be revived by this fighter, how could he have known the date and the cure or whatever that was?
"All this here, including you... Are statues I have gathered of humans... Humans that should be revived first." Tsukasa explained, shadows casted over his face as he spoke.
Gen saw what he was talking about when he looked past Tsukasa. There are hundreds of statues of strong-looking men that haven't been revived, yet. Gen felt a faint chill ran down his spine, what is he planning with all these statues.
"Gen. With your skills as a mentalist..." He was broke out of his thoughts when Tsukasa called out his name, "There's a job that I wish to request of you. I want you to track three individuals, two of them are travelling together. And read into this psychology. If by some chance... The man named Senku is still alive... I want you to find him. The man I killed with my own hands. The sharpest, most intelligent man in the world. And the two women named Ana and Lalaine, Ana was his assistant. It would be dangerous to just leave her be, especially when she's not alone. She and her friend might come up with something."
Gen kept silent for a while, giving a calculating gaze to Tsukasa.
___
{Still night time}
{The Kingdom of Science}
After telling a bit of some background story to their new friends, Suika immediately freaked out.
"So then this Tsukasa person is a bad guy...? And Gen is one of his friends? Then that means Gen's a bad guy too, right?!"Suika reckoned but then, "But hang on... Gen saved everyone from Magma, didn't he? Then he is a good guy?" Suika was puzzled, not old enough yet to grasp the whole situation.
Lalaine thought Suika's thoughts were so cute~
Ana thought it was pathetic, Suika's thought about the situation and not Suika herself. Pathetic, because it's not just that simple and all. Asagiri was a complicated person, being a mentalist wouldn't help either. Ana doesn't like it when she's being brutally honest. Good thing she only thought of that in her mind and did not said it out loud.
"Kukuku... He's not a good guy, or a bad guy." Senku said, leaning back from his sitting position.
"He is a superficial opportunist, through and through." Lalaine tried to explain as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Agathokakological, right? It was one of Athena's password for her phone." Ana recalled, cocking her head at Lalaine from where she was sitting next to the vegetable nerd.
"What's... Agatha-what?" Chrome questioned, already forgetting the whole word as he wasn't used to saying those kind of words.
"Definition is... Composed of both good and evil." Ana answered after a bit of searching through her unorganized mind. Senku decided to go back to the main topic of the conversation.
"Regardless if Asagiri Gen is good or bad... We have no choice but to recruit him into the Kingdom of Science. In order to have him deliver the fake information of 'Tsukasa! Senku's definitely dead! And I've never come across the two women you mentioned!' This the only means we have of attaining victory." Senku declared firmly.
"OHHH! WERE YOU LISTENING, GEN?!" Chrome screamed from the storehouse as he looked down to Gen below, who was a bit surprised at his sudden loud shoutings. Chrome is not done yet.
"YOU SAW IT TOO, DIDN'T YOU?! THAT ELECTRICITY!! THAT CRAZY INSANE LIGHT OF SCIENCE!! Winning or losing... WHATEVER YOU KNOW... OR WHO IS GONNA WIN AMONG TSUKASA VS. SENKU AND ANA... DOES ANY OF THAT EVEN MATTER? IT'S FRICKIN' INTERESTING!!! WITHOUT A DOUBT... THE KINGDOM OF SCIENCE IS GONNA BE CRAZY!"
From over Chrome's shoulder, Lalaine and Ana were looking at Gen, who hadn't responded yet. Gen shrugged, giving them a closed-eye smile.
"The passions of a young man sure burn hot~ But unfortunately, mine do not Chrome. As the world's most silver tongued man... The only things I look out for are my own interests."
With that, he turned to his back and walk away silently. Chrome was surprised at this while Ana stopped a seething Kohaku, who already got her knives out, from following and killing Gen. Said man looked at the generator as he walked past, touching the disc and just smiling.
His smile fell when he heard someone stepped from behind him. Before he could even call out the stranger, he felt a strong punch collided with his cheek as he was sent back a few feet. Gen saw the spear heading his way next.
"Wh... o... are... you...?" Gen managed to rasp out just before the spear was stabbed to his stomach, he tried to grasp it but his strength left him and his hand fell limply. He saw the silhouette of a large bulky figure and then the unknown person was gone.
{A few minutes before Gen was assaulted}
"He sure is a difficult man..." Commented Lalaine as she sat back down and continued to lay on her back, using Ana's lap as a pillow.
"You don't say..." Ana trailed off, she managed to calm down Kohaku earlier, "What now, though? How to get Asagiri-san on our side, just me being his fan wouldn't cut it. Is there anything he want that we can make, Senku?"
The scientist pondered what she said, "Of course there will be something that he wants, the only problem is we don't know what."
"Didn't Gen said that he wants a harem?" Suika added helplessy, Kohaku, Chrome and Lalaine sweatdropped at the little girl.
"Suika, that's not something we can just give to him-" Lalaine was just about to explain to her why giving Gen a harem would be one of the greatest mistakes in the world when Ana shushed her by putting a finger over her lips.
"Ana, what are you..."
Lalaine saw the expression on Ana's face and she sat up, turning to face her. William rose from his coiled form, hissing in a manner where the rest of them jumped in panic. As soon as Lalaine did though, Ana lunged for the open door and jumped down straight to the ground. Followed by Kohaku, Chrome, Suika and then Senku and Lalaine.
"ANA WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Senku shouted, staring at her running figure ahead of them.
"WHAT WAS THAT SOUND...?! I HEARD IT JUST NOW!!" Screamed Ana, but she didn't stop running.
All of them gasped in surprise as they reached their destination when Ana stopped... In front of them was the bloodied mess Asagiri's body turn into. They all stood beside his body.
"A... ARE YOU ALRIGHT, GEN...?!" Chrome asked.
"OF COURSE HE'S NOT! JUST LOOK AT HIM!!" Ana pointed out angrily, her anger not at Asagiri, but at the one who did this. William was becoming restless from his position due to Ana's distress. Lalaine looked worriedly at her friend, it's not advicable for her to calm Ana right now. Even Ana herself said so, that if she's in a state like this, don't try to calm her.
Lalaine was torn into what she needed to do now. Wait- There's a dead body in front of her!!
"He's gone... Just look at him, he must have died instantly. Who would have done this..." Kohaku exclaimed, trailing at the end.
"NO, WAIT!" Senku called out, crouching down beside Gen's body and pulling out the spear along with something, "It's a bag full of blood... It protected him."
Suika checked Gen's body and found some more, "He's got them tucked away all over his body!"
"THESE ARE CRAZY!!" Chrome exclaimed in amazement, holding out one of the bags, "From the very moment he arrived in the village, he was prepared for the worst. And he went all-out in protecting himself with these...!"
"To think that he actually thought out this far... He's really prepared for it all, huh..." Lalaine muttered, seeing all the bags of 'blood'.
"Kukuku, not bad at all. A magician to the very core... Aren't you...!!
They carried his body, Senku and Chrome struggling a bit when it came to carrying Gen's body up the ladder and the storehouse.
It was such a good thing that Chrome were collecting all kinds of herbs he could in the storehouse, Ana didn't even had second thoughts of using them right away. If you're thinking that she finally calmed down by now, you're very wrong. It got worse all throughout her job of taking care of Asagiri.
She's quiet, yes, but the veins on her forehead and hands told Lalaine otherwise.
"DAMN IT!! WE'LL DEFINITELY CATCH WHOEVER DID THIS!!" Chrome announced, clenching his fist.
"Before we go searching for the culprit, we've got a much more important problem to deal with." Kohaku interrupted Chorme, hugging her knees to closer to her. Gen stared silently at the ceiling, "In his current condition, we've no idea when he'll be able to walk again. But if Gen doesn't return to Tsukasa, then he'll believe Gen was killed by Senku."
While she was distracted by her thoughts, the blonde girl didn't noticed Ana about to poker her on her back to get her attention...
... Only when she felt like someone just stabbed her with an incredibly sharp sword with poision coating it, Kohaku jumped to her feet in fear and got her knives out and ready to defend herself from the presence, her eyes widening as a cold sweat ran down her face. The presence was-
Ana stared at her in confusion, not even a trace of something evil on her face or in her eyes. Just pure confusion by the blonde's action, "Kohaku-chan, why are you in a stance? Are you still alert from what happened to Asagir-san? I suppose that's obvious. I was just about to tell you that it's okay for you to go get some rest in the village. We can handle this from now." Ana informed, setting William down on the floor.
Kohaku agreed, knowing that this wasn't one of her fields of expertise. After saying goodbye and now walking back to the village with Chrome and Suika, Kohaku couldn't help but feel a shiver ran down her spine.
'What... Was that earlier? It couldn't have been Ana, she's the very opposite of that presence. Even so, the only one that poke me was her from what I remember... Was that bloodlust? That was the first time I felt something so sinister, pure evil and just... Wanted to commit bloodshed. It felt like something that could kill me in my sleep. That time, I wasn't in a stance to attack, but to defend. Why? Why would I defend my life instead of killing whoever that I felt it from.'
Kohaku stopped, she'd already dropped off Suika to where she were sleeping, 'Defend my life...? That mere presence was able to made me feel cornered to the point that the only objective that I had in mind and body was to defend my life instead of attacking that... Something. I was scared.'
For the first time in a long time, Kohaku felt genuine fear as she went to sleep that night.
___
Even later that night, with the others gone and only Senku, Lalaine, Ana and Gen are in the storehouse. After a bit of some forcing, Ana eventually got Lalaine to sleep by pressing a pressure point. She didn't want Lalaine to overwork her body, after all.
"But you've been overworking your body since the beginning and I know it-!" Was the last thing Lalaine said before she was put to sleep by Ana.
"Normally, this would only relax your body and you'll just feel a bit drowsy but you fell asleep straightaway. You're the one overworking your self, not me." The last bit seems to be directed towards herself.
Ana released a shaky breath as she got back beside Asagiri to check up on him again, She's been getting anxious because of what happened to the mentalist. She thought of the unknown person who did this and she gritted her teeth. William looked up at her from where he was watching the beaten up human when he felt her emotions again.
'Calm down, Ana... Fucking... Calm down, don't fucking let it out after all those years of training your mind-' The black-haired girl's train of thoughts were cut off as she felt a hand touch her tightly clenched fist. When did she clench her fist? Ana looked up to Senku.
"He's going to be alright, Ana. Whoever did this will get what they deserve later. I'm pretty sure that you won't let this get away easily, no?" Senku asked even though he already knew the answer.
Ana relaxed her body, unclenching her fists as she took deep breathes as she held his hand gently instead to calm her self down.
"After seeing Tsukasa murder those statues, I shouldn't be that much surprised of this. But he didn't even do anything wrong since he came here. I'm upset, I guess. But I worry for Lalaine, too. I know Athena is safe out there with Taiju and Yuzuriha, but I guess, I imagined if something like this happened to Lalaine, or anyone I care about for that matter, under my watch... I would never forgive myself for the failure I will be."
She's been saying 'I guess' a lot, haven't she?
Asagiri, who had been listening to the conversation, turn to his side, saying something inaudible for Senku and Ana. Ana only heard broken words since Asagiri's voice are a bit sore right now. The two looked at each other first before leaning in closer to hear what Asagiri was trying to tell them.
Ana leaned back, not quite sure about what Asagiri was asking for them. One look in Senku's eyes and Ana confidently voiced out their decision. Asagiri smiled from his laying position.
___
[The next day]
"......... THIS IS INSANE!!! GEN... HE'S GONE!!!" Lalaine screamed first thing in the morning.
___
Gen ran as fast as his beaten up body could do, he was glad that Ana managed to heal him where he could run even through his injuries. He panted heavily, but didn't dare stop to take a break.
___
Senku, from where he and Ana were standing below, picked on his right ear as he nonchalantly gazed off. Kohaku, Chrome and Suika were behind them.
"Ahhhh... He's probably gone back to Tsukasa's." Said Senku bluntly.
"That's bad!! HE PROBABLY WENT BACK TO TELL TSUKASA ABOUT YOU THREE, RIGHT?! THAT YOU'RE STILL ALIVE AND ANA AND LALAINE ARE HERE...!!" Chrome concluded, starting to panic himself.
Ana huffed from beside Senku as she crossed her arms.
___
Gen wheezed as he reached the cave, running past the guard and entering the cave were Tsukasa is.
"Tsukasa...!" He panted, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breathing, "There was a primitive village... And I got into a bit of a fight with the guys there and got a liiiiitle bit hurt... But among them....! Senku was..." Gen trailed off for dramatic pause, sweating a lot from all that running.
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"In the first place, Gen was a man without a millimeter's worth of interest for Science. From the very start, Asagiri-san probably came without any intent of helping us...-" Senku started, facing the others as Lalaine climbed down and joined them.
"-But from the very moment that we created electricity... Asagiri-san decided right then who he would join... But..." Ana continued, trailing off as she raised a hand to stretch her neck.
"- A superficial man will have superficial ways.... In which he tried to show what he's really made of." Senku finished, looking back at Ana as they bumped their fists for finishing each others' sentences yet again.
"... Men are really such trouble... No matter what era they're from." Commented Kohaku.
"They aren't, darling. If you're me, that is." Ana shrugged, her and Senku's mind flashing back to what Asagiri asked for them last night and to his first words when he arrived at the village.
"This really makes me wish I had something to drink... Like a nice cold cola~"
"In this Stone World... Do you think you two can make it, Senku, Ana? A bottle... Of cola...?" Asagiri asked, a nostalgic smile on his face.
One look at Senku's eyes, Ana replied, "Yeah... We can. Just leave it to us."
A decision has been made, then.
___
"Senku was... Completely missing. No hide nor hair of him was there. He's without a doubt dead, through and through. Same could be say to those two women you mentioned, only they're probably alive somewhere faaaaar away by now. I've never came across them." Gen reported, a cheery smile on his face in front of a silent Tsukasa.
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"AHH! SO THEN THE FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN TSUKASA'S EMPIRE AND THE KINGDOME OF SCIENCE... THAT BATTLE FOR ASAGIRI GEN... WAS WON BY THE KINGDOM OF SCIENCE!!" Kohaku cheered along with Chrome, Lalaine and Suika. Lalaine and Suika started jumping around in joy.
"Bound over one bottle of cola... The alliance with the world's most shallow man was formed." Ana narrated, sighing fondly as she smirked at Senku.
"Kukuku, guess there's nothing left to do... But use all the Science we've got at our command to make it!"
[THIS IS THE TASTE OF A 'PROMISE']
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Did I do good with the portrayal of Ana's bloodlust leaking out from all the pent out emotions since Senku's 'death'?
I'm really sorry I didn't update yesterday.
I love you if you got the reference of that bloodlust and Kohaku's reaction. But then again, I love all of you.
Meme I found from our Dr. Stone fb page. Credits to the owner, as usual😂