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Xeno smirked.
All was going to plan.
Before long, Stan would have the baby scientist brigade under wraps and Senku would have no choice but to surrender.
However, he was stunned, as in the middle of his musings, he was met with a blade to his throat.
It made the smallest of cuts, and a thin line of blood began to trickle down his neck.
His eyes were wide with surprise as his gaze met the fearsome gaze of a very pissed off looking Japanese man.
No matter.
They wouldn’t win.
Stanley would ensure it.
~~~~~~
Xeno gawked as he was roughly thrown down beside where Stan laid unconscious.
How was that possible?!?! How did these brats manage to get the jump on Stan of all people?!
He grimaced as he was approached by Senku.
Senku knelt to his level.
He spoke clearly in English, “You lose, Xeno. I have your dog subdued and you’re now in my grasp as well.”
Xeno practically hissed, “How elegant, my protege, but that won’t be enough to subdue my kingdom. They will come for me and the roles will be reversed soon. I must admit though, that this was a clever attempt at gaining power over my operation.”
Senku simply grinned widely.
It was quite an unsettling sight.
It made him shudder a bit.
He then said, “We will see about that.”
~~~~~~
Brody grimaced as he took in the damage that had been done to Xeno’s war room.
He had to admit that it had been pretty clever of those kids to tunnel under like that and capture the enemy leader.
He was currently the acting leader of the remainder of the colony now that both Xeno and Stanley had been captured by the enemy.
He had to wonder if any of those kids had the guts to have already killed Xeno and Stan. After all, it would make sense considering those two had launched multiple attacks already.
He was honestly surprised that the kids hadn’t tried to run or anything.
Clearly whomever it was that Xeno had had killed hadn’t been the true mastermind of the crew on that boat.
He raised a brow as he soon heard a signal coming through on their radio.
He picked up the headset and held a grimace on his face as he hailed, “This is acting Commander Brody of the USAmerican Colony. Who is hailing us?”
A slight burst of static emitted before he heard a small laugh come through before a voice spoke in accented English, “Well, Brody, we have captured your leader. Now, I don’t know where your loyalties to Xeno lie, but if you agree to join my Kingdom and I, I will build your Kingdom up better than Xeno ever could have and revive more people.”
Brody huffed before saying, “Hm. Interesting proposition, but you could be lying just to try to gain access into our compound.”
Another laugh echoed over the connection before the boy said, “Yep, but then I wouldn’t tell you what I’m about to tell you.”
Brody’s eyes widened as the boy then spouted out a specific formula that he claimed would revive more people.
“I’ll radio back in a few hours. Go ahead and try it. This will give you time to think of my proposal.”
The connection was then cut off.
Brody smirked.
That kid had some guts.
~~~~~~
Gen wanted to scream as he pulled at his hair.
He was just glad that it had been Brody that answered. Of all the people he’d met on the American base, he’d seemed to be the most reasonable in regard to figuring out that the Americans weren’t the only revived anymore.
He had been quite surprised that Senku had given up the revival formula recipe this early in the game though.
He supposed that it was a show of good faith though.
Senku hadn’t listened to his recommendations on how the conversation should go, but Brody hadn’t gotten antagonistic with them at all. He’d simply sounded serious at first and kind of amused towards the end of the conversation.
He really hoped that Brody made the formula right and figured out that Senku wasn’t lying.
~~~~~~
Brody’s eyes widened as the stone broke off of Joel piece by piece. That Japanese kid hadn’t lied!
Joel seemed to come out of the stone a bit sluggishly before popping up to stand with a small screech before saying, “Brody?! What?”
Brody cackled as he slapped the kid on the shoulder.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, kid! I bet this isn’t how you expected your engineering internship with me to go?!”
Joel simply stared at him for a minute before smacking his forehead and mumbling, “I knew I should’ve just stayed in my uncle’s clock shop and worked on the watches.”
Brody cackled again before leading Joel away as he explained the situation of being revived into a stone world to the kid.
~~~~~~
Senku grinned as he got the response he’d wanted from Brody, “It worked, kid. I’m game to meet up.”
Gen warned, “Be sure to have Tsukasa with you.”
Senku rolled his eyes before responding to Brody, “Good. Some of my advisors and I will meet you at the midpoint between our ship’s location and your base for further discussions.”
Brody then proposed a time, and it was agreed upon.
They would be meeting the next day.
~~~~~~
Senku, Nikki, Gen, Tsukasa, and Ukyo all set out for the meeting point.
Tsukasa at the front, ever wary of their surroundings.
The Americans were already present when they arrived.
Senku nodded in greeting at the one that Gen had pointed out to be Brody.
The man held a wide smile on his face as he greeted, “Welcome to America, kids. Hopefully, things can be peaceful from here on out.”
Senku grimaced slightly before saying, “That will depend on your actions. If you dare to kill another person from my crew, I will no longer hesitate to retaliate. “
Brody rubbed the back of his head as he sighed and said, “I don’t plan on that. Personally, I didn’t agree with Xeno’s dictatorial thinking, but he’s the one that developed most of what we have, so we kind of just banded together to survive.”
Senku nodded as he said, "Good. You won’t have to rely on him any longer. He’s out of the equation for the moment. He's still alive as his mind may still prove to be useful and I am currently against killing him. The sniper still lives as well, though he is injured.”
Brody grimaced, “Xeno’s not going to stay restrained for long, especially if Stanley wakes up.”
Tsukasa responded, “Neither will be a problem. Regardless of their potential usefulness, they are being guarded by two who will not hesitate to deal a killing blow if they try anything.”
Senku had to translate a bit of that statement as Brody nodded in understanding.
Brody then said, "Well then, let’s get started on why we’re gathered. You’ve already given us the formula to help us grow our numbers, but that couldn’t be your only goal. Start talking, kid.”
Senku smirked and started talking.
~~~~~~
Brody watched as the baby scientist brigade left.
That kid Senku had some quite lofty goals, but with the determination in those eyes, they were going to be met if it took the kid to his last dying breath.
He had to admit, the plan was quite ambitious, and he was no rocket scientist, but it still seemed feasible, especially if the kid managed to establish those other cities he’d talked about.
Some of his crew had even apparently volunteered to stay behind and help the colony grow while the rest went around the world reviving people and gaining resources.
Lofty and ambitious, indeed.
~~~~~~
Xeno looked towards Stan as he heard the tied-up man groan and curse a blue streak.
He quickly tapped out a plan in morse code on Stan’s arm. He felt Stan tap back lightly and start at the ropes on his wrists.
He smirked.
~~~~~~
Everyone paused as they neared the boat and could hear Ryusui screaming angrily.
They hastily made it back on to see that Xeno and Stan had managed to spring themselves loose.
The two facing away from them as they returned.
Senku, however, was frozen as he realized the seriousness of the situation.
Stanley was holding Yuzuriha to him. A knife at her neck while Xeno and Ryusui were arguing back and forth.
Senku felt the blood rush to his head as rage took the place of shock and fear.
He ripped the bow and arrow out of Ukyo’s hands and aimed.
Ukyo held a look of surprise on his face as he’d stumbled back from the force of Senku ripping his weapon away from him.
They all stood there shocked as Senku quickly adjusted his aim.
A startled shriek came from Yuzuriha and Xeno both as an arrow impaled the blonde man from the back of the head. The grip on the knife held to Yuxuriha’s throat went lax as the man fell backward.
During the distraction, Senku dropped the bow and raced up the ramp towards Yuzuriha, who was shaking with tears and had collapsed to her knees.
Xeno lunged towards her and the knife that had been forcefully abandoned beside her.
Hyoga subdued Xeno easily with a hit to the head before he could get very far.
Homura quickly tied Xeno back up.
Senku, however, paid that no mind as he dropped to his knees beside Yuzuriha and quickly checked her over for injuries before pulling her into a tight hug as she continued to shake with tears.
He didn’t bother trying to hold some of his own tears back as his rage died down into fierce relief.
That had been too close. He’d nearly lost her again.
He wouldn’t regret killing that bastard for one second.
The man who’d killed Taiju and had nearly killed Yuzu had paid for his actions with his life.
He wasn’t going to regret it for even one second.
~~~~~~
Ryusui’s face held a frown as Tsukasa , Gen, and Ukyo briefed him on how the meeting went.
He nodded and smiled slightly before his face fell again as he glanced back towards Yuzuriha and Senku.
They were still huddled together in a hug.
It had been way too close of a call. Xeno and Stan had actually not had much of a chance of winning any sort of fight, but the timely arrival of the team back to the ship had killed the drama fairly quickly, though he’d been surprised that Senku had dealt the killing blow.
He didn’t even know that Senku had archery skills. Though, perhaps, it had been an extreme reaction to seeing another friend in imminent danger so soon after the brutal murder of his best friend.
~~~~~~
Xeno groaned as he reawakened.
He was confused as he realized that he was tied up very tightly to a chair.
His jaw tensed as he remembered that Stan had been killed right before he’d been knocked out.
He was startled briefly as the voice of his protege greeted him.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, asshole.”
Xeno looked up and saw Senku casually leaning against the side of the entryway.
Xeno grumbled out, “So Stanley is dead, huh. How inelegant, I didn’t think that my little pacifist of a protege was the ‘eye for an eye’ type.”
Senku huffed as he responded, “I’m not, but he had a knife against her throat, and I knew the best way to get his hand to go lax without risking the blade harming her was to go for a head shot.”
Xeno huffed lightly before saying, “Right, you keep thinking that.”
Senku didn’t rise to the bait as he said, “Your plans have all failed, Xeno. You took away the most important person to me, and now I have taken away the most important thing to you. I’ve taken away your power and formed an alliance with Brody.”
Xeno huffed before saying,” I should have known that soft hearted sap wouldn’t have the guts to kill you kids and take your resources.”
Senku simply responded, “You will remain in the American colony under observation. Some of my crew will remain here, one of which will not hesitate to strike you down if you so much as try to escape the cell that you will be kept in. “
Xeno smirked before saying, “Hm. I suppose you have a plan that you need me for, otherwise you could strike me down right now. You’ve spilled blood once already, so it wouldn’t be hard for you to do so again and truly avenge your friend’s death.”
Senku grimaced as he responded,” I could, but I’m not going to stoop to your level, Xeno. I don’t want the power that you craved. I simply want to build up the world again and figure out how I can prevent something like the petrification event from happening again.”
Xeno rolled his eyes as he said, “So, I’m going to assume that you need me alive for my brain. You’re going to need my help for something down the line, aren’t you? After all, you weren’t quite at my level of understanding for rocket science when the event occurred, and I’m going to assume you still want to get to space.”
Senku didn’t respond and Xeno grinned.
He taunted, “How priceless. My protege still needs me, even after I have taken what he loved most.”
Senku’s nostrils flared briefly before he responded, “I don’t need you, but killing you when you could prove to be useful later would be stupid.”
Xeno laughed as Senku turned around.
He called out as Senku started to walk away, “I will not remain a prisoner, my protege. I will regain my power while you’re gone galivanting across the world. This is simply a setback, and when I regain my power, it will be you who kneels to me.”
Xeno clenched his hands into fists as Senku remained turned away from him and simply walked off.
His little brat of a protege would see! He would see! This would not be the last hurrah of Xeno Houston Wingfield!
~~~~~~
Ryusui patted Senku on the shoulder as they watched Xeno and Luna be dragged off of the ship by Homura and Hyoga. She, Hyoga, Nikki, Magma, and multiple others were grouped together as they headed out to the American colony.
A few of the Americans had already arrived and were joining them for the trip.
Ryusui held a smile on his face as he said, “A new adventure awaits.”
Senku nodded as he solemnly replied, “Yeah, I just wish Taiju could’ve been here to see it.”
Yuzuriha then leaned into his right arm as she said, “He may not be joining us in body, but he will in spirit, Senku.”
Senku nodded as she gave him a side hug before he watched her leave towards the bar to help Francois prepare some of the rations.
Ryusui said, “She’s right, Senku.”
Senku then asked, “How did those assholes even manage to get loose in the first place?”
Ryusui rubbed the back of his neck before he responded, “Stanley managed to get Xeno’s ropes loose and when Yuzuriha brought food for them and Luna, they caught her off guard. Stan grabbed her while Xeno managed to knock Homura out. The knife was Homura’s.”
Senku grimaced. Careless mistakes.
Ryusui saw his expression and said, “All mistakes aside, she’s safe now.”
Senku’s voice trembled slightly as he responded, “But she almost wasn’t.”
Ryusui sighed, “I know, but you saved her.”
Senku then said, “I almost don’t want her to come with us because of the dangers that we could encounter, but I don’t even want to think of her being in the same place as Xeno for that long.”
Ryusui nodded before saying, “Yeah. Plus, I don’t think she’d take too kindly to leaving you right now either.”
Senku sighed as he rubbed his forehead.
Ryusui patted his shoulder again and said, “I’m going back to the helm. We’ll be setting sail soon.”
Senku nodded.
~~~~~~
Yuzuriha woke up with a suppressed shout.
She was slightly startled when she was met with a quiet voice.
Kohaku close to her, “I heard you moaning in your sleep and was about to wake you. Are you having nightmares like Senku?”
Yuzuriha nodded.
Kohaku simply said, “Then go to him or I will drag him here. You two are close friends. The proximity will help ease the nightmares.”
Yuzuriha took too long to respond, and Kohaku left.
She rubbed some of the sleep out of her eyes. Only minutes later did she return with a worried looking Senku in tow.
He sat by her, and she leaned against him as she said, “I saw myself die.”
She shuddered and heard Senku gulp.
She felt tears fall down her face and heard Kohaku leave as she turned her head onto Senku’s shoulder.
She choked out, “The nightmares of my death were gone for a while, but they’re back with a vengeance and have rejoined the melee of seeing Taiju’s death and even your death.”
Senku exhaled shakily as he tried to keep himself composed. He wasn’t too surprised that she’d had nightmares before, and he knew that Taiju had likely been witness to multiple.
He responded, “We’re both alive, Yuzu. I’ll stay with you tonight.”
Yuzu sniffled before snickering lightly as she said, “This really isn’t going to help the new rumors, is it?”
Senku grumbled out, “If they’ve got a problem with a guy being close platonic friends with a woman, they can take it and shove it somewhere that the sun doesn’t shine. The idiots can think what they want to think. Who cares if our coping mechanism happens to be clinginess.”
He smiled as Yuzuriha laughed. He’d missed that sound.
They weren’t alright, but that was okay.
~~~~~~
They would go on to see the dawn of many more days, including the one where Senku would defeat the Why Man with the reluctant help of his old mentor.
(Xeno had only tried once to revolt, but Hyoga had nipped it in the bud while managing not to kill him, and the stir crazed scientist had reluctantly joined the kingdom of science)
Now, there were multiple thriving cities across the world, growing in number by the day as countries redeveloped infrastructure and politics.
It would become a world that Taiju would have loved, new smartphones and all.