When you thought of iconic superhero bases, the first things that tended to come to mind were locations such as the Avenger's Tower or Mansion. Maybe the Watchtower, if you were more of a DC fan than a Marvel enthusiast. Hell, the Darth Vader-looking helmet base of the Legion of Doom from DC had its own merits as an iconic location.
In comparison, I would say that the Guardians of the Globe HQ was a little underwhelming at first glance. It just wasn't somewhere that made me feel like it was the kind of location that would have hosted the preeminent defenders of Earth. Was I being unreasonable here?
Scanning it over with my Byakugan as I entered the structure alongside Cecil and the rest of the newly instated Guardians, it was certainly spacious enough to host everyone. It even had no small amount of quarters for the entire roster if they so chose to live within the base. Between my capacity to teleport and fly stupidly fast, I didn't think I'd be planning to live there.
Taking advantage of the incredible workshop space, though, was a very different question. I had so many personal projects that it was a real saving grace that sleep was just a very optional thing for me. Any biological process I possessed could be swapped out and supplemented by chakra as an alternative.
Ōtsutsuki were, as always, bullshit beyond belief.
It was still nice to be moving in, days after the actual formation of this new iteration of the Guardians of the Globe. Just that made a lot of this feel real in a way that the tryouts themselves hadn't. I was in another world, in an alien body, and also the member of a new iteration of a superhero team.
There were times when I missed my old life, don't get me wrong. But a lot of the time, back then it felt like I hadn't been going anywhere quick, or accomplishing anything, or doing something meaningful with the time I'd been given on the world. Now, though?
I had the power to actually make a real difference in people's lives. Not that police officers, paramedics, and firefighters weren't heroes in their own right, either, but the scale was different. Here, I had the chance to not just save a handful of people. With the Guardians, I'd be involved in operations that'd see me saving the world.
It was hard to compare it to the life I'd been living before.
"Hey Tin Man," Rex spoke, trying to get the attention of Robot in front of me. Who, admittedly, seemed a little distracted. "Woah, were you napping?"
"I was defragmenting, Rex," the AI explained, walking with the same casual gait as everyone entered the round, central chamber of the base.
"Well, quit it! You don't wanna miss this," the teenager smiled, spreading his arms wide with a genuinely infectious excitement. "Welcome to our new digs, baby!"
Up ahead, Shrinking Rae even turned to glance over at Amanda walking next to her. "Can't believe I'm actually here…"
There was even a wistful nostalgia on Samson's face as he looked around the environs, a soft smile that was creasing over his normally serious features. "Good to be home again."
"Ugh," Rex grunted. "If I have to hear one more time about how you're an original member of the Guardians of the Globe, I'll—"
"You'll do what?" The bald man stated, staring over at Rex challengingly, waiting for some kind of retort that didn't come. "Exactly."
It was at that moment I interjected. "Okay, I don't really like inserting myself into these sorts of situations, but I would genuinely prefer it if you two could stop sniping at each other. Or at the very least, if everyone could just act their age and with a baseline of politeness."
"Are you saying I'm immature?" Rex bristled.
"That's the least of what I'd want to say about you," I bluntly stated before turning to Black Samson. "And I understand that you're seasoned, and that by extension a lot of the people here are just kids to you. But that's the way things move, yeah? Out with the old, in with the new."
Samson frowned. "It's an untested team, which is why I still believe it needs more established leadership."
My head was already shaking the moment he said those words. "This is a new world from the one you'd walked into when you first became a superhero. That much is clear, and I'm an actual alien who's barely been here for weeks. If nothing else, the threats we're going to be expected to reliably handle range from the Flaxans to worse."
I'd had enough of a time to inspect and familiarize myself with a lot of the worst of the worst when it came to this world's genuine issues. Ranging from kaiju attacks to more esoteric disasters like Omnipotus and the Chronodile, yet all of those hadn't been isolated things. They were a range that had been increasing, bit by bit, as the decades went on.
The world had been growing more dangerous. Or maybe it was just that the weirdness that had always been there, the supernatural, the alien conquerors, finally decided that Earth was too tantalizing of a prize to leave alone anymore. Whatever the reasoning might have been, the reality was the same.
Trying to lead this edition of the Guardians of the Globe like the past version was bound to result in disaster. If not just a general lack of capacity to fulfill our duties, then worse. After all, all of them had been taken out by a threat we still didn't even know anything about.
The two of them could only shoot me grudgingly but blessedly didn't fill the air with further sniping. For now, I'd call that an unmitigated victory and move on with my day, as I brushed past them to inspect the place closer. Or so I'd thought to do before there was a crackle of energy, making me tense briefly before a familiar sight coalesced before us.
"Pick up your jaws, people," Cecil stated, walking with the kind of confidence that had to be studied in a lab. The guy had no powers, was scarred, balding, and had seen the best years behind him. Even so, there was just something about him that made you want to perk up and pay attention.
You couldn't train that into some people. Either you were born with it or you didn't have that kind of natural presence.
"You're not tourists, and this isn't a holy site; this is your job." Moving up to Robot, he pointed a finger at the automaton. "The sooner you all get up to speed, the sooner people stop dying."
Rex, in a more subdued mood, approached and began to raise a finger. "Hey, Cecil? I think your cleaning guys missed a spot."
It was something I'd noted before, a splatter of blood against the wall. Maybe left for a memorial purpose or something like that; I didn't know. Regardless of the reason, Cecil walked up to stand up beside it, a purposeful stride in his gait. "Left that one on purpose. As a reminder."
"When you prove yourselves worthy of the heroes that came before you, it'll get cleaned off. Until then, stare at it whenever you think you're hot shit." Then he raised a finger up to his earbud, tilting his head ever so slightly to hear whatever was being said to him. "...Settle in. We'll talk later."
And then, just like that, he was gone simply as quickly. Whatever brand of teleportation he was using was certainly some kind of technology, though I didn't quite know what the specifics of it were. Much like a lot of the science in this world, it was something that just went over my head. Though it was another reminder to, perhaps, get educated on some of these more advanced theories and techniques.
…Man, I didn't even sleep most of the time, and I still found so many draws on my time. How did superheroes usually manage to keep up with all of this?
As if to remind me of that fact, when everyone began to disperse, Amanda came up to me, all smiles. "Hey," she greeted. "We're still on for what we discussed before, right?"
"Yes," I confirmed, smiling back, even if I was also internally screaming at the addition to my packed schedule. "It'll be a little invasive, if we're being honest, but I can try to study your physiology in both forms and the transition between them."
"Good. I mean, only when I'm actively using them for the job, right?"
She got a nod in return from me. "It won't be the easiest, but I know you're on a strict time limit to get this problem solved. So progress might be limited while we're in the confines of this limitation."
It would almost certainly slow down the development of whatever fūinjutsu, jutsu-shiki, or shinjutsu I'd need to cook up to help her. But I was sure that almost any problem with a supernatural component in this world would not even remotely come close to anything a sufficiently motivated Ōtsutsuki could come up with. Nor would anyone have eyes like mine for the problem.
"Great," she beamed, wearing a broad smile. "Just let me know when you can pencil that study session in, alright?"
This was certainly different from how she treated Rex, but I supposed I hadn't antagonized her like Rex had. Yeah, that was probably most of what her demeanor toward me had to do with. That and the fact that I was someone who seemingly could try and help her with her problem. If it kept her civil with the team, though, what was the harm?
"Will do. Catch you later, Amanda."
"See ya', Genji."
She walked off, and I was almost ready to go do some proper snooping of my own around the facility. I would have even liked to do that immediately if it weren't for the fact that I was being waylaid by yet another person. The punishment for being reasonable and well-liked was apparently having friends who wanted to interact with you.
Goddamnit.
"Genji, a moment," Robot said as he approached me. "Would you be willing to discuss a matter with me quickly over in Darkwing's lab? Well, former lab."
"Sure," I shrugged, already resigning myself to what was likely to be another long lab session of collaboration. There were worse ways to spend my time, anyway. "Lead the way."
At least Robot was simple. He never asked me for anything that complex.
"... I'd like you to repeat yourself." It was a fair request, because while I knew there was absolutely nothing defective about my hearing, the question Robot asked me was so far beyond the pale that it must have been just my own actual misunderstanding.
They were an artificial intelligence, and despite the actual reality of what that entailed with primarily logical actions, sometimes they could prove more alien to human mindsets than not. It was better to try and ask some clarifying questions before I made a bad decision based on his presumption on the matter.
"I would like to use your genetic material to clone a living body for me to inhabit," Robot bluntly and straightforwardly repeated, making it clear that I hadn't gone insane.
He had.
My jaw worked back and forth carefully as I did my best to try and think over the question. To give it the due diligence that it deserved, since it was the sort of thing that deserved that much introspection. Okay. Do you mind if I ask a few clarifying questions?"
Robot nodded, acceding to the request. "Go ahead. I'd be shocked if you agreed without any."
"Why me? How would this even work? You're an artificial intelligence, so this sort of thing just seems…" I guess, to me, it's a little silly, but there were plenty of stories about AI that wanted to become human in some respect. Maybe that plotline was just happening earlier than expected?
Robot paused, as if thinking over his words, which was a rarity in my interactions with him. Though, the next frank admission that came from his speakers shocked me to my core.
"... I am not an artificial intelligence."
I blinked. "What?"
"That was something I spread, if only to explain why my body could never practically be part of the action, so to speak," Robot explained, and every word felt as if I were prying something from him. As if the admission were costly in and of itself. "My real body…"
"If you saw it, you might struggle to recognize it as human. I suffer from several degenerative conditions that have rendered me all but immobile, though the tradeoff for my physical condition, judging from my brain scans, has been my prodigious intelligence."
Gesturing to me, Robot continued. "It isn't something I'd want out, even if you didn't agree. However, our time together has led me to believe you are a like-minded individual when it comes to discretion and practicalities, so I would request that this be kept between us."
I wasn't even sure how to treat this…but the more I thought about it, the more I got the feeling that he was genuinely telling the truth. It was such an extraordinary story that one would have to boggle at why he wouldn't tell a more convincing lie. Robot was many things, and illogical was not one of them. The more I examined this truth, the more sensible it seemed.
"So you want to clone a copy of my body to drop your mind into." In the grand scheme of superhero universe chicanery, it wasn't actually all that weird, and honestly, my Ōtsutsuki body might be weirdly suited for that sort of thing, anyway.
The idea of transferring consciousness from one body to another didn't freak me out as much as I felt like it should have. In fact, it just made me mentally shrug. It wasn't as if the species I was a part of was somehow unaware of the concept. That kama I still possessed inside of my body was proof enough there.
"Do you think your condition is something I could try to heal…?" I trailed off, trying to imagine how bad it was that his first reaction was to abandon it entirely. "I'm not a doctor by trade, but I do understand some healing jutsu. It has to be easier than whatever cloning would entail."
Most of it was specifically designed for the purposes of being used on someone with a chakra pathway network, by someone with a chakra pathway network. That was the main downside, along with the fact that most techniques didn't create material wholesale but accelerated the natural healing processes to superhuman levels. If the existing structure was borked, then things became a lot harder to deal with.
"The condition of my real body is stunted, in every way, shape, and form," Robot responded, shaking his head. "Unless you can correct a lifetime of neurodegenerative conditions compounding with each other, it's not solvable."
It was a solid maybe on that, but not enough that I was willing to take a gamble with a friend's life. So I could only sigh, running my tongue along my teeth as I gave it some further thought. If he'd asked me after a few years of practice, I could have given a more positive response. As it was now…
Yeah, I couldn't see myself being able to cure someone that badly off. "Do you have a picture of yourself, or…?"
He paused again, moving to one of the monitors and typing into the keyboard, before bringing up a new image. The person that he laid before me was…
Well…
If I was intuiting the scale of the entire homunculus in front of me correctly, they were a bit bigger than toddler-sized. Which wasn't saying much, given so much of them was misshapen, bulbous, and pale, with one yellow eye, cysts, blisters, and god knows what else on their pale flesh. Decidedly unattractive, and a level of biological aberration that felt far beyond my capacity to solve. Perhaps with time, on the scale of months of hard work, or maybe even years.
But he seemed like he wanted a solution now, and frankly, I wasn't such a heartless bastard that I would deny him freedom from a body like this.
I turned toward him, not too quickly, since I didn't want it to seem like I was disgusted by his real body. "I'm not against the concept, in theory, though I'm still a little curious as to why me."
Tilting his robotic head to the left, he gestured to me once more. "The real question would be why not, Genji. You're extremely attractive by the norms of human culture. Genetically, by your own admission, you're compatible with humans in most biological respects, especially from what I've managed to scan from you. Furthermore, your species has several innate traits that would be genuinely impressive to study and wield."
I'd like to say that I was immune to being glazed like this, but I really wasn't. My pride was being stroked something fierce right now, and it was all I could do to push it down to make reasonable decisions. Easier said than done, though.
"Okay," I nodded slowly, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "Alright. Let's say that I agree with this. How does this get done? Because if there are any free-floating genetic samples going around after this, things could get bad, real quick." Though I'd be lying if I said the prospect of having someone who can match and challenge me, as a powerful ally, wasn't something I didn't like.
However, having genetic samples floating around that people could use to create chakra networks or strange results, besides, things on this planet would get squirrely real quick. Nothing cloned from my blood would have the same training as me, but just with the raw physical potential was a possible problem. The last thing I wanted was to have to deal with a Superboy situation.
"There won't be," he quickly and firmly stated. "The team involved is strictly confidential, but I can say that they are experts in their field, especially with working with superhuman biologies. When they're done, they'll have used up everything, and I'll be double-checking with my own resources to ensure that."
That was admittedly my main worry about this entire thing handled to a degree. As long as it was acknowledged, I did feel a little better about things.
Like I said before, too, it'd actually be nice to have someone around who could do the things that I could do. So far, I'd been mostly training people to the extent of what I could, especially with no one else capable of using chakra. With Robot's big, brilliant mind thrown behind the problem, though, I could potentially see about actually giving people the capacity a lot sooner with relevant chakra-derived sciences.
… Another reminder for me to figure out how the fuck Ninshū works. Or figuring out a way to access physical and mental energies totally raw.
"Then I am tentatively giving my agreement to this endeavor."
Taking in a breath, I looked into Robot's eyes carefully. "I haven't known you for very long, but you seem like you care. About people, about the world, and most importantly, doing this the right way, rather than taking some stray hairs or something and trying to clone me that way."
"My model of you is incomplete. It leaned toward you responding poorly to discovering that you had a clone."
"Your model is accurate enough for that much," I huffed, hoping that I wouldn't come to regret this in the future. "Alright, how's this getting done? Do I need to get a mouth swab, jerk off into a cup…? I have no idea how this cloning business works."
Robot gestured toward a portion of his lab. There laid some tools, like a gigantic press of some kind, with a needle attached. I hadn't paid too much attention to it before, because it just didn't seem like something I needed to. "Blood works the best. However, your skin being so resilient means we'll have to rely on some brusque methods of acquiring the sample."
Suffering from success indeed. Rolling my shoulders, I walked on over the spot, carefully inspecting it with my eyes. Not that I could derive much in the way of meaning from the odds and ends, but it theoretically could provide enough pressure at a concentrated point to draw blood.
"We'll try it your way, first. If that doesn't work, I'll draw my own blood through my own method."
"Sensible enough," he agreed. "I'm… still a little surprised you're taking this so well."
A roll of my eyes was all he got. "This sort of mad science is nothing my clan is unfamiliar with. And you're a friend. I don't have many of those lying around these days."
"I think of you as a friend as well," Robot confirmed. Right before adding something else. "I will say that all of the scientific methods involved are totally documented and explainable. There isn't actually any mad science involved."
I gave him a deadpan stare. "...That was a joke, bud."
He paused, realization almost certainly glinting in his mind at that moment. "Ah."
"We'll have to work on your sense of humor when you're out and about in the world," I sighed, moving to roll up my right sleeve and place my arm on the platform. "Nobody with my face can be running around without at least a sense of humor."
Another thought did occur to me, though, as I squinted over at Robot. "... Actually, now that I know there's a person behind those lenses, what's your actual name?"
"I…" He seemed to be taken aback by such a simple question, trailing off briefly, before his model straightened up once again. "Rudolph. Rudolph Connors."
"Huh." I blinked, expecting… I dunno, a more dramatic name reveal. "I like it."
Reaching out, I offered a hand toward the robotic shell. "It's a pleasure to meet you properly, Rudy. Though I guess this'll have to do until you're me, huh?"
"Indeed," Rudy agreed, shaking my hand readily. "But in the spirit in which it was given, the sentiment is appreciated."
"Fantastic. Now let's get you that sample."
It wasn't a tremendously pleasant experience, if we were being honest about it. Having what was effectively a powerful press bear down on my arm to draw even a modicum of blood didn't hurt, so much as it was just an irritant. My flesh was simply that strong now, that it took specialized machinery to even break the skin.
However, by the end of it, Rudy had his blood sample and immediately moved it to cold storage as the man shepherded it like precious cargo. Not a lot, but enough he assured me, for what he needed it for. The robotic frame made himself scarce after that, leaving me alone in my thoughts in the Guardians of the Globe's facilities.
I had to hope that things would turn out alright. There was every reason for me to be suspicious but ample opportunity for me to presume that Rudolph was above suspicion. Not when he'd had every opportunity to try and do things underhandedly. If he'd been anything other than exceedingly open about his reasons, I might have declined.
As it was, I wanted to believe that this was the right choice and that I wouldn't come to regret it in due time. Not everyone was always out to get you in a superhero setting, and this was the world's chance to prove that this decision wasn't going to come back to bite me in the ass.
As much as I liked my quarters in the Guardians of the Globe base, there was something decidedly settling about being back in my apartment. It was nice to be alone, or the closest thing to it, since I was sure this GDA apartment was loaded to the gills with surveillance equipment. Jokes on them, some poor analyst was about to be stuck watching me dive through the entirety of the Séance Dog movie adaptations in one night.
Or so I thought. The moment that I was in my apartment, I took a breath of practically freezing air, the kind that made me take a pause and think to whether or not I had actually set my air conditioning that low. And when the math didn't add up in my head, I pulsed my eyes, only to find nothing at first.
Right before someone popped into existence before me.
They were humanoid, for the most part, with more protruding heels and four clawed toes, with a long tail trailing behind them. Wearing a tattered, beige overcoat and some sort of strange, gray bodysuit, the figure had a bit of a round belly and gut. A pointy-eared face, with yellow eyes and red skin, looked my way, peeking out from underneath a well-worn russet fedora.
To my eyes, the entity was rather fascinating to inspect. Male, judging by most of the primary and secondary sexual characteristics, and bipedal, but certainly not human. While he didn't have a chakra network, there was more of a power that suffused him from head to toe, something more primal and potent than traditional spiritual or physical energies. I wanted to call it rough and unrefined, but…
While he didn't seem like a created entity, the supernatural power system in and of itself was just different from what I was used to. The part of me that was an old, inhuman monster wondered what insights could have been gleaned from its genetics. Right before the more practical portion of me dropped into a ready stance, widening my feet as I observed it carefully.
"Who are you?" There wasn't any panic in my voice, but I kept every iota of my focus concentrated on the being in front of me. However he'd slipped in, I didn't want to miss it again.
That kind of stealth capability could prove frightening when turned my way. I could react to most things, but if used maliciously and strategically, it could be trouble for me. Given that I wasn't being attacked outright, though, I was willing to not jump to conclusions immediately.
"Detective," the creature gravelled out, its voice rough and deep, with a rumble that bordered on the inhuman to it. "Damien Darkblood."
… Okay, damn, that was an actually cool name.
"Well, Damien, I'm assuming this isn't an ambush."
"No," the man spoke, taking off his hat in a belated show of politeness. "Quite the opposite, in fact."
"Then I'll have to ask what the purpose of this visit is, specifically," I gently stated, lowering my hands now, but still preparing to mold chakra at a moment's notice. "My apartment isn't the most suited for guests right now."
Which was a filthy lie. My apartment was spotless because I'd become a bit of a neat freak after acquiring the Byakugan. When you could see every single speck of dirt and debris, wouldn't you want to keep your environs as neat and tidy as possible? Honestly, in hindsight, I didn't think the Hyūga were all that snooty. People were just straight up nasty; they just couldn't say anything about it.
The things I'd seen with this gaze of mine…
"I've been looking into the deaths of the Guardians of the Globe," Damien explained, eyes flicking around my sparse apartment, taking in details here and there. Or maybe just for show, seeing as he or any number of people could have been in while I wasn't around. "Chiefly, the prime suspects that could have been responsible for their killing."
That bright, molten gaze turned my way as he squeezed his hat just a fraction too tightly. "You were on the list."
I blinked. "Is it common practice for Earth's investigators to tell suspects they're under suspicion?"
"The keyword there is were," the devilish figure spoke, inclining his head ever so slightly. "Humans, by and large, are rather underdeveloped and immature when it comes to magical fields of expertise. My kin are not."
Which was genuinely news for me. "I take it that whatever you are, you have… ah, some experience with the supernatural?"
Something that could charitably be called a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "You could say that. Demons are an old race, and we have pieced together more arcane lore than humanity has ever lost."
Continuing, the man crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Checking for signs of supernatural malfeasance, traces, was one of the first things I did on the crime scene."
"Of which I left none, because I wasn't there," I guessed.
"Naturally. You're a bonfire of power, Taijitu. You leave errant traces of your energies wherever you go."
Which was news to me, and it was a new reminder to perhaps tamp down my chakra signature if I could. I mean, I didn't know if there was anyone who could practically do anything to me with that knowledge or predict my moves in combat. No reason to risk running into someone who actually knew what they were doing. Yet another thing to add to the pile of new capabilities I needed to practice and train.
I felt comfortable enough in this conversation to go and take a seat on my couch, lips creased into a frown. "Was that the only real proof you have of my innocence?"
"That, and more sensible means of investigating the truth," he admitted, inspecting me closely. "The Guardians of the Globe's systems were taken down, which spoke to someone with a level of familiarity and comfort with their systems and protocols. Something you likely lack."
"I'm not a techie," I freely admitted with a shrug.
"Furthermore, if you were so powerful as to slay every member without a scratch, you would have no practical reason to play hero or pretend as if you were anything other than a cold-blooded killer."
A slender brow arched his way. "That's a bold claim. I could be a psychopath, you know."
He smirked. "No. I know anger and fury. The look on your face when you fought off that alien invasion was entirely genuine. It was the wrath of a righteous man. Something my people know a little something about."
I frowned. "To clarify, are we talking actual demons from hell? Like, in the biblical sense, or something else?"
"We do dwell in Hell, but I believe it's something of a misunderstood locale from human sources and accounts."
"Sure," I agreed blandly, not really willing to die on this hill. A demon trying to tell me Hell wasn't that bad was a boat I could not be sold. No reason to derail the conversation when we were getting to the juicy bits. "So I'm cleared from the suspect list."
"Yes."
"If that was it, I don't think you'd be here trying to discuss the matter with me, though."
Drifting over his crimson features was a deep, creased frown as a low rumble of dissatisfaction escaped the Demon. "No. The investigation is still ongoing, but the signs are pointing to one man in particular. One survivor from the entire slaughter, whose story and wounds aren't adding up."
I could put the pieces together before he said it aloud, and it was enough to make my eyes widen. "You think Omni-Man is responsible for killing the Guardians of the Globe? The people he's been working alongside for, what, almost twenty years?"
"His story of the event doesn't add up," Damien bluntly stated, a growl of warning entering his words. "The level of violence, while reminiscent of other deaths amongst superhumans with similar strength and speed, was too brutal. Evidence of a fight with him against all of the members at once."
I'd never had a conversation with Omni-Man, admittedly. I didn't know enough about him, or his background, to really put a bead on the guy outside of what I'd heard about him. And he was practically a saint to many people, powerful, durable, and just downright capable after a longer career than most superheroes managed.
To be frank, I wasn't a native to this Earth, so his image wasn't perfect in my eyes. That didn't make it any harder to believe. "So what? He kills everyone he's ever fought alongside for kicks? Was he mind-controlled? Threatened into compliance? Maybe they made too many jokes about the moustache."
"The why is escaping me," Damien admitted, looking as if it chagrinned him to say this much. "But the damage done to the corpses has his early hallmarks, when he first arrived to this world, before he softened his touches."
That was news to me. "Omni-Man's an alien? Why does he look so…"
"Human?" Damien shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."
"I'll take your word for it." At least I looked a bit otherworldly when it came to baseline humanity. Omni-Man just looked like some built dude, unless that too was a mask. "Again, what does this have to do with me?"
A longer pause as Damien stared me in the eyes, carefully gauging his words. "Been watching you. Been studying you. If Omni-Man is behind this and goes rogue… you may be the only one who can fight him on even terms."
"You need to be prepared for that possibility."
Then, he was gone as quickly as he'd arrived, not using teleportation in the way I knew it. Ōtsutsuki didn't just appear from one place to another, despite the fact that we could move fast enough with chakra reinforcement and flight to make it appear that way. No, we actually had to create portals and actively move through them in order to teleport.
Whatever Damien's teleportation was, it was instantaneous. I blinked, and he was gone. Considering the vast expanse of the United States that I was capable of covering when I really wanted to, that wasn't a small feat. Despite that, I wasn't intending on following after him.
Damien Darkblood didn't feel strong enough to have posed a genuine threat to me in a fight. And unless that teleportation of his was powerful and rapid enough to be invoked in a conflict, I didn't think he would have possessed the martial might to kill the original Guardians of the Globe. So it stood to reason that his initial purpose for being here was true.
He'd considered me a suspect at first but quickly disregarded me for the simple fact that I was untouched by the carnage entirely. That, and the fact that for all that I was new to this world, I was human enough to have told that he could read. Which meant that the most likely suspect, and the one still found at the scene of the crime, was the one man no one could hold accountable if it was true.
Omni-Man.
I just didn't know why, was the problem. Why would a man who by all accounts acted so human, spoke at their funeral with obvious regret, and worked as a superhero every day just turn on them like a dime? Fear? Blackmail? Mind control?
It was such a goddamn gordian knot of a problem, and frankly, this kind of scheming wasn't my forte. But I did know someone who was good at this sort of cloak-and-dagger skulduggery. So I pulled out my phone and called the man I knew would be the most comfortable with it.
Cecil Stedman picked up the phone, a little tired-sounding but awake. "Yeah, kid?"
"Damian Darkblood just paid me a visit concerning the murder of the prior Guardians," I said, bluntly and straightforwardly. "He shared some…theories with me. Do you have time to talk them over?"
For a few moments the phone was quiet before a deep sigh came out of the man. "... In the morning. In the morning, I'll fill you in on what we know."
I blinked. "Really? That easily?"
"Because if we're in the worst-case scenario, you might be the only poor bastard who might be able to help us. Get some sleep." With that, he hung, leaving me with my thoughts and a pooling sensation of dreadful anticipation.
It didn't feel like things were quite coming to a head yet. But I did get the sensation that the plot behind the murder of the Guardians was thickening. The real question was whether or not I'd be prepared when the time came.
Author's Notes
Time marches forward, and new developments make themselves known. Uncomfortable truths especially, so it'll have to be seen how Genji actually handles any of them. Or whether or not he chooses to believe them.
Additionally, if you would like to read ahead, you can find up to ten chapters ahead via the linktree in my profile. For the time being, all adult content like future smut in anything I write, will be on , though in due time I'll likely try to get the processing and authentication through on to be able to post it there as well. So be mindful of where you're supporting me.