The early morning cracked through the windows of the laboratory room when Okiku was awoken by it. Her body has been repaired and she turned her head on the table to see Mr Umezu at the computers working on different biotech devices. She slowly moved her body up, “Have you been up all night?” she called out to him. Mr Umezu turned around quickly looking tired and dazed in his eyes, “Yes I’ve been busy working on your operation and other important stuff. It’s nothing big just you rest there now,” he replied half tired and still reeling from the video her father made. Kuni and Gauru came into the lab room and Kuni started to smile hugging his sister on the table. “You’re better now. I was worried about and how you would make it. Every is new again with your body,” he noted.
“You can thank Mr Umezu for the operation. I was only assisting. This lab room is only set up for small injury repairs for myself but that was a full scale surgery that Mr Umezu led. He did a good job indeed repairing you,” Gauru explained to the pair. Kuni walked around the table and came up to Mr Umezu, “Thank you for helping her. It was a good thing what you need to aid her,” he said to him. Mr Umezu lowered his head, “I’m sorry for what happened and I’ve been selfish trying to get back home and not wanting to help you or the problems everyone is facing. I want in, I want to help in anyway that I can. I’ll do anything now. My mission of going home can wait for now or when it can happen.” Mr Umezu replied.
“Mr Umezu, about your chance of going home. I think today might be your lucky day,” Gauru said to him. Mr Umezu gave a puzzled look towards pointing at him, “What do you mean by that? There’s no real way home,” he said confused by his words. Gauru came up to the computers and typed in some words and a large map appeared of Blarvis on the large screen. “I have found a old and lost universe portal. About four others were destroyed decades ago based on history notes that I researched in past few hours. This is the only portal left and I believe when I asked some of my friends to investigate it that it is in working order. You know how to use it because you made one yourself. This means you can navigate it and direct it’s portal back to your home world. This is your way home,” he explained. Mr Umezu looked at the screen with shocked and wide smile. “Holy shit, we found one. I can go home and The Author’s War would be over by then. I’m sure we would have won. I have faith in my friends.” He turned around and remembered Kuni and Okiku and their own problems. He had to make a decision quickly.
He came up to the pair with Okiku sitting on the lab operation table and Kuni next to her, “I know what to do. I’ll take you back to my home universe and we can get my friends to help you out. Chisoutsa is a known and famous hero for dealing with evil like Neel Kyo. She’s defeated a demon lord, vampires, and the undead too. I mean her brother was the leader of this team called the Xtreme Squad and they can help as well. I promise you they can come to Blarvis and deal with this mess. Let’s use the portal and make this right. What do you think. Do you want to do this?” he asked the pair. Kuni paused and was unsure to trust Mr Umezu after the mistakes of getting her sister nearly killed. Okiku started nodding her head.
“I say we do that. He made a mistake but he also made up for it by saving me and doing the operation for me. There is good in you Umezu. How soon can we go?” she asked. Mr Umezu turned to Gauru, “We can go now and carry light. We’ll take the weapons we have just in case those robotic thugs return to us. The portal should work quite easily for me and the three of us to go to the City of Demons. Even if the portal on the other side is damaged or destroyed I’m sure the Government there is rebuilding it quickly and there are other universes in contact with them too nowadays due to the Author’s War. We can do this!” Mr Umezu cried.
They quickly sorted themselves out and set out the task of heading to the lost universe portal. Gauru’s hover vehicle shot up into the air with the the four heading out to the area. They were traveling when Kuni asked Mr Umezu about his home universe, “What is the City of Demons like?” Mr Umezu had a thought for a moment, “Well the technology ins’t as good as this place and there’s no neon lights as I remember. The place has been beaten to death by battles and civil wars for a long time but thanks to Chisoutsa it’s been improved. It’s on the bend I hope.” Gauru pointed out the large wide building down on the empty block of land to the south of Blarvis, “Down here is where the portal should be” as the vehicle landed to the side of the building just half hidden away. Mr Umezu jumped out first and searched around the building section for the doors. He rushed out his code breaker device and waved it over the doors unlocking them, “Come on!” he shouted to himself. The doors widen open to reveal the lost portal hidden away from everyone. Kuni and Okiku skipped inside after him and Gauru followed them, “How is your replacement parts Okiku?” he sang out. “It’s feeling good. Just getting used to my movement of the foot again,” she answered back.
Mr Umezu rushed to the side controls of the universe portal and started keying in directions back to the City of Demons. The control deck lit up and starting flashing, “This is good,” he noted to himself. Kuni appeared next to him at the control systems, “How does it work?” he asked. “Just key in the right codes and pull the levers down just like this!” he cried as the portal started to flash the normal blue color as a circle flashes of light appeared. The wind quickly picked up speed as flashing of lightening appeared around the blue portal opening up. Mr Umezu and the three Blarvis natives appeared in front of it, “This is it. My ticket home. I’ve waited a while for this and I thought it would never happen. Let’s go!” he shouted out.
Just as they were about to cross into the portal to the City of Demons a large flying army vehicle was heard coming down in front of the wide alone building, “What’s that noise?” Gauru wondered turning his head. Mr Umezu stopped just half a meter to the portal as suddenly the blue portal was turning bright red. “What’s going on Mr Umezu?” asked a confused Okiku confused and upset. Mr Umezu watched in horror as he rushed to the control systems, “Fuck! Fuck! The portal is being blocked. Who the fuck is this doing to me? Seriously after all this effect! Someone or something is blocking universe portals on this world. A dozen of robotic large biotech humans appeared with grenade launchers. They started firing upon the universe portal as Mr Umezu jumped pushing out Okiku from harms way. He rolled onto the ground and quickly got up grabbing Kuni by the arm, “Stay the hell away from the weapons and stay down!” he shouted at them. A lone and dark figure appear in the middle of the robot biotech humans walking forward to see the portal and the group of would have been travelers. Okiku started shaking in his place looking at the figure while Gauru watched on with grim face. “What’s wrong?” Mr Umezu asked her holding her hand. “It’s him,” she answer shaking uncontrollably. “Who?” he wondered turning around. Gauru pointed at the figure, “It’s Neel Kyo,” he answered. Kuni grabbed his sister’s hand and hid away from Neel Kyo’s sight towards the back of the building behind some dumpsters.
The flames burnt up the building and the portal was burning and crashing behind Mr Umezu as he approached Neel Kyo who destroyed his only chance of returning home, “You fucking monster,” he called out remembering the video that Kuni and Okiku’s father made. Neel Kyo stood in front of Mr Umezu looking him up and down, “You were the one who came from another universe? I’m sure of that Mr Business Man. I have now finally destroyed all the universe portals and this world is finally protected from the dark forces of other universes,” he spoke. Mr Umezu gave a chilling and dark look to him, “You’re the dark evil one here. What are you talking about?” he asked.
“The man with the dark powerful book. You might have seen that in your universe. The war book that burns universes with it’s mighty power. It used my universe as a hub to plan it’s attack on other universe and in exchange I gathered the special technology from the book as payment to house it and it’s owner. However I grew wiser than the war book and created a ability to block anyone from reaching our universe. There is no way to escape this universe now sir. You and your old friend here are no threat to me at all. You should go and live a lovely life in the poor regions of my world, “Neel Kyo called out. Mr Umezu narrowed his eyes towards him with the flames behind him growing, “So you brought the war to my world and others? Now you have made this personal on all levels of my life.” Neel Kyo leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “There’s no point in killing you. You are just the shit stain under my boot and you know it. You are all alone here without your old friends. You are nothing. Goodbye Mr Umezu.” He turned around waving his troops back to the hover army vehicle. They all climbed inside and they took off into the sky as Mr Umezu watched them. He turned around and saw the destroyed universe portal., His ticket home was burned to ashes.
It was late at night when Mr Umezu was sitting at the lab room computers staring at the blank screen by himself. It was a quiet night with everyone going to bed feeling dejected by the defeat by the personal hands of Neel Kyo. He had wondered what would have happened if he was quicker into the portal or he had known about the universe blocking technology at all. He pulled out his code breaker device as it was digging into his pocket and side. He placed it on the desk and he noticed the business card that Carto gave to him earlier in the week. He decided to give him a video call. There was a short moment of waiting before he appeared on screen, “Oh hi Mr Umezu, you are up late aren’t you. You look like you had a rough day by the look of you,” he sang out.
“You can say that. My mission has changed plans. I want to take down Neel Kyo and his company and free this world. I know it’s a tough ask,” Mr Umezu said. Carto eyes widen and laughed, “That’s never going to happen in a million years. What are you going to do, work in a normal job and spend a thousand years saving up the money and power that he has? Stop dreaming and just accept you are here in this universe forever,” he replied. Mr Umezu lifted his eyebrows, “Than in your opinion what would be the only way for me to even challenge him?” he asked smartly. Carto tapped his finger by his cheek and tossed his head. “Why don’t you open a version of Scienceworks here in Blarvis? You know the skills to make millions to billions and I don’t mean the legal way too as you suggested to me the first time we met,” he suggested. Mr Umezu’s face changed thinking about Kuni and Okiku and then their father’s video about ‘Protecting them and being a good person’..
“I can’t do that. I can’t go back to what I used to be. I made a promise to myself,” he replied lowering his head. “You don’t have a choice Mr Umezu. You are only one here apart from Neel Kyo himself who knows about technology and how to sell it. Think about it you are doing it for good reasons. Not when you used to do that stuff long ago,” Carto reminded him. Umezu thought about the biotech that Kuni and Okiku’s father had given to him and the ability and the half chance of challenging the Kyo company empire. He wanted to go back home and save this world as well. He was cornered in his mind. “I’ll do it. I’ll open up Scienceworks here and make a plan. I can string some biotech together and sell it to different groups. What can you do to help me?” he asked. “I have some important investors who would be very interested in you because you have special talents that no one else has. I’ll talk with you in the morning and in a private session call. Don’t want the kids finding out your moral code has broken again do we?” Carto replied smiling. Mr. Umezu gave a grim face, “I’ll talk later,” he answered hanging up.
Mr Umezu lowered his face into his hands thinking of what he was about to do, “This is for them. That’s why I’m doing it. Can I still be a good person?” he wondered to himself as the reality settled in that a long drawn out battle between him and Neel Kyo was about to begin…
