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Senkuu acknowledges that he couldn’t be the only bastard who depetrified through sheer willpower. It’d be narcissistic of him to assume so, on a planet with 7 billion people. Even if the IQ test thing isn’t fully reliable, the chances of a person with an IQ higher than 140 are 1 in 250. As such, 28 million people on the same planet could have too. He took note of this when they were on a voyage.
Hell, even Byakuya and the other astronauts’ situation was more unlikely than another genius breaking out naturally. Besides, the whole situation in Treasure Island convinced Senkuu that areas beyond Japan could very much have civilizations already up and running, with far more advanced science than they have. And if they don’t, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared, especially when they’re trying to avoid bloodshed as much as possible.
So, he stepped foot onto American soil with the same expectation. If he were met with guns ablazing, at least he expected it and all. He had a hunch that was the case the moment he noticed one of the moths he caught in his net wasn't extinct yet.
Which is how he was here with a generally neutral face.
Although Tsukasa had remarked on sensing danger a few nights before, nothing really happened aside from the leaves of the trees rustling. Senkuu chalked it up to the person retreating thanks to Tsukasa and Hyoga's murderous aura and went to bed in the Perseus, slightly assured.
Sometime in their search for corn, Senkuu was woken up rudely by an arm wrapping around his mouth and pinning him to the floor. Whoever it was, they were at least as strong as Hyoga (not that it mattered; it didn't take a lot to manhandle him, embarrassingly enough.)
However, amidst his flailing, Senkuu was sure kidnapping was a bit more... violent? From what he recalled, he was, oddly, tied with fabric and carefully carried on the back of his captor rather than being dragged across the grass with a rope binding his limbs.
After he finally saw the face of his captor, he figured it made sense then.
"Have you eaten?"
Senkuu blinked as Stanley sat beside him like he hadn't kidnapped him, one arm sprawled out over the back of Senkuu's chair with both legs propped up on the table. The world was truly small: what were the chances of your babysitters slash mentors becoming your kidnappers 3,700 years later? (Well, not that he doubted those two’s abilities, being a first-hand witness to their insanity from childhood.)
“You couldn’t have just told me to come with you?” Senkuu asked. Though on the chance Stanley did that, he probably wouldn’t have come either way. He had an inkling of what they’ve been up to. “Does it ruin your tough guy persona?”
“Loses leverage for us,” Stanley rolled his eyes. “You got two or three gorillas behind you, and I'd rather not waste bullets on potential manpower for Xe. Now answer.”
He glanced towards the bubbling pot in the overengineered stove. "...Is it yours?"
Stanley smirked. "Obviously."
"...Okay."
Maybe Gen and the others were right about him being insane? In his defense, though, he's been eating nothing but roasted fish from the Ishigami Village for a while. Even with Francois' delicious cooking and recent changes to their otherwise exhausting diet of foxtail ramen and various methods of cooking fish and herbs, Senkuu was only human. Being only human meant he had bias, of course. If that meant he liked Stanley's cooking, even if Stanley was his captor and Francois was objectively of a higher caliber, then it wasn’t anybody’s business.
He waited as Stanley moved about what was presumably their kitchen. He wasn’t able to see the outside because of how he was transported, but the interior of the entire base gave him an idea. Simply put, it was just metal and (darker) metal together, kind of like an evil industrial complex factory, so even the cupboards were made out of steel and... aside from the crude recreation of decoration signs spouting the usual white mom bullshit like "Live, Laugh, Love", nothing remotely felt kitchen-y.
“Xeno’s going to want to see you,” Stanley said as he turned off the stove.
Senkuu stuck a finger in his ear. “...Yeah, I figured. Where is Xeno anyway?"
Stanley made a slight face at how Senkuu addressed his mentor, but otherwise shrugged. He was insistent back then for Senkuu to refer to Xeno as something more respectable, and it seemed 3,700 years wasn’t going to change that just yet. "Busy with something. We'll go see him when you're full."
Senkuu's pretty sure that meant he was hiding something, but the smell of beef steak and buttered corn distracted him before he could call them out on their bullshit. He tried not to eat so gluttonously in front of Stanley, consciously chanting in his mind to remember he was technically a hostage.
Not that it mattered either, Stanley's always been very doting towards him (even if it wasn’t obvious). Apparently, being on the enemy side didn't change that as he peeled an orange, leaving the pieces in a bowl for Senkuu.
"You had trouble getting here?"
Senkuu raised a brow, then sarcastically: "No, building a ship vessel was light work."
"I'm asking nicely here. You’re too snarky for hostage.”
Senkuu ignored Stanley’s bluff of reaching for his gun. "I've just been kidnapped, excuse you."
Stanley snorted. "Does it matter? You know us."
Senkuu huffed. He didn't mind, sure, but that still didn't nullify how Stanley went about it. Anyone who wasn’t aware (which was everyone in the Kingdom of Science, given how he didn’t bother telling anyone in the first place) would be concerned about how it looks. His friends were gonna panic once they found his quarters empty.
Then again, he knew Stanley, and Xeno had questionable and skewed morals despite being in rather respectable positions of power.
Well, whatever. Senkuu picked at an orange slice. "Mind telling me what happened here if Xeno's going to take a while?"
"Oh, right," Stanley sat up properly. "DARPA Expo, the one you turned down?"
Senkuu hummed. Xeno had previously invited him to join the gathering. They (Stanley and Xeno) wanted him to come along, especially since he supplied them with the very same data they were utilizing to pinpoint the location of the petrification, but Senkuu had school duties and planned to just compromise by video calling once he was dismissed from his classes that day.
Now that he thought about it, if he came with, maybe his first year unpetrified wouldn't be so lonely and harsh. Stanley was Taiju, Tsukasa, and Kohaku rolled into one being, so providing food wouldn't be so much of a hassle. Xeno would have made sure he had proper clothes the moment they found cotton plants, and….
Senkuu cut his wandering thoughts abruptly as Stanley ruffled his hair. "The information you provided was helpful. I told my soldiers to stay conscious, and they all unpetrified naturally after a bit of nitric acid. Thanks, kiddo."
Senkuu looked up, curious. "All of them stayed conscious? Wow."
"And you went through the same, I take it?"
Senkuu held up two fingers. "Taiju also, but I had him nearby on a nitric acid reserve too to help him out."
"Do I have to thank him for keeping you alive?" Stanley mused. "Good job on not dying. Xeno was fretting about how you’d fare alone."
"I was only alone for 6 months," Senkuu grumbled.
"You're weaker than my pinky finger, Sen."
"Rude," Senkuu shovelled the corn into his mouth, glancing around the kitchens. "Is there a reason why you two built this place like an evil Disneyland castle?"
Stanley paused. "That..."
Senkuu waited.
Stanley pointed vaguely upward with the cigarette in his hand. “Xeno had a vision.”
“Oh, this already sounds terrible.”
“It’s not terrible,” Stanley defended automatically. “It’s just… ambitious.”
“What are you, his PR manager?”
Stanley ignored him. “Basically, society collapsed, right? So Xeno figured rebuilding civilization from scratch meant there was a chance to avoid repeating old mistakes.”
“Reasonable so far. Old mistakes being…?”
“Giving old men power and progress being held back by ethics, I guess. He decided the most efficient method would be establishing a centralized scientific authority.”
Senkuu stared. What was it with him meeting people who had this vision for the Stone World? “…So… a dictatorship.”
Stanley sighed like he was the one dealing with a difficult child. “Look, he got excited.”
“You guys built an evil fortress. Excited doesn’t cut it.” Senkuu looked up at the ceiling, unsurprised by the slightly dim lighting. “Jesus Christ, there’s even ominous lighting.”
Stanley frowned. “We didn’t install ominous lighting on purpose.”
“You accidentally built a supervillain lair?”
“Hey, we had limited materials.”
Senkuu pointed his fork accusingly. “And the kitchen decorations?”
Stanley went quiet for a second. “It should improve morale.”
Senkuu blinked slowly, his gaze drifting to the design of Stanley’s matchbox. That checked out, he supposed. “‘Live, Laugh, Love’ should improve morale?”
“There’s more than just us here, you know. Anyone else could’ve suggested it.”
“That’s more embarrassing than the dictatorship. Not one of you had an architect with some interior design skills?”
“Now, why would there be an architect in DARPA Expo in the first place, you brat?”
Senkuu dodged the arm coming to headlock him, but failed to get away when Stanley grabbed him by the back of his shirt. He shoved himself away from the table with a grunt, dragging Senkuu along with him. “C’mon, Xeno’s probably done by now.”
“What, he told you telepathically?” Senkuu mused. He ripped himself away from Stanley’s hold, immediately putting distance between them when he saw Stanley light up a cigarette. “...Seriously? He made you those?”
Stanley shrugged, smirking. “Honestly, I’m surprised too.”
Not really, Xeno was probably thinking how detrimental it must be for Stanley’s health and mood if he was forced to go cold turkey suddenly. Senkuu’s been grateful that no one in the Kingdom of Science so far has had a concerning addiction outside of beer and some alcohol.
…Though Senkuu wondered if it mattered. The petrification solved Mirai’s comatose state, so he’s been wondering to what extent the petrification fixes. Who knows, maybe Xeno found that Stanley’s lungs are clear again and is letting him indulge a little in the vice to later wean him off slowly.
Senkuu followed Stanley through the metallic hallways, taking note of how much of the detail added to the sinister vibe. Xeno was really a man of appearances when he bothered to go through this much trouble to tell outsiders this place was an evil lair.
“…That’s the kid?” One of the passing people asked. Senkuu had to do a double-take at how she looked like Stanley, just in a more… curvy body.
“Don’t stare,” Stanley said flatly, as if reading Senkuu’s thoughts. At the end of the hall stood a pair of large reinforced doors, big and intimidating like the doors you see when meeting the big bad boss in video games. Stanley pushed them open with one hand, pointedly ignoring the NO SMOKING placard hung on it.
And there it was, hanging slightly crooked across the laboratory wall, was a banner. There were even little paper stars hanging unevenly under it.
WELCOME HOME, SENKUU!
Huh.
Senkuu glanced at Stanley, then back at the banner. “...Not welcome to the dark side?”
From the shadows (seriously, what the fuck?) Xeno emerged, deeply offended. “I am a scientist of darkness, not a cartoon supervillain.”
“I’m surprised you even said that with a straight face,” Senkuu muttered, and he spun around to examine the architecture. As expected, ominous concrete walls, steel, and the lack of windows…?
“Does he think we’re evil?” Xeno turned toward Stanley.
“Probably. Kidnapping’s evil.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Senkuu grumbled. “The key part of kidnapping is that it’s done without consent, not because I know you guys.”
Xeno ignored him, recovering quickly as he clasped his hands behind his back with forced composure. “We prepared accommodations for you in advance.”
Senkuu blinked. “In advance?”
“Of course. The possibility of your survival and arrival here was always statistically significant.”
“Liar, Stan said you were panicking.”
Xeno’s eye twitched in annoyance, but he continued. “Your room is adjacent to mine and Stanley’s quarters. We—”
Senkuu raised a hand, confused. “Hold on, why do I need a room?”
Xeno raised a brow, crossing his arms. “Are you not staying here?”
“No?”
“...No?” Xeno echoed while Stanley lowered his cigarette slightly. At the very least, Stanley didn’t seem surprised or disappointed by his rejection. The same couldn’t be said for Xeno, who seemed genuinely distraught. Senkuu’s not sure why he didn’t see this coming; they’ve known each other long enough that Xeno should know by now Senkuu had ten billion percent no interest in world domination.
Senkuu looked between them. He could humor them at least. “Why would I stay?”
“We prepared you a room,” Xeno said carefully.
“Cool.”
“And there’s a laboratory.”
“Congrats.”
“Is it not tempting?” Xeno eyed Senkuu’s clothing, his eyebrows furrowed. “Especially since you just arrived from a very primitive setup?”
Senkuu covered the E=mc² writing on his collarbone. “I mean, yeah. But I have people—” He paused, tilting his head as he looked at Xeno’s clothes, specifically the design on his torso. “...What’s with the zippers?”
Xeno scrunched his nose, copying the same action Senkuu did, only with both hands—then Senkuu noticed the… metal claws (or whatever those are for) attached to his gloves. “What? It’s elegant.”
“Who dressed you? Megamind?” Senkuu glanced at Stanley for backup. “And your Predator cosplay, seriously? Did you enable all this?”
“I did no such thing,” Stanley raised his hands in mock surrender. “You gotta admit the Predator armor’s cool though.”
Senkuu doubted it, judging by Stanley’s outfit. You could argue a one-piece suit was pragmatic for flight, but it was also skin-tight and had a three-way zipper on the crotch. Senkuu’s not blind—if anything, Stanley has been doing nothing but indulging Xeno’s whims their whole fucking life.
“You guys are one foot into your thirties, you can’t be fucking with me right now,” Senkuu hissed. He pinched the bridge of his nose when Xeno only huffed, turning away from Senkuu like he was the petulant child in this dynamic. Stanley wasn’t being helpful at all as he just continued smoking where he stood. “What did I say about being evil while I was gone?”
“Who’s older here?”
“You’re seriously using that card, Xe?” Senkuu blinked, appalled. Fine, he could go lower than that. “What would Byakuya say?”
“Low blow,” Stanley mused as he acted as referee by wedging himself between Senkuu and Xeno’s line of sight. “Where’s Byakuya, anyway?”
Senkuu’s expression faltered. “About that…”
The great thing about knowing someone for so long is that you can understand unsaid things. In Xeno and Stanley’s case, they’ve known each other since they were ten, and then they’ve known Senkuu since he was five. The stretched silence had Xeno and Stanley staring at each other and most likely, communicating telepathically. Another great thing about them is that they weren’t stupid, not at all. They knew Byakuya was up in space during DARPA Expo, and regardless of whether Byakuya was able to come down on Earth while they were petrified or not, there was one thing certain in all of those outcomes.
Senkuu, although it had been a while now, still didn’t feel like talking about Byakuya’s death. Truthfully, he hadn’t fully processed his grief in favor of prioritizing the next step in rebuilding civilization. He was going to get an earful from both of them later on, once they found out what he’s been doing instead, but at the moment, Senkuu was just glad he didn’t need to say a word.
“...I see,” Xeno hummed. “I suppose he didn’t leave anything for us?”
“The Soyuz capsule and a glass record,” Senkuu shrugged. “Long story. He also said to make sure you guys don’t do world domination as his dying wish, I guess.”
Stanley blinked, ashing his cigarette on a nearby tray. “Sure, we can do that.”
“Well, there’s no rush for you to go back, yes?” Senkuu could only roll his eyes as Xeno ruffled his hair, careful not to harm him with his metal claws. “Why don’t we sit down and you tell us all about it?”
Senkuu let Stanley push him into a chair. “Shortest way to go about it; I died, got married, divorced—”
The sadness in both of their eyes suddenly disappeared, their expressions twisting into five different stages all at once. “You what—”
Stanley leaned back on his chair. “Don’t give Xe a heart attack, Sen.”
“I’m serious, though,” Senkuu grumbled through a mouthful of cookie. He was surprised they even managed to whip up the pastry, given the lack of eggs, but he supposed that was the magic of war food (ignoring that they didn’t really come from a war). Who knew their casual reading of World War 2 recipes came in handy now?
“That you died?” Xeno raised a brow. “Am I talking to your ghost as we speak?”
“I sure hope not,” Senkuu deadpanned. “I don’t know how to explain it, okay? I still had some petrified stone on my neck, and that’s where I got hit. Pour the revival fluid there, and the torn muscle repaired itself.”
“Ah, no wonder my lungs felt clearer,” Stanley mused. “Revival fluid?”
“Nitric acid,” Senkuu lied through his teeth.
As expected, Xeno caught that quickly. “No, we used that. Not everyone depetrified.”
“Bummer, must be the concentration?”
“You know, if you don’t want to share it, just say so,” Stanley cut in.
“Yeah, I don’t know if you guys will let me leave here,” Senkuu grinned lazily. “So let me keep it as leverage for now.”
Xeno sighed, “You know we’ll honor Byakuya’s wish regardless.”
“So no world domination from you two?” Senkuu blinked. “Just like that?”
Stanley threw his head back. “You know he’s gonna haunt us if we don’t.”
Well… that did sound like him. It’s not like Senkuu had room to complain either, as long as those two stepped down from the dictatorship path like Byakuya feared, all was well.
“I’m concerned, who hit you?” Xeno scowled. “And be fully transparent, I want names.”
Ahh. Senkuu closed his eyes and prayed for his friends back in Perseus. He could only hope that the mentalist could smooth the bumps he might end up leaving. No amount of justification would get through Stanley and Xeno’s combined stubbornness.
“Well… Tsukasa Shishio…”
Xeno’s eyebrows furrowed. “Appearance?”
Senkuu glanced at Stanley. “Uh, tall. Wears red.”
“Can you do it, Stan?”
Stanley scowled, getting up from his chair. “Yeah, I can. Stay here.”
Senkuu felt his stomach drop. He quickly grabbed Stanley by the arm when he passed by, trying to wrestle the gun off his belt. It was rather futile, given their gap in strength, but Stanley often held back when he was in their presence. “It’s okay, I killed him back!”
“Why’s he alive then?” Stanley took mercy on him and paused before he dragged Senkuu on the ground, catching him by the small of his back. “I’ll finish the job.”
“Sit your ass back down, you guys are always trigger-happy!” Senkuu hissed. “Are all Americans like this?”
“First of all, rude,” Xeno mused. “Second, Stan has a point. Why isn’t he buried yet?”
Senkuu gestured vaguely. “Ugh, it’s… something else. Point is, he was misguided, so we made up, I guess. He got attacked by—”
“Your colony is surprisingly full of violence,” Xeno frowned. “Aren’t you too lenient on them if they’re still causing you trouble?”
Senkuu exhaled through his nose. He really didn’t want to argue with them about using fear as a means of discipline right now. "I'm just... really unlucky."
"I bet," Stanley ruffled his hair.
Senkuu groaned, but leaned into his hand anyway. "Well, yeah. I get here and the first thing I see is your ugly mugs—"
"Watch it, brat."
"—Tsukasa got attacked by Hyoga, who also pushed me down the river, and I had to kill Tsukasa by freezing him until we found another Medusa to fix him up. Got all of that?"
Xeno looked, frankly, appalled and displeased. "And this Hyoga?"
Senkuu grimaced, tightening his hold on Stanley in case he tried to run off again. "...White hair, tall, wears a mask..."
"Stan—?"
"Hold it!" Senkuu yelled as Stanley made a move towards the exit again.
Senkuu had to dig his heels into the carpet just to stop himself from toppling over. Again, Stanley held back and stopped before he could embarrass himself further. "Hyoga got electrocuted, and we kept him in a dog house, it's okay!"
"Oh, a dog house?" Xeno mused, interest piqued. "Like a humiliation trial?"
Senkuu snapped his head towards him, distraught. "...Whatever makes sense to you, sure."
Xeno clapped, so Stanley finally sat back down. He squished into Senkuu's seat, though, using his head as an armrest. Xeno's glare made Stanley refrain from smoking so close to him, settling on fidgeting with one of his bangs to ease himself. "So you died once, and almost again. Both motherfuckers are alive—"
"But I already exacted my revenge—"
"—Fine. But I get to fire a warning shot later."
Senkuu mulled it over. The power team was kind of... superhuman, surely one warning shot was okay?
"And the married-divorced part?" Xeno asked, worried. "Did you like this person? Maybe we could—"
"You think I had time for that?" Senkuu asked, exasperated.
"You never know!" Xeno laughed.
"The marriage lasted for like, three minutes."
"Jeez, your call?"
What is it with them and their obsession over those details? Senkuu nodded either way. It wasn’t a lie. "Obviously."
Xeno sighed in relief. "That's good."
Stanley paused. "So what, was it like for science or whatever?"
Senkuu shrugged. "Pretty much, I just wanted their alcohol."
"I know your tolerance is absurdly high, but don't make it into a habit," Stanley buried his knuckles into Senkuu's scalp. “You’re too young to be an alcoholic.”
Senkuu squawked, trying to escape the headlock. "I don't want to hear it from a chainsmoker or the caffeine addict!"
"So still no girlfriend?" Xeno paused. "Or boyfriend? None at all, even with the marriage thing? Surely dating a widower isn't all that bad."
By the way the two laughed, Senkuu's sure the expression he made was priceless.
"That's a shame, you'd look cute with the brunette," Stanley teased. "He looks strong."
Senkuu shuddered at the thought of dating Moz. "No thanks, he wants a harem."
"It's a shame Tsukasa has to die, I think he's quite capable—"
"Hold on, what the hell do you mean by that?" Senkuu blinked. When the two didn't reply, Senkuu smacked Stanley's arm in a panic. "What the hell does he mean by that, Stan?"
Stanley ignored his question. "The blonde one? Wearing a pirate hat?"
Senkuu paused. "He's loaded. If he's still rich when civilization returns, maybe."
"Good choice," Xeno hummed. "Who else was there, Stan?"
"The others look too weak for Sen," Stanley shrugged. "Especially the one in purple."
Those two were awfully perceptive. When Senkuu didn't retort and hesitated for a moment, Stanley immediately sat up straighter, incredulous. Xeno had the same look, already off his seat, and crouched to his eye level. "Sen?"
Senkuu avoided their gazes awkwardly. There was nothing he could do about how warmth climbed up his neck, though.
“Stan,” Xeno said hurriedly. “Retrieve whoever this is; I need to see him for myself.”
Senkuu had to really, really, work hard to keep them from barging into the Perseus and kidnapping Gen next. It took a tantrum, three minutes of whining about how he didn’t want Gen to know yet, and a fake cry before both Stanley and Xeno let go of the topic.
Not that it mattered much, considering who ended up in Xeno’s evil lair base a few days later. Senkuu felt every hair on his body stand as Gen walked inside, behind Stanley, and obviously pretending to be a runaway traitor from the Kingdom of Science.
Gen locked eyes with Senkuu, surprised but relieved that Senkuu was there and unharmed. “Oh my, you’re here too?”
Xeno’s eyes narrowed as he put a hand over Senkuu, pushing him behind him. “Senkuu here wouldn’t tell us the name of your lead scientist; perhaps you’re more willing to give it away?”
“His name is Dr. Taiju—”
The sinister smile that appeared on Xeno’s face shut Gen up immediately. “Is that so?”