Mature Content Warning: This chapter contains scenes. Some of those scenes involve strong language.

Author’s Note: This chapter is the last chapter of the current episode. There is no epilogue for this episode, though I may write a short one and add it. I thought that there would be an ero scene in this chapter, but from what I can tell that will be at least two chapters from now.

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Chapter 25: Aftermath

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“So you’re saying that the bus was trapped?” inquired Aaron as he spoke to Scott over the vid phone. It had taken three days before the man had awakened and during that time the group had become desperate to know what had happened to them. Reina had been D-balled as a matter of course, so she could not contact anyone.

“Yeah, if we get another chance at that damned thing we’re going to have to just trash it and hopefully that will take care of the Fiend inside as well.” Scott slapped his fist down onto his hospital bed. He was conferencing from his room due to the fact that he was still too tired currently to move around much.

The damage from the backlash of his black metal spell combined with the utilization of his new ability to teleport had nearly killed him. It was not an unusual situation for the man. It was far too common really. Still, he had not come this close to death since that first Fiend had put him under for nearly a month.

His first thoughts had been of Reina and the girl that might be Amanda Aizuno.

They had turned out to be fine if a bit tired. Reina had been granted an emergency taming by an on duty Nurse on duty at the time to keep her from regressing. She had been very close to the line, and even with the repeated hot lesbian Demi-Human on naughty nurse action that he had not been privy to, she had only managed to roll back the clock for a few days at best. The girl would need to make up her mind, and soon, or she would lose her chance.

That was not too shocking really. The thing that had perplexed Scott was that while the young girl was indeed Amanda Aizuno, she had turned out to be human. Somehow, she was a naturally blue-haired human female. Certainly she had plenty of Demi-Human DNA, but she was not currently awakening or showing any signs of such. Honestly, Scott had only seen a handful of human women since he had come to this world. He had begun to think that they were some sort of myth.

A female with a gift who had not awakened was considered almost as peculiar as his genetics were.

It did make sense, however. He had not found anything about the girls in general from searching the national databases, except tidbits about Cerene from time to time when douchebag Henry had still claimed her; he had never thought to search the records for human beings.

Once he discovered that she was human, he simply looked her up in the public records section and she was found readily. It had a home address, general biological information, a copy of her finger prints and various other items of interest. Humans required a lot of information to be kept on record because they needed medical care that most Demi-Humans would not need.

It seemed she was a local cram school student living in Randy Oaks. She was taking the extra classes while saving up money to go to college.

Despite an IQ that registered at around three hundred, yes really; she did not qualify for any of the human scholarships because of her genetic ‘flaw’. No one wanted to waste money on someone who would likely become nothing more than a walking sextoy within the next few years.

The classes kept her mind filled with information and her sights focused on her goals. She wanted to become a doctor like her mother had.

Though she outwardly considered the practice of praying for success in school as being silly superstition, inwardly she had a romantic soul and longed for a bit of mysticism in her boring life. She had gone to the shrine that day for a few charms and to make a donation, but wound up being seated on a bus that drained her for days on end. How she had not died was a mystery, but at present she was recovering nicely.

“Yes, that does make sense. Do you want us to rendezvous with you there or wait for your group to rejoin us here?” inquired the much older man.

Scott considered it for a moment, but was unable to answer him. His attention was quickly taken by an angry dark elf. Pirouette slammed open the door to his room and walked in with a look on her face that could have cut glass.

“Uh, hi... P-chan.” began Scott. He was rudely cut short by an icy retort.

“Don’t you hi P-chan me! You don’t call for weeks at a time. I’m kept out of the loop and you’re in the hospital... once again!”

Scott wisely kept his mouth shut for a moment as the irate researcher went about checking his vitals in a perfunctory manner. After her quick check she turned to look at him as though he were a specimen on a petri dish. “Seems everything is in order here. I suppose I should head back and continue being left out of your activities?”

The man winced inwardly. Outwardly he gazed up at her softly but did not speak. After a minute of this she frowned at him and asked, “Well..?”

He continued to gaze softly at her and tilted his head a little as if truly thinking of something thoughtful to say.

Another minute or so passed and she began to bite her bottom lip a little. His silence was unnerving her. She was mad at him dammit! How can he just lie there and look at her with those big stupid cow eyes of his...?

Yet, despite her righteous anger he just continued to lie there in his hospital bed and look at her. Maybe she was being a little harsh? He was injured, was it really right to yell at him like this?

Her angry resolve began to fade under the simple innocence of his soft look and finally she said, “Well, then...” before turning away from him a little. ‘What’s wrong with me...? He’s lying here hurt and I’m berating him like I’m his mother!’ she thought angrily to herself.

His gaze softened a little and then turned into a tender smile. A faint redness brushed across her nose before she mumbled about getting him something to drink.

Scott nodded ever so softly and did his best to look cute and helpless. Her blush widened and she scurried out, her mental and emotional state confused for the moment. She was still mad at him, but couldn’t bring herself to express it.

“How..?” asked Aaron curiously. That had been beyond his ken. Even as long as he had lived he had never met a man who could change a woman’s mind when she was that angry.

The younger man shrugged. “Ancient American secret... when in doubt, shut up and look adorable.”

Aaron smirked at that and shook his head. That was one of many reasons he enjoyed being in the company of his current knight trainee. There was always something new to learn.

“I think we’ll come there. Be careful man. I’ll explain some stuff in depth when we get there. It’s not something I want to broadcast over an unsecured line.” Informed Scott.

“I understand. I’ll let the others know you two are safe. I know Miss Naile has been beside herself with worry.” A loud feminine snort in the background betrayed Ashe’s presence in the area a split second after the man uttered his fateful words.

After the comm-link faded Scott leaned back in bed and relaxed. His relaxed attitude ended when a thought occurred to him. Why had Analise shown up as her real self? Normally outside of her home she wore the guise of Analise Ophun the researcher.

When she returned he asked her about that.

“What do you mean? I’m wearing my illusion perfectly.” said Analise, before she looked herself over. She knew what she really looked like, but the dull sheen of magic that signaled her magic was working had no holes that she could sense.

“Uh, no... No, you’re not. Unless it’s your plan to be a perfectly attractive dark elf hottie pretending to be a Demi-Human researcher?” informed Scott as he clutched his skull and rubbed his temples. He had begun having migraines of late since he had awakened in the hospital yet again.

Pirouette blinked at him and then h’mmed curiously. The dark elf turned researcher walked to the bathroom in the area and checked the full length mirror on the door to see if the light was reflecting her properly. In the mirror she saw Analise Ophun in all her curvaceous glory.

"Are you joking? My guise is perfect." inquired the unnerved dark elf.

Scott shook his head. "Not to me. If you're wearing it, I'm not seeing it."

Pirouette frowned at him at little and considered the ramifications of that. A short time later she began focusing her mind on an illusory spell and then silently cast it upon a nearby table. Her intent was to make it look like a loaf of bread was sitting there, but she did not want to reveal her test to Scott before-hand.

"Tell me...? What is that object there on the table?" she asked him curiously. The Demi-Human researcher was interested to see what he would say.

"What object?" Scott’s eyebrows pressed toward each other. What was she talking about? His lips skewed slightly in conjunction to his eyebrows giving the impression that he was concentrating.

"The bread! The loaf of bread sitting on the table!" she exclaimed while pointing at an empty section of the table.

"Um, no. No loaf of bread...” he said in a mildly apologetic tone. To his eyes there was nothing on the table, though when he settled his gaze upon the spot she was gesturing at he felt a strange tightness in his eyes.

"Hmm... wait right here." commanded the dark elf researcher. Scott shrugged and simply accepted it. Where was he going to go anyway?

P-chan left the room and returned a few minutes later with a Generica Nurse. Once inside the room she simply asked the Demi-Human to tell her what was sitting on the table.

"Um, a loaf of bread?" asked the woman in confusion. What kind of request was that? She had rounds to make and this was a waste of time.

Scott's patron nodded then looked back up at Scott. Her powers were working. Either Scott was toying with her, a distinct possibility considering his occasionally playful attitude, or he was somehow immune to her illusions.

"Thank you. I simply needed to verify something. Your aid was appreciated." informed the dark elf hottie in human guise. The Nurse smiled in tired confusion and shook her head before heading back to her rounds.

"You really can't see the bread?" The idea that her illusions were that easy to foil was unnerving. It made a certain sort of sense if it was true. He did have a particularly solid talent for knowing the impossible. Still, knowing something and being immune or resistant to illusory magic was not the same thing.

"No... I ...don't see any bread P-chan."

Scott frowned at this. Either she was toying with him, a distinct possibility considering her occasionally playful attitude, or he was actively seeing through illusions.

"When did this ability to be immune to illusion start?" she asked with a frown. There was so much that he did not tell her nowadays.

"I didn't know it had ‘til now..." Just how many abilities would he wind up with? He had been getting stronger of late. Some of his spells had become easier to use, for instance, and his slightly beyond Olympic level athletic prowess was notably more than it was before.

Pirouette nodded then tapped her chin in thought. "What has happened recently? Tell me everything..."

Scott nodded to her in kind then took a deep breath before beginning his story. He started with the conflict with the Symbiote at the shrine. The conversation moved forward and he spoke in detail about his initial meeting with Reina, some of the activities around the shrine area, and then reached the point of what happened on the bus. When he got to the part about being knocked unconscious by his own power and ending up in a strange mental plane of darkness her eyes widened curiously. He had mentioned having strange dreams on occasion, but he had never gone into real detail about them.

As he explained about hearing the "metal" speak she widened her eyes in surprise and shook her head. It sounded like some kind of deity had taken him under its wing. Though, it was just as likely that he had simply been made aware of his own slumbering power and the meeting on that mental plane of existence was just a method for his injured body and spirit to understand the awakening process. There was no real way to know, yet.

"So, you can teleport now?" she finally asked him as his story settled within her mind.

"I'm not sure. My memory is incredibly clear and my mind is very focused and sharp since coming to this world, but that is still a little fuzzy for me. I know I had to have been transported somehow, but I don't know if I did it or if something else did it on my behalf." admitted Scott in confusion.

"We'll have to run some tests soon." stated the dark elven researcher with a pointed stare. This was not a request and Scott knew it.

"Kinky." stated the man in a half sarcastic manner.

P-chan rolled her eyes but Scott did not miss the very slight smile that creased her features. If he did not know better he would think that she had actually missed him.

----

Amanda blushed as her mother continued to fuss over her. She was a doctor at this very hospital and had immediately come into work when she had gotten a call that her daughter had been found.

"I'm fine, really." explained Amanda as her mother offered to get her some soup and fluff her pillow. The girl had explained about the bus as best she could. She had been surprised to learn that she had been rescued by a knight. Apparently that bus had been kidnapping a lot of people from the neighboring towns in the last few months, but no one could ever convince the government to do something about it.

"I doubt that. You've been gone for almost a month!" exclaimed her mother as she frowned at her daughter.

"I... don't know. I just felt very weak. I never really got hungry or thirsty, but after a while I fell asleep and woke up here." explained the girl. Her mother decided that whatever had been siphoning off her life energy had probably kept her alive so that it could continually harvest from her.

"Hmm...” Doctor Aizuno thought about her daughter's situation. She had not broken the bad news to her yet. Her lack of attendance at her cram school had caused them to remove her from the rolls. She did not have the money to send her daughter to college despite her profession.

Between her late husband's outstanding debts from his time as a wandering tamer, the rent, and other general life issues she only had enough to pay for half of her daughter's education. The girl would have to come up with the rest on her own. Unfortunately, jobs outside of the adult industry were hard to come by for gifted females.

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"So, um...” began Reina as she sat down on a chair near Scott's bedside. The Catgirl was not sure what to say to the man. He had saved her life but his plan had threatened it in the first place. She could not help but feel a certain begrudging respect for him for being able to get them out alive, however. Then there were the other feelings that were cropping up. It was best not to think about those, however.

Scott nodded. Things had been awkward for them in the hour since P-chan had wandered off to check over some of his test results. She had been introduced to Reina and there had been a strange sort of enmity there. If Scott had not been better informed he would have thought they were jealous of each other. Neither one of them was particularly interested in him of course, so that could not be the case.

Reina was only with him because of laws and her biological needs. They had literally only met a few days ago, so there was no reason to believe that she had any genuine interest in him. Pirouette was centuries old and outside of business they rarely talked. There as a bit of playfulness between them, but it had never led to anything.

"Reina, I'm sorry." Scott finally admitted as he gazed at the blushing girl's profile. Reina blinked and turned to him in confusion for a moment before asking, "Sorry..?"

"I let my hubris get the best of me. I nearly got us killed. I put the mission in danger by overstepping my bounds. I forget sometimes that I am inherently the squishy one on the team."

"What? Oh, that... No you didn't." she began but Scott cut her off with a shake of his head.

"The truth is I have been in the "limelight" too much. I try to fight from the front and normally do fairly well even if I end up in the hospital a lot. However, I shouldn't be the one leading this group."

"What are you talking about..? You're their master! Of course you're the leader!" she exclaimed.

Scott shook his head. "I am the master of the group, but that doesn't mean I should be the battle leader. It simply means I can veto plans if they sound stupid and offer my advice on how to proceed. The truth is it isn't my place to lead you girls."

"Us girls? Including me in your harem now, hmm?" she asked with a snarky tone. Was he finally showing his true colors and trying to claim her?

"I don't have a harem. I have friends that I can help in their struggles. You are a participant in a war to save this planet from the threat that killed off your race ten thousand years ago."

"My race? You aren't talking about Demi-Humans are you?" she asked him with a bemused expression on her face. This conversation was going further and further into a strange and unusual place she knew nothing about.

"No... Not Demi-Humans. Though, I suspect there is a strong connection between the two. I don't doubt there are also some realities where Demi-Humans have been around since the beginning of time. This isn't one of those, though."

"What do you mean then..?"

Scott was about to speak up then thought better of it. "I should explain all this when we meet up with the others back at the shrine. There's no sense in trying to tell the story twice when I need to focus on what exactly to say."

Reina frowned at him and shook her head in annoyance. Typical guy move! He got her all excited to play his game then took his ball and went home before it even started.

"We need to go see if we can get Amanda to join us and head over there soon anyway." sighed out Scott with a bit of post hospitalization angst. He really hated being in the hospital it always reminded him that he was the weak link in the group chain.

"Wha... Amanda? Why would she go with us?"

"Yes, why would my daughter be going somewhere with you, Sir?" asked Saeko Aizuno as she walked into the room. In a stereotypical move that smacked of poor writing in certain types of fictive narratives she had been on the way to see the knight that had rescued her daughter. She wanted to thank him in person.

Scott blinked over at the equally blue haired woman and nodded. "Would you believe it's a league secret?"

"I certainly would. I would also still like to know what that secret might be." she replied. A sudden quirk of her left eyebrow caused her beautifully sculpted features to take on an intriguing appearance. No wonder Amanda was so cute. Her mother was a total MILF.

Scott frowned and tried to consider how to answer that. Finally, he hit upon a train of thought and decided to run with it even if it made him feel like a jerk. "It might not be safe to discuss it here. Can you please bring her to the Hickey-Wa Shrine in a day or two? It is important for the safety of the league and the planet as a whole."

"Wha... Now see here I want to know what...”

Scott snapped out, "That was not a request despite the pleasantries. Your daughter is quite possibly one of the only beings capable of saving the planet. She will be at the Hickey-Wa shrine in two days."

Doctor Aizuno took an involuntary step back and seemed as though she wanted to argue. After she collected her thoughts and recalled the rank of the individual before her she grew a little pale and nodded meekly. Her face continued to show signs that she was forcing herself to bite her tongue, but she would comply.

The man sighed softly. "Look, your questions will be answered. To be honest I just don't want to discuss it right now since I want to tell everyone involved all at once. You will recall that I asked you nicely to bring her there. This means I am including you in the debriefing. That is... unless you feel you aren't trustworthy enough to know a secret that could very well affect the entirety of the planet and the safety of the remaining sentient life upon it?"

The blue haired medical practitioner blinked and grew even paler as the ramifications of that statement began to hit home. Whatever this was, it was serious business.

"In... two days?"

Scott nodded and agreed with her. "Two days."

The good doctor fidgeted a little and then whispered, "Thank you..." before slipping out of the room. Her mind was reeling and she needed to go speak to her daughter.

"What in the world was that about?" asked Reina in shock. She had never seen Scott act so... forceful. Even in sparring he always seemed to be a bit of a goofball. It was such a strange way for him to act. In fact, it was almost as strange as the way her tail had begun to wriggle in her seat.

"I needed to get Amanda to the shrine. As much as I hate sounding like a jerk barking orders it seemed to work. Besides I need to make a few more phone calls now. If one parent is getting involved then I need to locate another set that are long overdue for a family meeting."

Reina blinked then lightly bit her lip and flushed cutely as Scott crawled out of bed naked. He paid the Catgirl no mind as he casually walked over to his clothes lying near the vid phone in the hospital room. He spent half his time in this world either naked or in armor, and he had stopped noticing when that sort of thing freaked people out. He did have the decorum to put his clothes on before actually dialing up the people he intended to call, however.

As far as he knew none of the other girls had parents to contact. Makina was an orphan and Nina had not really confided much in him about her past. Considering she was able to speak English well it was unlikely that she was born wild.

He decided then and there that he had to ask her more about her past. He had heard her mumble something about London once in her sleep, but she had not really seemed too inclined to discuss her past whenever she was awake. He suspected that he did not consciously remember much, even now.

He looked up the people he was searching for on the listing pages and found them. A few seconds later the phone was ringing and a face he had not seen since his first days in the world showed up on the phone.

"Hello, Mrs. Sakino?"

"Um, Hello. Who..?" she began. The man on the other end of the phone seemed vaguely familiar to her.

"Sorry to have been such a poor associate. I am calling to inform you that I have found and retrieved your daughter some time ago. We'd all been incredibly busy with our mission... and your emotional scarring slipped my mind until now."

"Wha...? My... Cerene! You found Cerene?!" she exclaimed excitedly with shock creeping into her voice. She had worried herself sick over her missing daughter for many months now. She knew the girl was the property of a cruel man and it had upset her greatly.

"Yes Ma'am. She is doing well, but if you would like to speak with her in person you can come to the Hickey-Wa Shrine in two days. You might also be able to call her there now, as she might be there. I'm not sure what she's doing as my group is currently separated and will be rejoining shortly." informed Scott in as friendly and professional a voice as possible. He wanted to stress the fact that she had been removed from her abusive situation and try not to remind the woman that her daughter had been safe for a while.

"I can... I can call her? She's ok! My baby’s OK." Cerene’s mother began to sniffle softly for a moment, before she broke down into happy sobs of relief. Every tear and snuffle both inflicted pain on Scott as well as instilled joy. He was happy to see her nightmare was over. That is... it was over until she found out what kind of mess her daughter was dealing with at the moment.

The two talked for a few more minutes. Scott assured her of the safety of her daughter then the call ended. Reina sniffled a little in the background and hugged herself. Her own parents were gone and it made her wonder what it would be like without her grandfather and her great grampy Aaron.

Pirouette walked back into the room then with a knit brows and a data sheet in her hand. Apparently she had found something curious.

"Scott... What the hell are you?" she asked him quickly. Her sheet had shown that he had physical prowess that was a bit beyond what would be expected and signs of strange minerals and genetic mutation. Whatever he was, it was not normal.

"Lucky to have you in my life?" he inquired with a beaming smile. The dark elven researcher glared at him. This was not a time for jokes.

"You aren't biologically human anymore... at least not entirely." she began.

Scott shrugged. "Don't know what to tell you P-chan. My biology is fucked up. I thought we both knew that? What did you find?"

She sighed and then stared down at her sheet. Reina looked at her then at Scott trying to understand what the fuss was about. Didn't he just have a few weird gifts that made him really strong? She had assumed it when she had noticed him lifting those big rocks. Gifts were not that uncommon after all.

Pirouette frowned. "Honestly, I don't know. It's... You're... You have an extra chromosome!"

Scott blinked at her. "I have a what? How the hell can that be? I could see my DNA getting magically fried but that sounds more like evolution that mutation... Besides, wouldn’t that give me Down Syndrome or something?"

He was pretty sure that having an extra chromosome sitting around unattached would not be a good thing.

"That's just it! It’s not just a random extra chromosome, it’s an actual pairing! I think you really are evolving. It's... I don't know how to explain it. You're human and you're not human. It’s... I don’ even know what it is!"

"Kinda like the difference between homosapiens neanderthalis and homo sapiens sapiens?" he inquired softly. He was not sure if there was a difference in the number of chromosomes between then, but who knew really?

"What... no... No... That... well maybe... but... I don't know. I just want to know what you are."

Scott smiled softly at her with wide sincere eyes. "I'm your friend P-chan. Anything else is just cosmetic."

The dark elf snorted. "If you're not going to take this seriously...”

"I have twenty-four chromosomal pairs. What is there to laugh about? Who the hell knows what's gonna happen to me? Will I even be able to accept blood transfusions in the future? Can I even tame Demi-Humans? Will I be able to have children? Will medicine become poisonous? How about the food I eat?"

Reina blinked at that last part and asked, "Why wouldn't you be able to tame Demi-Humans?"

"The only creatures that can tame Demi-Humans are humans, gods, and to some extremely minor extent ... other Demi-Humans. I don't think I'm a god. I have no Demi-Human genes... and my biological humanity is in question."

Pirouette shook her head. "All the genome markers that allow for Demi-Human taming still exist. You're still some sort of human, just... a different branch of the evolutionary line."

"Kinda like how horses and donkeys can breed...?" asked Scott curiously.

"Um, No... Well, maybe. I don't know!" cried out P-chan in frustration. There was so much she did not know about her boyf... um associate underling.

"Hmm... I wonder if I'm the horse or the donkey?" he queried to himself lightly. Inside he was a seething sea of doubt and confusion however. He wanted to know what was happening just as much as anyone else. He had been wondering what he was himself for a while now.

"Maybe you're just an ass?" asked Reina snidely but with a tiny hint of concern.

Scott snorted at her then answered sweetly. "Why you asking...? Feel the need to tap me? Go ahead, but please... be gentle."

The Catgirl rolled her eyes at the overly attempted joke and let it go. There was too much going on to continue that sort of banter.

The three conversed back and forth for a few minutes about this new development before Scott asked Pirouette, "Hey P-chan... you should come to the shrine in two days. There's something important I need to tell everyone and I know how you hate being left out."

"Oh? What is so important that you have to actually tell me about it? I'm always the last to know after all." she asked with a hint of jealousy in her tone.

"The truth. I am going to tell everyone the truth... as I know it." he said without his customary corniness. His serious tone got her attention and she nodded.

"Alright... since you wish to include I shall join you. Why bring me in on it now?" she asked with a slightly hurt tone. She had not realized just how much it had bothered her that Scott had seemed to simply disregard her other than random phone calls for status updates. They had no relationship outside of work, so it made no sense to her.

Scott saw her standing there and the tone of her voice broke something inside of him. He blurted out a statement that he had no business speaking without thinking. Yet, deep down he knew it would take something of that magnitude to really spell out what sort of importance this meeting would hold. "P-chan, Vashra was... a lucky guy to have someone so loyal in his life. I'm sorry if I've hurt you in recent months..."

Her eyes flew wide in shock and her face grew pale. "How... How did... No, you couldn't, know. No one knows but Delia... No one."

Scott winced at his specifically chosen action of stupidity then shook his head. "I'm... I'll explain everything at the shrine. You know some of it already."

Pirouette turned away from him as slow hot tears began to slip along her cheeks. The dark elf nodded slightly and then left the room without another word. Scott's attempt at an apology had opened old wounds that she had thought healed long ago. He had spoken the one word that could truly hurt her.

"Who's Vashra?" asked Reina after the dimensionally relocated dark elf left the room.

"A better man than I Reina... A better man than I." stated Scott cryptically before flopping down in a nearby chair and pressing his face into his hands. Why did everything that he did of late end up turning to shit?