"...Aren't you gonna untie me?"
"Nope." Mozu said, pulling you behind him as you both walked through the hallways. "I like you better when you're tied up."
"Ew." you immediately said, making him laugh. "Untie me asshole!"
"(Y/n)!" Matsukaze called out as he and Ginrou joined you.
He immediately cut down your ropes. You glared at Mozu who just clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. Suddenly a man from Xeno's side noticed your group and ran towards you.
"Shit!" you said. "We gotta get out of here!"
"Pfff, please." Mozu said as he casually walked up to the guy while Matsukaze stood in front of you and Ginrou in protection.

The soldier pointed his machine gun at him but he simply smiled.
"Heh, those mechanical gun things are your mightiest close combat weapons," he readied himself. "and according to your rules, we're supposed to tremble in fear and surrender the second you point them at us, correct?"
You prepared yourself to run. But then, Mozu took him down using Hyouga's spear wielding style. Either it was because of the element of surprise, or Mozu really was that powerful, but you were left speechless.
"But," he said, looking down at the passed out soldier. "I don't think us island warriors will go down that easy, since we don't know your rules." he noticed you staring at him. "What? Turned on?"
You gagged in disgust, sticking your tongue out. He chuckled again.

On your way back up the deck, it seemed like the soldiers were overwhelmed by the two warriors and started to retreat. One guy threw a bunch of grenades your way but Matsukaze deflected them all with his bamboo sword, launching them in the air right before they all exploded.
"Holy shit!" you exclaimed.
"Nice." Mozu smiled. "We're combining modern and ancient moved."
'I guess that with their powers combined, they do make an almost unstoppable team.' you pursued your lips. 'I doubt this'll go on forever, but they can at least make them suffer a blow or two.'
One of the soldiers took out what looked like a bomb, and with the size of the thing, it could probably blow a big part of the boat.
"Bad idea dude!" you pointed at him. "You use that thing and we're all in deep shit!"
"Oh? You really wanna kill our cutest girl?" Mozu said, a sadistic grin on his face. "Aren't you people shorthanded? Wouldn't you prefer to take live prisoners? If I were you, I wouldn't try anything crazy!" his smiled widen. "But I am more than happy to go crazy!"
"Uh-sure! So chill!" you added.

"Yeah, let's take it easy boys." a tall buff woman with black hair said. "Look up there. Seems like the dogfight is just about over."
You looked up and saw that Stanley's engine sucked up some kind of gas the boys threw at him and was beginning to crash. But unfortunately, their own engine sucked up some of the gas and they crashed in the same area.
'They'll be fine.' you thought, half-believing it yourself. 'At least Stanley's aircraft isn't a problem anymore.'
"Okay, it's done!" the lady clapped her hands. "Hide and seek is over~! Time for the star to make his entrance!"
"Who's doing his what now?"

Just then, one of the submarine's trap doors opened and someone popped out, jumping unto the ship and landing between Mozu and Marsukaze. As soon as he did, he shot them both clean in their shoulder, destroying their weapons. Frozen with shock, you looked up. He was wearing a long coat, at his belt was a big knife, his hair were pushed back expect for one bang hovering above his face. He had a single crack going across his face bellow his eyes. He was smoking a cigarette.
'...Stanley?'
He glanced at you and your shoulders tensed up. You weren't stupid, you weren't going to try anything. He had a gun for god sake!
Still, you didn't like the way he was looking down on you.

"Enemy combatants have been subdued." he coldly said, looking at his colleagues. "Job's done."
'Oh so I'm no threat now? No need to even bother is that it?'
He turned away and started walking. You looked down and kicked him in the back of his knee, making him kneel down with a grunt. You heard shocked gasps.
"Hey you brat! What do you think you're doing?!" one of the other soldiers grabbed you from behind, holding you up in an armlock.
'Oh god I immediately regret this!!!'
"Stop."
You watched as Stanley calmly stood back up and looked at you, frowning. You gulped. Oh yeah, this was a bad idea.
"Just tie her up with the others." he said before walking away.

"Oh (Y/n)," Yuzuriha sighed. "you and your impulsivity."
"I don't even know what came over me!" you whined. "I had a bad day okay?! And when I saw that condescending look in his eyes it kinda just added to my already piled up frustration!"
Waiting for something to happen, you heard Chrome sending out a message saying they finally captured Xeno. The Americans couldn't understand what he was saying since only their leader knew Japanese. Your eyes widen.
'Shit!' you tried to bite your ropes. 'I gotta get out of here!'
"Do you think Senku is okay...?"
You looked over and saw Luna looking in the distance like a princess waiting for her knight.

"She's been like this ever since their plane crashed." François explained.
"Oh~." you scooted over to her. "Don't worry, they're tough."
'Although I am worried about Senku's injuries.'
"What the heck is going on here?!" a guy with glasses and fluffy hair ran over to you guys. "Why is Miss Luna tied up?!"
'Must be a fanboy of hers.'
As he cut her ropes, she whispered to him about the situation. He looked destroyed by the boyfriend bit but quickly recovered and glanced around before leaning a bit closer.
"Okay. A squad to rescue your new man. Who do you need?"

"Thank you Max!" she smiled. "Well, François can help me with first aid and..."
"We require Master Kaseki," François added. "as he may have to disassemble the fallen aircraft."
"Wait," they looked at you. "please take me with you."
"(Y/n)..."
"I want to - No I *have* to talk to Xeno. I probably won't get the chance to if I stay here." your expression became grimmer. "I have something to say to him."
Luna gulped, she'd be lying if she said the look in your eyes wasn't scary. Her and François figured you were going to try and get out of here by any means necessary anyway.
"...We weren't going to say no either way." François calmly said. "I get you have unfinished business with him."
So after being untied, you, François and Kaseki jumped into the river. Luna and Max acted like they were going after you and once they joined you on the shore, you all walked to the location Chrome said they were.

"So you survived." Xeno told Senku after he and Ryusui joined Chrome and the others. "Stanley would never fail to make a killing shot. You must've used scientific measures to foil the bullet and defy death." he looked up at the sky, smiling. "Yes, science is truly elegant!"
Senku said nothing for a moment. He drank a sip of water and smiled.
"It's been a few thousands years since lil third grade me started sending emails to NASA." he chuckled. "But if you're hoping to stroll down memory lane, we'll have ages to do that later. For now, we gotta get moving before sunset."
"Later?" he frowned. "Where will you go? You have no base to return to. My people have already defeated your friends and taken over your ship. You've lost."
"Ah, by the way," he said, ignoring him. "you might wanna prepare yourself." his smile widen as he started to look around. "Knowing her, she'll be here any minute now."
He didn't have to explain himself, Xeno knew exactly who he was talking about. And by some amazing timing-
"XENO!!!" your voice boomed.

They all looked over to see you and your group approaching, but you picked up the pace as soon as you saw him. Your friends didn't dare to stop you or to say anything. You looked genuinely enraged. You walked straight towards him, disregarding everybody else and punched him in the face so hard he fell on the ground.
"That's for trying to kill my boyfriend!"
"Boyfriend?!?!?!" Luna exclaimed, but you ignored her.
"Boyfriend? Congratulations." Xeno smiled.
You grabbed him by his collar and punched him again.
"Shut the fuck up! You're a hypocrite!" you let go of him. "And you call yourself a man of science!"

He sat down due to the pain of your two hits. Now he looked a bit confused. Without looking away, you pointed at Senku.
"Senku! What's the definition of science?!"
"Basically: a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject."
"Boom! So, by definition, almost everything in the world is science! Music is science! It's my own science!" you placed a hand on your chest. "Is it sinking in yet?!"
You didn't see any change in his expression and it just pissed you off.
"You would always complain about how you felt used by your bosses at NASA because they never respected your ideas, and when they did they'd take credit for them for the sake of their 'stupid material glory' or whatever! Yet you were planning on using me and music like some tools to secure your dictator fantasy?! You're a fuckin' hypocrite!" you noticed his eyes widen slightly. "You get it now? You've become the thing you hate!" you paused, catching your breath. "So now you're gonna cut the bullshit and tell your soldiers to back off."

A moment of silence passed as you two stared into each-other's eyes.
"...I don't think I will, no."
"Wha-" you scoffed. "The fuck is wrong with you?! I really don't get it!" you ran a hand through your hair. "Like is this really who you are?! Is everything just about science and being king of the world with you?! Was our penpal thing only just because I'd be useful to your egotistical ass?! Did it ever occurred to you that I just wanted to be fuckin' friends?!" you paused, he looked down. "All those times I said 'hey if you ever come to Japan I know this really cool place', you ever realized it was an invitation to simply just hang out and have fun like normal people do?! No you didn't! Bet you don't even remember! Why would you right?! Has nothing to do with science or your gigantic eg-"
"The aquarium."
"Huh?" your expression fell.
"You wanted to go to the aquarium." he looked up at you with a little smile. "You said there was a stand there who served excellent bubble waffles."
"...oh."

For a moment, your eyebrows furrowed. But it only lasted a moment.
"Hey! Good memory does not equal redemption asshole! I cannot believe you tried to kill the kid who looked up to you! I hope you feel like shit right now!" you huffed. "But I know you don't. Why? Because you are a compassionless prick. And I hate your guts."
Xeno sighed, still smiling, yet his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
"Well...I'm sorry you feel that way."
There was a moment of silence. You ran a hand through your hair and turned away.
"You know what? Whatever. I'm done here, I said what I had to say, and now I can go." you walked away, but then looked back at him. "And when you come back, I'll have taken over America, with that soft power you seem to love so much."

"Think you can manage on your own?"
"I have a knack for being liked by people."
Senku, Gen, Ryusui and Tsukasa nodded in agreement. Even Hyouga slightly moved his head downward.
Xeno chuckled.
"I look forward to seeing that."
You frowned.

"Uh, (Y/n)?" Taiju finally asked. "What do you mean by 'when you come back'?"
"Well, yeah." you looked at him. "There's no way for you guys to go back to the ship so..."
"And what about you?" Senku asked. "Where will you be going?"
"Over there of course." you pointed at the giant castle down the cliff, which you figured was the enemy's HQ. "I'll need instruments for my plan to work."
"Kukuku! Alright," he smiled. "then I'll leave the diplomacy to you."
"...Okay now I'll need you to develop on this plan. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea, but what is it you have in mind exactly?"
His smile widen.
"This will be the new world's first and last leadership summit between Japan and the U.S.!"
"Ah-" you pointed at yourself. "Leadership?" you repeated in a little voice.

He turned towards the others.
"Out of all the Americans, who seems like the most reasonable?"
"I've got one in mind." Chrome said. "While I was caved in with Xeno, this one sounded like he prioritized digging us out to save our lives while the others clearly wanted to fight."
"That sounds like Brody-chan, their mechanist." Gen said. "Yes, even when he suspected me of lying, he didn't grow angry. He simply brushed it off with a laugh. Much like Ukyo-chan, he's the type who'd rather avoid unnecessary sacrifices!"
"Perfect!" Senku turned back towards you. "That's your target."
"Okay..." you slowly nodded. "I still don't know what I'm supposed to say. Do I threaten that we kill Xeno?" you asked as you pointed at the guy with your thumb.
"Are we even certain that they'll listen to her?" Kohaku asked. "After we just kidnapped their leader."
"Oh they will, for sure." you said as Senku nodded. "Especially because now we kidnapped their leader."
"And there will be no need for threats." Senku said. "Just offer them exactly what they want."
You frowned.
"You have to stop being so cryptic dude. Explain!"
He chuckled.

Before you left for the castle, you said goodbye to everyone.
"I'll miss you guys!" you said.
"We'll miss you more my dear (Y/n)!" Ryu bowed, a hand on his chest.
"Don't miss me too much though~!" Gen giggled.
"You can come with us you know?!" Taiju asked as he and Chrome tried not to cry.
"You know I can't." you patted their shoulder. "I have to show that Xeno son of a bitch what I can do."
They sniffed and nodded. You went to Tsukasa and hugged him, thanking him for everything he taught you. You went to everyone to say goodbye. Lastly, you stood in front of Senku. A smile formed on your face as your face became redder. He sighed, also smiling.

"I told you I'd do it." you said.
"I know." his cheeks growing a bit redder and averting his eyes, he opened his arms a little bit as a way to give you the go.
You heart skipped a bit at his 'It's not like I care or anything' tsundere reaction and you grabbed him by the collar before pulling him into a passionate kiss that, though you still took him by surprise, he returned it. Some averted their eyes, Ryusui laughed, happy to see such display of affection between a loving couple, Luna however felt the knife being twisted in her wound.

You let go and looked at him, placing your forehead on his as you held hands.
"Come back in one piece okay?"
He smiled.
"You know me."
You smiled back before turning towards Luna and pointing at her.
"It's too late to go back now!" you explained. "You're part of the Kingdom of Science now! You're in it too deep!"
She mumbled incoherently, still in shock it seems, but she didn't disagree and that's a win in your book. And before she could say anything you rushed down the cliff towards the giant castle. Senku watched you leave and chuckled.

Though he knew they'd come back, he still felt his chest tightened at the thought of not knowing when. He'll try and make sure they come back as quickly as possible.