All-Star Ōtsutsuki 36 (Invincible/Naruto OC-SI) (Patreon)

Three of the most powerful men on Earth sat in the same room together at once. Myself, feeling slightly out of sorts with that realization, but not at all particularly concerned with the subject of the meeting. Cecil looked as if he’d aged even more years before I’d realized it, the deep lines on his face obviously signs of wear and age. Rudy, in his position as the leader of the Guardians of the Globe.

… Mark was here too. 

Not to downplay his own personal strength or connection to the problem at hand, mind you. It was just that despite his actual great powers, he wasn’t someone I’d looked to first and foremost as influential as the other two people in the room with us. That wasn’t on him or an indictment on his importance. He just wasn’t the guy I thought of as having vast economic or espionage power but rather the ability to punch really hard.

Sometimes you needed someone who could hit things into orbit. I was the poster child of that ideology of deterrence. However, we were going to be delving deep into the weeds of scheming and plotting, and this wasn’t a field that I felt like he was going to add to much. Neither was I, really, that much I could honestly concede without much shame.

But it was Viltrumite business, and Cecil’s policy was generally to involve him rather than let him get blindsided with information that very directly concerned him.

“We all know why we’re here,” Cecil said, looking each of us in the eyes.

“The Viltrumite woman,” Rudy intoned, voice grave.

“Do we even have confirmation she’s a Viltrumite yet?” Mark asked. “It’s just Taijitu’s suspicion right now, isn’t it?”

“I tracked her home, and we found the identity tied to the condo,” I explained, jerking a thumb over at Cecil. “His people looked into who it was and got her face.”

“Which we then promptly showed to Nolan, who confirmed that it was one of the remaining Viltrumites,” Cecil continued, picking up where I left off.

If there was a benefit to my eyes, it was that while the actual functions of my sight were well-known, I didn’t think the specifics had gotten out yet. Like the massive, absurd range that I could see at when I really pushed it. Or how deeply I could see and peer into someone’s physical potential.

Otherwise, this entire scheme on the Viltrumite’s part would have proven wildly divergent. They might have taken great pains to operate in places where I didn’t visit very often, or where GDA oversight was a bit lax. Third world countries without immense amounts of infrastructure, for example, would have been a nightmare scenario for them to infiltrate.

The reality was, while my eyes had a very large range while they were activated, there was only so much I could actively notice at a given time. I usually had them peeled for familiar spiritual signatures of people I knew and things moving faster than most commercial flights. Those were things that drew my attention.

Our current infiltrator seemed to have the sense to literally not just fly, though. Merely use her great strength and durability for big, bounding leaps. If I didn’t have the capacity to understand her actual potential, I wouldn’t have likely suspected she was anything but a newbie superheroine.

At the confirmation of our threat, Mark could only give a slow sigh. “Then what’s actually the plan here? Hit her hard and fast to take her out?”

“That would be intelligent, and prudent in some respects,” Rudy agreed, armor peeling back to expose his face properly. “But I think Cecil had something else in mind other than trying to subject her to enhanced interrogation.”

Cecil gave us a slow nod. “You’re not wrong. While I very much do believe it’s on the table as an option, Genji’s presence, along with Mark and Rudy together, does give us options.”

Something about the way he said that word gave me chills. “What do you mean by that?”

“If we move to take her, we don’t know enough about whether or not there are other Viltrumites waiting in the wings to make a move. Either elsewhere in the solar system or even on the planet.”

That got a wince out of me. “You’re not wrong. I can fight quite a few at this point when I’m juiced up, and I’ve mostly recovered physically from the last bout of it. But if I have to fight all of the Viltrumites left…”

It was a fight that I didn’t think I could win. Not easily, anyway.

“Beyond that point, more important is the opportunity that this provides.”

Mark stared at Cecil, a little confused. “... You’re gonna have to explain that one to me.”

“If she’s feeding information to Viltrum, we can give them a load of horseshit,” the director explained, showing his true colors as a former agent in the way he thought about this situation. “Let alone the fact that she’s probably here to spy on Genji in the first place.”

That was enough to make me blink in surprise. “Huh?”

Cecil fixed me with a flat stare. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that just after killing three Viltrumites and defeating Nolan in a very public way, the spy set up shop in the city that you’re the most active in?”

When he laid it out like that, no, it wasn’t a coincidence at all. I’d chalked it up to comic books, superhero universes being layered with coincidences and chance meetings. However, the people around me, whom I shared the world with, were not stupid. They could have stupid ideologies, theories, and goals but very cogent ways of going about achieving them.

The notion that I was a big deal on an intergalactic scale was still something I was struggling to get used to.

“That makes too much sense for me to be comfortable with it,” I said, rubbing my chin nervously.

Rudy nodded beside me. “Now that Cecil’s mentioned it, the probability of that being the case does seem rather likely. Trying to gather information on your enemies is only intelligent.” 

“It feels like we’re making more arguments to stop her than letting her continue,” Mark said, looking between us all with worry on his face. “What if she chooses to go off the deep end? Or gets tired of pretending?”

In the face of his concern, Cecil didn’t give anything away. Even his emotions were pretty tightly controlled, as I watched him carefully. “I’m willing to bet they know they can’t beat Taijitu in a straight-up fight. That’s why she’s here in the first place, trying to snoop. Counterespionage is a risk, but it’s one that I feel like is specifically worth taking, given Taijitu’s capabilities.”

While that level of faith in me was grand, it wasn’t unfair, either. “I think it might work,” I admitted. “But it really depends on what you think you can get out of it. What we can get out of the effort and the risk.”

“Besides feeding them false information?”

“That’d be a good start, yeah!” Mark agreed, nodding sharply.

“Our psychologists have been profiling your father pretty significantly. Between the actual conditions of the projected lifestyle of a Viltrumite warrior and the sheer lack of contact with people they have that look like them, we have a strong case that being on Earth would have a subversive effect on them.”

I could see the shape of what Cecil was gambling with. It was something I expected out of a game of civilization, not the leader of the GDA. “You want to win a cultural victory?!”

“Is that even possible…?” Rudy asked, not quite dismissing it out of hand. “It’s… not quite how I would have handled the situation, but it does have some merit. To a certain degree.”

“Yeah, also predicated on me spending time with this likely mass-murdering, genocidal maniac!” I pointed out, no less worried about my own capacity to keep civil around her. Or to not let anything slip.

“Very true,” Cecil admitted. “You’re the lynchpin of this operation, seeing as you have what she actually wants. If you don’t want to go through with it, we don’t have to. I can’t force you to do anything. Those days are long past.”

“... But you’d like it if I did,” I guessed.

“I would. It’s a risk, but with you close by and trying to make her into a sort of sidekick, the actual damage she could do if things go pear-shaped is largely mitigated. We’re not asking you to groom her for the Guardians of the Globe. Just keep her close, feel her out, and see if you can practically bring her into the fold.”

They were asking me to try and win a cultural victory on a warrior woman from a race of genocidal space aliens. Actually, while I found the actual likelihood of her past actions repugnant, the reality was that she hadn’t broken any serious laws while on Earth. She might have been planning to, but no rubicon had truly been crossed yet in terms of her conduct.

Outside of creating a false identity, which was so minor as to not be worth noting, she’d only objectively done good. If we could channel all of that destructive power to good ends, would playing pretend for a few weeks or a month be worth it? The me who’d just arrived on this planet, in the middle of the Flaxan invasion, would have been more reticent about the notion.

I’d gone to space and seen what was at stake, though. It didn’t mean I liked anything about this situation, but I could see why Cecil thought it was a good idea. Damn it, I was even talking myself into trying to give it an attempt.

With pursed lips, I crossed my arms and leaned back against my chair, giving it some earnest consideration. Though the conclusion that I came to didn’t make me happy, my own happiness was secondary to the people around me.

“Alright,” I started, setting my hands on the table. “I’m willing to do this, tentatively. But if things go pear-shaped, Cecil, I’d like to put out the statement that I very much told you so about everything going wrong.”

“Me too,” Mark added. “This is a dumb idea, but… but I’m also not a crazy spymaster.”

“If need be, I can create devices to infiltrate her current home so that we can ensure she never goes without a set of eyes or ears on her,” Rudy offered. “As well as setting out countermeasures to prepare accordingly, if we do need to engage without Taijitu assisting us.”

“Are you going to tell the rest of the Guardians?” I asked.

Rudy shook his head. “This information should be compartmentalized as tightly as possible. And while I trust our teammates, I do not entirely trust their reactions or capacity to keep their feelings under wraps. The Immortal specifically would react poorly, in such a fashion that I don’t quite know what he’d do.”

That was true. The man likely wouldn’t enjoy finding out if the information was kept from him for much longer. But I didn’t think he’d be able to keep from flying off the handle, with how he still was reeling from Nolan’s betrayal. In this specific instance, deception was a kinder action than outright truth.

“Then it’s settled,” Cecil nodded. “Guess you’ve got a sidekick coming your way, Taijitu.”

“Goodie for me,” I drawled, already beginning to feel the start of a headache coming on. “Let’s hope we can keep this situation from spiraling wildly out of control.”

There was every chance I might regret this, but I was willing to take a leap of faith off of Cecil’s suggestions. The guy hadn’t steered me wrong so far.

“For starters, I do think the plan has potential,” Rudy conceded to me, as the two of us shot the shit in his lab after the meeting. We were technically working on something, specifically going through at least some of the technical databases that I’d brought back from space. But neither of us were working that hard with the information.

“I hear a but there.”

Turning toward me, my long-haired alter paused, lips pursing as he obviously tried to think through whatever it was that was on his mind. “You have many positive qualities, Genji. A deliberate cultivation of generosity and kindness that, from the outside looking in, I can very much respect. I’m merely worried if you have it in you to engage in this deception for the long-term.”

“We’re just tricking her, Rudy,” I shot back, arching a brow his way. “This isn’t some multidimensional chess game where she’s a master tactician or spy. I didn’t get the feeling that she knew how to handle that all too well.”

He inclined his head at my words. “You’re not incorrect. However, you’ve got a tendency to care, and I’m merely concerned that when the time comes to actually capitalize on the situation ruthlessly, you’ll grow a little reticent to put our aims into motion.”

I scoffed. “What, like I’ll catch feelings for this woman for something?”

“Let’s not go that far. But you may feel some degree of restraint that might hold you back when you need to go full blast.”

“All of this is a hypothetical,” I pointed out, carefully staring at Rudy. “If it does end up that Anissa is some lost soul, that just needs a little help, but is endangering people… I’ll do what I need to do.”

“If you feel that confident, I won’t bring up the matter any further.”

“Thank you. Let’s move on to something more interesting. Do you think you can do anything fun with the stuff I brought back from space?”

That made his posture straighten and his face brighten in the same notion. “Yes! Thank you for getting me on the restricted list of scientists with access to these devices, again. I very much appreciate it.”

“I think you would have held it against me for the rest of our lives if I didn’t make sure you were on that list.”

“Chances are I would have likely just hacked the GDA for access,” he admitted, pointedly not confirming or denying whether or not my read on the situation was true.

I loved this guy like a brother, but reading him like an open book was a little too easy sometimes.

“Never change, Rudy. Back to the subject of advances in how to make supervillains have a bad day?”

He hummed, typing away at some of his holographic keypads as to reveal some of the schematics that he’d been looking at. They came up on the monitor, and I peered at them with no small amount of curiosity. “It seems to be some sort of propulsion systems? Batteries, too.”

“They’re big advancements on our current solar discs that we rely on. While I wouldn’t say it’s a straight shot for most, it gave me no small number of ideas on how to properly upgrade the reactors on my current robotic platforms, and in my armor.”

“I’m gonna guess in terms of, like, scalability, capacity, actual compactness…”

“All of the above,” he confirmed with a nod and a smile, excitement glinting in his eyes. “There’s many things that I’ve wanted to do but have not realistically been able to apply on a wider scale for the team.”

I’d seen some of those projects and plans, and we’d had long conversations where things had never made it past the cutting room floor. It wasn’t too hard to guess where his mind was going with his ideas. “Stuff like personal propulsion systems.”

“Exactly!” He beamed. “Aerial mobility is one of the greatest weaknesses several of our members possess. It won’t give them the same effortless motion in the air as you, I, Mark, Bulletproof, or the Immortal possess. But I can see a world where there’s far more maneuverability when it comes to the actual way they handle in the field, by having that new vector.”

“I agree,” I smiled, beaming at the prospect. “The notion of Rex doing strafing runs does appeal quite a bit. Or Monster Girl being able to fly up to specifically dangerous foes out of her reach.”

“You see my vision.”

The smugness on his face needed a reality check. As his best friend and someone not currently involved with his jalopy, it was my spiritual obligation to rain on his parade a little. After all, the last thing our precious little world needed was for him to get too big of a head. Or to amble ahead with ideas that still had some holes in them.

“How do you think that sort of personal propulsion would interact with the limitations that Shrinking Rae and Kate’s powers bring to the fore?”

That made his smile twitch as he laughed nervously, glancing away. “A-Ah. I haven’t quite gotten that far yet."

“Maybe we can find a way to tie it to their actual spiritual or physical energies and see if it’s keyed into the metaphysical level rather than purely technological means.”

I was probably going to make the technological future of Earth profoundly geared toward magitech by the time future generations got around to using the stuff I proliferated. Which, honestly, sounded very cool and based. Provided I didn’t get killed by misadventure or screwed off by that point to explore other dimensions, humanity was going to get weird with all of the things I introduced.

And frankly, I was very excited to see it happen.

Some of his earlier excitement bled back into his expression at the notion. “That might work. Let’s do some theoretical schemas to see how it may interface.”

“We can try to twist it with the prior work we’ve done on shrinking the fūinjutsu script.”

“Right. How about we try this…”

The next couple of hours passed by in a comfortable, enjoyable spree of proper engineering and planning. Some of it was tangential to the actual ideas that we’d been discussing first, but that was fine. It was soothing to be in the company of someone that I considered a friend, changing the world through our own means.

Taking my mind off of what Cecil had planned, too, helped. I didn’t know if I was going to be the failure point of this grand deception, but I’d endeavor not to be. And if something did happen, well, I had enough friends now that I wasn’t as afraid of the potential of a Viltrumite rampaging around as I’d been before.

That was where my mind was as I left the lab, off to go relax a little more by reading some comics and leaving Rudy alone with his scientific machinations. It was his happy place, and frankly, he deserved the alone time to do as he would.

How much trouble could one squirrely nerd get up to by himself?

Rudy

As far as Rudy could recall, his life was perfect. He had a woman, a friend who’d transformed into someone he genuinely cherished, in his life. Along with experiencing certain pleasures that… made it clearer why people could be so foolish over intimacy and love. While he didn’t know if he was that far gone yet, the thought of a life without Kate in it was a painful one.

He had a best friend who regularly thought about him, going so far to ensure that Rudy was first among equals when it came to the great scientific minds of Earth being given access to tech centuries ahead of the curve. That, and his willingness to always spend time in the lab with him, made Genji readily one of his favorite people in the world. The sacrifice he’d made in terms of letting him clone him was just the icing on top.

By all metrics on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, he was doing exceptionally well. His physiological needs were met with his inhuman body, his safety and security by his inventions, and love and belonging by his relationships, and his self-esteem had never been higher. Perhaps he hasn't entirely self-actualized or reached his full potential yet… but he had the years to grasp that lofty bar.

If there was one thing that well and truly irked him, though, it was the fact that his precious, perfect life was constantly waylaid by outside aggression. The Viltrumite problem was one he’d been pondering over for some time, and the actual possible outcomes for it were bleak. On both sides of the equation, whether that was an overwhelming victory or a crushing defeat.

All of them were currently the victims of thousands of years of psychological reinforcement. Whether or not they managed to overcome it or continued to propagate it was secondary to the other fact of the matter. That they’d commit vast amounts of damage on an intergalactic scale, in the death throes of their empire’s collapse.

Modern problems required modern solutions. And Rudy, if nothing else, had always thought of himself as a problem solver.

With a pulse of his Byakugan, he noted that no one was likely around who’d interrupt his work. Genji was gone, off to go, likely either to engage in leisure or solo superhero work. Given that he wasn’t so hot to indulge in the honeypot operation, and that very much was what Cecil had in mind if you read between the lines, he likely would be trying to clear off his stress in other ways.

Which was good. It meant he wouldn’t be disrupted when beginning to continue his research into anti-Viltrumite tactics.

Chief among the priorities was ensuring that any work done wouldn’t mess with their ally, Mark. Despite his general naivety when it came to certain things, he shared a fondness for Mark. Being punched into the dirt at mach speed had a way of engendering a sense of camaraderie with a man.

… Though if Mark ever turned against the Earth, these plans would also be useful for dealing with him. Just as a contingency, though. Primarily they’d be used under the presumption of a mass Viltrumite incursion by what was left of the empire.

Something that Cecil too had been concerned about. He’d already ransacked their old and current efforts to add to his own measures. No matter what happened, Rudy refused to be caught unawares or underprepared and prove unable to assist his best friend in combat.

Should Viltrum come to Earth once more, he would be ready to finish the threat once and for all.

Genji

I’d like to say that it was a coincidence that I saw Anissa bounding from rooftop to rooftop a few days after our first meeting. That would be a lie, however, as I’d taken the time to specifically help out around the city in very visible, public ways. Baiting out this meeting was one way to confirm that I was one of her objectives, as suggested by Cecil.

And if this wasn’t confirmation of that, I didn’t know what would be. Which was why I pivoted around to meet her on a rooftop, offering a casual wave. “Hey, Defender!”

“Hello, Taijitu. A pleasure to meet you again.”

“Just going out on patrol?”

“The work of a superheroine never ceases.” She was lying, like a liar, but there wasn’t much of a reason to call her out on it. Not when we were objectively hoping for this outcome.

I gave a low whistle at her declarative performance. “Wew! Well, I can say for sure that I’m glad you’re on our side, with a work ethic like that.”

She made a soft snort. “It isn’t easy, but I try to do my humble best. It’s the least the citizens of this city deserve.”

“Actually, it’s a good thing I ran into you,” I stated, glancing over at the woman.

“Oh?”

“When I first arrived on Earth, I was generously assisted by the natives of this planet in adapting to their social mores but also getting used to the superheroic profession.” She stiffened, which I pretended not to notice as I continued. “Now, while I understand our circumstances might not be the same, I think I’d still like to extend a hand to a novice heroine.”

She relaxed, if only an incremental fraction, judging by the face that she was making. “You wish to train me? Provided I’m understanding this offer right.”

“Pretty much,” I nodded in agreement. “It’s not easy, and you might get called a sidekick or floozy, but I think you’d benefit a lot from it.”

Neither of those terms meant anything to her, or she didn’t care what other people thought of her. What did show on her face, however, was interest at the offer as a whole. “I’d have to be close to you often to benefit from it.”

“Naturally.”

“Learning your style and methods of heroism…”

“It’s not as complex as you’re making out to be, but yeah.”

“Then… I can’t find a reason to not accept, especially when coming from a superhero as illustrious as you.” Was she laying it on a little thick? Yes. But I didn’t mind it in the end.

Instead, I merely smiled at her. “Fantastic! Then we’ll begin with some public relations work.”

Her right eyebrow twitched underneath her mask. “Public relations work?”

“Oh, you know, just the normal stuff. Taking photos, visiting sick kids, and walking and talking with civilians. It’s fun; you’ll love it.”

Judging by the look on her face, she did not in fact look like she was going to enjoy it. But still, she attempted to muster up a modicum of cheer. “... I will do my best to rise to the occasion, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir if we’re going to be working together. Just call me Genji. All my friends do.”

“Genji then.”

“Well, let’s get a move on, shall we?” I didn’t wait for an answer before beginning to take off on a modest cruising speed for me, as she leaped and carefully bounded after me.

I might be willing to take a risk with Anissa and see how much I could manage to learn from her. Or how much false intel I could end up feeding her along the way. That didn’t mean I wasn’t just as excited to mess with her if I couldn’t get away with it.

Her reactions were, admittedly, just the icing on the top. I’d never understood what brat characters in fiction got out of the arrangement, but messing with people was actually kind of fun. Now it was time to hope that this whole thing would end up being productive.

… Though if all I got out of it was just trolling a Viltrumite woman, that was also a win in my book.

Author’s Notes

Yeah, I was really thinking long and hard about this and realized that them not knowing who Anissa was immediately once they had her face and showed it to Nolan would be beyond stupid. They have a captive Viltrumite who knows basically all of the remaining Viltrumites alive. Cecil is smart enough to just go and ask, and Nolan wants to make himself useful.

The deception was a perfectly valid plan on behalf of the Viltrumites, because they are working with incomplete information. How could they know how bullshit their new peer rival race could be?

Cecil is also a risk-taker when it comes to Viltrumites. Shown as when he took Conquest’s body and healed it enough with the expectation to be able to hold him and interrogate him. Not that the plan went according to how he expected… but it still happened. Anyway, let me know what you think as always.