Chapter Text
DISCLAIMER: All characters in the story are not owned by me, save for my OCs.
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Presenting...
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[Millstein, The Sprocket Kingdom]
The Sprocket Kingdom is a large kingdom where technology functionally runs through the heavy usage of gears that are assisted by magical force of unknown nature. From automatons to locomotives, as well as airships and a multitude of other technologies, these simple machines have dominated the kingdom for a long time, leading to the great industrial age. Gears had been the central focus of Sprocket Kingdom's booming economy, as machine shops and laboratories exploded in popularity. However, not all of them was glitz and glamour in this kingdom. The kingdom had been under war against terrorist organisations whose goal is to cause instability and economic imbalance by using forbidden technologies specifically for destructive purposes including wars. But some said that a much worse secret lies below its surface...
And unfortunately, the Unity Force, who were simply on a pursuit against a dangerous person that attacked the Nakiris, had been in the middle of this unrelated conflict that they find themselves entangled with.
In the streets of Millstein...
Chito's group, known as Team I, are seen walking through the streets of Millstein. After separating from the other heroes to cover more ground, her group decided to walk around and arrived at this city. They saw airships, as well as vehicles designed for mail delivery.
"Chii, look at that above!" Yuuri pointed at an airship. "Are those airships?"
"You're right. Remember that plane we just encountered?" Chito questioned.
"That C-130 you just told us?" Maya said. "That's not comparable, though. Those ships are not powered by electricity and gas but gears."
"Do you think we can ride one of those?" Yuuri asked.
"No. We only came here right now." Chito added. "We don't even know half of the people in this world."
Yuuri only pouted.
Millstein is a large city of commerce and industry where steel mills and factories are commonplace, hence the name, as it is the heart of the kingdom. Machine shops were everywhere, as well as large factories that loomed the cityscape. However, in contrast to the citizens who wore Victorian-style clothes and were classy in their demeanour, the rest of the quartet were remarkably out of place in this world with their strange outfit.
"As expected, these people are watching us." Zoro said, as he sighed.
"We just keep our heads straight." Maya reminded. "Zoro, any updates from the rest of our group?" She asked her teammate.
"Not at the moment. I'm still trying to keep in touch with Gyro and Shiomi-sensei." Zoro added. "Honestly, what the hell was Azami even thinking?" He dramatically uttered.
"Guess that's what you get for being a shit father in the past." Yuuri said indifferently.
"Says the person who tried to cause some problems in the first place." Chito spat maliciously. "Yuu, try not to be that insensitive for once."
"Whaaaat?" Yuuri fake asked as she ate a ration. "I mean if your parents are abusive pieces of trash, then that's not a surprise why." She added as she polished her rifle.
Zoro interrupted the conversation as sighed: "Anyways, since our presence has been scratching someone's heads, we should be getting some coffee or some food."
"What's the plan?" Maya asked.
"We need to plan out our next move and keep in touch with the rest of our teammates to rendezvous." Chito stated, as she looked at Zoro's tablet. "At least the Engineer knew where to land us right."
"What else?" Yuuri questioned Chito.
"Ask the locals anything about this place." Zoro reminded. "Maybe some of them are willing to tell us who Withers is and why they went there."
The rest nodded as they continued walking.
In the interim, Yuuri was enamoured by the classy Victorian-style outfits of the city's populace, while Chito glanced at the larger factories that seemed to breath industrial life in this city. Maya, meanwhile, glanced at a small machine workshop specialising in watches and more importantly weapons that are being functioned by gears and magic. Zoro, on the other hand, kept a constant watch for any suspicious people who wanted to have eyes on them.
Some murmurs came out of the onlookers.
"Are those people from another kingdom?"
"They look a little strange."
"Were they made from constructs?"
The group ignored the murmurs as they head into an alleyway, far away from people.
"More importantly, we still don't know about that gear-like device and that weapon we just found inside the family mansion." Chito added, but before she could articulate another sentence...
"LOOOOOOK OUT!" A young adult male voice shouted from a distance, causing people to run away.
Immediately, the group tried to duck, but the man crashed too fast as it hit Yuuri square into her head, much to her annoyance.
"Oooof!" Yuuri gasped in pain as she fell backwards. "What was that for?!"
The man in question is in his 20s. He wears brown pants, white buttoned shirt, brown hat, brown vest, brown gloves, as well as red-coloured pilot goggles with gear-like patterns on the rims. What stands out, however, is his right arm: It was artificial in nature. He has brown eyes with a right scar, as well as brown hair with spiky strands. He wears brown boots with the bottom that is mechanically and magically powered that allows her to leap into greater heights. He also has a mail bag around him. This is Garrett Oswald Gosling, who works at the Sprocket Postage Company and he is referred to as a Mail Courier.
"Sorry... I was rushing..." Garrett sheepishly apologised.
"Yeah, you almost cracked half of my skull from that, dumbass!" Yuuri admonished at the Mail Courier.
"Don't worry, Yuu." Chito snarked. "You have no brains to begin with."
"You too, Chii?!" Yuuri squawked at Chito's blunt words.
Maya, on the other hand, calmly talked to Garrett. "With that being said, who are you?" She cautiously asked.
"I'm Garrett Oswald Gosling. I work as a Mail Courier for the Sprocket Postage Company within the Millstein branch, but you can call me Garrett." Garrett introduced himself to Team I. "Speaking of, I've never seen the rest of you before. Especially with that outfit." He added with an eye for detail.
"It's complicated." Zoro said. "And yes, we already got some people staring at us like hawks." He added with a grumble.
"But, we can tell you something!" Yuuri exclaimed.
"Uh... Okay, sure?" Garrett answered.
Yuuri tells Garrett about the existence of several worlds, as well as the multiverse and the foundation of the Unity Force and its mission to purge out any threats within the multiverse. She then continues on that she and the rest visit this world to pursue someone who is clearly a danger. They try not to disclose Hyman Withers' identity across the public, especially with how serious the implications of his name being heard by some random stranger across Sprocket Kingdom.
"Huh?"
Garrett felt like he grew too many heads upon hearing Yuuri's explanations.
"Wait, wait, wait... You're not from some other kingdom?" Garrett said as he questioned the group.
"Nope!" Yuuri said with her finger raised. "Our outfits barely even qualify as some 'people from other kingdom'."
Garrett only chuckled.
"You see from my mail bag, I deliver mails across the kingdom every single day, as a Mail Courier." He continued. "And these boots? They're essentially powered by gears and magic on the inside!"
"Yeah, as if the last thing that would happen to us is getting hit by you." Yuuri pointed out.
Garrett chuckled. "Besides, it seemed as if my mail courier boots aren't functioning properly." He added, as he looked at it. "I've asked Overton to calibrate it yesterday, but it's acting up again." He sighed afterwards. "Being a mail courier is a pain in the flank."
The mention of this Overton person caused the quartet to pause themselves as Maya asked the mail courier.
"Overton? Who the heck is that?" Maya said.
"August Jonas Overton. He's one of the finest mechanics in the kingdom." Garrett replied. "He's running a large machine shop not far from where you are standing. And also a bar, where his partner Silvia Fanny Wheelwright works. Just a few walks away."
Yuuri paused, before showing him the weapon that they recovered at the Nakiri mansion. "Do you know what this is?" She asked the mail courier.
Immediately, the Mail Courier's demeanour turned from confident to outright spooked out as he saw it. The same ominous weapon that claimed most of the people during the mysterious men's attack at the mansion now resonated at the man's demeanour like a ravaging blow.
"Where did you get that?!" Garrett asked Yuuri threateningly.
"Jesus, what's with the sudden change of personality?" Zoro asked. "We were also asking the same thing." He added.
"Well we told you about the existence of Unity Force and other worlds, but can you believe that they attacked some rich person's mansion with a weapon like this?" Yuuri sounded, clearly devoid of the cheery emotion she had earlier.
Garrett's personality went 180 right off the bat. He cautiously gestured them into the wooden door not far from them, with a sign that says "Ember Silverton Pub" on top.
Chito was confused as to how the mere presence of that weapon was enough to scare the once-confident Garrett immediately. What could possibly cause it?
[Ember Silverton Pub, Millstein, The Sprocket Kingdom]
With that, the Team I members entered inside the pub, as it was lit up brightly by orange-coloured lanterns. Almost immediately, the pub was filled with activity, including drinking and the occasional smoking. On the other side, men enjoyed the entertainment in the form of harlots on the stage and pay them as much as they please, as well as with others playing some gambling games. The entire background played a classical melody that seemed out of place amongst the rambunctious, yet dissonant crowd.
"So being a prostitute pays you here." Yuuri casually remarked with hidden disgust.
"At least in this era." Chito stated. "Don't think it's common back home unless if you're on some red light district, according to some of the students." She added, as she read some book.
"Still disgusting, though." Yuuri added, as she smokes a cigarette.
Chito sighed. "This is not the 21st Century, Yuu. Don't expect anyone to cozy up with us."
Garrett, meanwhile, went to the bar counter, while the quartet waited as they sat down at another desk. Like the people outside, many of the people inside the bar were eyeing at the group with suspicious looks, only due to their unusual outfits and their behaviour that seemed too out of place.
One of the suspicious muscular men approached the quartet, who seems to be less inclined in being buddies with Team I's members.
"Hey, who are you all?" The muscular man asked with a menacing yet creepy tone.
"Us, you mean?" Yuuri said with an insulting tone. "We're just some fine gentlemen travelling here!" She added with a cheery nature as she looked at the tall man.
"Travellers, eh?" The muscular man looked at some of what looked like his men. "You know what we do to those kinds of people? And especially from children like you?" He added menacingly, yet the quartet are unbothered by their threats.
Another man showed up, before approaching at the group, who is holding a mechanical-looking flintlock.
"Talk or you're gonna have your brains spattered on the wall, wanker!"
But Zoro, given his hardened experience as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, is less threatened by his words.
"Hmph. You're all just a bunch of brainless bastards. All talk, no walk." Zoro insulted as he grinned opposite the men, where it still can be felt despite not looking at the thugs behind him.
"What did you say?!" Another of the men threateningly asked.
"I said, you are all brainless." Zoro repeated, only this time with a scorn to his voice. "Is it not clear enough?"
"YOU dare to mock us? Do you know what territory you are in, punk?!" One of the muscular men, whom he names himself as Jack, seethed. "Hmph, you can't talk smart here with how pathetic your attempts at enfeebling us!" He grinned as he takes out a knife and attempts to stab Zoro.
However, Zoro grinned as he quickly takes out his Wado Ichimonji from his other scabbard and indifferently slices Jack's arm that is holding the knife without looking at his target.
The ensuing pain from Jack's now-severed arm caused the burly man to scream in agony.
"OWOWOWOWOW!" Jack screamed.
"What, who's the pathetic guy again?" Zoro mocked at the burly men, before menacingly looking at them with sharp eyes. "Maybe that would teach you a damn lesson." He added with a sharp finality.
"THAT'S IT!" Jack exclaimed as he looked at his gang. "Crush the thick skulls of these brats who messed with the wrong people here!"
Jack's gang took their weapons out as they started a full-blown bar fight.
"Seriously?" Zoro asked. "Looks like we have a mess to clean here."
Yuuri reloaded her rifle with red-coloured bullets, whom she titles as "Blood Bullets" due to its potential to cause internal bleeding to anyone who is unfortunate at getting hit by it.
Maya uses her golden whetstone as she rubs it onto the blade of her Odette. "Just a bunch of losers."
Chito activates her Crimson Lightning as her fists are covered with red lightning. One of the gang members uses his mechanical flintlock that transforms into a gear-powered rifle. As the man himself fires several magical, blue-coloured rounds onto Chito, she uses her fists to block the attack, before unleashing a powerful punch that sends him careening into the wall, which also hits the piano around it.
Maya takes out her golden-coloured rapier as the other man in front of her is seen with an axe. The man indiscriminately attacks Maya, causing several tables to be cut in half. Maya activates her Golden Maverick attack, parrying many of the man's axe attacks, before she finally scores a hit as she stabs him with it to the heart.
Zoro looks at another of Jack's gang members, who is seen holding a large hammer. The man himself smash his hammer onto Zoro, but the swordsman quickly avoids the attack at a blurring speed. Opportunistically, Zoro launches from his sword a crescent moon-like projectile of compressed air to the opponent with great speed, hitting the gangster to its face as he was sliced in half.
Yuuri dodges several bolts from another of Jack's gang members, being fired from his mechanical crossbow. She carefully took one of the small-sized spice grenades that Jun gave to her and tossed it onto the man, before firing a trick shot from her rifle, causing it to explode. What ensued is pain and agony as the cayenne pepper from the grenades hit the man's eyes, before Yuuri took the opportunity. She fired a shot to his groin, causing immense agony as blood came out of the crevices from the man himself, killing him in a brutal manner.
As the battle ended, the group looked at the carnage in front of them, before Maya tried to swipe off the cayenne pepper permeating around the bar.
"A little excessive, Yuuri-san?" Maya asked.
"Heh, that bastard was good at crossbows." Yuuri remarked. "But he's weak against a food ingredient turned unorthodox weapon. I thank Jun-chan for that." She added, before their conversation was interrupted when Garrett came out of the secret entrance behind the bar counter.
"What the heck just happened here?!" Garrett asked in incredulity.
"Some bastards wanted to pick a wrong fight with us." Zoro quipped. "Honestly, pweh! I'm expecting a good fight from these lowlife chumps." He added, before Garrett looked at the dead corpses.
"Great... The royal guards will show up here at any moment. Listen, you need to go inside Overton's secret room before they know that the rest of you cause this mess. They are less intolerant after a previous terrorist attack, the worst the kingdom had ever seen." Garrett pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that their actions had caused a lot of chaos. "I heard someone who seemed to come from your world is waiting there."
"Say what now?" Yuuri asked, but Garrett ignored Yuuri's questions.
With little time to spare, the Team I members followed Garrett as he gestured them immediately into the back of the bar counter. Garrett opened the door by pressing a switch into the shelf. As that happens, this causes the shelf itself to slide to the left, revealing a hidden entrance that leads at the back. What happened next after the hidden passage closed is that there is a replacement in front of the bar counter: an automaton as a stand-in, ensuring that the place is not as empty as it looks.
Inside was a room far removed from the outside surroundings. Unlike the rowdy, highly disorganised bar from the outside, this room is organised and tidy, and it is full of items including work tools, gears, as well as technologies of varying nature. On the other desk are tomes of mysterious nature.
There are three figures there, two male and one female.
The first male is a man in his 20s. He has a black bushy hair and a goatee. He wears a black and blue jacket and green pants with leather belts. He wears olive-green boots. He has a gun holster on the left side of his pants containing what looks like his pistol. This is Vincent, also simply known as V.
The second male is a man in his 50s. He is a fair-skinned man with a worn-down face and a pipe within his mouth. Despite the worn-down look, he has sharp red eyes and a slightly muscular build. He wears a monocle with clock designs, as well as white shirt and black suspenders, as well as an apron containing his work tools. This is August Jonas Overton, a famous mechanic and the owner of Ember Silverton Pub.
The lone female is a woman in her 30s. She wears a top hat with clocks and gears around the crown. She has blue eyes and brown short hair with a small ponytail tied back to it, as well as her having a well-endowed figure. She wears a brown-and-orange dress with white frills around it, and with the dress' middle containing several work tools. This is Silvia Fanny Wheelwright, a magitechnician and one of the bar's workers.
"Overton! Wheelwright! Looks like these guys got into some pickle earlier with those thugs above." Garrett called the group loudly. "More importantly, these are the people who just showed up!"
"Bring them here!" Overton yelled, which is enough for the group to hear them, as they headed into the chamber.
V, on the other hand, is more familiar with the members of Team I.
"V, what are you doing here?" Maya asked.
"Figures." V said as he took out his tablet. "We're talking about Hyman Withers, right?"
"Yeah. Garrett was spooked earlier when we showed him that weapon that those bastards used to attack the mansion." Chito answered.
"Overton will explain more in detail." Garrett simply said.
The Team I members and V head inside Overton's workshop, where both he and Wheelwright are examining the weapon and also the clock-like cube device.
"So you're Chito, Maya Tendou, Zoro Roronoa, and Yuuri." Overton said in a more subdued tone, as he looks at the group.
"Yep!" Yuuri was the first one to answer. "We're basically from the Unity Force, just like this guy over here." She added, as she points her finger to V, before the latter nodded.
Overton chuckled. "That young man told me a lot of it already."
"Hard to believe." Wheelwright said, as she looks at Chito's group. "The idea of several worlds seem fiction at its finest, but to actually demonstrate it is something else." She added.
"Yeah, about that..." Chito added. "But before we get to the bottom of this... You and Overton-sama had been working here for a long time?" She added.
Overton explained: "I've had the finest hands in creating a lot of gear-based technologies, Ms. Chito. But..."
"What happened?" Yuuri asked.
"Terrorist attacks, decadent courts, you name it." Wheelwright sternly added. "A year ago, there was a massive terrorist attack in the capital, Chronohagen, orchestrated by Hyman Wiithers, a most wanted magi terrorist. His goal was to abduct and enslave anyone who possesses the power of Aether, the source of the kingdom's power. Think of it as the magic that empowers the gears of the whole kingdom like a big candle." She ended.
"Jesus Christ." Yuuri remarked. "That's just messed up."
"Aether?" Maya asked.
"Gears are just one thing, Ms. Tendou. Without Aether, Sprocket Kingdom would inevitably fall into chaos." Overton continued. "Most of the kingdom relies on it."
"My boots, for instance, needs a supply of Aether to ensure it is still working." Garrett added.
"Were the terrorists even stopped?" Zoro asked suspiciously.
"Yes, for the time being, which is good news." Wheelwright replied.
"And the bad?" Yuuri asked.
"Looks like they're back again." Overton replied.
"But what about the people we just attacked earlier? Looks like they are the kind of people to hold a grudge." Chito asked.
"They're not part of Withers' group that attacked the kingdom." Overton shook his head. "Unfortunately, that would mean royal guard presence." He continued, before telling them. "Stay here. They will not hesitate hunting you down if they find out about the fight earlier."
As the conversation continued, Chito decided to ask both Overton and Wheelwright about Withers. "About Withers, why was he involved in the affairs with the Nakiris?"
"Oh, you mean Mr. Azami Nakiri himself?" Overton replied as he smoked from his pipe, as Chito nodded. "Both Mr. Azami and Withers don't interact with each other physically." He continued as he presented the clock-like device in front of them.
"So this thing...?" Yuuri asked.
"It's a Chronostacker. It's the only way to communicate between here and his home world." Overton added.
"But why go all the trouble for this?" Maya said. "He said he was looking for a 'miracle cure' at one point to cure the God's Tongue curse that affected his daughter and wife."
Wheelwright stated. "There was no such thing as a 'miracle cure'. Withers used it as a cover to scam Mr. Azami out, since the latter himself turned out to be gullible, for all his smarts. However, after he knows the kind of person Withers is, that's how he became personal towards him for reneging him on this shady deal."
V suddenly added. "Trouble may not be even the word here. Withers was personally planning these attacks after Azami himself reneged on that deal, 7 years ago, but Withers only did it after BLUE was done. In short, he had to ensure that the Nakiris were vulnerable and hit as hard as they can as a payback."
Yuuri puts her rifle on the floor. "Sounds excessive."
Chito asked Overton. "And what about the weapon we just found at the mansion?"
Overton added. "Looks like the same kind of weapon Withers' terror group would use. A modified flintlock-rifle hybrid powered by Aether." He added as he looked at the sphere containing the element. "These are not your run-of-the-mill weapons that the royal guards use here. No one in history had produced these weapons before."
"In fact, we have never seen this before." Wheelwright claimed as she looked at the chamber where Aether is.
"So, how can we find Withers? As well as Erina and Alice's whereabouts? Withers seemed interested with these two." Maya asked.
"That's unfortunately the problem. We have no leads on where he or his group currently are, nor where Ms. Erina and Ms. Alice are." Overton claimed in dismay.
All of a sudden, Chito's tablet gets a notification from Gyro Zeppeli.
"Where have you been, Chito?" The text said.
"Rendezvous at the Ember Silverton Pub at Millstein. Don't come into the bar proper. Police presence will be there." Chito texted Gyro.
"I'm currently in Ichorstein. Azami, myself, and Jousuke were asking for answers here about Withers." The text from Gyro said. "And you got one?"
Chito replied: "Yes. Come here."
Afterwards, Chito looked at the rest of her teammates.
"Any updates?" Zoro asked.
"Gyro-san's group will be coming in a few minutes." Chito stated. "I've told them to not come at the bar proper."
Afterwards, the rest of Team I waited for the rest of their group.
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The characters that appear in this chapter (in order):
Garrett Oswald Gosling, Jack, August Jonas Overton, and Silvia Fanny Wheelwright are Original Characters
Vincent (Male V) from Cyberpunk 2077
Homer Simpson from The Simpsons
Jake Long from American Dragon: Jake Long
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[OMAKE: A Wrong Kind of Misunderstanding]
[U.F. Academy, U.F. Earth]
Back at the hallways of Unity Force Academy, Sayo Hikawa, Usopp, and Brook sat down at one of the benches across the courtyard, as they were watching a live performance from a band known as Togenashi Togeari. Their attention also focused on an ongoing basketball match.
"Heh, I never take you as a Togenashi fan, ice queen Sayo." Usopp teased at the Roselia guitarist.
"Can you not be that picky?!" Sayo exclaimed. "Besides, even Minato-san became a fan of Rage Against the Machine!"
"Oh, that means you've been hanging with the right crowd!" Brook added as he played his trademark guitar.
"Except one of those bandmates is my relative." Sayo stated. "And she's even more of a prickly pear than me and Minato-san combined."
Before Sayo could respond, noises could be heard from afar as they saw two males chase each other.
The first male is that of an overweight balding man. His eyes are blue and he is 6 feet tall (183 cm). He wears a white shirt, blue denim pants, and black shoes. This is Homer Simpson.
The second male is an Asian teenager with semi-long black, spiky hair with green highlights and black eyes. He wears a red jacket, blue cargo shorts and grey shoes. He also has a skateboard with a dragon logo underneath. This is Jake Long, also known as The American Dragon.
"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Homer exclaimed. "YOU TOOK MY DONUT!"
"Yikes, he knows!" Jake exclaimed.
"COME BACK HERE!" Homer grunted in fury.
"Classic Homer getting pissed off again over a single donut." Usopp grinned.
"Will that guy even learn?" Sayo questioned.
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A/N: This story is inspired by the ideas of Tamama900. It will continue on to the next chapter.