—3rd Person POV—
Having taken it upon themselves to reach out to Cole’s family, the Goddesses of Love and Fertility had opted to reach out to them during the time immediately following his untimely departures. They wanted to reunite him with his family just as he had last seen them as it was cruel to have only a small number of them left alive. When they appeared on Alestar, they were surprised to find that all five groups of women were together having tea.
Having finished their father’s work, reverse-engineering the Hero Summoning spell, Cole’s children from his second world discovered the means to jump between worlds. Testing the method thoroughly to ensure they wouldn’t die, they set out on a quest to locate their father and bring him home. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to locate him, but they did discover the means to travel back in time on one of the worlds they visited.
Using that information, they followed their father’s magic signature to four other worlds which was how the women came to meet. The children’s attempts to stop their father’s kidnapping failed on all five worlds which was why now his family was desperately searching for the sixth world he was now on. Unable to track his magic signature, they were about to give up hope when the Goddesses showed up to see them.
“So is Arthur doing well?”, Cole’s first-ever wife Sapphire inquired, “Please say he is alive and well!”
“He is alive and well physically, but…losing all of you has left a large hole in his heart.”, the Goddess of Love told them, “There hasn’t been a day in the past four hundred years that he hasn’t thought of you all. Words can’t begin to describe how much it pains him that he wasn’t here for all of you. In his private moments, he has said he would give up everything he had just to have you back.”
Sniffling as they heard that, his family was happy he hadn’t forgotten about them. Wanting to ask many questions about his current situation, they all had one question that needed to be answered first.
“CAN WE PLEASE GO TO HIM!?”, they shouted almost in sync.
“We are trying to see if that is possible, the Gods of Creation, Life, and Death are deciding if we can send you there.”, the Goddess of Love said with a warm smile, “At the very least, we can see about setting up a visit with him.”
“Are we allowed to attend as well!?”, his future daughter Rebecca inquired, “We never got to meet him.”
“Of course, there is nothing that says you can’t.”, the Goddess replied, “He will be very happy to see you all, one of his regrets was never getting to be a father to you, and see you grow up.”
Getting them up to speed on what he was doing in his sixth world, the group was fascinated by the thought of superpowered people. Seeing their husband/father still fighting like he always had, they were relieved to see that he was still the same person they remembered. As they were watching his recent activities, one of Goddess of Love’s assistant angels approached her with concerning news.
“Ma’am, you told me to advise you if the God of Reincarnation was doing something strange behind the scenes. For some reason, Angelo has been gathering a large number of Lesser and Unranked angels and giving them no explanation as to why they are needed.”, her assistant told her.
“Has the God of Reincarnation’s workload increased?”, the Goddess replied.
“No, in fact, he has been working less and interacting more with some of the unsavory deities. I am worried he is intending to do something unspeakable to resolve his problem quickly.”, the angel whispered.
Knowing how underhanded he was, the Goddess of Love decided to report this to the Chief Deities before something happened. Worst-case scenario was him trying to completely eradicate all six worlds to clear the board so he didn’t have to work as hard, and could avoid further problems involving the poor man he tormented. While most deities would frown on that plan, he was one of the few that would do it without hesitation.
“Is something wrong?”, Cole’s wife Luna the Rabbitkin asked.
“Just some minor troubles with the one responsible for taking your husband from all of you.”, the Goddess stated.
Cole’s family scowled when they heard that, all of them hated the God of Reincarnation for taking him away. Not only that, after he was taken from them their worlds quickly fell into chaos as many of the issues he resolved returned. He had shared all of the knowledge he had with them, but it wasn’t till he was gone did they realize how much work he did for them. On Alestar alone, the impact his disappearance had was astounding. He had been the one in charge of making medicine, transporting supplies between regions, and was the one who settled many of the disputes between the races. With him gone, the races slowly slipped back into their old ways which eventually led to another Great War.
“Please, can at least one or two of us go to him?”, Eve the Snow Elf inquired, “If that man is going to do something…this may be our only chance to see him again.”
Looking at each other, the Goddesses of Love and Fertility thought about what they could do. Taking them to Cole without permission would get them in a lot of trouble, but leaving them here could cost his family their lives. Weighing their options, an idea popped into the Goddess of Fertility’s head.
“Why don’t we have them stay in our residence for the time being?”, she suggested, “It shouldn’t be a problem given how frequently the men bring women back to Heaven. If they stay with us, they won’t be in any immediate danger there.”
“That is a splendid idea!”, the Goddess of Love said, “We could potentially bring him there as well for a bit in his dreams. Physically bringing him there would be dangerous, but if it’s his asterial body we can do that.”
Eagerly accepting their proposal, they grabbed a few personal items and left with the Goddesses.
—Cole POV—
Staying three blocks ahead of the convoy, things were progressing smoothly. Calling me on the radio asking if we should stay with the convoy, Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob weren’t enjoying riding in the back of the armored vehicle. There was no padding on the seats back there so they were feeling every pothole on the road as they went.
“We are two miles from the facility, bear with a bit longer.”, I assured them as I spotted something on the streets below me, “Tell the driver to slow down, I see two villains in disguise on the sidewalk three blocks ahead of you. Looks to me like they are scouts.”
“I see them, they are members of a local street gang called the Slashers. They do odd and end jobs for bigger villains, basically disposable hired muscle.”, Tiger remarked spotting them with the binoculars in the armored truck, “If they are here, this is going to get pretty ugly. They are known for causing a lot of collateral damage when they are escaping.”
“Got it.”, I said quickly reviewing the information the police and Hero Association had on them, “Both of them are wanted for a series of arson and murder charges. How do you want to play this Mandalay?”
Taking a second to decide, she told me to quietly take them out so the rest of them wouldn’t think anything was wrong. Doing as she asked, I used Precision Shot to hit both in the head rendering them unconscious for the foreseeable future. Getting out of the back of the truck, Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob were quick to tie them up and leave them for the officers.
“Both of them have radios.”, Ragdoll told me over the radio, “The frequency is…”
Providing the frequency to me, I tuned my spare radio to the frequency to see what they were saying. Hearing several disgruntled men demanding updates from the scouts on the streets, it seemed like they were getting pretty impatient wherever they were currently at. Counting fifteen different voices on the channel, I relayed the information back to Mandalay.
“I am going to move ahead to scout out where they may be hiding. If I find anything, I will let you know.”, I stated.
Agreeing that was the best option, the four of them hung back while I ran ahead. As I made my way to the disposal site, I located two more scouts along our travel route. Given the fact that this was the quickest route here, I wasn’t sure if they were working for All For One or someone else. Leaving them alone for the time being, I pushed forward till I was across the street from the facility.
From the ground level, everything appeared to be fine but from five stories up the scene was much different. Seeing the Slashers pushing staff into one of the Loading Bays, it appeared they planned on ambushing the convoy once they were behind the walls that surrounded the site. Going to report this to the team, all I got was static on my headset.
‘Hmm…they are jamming the radio frequency the police use to prevent the convoy from calling for aid. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill thugs, they have someone leading them that put some forethought into this. If they attack the convoy behind the walls, no one will be the wiser till someone finds the bodies of the dead officers tomorrow.’, I thought using my power to overwhelm the radio jammer.
After giving the team a status update, Mandalay asked me for my opinion on how to proceed.
“Uh…you are the Team Leader here, are you sure you want me to give directions?”, I inquired.
“Yes, our team specializes in Mountain Rescues and more rural operations. We don’t usually deal with hostage situations or convoy escorts like this.”, she admitted.
“Ah…well then I suggest we take a page out of the history books and use the Trojan Horse to wrap this up.”, I stated with a smile.
“Trojan…hehe, shouldn’t you take us on a date first.”, Pixie-Bob playfully teased.
Letting out a sigh, I told her I wasn’t referring to a condom. Explaining my plan to them, it was a very simple three-part plan. The contraband would be relocated to the escort vehicles, and Tiger and I would ride into the facility in the back of the truck instead. Mandalay and Ragdoll would disguise themselves as the drivers and drive us into the facility. While the rest of us were doing that, Pixie-Bob would seal all but the entrance the truck would use with her Quirk. When the Slashers go to retrieve the contraband, Tiger and I would overwhelm them in short order.
“Mandalay, Ragdoll, Pixie-Bob, and the police backup will subdue the ones that try to run into the city. If you feel they are going to get away, seal the last entrance so they stay stuck in the facility with us.”, I told them.
“And this plan is called the Trojan Horse why?”, Ragdoll inquired.
“...Have you never heard of the Ancient City of Troy?”, I asked them, “It happened thousands of years ago…well I guess you may not be well versed in world history. Needless to say, this tactic has been used many times throughout history to get behind enemy lines.”
Voicing his support for the plan, Tiger said it was the most exciting plan they had used in a while. Agreeing with him, Ragdoll said it was a good plan that minimized the risk to the civilians and the captives. Since Pixie-Bob would be approaching the enemy from the rear, she would have time to completely cover the hostages with an earthen wall to protect them from harm.
“Alright then, let’s do it team!”, Mandalay shouted with excitement.
—3rd Person POV—
Having taken it upon themselves to reach out to Cole’s family, the Goddesses of Love and Fertility had opted to reach out to them during the time immediately following his untimely departures. They wanted to reunite him with his family just as he had last seen them as it was cruel to have only a small number of them left alive. When they appeared on Alestar, they were surprised to find that all five groups of women were together having tea.
Having finished their father’s work, reverse-engineering the Hero Summoning spell, Cole’s children from his second world discovered the means to jump between worlds. Testing the method thoroughly to ensure they wouldn’t die, they set out on a quest to locate their father and bring him home. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to locate him, but they did discover the means to travel back in time on one of the worlds they visited.
Using that information, they followed their father’s magic signature to four other worlds which was how the women came to meet. The children’s attempts to stop their father’s kidnapping failed on all five worlds which was why now his family was desperately searching for the sixth world he was now on. Unable to track his magic signature, they were about to give up hope when the Goddesses showed up to see them.
“So is Arthur doing well?”, Cole’s first-ever wife Sapphire inquired, “Please say he is alive and well!”
“He is alive and well physically, but…losing all of you has left a large hole in his heart.”, the Goddess of Love told them, “There hasn’t been a day in the past four hundred years that he hasn’t thought of you all. Words can’t begin to describe how much it pains him that he wasn’t here for all of you. In his private moments, he has said he would give up everything he had just to have you back.”
Sniffling as they heard that, his family was happy he hadn’t forgotten about them. Wanting to ask many questions about his current situation, they all had one question that needed to be answered first.
“CAN WE PLEASE GO TO HIM!?”, they shouted almost in sync.
“We are trying to see if that is possible, the Gods of Creation, Life, and Death are deciding if we can send you there.”, the Goddess of Love said with a warm smile, “At the very least, we can see about setting up a visit with him.”
“Are we allowed to attend as well!?”, his future daughter Rebecca inquired, “We never got to meet him.”
“Of course, there is nothing that says you can’t.”, the Goddess replied, “He will be very happy to see you all, one of his regrets was never getting to be a father to you, and see you grow up.”
Getting them up to speed on what he was doing in his sixth world, the group was fascinated by the thought of superpowered people. Seeing their husband/father still fighting like he always had, they were relieved to see that he was still the same person they remembered. As they were watching his recent activities, one of Goddess of Love’s assistant angels approached her with concerning news.
“Ma’am, you told me to advise you if the God of Reincarnation was doing something strange behind the scenes. For some reason, Angelo has been gathering a large number of Lesser and Unranked angels and giving them no explanation as to why they are needed.”, her assistant told her.
“Has the God of Reincarnation’s workload increased?”, the Goddess replied.
“No, in fact, he has been working less and interacting more with some of the unsavory deities. I am worried he is intending to do something unspeakable to resolve his problem quickly.”, the angel whispered.
Knowing how underhanded he was, the Goddess of Love decided to report this to the Chief Deities before something happened. Worst-case scenario was him trying to completely eradicate all six worlds to clear the board so he didn’t have to work as hard, and could avoid further problems involving the poor man he tormented. While most deities would frown on that plan, he was one of the few that would do it without hesitation.
“Is something wrong?”, Cole’s wife Luna the Rabbitkin asked.
“Just some minor troubles with the one responsible for taking your husband from all of you.”, the Goddess stated.
Cole’s family scowled when they heard that, all of them hated the God of Reincarnation for taking him away. Not only that, after he was taken from them their worlds quickly fell into chaos as many of the issues he resolved returned. He had shared all of the knowledge he had with them, but it wasn’t till he was gone did they realize how much work he did for them. On Alestar alone, the impact his disappearance had was astounding. He had been the one in charge of making medicine, transporting supplies between regions, and was the one who settled many of the disputes between the races. With him gone, the races slowly slipped back into their old ways which eventually led to another Great War.
“Please, can at least one or two of us go to him?”, Eve the Snow Elf inquired, “If that man is going to do something…this may be our only chance to see him again.”
Looking at each other, the Goddesses of Love and Fertility thought about what they could do. Taking them to Cole without permission would get them in a lot of trouble, but leaving them here could cost his family their lives. Weighing their options, an idea popped into the Goddess of Fertility’s head.
“Why don’t we have them stay in our residence for the time being?”, she suggested, “It shouldn’t be a problem given how frequently the men bring women back to Heaven. If they stay with us, they won’t be in any immediate danger there.”
“That is a splendid idea!”, the Goddess of Love said, “We could potentially bring him there as well for a bit in his dreams. Physically bringing him there would be dangerous, but if it’s his asterial body we can do that.”
Eagerly accepting their proposal, they grabbed a few personal items and left with the Goddesses.
—Cole POV—
Staying three blocks ahead of the convoy, things were progressing smoothly. Calling me on the radio asking if we should stay with the convoy, Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob weren’t enjoying riding in the back of the armored vehicle. There was no padding on the seats back there so they were feeling every pothole on the road as they went.
“We are two miles from the facility, bear with a bit longer.”, I assured them as I spotted something on the streets below me, “Tell the driver to slow down, I see two villains in disguise on the sidewalk three blocks ahead of you. Looks to me like they are scouts.”
“I see them, they are members of a local street gang called the Slashers. They do odd and end jobs for bigger villains, basically disposable hired muscle.”, Tiger remarked spotting them with the binoculars in the armored truck, “If they are here, this is going to get pretty ugly. They are known for causing a lot of collateral damage when they are escaping.”
“Got it.”, I said quickly reviewing the information the police and Hero Association had on them, “Both of them are wanted for a series of arson and murder charges. How do you want to play this Mandalay?”
Taking a second to decide, she told me to quietly take them out so the rest of them wouldn’t think anything was wrong. Doing as she asked, I used Precision Shot to hit both in the head rendering them unconscious for the foreseeable future. Getting out of the back of the truck, Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob were quick to tie them up and leave them for the officers.
“Both of them have radios.”, Ragdoll told me over the radio, “The frequency is…”
Providing the frequency to me, I tuned my spare radio to the frequency to see what they were saying. Hearing several disgruntled men demanding updates from the scouts on the streets, it seemed like they were getting pretty impatient wherever they were currently at. Counting fifteen different voices on the channel, I relayed the information back to Mandalay.
“I am going to move ahead to scout out where they may be hiding. If I find anything, I will let you know.”, I stated.
Agreeing that was the best option, the four of them hung back while I ran ahead. As I made my way to the disposal site, I located two more scouts along our travel route. Given the fact that this was the quickest route here, I wasn’t sure if they were working for All For One or someone else. Leaving them alone for the time being, I pushed forward till I was across the street from the facility.
From the ground level, everything appeared to be fine but from five stories up the scene was much different. Seeing the Slashers pushing staff into one of the Loading Bays, it appeared they planned on ambushing the convoy once they were behind the walls that surrounded the site. Going to report this to the team, all I got was static on my headset.
‘Hmm…they are jamming the radio frequency the police use to prevent the convoy from calling for aid. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill thugs, they have someone leading them that put some forethought into this. If they attack the convoy behind the walls, no one will be the wiser till someone finds the bodies of the dead officers tomorrow.’, I thought using my power to overwhelm the radio jammer.
After giving the team a status update, Mandalay asked me for my opinion on how to proceed.
“Uh…you are the Team Leader here, are you sure you want me to give directions?”, I inquired.
“Yes, our team specializes in Mountain Rescues and more rural operations. We don’t usually deal with hostage situations or convoy escorts like this.”, she admitted.
“Ah…well then I suggest we take a page out of the history books and use the Trojan Horse to wrap this up.”, I stated with a smile.
“Trojan…hehe, shouldn’t you take us on a date first.”, Pixie-Bob playfully teased.
Letting out a sigh, I told her I wasn’t referring to a condom. Explaining my plan to them, it was a very simple three-part plan. The contraband would be relocated to the escort vehicles, and Tiger and I would ride into the facility in the back of the truck instead. Mandalay and Ragdoll would disguise themselves as the drivers and drive us into the facility. While the rest of us were doing that, Pixie-Bob would seal all but the entrance the truck would use with her Quirk. When the Slashers go to retrieve the contraband, Tiger and I would overwhelm them in short order.
“Mandalay, Ragdoll, Pixie-Bob, and the police backup will subdue the ones that try to run into the city. If you feel they are going to get away, seal the last entrance so they stay stuck in the facility with us.”, I told them.
“And this plan is called the Trojan Horse why?”, Ragdoll inquired.
“...Have you never heard of the Ancient City of Troy?”, I asked them, “It happened thousands of years ago…well I guess you may not be well versed in world history. Needless to say, this tactic has been used many times throughout history to get behind enemy lines.”
Voicing his support for the plan, Tiger said it was the most exciting plan they had used in a while. Agreeing with him, Ragdoll said it was a good plan that minimized the risk to the civilians and the captives. Since Pixie-Bob would be approaching the enemy from the rear, she would have time to completely cover the hostages with an earthen wall to protect them from harm.
“Alright then, let’s do it team!”, Mandalay shouted with excitement.
