Chapter 26: A Talk with Marshal (Patreon)

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"Haven't you heard of the healing power of laughter?"



Word Count 1255
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The Hale sisters were taken away for treatment by the medical team while Marshal Pentecost led me to his office room to have our much-needed conversation.

We didn't even take our seats and proceeded with our conversation while standing.

Marshall Pentecost cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem, er, you are British?"

My brows arched in amusement. 'So Marshal chose to begin the conversation like that.'


I chuckled. "I am not British. I have just got the accent."

He then stretched his hand for a handshake."Stacker Pentecost."

His eyes were constantly looking at my hands encased by the suit's material.

Oh, I knew what he wanted though his intentions were hidden.

The handshake was not a handshake.

Not wanting to seem uncourteous or disrespectful, I outstretched my own hand and gripped his in a firm handshake.

I introduced myself nonchalantly. "Name's Kal. Kal El."

His brows furrowed in thoughts as if trying to remember if he had ever had my name somewhere.

"Your name is-" He tightened his grip, trying to gauge me.

"My name's strange? Is that what you were going to say?" I intercepted but my grip remained the same. It was loose, to be precise.

'Oh marshal, I want to see you struggle all you want.'

He raised his chin defiantly while narrowing his gaze at me. "I think the word I wanted to say was 'unique'..."

"Oh."

He increased the strength in his hand and tried to squeeze more but was only met by a firm and unshakable grip.

He tried again and I laughed in my mind.

After realizing that his actions were merely futility, he relinquished his grip and took a step back.

He had the word 'embarrassment' written all over his face.

"You are strong, very strong." He feigned a fake cough to hide his stupid act under a complimentary comment.

Strong enough to crush all the 27 bones in your hand into ashes.

I merely chuckled while waving my hand in dismissal and said nonchalantly, "I am just better than your normal man."


"Such arrogance." He exclaimed before adopting a more serious expression.

He was now going to jump straight to the point.

There was no need for useless banter.

"Now Kal, there are some answers that I desperately need from you."

"First… Who are you?"

'The man maintains his authoritative persona even in my presence,' I thought while placing one of my hands over the other at my front.

"As I had said previously, I am Kal El. I am an ally. Not an enemy. I also have a personal vendetta against Kaijus." The bullshit felt real when I spouted it from my mouth.

I even felt that I could lie to myself.

Marshal Pentecost took a deep breath and then released a desperate sigh.

I could see the disappointment in his eyes.

He was clearly not satisfied with the ambiguity of my answers.

He wanted to squeeze out any useful information about my origins.

I couldn't blame him.

"I am a survivor of the first hit on San Francisco," I started to relay just a little bit of information. This statement was also essentially not a lie.

Marshall Pentecost looked at me with slight pity. "I am sorry-"

I raised my hand before he could finish his sentence. "I am a big boy marshal. What are you sorry for?"

"It's useless to be trapped in the past and relive those moments. The future is still there to be conquered or what do you think?" I spoke without any ounce of emotion in my voice.

Wow, say born to be an actor.

Marshal Pentecost gave me a heavy nod. "You are right. We still have more Kaijus to deal with in the future."

"A future that is unpredictable and we have no control over." He then sighed helplessly.

"The Kaijus will be no longer terrifying if you just blow up the inter-dimensional portal where they seem to spawn from," I said.

His eyes widened. "That's a good idea."

"I will try to implement it when I have the meeting with the UN council."

I smiled. "It better be a thermonuclear warhead capable of dishing out megatons of TNT."

Then his expression turned grim. Probably thinking about how to negotiate and sweet-talk the Russians.

Despite the presence of the United Nations and temporary unity between the Rim countries, there was still bound to be some slight rivalry.

I knew that this plan was already used by Marshal Pentecost in the near future.

Maybe he already had the plan and I was just voicing out what had always been in his mind.

"But that is a very difficult - almost impossible - task," he said while rubbing his nose.

"We had once tried to send a bomb but it had been unsuccessful. Nothing from our world seems to be capable of passing through Breach," he explained.

"I believe the solution will be found, pretty soon enough. Don't fret, marshal," I said in a tone full of surety. My voice was full of confidence as if I could already predict it.

"Y-You… Who are you really, Kal?" Marshal Pentecost intently looked at me. He wasn't stupid. He should be now suspecting that I knew more than I was letting on. I knew too much. And my information could really play a role in the resistance against Kaijus.

I was clouded in mysteries that would pick the interest of anyone. I had already anticipated that after this talk marshal would look for Tendo Choi to search for any bit of information about me - Kal El.

"You will know soon."

"Then can you tell me about the suit you are currently wearing? It doesn't look like something that could easily be made. It is truly fascinating that it's capable of traveling at speeds that our detectors find hard to record."

I laughed, catching him off guard.

"True. This is something that only those with extremely gifted minds could hope to create. And of course, the resources. So even if I by chance - which is probably never happening - gave you the schematics of this suit, you would never be able to replicate it."

His expectations went down as soon as they rose.

He didn't like my answer.

"Mr. Kal, you know, I still don't know what kind of man hides behind that mask. This will make it hard for me to continue taking any word you say seriously." Marshall Pentecost changed his posture, a knowing expression on his face.

'Oh, so he wants to see my face. My face is so trustworthy, my boy.'

I had the face of the supposed symbol of hope, after all.

"I understand." I was getting a little bit uncomfortable in the suit anyway. Still not used to it.


Then the solid helmet started to dematerialize into a membrane-like protective covering that gradually receded into the suit. And my devilish handsome face was revealed to the world in all of its glory.

"..."

"Is this enough, marshal?" I smiled smugly.

He remained still like a statue. His gaze transfixed on my face as if he was seeing an apparition.

"Oh marshal, don't tell me that it's already love at first sight?" I joked while laughing loudly.

"Just so you know, I am straight." His expression faltered as a string of curses aimed at me left his mouth before he succumbed to the infection of my laughter.

This was totally a different Stacker Pentecost from the one I expected!


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