Chapter 375: Those Who Are Different
In high spirits, the Indomitable Alliance returned to their base. With them emerging victorious from the tournament, it was called for a grand feast.
Instinctively, Michael’s eyes searched for Isabella. It had become a ritual of sorts. Every time he returned from a high-stress battle, he would search for his family.
"Mother?"
Having gotten accustomed, his mother was usually waiting close to the entrance of the headquarters, eager to welcome him home. Considering that the battle had been broadcasted live, she should have been there, yet Isabella was nowhere to be found.
Getting a bad feeling, Michael checked the rooms one by one.
’I was gone for a few hours at most. No way in hell something has happened to her.’ He gritted his teeth.
Thankfully, he located her soon after, inside a room with an interior resembling a hospital.
She sat on a chair, weakly gripping Gabriel’s hand, while a nearby machine constantly pumped oxygen into his lungs. Since Michael’s father was especially fragile in his coma state, a freshly changed IV drip was delivering the necessary nutrients to his bloodstream.
"Mom?" Michael called out again, breaking Isabella out of her daze. "Is something wrong with Dad? Should we call doctors to stabilize his condition again?"
Isabella shook her head. "No, he is fine... I just wanted to see him."
Guessing that there was more to it, Michael quietly sat next to her.
"I... congratulations on your win." Isabella’s voice crackled.
"Admittedly, it ended much faster than I expected. The semi-finals were far more blood-pumping, to be honest... Still, even if the final passed in a blur, I was overjoyed by your victory nonetheless."
She bit her lower lip.
"I was so happy... and then I turned to my side, only to find myself alone."
Her fingers tightened around Gabriel’s hand.
"You’ve become a fine man. It’s only natural for you to gradually start distancing yourself from the nest. My little angel, Scarlett, is also growing up. Down in the underground colonies, shaping a life of her own..."
Her voice wavered, barely above a whisper.
"And without you both, I realized... how alone I truly am."
Slowly her eyes turned moist.
"Until now, I made do with just the two of you. Ensuring my children were fed and safe, shielding you from the outside world as best I could, was everything to me. But now that you’re grown and you have given me more wealth than I could ever need. All that remains are my thoughts."
She glanced at Michael.
"Tell me... would it be selfish to say I want none of this? Please, take it all. Money, freedom, safety... I have come to realize without my husband I don’t care about any of it. Your father is all I need. We have spared no efforts and expenses to help him. Yet even after so many procedures, even with the best doctors... he still hasn’t come back to me."
Unable to meet her son’s gaze, she looked back at Gabriel.
"I’m sorry... a good mother wouldn’t dampen your happiness, not after everything you’ve accomplished..." Rising, she embraced her husband, burying her face in his chest.
"But please, be honest with me. Don’t spare my feelings. Am I being foolish? Waiting for him to wake up like this... when maybe I was meant to be alone in the end."
A lump formed in Michael’s throat. If there was one thing he hated most, it was seeing those close to him, especially his family, being tormented.
"Never would I lie about this." He declared, soothing his mother’s worries.
"I’ve given you my word. Regardless of the cost, I will make our family whole again."
Isabella would normally have scolded him for regarding his life so carelessly. But with their faction having defeated every other, supposedly reaching the peak, yet with no cure on the horizon, her hope seemed to waver.
"My words aren’t empty. There really is a cure, and I will ensure he wakes. But I need you to place your trust in me, okay? Up until now, I haven’t failed you once... This will be no different."
He reassured, deliberately omitting that the cure in question would require killing a Titan. Sharing such information with her now would just add an unnecessary burden on his mother’s psyche.
After all, Titans were viewed as god-like entities by the general population, abominations that only the Emperor had the power to oppose.
One of the key reasons Michael created his faction and eliminated the Monarch parasite obstructing humanity’s progress was to amass powerful allies.
Possessing sufficient strength to challenge a Titan would place a target on his back, forcing him to confront the Emperor sooner than ideal. However, toppling down such a tyrannical monster with a united group shouldn’t pose a problem and was theoretically possible.
It didn’t take long for Isabella to recover. The entire time Michael remained by his mother’s side.
Eventually, the two made their way to the celebration, enjoying a rare moment of peace.
The next day, Robert approached Michael and Ruby.
"Can we talk?"
Hearing the question, Michael’s expression immediately darkened. Without fail, every time he’d heard those words in either of his two lives, it was always a precursor to bad news.
"Sure, what’s the problem?" Michael asked, bracing himself for the worst.
Embarrassed at how easily Michael had read him, Robert scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
"The thing is... Livia called me. As the defense minister of Magmorious, the capital of Venus, she has access to a lot of sensitive information. Some of it is... quite troubling. We’re in need of your assistance."
"You need my help?!" Ruby’s eyes sparkled like priceless gems. Visibly rejoicing, with her tail swinging playfully. "Whatever it is, consider it done!"
Michael nodded. Robert had been among the first to come to the Indomitable Alliance’s aid during the tournament. Such loyalty went beyond simple camaraderie, growing into a strong bond of friendship.
It was only given that Michael was going to offer support.
Chuckling dryly, Robert glanced at Ruby, specifically at her fluffy tail and pointed ears.
"It’s... about the feline populace. Sadly, not everyone is willing to accept those with such drastic alterations to human characteristics. With disdain and discrimination spreading, they’re being extorted, mistreated, and exploited."
The more Robert spoke, the more Ruby’s expression darkened. Her tail instinctively curled around Michael’s waist, and her pointy ears fell, a clear sign of her unease.
Once Robert finished describing the hardships the feline populace had endured over the past few months, a heavy silence settled over them. No one spoke for several long seconds.
"That’s why..." Robert’s gaze dropped to the ground, too ashamed to meet their eyes. "We request your help. Michael, because people are more likely to listen to you, and Ruby, because they are your people."
Robert clenched his fists.
"Even if their souls are altered... they are still people!" The man’s voice showed anger for the first time. "I’ve spent enough time with them, and with Ruby, to know that, besides our appearances, there’s nothing separating us!"
He paused briefly.
"But many don’t share the sentiment. I fear that if things don’t change... it won’t be long before the feline populace goes extinct."