Time Traveling Hero

After the Hidden Club's activities for the day (they were pretty short, since we decided to just watch our favorite movies, one every day), I hopped on my trusty bird Raijin and flew off towards the TRTF's headquarters along with Anna.

We landed in the sprawling plain; the sun still relatively high in the air as we stopped in front of the invisible gate.

"Hey Anna?"

"Yes Master?"

"Is it perpetually raining in the headquarters?"

"Anna believes so."

"I see…" I pulled out my umbrella from my bag and opened it up, blocking out the setting sun. "All right, let's go then."

Anna joined me underneath the umbrella, and together we walked into the pouring rain, lightning flashing from above as I was met with a similar scene from when I first came here.

Ann and I got quite a few stares from our umbrella, but we otherwise made it inside without incident. I shook off the water before closing it up and storing it back in my backpack.

"So, where to?"

"The Director told me he wishes to meet you."

The Director? "Is he the leader or something?"

"Affirmative. He ranks higher than Master."

Ouch, that kind of hurt a bit. "Okay, then where am I on the hierarchy?"

"You're the next highest."

"And you?"

"Not even worth mentioning."

"…That bad?" I glanced at the deadpan girl who was guiding me through the maze of hallways, her silver hair flowing gently behind her.

"You said that every model has a partner, right? I've been wondering this for a while, but how come you don't have one? Did they die or something?"

"No, nothing like that. Simply put, other than you, no one wishes to be with me. Not even my most special friend…"

She stopped to stare out a nearby window, watching a mock battle between two soldiers equipped in some sort of robotic armor fighting it out. Even though her expression didn't change, the way her fingers gingerly touched the glass and how her yellow eyes zoomed in on the fight said it all.

"Don't worry about it too much," I said, tapping her shoulder, and through the window's reflection I could see her gaze shift. "After all, you get to be with a bona fide Hero now, so don't worry about what others think. If anything, they'll be jealous."

She nodded while murmuring a word of thanks. "Let us continue Master." We continued on our way, and I could once again hear the soldiers gossiping.

"So that's him then? The new Time Traveling Hero?"

"Kind of looks weak compared to the last one if you ask me."

"Then again, maybe it's about time we got another one, especially since that incident."

Incident?

"Ah, you're right. But enough about that, I can't believe he managed to blow off the Director the first time without any consequence."

"I know right!? I wouldn't dream of doing that, not in a million years."

Wait, that happened? I remember vaguely about a soldier trying to get me to meet someone.

"Hey Anna, I didn't skip off my meeting with the Director before this, right?"

"Yes Master, you did. Master Hiro has great confidence."

"HUH!?" I yelled out, alarming the nearby soldiers. "And you didn't bother telling me!?"

"They did try to say that he was back."

"But no one told me he was super important or anything like that!" Damn it, if it's a fight he wants then I'll have no choice but to bring him one.

"Master would lose faster than if I went up against one of the 12 Hands."

"So not even a fighting chance than…" What's up with these ridiculously powerful people here? Now, I know I'm not that strong physically, but I think I stand a pretty good chance thanks to my trick though…

"Even if Master would lose, it would be a hard fought second."

"Oi, now I know you're just f.u.c.k.i.n.g with me."

"Anna does not know what you mean by that."

"You know, for an emotionless girl, you sure know how to tease a guy," I muttered, and I heard an odd sound come from Anna.

"… Did you just snicker at me?"

"Master Hiro, Anna does not snicker."

"You totally did, didn't you!?"

The conversation went back and forth like that until we got to the place where I had met 4 of the 12 Hands. Anna placed her hand on the door, before it clicked and whished open.

"We have arrived Master."

I was met with the usual 12 seats, but unlike last time, there was no one there. Anna and I walked into the empty room, and she frowned as she looked around.

"It seems the Director is not here yet. Anna will go find him." And then she left, leaving me alone in the empty room. It was only then I noticed the key difference from the last time I was here.

In front of the thirteenth seat was a huge sword, pulsating green as it was stuck what seemed about halfway into the ground. The hilt was adorned with a green gem inlaid in its rain-guard, seemingly swirling with power inside. The grip was a pure light green, with the pommel and cross guards having gears adorned in it.

"It's amazing," I murmured, and I felt drawn to it, as if something was calling out to me.

"I think that's enough of that, isn't it?"

I was snapped back to reality by a voice, and I scowled as I realized how close I had gotten to touching the sword. I should probably keep away from it.

I turned around to meet the owner of the voice, and it was a young man who couldn't be older than 25. He had dark brown skin similar to mine, and dark brown eyes to match. He had a big afro, way bigger than I had thought possible, and he was grinning at me with a curious gaze in his eyes.

"You really shouldn't try to touch the Director's toys. He could take it the wrong way."

I made my way back down the stairs before leaning against the nearby table. "Whatever. I doubts he minds if I took a peek."

He shrugged. "If that's what you think." He walked next to me and also leaned against the table. "So, you must be the Time Traveling Hero, right?"

"Yep, that's me. Who are you?"

He just patted me on the back. "Someone high up. I wanted some one on one time before everyone gets back is all."

I simply nodded before gazing back at the sword. It was still pulsating green, and I couldn't help but feel a warm feeling around my c.h.e.s.t.

"You must really like it, don't you?"

"It's not that," I said, rolling my eyes. In truth, I didn't know what was up with the sword. "I will admit it looks really cool, but there's something else about it. Like it's hiding some secret or something…"

The strange man started to laugh. "Well, it's not exactly a secret to the organization, but it's the key to time travel."

My head whipped around to the man eagerly, my curiosity ablaze. "You can time travel with that sword!?"

He held up his hands, chuckling. "You're a rather eager one, aren't you?" His gaze went up to the sword, and a strange smile appeared on his face. "It's allowed us to make multiple time machines thanks to it's strange powers, and yet not even we know its true potential. While not much is not known about it, we do know its name."

I ended up staring back at the sword. "What its name then?"

He gave off a huge grin. "The sword that will guide the wielder to the Locus, The Time Sword, Tempus!"

An impressive epithet for an even more impressive sword, that's for sure, I thought as I continued staring at it, the warm feeling still pervading my c.h.e.s.t.

"But I believe that's enough about the sword for now." He slapped me on the back so hard that I actually almost fell over. I grit my teeth before glaring at him.

"What the hell was that for!?"

"Just a friendly slap on the back my friend. So, is there anything that you wish to know?"

I rubbed my back, the pain lingering from the slap before I sighed. "Yeah, can you tell me what this Director guy is like? As far as I know, he seems to be more prestigious than the Hero."

He snapped his fingers to point at me. "Interesting conclusion. Why do you think so?"

"Well, it seems he's super well respected around here, unlike the Hero. I don't really know why's that the case, maybe since there hasn't been a Hero in a long time or something. Or maybe they just don't like me, that's a viable option."

A sly smile appeared on his cheerful face. "I see… And you've surmised all that based on how people act?"

I nodded. "Yep, pretty much."

He started laugh heartily, and he nodded at me with a great big grin on his face. "You're just like they say; no, even better than that! Oh, it'll be so much fun working with you."

Huh? Before I could respond to his strange statement, Anna along with the four Hands I had met earlier came into the room, and she pointed at the strange guy in front of me.

"Found him."

"Where have you been? We've been searching all over for you sir!" Astraea said, glaring at him.

"Man, looks like my cover's blown then, huh?" He scratched his hair before clearing his throat.

"Allow me to officially introduce myself." He made his way to the thirteenth seat, and lazily sat down as he looked down at me.

"I'm the Director you've been searching for this entire time. Well, let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

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After the relatively shocking introduction of the Director, we moved to a smaller conference room to, hopefully, finally get my duties started. Kind of miffed there's no awakening, but I'll deal with it I guess.

"Right, as you've just heard Hiro, I am the Director of this fine organization. It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you."

He offered his hand, and I reluctantly shook it before we released. Anna was sitting next to me, watching the entire thing, while the Director was sitting across from me.

"So, we can talk as much we like today, since I've freed up everything I've had to do," the Director started, pulling out a small device and setting it gently on the table. "Now, the first question I have to ask is: have you met any weird strangers? And I mean weirder than normal, the type you wouldn't just accidentally find."

I temporarily let the shock show on my face. "How did you-?"

He sighed, ruffling up his hair. "Damn it, no one bothered to tell him? No one, not even my beloved Hands?"

Mars, who sitting next to the Director, had crossed his before he snorted. "Please, this guy doesn't listen, just like our last one."

Astraea nodded in agreement. "Even though he is amazing for completing the Trials, he has a rather stubborn streak that hasn't been dealt with yet."

"Alright, I guess I get the picture. Well Hiro, if you had met me earlier, I could've explained all this to you earlier. But, and I'm assuming you've had three encounters by now, it's far too late to warn you about them, so I have some explaining to do."

"Explain what exactly?"

"Well, I'm going to need you to describe each of these strange people you've met."

I nodded. "Okay, the first one is a boy about my age. He has white hair near the scalp, but then it changes to black as it get's farther away. He also had red eyes, seemed mad at me for something I didn't do. You know, the usual raving madman."

Deimos' eyes widened as I described him. "Yah met him firs'!? Talk abou' bad luck mate!"

The Director ignored Deimos and pressed a couple buttons on his device. "Okay, who was the next one?"

"A strange guy with green hair who wears glasses. His eyes changed color from brown to green when he said goodbye. Oh, and he was also only wearing a speedo."

Hebe looked downcast as she shook her head. "Poor guy, having to deal with him next."

The Director continued to press some of buttons before nodding at me to continue.

"And the last one was a girl with an entire entourage of women. I can't really describe her too well, but she wore frilly clothes and seemed to really treasure a fan that some important guy got her."

This time, all the guys in the room looked awful, as if remembering some long-buried memory.

"Okay, that should be all then. Okay, let's introduce themselves to you then." He pressed another button on his device, and a hologram popped up of the first guy I met.

"His epithet is the Invincible Catastrophe. He's able to cancel out any and all abilities and has killed more than a fair share of our troops over the years. He's been a real thorn in our side for a long time now. We don't know what the hell he wants, but just know anyone with abilities he wants to kill in a heartbeat."

I nodded before asking my question. "His name?"

"The Invincible Catastrophe, Lygron." I felt a fear run through me, an old fear deeply ingrained in me that was warning me not to mess with that boy. I gulped. Damn, what the hell's wrong with me?

"Here's the next person." A picture of the second guy popped up on the screen, and the Director introduced me to him as well. "His epithet is The Smartest Adversary. Part of the Anti-Time Force, he's able to read minds in what seems to be in a radius of about the City, and once his eyes turn green, if you look directly at them, he's able to control you in whatever way he sees fit. It's also the reason why he wears glasses."

Another wave of fear washed over me as I realized how close to death I was when I met him. "Wait, you mean to say if he didn't have his glasses on, he would've been able to kill me? That's pretty f.u.c.k.e.d." I said, chuckling to myself. Anna noticed my hands shaking underneath the table, and she silently grabbed on to one of them.

"Master will be all right," she whispered in my ear, and I nodded before looking back at the screen.

"His name?"

"The Smartest Adversary, Somnus." The Director pulled up the last one, a list of information without a picture.

"Huh? What's up with this one?" I asked, confused.

"Well, it's almost impossible to get a picture of her because, well, let me explain first." He cleared his throat before introducing her. "Her epithet is The Beautiful Enchantress. Also part of the Anti-Time Force, she's able to charm any man she so d.e.s.i.r.es, for however long she wishes. She does it by becoming your perfect girl/woman. Honestly, I'm not sure how you managed to get out of this one."

I have my key and the Prez to thank for that one, I thought as I clutched my key with my free hand. "Okay, and what's her name then?"

"The Beautiful Enchantress Venus. These three people are the ones you've met, right?"

"Yeah, but why do you seem so calm about this?" I asked, frowning.

"Because it happens to every Hero who passes the Trials. First comes the Trials, then the Tribulations. Three Trials, Three Tribulations. And of course, …" The Director trailed off, waiting for some of my questions.

"Okay, so why do I have these Tribulations? What the hell's the point?" I asked, getting annoyed by whoever set this shit up.

"The first TTH."

"Of f.u.c.k.i.n.g course it is," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. "If I ever meet them, I'm going to slap them silly."

"I believe it was because they had to go through what they went through, or something like that," Mars added.

"Okay, so does that mean I'm done then?"

Everybody except Anna chuckled. "Hiro, if only. You have one more challenge to go through."

The Director stood up and slammed his hand on the back wall, and the screen changed to my final challenge.

"Your last and final challenge, is the Hero Triumphs!"

I should've known it wasn't going to be easy. "Okay, so what exactly do I need to do?"

The Director smiled, and the information on the screen split into three categories.

"You must first look at Previous Hero's Triumphs! Then, you must achieve two of your own Triumphs! Then, one that we have added since the fourth iteration of the Hero, you must go and complete a task that a previous Hero failed at. That will be your Third and final task set before you before you can truly call yourself a Time Traveling Hero!" He gave me a wicked grin, and his dark brown eyes glinted with curiosity. "So then young man, do you have what it takes to become a legendary Hero?"

I looked over at Anna, who nodded at me. "My first and last question. Do I have to achieve them by myself, or with help?"

"So long as you do the majority of the work, you can do it however you like."

I took a deep breath and relaxed. Well, I've come this far right? Might as well.

I gave them my best grin and thumbs up. "You betcha! Like hell I'm gonna renege on my promise!"

And thus, begins Hiro's Hero Triumphs.