Chapter 68

8 “…And for all those reasons, we don’t have much time left. I hate to overexert the troops, but we must recapture Imihama and move on Tokyo tomorrow.” Hope stood before the council like a college lecturer, scribbling arcane diagrams on the blackboard. He finished by drawing a large cross through a circle labeled “Tokyo” before stepping back and wiping the sweat from his forehead. Everyone else in the tent stared speechless in shock, stricken dumb by the astonishing magnitude of what Hope had just revealed. The only two who still seemed to be listening were Ochagama and Jabi, the latter of whom didn’t seem to be very interested in the story to begin with. “…To think all this has been in motion for so long…!” said the high priest. Jabi stroked his beard. “You say this Apollo fellow can turn the world back to normal? It’s a little hard to believe…” But as people started digesting the information, the tent soon was abuzz with discussion. Milo leaned over to his partner and whispered, “Bisco. That Apollo guy is from the olden days! He’s like a god! I’m surprised your mushrooms affected him at all!” “Zzz…” “You’re asleep! I knew it!! Wake up, you idiot!” “Ow!” Milo slapped him hard on the back of his head, knocking his goggles loose. Readjusting them, Bisco yelled back, “Well, I can’t help it! I get that we gotta beat Tokyo to save Japan, but everything after that was way too hard for me to follow!” “Very well,” said Hope. “Then I shall explain it so that even Bisco understands.” Hope waved his hand over the blackboard, and everything he had written simply vanished, as if blown away by the wind. Ignoring everyone’s astonished gasps, he took up his chalk once more and summarized his argument. “Point one:” Hope wrote on the blackboard. “Our enemy is Apollo, the man who created the Rust.” “He made the Rust?” roared Bisco. “Then he’s a goddamn madman! Why the hell did he do that?!” “Well, to oversimplify a tad, he had a good reason for doing so, but his plan failed.” “What the hell does that mean?” “Moving on.” “Point two: Apollo is trying to revert all of Japan to the year 2028 AD.” “And this would be the year they say Tetsujin destroyed Tokyo, would it not?” asked Amli. “That is correct,” Hope replied with a nod. “The legends are more or less accurate in establishing that Tetsujin was responsible for the downfall of Japan. It was the Apollo Engine that drove Tetsujin, or to be more accurate, the Apollo Particles that— Well, I suppose there’s no need to go into that much detail.” “So that bridge and that tower we came across… They were all from the year 2028, too?” “Hmm. That’s a good enough level of understanding, Bisco,” replied Milo. “I’m not sure I like the way you said that…” “Well, I mean, for you it’s actually quite impressive!” “Oh yeah? And I suppose you understand it completely, eh?” “Well, I did go to school.” Hope ignored the fight brewing between the two boys and turned back to the blackboard, where he wrote down one final point. “Point three: Apollo is made out of one hundred percent pure Rust. Only Bisco can defeat him.” “Well, this one seems simple enough… Wait. What? Only me?” Hope lowered his voice and spoke slowly, placing paramount importance on every word. “Bisco. In all likelihood, Apollo has already devised a countermeasure against the spores. Normal mushrooms will not be enough to take him down.” The whole tent went dead silent. Only Milo smiled a fearless grin and quipped, “Well then, how about abnormal ones?” “Exactly,” replied Hope, prodding his finger toward Milo before locking eyes once more with Bisco. “The Rust-Eater grows more powerfully than any other mushroom in existence. It’s the only mushroom strong enough to stand firm against his attacks and the only means of dealing him a killing blow. Bisco, Milo…your arrows are the only ones that can do this.” “Hrm.” Bisco cracked his neck. Thinking back to his previous fight with Apollo, he grinned, revealing his canines. “That suits me just fine. I been meanin’ to settle the score after our tie the other day. As vengeance for all the fallen, maybe I’ll blow a hole in his stomach this time.” “The only problem is, how we are going to get these two into Tokyo?” asked the fluffy cotton wool ball Ochagama, leaning forward in his seat. “Apollo has already strengthened the White with his antibody program. Now, with no means left to oppose them, we stand no chance of pushing through his armies.” “…He’s already distributed the program to the White? That changes things. I thought that with his wounds, he might not be able to act so quickly…” Hope folded his arms and pondered. “Hope, does Apollo not have any weaknesses?” asked Raskeni. “For example, a soft ego or a short temper?” “If he has a spot for women, may I suggest we try to seduce him?” suggested Amli, cheerily wrapping her arms around her mother. “We would be quite good at that. We have four women here, each with her own unique charms.” “Are you including yourself in that count, Amli?” asked Raskeni with a sly grin. “Mother?! Are you saying I shouldn’t?!” “I’m afraid it’s quite difficult to find any holes in Apollo’s mental state,” explained Hope. “For you see, he has cut out his emotions and stored them in clones, of which I am one. He cares for nothing now, other than his mission.” “He cut out his emotions…?” asked Amli, eyes wide with shock. Then she puffed out her cheeks. “This Apollo fellow sounds like a most tedious man indeed. Does he not react in the slightest when a beautiful woman crosses his path? How rude!” Suddenly, there was a flicker of an idea in Hope’s deep-red eyes. “Amli! What did you just say?” “H-hmm? Why…I believe it was…he doesn’t react in the face of a beautiful woman?” “You said it was rude,” said Hope, now quite agitated. “That’s it! That is his Achilles’ heel!” “What do you mean, Hope? Is there some way to get the better of him?” “There is. Allow me to explain. That man lives by certain rules he cannot break. His etiquette.” Tirol’s braids were getting in Hope’s face as he spoke, so he went to knot them all together before swiftly slapping himself across the face. “This etiquette is embedded so deeply in his code that it takes precedence over everything else.” “But why would he do that? Making himself beholden to such a program…?” “It’s a long story, but in any case, that is what we must capitalize upon. Now, by what means? Hmm…?” The tent fell silent once more as Hope began to think. It was only the noises emanating from Bisco, somewhere between snores and sleep-talk, that broke the silence. “Why is it, I wonder, that such a fearsome man looks so much like an innocent child when he sleeps?” asked Pawoo. When Milo turned to her, he saw on her face not the picture of wrath she usually displayed, but a gentle, motherly smile. “…Hope,” he said at last. “I suppose it depends on what, precisely, Apollo’s etiquette consists of, but how about something like this?” Milo walked up to Hope and whispered something into his ear. Hope’s eyes went wide as he heard Milo’s plan, and he nodded several times in agreement. Then, at last, he turned to face him. “Why, Milo…that’s the most outrageous plan I’ve ever heard in my life… But it just might work! Indeed, Apollo’s etiquette does stipulate against such things!” “It’s a good idea, isn’t it? I’m sure it’ll work!” “However… Hmm…” Hope looked to Pawoo, and to the sleeping Bisco, before whispering to Milo, “How are we going to get them to agree to it? I can’t see Bisco going along with this plan at all…” “You don’t have to worry about that,” replied Milo with a smile. “Bisco still owes Pawoo a favor.”