"Carly?" John said. He was very, very, confused. How could this woman in one of his DEN worlds have the sa na as his long-dead youngest sister from back on Earth? "Born in 1956, Dallas, Texas? Died in a car accident in 1977 outside of Fort Worth?"
"I don't really rember how I died, but... Wait... John? John Suzy Wayne? 1946?"
John grabbed his sister, his actual little sister, and gave her a massive hug. He had no idea how this happened, but he didn't care. He was in the army at the ti of her death and wasn't even able to attend her funeral. She was already in the ground by the ti he found out.
"Carly! How, how? HOW?" He said, unable to articulate anything.
"John! Oh my god! How? How are you here? And alive?" She replied, equally as shocked.
"I died in 2031, but was transmigrated to a bunch of different worlds. This is just the current one I'm in. Are you part of DEN as well?"
"DEN? What's DEN? No. I'm entertaining so gods in the multiverse based out of a space station called Utopia. I'm a part of what those gods call the A-Grade team... this is the fifth world I've visited since I started."
"Wait... there is another group of gods-" John started, but was interrupted by a ssage from his system. He opened it and scanned its contents.
[There are gods in that particular multiverse doing sothing similar to DEN, albeit for a very different reason. I'll answer your questions when you return here. Until then, have a great family reunion. - Alec]
"Did your system get a ssage as well?" Carly asked, a nu open in front of her. "They are cautioning to be careful around anyone from DEN."
"Ha! Right, I don't have your kind of superpowers. I'm rather... weak in many aspects compared to literal superheroes. DEN was just telling that this multiverse has gods doing sothing similar to them and to enjoy my reunion."
"I see. So tell , what happened back on our Earth after-" She started to say, then her phone started ringing. She looked conflicted, like she didn't want to answer it.
"Go ahead. We have all the ti in the world to catch up."
"Thanks." She said, then walked a short distance away. She talked with soone for about thirty seconds, then started to get heated. "NO! I CAN'T... Sothing ca up... I know I said I would be there if... FINE! I need to tell you about this anyway, but not over the phone. You owe dinner and a movie... and you won't be smoking during it either, else I'll beat your ass... I said what I said... You're not the only one with fun abilities... Love you too, sugar. I'll be there in ten."
She hung up the phone, then turned back to John. "Listen, you know that secret you were trying to get out of ? I need to go and deal with it right now. I'll check with my contact to see if I can fill you in or not. I haven't told him my secret yet, but I suspect he already knows it. He... isn't from here either, but isn't a transmigrator. Just… stay ho tonight, okay? If we find our target, it could get rather explosive."
"Sure. Go do your thing, Carly." He replied, a little disappointed they didn't have a chance to catch up.
"Twinkle. Call that, or Cathleen...or Star and Stripe. I haven't gone by Carly for several decades now. God, having a bunch of different nas really sses with your mind sotis.
"I've been lucky. Other than one world where my last na was different, I've been John Wayne everywhere else. Granted, that might have been the gods manipulating it because of my Alzheir's."
"Wait? Didn't they repair your body? Is that why you look like Dad?" She said, releasing the hug and looking him up and down.
"Yeah. The first world I was in, I could barely hobble across a school to the parking lot while being chased by zombies. I had to fight my way to where I am now. In fact, this is the first world in which I have been healthy enough that I could work on improving my own body instead of just surviving."
"Well, you seem to be doing good, Bro." She said, then hugged him again. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow, or soti after the ball. Oh, save a dance for , okay?"
"Sure thing, Twinkle."
With that, she shot off into the night sky, disappearing from sight nearly instantly. He shook his head, wondering what crazy stories his sister would have from travelling to different worlds.
I can't believe it. My in-world little sister is my actual little sister, and she is doing the sa thing I am. Small Omniverse.
He shook his head again, a smile growing on his face. The thought of her getting to live out multiple lives, while hers was cut off too short, made him really happy. He turned to leave the rooftop when he realized there was a small problem. "Twinkle, why did you have to choose a fifteen-story building to have our eting? Now I need to descend a ton of stairs."
He sighed. He wasn't ready to try superhero-level parkour. Not yet, anyway.
The Next Evening
Takeyama Estate
"Just rember, she isn't my grandmother. Just be respectful and-"
"Yu, it's okay. I'll be fine."
"You sure it was a good idea to wear that? What if they take it as a threat?" Anan said, pointing at the blade at John's side.
"I'm a true paladin, rember? I'm not sure about this world, but in the world where I beca one, they were expected to wear a weapon. Even at a court ball." John replied, already sifting through all of Arthas's mories for the etiquette expected of him as a paladin prince. The man hadn't been much for formalities outside of battle, but he had been trained to beco a king.
They had let Anan in on his secret last night, which she took rather well. She had never understood how his Quirk could do so many things, but she had already seen enough of his tricks to realize there was sothing else going on that a Quirk couldn't explain. That led her to join the four of them in the limo tonight.
John was wearing the most comfortable suit he had ever worn, the blazer, pants, and shirt dyed in the darkest black he had ever seen. He had a silver tie and a handkerchief in his breast pocket. The sword's sheath was already silver, and with the assistance of i, it now had a silver wrap around its hilt. To finish off the look, his black and silver belt buckle held up his pants, the Twilight Knight a re channel of mana away.
All the won were wearing beautiful silver modern ballroom dresses with similar cuts, covering their shoulders yet hugging their curves nicely. The bottoms of the dresses had long slits to show off so leg when they moved, yet could easily remain modestly covered when standing still. Long fingerless sleeves completed the look, reaching up past their elbows. It was elegant and refined, and John thought they all looked beautiful in them.
After complinting them all, he asked when they had a chance to colour coordinate. Rumi walked up to him, gave him a kiss, and smiled afterward. Her long, white hair was done up in an elegant hairstyle that he didn't recognize, with several braids wrapped along the sides of her head and mostly tied up behind her.
"Yu made sure we matched earlier this week. Momo copied the dress for Anan today." She said.
"I wanted sothing that looked beautiful, yet was modest. If I thought it was okay for my daughter to wear it, then I thought it would suit your taste." Yu said. Her hair was done up like Rumi's, though platinum blonde instead of white.
"My taste?" John said, causing her to blush. On a whim, he turned Scouter on.
"Yeah. You said you didn't like that I was showing off so much of my body, that I should respect myself more. I... this is embarrassing. Can we just go with that I wanted to be respectful to you?"
{I don't want to show my body off to another man other than my future husband. This isn't for John... well, not just for him; this is for .}
He placed his hand on the side of her face, then leaned in to give her a quick kiss. "It is beautiful, I approve." He said, staring into her Magenta eyes. She seed taken aback by the unexpected kiss, but he moved on.
"Are these heels too high?" Anan asked, the shoes pushing her to nearly eye level with him. Her brown hair was short compared to the other two, but instead of the ssy mop she normally wore, she had hers styled in a pixie cut that suited her nicely.
"No, you're beautiful like you are. Are you used to walking around in heels?"
"Yes. I usually wear fancy dresses and high heels for my recitals or when I go out dancing. These are not even as tall as my tallest ones, though those are thigh-high leather boots."
"That would be interesting to see." He replied, then gave her a kiss as well.
"I'll wear them for you soti. Not many chances to wear sothing like that."
"No kisses for , just a hug!" i said, crashing into his side before he could say she looked lovely in her dress. Her shoulder-length pink hair was tad as well. The won had really gone all out for this ball.
A long black limo arrived at Rumi's shortly afterwards, taking them to the Takeyama Estate in Musutafu. The estate itself was gigantic, with a tall stone fence around the periter. The massive courtyard had several large fountains along with gardens on either side of the cobblestone driveway. The main building was a three-story stone mansion, with a number of rooms inside he couldn't even make a guess at, the two wings sweeping back quite far from the main entrance. Most of the rooms on the second and third stories appeared to have their own balconies, the windows of the rooms appearing even taller than he was.
Their driver joined the line of other limos, each dropping off their passengers at the main entrance. He couldn't really see the other guest from the way their vehicle was parked, but it didn't take them very long before they pulled up to the front doors. Several massive marble pillars lined the sides of the entryway stairs, with a deep purple carpet running from the driveway to the main doors. A servant opened the limo door, allowing them to exit the vehicle. He adjusted his sword on his waist, then, after offering both Yu and Rumi his arms, they started to make their way up to the doors where a very regal-looking woman was greeting guests.
She appeared to be about thirty, and aside from her nearly pure white hair and blue eyes, she looked like a slightly older Yu. Her strapless teal dress was covered in sequins, the neck cut deep enough to show just a small amount of cleavage, and two long slits to allow for ample movent for her legs. If he didn't already know about Hinata's longevity, he would have assud she was Yu's older sister, not her mother.
As they were about to step up to et the matron of the household, two large n in suits stepped in front of John. They were obviously security, each with an earpiece and bulges under their suits that John recognized as shoulder-holstered pistols. John braced for a mont, expecting them to try and take his weapon, but was instead surprised when they both slamd their fist over their hearts and bowed to him.
"By blood and honour, Paladin Wayne, Heir Takeyama, and party, we welco you to the Takeyama Estate. I am Captain Tarsen, head of security." One of the n said, looking up at him from his bow. "Please, Paladin Wayne, stay your blade tonight and enjoy yourselves; allow us to handle any security concerns that may crop up."
John just blinked at the unexpected honour he was being given. Yu shook his arm after a mont, bringing him back to the present.
"Of course, Captain. Under the light, I will only draw my weapon in anger for self-defence or defence of others. You have my word." He said, adlibbing sothing on the spot using sothing from the oaths the paladins in Lordaeron would use.
The man nodded, then the pair of them bowed again and allowed them to pass. After a few steps, he looked down at the blonde on his arm. "Did they-"
"No. They probably only know that you're title is a Paladin and you're being given the respect required for so of our more powerful visitors. My mother probably told them how to address you." She replied, smiling up at him. "She wants you on her side; letting that out would end any plans she has."
He just grunted, then turned his attention back towards Hinata. She just finished greeting the previous guest and was now awaiting their party. A wide smile ford on her face at the sight of her daughter and granddaughter, and the poised look she had broke, and she opened her arms wide.
"i, co give your Sobo-chan a hug!" She said, her voice sounding both friendly and stately at the sa ti. i darted out from her mother's side and accepted her embrace.
She greeted the other three won in turn, then bowed her head slightly to John. "Mr. Wayne, thank you for agreeing to attend this charity ball. I have been looking forward to eting you in person for so ti now." She then raised a hand out towards him.
He took it and gave the ring on her finger a kiss. "It's my pleasure to be here, Ma'am. I appreciate the invite."
"Please, call Hinata. A Paladin has no need to be formal with ." She said, still holding his hand.
"Then please, call John. We can worry about formalities another ti."
"Very well, John. Please, enter and enjoy yourself. If it is not too much of an inconvenience, I would like to talk with the saviour of my granddaughter later this evening. I believe we have much to discuss in a more... private setting." She said, licking her lips lightly.
Warning alarms sounded in his head, but he held a neutral expression on his face. Scouter didn't tell him a damn thing from this woman, but he already knew this was a possibility. "Yes. I believe we do."
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