Chapter 57: Control
"How long was I underwater for?" Madara muttered to himself. "Surely they didn't assume I died, right? They do know I can fly... But it's a possibility."
While sitting in the small resort that was bought for their trip, everyone was grieving. Magna and Luck weren't arguing, Vanessa wasn't drinking, Charmy was still eating, and Finral wasn't acting like Finral.
Yami was grieving in his own way, by taking a dump. It was unusual for the Black Bulls' to be so quiet, so Yami knew it was affecting them.
While Luck was sitting down, he felt sparks on the back of his neck. His eyes widened with hope and shock after sensing the familiar mana.
He ran out of the resort and back to the beach. Everyone was confused for a few minutes until they sensed the same thing Luck sensed.
Finral created a portal back to the beach, so they didn't have to run there. Yami, who was on the toilet, started laughing after realizing why his members were leaving.
"Heh, that bastard," Yami said as he took a long drag on his cigarette.
"Huh? Why are guys here? Did you come to train, too?" Asta asked looking at his squad come through a portal.
They didn't answer Asta, but they all had hopeful expressions on their faces. Asta, Noelle, and Kahono faced the direction everyone was looking to.
About a minute later, they all sense a strong presence coming toward them. Asta takes his guard, then realizes that the person coming toward them seemed familiar.
"Madara!" Luck yelled as he jumped up and down, waiting for his arrival. Seeing Luck, they all sighed in relief but wanted to him themselves. A few seconds later, Madara landed a few feet away from them.
The force from which he landed, made the sand in front of him, move like a sand storm. When everyone saw who it was, they couldn't hold back their smiles.
One by one, they each ran toward Madara and hugged him. Though Madara wasn't the type for group hugs, he let them be.
"Why is everyone hugging me?" Madara asked confused. He knew he was gone for a while, but he did not expect this.
"We thought you died..." Vanessa said, looking to the ground embarrassed.
"We? You mean the whole squad?" Madara asked looking at the embarrassment on their faces.
"You do know that I can fly, right? If I was drowning, I just would've flown from underwater." Madara said, making them feel like idiots.
"Why did you go underwater for so long?" Noelle asked the question everyone was wondering.
"I went exploring. I wanted to see what was in the ocean. Luck, sharks, and whales aren't strong." Madara said, causing everyone to go back to normal.
"Ah man, I thought they would be strong to fight against." Luck said, disappointed finding out they were weak.
After the encounter, everyone except Asta, Noelle, and their new friend stayed outside. Though Madara didn't care much, it was still messed up, how they left Gordon.
Plus, his magic could be useful if they needed it. Another thing, Madara could copy, and gain resistance to poison.
While no one was around, Madara created a portal that connected to inside the hideout. Madara stuck his head through it and saw Gordon still sitting there with his big backpack.
"Gordon," Madara called out getting his attention.
"You came back for me..." Gordon said in a whisper with beads of tears in the corner of his eyes.
"Come on," Madara said as he held out his hand for Gordon to grab. Gordon grabbed his hand and Madara pulled him up from where he was sitting.
"Thank you..." Gordon said, in a low whisper as he walked through the portal. There he saw the ocean and resort they were staying at.
"Don't mention it," Madara said as he returned with Gordon. While everyone was talking, Madara asked Gordon to follow him to the beach. He also brought three bowls of food for Asta, Noelle, and Kahono.
Approaching the three of them, Madara handed each of them a bowl of food. Madara could tell Noelle was working hard because she was sweating buckets.
"Thanks, Madara. I was starving!" Asta said as he began to devour the food. Madara then walked to Noelle and said in a low whisper,
"I admire your dedication. If you're frustrated or annoyed, don't throw that away because that means you haven't given up." Madara said, smiling at Noelle as he patted her head.
Noelle turns her head embarrassed with her face beet red getting a compliment from Madara. She wasn't expecting praise from him all of a sudden.
Seeing the look in his eyes, and the smile on his face, told her he was genuine. Though she wanted to embrace the head pat, too many people were around, so she restrained herself.
"Th-Thanks..." Noelle responded after what Madara said. She was feeling more motivated. She felt like she could do it right now, but she decided to take a break.
Madara and Kahono introduced themselves along with Madara introducing Gordon. While the three of them were eating, Madara pulled Gordon to the side. A safe distance away from them.
"Gordon, I need you to use your poison magic on me," Madara said, in the calmest tone. Seeing how calm Madara said it, shocked Gordon.
"Wh-What?! I can't do that, you might die..." Gordon said with sadness in his voice thinking about one of his friends dying.
"What if I come across someone who uses poison magic and I don't have a resistance to it? Then, I would surely die." Madara said, making Gordon think.
"Friends are supposed to help each other out, right? Help me out now." Madara said, getting a determined look from Gordon.
"Poison Magic: Verbtenes Obst." Liquid poison started to surround Madara and enter his system. Instantly, the poison was already taking effect.
He felt his body slowly getting weaker, but the Hashirama cells were doing their part. He could feel the fight between the poison and his cells. After a while, his cells destroyed the poison inside his system.
Any effects he got from the poison were nullified because of his cells. After that, Madara told Gordon to use more power this time. And Gordon did exactly that.
Since his cells had a sense of familiarity with poison now, it was a little easier to build resistance. Since Gordon used more power, it took longer for Madara to nullify the poison and its effects.
The night went on and they did this until Gordon started to look tired. After Gordon went back to the resort, but Madara stayed because he wanted to do more training.
But first, he went over to where the three were. He saw that she was still struggling, so he gave her some advice.
"Instead of restraining your magic, let it loose," Madara said, surprising them because they hadn't heard or sensed him.
"I can't. You remember what happened last time." Noelle said, thinking of the time her magic went out of control.
"Yeah, I remember. But so what? I'm here, so I'll help you if anything goes wrong." Madara said, making a new picture of himself being burnt inside Noelle's mind.
Noelle then let her magic loose, and of course, she couldn't control it. She started doubting herself again but snapped out of it after hearing her squadmates cheer her on.
The main voice she heard was Madaras'. Thinking of good memories with the Black Bulls' she surpassed her limit and created a new spell.
After creating the spell, she fell from the sky. Of course, Madara was the one to save her, making her blush. Madara put her down and went over to Vanessa.
He grabbed one of the two bottles she was holding and drank it. Something that he noticed was that, because of his cells, it would nullify the effects of alcohol unless he drank it continuously.
Even if he did that, he was still building resistance to alcohol, so it would take more for him to get drunk. But if he found a way to slow down his regeneration when drinking alcohol, he could get drunk like a normal person.
While everyone was congratulating Noelle, Madara decided to speak. Just the other day, he and Vanessa played a game, she lost, so it was time for her to cash in her favor.
"Vanessa, you still owe me one favor," Madara said, making Vanessa remember the bet they made.
"What... is... it...? You... are gonna ask to see me... naked, are you?" Vanessa said, sluggishly from being drunk.
'Not yet.'
"No, I want to ask you on a date, as friends of course," Madara said, shocking Vanessa. Of all things, she hadn't expected him to say that. Of course, she agreed, but not because of the favor. She accepted because she wanted to go on the date.
After Madara asked her and she accepted, Magna and Luck combined their magic and made fireworks. It was a nice sight to see especially with the people he considered his friends.
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Couldn't fit this in the author's note so bear with me.
1- No you honestly want Noelle and Mimosa in the harem? Like my comment for yes or no. Don't reply, just like.
2- Why must you ask for things and once you get it, you complain?
Like, I'm trying to give you a story behind how he gained the trust and love of them, and you shit in my mouth with the complaints.
No matter which route I take, it's always people complaining when they asked for it.
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Yeah, I just needed to get that off my chest. Y'all have a good night or day. Oh, and the shade you threw earlier did not go unnoticed.
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