Chereads / Back to the Past / Chapter 3 - The Revelation

Chapter 3 - The Revelation

"So, you will explain why I'm here?" Ryouma asked Tesla as they gather at the living room

"Yeah, but first, I'll show you something…" Tesla said as he takes out a device

The device looks like a white bracelet. Tesla turns the device on and a hologram appears on top of it. It resembles a person that is similar to Ryouma.

"Ahh, so you finally tell Ryouma everything, huh? Too bad we can't hide anything from him now…" said the hologram person

"Sakata?! You also a part of this?!" Ryouma asked in shock

"Yes, I am. And I'm the one who summoned Nikola Tesla to our time." Sakata replied as he drinks his coffee

"What? But how did you managed to do that??" Ryouma asked again

"Well, to put it simply, I revive him," Sakata said calmly.

"This is confusing, and the most important part, how do you transport me back in time?!" Ryouma asked again but this time, with a mad tone

"For the time travel stuff, I was responsible for it," Tesla said as he put the device on the table.

"Yeah, Tesla and I are working on the time travel device. Once it is placed on someone, the person will get transported back to the past according to our setting." Sakata said as he takes out the device and shows it to Ryouma

"So... When did you put this thing on me? Is it when I'm at your house?" Ryouma asked

"Ehm, to be honest, I broke into your house at midnight..." Sakata said with a bit shy tone

"So, you broke into my house. I hope nothing is missing. Otherwise, I'll use that thing to transport you back to Jurassic age…" Ryouma said while threatening Sakata.

"Nah, Nah. Nothing would go missing. I'm pretty sure about it." Sakata said as he's a bit scared of Ryouma's threat

"So, back to the topic. Why me? Why not the others? I'm pretty sure that there are other people that more suitable for this job…" Ryouma asked as he gets serious.

"The thing is, we already tried it to other people. But sadly, they're gone missing during the transportation. And we don't know where they are, and what are they doing…" Tesla said as he gets concerned.

"And when I recommend you to Tesla, he's a bit nervous. He's afraid that the same thing will happen to you. But nothing goes wrong, right???" Sakata added

"Ah, yes. So, you're toying with my life. Just wait until I came back. I'll make sure you regret your decision." Ryouma said as he gets mad again.

"Now, now. The real thing is, I want your help to bring these people back to their time." Tesla said as he calms Ryouma down

"So, all the wrong things about history is just a cover-up?" Ryouma asked

"No, It is true. But someone must be behind all of this. I'm afraid that those missing people are the ones who responsible for this." Tesla explains the whole situation they're in

"So, Edison's case might be linked to those missing people?" Ryouma asked after he thinks about it

"That could be the case. But we still haven't enough proof. That's why we need to find Edison. Unfortunately, I was injured when he came to us." Tesla said as he leaned forward

"Well, good thing Marie and Pierre Curie saved us at the last moment. Otherwise, we would be dead. And speaking of them, where are they?" Ryouma finished his sentence with a question

"They're in their lab. I'm pretty sure they're busy as hell." Tesla replied

"What if we ask for their help? The more, the merrier." Ryouma said as he stands up

"We can do that, but after they are done working. I bet the labs are radioactive." Tesla said as he whispers to them

"Yeah, according to history, Marie Curie is the first one to isolate radium in a tube. And lack of safety equipment, it came back to bite her." Sakata said

"And speaking of equipment, what's with your mechanical arm, Tesla? I've never seen that before." Ryouma asked as he points at Tesla's arm

"Oh, yeah. This is my main weapon." Tesla said as he summons the mechanical arm and replacing his left arm

"Wait, weapon?! So, inventors do fight?" Ryouma said as he observes through the arm

"Well, people in the past are known for their world-changing achievement. And it manifested as our weapons or powers. It also symbolizes ourselves, so using your power might also reveal your weakness to the enemy." Tesla said as he reverts his mechanical arm back to his usual arm

"Then, your weakness is…something that can't conduct electricity?" Ryouma asked as he chuckles

"Well, maybe," Tesla said as he shoots small electricity to his neck.

"Ow!" Ryouma got shocked a bit after receiving the shock.

"Haha! Be careful out there, Ryouma. And you too, Tesla. You can contact me again if you need help. See ya!" Sakata ended the call and the hologram disappears into the bracelet.

At the same time, Marie and Pierre Curie enter the living room.

"Ah, there you are! We've been searching for both of you!" Marie said as she got excited

"Is there anything that we can help?" Tesla said as he took the bracelet and gave it to Ryouma

"There is something that we want to show you. Come with us." Pierre said as he guides them to their lab

"Come on in," Marie said as she opens the door to their lab.

"Hold up, are we gonna be alright inside?" Ryouma said as he stops in front of the door

"No need to worry. I already gave you both authorization, so you won't get affected by the radioactive." Marie said as she smiles

"Alright, then. Thank you for that." Ryouma said as he steps into their lab

The lab looks like an ordinary lab, but it is imbued in radioactive energy. Ryouma can tell from tiny green particles around the lab.

"Is it only your lab that's been affected by radioactive?" Tesla asked as he saw the green particles

"Nah, the entire house has also been affected by radioactive, but not as much as in the lab." Pierre explains as he drinks his coffee on the table.

"This is for defense purposes. You know, Edison always sneaks his robots into our house." Marie said as she sits on the chair and looks concerned.

"Now that's the Edison I didn't know. Why would he do that?" Ryouma asked as he looks at concerned Marie.

"You know that Edison is the king of inventors, right? He's afraid that one day someone would take over his position. Hence, he created those robots and sent them to kill the other inventors." Pierre answered as he taps Marie's shoulder to calm her down.

"Well, Edison has been controlled by someone," Tesla said as he leaned back to the wall.

"Wh-what? Controlled? That explains the red eyes he got. I don't remember Edison having red eyes." Marie said as she stands up.

Marie then turns on her computer and looks at a document.

"We travel around New York, and surprisingly, there are other inventors besides us. Come, take a look." Marie said as she steps back, offering them to look at the document

Tesla and Ryouma look at the document. They saw some portraits that have been crossed in red.

"Some of the pictures are crossed. Is that mean that they're already dead?" Ryouma asked

"More like, brutally murdered by his robots," Pierre said

"The worst case is, he took over all the patents of their inventions after killing them," Marie added.

"Well, that can cause history alteration, and we can't let that happen!" Ryouma said as he gets serious.

"There are inventors that still alive. We need to find them as soon as possible." Tesla said as he memorizes the remaining inventor's faces.

"And ask for their help, if possible." Ryouma added

After a few moments in their lab, they exited the lab and went into the house to rest up.

At nighttime, Ryouma sits on the armchair by the fireplace and reading a book. Soon, Tesla joins him and sits on the armchair in the opposite direction.

"What are you reading, kiddo?" Tesla asked while looking at him.

"Just an ordinary novel by Mark Twain. He's your friend, right?" Ryouma said as he keeps reading.

"Yeah, he's a good friend indeed. He once called me The Modern Prometheus and Professor of Thunder and Lightning." Tesla said as he flashbacks to his past.

"Well, that suits you perfectly." Ryouma said as he laughs a bit.

"Yeah, you're right," Tesla said as he laughs as well.

"Say, what if Mark Twain is in this era?" Ryouma asked after closing the book and put it on his lap.

"I don't know. Maybe spend time with Mark like in the past…" Tesla said as he remembers his time with Mark Twain in his past life. "I don't know if he's here or not. His face didn't show up in the document they gave us."

"Well, I guess you're right." Ryouma said as he put the book back to the bookshelf. "I'm gonna go to my room. Good night, Tesla."

"Good night, Ryouma."

Ryouma then exits the room and went to his room to sleep. Tesla stays in the room and enjoying his time alone. He then had a flashback of him and Mark Twain experimenting with electricity.

"I hope you're here to help us, my friend…" Tesla mumbles as he slowly closes his eyes and fell asleep.

As Ryouma fell asleep in his room, someone watches over him from the rooftop. He has a white suit and a saber attached to his waist. His eyes are very sharp. He can saw Ryouma sleeping from miles away. Besides him, another man in a black shirt, unbuttoned on the top and holding a gun in his hand. He also has sharp eyes just like him.

"Is that the guy?" The man in the white suit asked

"I think so. We should confirm this first to Mark." The man in the black shirt replied as he smokes.

"Can you go smoke somewhere else? It makes me want to slash you apart." The white suit man said with a slightly mad tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever…" said the black shirt man as he moved away from him.

"If it's really him, we need to protect him at all costs. He's the only one that can stop this madness." Said the white suit man

"What if he's not the one?" the black shirt man asked as he leaned to the edge of the rooftop.

"Then, we will search for another one. But, I'm certain that he's the one. We should tell this to Mark." Said the white suit man as he leaps to another rooftop, leaving the black shirt man behind.

"Alright then…" said the black shirt man as he throws his cigar away and follows the white suit man back to their base.