The sound of an explosion echoed throughout the GDA's testing facility. The cause? Surprisingly it was two fists. Each blow they shared were like mini explosions causing waves of force to spread all around. If this had been a regular training gym then everything would have long been destroyed.
Fortunately, when it came to having a large budget and plenty of resources Cecil didn't cheap out. Everything was built with top-of-the-line material and could withstand a simple spar from two super-powered beings.
"Are you sure you've recovered? You seem a bit sluggish" Brandon joked as he kicked past her guard.
"Ugh, sluggish… I've never been told that before." War Woman said as her eyebrow twitched. She knew Brandon was just joking with her by how he said it and the obvious smile on his face but it was still an insult to her pride and for warriors their pride is everything.
"I suggest you take that back" Making a malicious grin she began taking things up a notch and rushed Brandon. War Woman didn't bother trying anything fancy like evasive maneuvers. Anything she tried would most likely be seen by him so she kept things simple and went for a head-on collision.
Brandon saw her intent and decided to meet her with equal force. "Nah I don't think I will" With that said he rushed as well and the two soon met in the middle and clashed once more. However, this collision clearly exceeded all others. The force generated practically made everything fall to a standstill until it all erupted at once damaging parts of the room in the process.
Brandon and Holly were unbothered by this but were soon stopped by a scientist who practically ran out crying. Begging that they'd stop so as to not destroy their testing room completely.
"We may have taken things a little too far" War Woman commented as she looked around the room.
Brandon heading this didn't even bother adding anything because it was clear that they did. The once pristine white room had metal parts sticking out of the floors and walls along with a mini crater where they last clashed. All in all, this would most likely take millions to repair.
"Cough um I'll try to calm down the scientists" Saying this War Woman left and went to try and appease the crew in charge of the floor.
While she did that Brandon found a relatively undamaged area and sat down. This spar did make him feel better and helped clear his head a bit so it was time to make his decision.
Becoming a Guardian didn't really conflict with anything he had planned so he had no problem on that part but the team obviously lacked members. With his inclusion, they would have a group of four of the best but Brandon knew this world had more heroes out there with high potential. The show he had watched in his past life only detailed the things that happened around Mark's life leaving much to be explored in the world as a whole.
Secondly would be strengthening the team. This one would be the simplest to achieve. Getting stronger was obviously a must and he doubted that his help would be rejected but to make these decisions Brandon felt like he needed to be more than just a member.
Especially if he wanted to personally pick out the new members and increase the team's strength and direction. All these decisions naturally rested in a leader's hands but this position was already taken by the immortal.
Sighing Brandon made up his mind
.
"And those are my conditions" After finishing their spar Brandon returned with War Woman and made his intentions clear. Expanding the team and making its current members stronger but most of all his request to lead the team.
The trio glanced at one another silently and communicated with just their eyes. In that short moment, many thoughts crossed their minds but at the end of the day, it was up to the immortal.
Stepping forward he looked straight into Brandon's eyes. A lot of thoughts were going through his mind. He never expected Ultraman to want his position and he also never expected to lose it. Throughout history, he's led the human race and has always been the leader.
Usually, he would just say no but this was different. The fate of mankind was really in their hands and from what he had heard he saw that Brandon had direction. He was also probably the strongest on the planet so there was little to worry about when it came to his strength.
"So you want my position"
"Yes" Brandon said without a hint of hesitation
"We'll to have it you should at least have that level of confidence" Immortal commented upon seeing that quick reply "But what else do you have to offer to this team besides your strength? Being a leader isn't just power you know it takes much more"
Brandon acknowledged this as well being a leader really was more than just being the strongest. It also took wisdom and proper judgment. Lastly, it also required clarity.
Taking note that Cecil wasn't present Brandon gave the nano machines he released earlier a signal so that they could silence the room. Now there would be no intrusions or peeping from Cecil or his subordinates. Instead, it would seem like their system was experiencing a minor crash giving him a couple of minutes to say what he wanted.
"My heritage, you see I'm not human"
Red Rush and Immortal looked surprised at this but soon realized that War Woman made no reaction. "You knew?"
"Yeah, I knew" She said with nonchalance leaving the two to shake their heads and look back At Brandon.
"Then what are you?"
"An alien, more specifically a Kryptonian."
Neither of them seemed to have a clue of what a Kryptonian was. To be fair they hardly knew anything about alien races and the universe beyond. Occasionally there were invasions but those folks rarely wanted to communicate. There was also Martian man but even his people were quite secluded.
"And what does that mean for us?"
"It means you have the best chance at victory… My people weren't just insanely powerful but we're also advanced far more so than most in the universe. Our technology in genetics had even reached a point where a child's genetics and talent was able to be predetermined and controlled. I myself am even a result of this. I was created to be a perfect Warrior"
Immortal looked impressed by this but then he realized that if these so-called Kryptonian people were so great then why would only Brandon fight? Wouldn't it be easier to have the rest come?
War Woman noticed the immortal's questioning look and stepped in for this part. "It wouldn't work, he's the last of his kind"
The room became eerily silent as those words were said. Last of one's kind? Could a regular person bear such a burden? Unknowingly Red Rush and immortal began to look at Brandon with some pity.
"Don't look at me like that. It happened before I could even remember. In order to save my life my father sent me here and as such I have technology, knowledge, martial arts, and many more things from my people that could give us an edge"
Immortal took a moment to think things through. At first, he thought Brandon was just all muscle but it seemed like he really had a lot to bring. 'Why am I hesitating? This is obviously better for everyone and besides i've been wanting to take a step back for a long time now.' Being the leader of humanity for the last thousand years does eventually take its toll.
"Alright Ultraman, consider it done. You're now the leader of the guardians. So don't let me down alright" His tone while saying this was serious but the smile on his face showed that he was actually sort of happy about the situation. Leaving Brandon a little confused.
"You have my support" Red Rush added as well. If Immortal was alright with it then he didn't have a problem.
"You know I would agree but I also have a request from you"
"What can I help you with?"
"You mentioned us getting stronger. I already have a method ready but I'll need your help" War Woman's request was different from what he expected but he accepted nonetheless.
"Good I'll tell you more about it later"
"Hey, speaking of getting stronger do you have a way to get faster?" Red Rush asked, hoping this alien technology might help him in some way.
"Actually I do but it'll take some time" Brandon still didn't have Tachyon tech so he technically didn't have it yet but he would soon with the next invasion. There was also Velocity 9 that he wanted to try making but that one also needed some work.
"Getting strong is good but we need to start finding those teammates" Immortal added. Once they had a full roster then getting stronger individually would be next.
"I already have some ideas but I was thinking about hosting a recruitment event but first we need to handle the obvious problems. You have all been gone for a while and the world doesn't know what happened."
Immortal sighed thinking about that. The announcement was definitely going to shake things up and the funeral would also need to be handled well. "I guess we should get started on that soon."
"Yeah but don't worry I'll talk to Cecil about handling that announcement and the funeral" Brandon said figuring the GDA would want to handle the situation anyway since they did it in the show.
"Yeah, that should work. I'll talk to the loved ones and let them know what happened." Brandon had no problem with Immortal taking the lead on that front. When it came to the old members he had no place and didn't have the right to inform them. Instead, it needed to come from someone they knew and trusted like immortal.
"Alright, then I'll be heading out. Cecil and War Woman have my number so if you need to contact me ask either of them"
.
Flying back home Brandon decided to rest with his family. It felt like he hadn't been there in a while and wanted to spend some time with his parents.
On the way there he suddenly felt a light buzz on a small device beside his ear. Only one person had access to it so he immediately knew it was Zod.
"Yes, father?"
"I wanted to let you know that I've hacked most of their servers by now and took some time to look at things myself."
"Really? Did you find anything interesting?" He figured that if Zod was calling about this now then it had to be something special.
"Yes, actually I was surprised to find that this backwater world isn't so behind in tech. They have many things that are inferior but some of their research is interesting and ventures into areas we didn't explore. This Magic you mentioned before is also quite interesting. I see why you wanted to learn about it."
'That's good. So it was everything I hoped it was' Brandon thought with a light smile. Clearly, his infiltration decision was right.
"But that's not why I am calling. They have it Brandon…"
"They have Kryptonite"
Brandon's flying suddenly froze in place as those words rang into his ears. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, but they don't have a lot, only a small piece that had fallen years ago. So far they don't know what it does but their experiments showed that its radiation can awaken abilities in people because of this they haven't really tried it on anything else and have solely been exploring that."
'That's good but I still don't feel comfortable with them having it. No matter what purpose it is serving'
"Alright keep searching their files, find out where they got it and also if they have more. I'll steal it later tonight"
"Good judgment son" Zod said, proud of his quick decision. He knew Lor-Zod was very different from himself but at least when it came to action he followed through.
"Also father I wanted to know if you could make me a list of heroes, anti-heroes, villains. It doesn't matter"
"That can be done"
"Great then I'll be heading out I'll come by tonight with the Kryptonite once I have it"