An Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

(2 out of 3 chapters this week)

"So Solomon, huh… interesting. How did it all start?" Marcus' Father, Roland pondered what his son just said.

"One afternoon his grimoire just appeared out of nowhere." With hand motion, the white golden book appeared in Solomon's successor's hands.

"It bonded with me, and no one else can touch it." Marcus tried to hand it over but the book went through his father's hand.

"... That's…"

"Yes, I know. A quick way to tell that it is supernatural."

"Curious…anyway, so what have you been doing since you know…all of this?" Roland motioned at his son. He can see the obvious changes!

"Umm…slowly dominating the Supernatural world?" The teen alchemist somewhat nervously mentioned that.

"In what sense?"

"...All?"

"...*Sigh* What are we going to tell your mother?"

"...Umm she should be happy?"

"...In what regard?"

"...Her son terrified Greek Gods so much that Olympus decided to marry Athena to him?"

"... Excuse me?"

"...Yep. On Saturday, I was in Greece and helped Ares with renovations. Before that Athena went to see me…and stuff happened. In simple terms there were some small conflicts and yeah… Athena is now my fiance."

"... That's…"

For a moment Roland leaned into the couch. His brain was catching up.

"...How should I respond to that? I don't think there is a manual on this…"

"...Nope, as far as I know, there is not."

"...*Sigh*"

"Let's backtrack this. How did this start?"

"I made an Iron Man-like suit and was doing some tests in Siberia. One thing led to another and I ended up fighting Artemis and her huntresses. I won, she didn't like that. So a few months later she found where I live. She challenged me to spar with no tricks. I won again, this time it was for keeps and as you know God's like her don't go against their word so…

She ended up as my maid."

"...I have so many questions…" The more he heard from his son the more absurd it sounded! He has a Goddess as a maid!? And is engaged to another!?

"...I assume this is happening somewhere else? Because I haven't heard anything!? If you had a battle with a Goddess there should be some sort of indication of it!"

"... that's…because you know… you know how I used to watch Dexter's Laboratory as a kid?" Marcus derailed for a bit.

"...No way…"

"Yes. I have built my faction underground."

*Resigned sigh*

A multitude of complex emotions flashed through his father's face. Eventually, curiosity triumphed through everything.

Like father, like son.

"...you know what? I don't care about the details! Can you show me?" Roland jumped on his feet and turned off the TV. Then he dropped the remote on the couch and proceeded to rub his hands, wanting to see his son's lab!

"Sure. Let's go…"

~~~

As the pair exited the house, Marcus pressed his index finger on the earpiece. He commanded Aurora to deploy Realitus around the area.

He doesn't want anyone lucky enough to see their driveway lowering down.

"Here it is."

The moment the younger Goldman said that the moment the driveway proceeded to lower.

"...Nice…"

As the driveway fully lowered the pair proceeded to enter.

The first thing Roland saw there was the parked BMW in a brightly lit white-ish room.

"So you have finished repairing it."

"...very recently. I was busy with robotics, genetics, programming and other things."

"... That's quite a spread out."

"It is. Mostly because of Solomon. Solomon's book taught me the basics of Runemancy and Alchemy. Mixing with my curiosity towards machinery I blend those into something curious."

Marcus motioned towards his car.

"Transform for me BMW."

The car's front lights glowed.

The iconic transformer sound spread through the garage. The car proceeded to transform into robot mode and stood up.

"...Holy!!!"

"I know right? The moment I realised how joints work and the alloy composition I went right for the transformers!" The teen with an excited voice told his father. This was the time to get excited to tell about his awesome stuff!

"...This is… can you make my car into this!?" Roland had the look of a small child awakening in his consciousness.

How could he not love Transformers!? He grew up with the OG series! Who wouldn't want to have a space robot for a car!?

"Sure. I can do that."

"Fantastic!"

The older Goldman was nearly dancing about this!

"...By the way…what are we going to say to your mother!?" Then out of nowhere, he started to panic.

"...Umm…should we stock up her wine? I mean… she will flip. One of the reasons why I never wanted to reveal all my things." Marcus sighed tiredly.

"True… she will flip. She doesn't like our excess interest in hobbies…

However, your mother does love you when you are thinking about your well-being and future."

"...then she shouldn't worry? I mean… I have a super faction full of robots, Mandalorians…and stuff…"

His father turned towards him and looked curiously.

"...Mandalorians?"

"Official name is Scientifically Prepared Biological Army or S.P.B.A. They are biologically created artificial soldiers, dressed in armour and wield futuristic weapons which shoot beams of energy which destroy bonds between molecules."

"...in other words… you have a science fiction army which is so powerful that even Greek Gods are afraid."

Roland started to see the big picture. Which made him have complex emotions.

"...Yes. Do you want to see it?"

Another sigh escaped from the older Goldman.

"Fine… but we need to find a way to make sure your mother doesn't find out the fact that her son is a supervillain with a super supervillain lair right under her house."

"... That's funny. Jeanne said the very same thing."

"...Jeanne?"

"She is a reincarnation of Joan of Arc, the famous saint from France."

"...Let me guess she is a maid?"

"Yep…"

Roland groaned hearing that. It appears his son has a very big hidden life. How long has he been working on this?

Did all the time he said he was working on a car in truth he was building a secret hidden base and working in the supernatural side of the world?

How ridiculous does that sound? Working on a hidden base under the garage? What is this? Sci-fi comedy flick? Like some James Bond or Austin Powers?

'Maybe not Austin Powers…that is too much…'

Roland sweet dropped remembering that over-the-top parody of James Bond.

"Then let's go. BMW return to car mode."

With a nod, the transformer proceeded to transform back into its car mode with all the cool sound including along the way.

The pair proceeded to walk further into the workshop.

"I started here. My first devil contractor built all the necessary rooms under the garage, and I then proceeded to install all the necessary technology."

"...Which you created via alchemy and magic? And the water? Made from magic?"

"That's where Serafall comes in, she is my Sitri pillar and is an expert in water and ice magic."

"I see…so no water or electrical bills…"

"...Oh right…those still exist…" For a second Marcus forgot about those. When was it last time he did anything related to that?

'Yeah… it all started because I wanted to dodge bills. So I guess I removed it from my memory the first time I could.'

"They do. But since you know how to use magic we can stop using them." Roland is all up for not paying utility bills.

"Right. We can arrange that, I have more than enough Aurora bots to arrange the changes."

"Aurora bots?"

"Manual labour robots controlled and maintained by artificial intelligence of my faction."

"...Right…you have those too…" The older Goldman should not be shocked anymore. Since he can make Transformers he could do the majority of stuff!

First Marcus showed his earliest of places. The place where his computer was and the designing table, then the empty ritual room. This specific room was abandoned by this point.

Then they walked to the testing room.

"Isn't this right under our house?"

Roland looked around for a bit, then his eyes spotted guns placed on racks.

"Are you using this place as a shooting range?"

"Yes. The walls are reinforced with diamonds and fortification magic in the form of molecular fusion. It's close to the point that it's the most durable material in the world. There is barely anything that can affect it. Except of course a magic based specifically to damage it."

"... That's…wait! diamonds? You're saying this whole place is full of diamonds!?"

"Exactly, I have been using diamonds for years now. Alchemy is a very convenient art."

The older Goldman went over and inspected the wall. He noticed that unique diamond-like glass surface.

"...Amazing."

He marvels at it for a bit before walking over and inspecting the guns.

"...You know… your mother will flip when she sees that you are making weapons."

For a second Marcus grimaced… yeah…about that.

He looked at the ceiling…

'If only he knew…'

About the massive space station being built in the shape of a gun.

Yeah, he is going to keep silent about that.

"Can't be helped. Supernatural is dangerous. Gods have their egos, the same could be said for other beings. For a mere human to resist is something they can't accept easily."

"...I suppose you are right." Even though he replied seriously to his son's answer, he had a grin on his face as he wanted to try the weapon out.

"So how do I use it?"

"Just point the weapon and shoot."

"...No safety trigger?"

"Nope. All the technomancy as I call it is created for my use… with few exceptions."

"...I see…"

The older Goldman pointed the gun at the wall in the distance and pressed the trigger. A bolt of mana slammed into the wall at the far end.

"Impressive! It was like laser technology from Star Wars!"

"Heh… Star Wars? I have a few Mandalorian-based weapons but for those you need to dress in armour, as they don't work otherwise."

"...Then what are we waiting for?"

Roland had a similar grin to his son's. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

~~~~~~Hungary~~~~~~

"It appears everything is running smoothly," Carmila said with crossed arms as she observed the human village just outside their vampire castles.

"There are very few changes. What we need to look for is long-term consequences.

Water and electricity don't cost anything and the new money system just started. It will take months to years for some changes to happen.

This is more of a generational thing than anything." Quinella said that while her fingers were playing with strands of her platinum hair.

"I understand. But we still need to see how male dominant side in Romania will act around the integration and the implementation of our Master's technomancy."

*Snort*

"That's for you to do. I have finished my assignments. Your faction is fully modernised and is ready to follow what my Creator and Master want."

"I see. So you are leaving?"

"Indeed. I leave you with orders to watch how this will progress and report to us if anything fascinating pops up."

'She is such a girl scout. Tough front but she is all gooey the moment her Master is mentioned.'

Carmila was able to abuse that little trait. While Quinella is no doubt powerful she is by no means extremely keen on certain things.

Raw power and talent have blinded this Assistant. Still, the Vampire Queen was able to get a few perks from this transition.

Like healing chambers, DNA treatment, and Diamond Core Heart just for their castle.

"It's sad to hear. I thought we would be friends."

*Scoff*

"If you are finished you may leave. The Confiscator will be flying home soon. Unless you want to see the Master?" Quinella asked with a small grin. She still remembers in what kind of state she found the Vampire Queen for the first time.

"I might visit him on a different date," Carmila said with a small blush.

"Ha. Suit yourself."

Quinella walked over and ended up sitting in the captain's seat.

The Vampire Queen saw that it was time for her to leave and proceeded to walk out.

"Send our Master my best regards."

The Assistant didn't even react as she was looking at something with wide eyes.

For a moment the pale woman wondered what it was but she ignored it and proceeded to walk out.

"We fly back at top speed the moment that vampire leaves the ship."

"Yes, Mistress."

'I can't believe what an opportunity! Master decided to reveal his secret to his parents! This…I can't miss it!'

The beauty knows well enough what she is supposed to do. She needs to tell everyone how close she is to her Master and Creator.

The best way to get brownie points is to get close to his parents and make them value her highly.

Those bed warmers will have no chance!

The moment Carmila left the Confiscator, its Nova Thrusters ignited and the massive flagship proceeded to fly. Realitus particle dispersal started soon. No one was able to see it anymore as the Daedalus-class airship disappeared from people's eyes.

~~~

Roland is trying to grasp how far advanced is his Son's faction. At first, he thought it was around 10 to 20 years old when he saw the phones.

Then… when he saw a transformer it switched from 20 to a question mark. Then he saw the glowing diamond which generates power. That question mark turned into three question marks.

Then he saw… maglev, and his son's home away from home, holograms all over the place which only increased the vibes of sci-fi.

Oh and a golden lion cub…

"This is what Ares gifted me when I retrofitted his house. It's a Nemean Lion cub you might know from Heracles 12 labours."

"What a beautiful creature. The fur looks like it's made from gold."

The older Goldman observed from a distance as the lion looked as friendly as one would like it to be.

Marcus is thinking of taming it properly once he has some time. At this moment the mythical creature is still in a large cage.

"Yes. Anyway, let's continue with exploration."

The alchemist proceeded to lead his father deeper into his base.

They still have a bunch of things to check.

While the pair of Goldman are walking around. The maids are in a full-on scramble.

This event has the potential of being a chess board piece rearrangement! Marcus' parents are learning about his supernatural side!

The maids are on the move!

Artemis and Hippolyta especially are eager to meet his parents and show them how good wife material they are!

So the moment they arrived at the main living room where the massive TV is located the maids lined up and looked as professional as they could be.

"...Welcome back, Master."

Marcus for a second had a dull look. He knew what these girls were doing.

"..."

While Roland tried to come up with something. What could he say? Praise his son? He should, but what if these girls rat him out by accident and tell it to his wife?

"...I suppose…good day?"

"Father, the one with silver hair is Artemis, the redhead is Hippolyta, the girl with cat ears is Atalanta, and the pair of blondes are Jeanne and La Fay."

After introductions, the older Goldman looked at Artemis. This was a Goddess? Same Goddess, they show in movies, had temples been built all those years ago? He even learned about her in school all those years ago!?

It's hard to place the one he is seeing in front of him and the one he learned from these sources. It's hard to place a literal deity in a maid uniform!

"...Are you real…Artemis?"

"...Correct." The silver head nodded. She then looked at Marcus.

"May I?"

"Sure."

With casual motion, she summoned her silver bow. And a thin layer of silver energy manifested around her.

Godly pressure showed its fangs, for a short moment.

"!"

It was enough for Roland to know that this…maid was the real deal.

"As you can see Dad, she is the real deal."

"...Y-Yeah. But I am still trying to understand what has happened?" For a second older Goldman stuttered, he never sensed anything like this before! It felt that this woman could crush his very being just by existing!

"...This…well, I was arrogant, and it cost me. Master played me very easily into a corner. Which led me to this situation." Artemis explained herself, but it was very hard for her to do it. One could say she was trying to learn her lesson.

"I see…"

"Dad, you know Artemis is not the only one who is of renown. Hypolita is the War Goddess and Queen of Amazons, and Atalanta is the greatest huntress of Greece. I already told you about Jeanne and of course, Le Fay is a descendant of the world-famous King Arthur."

"...Yes. I realised you have quite a selection of maids. However, son… how are you going to approach this subject with your mother?"

"...Ah… well…"

His maids started to 'smile' when they heard that!

Seeing Marcus' reaction to this made them realise something! They found his weakness! His mother!

As long as Marcus respects his parents, no matter how powerful he becomes he will always listen to them.

Of course, they can't abuse that, but 'using' it is fine.

"Well… I mean… as long as I am successful it should be fine. No?" The alchemist scratched the back of his head as he looked at his father.

"...Successful? Yes. But you ended up engaged to literal Goddess. How are you going to approach that!?"

"...Same way I approached you? Just tell it?" The Younger Goldman suggested that.

"...Possible, but again. She might pass out." Roland said with a sigh.

"...Ugh.. You know what…" Marcus pulled out his phone and proceeded to type to someone.

"I am going to leave this with Athena. Since she is my future wife she will deal with that."

When his father heard that he instantly nodded.

"Good choice! Such tasks require specific types of tools!"

The pair proceeded to nod at each other.

'By Primordials… These two are from the same cloth!' The Greek trio's sweat dropped seeing the pair act like that.

"I know Dad! Athena is intellectual so she will have some means to explain to her properly."

By this point, Marcus is brushing this issue aside and leaving this mess for Athena to deal with!

However…

Just a few short minutes everyone heard a voice.

"M-Marcus!!! What do you mean I have to speak with your mother!!!" An anxious Athena blasted into the living room.

Her brown hair was all messy and she had a hard time keeping her glasses in place.

"Oh, Athena. You are quick." Marcus was impressed by how quickly his fiance was acting on this!

"Dad, this is your future daughter-in-law."

"Dad!?!" Athena squeaked like a small girl as she saw a man who looked similar to Marcus sitting next to her future husband.

One could be surprised how a GODDESS is acting. But Athena is a PERFECTIONIST, and at this moment nothing is going according to her plan! And that is making her panic!

"Impressive. But is it just me or have you found someone close to your mother in character?" Roland pondered

"...By mother character you mean smart and strict?" Marcus clarified with a plain voice.

"I-Its honour to me you sir!" Athena quickly got herself together.

"The honour is mine. I can't believe I met three Goddesses in less than an hour!" Roland by this point was operating on instinct and a portion of him is thinking that he is dreaming and he will awaken soon from this strange dream.

"...So! What do you mean by meeting your mother?" The Goddess of Wisdom somewhat composed herself and ended up sitting down next to her future husband.

"Exactly as it sounds. I need you to explain, smooth it out that I have a faction and all that stuff.

I know my dad loves technology so it was easier to explain—"

"Transformers do help!" Roland chipped in from the side.

Athena's lips twitched when she heard that. Of course, this was the case. Like father, like son. She remembered her first meeting with her future husband. So it made sense.

*Sigh*

"I will see what I can do. I am not used to doing such a thing. But since you want I will figure out the best means to do that." Athena smiled while saying that, her smile was a challenging one. She will accept this challenge and succeed in it.

"Great. Then we can leave this with you."

Both Marcus and Roland sagely nodded in relief. Leaving this with her is the best they can do. More precisely it's something they don't want to deal with.

The Goddess of Wisdom sensed something was off. But she can't skip such an opportunity!

"Since this is solved why don't we continue with the trip, Dad?"

"We could but…" Roland looked at the ceiling. He could see that it was getting dark.

"What time is it?"

[At this moment it's 19:07]

Aurora said through the walls.

"Oh—OH! Shittt!"

The older Goldman stood up.

"I have to go! Your mom finishes her job in 20 minutes! I am supposed to pick her up."

"Right. I forgot. Let me help with that. Aurora mobilise S.P.B.A." Marcus said to his A.I. His order has freaked out his father. What does he mean by 'mobilise!?'

"...Wait! What do you mean mobilise!?"

"Exactly what this means. I am to mobilise manpower. Let's go to Barracks. It's faster than taking maglev back home."

"Fine, let's go."

[Mobilising S.P.B.A]

As the pair rushed to the station, Athena could only sigh. This is why people have teleportation. But Marcus has chosen to space-lock the whole of the nation.

Well, whatever, she proceeded to follow them.

It's a fine excuse not to be in Olympus.

~~~

As Marcus is mobilising his forces for rapid movement. The airship arrived right above the barracks.

"Phew! Just on time to show off!" Quinella proudly huffed.

The beauty is connected to the Aurora Network to check the latest updates.

"Fantastic!"

She swiftly proceeded to walk to the airship's runway. Where a gunship was waiting for her.

The moment she was in the gunship, it took off.

Leaving the Confiscator, descending into the underground entryway and landing on the main runway.

As it landed she left the gunship and looked at the surroundings.

She took a deep breath.

"...Ah, home…at last." As she enjoyed the smell of metal, the overflow of mana and the sounds of thousands of soldiers doing their thing her eyes eventually ended on the newest addition to the military.

The spider walker. The main 'tank' of their forces.

A monstrosity with two barrels and a 360-degree ability to rotate its head. Because of its eight limbs, it has eight times the amount of motion capture. The head rotation works as motion-capturing as well!

This means it never runs out of power, it can recharge by walking or rotating its head. The best part is that they are very expendable forces much more than S.P.B.A.

Simple combat artillery mechs. Of course, Quinella is not done. Not at all. She is thinking of introducing actual cannon fodder mechs.

The beauty is following her Master's methods of overwhelmingly crushing the enemy before the main force even descends.

This includes cannon fodder which should be used in wave fashion followed by Starscream jet fighters, then spider walkers and lastly the S.P.B.A. Forces.

Of course, before any of that even happens they will have planetary bombardment from Ars Almadel Salomonis.

As Quinella was recalling she saw Marcus, her eyes widened in happiness! Finally after days of not seeing him! But then she saw Athena which made her scoff, and lastly, she saw Master's father which made her straighten herself up.

First impressions are extra, extra important.

"Quinella you are back. Quite early if I do say so." Marcus said that as he approached her. He didn't stop as he continued to walk towards the gunship. The beauty followed right after him.

"I finished with infrastructure early, now what is left is observed."

"Great, we can talk about this after we are done with the current objective."

"Of course." His assistant eagerly nodded her head as she looked at the curious father of her Master.

"Son, you can explain later! We need to hurry!"

"Right!"

~~~~~~Underworld~~~~~~

In the depths of what is considered Hell, a huge amount of movement has been happening behind the scenes.

Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld has been gathering allies to face Devils and in turn to face Marcus Goldman.

His plan is very simple: crush the Devil in turn, crush Fallen and then proceed to lay siege to Marcus Goldman.

The reason he believes this will work is that Marcus Goldman is a researcher.

A researcher who is obsessed with Sacred Gears. None of his men or allies have those despicable things.

This is why he can casually gather his followers after he is done with Devils and Fallen.

They have no alliance, Devil Nobles never agreed on an alliance with a human.

This is why he can attack. From his spies, he knows that Serafall wants him in as an ally or even a Devil but none of that happened.

'As long as I don't kill Serafall or any other Devil related to Marcus Goldman he won't move against us and we will be able to gather more forces.'

As Hades was pondering on this he walked over to where Angra Mainyu was creating monsters.

"How is it going?" The Skeletal God asked the phantom being.

"I already have created clones of Ddraig and Albion. It will take a few days for them to mature. However, they will only be good for basic assignments. Their minds have not developed yet."

"That's fine. I assume you have your original creation re-created?"

"Yes, Azi Dahaka will be ready for the main battle as we speak."

"Fantastic. I am finishing settling a deal with Loki as well. He will join us with his followers as well."

"Oh? Fenrir?"

"Precisely, and Ice Giants." Hades said with a small amount of glee.

With Ice Giants and new beings created by Nyx and Erebus, his forces will be the greatest this world has ever seen.

Of course, this was not all, Lilith is already being treated by his men. It will take time but the Devil Mother will return and she will help him with the creation of new devils.

With upgrades from Primordials, these devils will be far superior to anything original Lucifer has created.

However, for now, he needs to wait, preparations need to be made.

~~~

While in the depths of the Underworld, gods are preparing for war. In Marcus' hometown, the pair of Goldmans are rushing to make sure Marcus' mother is not pissed because Roland is late to pick her up.

Thankfully with Realitus deployed no one saw how a Gunship landed in the car park of a supermarket.

"...While this was a wild ride… I still need a car to pick up your mother!"

Roland said that while getting out of the gunship. The sounds of the engines remind him of that futuristic sound from Star Wars gunships which they were based on.

"No worries."

With casual hand motion, he took control of Realitus particles and a window screen appeared showing another transport gunship carrying his family car.

"In about two minutes the car will arrive here."

"... That's convenient! But how does no one see these advanced craft vehicles?"

"... That is because of the advanced technomancy which is deployed via the barriers," Quinella explained first.

"...I assume these barriers are everywhere?" The older Goldman asked her as he saw how people left the supermarket and completely ignored the gunship parked in the middle of it.

This was an incredible and amusing sight to see!

"They are. Master has laid down his base throughout the whole country. So the barriers are spread out throughout the whole nation.

"...Son, you need to stop making all the women call you 'Master'! People will easily get the wrong idea," Roland said to his son as he turned around and looked at Marcus who was looking at the sky towards where the gunship should be arriving.

"But that's how it is. He is my Master and Creator." Quinella looked confused as she moved her head to the side.

"...Creator?"

"Yes. I am an Assistant Biological Model: Quinella. I am his ultimate creation. A being capable of interacting with technology through my mind alone." The silver-haired beauty proudly introduced herself.

"..."

"Quinella I told you before you need to ease people in. You can't just drop bombs like that."

"B-But I was designed to spread your greatness! How can I do that if people can't accept fundamentals!" Quinella complained with a pouty look. She nearly stomped her foot.

"Son we can discuss how you are creating life in a lab later."

"...*Sigh* yes."

At that moment a much wider and bigger gunship arrived. It had a car stuck to it.

"How is it holding like that?"

"Magnetism. It creates a field around something metallic it wants to pick up. A quite basic principle but it gets work done.

"Not just magnetism, Master! You forgot that it uses space magic as well!" Quinella chipped in from the side.

"Yeah, and that. It's based on technomancy I am using to rebuild ships and submarines."

Roland deadpanned for a bit.

So he has submarines and regular ships? Just how little did he see? He spent over 4 hours exploring the garage and the base!

"I see…"

"Yes, and we are just on time. Dad, I will see you later. I am not supposed to be here. I need to return to 'work on my car'." Marcus grabbed his assistant and very silent-looking Athena who was just by all means tagging along. While her body was here the mind of the Goddess of Wisdom was far away. She was thinking of scenarios of how she would approach her future mother-in-law.

"...Right…do that…return to 'working on your car'…" The older Goldman sarcastically nodded.

'Working on a car… What a silly excuse… i can't believe I felt like that for so long.'

~~~

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