AU: Son of Science (this one's really fun to write-)

Context: After Sabre is run out of the Rainbow Kingdom once Sol takes over, he's teleported home crying by Maroon after he found him as he was fleeing. Professor Red doesn't... react well to this news. He decides he's had enough of being forced to be on the sidelines as his son suffers.

Warning: Small amounts of blood, Sol and some of his colleagues get the living daylights beat out of them, and the Professor swears! Fun times :>

This one's a long one (3343 words-) so uh- sorry you had to wait a little longer for it =v='

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[3rd Person POV]

Something inside the Professor snapped as he saw Sabre crying on the floor of the lab, Maroon trying to console him, as he explained through tears loss of his friends, and being ran out of his home among the rest of the Chromatics. For the second time.

Professor Red could feel his hands ball into fists, his arms shaking as all that filled his ears was a ringing noise and the sound of his son's cries. The two hadn't noticed him yet, but once he walked over and helped Sabre to his feet, Sabre quickly hugged his father tight while continuing to shake and sob, Maroon looking at the Professor with concern. Professor Red simply held his son gently while looking at Maroon with a blank expression.

"I heard the commotion while outside of the Rainbow Kingdom but didn't know what was going on..." Maroon explains. "Then a bit later, Sabre came running through the forest and found me by accident. I'm glad he did, though... Sol has been causing trouble there as you've probably heard from Sabre, and today..."

Professor Red keeps hugging his son close as he listens to Maroon continue, eerily calm.

"He got followers inside the Citadel and had Sabre, Light, and the remaining Leaders trapped in the meeting room. And from what Sabre told me, it... seems that he's killed them. Light had given Sabre the chance to escape by distracting the traitorous guards so he could break a window. He ran out, got to the forest, and... yeah."

Professor Red only just then realized that Sabre's hands were bleeding, having seen a glance of red at his knuckles a moment before. He must have been cut from the glass.

Professor Red gently patted his son's back, before they both released each other, yet the Professor held up his son's bleeding hands. He looked at Sabre with the same blank, eerily calm expression.

"Sabre, please go downstairs to the first aid station. I'll need to bandage your hands." He says in a quiet, soothing tone.

"I-I need to help them-" Sabre says shakily, but the Professor stops him.

"You can't help them while hurt. Please, go downstairs. I'll be right with you."

Sabre just looks at him for a moment, then nods slowly and leaves, going down the stairs. Professor Red just stands there for a moment, staring at the small smears of his son's blood on his hands.

All he could feel was a fiery rage. He had just gotten him back not that long ago, after he had gone through so much suffering. How could someone do this? How could this Sol character hurt his son so badly, in the exact same way that Void had done?

Once again, his son is in pain because of another's selfishness. Once again, he has been forced out for something he had no control over. Once again he has had friends taken from him because of a tyrant's greed. Once again he has been hurt, because of other's failures and arrogance-

"Professor-?"

He looked up. Maroon stared at him, concerned... scared. He knew the current expression of the Professor and its implications. The Professor just continued to stare blankly as Maroon spoke again.

"What are you going to do...?"

Silence, for a moment. Then, the Professor puts his hands down and turns towards the stairs.

"Nothing of your concern, Maroon. Don't worry about it."

As he reached the staircase, he stopped.

"...If the Leader asks anything, tell him that nothing he will say or do will stop me."

And with that, the Professor descended the stairs as M hurriedly walked away, out of the lab. Professor Red, for now, focused on the fact that Sabre needed his help right now.

...

But later, he's going to make them sorry.

He's going to make them so damn sorry.

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Professor Red sat with a calm smile as he finished wrapping bandages over Sabre's hands and fingers, after cleaning the cuts. Luckily, none of them were too bad.

Sabre sat quietly as his father secured the bandages so they wouldn't unwrap themselves, tears still pricking his eyes. Once the Professor finished, he helped Sabre up out of the chair and gave a warm smile.

"Now, why don't you go up to your room?" He says. "You're likely tired and you need a break-"

"Dad, this isn't the time for that. I need to help my friends." Sabre interrupts. "Who knows what Light is going through because of Sol, or how many other people he's hurting, or if he's done the worst to the Blues and Indigos-"

"Sabre. I know you're upset and worried for them, but you can't go back just yet. You need to heal, and most importantly rest. Besides, it's dangerous; you don't know if Sol has his followers out looking for you. From what you told me in your letters, it sounds like he wants you dead. And... I don't want you to risk yourself."

The Professor holds Sabre's face, wiping away a tear with his thumb.

"So please, just take a minute to rest so we can come up with a plan later. I promise, I'm going to help you sort this out. Everything is going to be alright... but I can't lose you again. You're hurt and tired, you need to take a bit of time to recover."

Sabre thinks for a moment, then sighs, nodding. Professor Red smiles and lets go, clasping his hands together.

"Thank you. Don't worry, I haven't changed anything about your room since your last visit, as always. It's exactly how you left it."

Sabre gives a shaky smile, then hugs the Professor one last time before walking upstairs. Professor Red watches as he leaves, waiting for a while after he does.

Then, his expression once again becomes calm and cold. He turns, walking towards another staircase that instead lead to the lower areas of the lab.

Going through corridors and more stairs, he eventually reaches a room that used to be where he originally built the Assistant. Now, it's his main engineering workshop. Speaking of, the Assistant waits next to the desk.

"I came here as soon as you gave me the order, Professor." His monotone, artificial voice seeming to echo in the semi-dark room.

The Professor sits down at the desk, picking up a folder labeled 'defense projects blueprints' and going through a series of pages of designs. He begins sorting through them, some going on his left while the rest go on his right.

"Good. You understand the severity of this situation, correct?" He asks. "The attached message went through?"

"Yes, Professor." The Assistant answers. "Although, I am concerned about what the Leader will think of this."

"The Leader will not be involved and neither will the rest of the kingdom." Professor Red says, observing a blueprint for a moment before placing it on his right. "Only you and I will be involved. Only you and I will be... known."

He places the now empty folder down and observes the two stacks he made. On the left, ideas for weapons for the Assistant to use. The right, ones for him. He'll have to decide which ones to actually construct later.

"Assistant? Protocol command."

"Waiting for protocol to be specified."

"Code: Guardian."

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Armor clattered to the ground as two figures in cloaks walked through the Citadel, one of them holding a staff with an electric stun device on one end. A Corrected Sun guard now lay on the ground.

He didn't stop no matter how many guards came to make him stop. One by one, they would fall as they were either electrocuted or knocked out. He made his way up to the top of the building, knowing that's where Sol usually is by this time. He had been doing research on his opponent for days, after all.

Finally, he and his Assistant walked through the entryway to the meeting room. Sol turned, seeming surprised.

"Who are you?" Sol asks, sounding annoyed that someone dare approach him. "How did you get into the Citadel-?"

How dare he hurt the one he held so dear to him.

"You will know soon enough." He says coldly. "Assistant?"

In a flash, the taller cloaked figure rushes forward and grabs Sol by the neck, his cloak flying off in the process. Sol pulls his sword from his scabbard as tries to slash at his attacker, but as a clang bounces off the empty walls of the meeting room, he comes to a realization.

His attacker isn't alive, rather an imitation of a Steve, made of metal and redstone. His gold sword only made a small dent in the mechanical being's side, the blade bending uselessly.

"What in the-" Sol gasped, before the Assistant tightens his grip on his neck, choking him for a moment before releasing. Sol coughs for a moment.

"Don't speak. Your words are useless, now." Professor Red says, his expression blank, now gripping his electric staff again.

He walks towards the two, Assistant holding up Sol as if presenting him to the Professor. He looks Sol in the eyes, Sol noticing that the intruding attacker's eyes are red.

"Now then..."

The Professor holds the electric end of his staff near Sol, threatening to use it right then and there.

"Just who the hell do you think you are, Sol?"

"I should be asking you that question." Sol replies, trying to pry off the Assistant's hand, furious. "Who are you to come in here, into my Citadel, and attack me?"

Professor Red shoves the end of his staff into Sol's chest, not yet activating it. It scares him, making Sol gasp as he thinks he's about to be electrocuted for a moment. When nothing happens, he looks back at the Professor.

"Who are you to cause so much fear in so many people? Who are you to shun others for things out of their control, separate people by judging what you think their worth is?" The Professor says.

He pushes the spear further into Sol's chest, making him squirm.

"Who do you think you are, to cause my son so much turmoil?"

"Y-Your son-?"

Professor Red pushes a small button on his staff, and an electric shock pulses through it, hitting Sol. His gold armor only conducts the electricity, making it worse. He screams in pain. The Assistant is unaffected, as his hands aren't made of conductible material.

The Professor stops, pulling his staff away for a moment. Sol takes sharp, deep breaths, then raises his head and yells.

"GUARDS!"

They wait.

But nothing happens.

"W-Wh-"

"Nobody's coming to save you, Sol."

The Professor stares at Sol, his face still obscured by his cloak and shadows. Then. Professor Red steps back and makes a motion with his free hand, and the Assistant throws Sol across the room, through the entryway.

Sol tries to run, but before he knows it the Professor has caught up and backs him against the railing of the stairway leading to the second floor, the Assistant using his wheels to ride down the top of the railing.

Professor Red grabs Sol, and pushes him off the stairs, sending him tumbling down through the air.

He hits the middle of the second floor with a clang and a crack, his armor denting and bending from the impact, his arm having been landed on as pain rockets through it. He writhes for a moment, holding his arm, before getting up and backing away as the Professor and Assistant reach the bottom of the stairs.

The second floor has now become a makeshift arena, the opponents staring each other down. In the hallways, a few Corrected Sun guards that were left arrive to see what the commotion was. Sol sees this, and points at his assailants.

"Get them! Get them, now!" He yells.

The guards hesitate, but rush towards the two. The Assistant goes to defend, but the Professor puts a hand up and stops him.

"I've got it, Assistant." He says, calmly walking forwards. He puts his staff away.

Sol is confused for a moment, before the first guard reaches him, and Professor Red quickly grabs his arm as he attempts to strike him with his spear. Then, he effortlessly swings him up and over himself before the guard's head makes speedy contact with the floor. In a clatter of armor and dropping his spear, the guard crumples to the floor and stays there.

The second guard approaches, and the Professor punches him in the face hard enough to dent his helmet, taking his spear and kicking him away as the third tries to attack from behind. Professor Red slams the blunt end of the spear over the guard's head, stunning him, and he grabs the guard's left arm and leg and spins him around, taking out three more guards before he unceremoniously lets go, and the guard used as a weapon skids across the floor before hitting the wall.

One more guard remains, and the Professor stares at him. The guard doesn't back down, instead dropping his spear and pulling out a sword. They stare each other down for a minute, before running towards each other.

Professor Red ducks out of the way of his swing, and punches the guard in the chest. The guard is knocked back, hits the ground, and doesn't get back up. His sword slides across the floor as his hand lets go, stopping at Sol's feet.

Professor Red turns to him, a smile hidden under the shadows of his cloak.

"Have you ever heard of the Obsidian Steves? They were wonderful people, but their way of bonding was a little unorthodox." He says, slowly walking towards Sol before stopping a few feet away. "I learned, though. Even won a few rounds against their best a few times."

He then points to the sword at his feet, Sol still staring up at him as he starts to shake.

"You're out of allies, Sol. So why don't you do your dirty work yourself for once?"

Sol steps back, then runs. Fast.

But as he reaches the final floor, trying to get out of the Citadel, he realizes it wasn't fast enough.

With a boost from the Assistant, the Professor launches at Sol, hitting him with a boot to the back and sending him to the ground. As a crowd gathers outside, the Professor uses his foot to flip Sol over onto his back, and Sol gasps along with the crowd.

His hood had fallen off as he flew towards Sol.

"Y-Y-You're..." Sol stutters, struggling to breathe as his dented armor and the Professor standing on him crushes his chest. "B-But you're supposed to-"

"Red. And supposed to be extinct. You think I don't know that?" Professor Red asks sarcastically. "Well I'm right here, and done with your nonsense. You hurt my son."

Professor Red then takes out his staff again, pointing it at Sol's throat. The Assistant's hands suddenly shift to redstone weapons, and he raises them in Sol's direction. As the crowd whispers, Sol screams out.

"But there's no Red Steves here! How could I have caused harm to your son?!"

The Professor laughs.

"My son isn't a Red Steve. He isn't a Steve at all, actually."

And in seconds, the crowd goes completely silent. Beneath the helmet, Sol's eyes widen as he realizes what the Professor just implied.

Professor Red leans down slightly, the staff hovering a bit closer over Sol's neck.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about, don't you?" He says, his voice low and menacing. "And you can't deny what you've done to him."

Professor Red then moves his staff, it catching on the edge of his helmet. Sol flinches.

"So why don't we see who it is that thinks he can pretend to be oh-so high and mighty, the one that's torn apart this... 'unified' kingdom?" Professor Red asks. "Because to me, it seems like you believe yourself to be some paragon of rightful change, when you're really..."

He moves the staff up, starting to slip the helmet off. Sol tries to struggle, but he can't move. One arm is likely broken and the other is pinned under him.

The crowd watches as his helmet is moved, taken away.

Clunk.

It falls off, rolling to the side before being stopped as a dent provides a non-curved surface for it to catch on the stone walkway. The crowd gasps, seeing his face. Whispers fill the air once more.

"Isn't that the old assistant to the Yellow Leader?"

"Wasn't he let go once the Rainbow Kingdom was built?"

"Why did he do this?"

"He had us fearing for our lives...? For what?!"

The Professor chuckles as he sees Sol's, or rather, the former assistant's bloodied face. Twisted in fear and embarrassment.

"Just a Yellow Steve with an ego problem." Professor Red says, finishing his sentence.

The crowd soon becomes angry, an uproar beginning as the people of the kingdom realize this is who they had been so afraid of. Professor Red then points his staff back at Sol's throat. A small blade suddenly pops up from the end.

He pulls back the staff.

Aims.

The Assistant charges his weapons.

"DAD STOP!"

The Professor pauses just before the blade reaches its target, looking up. The Assistant lowers his weapons. Sabre is running through the kingdom, approaching quickly. The crowd of Steves watching moves out of his way as he reaches the Professor. He stops, catching his breath for a moment.

"Sabre-?"

"Dad, I know you're angry, but please-" Sabre says quickly. "Let's not kill him, okay? This isn't something you should do."

"And why not?" The Professor asks, pointing his staff back at Sol.

"Because this is something for the kingdom to handle. Yes, he's done horrible things, and he's going to pay for them. But are you really going to stoop to his level?"

Professor Red thinks for a moment, then sighs, putting away his staff. He steps off of Sol, who takes a deep breath. Looking at his son, he walks towards Sabre and gently places a hand on his shoulder.

"I raised you to be kind, Sabre... perhaps too kind." He says. "But very well. I'll let the proper authorities handle him."

"Thanks, dad." Sabre smiles.

Professor Red then smiles back, dropping his previous cold and eerily calm demeanor.

"Now, let's find your friends, shall we?" He says, turning towards the Citadel. "Assistant, activate the signal tracking I recently gave you for this."

"Yes, Professor." The Assistant responds, his hands shifting back to normal. He's silent for a moment, before looking at the Professor. "Lower area, underneath the Citadel. Six are gathered together in one room, while one is separate in a different room."

"Thank you."

"W-Wait, what?" Sabre asks. "They're not-"

"Sol here is a coward, of course he didn't kill them! I've been observing him for a few days to figure out what he did with them." Professor Red explains with a smile. "Your friends are simply being held prisoner in the sewer area, in a bunch of secret rooms he either found or built. Both Light Steve and all of the missing Leaders are completely fine."

The gathered crowd cheers at the news, glad their Leaders are alive. Sabre beams, the Professor happy to see his son's usual, bright smile again.

"Now come along! I'm sure they want out of there." The Professor says.

Sabre turns to the crowd for a moment.

"I found a group of Colorless Guard that had escaped Sol and wanted to help, they were following behind me!" He explains. "They should be here soon to apprehend Sol!"

"Don't be surprised if you see him with a few more bruises when you come back!" Someone in the crowd exclaims. Everyone laughs.

"Expected as much." Sabre chuckles.

He turns, then joins his father and the Assistant as they head inside the Citadel.

"Now Sabre, did you run all the way here??"

"From the forest, yeah. M teleported me."

"Ah."

"Excellent job, moron."

"You too, bolts."

"Boys. Stop that."

"Alright... hey dad?"

"Yes Sabre?"

"Were you actually going to kill him-?"

"Oh yeah, that was my full intention before you stopped me."

"Dad."

"What?! He's a nuisance!"

"I know he is, but I can't have you committing a murder."

"Bit too late for that."

"What?"

"What?"