"W… what the…
…what the fuck are those!?"
"M… monsters! Those are people who have a crippled dantian!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
Hannah, Gary, Tomoe, and Silvie were currently somewhere on the side of the road. Their jet-truck hybrid, parked on a lay-by. Their heads were almost merged together as they stared at Hannah's phone, which was currently on a video call with Riley.
"G… guys, look…"
However, as the other three were currently trying to squint their eyes, Silvie let out a stuttered whisper, "They… they kinda look like… me?"
"What? What are you talking about? They ugly as f– Wait," Gary did not continue his words as he too, focused his eyes on the screen.
"N… no way, are those–"
"Clones," Hannah breathed out as her eyes started to widen, "T… that one looks like Silvie!"
On the screen, Aerith, the oldest clone amongst the group, slowly made her way nearer to the phone. Her eyes obviously only focused on Silvie's face. Her hands then started to trail on her face; tilting her head as if she was looking at a mirror as Silvie also did the same.
[You… look perfect,] Aerith whispered. Her entranced eyes, however, quickly faded as her hand soon felt the bump on her face– an imperfection that completely shattered the mirror she was looking at.
[Who… are you?] Aerith stuttered.
"R… Riley, who are they? What…" And Silvie asked the same; their voices almost identical if not for the fact that Aerith's voice was slightly cracked and hoarse.
[They are Megawoman's clones, Silvie.]
"They…" The stutter on Silvie's breaths became heavier and more frequent; her feet, slowly stepped back as her eyes began to tremble.
"Wait… Silv, calm down," Hannah and the others then all backed away as the dust and pebbles around Silvie's feet began to tremble and slightly lift from the ground.
"We practiced this already, Silv!" Hannah bellowed as the air around her began to deform and sizzle, "You can't let this control y–"
"Please stay where you are, Riley!"
However, contrary to their expectations, Silvie did not run amok. Instead, her eyes became even clearer.
"I… I will help all of you!" Silvie then said as she suddenly ran towards the jet-truck, "Wait for me!"
"W… wait, you don't even know how to drive that thing!" Hannah said as she quickly chased Silvie.
"I… I'll just carry the truck and fly! You guys get in, quick!"
"What the… No! I'm driv–"
"…"
And with that, the video call was suddenly cut off, leaving Riley with his phone still stretched towards the clones.
"…"
"It would seem you would get to meet the perfect version of yourselves, clones," Riley then let out a small but deep sigh as he casually returned his phone to his pocket. The orb of light he summoned was still active; floating beside him as he started walking around; his eyes, carefully looking at each of the clones.
The clones try to hide, however, as soon as even a speck of light hits their disfigured skin. Some of the deformation on their bodies, however, could not be hidden. Riley was not able to notice it before, but the reason that some of them were crawling was because of their bone structure… almost akin to that of a four-legged mammal.
And some of them even had extra limbs. Seeing as all of them had malformations… were they earlier iterations of Silvie? But why do they look younger than her? Bernard did mention that the one responsible for cloning Megawoman was old, was her powers starting to deteriorate?
…Was it possible that there were other factions cloning Megawoman? Aerith did say they were able to escape– something like that wouldn't have been easy if it was the Government handling them.
"Who… who are you?"
"Hm?"
Riley's thoughts were then disrupted as Aerith once again stepped forward. Her gripped hands and furrowed eyebrows still showed her wariness, but now, a hint of curiosity was also in her eyes.
"…"
"…"
"I am your original's lover," Riley then muttered as the corners of his mouth started to rise up; his smile, almost reaching from ear to ear.
"O… Original?" Aerith tilted her head.
"Megawoman– your mother," Riley said, "Not the one who called you on your phone, that's not Megawoman, Aerith."
"What?"
"I am your father."
"W– You're lying!" Aerith then quickly waved her hand as her eyes started to glare at Riley from head to toe, "I don't believe you!"
"You… are our father?"
"Father? We have a father?"
Even with Aerith flailing her arms in doubt, the smaller and younger clones all started to stare at Riley; their eyes, slowly shone as a smile crawled on their disfigured faces.
"D… don't listen to him! He is lying!"
"Yes, I was lying," Riley said as his smile grew even wider.
"You!" Aerith started to hiss. And almost like a choir, the younger clones started to hiss in harmony as the smiles on their faces quickly disappeared; replaced by a scowl that threatened to bite Riley's head off.
"Let's just leave him!" Aerith clicked her tongue as she fixed the bandages on her face. She then turned around and started walking away, "Mother gave us a task, let's go to the school to–"
"That is not going to happen," Riley did not let Aerith finish her words as he suddenly appeared in front of her.
"G… get out of our way! It's not up to y–"
"If you insist, then I will just kill all of you here," the smile on Riley's face suddenly disappeared as he stared Aerith straight in the eyes, "I will not let you tarnish Megawoman's legacy."
"W–"
"Stay here," Riley then said as he turned around, "If even one of you is missing when I return, then I will kill all of you."
Aerith was about to say something again, but before she could do so, a small silhouette slowly started to form from behind Riley's shadow. It started with a simple puddle of mud, and soon, the puddle of mud turned into Little Riley.
"Everyone," Little Riley then quickly opened his mouth as soon as he was complete, "Behave or I kill!"
"W–"
And once again, before Aerith could say something, Little Riley suddenly appeared right in front of her face… slapping her without any hesitation.
"No talking! Discipline number 1! I kill you!"
"…" Riley, whose body was almost swallowed by the night, did not even look back as Little Riley started slapping all the clones one by one.
As for Aerith, no matter how much she wanted to follow Riley back to the school, the only thing she could do was sit down. And soon, Riley returned to the front of the school.
"This ni– where'd you suddenly go, white hair!?"
And what welcomed him was Bella's loud voice, followed by Daniel's trademark scowl. Riley ignored them, however, as he looked around the vicinity. There seemed to be fewer people there, with Empress no longer to be seen.
"SMM and sir Nightwalker already went with the authorities!" Bella bellowed, "The police are already packing up– where'd you go, boy?"
"In the forest, Bella."
"Ack, let's just go!" Daniel clicked his tongue, "I need to take a bath, this place is too humid for my skin," he then said as his arms started to wriggle almost in a zigzag; stretching as the sweat on them started to sputter away.
"The two of you may go ahead, Daniel," Riley said as he moved back; his face clearly disgusted from Daniel's stretching limbs, "I will be waiting for sister and the other members of the Baby Crew."
"What? What are you even–"
"Take this."
And before Daniel could even ask, Bella suddenly handed her the keys to their van, "I will be waiting for them as well… as a temporary member of the Baby Crew."
"W– I don't know how to drive!" Daniel said as the keys bounced off on his hands.
"Then stretch and sling yourself back to the Academy," Bella said as she walked towards Riley.
"That… Fuck! I should have just gone with the instructors!"
And so, with Danny's crying screams whispering in the air; he soon came to the realization that he had no choice…
…but to also become a temporary member of the most notorious group of students of Mega Academy, the Baby Crew.