"!!!"
Bernard continued to violently roll on the floor. He was about to hit Riley and the two others, but as he was only a meter away from hitting Riley… Riley moved to the side to avoid him.
"Why didn't you catch your father!?" Katrina screamed as she also moved to the side– she initially thought that Riley would do something since his own father was heading his way, but alas, he just moved to the side along with them.
"Are we under attack!?"
Bella, on the other hand, quickly pulled the doors that were also blown away into the lobby close to her, using it as some sort of shield. She then stretched her hand towards Butcher's knife collection, letting them float around her as she looked in the direction of the hallway to the hangar.
Katrina, on the other hand, went to check on Bernard's condition. But seeing him already getting up, albeit struggling; the only thing she could really do was join Bella– her face, slightly sweating despite the freezing chill that Tomoe left.
She was previously excited that she was actually amongst the world's greatest heroes– with Megawoman even resting somewhere in the building. But now with this sudden explosion, she could not help but tremble.
She was amongst the strongest supers in the world; that would also mean that whoever was attacking them, would also be amongst the strongest. Did… they actually just dig their own grave by visiting? Maybe she should have just continued fighting those blue-skinned giant aliens?
She should have really checked up on her 12 other siblings first. What if they were–
And before she could finish her words, a violent gust of wind once again blasted its way from the direction of the hangar; blowing away all the furniture inside the lobby.
This time, however, Katrina stepped forward in front of the makeshift barrier that Bella made, clapping her hands and causing the wind to completely dissipate before quickly returning to hide.
"What was that!? Are the fucking aliens here!?" Hannah emerged from the hallway she left; Tomoe, however, was nowhere to be found. Hannah's body quickly burst out into flames, quickly raising the temperature inside the guild– almost to the point of melting the floor.
Everyone waited to see if there was someone emerging from the hangar, but even after a quarter of a minute had passed– no one and nothing. There was just this weird hissing sound whispering and echoing from the hallway.
"It's… fine."
And finally, after a few more seconds, the silence was broken by Bernard as he walked towards the hallway to the hangar, "I just finished fixing what I was trying to fix."
"Your family?" Bella almost instinctively blurted out, causing her to close her eyes and wince as she realized what she just said.
"...No." And surprisingly, Bernard answered her before he left for the hangar.
"..." Katrina, Bella, and Hannah all looked at each other as they saw Bernard disappearing into the hallway. But after seemingly making a quiet decision, they all nodded and started following Bernard.
"Where's… Tomoe?" Katrina asked.
"I… left her," Hannah let out a small but deep sigh, "She's probably posting some nasty stuff on the internet again."
The three continued to walk, the hallway that looked so kempt earlier, now filled with scratches and dust. How Bernard was able to survive a blast that even folded thick metal doors in half, one could only imagine how strong his suit was.
This destruction, however, was nothing compared to what happened to the hangar. The almost dozen jets that were parked there… including the ones owned by The Baby Crew, were now all planted on the walls of the building; obviously also blasted away.
"N… no," Katrina and Bella quickly let out a gasp as they saw the state of their precious vehicles. Hannah, on the other hand, only shrugged her shoulders.
"Dad will replace them all, don't worry," Hannah muttered before her eyes landed on the only remaining aircraft in the hangar– the one that seemed to have caused the blast.
It looked like a pizza with a missing slice when they landed, but now; it was suddenly whole.
A floating base of the Dark Millenium. Just the sheer size of it was enough to be treated like a large mall building– perhaps even more of a testament to how large the hangar of the Hope Guild is.
"You… actually fixed it?" Hannah said as she stood beside her father, "...But why were you outside?"
"Just a few design flaws of whoever originally designed it," Bernard let out a long and deep sigh as fumes began blowing from his armor; his feet, slowly leaving the floor,
"The time constraint didn't allow me to redesign some things, but I added a few widgets here and there to allow it to move around space without any problems."
"...If only you were this meticulous with your family, dad," Hannah sighed as she too, slowly left the floor to follow her father, "Anyway… I'm surprised the glass surrounding the base held together."
"It's not just for design, Hannah," Bernard scoffed, "It's our first line of defense in case an enemy gets our location– it's stronger than whatever the Hero Association Tower is made of."
"Pft, you're saying that, but we entered this place like we owned it."
"Because I allowed you to enter," Bernard nonchalantly said as the… hangar of the Dark Millenium ship opened, with Bernard casually stepping inside,
"Are your friends just going to stand there?" He glanced at Bella and Katrina, who were still standing in the middle of the hangar with their mouths agape, "I'm going to test a few things, so it's better for them to also be inside."
And with those words, Hannah quickly screamed at the two, telling them to come aboard. Before they could do so, however, the rest of the people inside the building started appearing.
"What in the world is that!?" Gary's voice echoed throughout the entire bay as he pointed at the gigantic ship.
"You finished it?" Empress smiled; her smile, causing Hannah to click her tongue.
Butcher and Tomoe were also there, with the only one missing…
"...Where's Riley?"
***
"Good evening, Megawoman. Oh, my mistake, it's past midnight now…
…Good morning, Megawoman."
And of course, Riley was wherever Megawoman was being kept.
He checked the room first as he entered; but no matter how many times he looked, there were no cameras present at all. Perhaps a testament to how much Empress respected Megawoman. She also had an oxygen mask on her face and seeing as it was clouding, then there seemed to no longer be any problem in Megawoman's physical health– at least from the outside.
There was also a small pail with a pair of clean cloths beside it. Was Empress trying to clean Megawoman before the explosion?
"..." Riley then picked up the cloth and gently dabbed it with water before approaching Megawoman and holding her hand… to the point that a small snap could be heard; not to the point, however, that Megawoman's bones were shattered; only dislocated.
"...Your body has become stronger than before, Megawoman," Riley said as he stared at the swelling around Megawoman's hand quickly subsiding,
"Do you also get stronger with each… death?" Riley said as he started wiping Megawoman's arm with the cloth,
"I don't know much about Theran and Themarians, but it makes sense since Empress seems to be betting everything on you– to the point that she made a deal with the devil."
"..." The only answer that Riley was getting was Megawoman's calmed breaths; her chest, rising and lowering with each second.
"There are other aliens now besides you, Megawoman," Riley continued to talk as he moved to Megawoman's other arm, "They do not seem to be as fun as you, however. But I am curious…
…they keep saying you're the Earth's protector. They know who you are, they know you exist. And as soon as I mentioned that you were alive, the alien I was trying to play with tried to run away. He wanted to report to his species that you were alive, probably. But you don't have to worry, I didn't let him."
Riley then gently uncovered the blanket that was covering Megawoman's chest… revealing them bare. There was no change, however, in Riley's breathing as he just continued to wipe her clean,
"I will not let anyone of them leave, Megawoman," Riley breathed out, "I will kill each and every last one of them so that when you wake up, it will only just be me and you again. There's so much life out there… so many things that I can end."
"..." Riley then once again covered Megawoman with the blanket, before replacing the cloth with a cleaner one. He then proceeded to gently take off Megawoman's oxygen mask,
"Suddenly, my problems are just… solved," Riley's voice started to lower as he got closer to Megawoman's face, almost as if he didn't want to disturb her sleep,
"You know in one of our talks– how I told you that I would not stop until everyone on this planet was dead?" Riley whispered, "And the only thing that was probably stopping me was Hannah? You don't have to worry, Megawoman. It's not going to happen yet– there are so many more lives to end out there. And by the time I am done…
…my sister would probably no longer be on the planet anymore…"
Riley's breaths also became weaker as he uttered those words,
"And that is the time that I will kill all of the people you loved very much," Riley continued to talk as his face inched closer and closer to Megawoman,
"Since the time you've been asleep, I have also discovered many things about myself. Do you know that there's a chance that someone created me? For what reason would they create a monster like me, I think it doesn't really matter. But still, I could not help but be curious...
...Was I created to kill you? Or maybe I am really just born this way? A monster of nature that--"
And before Riley could finish his words…
…Megawoman grabbed his arm.
**AUTHOR NOTES**
It saddens me to say that even my privilege chapters have been pirated. It leads to some major demotivation, of course-- since I spent a week in writing all of the chapters to get it done fast which would normally be done in the span of a month.
But what's done is done, all I can really do is thank all those who still support me nonetheless with anything they can and could. Thank you, you guys know who you are.