"Where's Riley?"
Everyone that was in the building was present inside the Dark Millenium's ship, all except Riley. Gary was about to leave and check up on Riley, but before he could do so, Hannah stopped her.
"Let him be," Hannah sighed, "He's probably just doing one of his albino rituals or something."
"Albino… rituals. You know, you've been saying that a lot of times," Silvie, who was keeping her presence a bit quiet, spoke up, "I've been meaning to ask what kind of rituals those are."
"Is your mind still that innocent, oh dear Mega Junior?" Gary wagged his index finger, "Riley is masturbating."
"What, no!" Hannah's eyebrows quickly furrowed, "Fuck, stop being disgusting 24/7. It's nothing, Silv. It's just some expression I got used to using– he's probably just watching the mafia anime."
"Is… is that so?"
"No," Gary breathed loudly as he stretched his arms to the side; his eyes, scanning everyone.
"Tomoe… Empress, Hannah, Bella, Butcher, Katrina, Whiteking, Silvie… Tomoe…" Gary's fingers started pointing toward everyone within his sight; repeating it a couple of times as his eyes grew wider and wider,
"...I was wrong," Gary took in a small gulp, "V is also not here and that could only mean one thing…"
"Don't you dare fucking say i–"
"V and Riley are having seggs!" Gary screamed, "Seggs!"
"Gary!"
"Segg–"
And before Gary could finish his words, he felt a slight trickle crawling through his spine; he quickly squirmed and turned around to see what was causing it, only to see V now there,
"We don't know each other, but I feel like I want to kill you right now."
"O… Oh yeah?" Gary took in a small gulp as he took a few steps back, "Like what you did to the people of London? Shit, fuck. I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that."
"..."
"..."
"...Bro, that's… not right."
"I know, and I fully apologize for my actions and I promise that I would wholeheartedly– Eek!"
And before Gary could finish his words, he quickly ducked down as a loud thunder suddenly caused the entire ship to quake. Gary immediately started touching parts of his body to see if they were still there– and seeing as there was nothing missing, he let out a short but very deep sigh of relief.
"Butcher, quickly check if–"
"Relax," Bernard suddenly and randomly popped out from what seemed like one of the ship's ventilation before Butcher could follow Empress's orders,
"It's just the ship," Bernard then said as he stepped out of the vent, "It would be best to acclimatize yourself and memorize the layout of the ship first. We're using this to get to the aliens, after all."
"Wait… wait," not only Gary, but the rest of the Baby Crew could not help but take in a deep breath,
"You guys… are really going on the offensive?" Gary gulped.
"That's cool as hell," Bella rubbed her shoulders as the pores of her skin opened.
"I… I guess being at the top really is different," Katrina sighed.
"..." Tomoe kept quiet.
"Can we be of help?" Silvie stepped forward, "When is the Hope Guild planning to go to space?"
"You mean 'when are we' going to space?" Bernard chuckled as he looked at Silvie.
"...What?" Hannah furrowed her eyebrows.
"All of you are already here," Bernard said as he looked at the members of the Baby Crew, "And the ship is too big just for us. Maybe you were sent here in the first place to help us."
"...Are you stupid?" Hannah's eyebrows continued to furrow, "We're not ready to take on something this big, we're just star–"
"We're ready!"
And before Hannah could finish her words, the members of the Baby Crew stepped forward.
"Guys…" Hannah could only roll her eyes, "...Don't give in to my dad's flowery speeches."
But alas, try as Hannah might, the eyes of the members of the Baby Crew were blinded by the sense of adventure.
As for Empress, her eyes were currently staring at Bernard. She was sure…
…sure that the thunder that shook the ship did not come from the ship.
***
"..."
Whispers, echoes, or perhaps a murmur. If all the apparatus and furniture in Megawoman's room could talk, then they would all probably be screaming. Screaming as the entire room trembled and vibrated– almost to the point that if one were to see the room, it would look like it was surrounded by white noise.
If the material of the walls of the room were any different, then they would have already surely shattered just from the sheer pressure of what was happening inside.
Perhaps the only thing that was clear inside the room were two entities– Riley, and Megawoman, whose hand was currently grabbing Riley's wrist.
"Megawoman?" Riley tilted his head to the side as the room vibrated even stronger, "If you were awake, then you could have told me."
"..."
"...Megawoman?"
"..."
But alas, once again, Riley was only answered by Megawoman's breaths; the rhythm they held was still the same as before. Even the apparatus that was monitoring Megawoman's heart remained the same– still and without any problems.
Seeing this, the trembling of the room slowly faded, and once again, everything was clear.
"Are… you dreaming, Megawoman?" Riley then let out a long and deep breath as he pulled his hand away… only to find that he was not able to do so.
"..." Riley then grabbed Megawoman's hand and tried to pry it away, but once again, Megawoman's grip remained the same. It was not tight, not at all– but it was almost like an adjustable wrench that one would not be able to pull away.
"...Are you trying to tell me something, Megawoman?" Riley quickly gave up on trying to remove Megawoman's hand as he just sat beside her,
"Or… could it be you just want me to stay here?" Riley then let out a small chuckle as he slowly lay beside Megawoman,
"Okay, I'll stay beside you. It almost reminds you of when you were the one in my closet, no?"
"..."
"..." Riley could feel Megawoman's grip growing tighter; almost to the point where he could hear the squeeze whispering into his ear.
"Do not make me cut off your hand, Megawoman," Riley let out a small sigh as he turned his head towards Megawoman's sleeping face… before once again letting out a small chuckle,
"Just kidding, there's no point in doing that if you're asleep. But what exactly are you trying to tell me, Megawoman? Why don't you just wake up and tell me?"
"..."
"Is it the aliens? You don't want me to kill them?"
"..."
"Are you uncomfortable? Do you want to stay in my Guesthouse instead? As a VIP customer, of course."
"..."
"...Or are you worried that your race is also on its way here?"
"..." And as soon as Riley said those words, the pressure that Riley was feeling around his wrist disappeared. But still, Megawoman did not remove her hand.
"Why?" Riley blinked a couple of times, "Are you afraid of them? Or… are you afraid for them?"
"..."
"You don't have to worry, Megawoman. If they are as strong as you, then the only problem they would be dealing with is me… because I will make sure to make them scream."
"..."
"...No? That's not it?" Riley sighed as there was no response from Megawoman, "You should really wake up so we can have a proper conversation, Megawoman. This is the second time we are talking that you haven't responded and it is starting to get–"
"Get away from her!"
And before Riley could finish his words, Empress suddenly barged inside the room. Her eyes, almost trembling as she saw Riley lying next to Megawoman.
"Empress," Riley, however, just remained lying on the bed as he turned to face Empress.
"Get… get away from her."
"I can't," Riley then raised his hand, which was still being held by Megawoman.
"What!?" Empress quickly rushed towards them, "Is… is she awake!?"
Empress was getting ready to punch Riley as hard as she could– since Megawoman was holding him, then his capacity to fight back would be limited. But alas, as soon as she saw Megawoman's peaceful face; she instantly realized that was not the case.
"Why… is she holding your hand?"
"Because we're destined to be together, Empress," Riley said without any hesitation, "And she is also trying to say something about her race."
"...What? About Theran?" Empress completely ignored Riley's first statement.
"Yes," Riley nodded as he finally got up from the bed; his wrist, however, was still held by Megawoman, "I think she might be wary of them. Has she told you anything about her race?"
"N… No."
Only the fact that they get stronger with each defeat, Empress thought. But she is not going to tell Riley that… not knowing he already somewhat has an idea.
"That's okay," Riley nodded as he once again sat beside Megawoman, "I will stay here until she lets go of my hand. I do not have any other choice, it seems."
"..." But Hope Guild was about to go on the offensive against the alien invaders; Empress can't just leave Megawoman behind with Darkday…
…No.
In the most ironic of twists. In this state… wasn't Megawoman safest with him? There really won't be any questions as well, since they needed someone to guard the base while they were all gone.
And so, after deliberating for a couple of seconds… Empress nodded.
"I will discuss this with the others first," Empress said as she hurriedly left and called for all the members of the Hope Guild.
"..."
"..."
"Oh, what's that, Megawoman?" Riley then leaned closer to Megawoman's face, "You… also want to go out and get some air? No? You... also want to see the aliens?"
"..."
"Hm, I don't know…" Riley hummed for a few seconds, before a smile slowly crawled on his face, "Okay, then let's get you dressed…
…we will follow them when they leave."