“They said that villains all had a reason for what they were doing; that they were heroes in their own stories. Not me…
…I was born evil.”– Riley Ross, Darkday. 2021
***
“Your father is alive!”
“M… mom, stop!”
Back inside the bunker, Riley’s eyes moved up and down as he watched her sister try her best to hold onto her headset for dear life. However, their mother’s incessant hugging and jumping in joy did not help her one bit… and in the end, she had no choice but to take them off and join her mother.
After all, even though she wasn’t showing it, the red circles around her eyes showed that she too, was worried about their father.
On the other hand, Riley just drank a bottle of water as he moved to the side, watching the news as they continued to update the aftermath of the bloodiest battle their world had ever experienced.
Toronto was completely destroyed, as it was the last venue for their battle. More than 2 million, dead. But what the media outlets were not yet covering was the other areas where Darkday and Mega Woman’s battle took place.
It started in Brazil, then Mexico, before finally being decided in Toronto. Based on Riley’s estimate, then the death toll would probably be more than 5 million by the end of their counting.
Riley could only shake his head and let out a sigh as he turned off the TV, causing her mother to immediately stop celebrating.
“Why did you turn it off!?”
“They are just spouting lies, mother. It is better for you to just wait for father to tell you what really happened.”
“Y… you’re right,” hearing her son’s words, Riley’s mother let out a long and deep breath as she finally let go of Hannah, “You’re right, I should calm down.”
“That’s not what I meant, mother.”
“No, you’re right. Your father should be coming home soon,” Riley’s mother shook her head, “Hannah, prepare the first-aid kit and boil some water.”
“What? Why me!?”
“You know your brother can’t touch anything hot!”
“But he can at least get the first-aid kit!”
“Just do it! You’re the stronger sibling!”
“Argh!” Hannah could not help but screech in frustration as she stomped her way across the bunker,
“You owe me a cheeseburger after this!”
“I thought you turned into a vegetarian?” Riley blinked a couple of times as his sister violently waved her finger right in front of his face.
“That was before Mega Woman died!”
“I do not see the relevance in–“
“I do not see the relevance in,” before Riley could finish his words, Hannah repeated his words to him, playing with her voice as she tilted her chin left to right, “Stop being so robotic and help me with–“
“Honey!”
This time, it was Hannah that was interrupted as the creaking of the thick steel door hummed in their ears, and afterwards followed by the loud gasp of their mother. Hannah quickly looked towards the noise, only to see their father almost completely covered in blood.
“Honey! We… we saw the news.”
Even though their father did not have a clean spot on him, their mother did not hesitate to embrace him; even trying to assist him inside. “Get a chair for your father!”
Riley quickly ran towards the chair on the corner, but as soon as he picked it up, his sister grabbed it from his hands.
“Don’t exert yourself, you dummy.” Hannah let out a sigh as she placed the chair near their father, “What happened out there, dad? Is Mega Woman really dead?”
Their father slightly glanced at Hannah, before turning his head to the floor, letting out a long but deep and stuttered sigh. His lips moved several times, trying to find the right answer to give his family.
But with the exhaustion that threatened to suffocate him, the only thing he could do was nod.
“What about Darkday!? Do we know what he’s going to do now?” Their mother then removed all the things that were attached to her husband, starting with the white cape that had already been drenched in blood. She then swiftly removed his belt, which held all sorts of tools and apparatus.
But still, with some of them even looking lethal, their mother seemed to expertly know how to handle and remove all of them even without looking.
“Bernard, answer my question!”
With her husband keeping eerily quiet, she could no longer contain herself and suddenly slapped him in the face.
“He… he just disappeared.”
And the slap seemed to completely wake Bernard up, as his eyes quickly wandered across the bunker, and as soon as they landed on his two children, he quickly straightened his back and composed himself.
“We don’t know where Darkday is,” Bernard then shook his head as he let his wife take care of his wounds, “After… after he killed Mega Woman, he just suddenly disappeared. He treated us as if we were children, Diana. The Hope Guild was there to back Mega Woman up, but Darkday multiplied himself, dealing with all of us all at the same time.”
“What did the government say? Are they going to evacuate us!?” Diana’s voice once again became louder as she stitched her husband’s wounds, “Tell me they will evacuate us, at least Riley and Hannah… They can at least do that for a member of the Hope Guild, right?”
“They… are too busy. It’s not just Toronto, honey. Brazil and Mexico also became a battlefield… millions have died.”
“…No.”
Diana quickly grabbed Hannah and hugged her as soon as she heard her husband’s words. She also wanted to hug Riley, but he quickly avoided her. Hannah, however, held his hand before he could completely move away.
Riley looked at his sister’s hand for a few seconds, before turning his head to the side.
“The casualty would have probably been lowered if your group had not interfered, father.” Riley then casually said, “It was clear that Darkday was only after Mega Woman… those deaths, father…
…they are your fault.”
“R… Riley!” Diana could not help but quickly let out a gasp from her son’s words, “Apologize to your father–“
“It’s alright,” Bernard raised his hand, “Our son is right, Diana. But you have to understand, Riley, that Mega Woman means everything to the people. We needed to help her with everything we could… our only mistake is that we completely underestimated Darkday. The powers he has is completely unpre…dictable. It’s… as if…”
“Honey!”
Before Bernard could finish his words, he suddenly fell from his seat. Diana quickly rushed to check on him, only for her hands to touch the floor beneath him that was drowned in blood. “Help me get your father up, one of his wounds opened!”
“…”
While his sister and mother scour to stitch up his father’s wounds, Riley just let out a short but deep sigh.
“He has lost too much blood. He’s going to die soon if you do not close his wound,” he then said.
“W… what!? Hannah, cauterize it!”
“A… are you sure!?”
“Just do it!”
As her mother’s cries reached its peak, Hannah quickly raised her index finger, and as she did so, a blade of fire suddenly emerged from its tip. Her eyes wanted to look away as she pointed the flame towards his father’s wound, but in the end, she just winced as she trailed her finger across the gash across his father’s stomach.
“Grah!”
Bernard was jolted awake from the pain of having his wound burnt, but still, he just gritted his teeth as he looked his daughter straight in the eyes, nodding his head and gesturing for her to continue.
Hannah started breathing heavily as she saw the look on her father’s face. Even though her father had been wounded before and usually always comes home with a new scar, she has never seen him once crying in pain. She truly wanted to cry, but doing so would surely cause the flame in her finger to waver.
But still, the emotions that rushed through her as her father’s cries echoed throughout the metal walls truly was overwhelming, causing the flames to flicker. And as they were about to disappear, she felt a somewhat cold touch around her head, completely covering her ears from all the noise.
Her mother was still holding her father down, so the hands could only belong to one other person. As she thought of that, she lightly nodded her head as the flame on her fingers became more precise, cleanly cauterizing the gash quickly.
And finally, the breaths of panic slowly turned to that of calm.
A second.
A minute.
An hour, they all stood and sat there in silence as Bernard lay unconscious. They tuned in on the news, trying to see if there were any updates of Darkday’s whereabouts and what he was going to do next, but nothing.
There was nothing. Even after a week had passed, there weren’t any signs of him. The world waited, the government was on high alert and had sent superheroes all around the world to guard the people.
With the heightened and total security, even the super villains and terrorists became dormant. After Mega Woman’s death, there was a sort of false peace that lingered the entire planet; the people were allowed to mourn their dead, to mourn their families, and to finally mourn Mega Woman and give her a proper funeral.
As for Darkday?
Darkday completely disappeared from the face of the world. Leaving no trace that he even existed in the first place.
“Mega Woman will always be the world’s hope. Hope Guild would not have existed if not for…”
And as the people mourned for Mega Woman. As one of the members of the Hope Guild, Whiteking, stood on a pedestal and gave his speech of the greatness of the fallen hero, a boy was smiling.
“There’s your father… I thought he wasn’t going to wear that costume,” Diana turned up the volume as soon as her husband appeared on television.
“He is looking quite fat, isn’t he?”
“Don’t let your father hear that. That was the costume he was wearing when we met. I think he was even wearing that when we created you–“
“Ew, mom!” Hannah could not help but roll her eyes from her mother’s words, “Riley, help me out here!”
“I wasn’t conceived by them so I will not be able to relate,” Riley quickly said as he stood up from his seat, walking away from the mother and daughter duo.
“You’re still my brother! There should be a sort of camaraderie here! Are you leaving me here!?”
“Sshh! Your father is speaking!” Diana turned the volume of the TV to its maximum, completely drowning her daughter’s complaints. Riley only took a small glance towards the TV, before heading back to his room.
And as soon as he was in the comforts of his own room, he quickly placed his hand on his mouth. A muffled giggle then whispered into the air as his shoulders trembled. But after a few seconds, his giggles were replaced by the sound of a deep and heavy breath as he made his way to his closet.
“Don’t you find it funny too?” he then whispered, “I wonder who they’re burying exactly…
…when you’re right here with me?”
Riley then looked straight towards the unmoving eyes that presented themselves to him as soon as he opened his cabinet. The owner of the eyes, as if also frozen in time, remained unmoving as well– her skin completely pale as her body was twisted in a way no human should be able to achieve.
“…Mega Woman.”