“Haha!”
“…”
Reality. Even in a world where powers were a common occurrence; even with a person like Riley who had seen an entirely different planet, what he was seeing now was something that he could only describe as… magical.
Paige was currently running around; chased by more than a dozen leaves that seemed like they had a life of their own– no, seeing them flutter like this, they might as well be birds in the form of plants.
There was even a Crocudine rolling around the field of grass, a creature that Riley had only seen in Italian Mafia Reborn. As its name suggests, it was a small crocodile armored with spikes.
He also took his gloves off, revealing his pale skin as he touched the grass beneath his feet. He tried touching the crocudine as well, but he seemed to put too much force and it burst into pieces.
That was the very reason Paige was running around and laughing– of course, she immediately revived the crocudine… and summoned even more creatures. One even looked like a stick figure come to life.
There was also a small pyramid and other wonders of the world scattered on the field of grass. Everything– Riley could touch and feel everything. Riley was probably one of the most stoic creatures in the world, but all of this truly intrigued him.
The illusions… were too real. Paige was right, she could really create anything with her mind. And right now, they were even still above the clouds, on a floating island that Paige created with her mind.
Riley has been waiting for Paige to faint from overusing her abilities, but now, even after 3 hours, she was still laughing and running around with a smile on her face.
It would’ve probably been the most powerful ability in the universe if everyone and everything was able to interact with it. But alas, Riley has been subtly and sneakily pushing things down the floating island and watching if they would at least destroy a car on the ground, but nothing– even the clouds were unaffected.
“Adam, look! Look!”
“…” Paragon then lifted his head; looking up towards Paige as she slowly rose in the air… while riding on the head of a giant golem– another creature from Italian Mafia Reborn.
Did the golem also have the same abilities as in the anime? Riley could only tilt his head as he examined the creature. It was called the Earth Shatterer– it was actually inspired by Tsula, the old supervillain that was in the Super Max.
And as its name suggests, it was capable of shattering a planet.
“…” Riley then slowly approached the golem’s feet, before placing his hand on it and trying to take off a chunk. But to Riley’s surprise, it took a bit of an effort before he could penetrate it with his hands.
“You… are quite a strong individual, Paige,” Riley muttered as he slowly floated in the air; standing beside Paige as he overlooked the small island that she created.
“Pft, no. It’s useless for other people,” Paige sighed, “I can probably create Whiteking’s armor too and make it even stronger– but in the end, I would just break my bones if I tried to punch something because it would just go through.”
“Well, it could probably hurt me,” Riley stated.
“…Why would I hurt you?” Paige let out a small sigh, “Look. If you think I’m like the person that decided to kill you from their life when they found out who you are, then you’re bonkers. I will accept you as you accepted me, Adam. No matter what sort of man you are underneath your mask, I will accept you.”
“Hm…” Riley did not really say anything else as he just watched as Paige’s… little world continued to move. Almost as if they have a life of their own. And very soon, however, a small growl whispered in the air.
“…”
“…”
“S… sorry, that was me,” Paige then awkwardly chuckled as she held her stomach.
“Perhaps we should eat, Paige?”
“Y… yeah. Let’s.”
“Hm,” Riley nodded as he was about to jump from the head of the golem, but before he could do so, Paige grabbed his arm.
“…Where are you going?”
“We–”
And before Riley could even say anything, the floating island that Paige created instantly disappeared. The golem they were previously standing on, now a metal floor. And very slowly, this metal floor expanded; becoming circular before a dome of glass emerged from its edges, trapping Paige and Riley inside.
“…” And soon, once again, the flying whale made its appearance, along with other weird sea life flying outside the dome.
“What do you want to eat?”
“…” A table then appeared at the center of the dome, with plates already ready.
“Yes,” Paige then chuckled as she took a seat at the table, “I can even consume my illusions.”
“…”
“How do you think I survived with so little money after I left the orphanage?”
“…Interesting,” Riley placed his hand on his chin, “Can you provide ingredients instead?”
“…Ingredients?”
“I want to see if I can cook with your creations.”
“You… can cook?” Paige took in a small gulp as an entire kitchen suddenly popped up on the side of the dome, “P… please, do… do it.”
“…” Riley was about to walk towards the kitchen before he stopped and looked at his outfit, “Can you give me an apron?”
“Yes! Yes, of course!” Paige’s eyes turned wide as a white apron wrapped Riley.
“Thank you,” Riley then nodded as he proceeded to walk towards the fridge, opening it only to see all kinds of meat there, “What food do you–”
“Something fancy!” Paige then said before grabbing her phone; immediately taking a selfie with Paragon behind her,
“L… let’s see here… #daddyparagon cooking,” she then started whispering to herself as she uploaded the photo to her social media account…
…not even noticing that Paragon took off his mask and started smelling the ingredients that were neatly scattered on the counter.
“Fufu,” Paige started giggling to herself as people already started reacting to the photo, “Look at this, Adam. The people are–”
And as soon as Paige’s eyes landed on Paragon’s mask that was sitting at the end of the counter, her breath completely stopped. She still could not see what he looked like since he still had his back towards her… but for some reason, her heart started to drum.
And almost as if to reflect her feelings, the sea life floating outside the dome all turned into jellyfish; their color, pink and red as they throbbed along with her heart.
“…” She didn’t really know what to do as she just stood up; her feet, not knowing whether to approach Paragon or not. But alas, her curiosity won over everything else as she quietly walked towards Paragon; her eyes, slowly turning towards his face.
And there, Paige finally saw…
…Paragon with another mask.
“…”
This time a cotton mask.
“…I don’t know what I was expecting,” Paige then let out a sigh as she watched as Riley continued to cook, not even heeding her mind. Paige was about to return to the table when Riley placed a seasoning next to his face…
…and suddenly pulled down his mask.