Chapter 367: Dropped
“…Why wouldn’t I be here? It’s my job.”
“Wh… what do you mean your job!? The whole world got nuked!”
Ellie’s frustration almost echoed through the air as she saw Paragon just casually standing in front of his building — almost as if it was the most normal thing to do right now.
“Yes, I just rescued more than 20,000 people today,” Paragon then calmly said as he raised his thumb; and as he did so, John smiled and nodded as he also raised both his thumbs and said,
“Alright.”
“No, not alright, you fucking donuts!” Ellie raised her voice even louder.
And while they were talking, the members of the House of Super were completely frozen; not knowing what to do. Paragon, the one who executed Thousandblade and massacred almost a thousand of them was here.
Their intel assured that he shouldn’t be — so why exactly was he here?
“The rumors of the end of the world have been greatly exaggerated, Ms. Ellie,” Paragon let out a sigh as he shook his head… before standing beside a member of the House of Super, “I believe the world will be fine. People shouldn’t ignore their jobs just because of something like this.”
“No,” Ellie shook her head in disbelief, “No one in their right mind would work in this conditio—”
And before she could finish her words, a tinker of a small bell whispered in the air. Not only her, but everyone looked to where the minute sound was coming from… only to see someone on a bicycle moving towards them — and soon, the cyclist stopped in front of the Paige and Paragon superhero agency building.
“…” The man looked around, before looking at them and dismounting his bike.
“Good afternoon!” The man raised his hand; not even seemingly noticing the somewhat tense situation, “I have an express delivery for a Riley Ross?”
“That would be me,” Paragon moved away as he approached the courier.
“Ah, long time no see!” The delivery man smiled before handing something to Paragon, “Please sign here.”
“…”
“…”
The others could do nothing. All they could do was watch as Paragon casually received the package.
“Alright, that would be all. Thank you for using us as your No. 1 courier service! Delivering to you, anywhere in the world, no matter what!”
Paragon nodded as the delivery man waved goodbye, cycling away as the sound of his bell soon faded into the horizon.
“…”
“…”
“The building needed a new router,” Paragon casually said as he looked at John and Ellie, “I also ordered some food.”
“…”
“…”
“I’ll leave you people to it then,” Paragon then casually turned around and started walking back to the building; not before, however, glancing back, “Also…
…please kill them.”
“…”
“…”
“Wait… did that man just say Riley—”
And before the members of the House of Super could look at each other, the ground beneath them suddenly turned black.
“You guys…” Ellie let out a small sigh as he shook her head, “…should’ve really just walked away.”
And without any warning, spikes started emerging from the ground — instantly littering the group with a thousand holes. One of them, however, managed to dodge Ellie’s attack as he quickly leaped towards Elliot.
“Come here!”
“No.”
But alas, the man found himself suddenly stopped in mid-air as John held his shoulder. And without even knowing how, the colors in his eyes faded as he dropped to the ground.
And while all of these were happening, John was covering Elliot’s eyes.
“…You guys do know I’m like 14 already, right?”
“Yeah, still just a fucking pipsqueak, you are.”
And with that, the three finally entered the building.
***
“…You’re the only one here.”
“Yes. Sadly, humans have a tendency to be lazy even with just the slightest tragedy… and there you go, I officially welcome you to the Paige and Paragon superhero agency.”
Paragon then tapped the table in front of him as he finished signing John and Ellie’s papers. He then grabbed something from his pocket, placing them on the table before sliding it towards the two.
“I got them from Aerith before the bombs. They’re your new identities.”
“Megawoman… where is she?” John asked.
“Searching for mother, no doubt,” Paragon only shrugged his shoulders, before gesturing to the passports he placed on the table.
Ellie excitedly grabbed the passports, before trying to find her name.
“Elizabeth… Holden?” Ellie blinked, before a small smile appeared on her face, “It’s good you decided to keep my first name.”
“…Why is my surname also Holden?” John asked as he also looked at his passport.
And as soon as Elliot heard that, he also checked on his name… only for it to be a completely different surname.
“Why… is mine different?”
“Because John and Ellie are married,” Paragon casually said; causing Ellie to almost choke in her own breath, “I hope you don’t mind — it seems the two of you are in a romantic relationship, so I made it official.”
“You…” Ellie could not really say anything as her mouth just kept itself open. She then very slowly glanced at John, only to see his eyes slightly trembling.
“Boss… this…”
And seeing him stutter, a big smile appeared on Ellie’s face as she held his also trembling hand. This might just seem like a little gesture — but Ellie knows what it means to John.
Riley was his creator — what could be more special than being officiated by him?
“…Thank you, Paragon,” Ellie rested her head on John’s shoulder. And of course, she too… was extremely happy about this. And then, what followed was silence as the two just cherished this tiny moment between them.
“…”
“…”
“So what exactly do we do here?” And after a few minutes, Ellie asked.
“The two of you are actually right on time,” Paragon then said as he stood up, “I want you all to meet Paige.”
And as if almost on cue, the elevator doors opened as Paige stepped out.
“Ah! Why didn’t you tell me they arrived!” Paige quickly jogged as soon as she saw John and the others, “Hello.”
“H… Hi?” Ellie shook Paige’s hand, still completely confused as to what exactly they should be doing and why they were right on time.
“Is it ready, Paige?” Paragon then said as he walked away.
“Yes…
…we can start at any time.”
***
“I’m going to do it.”
Back in the Academy, Hannah and the rest of the members of the Baby Crew were now once again back in their very first base of operations — the Korean Shaved Ice store.
And yet, no one was indulging themselves in dessert, and instead just had serious expressions on their faces as they all stared at Hannah.
“Are… you sure? When do you plan to do it?” Gary muttered.
“Now, I’m going to do it now.”
“I… don’t think it’s a good idea,” Silvie let out a small but deep breath as she shook her head.
“We really can’t tell you what to do, girl,” Bella also sighed,
“What do you think, madam? He’s your grandson, after all.”
“…I don’t know,” Charlotte, who had been eavesdropping from behind the counter, just whispered, “The only thing I know is that the people already think my daughter is crazy — if they discover that her child became Darkday… they would put all the blame on what she did.”
“…”
“…”
“I… don’t think you should do it,” Katrina held Hannah’s hand, “Forget about the other people for now… will you be alright after?”
“…”
“…”
“What happens to me is irrelevant,” Hannah breathed out,
“I… will do it,” Hannah then handed her phone to Silvie.
“Are… you sure?”
“Let’s do it,” Hannah got up from the table as she stood in front of the Baby Crew.
“…”
Everyone could see her hands shaking; her eyes, however, seemed to already be filled with resolution. Silvie could really only look at the others, before letting out a sigh and also standing up.
“Will… you be fine?” She then asked.
“…No,” Hannah quickly answered as she forced a chuckle, “But… that’s just the way it is.”
“…” Silvie looked Hannah straight in the eyes for a couple of seconds, before nodding her head, “Okay…
…we’re live.”
And as soon as she said those words, the Baby Crew took in a collective gulp. Hannah’s breaths were also erratic, but soon… she closed her eyes.
It’s time to finally accept this, she whispered to herself.
“My name is Hannah Ross,” she then opened her eyes as she looked right onto the lens of her phone — almost as if she was addressing the entire world, “Most of you know me as Nuclear Seraph. And what I am about to tell you…
…is the truth. 2 years ago now, my brother—”
“What the…”
And before Hannah could finish showing the world her resolve, a series of beeping noises rang inside the store; all coming from each of the members of the Baby Crew.
“Uh… guys?” Silvie muttered.
“What’s going on?”
“It… says Paragon also went live.”
“What? What’s he up to now!?” Hannah quickly grabbed her phone from Silvie, quickly removing her camera and clicking on the notification.
And there, she saw Paragon seated… behind some large mahogany desk. And beside him was Paige, wearing a dress. There were also two other people behind them… wearing a black suit and tie, and a pair of sunglasses.
“…What the fuck is he up to now?”
Paragon was also not wearing his usual outfit, and was instead adorned in an expensive-looking grey cardigan – and a long black scarf that didn’t go around his neck.
[My name is Paragon, and most of you probably know me as Paragon. I will keep it short…
…this is for the members of the House of Super.]
Paragon then slightly leaned forward as he placed his hands on the desk as he looked right into the camera’s lens.
[In any other cases, I would have left your group alone. But you attacked me twice in my home, and I will be taking that as a declaration of war. So please, understand that we now have to hunt all of you down and kill you.]
“Is… he at the agency?” Hannah looked at the others, who were just as engrossed as her as they continued to watch what Paragon was up to right now on their own phones.
[This is your fate now…] Paragon suddenly stopped talking as he looked at Paige — who quickly but gently held his hand and looked him in the eyes.
Paragon returned this gaze, before nodding and looking back to the camera.
[Run, hide. It doesn’t matter where you go and what you do. You can beg, but it wouldn’t do anything…
…I already decided that all of you are going to die.]
And then, as he said those words, Paragon very slowly raised his hand before placing it on his mask…
…and removing it.
And as he did so — any expression on Hannah’s face very slowly disappeared.
[You see…] Paragon then casually placed his mask on the desk,
[…I don’t like my name being used.]