Villain Retirement

Aurora-- one of the people that directly trained under Megawoman in The Sanctuary. The people under Megawoman might have been close while they were still on their little island, but as soon as they separated in their own ways and left, they became distant– strangers, even.

And since Megawoman didn't mind or didn't care, none of them took the initiative to contact one another. She might have taken care of them for a while, sure. But if there's anything that Megawoman didn't have, it was time.

It was evident even through her own son, Empress thought. She tried her hardest to be a mother, sure– but any effort she made was wasted due to the fact that she didn't have time. Empress knew she got pregnant almost two decades ago and only found out recently that in an almost twisted fate, her son became friends with Darkday in Mega Academy.

She bore a son, and yet was always outside instead– perhaps that was the cause of her love for humanity; everyone was equal, even her son.

Empress was able to maintain contact with Megawoman since she became part of the Hope Guild, so she didn't really feel left out; but what about the others?

"..." Aurora… was perhaps also a victim of that neglect, Empress thought.

"The reason you brought me along was not to become a distraction," Darkday then said as he glanced at Aurora's headless corpse, "But you knew all along that she would be here…

…didn't you?"

"..."

"..."

"Yes," she then said, "It was a winning gamble. You copied Megawoman's powers, so there's a chance that you may be somewhat immune to her. But if you weren't…

…then you would have died– either way would be a win."

"Did you come up with this plan or did father?"

"...Whiteking didn't know,"

Empress muttered. She had no idea why she told this straight to Darkday's face, but she had a feeling he wouldn't do anything to her. Of course, she knew that Darkday could still snap and decide to kill her for whatever reason– but as long as this mission wasn't over, she had this gut feeling that he wouldn't kill her.

And if he decided to kill her after, then it would be worth it. She should just make sure first that Megawoman would be able to recover– and she would handle Darkday. She, of course, lost to him once.

But she was sure of it. If they were to fight again, it would be different…

…because Themarians grow stronger with each defeat; or at least if what Megawoman told her was true.

"..." Darkday seemed to be staring at Empress for quite a while now, but after a few more seconds, he just shrugged his shoulders… and slowly walked towards the man without eyelids who was surprisingly still alive.

"Can you direct us to where you are keeping Megawoman?"

"I… I don't know, please… please don't kill me," the man wanted to close his eyes; but alas, the only thing he could do was cover them with his hands; not wanting to see the horror and evil incarnate in front of him,

"I… I really don't know!" He whimpered away as Darkday's steps grew louder, "We… we're not allowed to go anywhere else! I… I didn't… I didn't even know it was Megawoman we're monitoring here! Please… please! You have to believe me! If… If I knew it was her, then I wouldn't have–"

And before the man could finish his words, a hole was instantly made through his face; the soot, leaving scorch marks on the floor as they cracked as his head fell to the ground.

"..." Empress was going to ask why he did that– but she was the one who gave the order to kill everyone within the facility, and it would seem the man truly didn't have answers for them. If that was the case… was killing everyone here due to her rage justified?

No, justice is never on the side of rage, only vengeance– but that's alright.

"There's not even any surveillance cameras here, only stats," Empress then let out a sigh as she focused on the screens plastered on the wall, "We should go, there might be more supers– what are you doing?"

Empress turned to look at Darkday, only to see him removing his helmet and gently placing it on one of the consoles.

"Since we truly might be meeting with Megawoman," Riley then said as a wide smile slowly formed on his face, "...Then I want to meet her as Riley Ross."

"What? Why?" Empress gasped, "This isn't part of the plan, Darkday should be the one infiltrating this facility since Megawoman–"

"Whiteknig can just make that happen," Riley waved his hand, "And this helmet is proof enough that I was here. It is the same as what I did with the planes back in Mega Academy."

"You…" Empress truly wanted to punch Riley in the face right now, but she was not stupid enough to do so, "...Let's just go. Have your clones found anything yet?"

"They were forcefully relieved when Aurora arrived, Miss Empress," Riley let out a small sigh; the tone of his voice, back to being normal, "But the last moments they existed, they just finished killing everyone eating in what seemed like a small cafeteria."

"We… are missing something here," Empress placed her hand on her chin, "The first people we killed–"

"You killed."

"...The first person I killed," Empress cleared her throat, "They were holding Megawoman's organs– why would they be holding something like that towards the cafeteria?"

"Perhaps they are eating Megawoman's organs?"

"What? No!" Empress scoffed, "We… might have missed a door. Aurora and the others also came out of nowhere. We…

…should retrace our steps."

And with that, the two left the monitoring hall– with two things circling in Empress's mind.

Megawoman's location.

And how Riley copied Megawoman's powers. Even Charlotte was able to do the same… but Aurora was not able to fully negate Megawoman's abilities because she's an alien?

Just how exactly does that work?

"..."

Is Riley's bloodline… not human?

Charlotte Lane's prowess was undeniable.

Alice Lane's raw power was enough to speak for itself.

They were a family of monsters, in a sense. And so far, throughout the ages, an offspring of a super was not guaranteed to be a super– not to mention a super of almost equal abilities.

Was there… something in his family?

"Miss Empress, we did miss something."

"Hm?" And with Riley's words echoing in her ears, she woke up from her mild stupor… only to be welcomed by a hallway painted in red; blood, limbs, and guts.

"You seemed to be busy fantasizing things about father," Riley then let out a sigh, "These men seemed to be coming from somewhere so I followed their trail while killing all of them and it led us here."

Riley then pointed towards a wall… that had deeper partitions than most of the other walls.

"A… door?"

"It could be, Miss Empress," Riley nodded as he gestured to Empress to open it.

"..." Empress looked at Riley for a few moments, before letting out a sigh and gently pulling the door open. And as soon as they did so…

…chaos welcomed them.