"She… is just a girl."
A small echoing heartbeat whispered in the air as Hera's skin slowly returned to its natural brown color– the popping veins that were protruding, now almost xistent as all that remained was an unblemished surface; truly, one befitting of a model.
And with the disappearance of her grey skin and almost monstrous muscle mass, so did her will to fight. How could she even, when the face of the girl in front of her was filled with all sorts of scars?
The girl wasn't really that young, no. Perhaps it was better to call her a young woman– but still, if she was right, then Dark Millenium shouldn't be any older than 20 years old. Heck, she could be a student of the Academy, Hera thought as she looked at her comrades; which, judging by their faces, also thought the same.
No, there was one that was perhaps the most shocked of them all; his eyebrows were rose almost to his hairline; his eyes, as wide as they could be.
"What a plot twist. Ain't that right, Whiteking?" Hera let out a small scoff.
"…" Bernard, however, did not respond as he just took in a small gulp; his wide eyes, not leaving Dark Millenium for even a second.
"Nothing changes," Empress's voice, although cold; the slight hesitation it contained was quite obvious for everyone to hear, "This woman is still a terrorist and a villain– no sob story could change that, you guys should know the drill."
"That's right," V also scoffed, "This bitch had it coming, let's just get this over with so Hera could do a photo shoot and let horny teenage boys fap to her."
"Such a language is 100% unappreciated, V."
"Your baldness is unappreciated!"
"…Can you two stop bickering just for once?" Tempo sighed as he stood near Bernard, "Come on, man. Are we surrendering her straight to the SMP?"
"Can the Super Maximum Prison even handle someone like this?" Hera furrowed her eyebrows, "Even we had a somewhat hard time dealing with her."
"Are you getting soft just because she looks pitiful?" V once again let out a small but deep breath, "She looks older than me anyway, I have no sympathy for people like this. Oi, are you listening to me, you fucking terrorist!?"
V's mecha suit gently kicked the White Pillars confining Dark Millenium. Dark Millenium, however, did not respond as she just remained staring at nothing– not even trying to hide her face that was filled with scars.
"Whiteking, where are we taking her?" Empress then also stood beside Bernard, repeating Tempo's question, "Are there still cells available in SMP capable of holding Grade-S Sup– Are you listening, Whiteking?"
"Whiteking!"
"Hm?" Bernard finally moved his head; quickly looking at Empress and his comrades as he woke up from his weird stupor,
"Y… yes. There should be. Let me just call them," Whiteking then said as he stepped away from the rest of the group.
"…What's with him? Having a midlife crisis?"
"Can't blame him," Tempo sighed, "His daughter seems to be about the same age. Speaking of which… now that I am looking at her carefully, she looks kind of familiar, doesn't she?"
"Oh jeez, brown kinda blond-ish hair, blue eyes– I wonder why she looks familiar?" V mocked, "Oh wait, that's half of America!"
"I believe that naturally, less than 5% of–"
"Shut the fuck up, you know how many bald people there are in America!?"
"You–"
"I'm serious, guys," Tempo then interrupted the two as he even crouched to take a better look at Dark Millenium, "I…
…feel like I've seen her before."
***
"Oh shit! The dude got hammered hard!"
"…Shouldn't you guys be in your apartments?"
"I figured we would be safer here with the former leader of the Hope Guild."
"…Then at least buy something!"
A few moments ago back in the Baby Crew's usual base of operations, Hannah and the others were currently watching the fight between Hope Guild and Dark Millenium– their viewing was brief, however, as Dark Millenium was already subdued before they could even warm their seats.
And as Charlotte said, they were ordered by the Academy to return to their student apartments; but due to the profiles and backgrounds of the members of the Baby Crew, most of the staff that they met could only scratch their heads.
"The fight's already done, anyway… I'll order," Hannah then let out a small sigh as she turned her attention away from the TV, "I'll talk to dad again later so we could have him tell us what he knows about your parents, Silv."
"Hm," Silvie nodded as she too, turned to face the table, "Father is still not responding to my calls… I'll try to go to the house provided to him later."
"You… seem to be okay now, child," Charlotte brought the menu, her eyes slightly squinted towards Hannah, "You were going wild just yesterday and almost burned down my shop. Come to think of it… Your father owes me more now."
"That's…" Hannah could let out an awkward chuckle before letting out a short but very deep sigh,
"…I'm truly sorry for what I did yesterday. I was just so angry that I almost hurt all of you," she then muttered as she looked not only at Charlotte but also at the rest of the members of the Baby Crew.
"Meh, you too weak to hurt the Dragon Monarch," Gary said as he did a pose before also getting back to his seat; no longer watching the screen as Dark Millenium was already completely beat.
"Hm."
"…No comeback?" Gary's eyes then quickly turned wide, slightly backing off as he stared at Hannah, "Where… where's our Hannah!? What did you do to her!?"
"Shut up, you moron," Hannah rolled her eyes before focusing on Charlotte, "I'll just have the usual, ma'am. What about you guys? Riley? Tomoe?"
"I'll skip, big sister Hannah," Tomoe said as she glanced at Riley, before also turning to the table. As for Riley, he was the only one that remained staring at the screen.
"I will be going back to my apartment, everyone."
"What, why!?"
"I have something I need to do, sister," Riley then said as he walked away. Hannah seemed to want to say something else, but before she could do so, Riley just nonchalantly left the store.
"…What's with him?" Hannah said as she raised an eyebrow. She then turned to look at the monitor, only to see the Hope Guild surrounding the already captured Dark Millenium,
"…I guess they are taking her to SMP," she shrugged before she once again faced the table.
"…"
"…"
But after just a few moments, she once again turned towards the TV; this time, almost flipping the table upside down.
"W… what the!?" Gary bellowed in surprise, "Why did you do that!?"
"T… that…" Hannah stuttered; her words almost whispering loudly throughout the entire store.
"Oh shit, so Dark Millenium really is a woman!?" Gary said as he also turned his attention back to the screen,
"Deemn, she a beaut. Almost a waste for her to go to prison," he then let out a small chuckle, "She almost kinda reminds me of–"
And before he could even finish his words, the curves of his mouth completely lowered, leaving his mouth slightly open as he stared at the screen.
And with the two suddenly turning quiet, the rest of the people inside the store all turned to look at the screen. The cameras were changing angles and panning, so it took quite a while for them to realize what the two were talking about.
But when they did… their mouths were left wide open as well.
***
"So, what did SMP say, Whiteking?"
Back in front of the Academy, Dark Millenium still remained unresponsive. Her wounds seemed to have healed and all that remained were the patches of drying blood stuck to her skin and costume.
Seeing this, the members of the Hope Guild were all vigilant; making sure that Dark Millenium doesn't do anything funny.
"…They still have one cell left capable of handling Dark Millenium."
Whiteking, who had just finished talking to the people of the SMP, returned to the others; his tone now calmer than before,
"I'll take it from here," he then said.
"No," Empress quickly shook her head as Whiteking was about to call his drones to move the White Pillars away, "She's too dangerous for you to handle on your own, V and I will be coming with you."
"There's no need," Whiteking sighed,
"Even you and Hera would have a hard time prying this thing open," he then chuckled as he knocked on one of the White Pillars, "Let alone an already weakened girl."
"That wasn't a request, Whiteking."
"…"
"…"
"…As you wish, Empress," Whiteking then let out a small but very deep sigh as he nodded.
"Good," Empress also nodded before looking at the other members of the Hope Guild, "For the meantime, the rest of you remain here just in case."
"Sweet," Tempo muttered, "I guess I'll just go and catch up with Bulwark."
"Alright, let's–"
And before Empress could finish her words, her eyes started to widen; her legs… suddenly trembling without reason.
"…Empress? What's going–"
"Evacuate…"
"What?"
"Evacuate everyone," Empress then turned to look at Tempo, "Prioritize the students of the Academy. Evacuate everyone…
…now."
"What's going on, why are you–"
And before Tempo could finish his words, Empress suddenly grabbed something from her waist. And without even saying a word, she pointed it towards the sky– causing a high-pitched explosion whistling in the air…
…followed by a blossoming light that drowned everything in red.
"W… what?" Not only Tempo, but all of the members of the Hope Guild looked at the signal flare that was suddenly triggered by their leader.
A Red Flare.
And in front of it, without them even realizing… a dark but familiar silhouette was already floating in the air.
A Red Flare– Threat Level:
Darkday.
"….Miss me?"