Everyone in the Hope Guild knew it was too good to be true. A peaceful day? Their group never once expected something like that to happen in their field of work.
Being happy all day? That was an illusion they wished they had. They all knew it was too good to be true– and it is and was. Their happy day filled with laughs, now drowned by confusion and dismay… one might even call their day abysmal.
None of them knew what really just happened; they didn't believe Tempo first when he told them that Alice tried to kick her own baby away. But with Alice directly calling Riley a monster and her slightly disgusted expression, they would be fools not to believe him.
But of course, they all thought that something really bad happened to Alice to put her in a sour mood that was enough for her to hurt Riley; and that when tomorrow comes and once she realized what she almost did, she would cry and apologize to Riley, once again smothering him with love and a disgusting dose of affection– but no.
The day after the incident, Alice returned to her work, taking in calls and busting crime left and right… not even once taking care of– no. Not even once taking a glance at Riley. Charlotte has tried talking to her several times with Riley in tow.
But when Charlotte was about to hand Riley to Alice, the look that Alice had on her face made Charlotte quickly back away and take Riley as far away as possible from her. Charlotte was devastated by this– just what happened to her daughter to suddenly and abruptly change this much?
She already discussed it with the others– but as ludicrous as it might sound, the only conclusion the team came up with was Mind Control. Alice encountered a super that was powerful enough to control her mind. But if so, wouldn't that mean that they were compromised?
But even after several weeks, nothing really major happened to them– no villain trying to infiltrate their base, trying to kill them, or trying to expose their identity to the world. Everything was… normal. Except for the fact that Alice was truly treating Riley as if he didn't exist.
And with Riley's identity being very special, Charlotte could not really allow anyone else to take care of him. And in the end, she made an abrupt exit from the guild. They made it look as if she was going someplace else– venturing out to help those in 3rd world countries with no access to any kind of help.
But in truth, she was just going to take care of Riley. Empress took over the guild as its new leader, but since Empress was truly not ready to take over, Charlotte remained inside the Hope Guild.
They also thought it best for Riley to remain in their base, as it was practically the only home he really knew. And so, Charlotte still minimally controlled the Hope Guild behind the scenes, advising Empress from time to time on the things she needed to worry about.
This went on for months, with Alice truly not even taking as much as a glance at her son. There was nothing any of them could do. With Bulwark returning, they thought that he, as the one who had the most experience in dealing with people, would be able to talk some sense into Alice.
But alas, the only response the Bulwark got was that he should be careful where he treads if he still wanted to walk around the earth for another thousand years.
They were all used to Alice acting up and being some sort of a thug. In fact, not only them, but the rest of the world knew her temper. But this was different.
Alice was losing a considerable amount of weight, she was barely talking to anyone. Empress suggested kicking Alice out of the guild, but this decision was outvoted. Alice was already neglecting his son… and if she were to be kicked out of the base, then Riley would pretty much be abandoned.
There was a point that Charlotte could no longer take it– ordering Whiteking to find out where Alice went the day she changed. This was, of course, something that was against the code of their guild. They had an oath never to survey amongst each other; and with Whiteking now in their guild, this was once again made relevant.
But due to the circumstance, the others agreed. This was all useless, however; as even with Whiteking's god-like ability to dive deep into the secrets of the world– Alice didn't exist that day.
There were no records of her that day– no surveillance camera footage, no one seeing her. The only footage they found of her was from the camera outside the guild. She left the guild with a normal expression on her face, one might even say excitedly.
She told them she was meeting a friend, but the only way there wouldn't be footage of her was that her friend lived in the forest, underground, or in space. No, if her friend lived in space, then they would at least have a satellite capturing her image– but there was nothing. It was almost as if she didn't leave the guild at all.
This once again raised everyone's suspicions, but other than speculations, none of them could really come up with a reason. In the end, they were back to the theory of Alice being mind-controlled.
But if there was someone like that in the world, someone strong enough to control Alice; they were sure he or she would've already controlled the entire world.
And so, the only thing they could do was let everything take its course, they would deal with it when it comes– and it did.
One day, there was a situation that needed Charlotte's attention, the Hope Guild had a visitor– Megawoman.
"...Are we sure Starslayer is finally acting?"
"Yes."
Charlotte was currently in the meeting hall with Empress beside her– and in front of them, was Megawoman.
"I thought you offed the guy?" Charlotte's sighs then whispered through the meeting hall; It wasn't only her sighs that were quiet, however– even their breaths were. After all, Charlotte was currently cradling Riley in her arms.
"I… don't kill," Megawoman also whispered; her eyes taking a small glance at Riley from time to time.
"Offing your enemies would have saved you a lot of trouble, Megawoman," Charlotte once again sighed, "Most of the time, problems are solved if you remove the source– and besides, you've killed that octopus guy, right?"
"M… Madam Mimic!" Empress could not help but take in a small gulp; raising her voice as she looked back and forth between Charlotte and Megawoman, "I… I'm really sorry about this, master."
"...I thought I told you not to call me that?" Megawoman let out a small sigh as she shook her head, "You're no longer my student, Adaeze. But… I hate to do this, but can we go back to my request, please?"
"Alright," Charlotte then stood up from her seat, gently placing Riley on the crib that was on the corner of the meeting hall, "So you just need my help taking care of Starslayer?"
"...Yes," Megawoman nodded.
"You need me to kill him."
"...Yes," Megawoman whispered as she looked to the side, "He… is too dangerous to be left alive."
"Now that's quite hypocritical, ain't it?" Charlotte chuckled. Empress was about to stand between the two, but she was too late as the two were already in front of each other.
"It is."
Contrary to her expectations, however, Megawoman just nodded her head.
"But my morality is not the question here," Megawoman then said with a sigh, "We are superheroes, Charlotte. But that could very well change tomorrow."
"...Master? What do you–"
"She means that we're also monsters, kid," Charlotte smirked before Empress could finish her words.
"Yes," Megawoman nodded, "I don't shy away from violence… but once someone like me, who is capable of destroying cities with just my breath started killing villains, the… hope that people see in me would turn into fear. I can't do that to them."
"Well, before this turns into a speech, let's just go," Charlotte then silently clapped her hands, "We have balls to crush."
"W… wait, what about Riley!?"
Charlotte and Megawoman were about to leave, but before they could step out of the meeting hall, Empress's bellows of worry resounded in their ears. Charlotte, however, only shrugged her shoulders.
"He's 2 years old, Adaeze," Charlotte then said, "Just put him in his room and check him from time to time, he'll be fine."
"...Carry him? I–"
"Jesus, kid. Just lift the entire crib if you're still scared of holding him."-- and with those words, Charlotte and Megawoman left– flying into space to disrupt whatever Starslayer was planning.
And with that, Empress was left alone with Riley in the meeting hall. She wanted to ask for help from the other members, but they were too busy doing their own things.
"..."
"..."
Empress stared at Riley for a few seconds, before deciding to just lift the entire crib as Charlotte suggested; taking him to his room and leaving him there. Of course, even though Empress was still nervous about handling Riley, her eyes did not leave the monitor that Whiteking installed to keep an eye on him. Empress even transferred some requests from the police to other superhero teams just to watch over Riley.
Hours passed and Charlotte was still not back, Empress was contemplating how she would feed Riley in a way that she wouldn't hurt him– her steps, going back and forth as she stared at the monitor.
But as soon as she was able to gather the courage to finally try and feed him, an alert appeared on the monitor– someone entered Riley's room;
His mother.