"Yee… Naaldlooshi?"
Riley stared at Tsula for a few seconds; letting only the sound of dust that was falling from Tsula's silhouette whisper in the air. But finally, after a few more breathes, Tsula decided to be the one to break the silence.
"A skin-walker, child," Tsula muttered; a sense of disdain and utter disgust coming from her voice.
"Mother… is a mythological creature?" Riley then placed his hand on his chin, "I suppose that makes the most sense, Miss Tsula. Mother always had the strength to throw father if he wished to. She is also the only person I know that is capable of subduing and stopping Hannah at will."
"..."
"But for her to be a literal monster, it would seem that I have underestimated the secrets that my adoptive family held," Riley nodded, "That would also explain how she could be with father– only a mythological creature of that renown could stay with someone like him."
"...Boy."
"Hm?"
"That was a figure of speech," Tsula then let out a sigh that was enough to echo throughout the entire hall.
"What… do you mean, Miss Tsula?" Riley blinked his eyes a couple of times; his face, showing his utter confusion.
"I mean she's not really a skin-walker," Tsula once again sighed, "She is… just a Super like you and me– her abilities allow her to change to any form she wills."
"Yes, a skin-walker," Riley insisted.
"No!"
And finally, almost as if Tsula's previous emotionless and stoic exterior was just some sort of play, her entire body that was made of rocks started to wither away– finally showing her slightly dark brown skin; the deep creases and wrinkles wrapping around her, showing her true age.
She was completely naked; but neither she nor Riley seemed to mind as Tsula's sagging… bosoms waved violently as she approached Riley– the boulders and stones that fell around her, almost serving like a tail as it followed behind her without hinder. Her white and aged hair, also dragging along with the stones on the floor.
"A Yee Naaldlooshi is a creature beyond our understanding!" Tsula's slightly husky voice gasped for air, "A magical, divine creature that stands between this world and the spirit world."
"...So mother is like Jesu–"
"No! Your mother is a super!"
"Yes, like Jesu–"
"No!" Tsula let out an almost screeching scream; causing the entire hall they were in to once again tremble violently, "Just leave! I am done talking to you; leave me be in my eternal repentance. One as young as you will never understand the thread that weaves the world."
"..." Riley squinted his eyes as he looked at Tsula's retreating back. This old woman… was probably the most confusing individual he had ever met in his life.
"Open the door," Tsula then stated as she reached the front of her cell. I hope we never see each other again in this life."
"Before you return, can you tell me about the moment Megawoman stayed here?"
"No," Tsula shook her head, "This is the first time I have ever willingly stepped out of my holding. That outsider probably stayed in this place during my times of isolation."
"Thank you for answering my questions, Miss Tsula," Riley then bowed his head; and as soon as he did so, the gigantic door finally started to slide open.
"Hm," Tsula only waved her hand as she stepped inside; but before the gigantic door could finally separate her from the rest of the world again, Riley's words once again whispered into her ears.
"My sister is the same as you, Miss Tsula."
"Hm?" Tsula turned around.
"Her affinity with the elements is as marvelous as you; but also uncontrollable beyond a certain threshold," Riley said with a sigh, "But hopefully she does not age as bad as you."
"Wait, what do you mean a sist–"
Tsula seemed to want to say something, but before her words could fully echo through the air, the sound of the gigantic metal door sliding shut drowned any noise within the hall.
"..." Riley then blinked a couple of times as he stared at the door of Tsula's cell. But after a few seconds of seemingly deliberating on what to do, he just shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards the cell of the Top 2 Prisoner.
"Greetings, Top 2 Prisoner," Riley then repeated the same thing he did with Tsula's cell, knocking on it hard enough that it caused the entire gigantic door to tremble, "Do you have time to talk about your lord and savior, Megawoman?"
"..." And like with Tsula, silence was once again the first response that Riley received. However, unlike with Tsula, Riley did not immediately try to pry the door open. Instead, he waited there in silence for a full minute– not even moving a single step away from the gigantic door.
"..."
He stayed like this for a couple more minutes, before finally letting out a very long and deep sigh,
"I am coming in, Top 2 Prisoner," Riley then whispered as he placed his hand on the door.
"Riley Ross!"
But before he could do anything to the door, a familiar voice screamed into his ears. Riley quickly turned in the direction of the voice, only to see V rushing towards him.
"V, what are you doing!?" Empress was also behind her, reaching her hand towards V but was already too late to stop her from approaching Riley. Tempo, was also there, but instead of stopping V like Empress, his face just winced ever so slightly; his head trying to turn away but his eyes were fully focused on what was about to happen.
They have known about Riley's disposition of not wanting to be touched by strangers. No, even his own mother was not an exception to this sensitivity. So with V suddenly rushing towards Riley, the only thing that Tempo, probably the fastest man in the world, could do was… watch and see what happens.
"!!!"
To their surprise, however, Riley… did not dodge. He just stood there, allowing V to wrap her arms around his.
"What did I tell you about always clinging to something, Victoria?"
And with those words, V just suddenly let go of Riley's arms.
"..." Tempo and Empress could only look at each other as they saw this. Why… was V following Riley's words almost like… a dog? What exactly happened between the two during the months they were together?
"I brought Empress and Tempo with me," V then whispered; the smile on her face, seemingly unable to restrain themselves from appearing.
"I could see that, V," Riley glanced at the Top 2's door for a few seconds, before once again facing Empress and the others.
"Yakovich said you finally decided to join us?" Empress muttered; she was about to approach Riley since Tempo did so as well… but decided not to as she kept her distance from Riley as she remembered who he truly was.
"Yes, Empress," Riley just casually nodded, "I thought my time in prison would be filled with fun and activities, but it would seem there are a lot of things happening outside that are more interesting than here– according to grandmother Charlotte."
"More… interesting?" Tempo blinked, "...Grandmother Charlotte?"
"Yes," Riley nodded, "She mentioned something about the Hero Association and the monsters."
"...I wouldn't really call that more interesting," Tempo sighed, "They're asking every super out there to register– It's a good thing us in the Hope Guild are exempted. They just gave all of us the highest Grade because, duh. We're the Hope–"
"Ahem," Empress loudly cleared her throat before Tempo could continue to ramble on, "So, are you really joining the Hope Guild, Riley Ross? Yakovich told us he'll handle all the formal paperworks– we can get you out of this place right now."
"Yes, Empress. I wanted to ask the Top 2 Prisoner some questions first, but I think the information I have is enough for now."
"..." Empress's eyes scanned across the vast hall. She had been wondering what happened here since earlier– but knowing who Riley truly is, any more probing might set him off.
"Then… shall we go now?" Empress then let out a small sigh as she turned around, creating distance between her and Riley as fast as possible, "We're not going straight to the Hope Guild, however. We need to take a detour because of all these government shenanigans."
"...A detour?" Riley tilted his head.
"The Hero Association."
The one to answer Riley's question was V; the tone of her voice, holding some sort of excitement in it.
"Since you're not officially a part of the Hope Guild yet, the others said you needed to take the association's test," V chuckled.
"We can also announce you joining the group once you pass the bullshit test," Tempo also let out a small scoff, "You know what I think? I think the government just wants the people to see that even someone like you is taking the test– that way, the others that are still hesitating would–"
"It is alright, mister Tempo," Riley nodded, "I… do not mind."
And with those words, the group finally left the hall of the Top 3– leaving the door of the Top 2 completely untouched.
"...Did they leave?"
And currently, the Top 2 Prisoner was leaning on the door, trying to listen in on the activity outside. He was starting to feel nervous when he kept hearing a series of thunderous banging outside his cell– but finally, everything was just over.
The prisoner's name was Cole; apprehended for causing a fourth of the world's market to plummet sometime in the 80s, causing millions of families to starve, sometimes to death. And seeing as the trouble outside did not reach him, his abilities were still alive and kicking– Probability Manipulation. He absorbs the luck of other people and in return, he…
…becomes extremely lucky.
