Chapter 354: The Way He Stares

[I'm... actually under attack.]

"..."

"...What did you say?"

Silvie and the rest of the Baby Crew could only look at each other as they heard Golden Fox's words. She said it so calmly that they didn't really know what to actually think of it.

"Did... you just say you were under attack?" Silvie once again asked as the rest of the Baby Crew started huddling up to see what was going on. Even Paige tried to compress herself with the group to see what was happening, only to see Golden Fox still wearing her golden mask.

[Y... yes.] Soon, however, she turned the camera to the other side, revealing several people fighting with... what seemed like creatures that looked like they spawned from the shadows — one of Golden Fox's abilities,

[I think they called themselves the House of Super?]

"House of Super!?" Silvie raised her voice as she looked at the others, "Why... would they be attacking you?"

[Well, not necessarily me,] Golden Fox let out a short but very deep sigh as she turned the camera back to her, [They attacked the shelter I'm in. It's a shelter for the victims and those that were affected by villain attacks.]

"What?" Silvie's eyebrows quickly furrowed as she heard Golden Fox's words; her voice, slowly becoming colder as she showed her teeth, "They... would attack even a place like that?"

"Wait, are you alright!?"

And before Silvie could say anything else, Gary suddenly grabbed the phone from her and walked away, "Did... did you call for back-up!? Are you hurt anywhere?"

[...Gary,] Golden Fox slightly lifted up her mask as soon as Gary came into view. But after a few moments, she once again lowered her mask,

[I'm... okay. After all, I'm the Top 2 Female Superhero, right? I don't need a backup.]

"T— that's..." Gary could only look to the side as he heard the slightly snobbish tone that came from Golden Fox's voice, "C... Chihiro, I didn't—"

"What's your location?"

And before Gary could say his piece, this time, the phone was snatched from him by Hannah,

"What's your location? We'll provide you back-up."

[I'm... in Albuquerque,] Golden Fox almost stuttered as a different voice answered her, [But seriously, Hannah... I'm alright.]

"Wait, you're in the country!?" Gary was going to grab the phone again from Hannah, but she moved away.

"Okay," Hannah nodded as she avoided Gary's hands, "Send your location to Silvie's phone. We'll provide you with backup."

"I... don't need back-up."

"Don't worry, Gary's not going to annoy you," Hannah sighed as she shook her head,

"And I know you don't need back-up. It's more like we need something from you."

[Hm?]

"Can you keep the terrorists there? Don't let them escape, we have questions for them."

[...Okay. I'll keep the connection op-]

"Wait, when did you get back to the country!?"

And once again, Gary snatched the phone away.

[A... couple of months ago. Can we talk later? I am kinda... busy.]

"Y... yeah, sure."

Alas, no matter how concerned he sounded, Golden Fox did not seem to be interested in hearing whatever it is he had to say. The only thing Gary could really do was return the phone back to Silvie.

"G... good thing we called, right?" Silvie forced a chuckle as she looked at Gary's dejected silhouette; his back, almost hunched as he walked away.

"Bro, why you sulking? She's clearly still in to you."

"W... what?" Gary's eyes started to widen as Bella hit him on the stomach, "Y... you think so?"

"She almost showed her face to you, right? What's with that?" Bella whispered, "That means she feels she doesn't need to be guarded with you."

"R... Really?"

"Yeah, ask Katrina. She's the one with the most experience with relationships among us."

"Please don't ask me," Katrina quickly looked to the side to avoid Gary's intense gaze.

"Fuck, we have a problem."

Fortunately for Katrina, before Gary could even approach her, Hannah suddenly raised her voice,

"Our jet is currently decommissioned. It'll take a while for me to fly to the space station to get another."

"I... can get—"

"You know how to fly it?"

"...No," Silvie quickly sighed as she shook her head. And while the Baby Crew were currently discussing the best way to get there together, Paragon suddenly approached Paige and whispered to her ear; her eyes widening with every word.

And as soon as Paragon was done, Paige quickly nodded her head and approached the chaotic energy that is the Baby Crew.

"Uhm... guys!?" Paige screamed to get everyone's attention, "We...

...we have a jet on the rooftop."

***

"...What kind of jet is this?"

"It... looks awfully familiar."

"Wait, isn't this jet from Italian Mafia Reborn?" Hannah was the first to approach the jet that was strangely placed on the roof, "...What the hell?"

"W... well," Paige didn't really know what to answer as she only turned to look at Paragon, who had both his thumbs up at her,

"I... I'm a huge fan of the show," Paige could really only force a chuckle before moving to the door — and without even pressing anything, it automatically opened up, lowering the stairs for them to step on.

"Shotgun!"

And before Paige could step inside, Gary suddenly rushed towards the jet, almost leaping inside.

"W— wait!" Paige could not help but take in a gulp as she looked to the side; her face slightly winced. After all... the jet really didn't exist. She just created it from her mind, so it should be completely intangible to the others.

Paragon, however, said that he has a plan to make it real — and to her surprise, Gary didn't just pass through the jet and was even able to walk around inside.

"You're a fan of IMR, huh?" Hannah let out a tiny scoff as she looked at Paige before a small smile crawled on her face as she brushed her hand on the body of the jet.

"H...Hm," Paige nodded, "Like your brother."

"...How do you know that?" Hannah's hand stopped as she once again glanced at Paige.

"It... It's common knowledge on the internet!" Paige stuttered before quickly stepping inside the jet.

"Huh..." Hannah was slightly curious about Paige's words, but decided not to think much of it as she just focused her attention on the details of the jet,

"...How do you even pilot this thing?"

"You don't."

Hannah was about to enter, but Paragon stepped inside first before she could do so; slightly brushing her shoulder,

"I will fly it. You and your people should just relax," Paragon calmly said as she looked Hannah straight in the eyes.

"Y... yeah, alright?" Hannah tried to return Paragon's eye contact, but couldn't as she looked away. She also let out a short breath as her chest suddenly jumped for some reason.

"...Fuck," Hannah whispered before looking at the women of the Baby Crew,

"Is... Is it just me, or is the guy flirting with me?"

"Girl... You need to get laid. You getting thirsty as hell," Bella only sighed as she patted Hannah's shoulder before stepping inside the jet.

"Please... be careful, Hannah. Paige and Paragon might be together," Katrina also sighed as she looked at Hannah in the eyes; the tone of her voice, not containing its usual warmth, "You don't want a repeat of what happened to me, Silvie, and you know who."

"I... don't really have a comment?" Silvie could really only meekly whisper as she entered the jet with Katrina.

"...Thanks for the help. You know what, never mind," Hannah rolled her lips and sighed as she finally entered the jet, and no matter how much she looked at it, it truly did look like the jet from Italian Mafia Reborn.

The outside was like a luxury car. Pearl black, lined with chrome. The inside was even more luxurious, and not to mention spacious. It had a giant sofa in a square with a table in the center; no windows.

"...Damn," Hannah breathed out as she took a seat, "Do we have Chihiro's coordinates?"

"Yeah, I sent it to Paige."

"I'll... cast it on the table."

And as soon as Paige said that, a hologram appeared on top of the table that was in the center of the seats.

"Well, this is fancy as fuck," Gary muttered as he looked at the globe that suddenly appeared in front of them. It showed where they were, as well as their destination and the route they would be taking to get there.

"We will be taking off in 10 seconds, everyone," Paragon's voice then echoed throughout the jet, "Please buckle your seatbelts."

"Alright, let's do this!"

"...Where did this seatbelt suddenly pop out from?"

Hannah was about to buckle her seatbelt, but she suddenly noticed Paragon glancing at her.

"..." She looked at the others to see if they noticed the same, but they were busy putting on their seatbelts. Hannah tried to return Paragon's gaze, but he didn't really move or say anything. It wasn't until Hannah wore her seatbelt that he looked away and wore a headgear similar to virtual reality headsets.

Why... was Paragon staring at her like that? She still couldn't get the image of Paragon during the spar from her mind, the way he just casually placed her hand on his chest.

There were also the words of comfort he said to her the 2nd time they met. And this wasn't the first time Hannah noticed Paragon glancing and staring at her. Could it actually be possible...

...that he liked her?

It would seem he was even making sure that her seatbelt was on.

What was she supposed to do about that? Weren't he and Paige together? They live in the same penthouse... with Paragon's mother.

"..." Would a couple really be living with a parent? Maybe they weren't really together... Wouldn't that mean...

...that Paragon was hitting on her?