Chapter 976: The Start

"Riley, Riley!" "Zero!"

"Hm...?"

"You shouldn't have done that!"

A few hours after Riley's massacre on the streets of newer New York, both Katrina and Liza entered the restaurant; their faces, completely red and their voices incredibly loud, almost shrieking, even.

"What is going on, Miss Pepondosovich?" Esme, who was wiping the bar counter, could not help but stop with what she was doing as she saw Liza and Katrina suddenly rushing from the outside.

"I think Riri killed some people," Miss Pepondosovich just shrugged as she ate some carrot sticks, "Thousands or something."

"I see," Esme just let out a small monotonous hum... before just returning to her task. As for Miss Pepondosovich, she subtly transferred to a table nearer to the incoming commotion, with her carrot sticks still in hand.

"Why...!? Why would you even do that!?" Liza screamed as tears horridly trailed down her cheeks. She then threw a piece of crumpled paper at Riley, the same paper bag that she was wearing on her head earlier, "Why did you have to kill them!?"

"You haven't changed at all, you villain!" Katrina also threw her crumpled paper bag at Riley, who just let it bounce from his face, "When... when Hannah told me that those... those primedials locked you up to rehabilitate you, I thought you would return to us different, kinder... but you're still the same!"

"Primordials, Miss Katrina," Riley just let out a small sigh before shaking his head, "I'm—"

"Can you stop playing the piano for a second!?" Katrina then leaped toward Riley, causing the tables to be blown away as she got on top of the piano, "This is serious, Riley! This is really, really serious!"

Riley, however, continued to play the piano and even played a more intense tune to reflect the tone of Katrina's wails.

"I'm..." Liza fell to the floor as she started grabbing her belly, "...I'm carrying the child of a monster. I'm... I'm going to kill myself. I'm going to kill myself!"

"Riley... why?" Katrina grabbed Riley by the collar, "You... You could have just been satisfied with the small serial murders, I would have... I would have been fine with that because that's what you are. But I won't tolerate you killing masses of people. I'm... I'm still a hero."

"I am truly fascinated by that mind of yours, Miss Katrina," Riley finally stopped playing the piano as he gently held Katrina's left cheek, causing her tears to fall even more as she rested her face on his hand, "It reminds me of Katherine's, except yours is more... well, less."

"Because I love you, Riley..." Katrina started wiping her tears as she let out a loud gasp, "...I've liked you since the first time I saw you. When Gary lost control of his heat vision and you saved all of our classmates, I fell in love with you... but then there's Tomoe, Scarlet Mage, Bella. I just didn't know how to approach you because... I was also in love with the mystery surrounding you. And then when I was... when I was ready, I found out that the mystery is that you were Darkday. Do you know what that felt like...?"

"Bella is a lesbian," Riley blinked, "And that should have already been a very long time for you, Miss Katrina."

"It's a curse," Katrina covered her face, "The world was telling me not to love you, so I fell even more and it's just frustrating! And seriously? Halfday!? You couldn't think of a better name!?"

"I was thinking of calling myself Lunchtime."

"W—"

"Is... Is no one going to stop me!?" And while Katrina was crying her heart out, Liza was still on the floor; now holding a knife to her neck, "I'm... I'm really going to kill myself and the baby inside me!"

"Riri... is really surrounded by crazy people," Miss Pepondosovich continued to snack on her carrots as she watched the commotion unfold, "...I wonder what will happen next."

Nothing happened.

After Liza and Katrina cried their hearts out and screamed their lungs out, the two just quietly sat on a table, with Katrina drinking several bottles of beer by herself. She handed a bottle to Liza, but Liza immediately refused.

"What... do we even do now?" Katrina let her forehead hit the table, "Should... we report Riley, then turn ourselves in?"

"...No." And surprisingly, Liza shook her head as she gently held her belly, "They will definitely kill my baby once they know Zero's the father. This is... a crazy situation, but the baby is innocent from all of this."

"..." Katrina turned to look at Liza's belly, "...I wonder if I'm also pregnant now."

"Wh—why would you even want that, fully knowing who he is!?" Liza raised her voice.

"So that I'll have the same excuse as you to stay with him," Katrina buried her face on the table, "Why... are we so stupid? Why are we in love with a mass murderer!?"

"Because we are stupid," Liza then forced out a small chuckle while shaking her head, "So. Fucking. Stupid."

"What... do we do now?" Katrina repeated her question, "Do we just... try to stop him while staying by his side?"

"Can we even do that...?"

"Scarlet Mage tried."

"The Katherine of your universe?" Liza blinked a couple of times, "What... happened?"

"She turned into a supervillain known as Silvermoon and had his baby," Katrina once again covered her face in defeat.

"That's... wild," Liza let out a very deep sigh, "We're mad."

"Mad and stupid. Why did god even make us this way!?" Katrina raised her voice, We—"

"What happened here?"

And before Liza and Katrina could continue to lament their fate, Dorothy and Jake entered the restaurant; the two of them, still clearly injured from what Halfday did to them.

"We... should be the one asking that," Liza was the first to welcome the two, "What happened to your faces?"

"I'm sure you know..." Dorothy let out a very long and deep sigh as she joined Liza and Katrina's table and just let herself fall on the seat, "...Halfday."

"The—"

"Where's Zero?" Both Dorothy and Jake started looking around the restaurant.

"In... the kitchen," Liza said in almost a whisper.

"Okay, let's stop with the bullshit," Dorothy then placed her hands on the table as she looked Liza in the eyes before focusing on Katrina, "This is your variant, right?"

"...Yes?" Liza squinted her eyes, "Look, if you're here to accuse Zero again — please, just leave. So many tragedies have already happened and I can't take it anymore — we're not going to entertain that—"

"We're actually here for you two," Dorothy interrupted Liza, "The two superheroes with paper bags over their heads, that was you two."

"W...We have no idea what you're talking about," Liza looked away. And before she could even say anything else, Jake brought out a tablet showing her and Katrina during the time they tried to stop Riley, "That... why are you showing that to us!?"

"The two of you are literally still wearing the same clothes," Dorothy could not help but sigh as she pointed at the tablet, "And even if you weren't, I probably couldn't even name another person who has bigger melons than you. And then it just so happens that there are suddenly two more of you?"

"Well..."

"I don't even need to be a detective to realize that," Dorothy shook her head.

"We..." Katrina then finally said something as she looked at Dorothy, "We're... not in trouble, are we?"

"You are," Dorothy breathed out, "Because as of this moment, the two of you are the first superheroes after a very long time — you stopped Halfday's rampage."

"We didn't stop anything," Liza shook her head, "Zhalfday... Halfday just went away as soon as we arrived."

"I will kill each and every last person here until a hero responds to their call."

"...What?"

"That is what Halfday said to us when he started his rampage," Dorothy closed her eyes, "It was a very simple condition, an even easier one — and yet... and yet why did it take so long to happen?"

"That... you couldn't have possibly taken his words seriously."

"But he was serious," Dorothy shook her head as her hands started to tremble, "If only... if only I gained consciousness, I probably could have prevented so many deaths. And you... my god, Liza... you're even pregnant and you went out there. You—"

And before Dorothy could finish her words, a large plate filled with seafood was suddenly placed on the table by Riley.

"Are you here to check on our CCTV again, Detective Dorothy?" Riley said as he placed another plate on the table, this time filled with baked buttered potatoes and some other carbs, "If so, then I am afraid we can't provide you one this time as something seemed to have happened to it during the time of Halfday's massacre."

"No..." Dorothy let out a sigh as she shook her head, "...The same thing happened to all the CCTVs around New York, all except for where the massacre happened. It almost seemed as if... Halfday wanted the entire world to just see him."

"Oh...?" Riley tilted his head to the side, "Surely, you are not going to give him the satisfaction of being recognized, Detective Dorothy?"

"Oh no..." Dorothy's eyebrows started to tremble as she almost snarled, "...We are going to give him exactly what he wants — not for him, but for everyone else to see what he has done...

...and for everyone to realize that heroes are needed again."

***

"Halfday...?"

Somewhere, Silvie was watching the news of Halfday,

"...It can't be, right?"