"...That's it?"
"..."
"Hundreds of billions, I a.s.sume most of those are not Humans?"
"...No?"
Riley could not help but tilt his head to the side as he heard Diana's words. He could think of several different ways why Diana responded like that, but he could really only think of one—themarian ideology.
The Diana of this universe, like Queen Adel and most of the themarians, do not hold value to the life of other species and thinks of them as just dust in s.p.a.ce.
"...What about themarians, have you killed any themarians?"
"A few," Riley answered without any hesitation. Technically, it was his doing that wiped out the themarians—but he did not kill them directly.
And Diana did not need to know that… for now.
"d.a.m.n, you're that strong?" Alice whistled as she ate the fries she was going to feed Riley, "I did feel your telekinetic abilities and they are quite… alright. I expect no less from my son."
"I'm not your son."
"Let's just say you are to remove all confusions."
"But—"
"You're my son," Alice shrugged, "I swear—if I was alive in your world, you probably wouldn't have turned into a criminal. It is probably Dee's upbringing that freaked you up… and Bernard? The freaking Bernard Ross? No wonder you became a villain."
"Is Whiteking a supervillain here?"
"White…king?" Alice coughed; almost choking from her food as soon as Riley's words entered her ears, "That's… that's his superhero name there!?"
"Is it not the same here?"
"No, he's the Redking here. Whiteking sounds a little… suspicious," Alice tried her best not to laugh, "And he was a hero, but he quit when all the aliens started appearing. No offense, Dee."
"..." Diana remained quiet as she seemed to be lost in thought.
"Does Bernard Ross have a family here?"
"Yeah, he's married to Empress. Their… kid died, though. Wait… I shouldn't be telling you this," Alice covered her mouth, "d.a.m.n it. Now that I know you're my son in another world, I feel like telling you everything for some reason. Dee, weigh in on this. What are you just keeping quiet there for?"
"How were you caught?"
"Hm?"
"Judging from how the norinlad was nervous upon seeing you is already a testament to how strong you are—so how were you caught without being killed?"
"You, Diana," Riley pointed at Diana, "You finally decided to stop me once and for all."
"So, I didn't kill you because you were my son?" Diana placed her hand on her chin, "But why would I try to stop you?"
"You have different set of values, Diana. And also Aerith is—"
"Aerith!? Queen Aerith?" Diana's eyes widened as she stood up from her seat, causing all the people inside Rickdonald's to hold their breaths; deciding whether or not to run, "You know the Rebel Queen?"
"..." Riley tilted his head in confusion as he looked at Diana, "I… already mentioned her in my story—she's Megawoman."
"...What?"
"Huh…?" Alice blinked a couple of times as she looked back and forth between Riley and Diana. But after a few seconds, she pointed at Diana,
"She's Megawoman."
"Hm?" Riley also started to blink as he looked at Diana.
"That's why the story was quite confusing," Diana let out a very long and deep sigh as she sat back down.
"I too am confused," Riley shrugged, "But I suppose that will be normal moving forward."
"No," Diana shook her head, "We need to find a way to bring you back to your universe as soon as possible."
"What!?" Alice raised her voice, "Why would he return? They literally threw him away."
"He can't stay here."
"We already have a bunch of aliens from other universes beneath us, Dee!"
"But he's different," Diana shook her head, "He was directly involved with us in the other world—he's the son of our alternate versions. We can't have him stay here or it'll change everything."
"...And?" Alice shrugged as the sound of her sipping from a straw whisked in the air, "Change is constant and all that kind of Plato stuff."
"That is Herac.l.i.tus, Alice Lane."
"Stop saying fake names just because you're from another universe."
"He's right," Diana sighed as she shook her head. She then turned to look at Riley before once again standing from her seat.
"Where you going…?" Alice asked.
"Don't let him leave your side," Diana did not really answer as she just placed her hand on the table, "I need to talk to Bernard so we can find a way to bring Riley back to his home universe…
…Don't let him out of your sight."
"Oh, come on. He should just stay here!" Alice breathed out as she watched as Diana stepped out of the restaurant and flew away, "...Does she also not listen to anyone in your world?"
"Sometimes," Riley shrugged. He then once again started looking at all the other people, "You don't hide your ident.i.ties?"
"...Huh?" Alice blinked, "Hide what?"
"Your ident.i.ties as superheroes."
"...Why would we hide that?" Alice raised an eyebrow, "No wonder you're weird, your entire universe is weird."
"Hm…"
"..."
"..."
"So… where do you want to go?" Alice then tapped the table a couple of times as he leaned closer to Riley, "You said the Alice of your world died, right? That means we didn't really have any mother-and-son bonding. Wanna go to a theme park or something?"
"Do you want to go to a theme park, Alice?"
"No, I want to know how strong you are," Alice smirked as he looked Riley in the eyes.
"But your telekinetic abilities are stronger than mine, Alice Lane. Your range is almost infinite."
"Oh, that's only because of Dee's contraptions. She has this device that she puts on my head that amplifies my telekinetic abilities."
"Can I perhaps try the device?"
"You think I am going to let a genocidal maniac like you use something like that?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm… actually kinda tempted to, but no!" Alice once again leaned closer, "Let's just fight, Riley Lane."
"...I thought you would be more mature because you have actually grown old in this world, Alice Lane. But you are still the same."
"Can't change perfection, my boy," Alice smirked, "So…
…are we fighting or not?"
"..."
"..."
"Here?"
"Of course, not here!"