"I followed these impostors here, but to think someone was already taking care of them."
"..."
"So… you from Innovia too? Or…
…are you here because you thought you're actually hunting us?"
It did not take long for Little Riley to figure out how and why he could understand the words of the woman that just stolen his new toys. She had the same device Aerith gave to Hera hanging on her waist, the Teera X120.
And judging by her words… it would seem she was from Innovia; this time, perhaps a real member of the group.
"Are you from the Innovia?" And of course, Little Riley was not really one for guessing—if he wants to know something, he will ask.
"I am," the blue-skinned humanoid once again tipped her hat, before slowly crouching and kneeling to the ground as she leaned closer to look at Little Riley; the red shawl hanging on her neck, almost covering him, "Wait… aren't you the new Ranker? Why are you so small?"
"I am not small," Little Riley shook his head as he avoided the long shawl, "I am fun-sized, blue-skinned alien."
"Hm," the blue-skinned humanoid let out a small hum before looking at the two remaining members of the impostors, who wanted to escape the alleyway but could not since their legs were shattered,
"You're definitely not from Innovia—so that leads me to assume that you hunted these impostors thinking they were us. That makes you an enemy, then."
"Hunting them?" Little Riley also turned to look at Larcus and Balak, "I am just playing with them, blue-skinned alien. I don't hunt."
"Doesn't look like that to me."
"I believe hunting requires effort and planning," Little Riley shook his head as he started walking around; granted, not moving far because of his size, "Both don't apply to my current situation."
"You didn't deny being an enemy," the woman breathed out as the veins on her arms started to glow, their reflections causing the entire alley to light up even more.
"Because I am used to being everyone's enemy, blue-skinned alien," Little Riley stopped walking as he looked up at the woman, "I am the villain, after all."
"Interesting."
"That is one of my lines, blue-skinned alien. Please do not steal it."
"You have such confidence for one so small. What about it, do you want to join Innovia?" A smile then crawled on the woman's face as she looked Little Riley in the eyes.
"..." Little Riley, on the other hand, was visibly weirded out by her sudden offer; his eyes, fully squinted as he returned her gaze,
"I thought we were going to fight, blue-skinned alien."
"I'm not stupid enough to fight with a Galactic-level Threat, you will just flatten me along with this planet. And please, stop calling me a blue-skinned alien—that's kind of racist," the blue-skinned alien sighed,
"My name is Moira," she then said as she once again tipped her hat.
"Interesting," Little Riley nodded as he flicked his long white hair to the side, "For someone who doesn't want to fight, your arms are still emitting light."
"Oh… could it be you are unaware of my race?" Moira chuckled, "I am a Torro. Our veins… light up according to what we should feel—our race is not capable of feeling and expressing emotions."
"..." Little Riley turned his small eyes to Moira's smiling lips.
"Identifying and practicing facial expressions is something we learn at an early age. I am only telling you all of this in the hopes that you won't kill me," Moira sighed, "And it will not benefit you to do so as well—Queen Xra will hunt you down once she finds out you killed me. And trust me, she will know."
"I won't kill you, I can't kill," Little Riley just shrugged as he looked at Larcus and Balak, who were now a bit further away as they continued to wriggle their bodies to safety, "I can torture you, however."
"Please, don't," Moira shook his head, "I am offering you to join Innovia instead."
"..." Little Riley just tilted his head in response, "How is inviting me to join your group equivalent to the satisfaction of trying to hurt a species that can't feel?"
"...Could it be you are unaware of what our movement is trying to build?" Moira slightly furrowed her eyebrows.
"I am only aware of things that I am aware of, Miss Moira," Little Riley shrugged, "And whatever it is, it doesn't really concern me—my existence stops here since I have already done my duty."
"Your… existence?" Moira sat on the ground, "What do you mean?"
"Boss only ordered me to hurt them," Little Riley pointed at Larcus and Balak, as well as the other members that Moira sliced into pieces, "And since you killed the others, that means I have already fulfilled my duty. I will crumble to dust anytime soon and will only return once Boss calls for me again."
"Crumble…" Moira was a little confused by Little Riley's words for a bit, but then remembered one of the facts about Riley. As a part of the Innovia, Moira was required to know every Ranker. And as someone who basically barged his way to the Top 100, Riley's profile was something she had just read quite recently,
"Could it be… that you're a clone?"
"I suppose," Little Riley shrugged, "If that is all, then I leave you to do whatever you want with the remaining two, Miss Moira."
Moira already knew that there was no chance that someone like Riley Ross would join their group. After all, as a Galactic-level Threat, there was a possibility that Riley was already comparable to Xra's right-hand man—his addition to the group would definitely tip the balance of the entire Known Universe.
…But what if it was just his clone?
She also read that the one responsible for wreaking havoc was actually just another clone of Riley Ross. None of them believed it, of course— but now that she was seeing how autonomous Little Riley was, then perhaps…
"Do you not want to join Innovia? It's… fun."
"I don't care, Miss Moira."
"..."
"And as I said, my existence stops in this bright alleyway."
"...Can you ask your orig—your boss?" Moira did not let up as she just looked Little Riley straight in the eyes, "Ask him if you can stay and join us. Don't you think it's such a waste to—"
"Stop trying to manipulate me, Moira," Little Riley sighed and shook his head,
"You might be mistaking my size for—Oh, he said it's okay."
"...What?"
"I suppose I am going to accept your offer, Miss Moira," Little Riley very slowly left the ground… before floating on top of Moira's head and landing on her hat, "You said it will be fun."
"Wait… your mind is directly connected to Riley Ross?"
"To a certain extent. The boss is me, but I am not the boss," Little Riley then said as he started climbing down Moira's hat, slightly tipping it as he slid straight to her shoulder,
"So…
…when do I get to meet Queen Xra?"
Right there and then, Moira knew she made the wrong decision.
***
"Yo, Earth to Riley. Why'd you suddenly zone out on me like that?"
"I apologize. My mind just wandered to a certain alleyway with dead alie—I meant people, Miss Hera."
"That's… oddly specific. And stop daydreaming, we have a problem at hand."
Back in the city's spaceport, Hera and Riley were already back inside Nana's ship. The two were expecting to leave as soon as they returned since they took their time exploring the city, but ended up finding an empty ship— Nana and her crew-slash-children were nowhere to be found inside or outside the ship.
"Perhaps they just escaped, Miss Hera? I am sure they were quite intimidated by you."
"By me?" Hera's eyes started to twitch, "You're the genocidal maniac here."
"I suppose."
"If they left, then let's just drive this thing on our own. I've been monitoring them, and I think it's possible with just the two of us as long as you use your telekinesis."
"No, Miss Hera. This is Captain Nana's ship, stealing is bad."
"You—"
"Do you two know Nana?"
And before Hera could completely lose her mind, one of the screens near them suddenly turned itself on—showing a face that Hera could only describe as… worm-like.
"...Yes?" Hera instinctively but hesitantly answered.
"She and her crew are being interrogated right now. It's… my fault," the worm-like man's sighs were obvious even from the other side of the screen, "She sold me a condensed ball of— it doesn't matter, the guards confiscated it and said it was procured by illegal means. Please…
…please help them."
"No."
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