Bonus chapter, thanks for the help with the Reviews. ^^
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Eva nearly skidded the car again, while Ringo narrowed his eyes heavily. He sighed, forgetting about this body's mother again. The problem was, before he'd just planned to say hi, say he was okay, and then go their separate ways. Now that he'd taken them with him, he couldn't escape this conversation easily.
He picked up the phone and answered without saying anything.
-Lena, why did you two go out at night, still saying it was my orders? Have you heard from Ringo? - A calm, authoritative voice sounded, but he could still feel a hint of anticipation.
Ringo didn't know what to say for a moment, leaving the phone silent for five seconds. When Melissa frowned and was about to speak, Ringo sighed and said. - Hi... Mom.
Melissa froze on the line for a moment, neither of them knowing what to say. The fact was, Ringo didn't remember her, and Melissa's relationship with her son had been strained for a few years.
So, whether due to surprise or her inability to deal with her son, Melissa froze.
She felt tremendous relief, also happiness, but when words emerged, they never came out.
-Ringo... - Was all she could manage. Her voice was no longer anxious, but now a little gentle. After the pair remained silent for a moment longer, she continued. - Are you okay?
-Yes, more than okay. - Ringo agreed, his voice soft, but still feeling a little alienated, unsure of what to say.
They both had voices in the same gentle, restrained tone, but for different reasons.
-Well... - She spoke again, with another period of silence. Eva finally couldn't take it anymore. She stopped the car, picked up the phone, and began narrating the events.
Melissa on the other end breathed a sigh of relief. She was so stuck she didn't even know what to say when the time came.
Ringo also looked relieved, so he didn't mind Eva speaking.
She spoke the basics: they were fine, Ringo came to them, but he didn't want to go back, about his memory loss and now they would follow him.
Eva turned on the speakerphone, Melissa's voice finally came through, this time with more authority.
-You're still looking for her, aren't you?
Ringo didn't answer. It was a fact, he wanted to find her, even if it was just to end this. But there was no point in saying it. He'd been obsessed with her before, none of the three of them would believe him.
Melissa let out a long, heavy sigh. -Very well, at least with the two of them with you, I'll feel calmer.
-I'm already a C Grade. - Ringo commented lightly, realizing that mentioning this might stop his mother from worrying and also prevent her from trying to force him back.
The car was silent for a moment; even Eva and Lena were shocked.
-You're a Rank C? - Eva almost screamed in shock.
Ringo shrugged and released his aura.
The duo trembled and flinched a little. -It's true... actually, your aura is even stronger than the commander Melissa's...- Lena commented.
Melissa, who was listening for a moment, thought the three children were joking with her, but she didn't think they had the guts. At least Lena and Eva didn't. Ringo, who lost his memories, might have.
-Lena, Eva, isn't this a joke?- Melissa asked.
-It's true. - Lena confirmed.
-I swear on my life. - Eva continued.
Ringo shrugged. -It's related to my power, because you think Germinal just wants to capture me alive.
The trio paused at Germinal's name. All three hated Germinal to the core, but that also convinced Melissa.
-It's okay, you don't have to talk about it. - Melissa, who knew her line might not be that secure, even if it was an encrypted personal line, didn't want to risk it, so she didn't ask about it.
Ringo realized this too, but at this point, even if they knew he was Death Scream, he didn't care. But he wouldn't let his ability slip so easily. Even if Germinal knew, they wouldn't tell on him so easily, just to prevent the other nations from also wanting to capture or kill Ringo.
Ringo understood this and wouldn't stay in trouble for anything. Even though with his current ability, even a nuclear bomb wouldn't pose that great a threat to him. As long as he's not too unlucky, he can hide underground. After all, in his spiritual state, the damage from the earth's pressure can't reach him, and even the residual heat entering the earth won't kill him, not to mention his 50% resistance to energy damage.
-Okay, stay in touch... and Ringo... this will always be your home... and I'll always be your mother. - The woman took her time speaking, her voice wavering slightly, but in the end, she said what she needed to and hung up.
Ringo looked at the phone and was silent for a moment. He didn't remember her, she wasn't his mother, but in that moment, he could feel her love. It was heavy, so heavy that it left him confused for a moment.
-Lena... tell me about Meli... my mother. - He finally spoke, looking straight ahead.
Eva started the car and continued driving. Lena thought for a moment and began to narrate.
He knew he could learn more in her dreams, but... he just wanted to listen at that moment.
Eva knew more, she also shared some stories they knew about her.
Soon, an image formed in his mind, a stern woman, who watches from afar, acts tough, but truly loves her son.
Ringo felt complicated again, this day seemed to never end for him.
Sighing, he guided the duo into the city and stopped at Fabian's. Before their confused eyes, Ringo got out of the car, placed his fingers in an arc to his mouth, and blew a loud whistle.
The pair looked at each other as nothing happened except pedestrians turned to look at him, but the security guard in front of the company paled and quickly ran to open the door.
Shortly after, the grayish duo burst through the door at high speed and pounced on Ringo. Eva and Lena, who had gotten out of the car, narrowed their eyes and were ready to pounce, but Ringo stepped in front of them, just in time to catch both.
He was soon receiving frantic licks, the duo almost as big as him leaning on him.
Eva looked confused and shocked, while Lena seemed to remember something. -They say Death Scream has two wolves as pets.
-They're long-fanged wolf bears. - Ringo pointed. - So they are Bears!
Eva rolled her eyes and approached with interest.
Will and Jack noticed the approach and descended, getting into a fighting stance, growling slightly in warning.
Ringo laughed and smacked his lips lightly in a specific pattern. The duo calmed down, recognizing them as "not enemies," as did Antonio.
Eva wasn't the least bit afraid of the duo. These cubs can barely be considered Rank F; she herself is a D Grade, as a Pugilist, she can kill hundreds of them without breaking a sweat.
She bent down and petted them, which they reluctantly accepted. Lena, more timid, also approached excitedly upon seeing this.
-The smallest and most playful is Will, and the biggest and quietest is Jack. - Ringo said, and the pair began to tease them by name.
At that point, Antonio appeared in the doorway and rolled his eyes at him. By this point, Antonio had resigned himself to it. At least Ringo paid him very well, even too much, to take care of the pair of "dogs".
Antonio fed them premium meat and even played with them, or at least with Will, who got easily bored. Jack, on the other hand, was suspicious and never approached him.
Even now, Jack was looking at Eva and Lena with shrewd, appraising eyes.
Will was trying not to let his tail wag with attention, staring at the shiny device on Lena's head, wanting to rip it off and run.
Ringo rolled his eyes, waved at Antonio and got back into the car with the woman and wolfbear duo. Lena got in the backseat with Jack and Will. Ringo drove while Eva sat next to her.
He drove to the Victoria Hotel, parked the car, and the pair followed him out in the open.
Visitors weren't allowed, but the rules were dead and the people alive, and with his prestige and power, no one would stop him.
Lena and Eva looked around curiously, it was their first time in the assassin's territory.
They saw that when anyone saw Ringo, they backed away, filled with fear and respect. Lena understood this well. Even though Ringo wasn't at the top of the list because he didn't do enough tasks, he was the most feared because each of his deaths was perfect and strange enough.
Eva, on the other hand, just whistled, finding this interesting.
Ringo led them to his room. There were three separate suites, a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony, it wasn't a problem for the three of them to live there.
Entering the room, Eva and Lena seemed to overthink it, only to be partly relieved and partly irritated by the fact that they would have separate bedrooms.
Ringo, sleepy, went to the master suite. He hadn't slept in a long time. In fact, the girls were the same. It was at this point that exhaustion finally set in.
Eva was a pugilist and was feeling better.
Ringo actually has much greater stamina than her, but he'd used up a lot of energy on this adventure, so he was tired, that was quite normal.
Ringo went to his room with Jack and Will, took a shower and threw himself into bed. It was still morning, the pair weren't tired, so, Will ran out of the room. Jack grabbed a bone and started chewing on it not far away, contentedly.
Will was hoping to play with the new arrivals, but unfortunately, the duo also went to sleep, leaving Will restless and very unhappy. So, he went to do his favorite boredom activity: irritating Jack.
As soon as he saw Will arriving, Jack rolled his eyes, very humanly, soon the pair began fighting again.
Ringo had long since grown accustomed to their mess, so much so that he'd even evolved to ignore it. If his sleepy brain thought it was "Jack and Will" playing, he'd simply pass the information along without waking him. This was only possible after completely memorizing the duo's sound patterns, before that, he had to endure.
Ringo didn't wake up until late afternoon to Jack's growl.
The fact that the growl is a warning didn't pass through the filter, so Ringo not only woke up, but jumped out of bed and got into a fighting stance.
But he was surprised to see Eva looking embarrassed as she approached his bed. Jack stopped in front of her, growling.
Eva, caught red-handed, scratched her chin and said. - I just wanted to wake you up...
Ringo rolled his eyes at her, clicked his tongue, letting Jack calm down, and walked past them to the bathroom.
Eva gave Jack an irritated look, but Jack ignored and snorted at her. He turned around and showed her his rear end. Standing in front of the bathroom door, he glared at her with narrowed eyes.
- You think I'm going to peek?! - Eva yelled angrily.
Jack didn't quite understand what she said, but he still managed to snort and lie down, blocking the female human from reaching his master.
In Jack's mind, Eva and Lena were merely "non-dangerous," but they could still pose a threat to the leader if they caught him off guard, so he kept a close eye on the two humans.
The leader showed no desire to mate, so for Jack, the female pair should not approach without being invited.
Unlike Will, who was already outside, playing tag with Lena, excitedly.
If Jack could speak, he would have cursed. - Idiot! - fortunately his growl had the same meaning.
Ringo emerged from the bathroom shortly afterward, a towel around his waist, still slightly wet. He was surprised to see Eva still there. She was sitting on the floor, seemingly having a staring contest with Jack. But when she saw him coming out in just a towel, she looked embarrassed and looked away.
-I... Lena said to tell you the food is ready. - Saying this, she jumped out like a cat, so fast that it shocked Jack, he raised the female human's threat to a higher level!
He turned to Ringo and squawked quickly, as if begging his master to mate and get rid of the human quickly.
For bears, the females did all the work, the bear just had to take advantage and go buy cigarettes, so Jack's thought was not strange.
Ringo laughed and rubbed his head, saying. - Don't worry, she won't do anything.
Jack rolled his eyes, spun around a bit on the floor, and began chewing on his bone with his back to him. Ringo just laughed and shook his head, finding it all interesting.
His life had indeed seemed a bit monotonous before, but with the arrival of the pair of cubs, he felt everything became more interesting, he believes that with Eva and Lena, it will get even more exciting.
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+13 chapters of Jugo - Father of Devils on P_treon.
+22 chapters of The Legendary Mechanic - Triple Six on P_treon.
P_treon: March_Rain