NOVEL NEXT Chapter 106: Shared Grief, Shared Love
After Dylan left the room, he immediately took the elevator out of the bunker. When he exited the storage room behind the house and intended to walk inside the main house,
[To the garage, sir.]
"Oh... okay," Dylan replied.
Dylan immediately turned toward the garage, although he didn't understand why KATS was telling him to go there. When he was inside the garage, Dylan turned on the light. He saw his car neatly parked and a motorcycle next to it covered by a tarp.
"So what are we doing here?" Dylan asked.
[Just remove the cover from the motorcycle.]
Dylan removed the cover and was instantly shocked to see that the bike, which had only been a frame before, was now a complete motorcycle that looked ready to ride.
"Huh? Isn't this bike junk that Amy's grandfather left behind?" Dylan asked.
[That is correct, sir. I have now fixed this motorcycle, and Paul will enter it.]
"Hah... Paul is going to become a motorcycle?" Dylan asked, surprised.
[Please, Paul, exit that body and enter the motorcycle.]
"Very well, Master KATS," Paul replied.
Paul immediately exited the body double, which disappeared, and entered the motorcycle in front of him. Immediately, the bike in front of Dylan emitted a blinding, bright light that made Dylan cover his face with his arm. Paul, inside the motorcycle, looked pleased, and his head, which was still visible in the bike's dashboard, watched the fireflies of light fluttering above it.
"Glang... gleng," Dylan heard the sound of something moving in front of him, like a motorcycle undergoing a transformation. The light began to fade and then disappeared. Dylan lowered his arm to see what had happened in front of him.
His eyes immediately widened and his mouth dropped open. He stumbled back in shock. In front of him, the motorcycle had become a gleaming black robot with flames coming out of its joints, and its head looked like a skull with fiery red, burning eyes.
"W-What is this?" Dylan asked, startled.
[Vengeful Mecha, sir.]
"Yes, but why did you turn him into a robot that looks like a demon? What if someone sees that? Everyone will pass out for sure," Dylan protested.
[Paul, please revert to the motorcycle form.]
"Very well, sir," Paul replied with a terrifying, rough voice.
Two wheels popped out of Paul's opened chest, and his body immediately collapsed onto the wheel supports that guided it under his neck and to the rear of his body. His legs closed tightly and became the back part of the motorcycle. His head, which was bowed down, became the headlight, and a pair of handlebars emerged from his ears. When he was fully a motorcycle, Paul's appearance was not scary at all.
"Done, sir," Paul replied, having finished his transformation.
"Oh... so that's how it works," Dylan said.
Then a laser beam emerged from the motorcycle's headlight, forming a hologram of a man's body, which was Paul.
"I can come out in this form, so my body stays in this garage without bothering anyone," Paul explained.
"Hmm... alright, I understand... welcome home, Paul," Dylan replied.
"Thank you, Dylan. I'm happy to help the Phantom Cat... oh, I mean Shadow Cat now," Paul replied, smiling.
"Klek," the side door of the garage opened. Dylan and Paul turned to see Megan entering, carrying a teapot, with Noah floating next to her, Ryan also floating next to Noah, and Roger walking by Megan's feet.
"Oh, a new person," Noah said.
"That's right. Nice to meet you all. From now on, I will be the guardian of this house, both physically and spiritually... oh, and I can take care of the garden and yard. I'm quite skilled at landscaping," Paul introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, Uncle Paul," Ryan said, smiling happily.
"My name is Megan, nice to meet you. Please help us take care of the yard," Megan said, bowing in greeting.
"And I'm Roger," Roger said, standing on two legs in his orange cat form.
"Alright, you guys chat for a bit. I'm going inside now," Dylan replied.
"Okay," replied Paul, Ryan, Megan, Noah, and Roger.
Dylan walked toward the door. Before leaving, he briefly turned to look at the five ghosts, who were in various forms, chatting in his garage. He smiled, then stepped out of the garage. After entering the house, he saw Ellie, who was already wearing pajamas, standing in front of the refrigerator and drinking water.
Ellie was slightly startled to see Dylan enter suddenly. Then she placed her water bottle on the kitchen counter and walked up to Dylan.
"You're not asleep yet, babe?" Ellie asked, hugging Dylan's stomach.
"Not yet. Are you sleepy?" Dylan asked.
"Ngh... I just woke up. What is it?" Ellie asked, noticing Dylan's suddenly serious expression.
"There's something I need to talk to you about. Just the two of us," Dylan answered.
Ellie studied Dylan's very serious face. Her hand reached up to stroke Dylan's cheek, then she smiled.
"Okay, let's go to my room then," Ellie replied.
"Yeah," Dylan replied.
They walked into Ellie's room. Once inside, Dylan locked the door, and then they both sat on the edge of the bed. Ellie leaned against Dylan and held his hand while Dylan put his arm around her.
"What do you want to talk about?" Ellie asked.
"First, I need to apologize to you," Dylan answered.
"Wait... why? What happened?" Ellie asked, growing more curious.
Dylan paused for a moment, took a breath, and let it out. Then he immediately told Ellie everything that had just happened: about her mother, about the Red Blood, and about Paul taking revenge on her mother.
After hearing Dylan's story, Ellie was silent for a moment. A single tear fell down her cheek, but she didn't look sad at all; in fact, she looked a little relieved. Dylan turned to study Ellie's expression.
"Are you okay?" Dylan asked.
"I'm fine... so that's how it is, Mom is dead," Ellie replied, wiping her watery eyes.
"That's why I apologize. I couldn't stop it," Dylan replied.
"Don't apologize. I don't mind at all. I actually feel relieved and free. Finally, there's nothing holding me back anymore," Ellie replied, looking at Dylan and holding his cheek.
"I'm glad you feel relieved," Dylan replied, holding Ellie's hand on his cheek.
"Mom and Dad were always concerned about money, status, and their own egos. Since I was little, they never took care of me; I was always left with Grandpa. So, I don't really have any meaningful memories with them," Ellie replied.
"I see. Our child will receive full love and affection from both their parents, I promise," Dylan replied, stroking Ellie's stomach, which was starting to swell.
"Thank you, babe. I truly love you," Ellie replied, smiling.
They immediately kissed passionately, but suddenly "blak," the bedroom door flew open. Dylan and Ellie broke their kiss and were shocked to see Lena, Amy, and Maya standing in the doorway.
"Wait, didn't I lock the door?" Dylan asked, standing up.
"S-Sorry, I was forced to open it for them," Ryan said in a digital voice.
"Ah... so that's what happened," Dylan replied.
Lena, Maya, and Amy entered, their faces looking slightly pouty, and they immediately walked up to Dylan.
"Our child will get full love and affection, too, right, babe?" Maya asked curtly, pulling Dylan's hand and placing it on her stomach.
"Y-Yeah, the same," Dylan stammered.
"Our child too, right?" asked Amy, who also pulled Dylan's hand and placed it on her own stomach.
"Of course... the same," Dylan stammered.
"You haven't forgotten our child, have you, babe?" asked Lena, who pulled Dylan's head down between her two breasts, which were now larger due to hormones.
"Ugh... arrrgh... how could I forget? I will give all our children my love and affection, obviously," Dylan said, pulling free.
Maya, Lena, and Amy's faces immediately softened into smiles. Then Ellie stood up and immediately hugged Dylan again, resuming their kiss.
"Hey, Ellie!" Maya, Lena, and Amy shouted in unison.
Ellie broke the kiss. She turned to look at Maya, Lena, and Amy but kept her arms around Dylan in front of her.
"Tonight, I want to be alone with Dylan. You understand, right?" Ellie asked.
"Ah... okay, I understand," Maya replied, who already knew what had happened.
"Okay, just for tonight," Amy replied.
"Because there's something going on tonight, I understand. Please continue," Lena replied, smiling.
"Wait, you guys already knew?" Dylan asked, surprised.
"Of course we knew. Ryan let us listen to what the two of you were talking about because we asked him when Lena saw Ellie take you to her room," Maya answered.
Dylan immediately glared at Ryan, who was standing at the door in his hologram form and bowing his head with a look that seemed to say, "Forgive me, I couldn't refuse their request."
"Alright, fine, I get it," Dylan replied, resigned.
"Very well, we'll head out now," Lena replied.
Maya, Amy, and Lena immediately walked out of the room, and the door, which had closed, locked itself. Dylan turned back to look at Ellie, who was also looking at him and smiling. The two of them kissed passionately again, continuing their brief interrupted moment.