You find yourself focusing intently on your daughter’s nervous disposition. A foolhardy endeavor, perhaps, in light of the superhero blasting through your base—in record time, you note with a hefty dose of respect.

“Gigi,” you say sternly. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“…No,” she lies. Badly. So badly you could feel your very soul cringe. Had she forgotten everything you taught her?!

“Georgia,” you say sternly. She twiddles her thumbs, and opens her mout to speak. Only for an explosion to rock the very ground they stood on.

Second later, Ultima bursts out from the ground, eye burning white and clad in a brilliant crimson aura. You take a step back at the sheer power coming off him in waves. You almost want to bow your head in respect. He’d certainly taken his talents further than his father and mother—and perhaps even yourself, if you were being honest—ever could.

His features soften when he notices your daughter. Relief and…love? Yes, love, coming into being. Of course, when he shifted focus to you, that love vanishes, burning hatred taking its place. The kind of hatred you’d never seen on him before, even when you slayed his father all those years ago.

“You!” he hisses with all the venom in the world. You barely had time to call upon your own powers—golden energy covering your form—before he’d slams you into a wall.

“Daddy!” Georgia cries out in fear.

“I can forgive my father’s death by your hand,” Ultima spat. “And to be honest I was relieved when my mother finally died after she was dumb enough to challenge you. The lives they lived—the paths we three walk—are dangerous ones. But for you to take the woman I lo—“ he stops himself. His aura fades, the white in his eyes disappearing. He lets you go, and turns to Georgia with an utterly flummoxed expression. “…Did you just say ‘Daddy’?”

“I did,” your daughter replies, staring down at your feet.

Ulti—Roy whirls back towards you. “You’re her father?”

“I am,” you say.

Slowly, he turns back to your daughter. The anger he directs at her makes your blood boil on an instinctual level, but you decide to the let the cards fall where they may.

“You lied to me,” Roy says, voice barely more than a whisper.

“Roy,” Georgia steps forward, hands clasped together pleadingly. “I swear I didn’t mean to! I didn’t even know who you were on our first few dates, but then I saw you stop that bank robbery and I didn’t want to ruin what we were building by telling you…who my dad is.” She reached out to touch him, but he recoiled as if she were a rabid animal.

“You deliberately hid the truth from me!” he spat, aura coming back full force. Your daughter activated her own blue aura to keep her feet, and, if at all possible, Roy fell further into despairs. “You lied your own selfish desires!”

“Roy, no, I—!” Whatever more she had to say, Roy refused to hear. He flew into the air, crashing through the ceiling and disappearing into the evening sky.

You stare after your young foe. Frankly, you can sympathize with him. After all this shit his mother pulled before and after he was born, you’d do the same thing. Well, you probably would have just blown everything up, but that was classic Roy. All that power, and not the will to—!

You cut yourself off as your daughter’s sons filter into your ears. Quick as a flash, you gather her into your arms and slowly sink to the floor together.

“There, there,” you soothe your child. “It’s alright, Gigi.”

“He hates me!” your daughter sobs. As was his right, you think, but hold back from saying. Withholding the such a truth from your lover would strain any relationship. But then, you’re honestly not sure if your daughter knows of Roy’s sordid history. You have to assume she doesn’t, otherwise she would never have lied to him like that. Or she did, and was more selfish than you though. Neither option was terribly appealing.

But those were all future problems. Right now, you just needed to focus on keeping her in your gentle embrace.