Everyone jumped at the action and noise before turning to look at Tephe, where Rowena asked in a concerned tone, "Tephe?"
"Why, why, why?" Tephe asked as tears began to fill her eyes as she continued, "Why does Revi get to go on a date with Adam and I don't?
Rowena beating me was bad enough, but at least she knew Adam before I did. But Revi? I've known Adam longer than Revi, so why is she getting closer to the man I have feelings for ahead of me?"
"Goddaughter…" Revi said, but then froze in shock as Tephe's body was covered in white energy while she screamed.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Tephe, calm down," Aphrodite said in a calming tone.
Tephe, however, ignored her and yelled, "I'M NOT YOUR GODDAUGHTER! YOU ONLY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THAT OPPORTUNITY SO THAT YOU COULD MEET ADAM AND TAKE HIM FROM ME."
As Tephe continued to scream hysterically, her white hair and the energy she was releasing began to turn iridescent.
"HE IS MINE, REVI. I KNEW HIM BEFORE YOU, I WONT LET YOU TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME, I WONT LET ANYONE TAKE ADAM AWAY FROM ME, HE IS MY FUTURE MATE, WHITE TOLD ME SO."
As her hysteria increased along with the amount of energy she was releasing, Spector began to shake before alarms went off, and Spector made an emergency announcement.
"ALERT, ALERT. IRIDESCENT DRAGON TEPHE'S ENERGY RELEASE IS REACHING DANGEROUS LEVELS. IF SHE IS NOT STOPPED, MY HULL WILL BE COMPROMISED."
As Spector finished speaking, the mess hall door opened to reveal Spector Android. Before any of them could ask what Spector Android was doing there, she vanished before a loud thud was heard, followed by the sound of a collapsing body.
Everyone stared in shock at Spector Android, who had moved across the room faster than any of them could follow and punched Tephe in the gut, knocking her out.
"Iridescent Dragon Tephe's energy levels have returned to normal," Spector Android stated in its monotone voice before turning and leaving as if what it had done was nothing special.
There was silence in the mess hall as everyone stared in stunned silence at the departing Spector Android before Revi came to her senses and rushed towards Tephe while crying out her name, "Tephe!"
Maiya, who had been flying in the air, landed next to Tephe's face and started to nudge it with concern as everyone else quickly moved over to check on Tephe's condition.
"How is she?" Adam asked in concern.
"Just unconscious," Revi said with a sigh of relief as she picked her up and carried her over to one of the sofas in the mess hall, where she lay her down.
"What was that?" Emma asked in confusion before adding, "I've never seen Tephe act that way before."
"Neither have I?" Adam replied before holding his uniband over Tephe and ordering, "Spector, conduct a scan."
"Affirmative," Spector replied before a beam of light shone out of Adam's uniband and ran over Tephe's body, scanning it.
"The Tephe we remember was known to have a temper, but I have never heard of her acting like this," Aphrodite remarked.
"Do you really fear that I would take Adam away from you, silly girl?" Revi said soothingly as she gently stroked Tephe's hair, which had returned to its normal white, while adding, "I would never do that to you; I always wished to share him with you."
"Perhaps this came about from your teasing her in the past," Stacey suddenly said.
"What do you mean?" Revi asked.
"Lorelie told me how she had to lecture her after she stormed into Adam's room, proclaiming her desire to mate with him so that she could beat you," Stacey explained.
"But I only meant that as a joke and as a way to tease Adam," Revi said in alarm.
"You might have seen it as a joke, but from what Lorelie told me, Tephe didn't; she thought you were actually competing with her to get Adam's affection," Stacey replied.
"There's no way Tephe would fall for that," Elemence said in disbelief.
"You're still thinking of her as the Tephe you have known all your life," Adam suddenly said before continuing, "The Tephe lying before us now and the one you know are not the same. This Tephe was raised in a sheltered and isolated environment because of her white dragon prophecy.
She had probably never experienced teasing before she started travelling with us and therefore doesn't understand the concept of sarcasm very well."
"Ahhhhh, I'm such an idiot, why didn't I realise it at the time?" Revi said in annoyance, more at herself than anyone else.
"It's not entirely your fault, you have spent the last five hundred years knowing the Tephe that wasn't isolated and sheltered. It's not surprising you got the two mixed up soon after we returned from the past," Adam replied, causing Revi to smile at him thankfully before she shook her head and said.
"That's still no excuse. I knew in my heart that the Tephe I was talking to was my friend who fought alongside me. I guess I just wanted to tease her a little as payback for making me wait so long to see my friend again."
"Scan complete, no anomalies detected," Spector suddenly announced.
"Well, that's a relief," Rowena said with a sigh before asking with a frown, "Don't you think that was a bit much, punching her in the gut like that?"
"It was the quickest and most effective way other than hitting with a stun shot to knock her unconscious," Spector replied.
"Then why didn't you hit her with a stun shot? It would have been less painful," Revi asked.
"My android is not currently equipped with a weapon capable of firing a stun shot. Also, I was getting strange readings from the energy she was emitting," Spector answered.
"Strange energy?" Adam asked.
"I'm currently analysing the energy that Tephe was giving off; however, my current theory is that it would have dissipated the stun shot, thus making it useless," Spector replied.
"So what you're saying is that when Tephe releases her iridescent coloured energy, it becomes a type of personal energy shield?" Elemence asked in shock.
"In a manner of speaking, but I can't give a definite answer until I finish analysing the energy she released," Spector replied.
"Do personal energy shields exist?" Emma asked curiously.
"They do, but they're expensive to produce and become useless once their battery is dead, so they're generally only owned and used by the rich and powerful," Elemence answered before saying, "I'm surprised at how quickly that android moved. I couldn't even track it."
"It was just like when it faced some of the Noir Family members in the past," Stacey stated.
"Faced some of the Noir family?" Eri asked curiously.
"It happened during our time on Oceana Seven," Stacey began to explain. "During Adam and Lorelie's first date, a group of your family members tried to steal Spector. Spector Android appeared and quickly dealt with them."
"I see," Erri replied.
"Any idea why Tephe's hair and energy changed colour?" Elemence asked curiously before adding, "Also, why does your ship keep addressing her as Iridescent Dragon Tephe?"
"That's… difficult to explain," Adam replied.
"It happened during your fight with the bounty hunter manager and that goon he hired, right?" Revi asked.
"Revi, you know about this?" Elemence asked in surprise.
"I saw it on Adam's stream. It was during the UMB Cup opening ceremony charity match…" Revi replied as she began to explain how Tephe's scales and breath attack had suddenly become iridescent in colour."
"How is such a thing possible?" Elemence asked in shock before adding, "I've never heard of a dragon changing its colour before."
"No one has, that's why we haven't mentioned it since," Rowena replied before adding, "I'm sure you could guess what would happen if the dragons learned of this."
"You mean to say that even Senator Pevaphio is unaware? But how? You streamed the whole thing," Elemence asked.
"I had Spector erase any evidence of it happening," Adam replied before adding, "Also, no, we have yet to mention it to Tephe's mother since we figured it would be best to speak to her about it first."
"Unfortunately, she changes the subject and avoids talking about it whenever we attempt to bring it up," Rowena added.
"If Tephe's going to lose control and put Spector and the rest of us at risk every time we talk about a new woman joining the harem, you're going to have to make a decision, babe," Stacey said seriously as she looked at Adam.
"Such as?" Adam asked.
"Such as deciding if she should be allowed to continue travelling with us…" Stacey began, only for Adam to interrupt her and ask.
"You want me to kick Tephe off the ship?"
As Adam asked that question, Maiya, who had still been prodding Tephe gently, glared at Stacey before flying up to her, where she then proceeded to hit her with one of her fins.