“My father is not in any way involved in the death of Shomari, please…
…do not ask him any more questions.”
Riley’s voice echoed throughout the entire stadium, and although his tone was still quite monotonous, it somewhat held a certain… authority that made the reporters a little uncomfortable.
“R… Riley?” As for Bernard, he could only stutter as Riley asked him to sit down.
“Very well,” and as for the current reporter, he didn’t seem to have any plans on backing down either, “Just a month before, there is news that you have sent a woman of color to the clinic, is that true?”
“Yes.”
“I thought this race issue is already–“
“Let them continue, father,” Riley once again raised his hand to stop his father from saying anything more.
“It was also against a woman,” and with Riley’s permission, the reporter continued, “The people are starting to wonder whether or not you actually meant for that to happen, and that it was not an accident. What can you say about that?”
“…” This time, Riley did not answer immediately. But instead, letting out a sigh that echoed throughout the entire stadium– finally showing a change of his tone.
“Shomari and Bella are both objectively weaker than I am. I need to control my powers just enough to not hurt them,” Riley then said, “The color of their skin or their gender has nothing to do with that, Mr. Reporter. I have confidence in my ability to control my power– If they got hurt, then it would be due to their own actions.”
Hearing Riley’s statement, the reporter could not help but take in a small but deep breath– he hit a jackpot, he thought. This was the first time someone was being accused of murder, and they belittle the victim.
“So you are saying Shomari died because he is not strong enough!?” The reporter bellowed, “How could you– !!!”
He could not help but suddenly stop his words, however, as a steel pole suddenly appeared in front of his face, its tip pointed directly towards his eye.
Everyone then looked at Riley, only to see him with his hand slightly raised.
“This–“
And before he and the other reporters could understand what was going on, several poles that seemed to have come from the chairs that were not being used all started shooting towards all of them, stopping short of making a hole on their forehead.
Even Prophet, Bernard, and the other people present inside the hall was presented with a sharp steel pole a few inches away from their face.
“Riley!” Bernard then quickly stood up, with the tip of the pole instantly following his face, “What are you do–“
And before Bernard could finish his words, a smile slowly rose on Riley’s face; making everyone inside the room completely uncomfortable.
“Go ahead, everyone,” Riley then said, “Try moving the bars if you can.”
“…” Bernard furrowed his eyebrows from Riley’s words. But after a few seconds, he somewhat realized what Van was doing as he grabbed the steel pole. His bracers then started to tremble like scales as small gaps opened all over it, boosting out fires that caused the pole to move ever so slightly.
“…” The reporters were quite nervous as they had no idea what was going on, but after a few breaths, some of them started trying to move the pole– with some even hanging on them. But it was to no avail, it was as if the poles were fixed in the air, not even budging for even a millisecond.
And soon, Riley’s words once again whispered in the air, “The only way that the poles in front of all of you would move is that I stop controlling it. In reflection to that, the only way the spear would have killed Shomari is if he moved the spear towards himself as soon as I let go of it…
…As I said earlier, he committed suicide.”
“But… this… this only proves that you have the power to kill him and what happened wasn’t an accident!”
“It wasn’t an accident, he killed himself,” Riley commented, “And if I truly wanted to kill Shomari, then I would have made sure that no one else knows it.”
And as he said that, the sharp tips of the poles slowly started to move closer towards the reporters’ faces. This was not good, Riley thought. He…
…was suddenly having the urge to kill all of the people in front of him. Maybe he shouldn’t have done something like this… should he do it? Should he go out of retirement and just kill everyone here?
Was it worth it?
What about Mega Woman? He told her he would wait for her.
Not good… this is not good. Riley could feel his breaths slowly starting to become heavy as the minute smile on his face was threatening to become even wider.
“I think that’s enough, Riley Ross.”
And before his thoughts could completely flourish, a figure suddenly appeared behind him, “I think they got the message.”
“…” Riley then slowly turned his head, only to see the leader of the Hope Guild standing there.
“E… Empress!?” The reporters all clamored as Empress suddenly showed herself, “What… what is she doing here!?”
With the gasps of shock filling the entire stadium, Riley could only blink his eyes a couple of times, before subtly waving his hand as the pole all went away at the same time, carefully and expertly returning to where they were taken from.
Prophet, who was keeping quiet on the side and just watching, could not help but furrow his eyebrows upon seeing this. He then glanced at Bernard, his eyes highly inquisitive.
“I know all of you are curious as to why I am here,” Empress’s words then resounded in the entire stadium as she was given a seat at the panel, “And some of you might have guessed why, and you are probably right– as someone who grew up in the deepest outskirts of South Africa, I am well aware of the situation happening now… and it’s something I can’t ignore.”
“The–“
“But I am here to tell you that this boy did nothing wrong,” Empress then muttered before giving Bernard a slight glance.
“What… what do you mean by that, Empress!?”
“Are you trying to protect the family of your fellow member!?”
“No,” Empress then raised her hand, quickly shutting down the reporters. Riley, who saw this, could not help but sigh internally. If he was wearing his Darkday suit, he was sure these reporters would also shut their mouths… because they would be dead.
“Shomari belongs to an old tribe that still has previous customs completely intact,” Empress then eloquently explained, “And their tribe has a prophecy that a human that looked like Mr. Riley Ross here would end up destroying the world.”
“W… what?”
“I am a bit late since I… spoke with the leader of the said tribe,” Empress followed, “And I am here to tell you that they have confessed everything voluntarily.”
“…” Bernard took in a small breath as he heard Empress’s words. The plan was to plant a reporter amongst the crowd and have him be the one to expose this information… but to think Adaeze would come herself– was she trying to increase his debt to her?
Empress then continued to explain about the tribe’s customs, as well as the One Cursed by God.
The reporters could only look at each other and swallow their words. They were pushing for a certain narrative, but now that was gone, their bullets were almost completely low. Why were they not informed about this crucial information about their station?
“And so, I am truly sorry to say this,” Empress then let out a small sigh as she looked in the direction of Shomari’s parents, “That Riley Ross is right that Shomari committed suicide… for the sake of their tribe. This is only an action of a minute and radical group and does not represent the entirety of my people. There is also only a handful of them inside the Academy and most of the African students staying here are completely innocent and oblivious of their cause.”
“How… how dare you betray your own kind!?” Shomari’s parents then stood up from their seats. They were about to rush towards her, but were stopped by the Academy staff, “You… you are making my son’s sacrifice into nothing!”
“…I am by no means intruding with the business of the Academy,” Empress completely ignored the parents’ words as she looked at Prophet, “But perhaps those who are involved in this radical group should be ejected from the Academy. Because if not and the group continues with their misdeeds. We…
…will be forced to treat them as terrorists.”
“!!!”
“Adaeze?” Bernard then quickly grabbed Empress’s arm and pulled her close to him, “I think this is going a bit overboard.”
“You asked for help, didn’t you?” Empress whispered close to Bernard’s ears. And of course, the reporters did not miss this very minute and subtle closeness between the two as they started taking photos without any pause.
“That is all I have to say,” Empress then stood up from her seat, “It is up to the Academy to make a decision in expelling the–“
“I think expelling them will not solve anything and is quite a hard punishment, Empress.”
And before Empress could finish her words, the main door of the auditorium opened. Everyone turned their heads towards the noise, only for their eyes to reflect the golden glow coming from the individual that was slowly walking down the aisle.
“I believe they could be guided to the right path.”
It was another member of the Hope Guild– Bulwark.
“What…
…What the hell is going on!?”