Her Majesty's Prison Leeds for the Super Gifted. One of the biggest prisons reserved for Supers in the entire world. It also happens to be the most secured next to the Super Maximum Prison in Russia.
HM Prison Leeds house some of the most heinous villains in the entire world, or the most insane– there really was no distinction between the two in terms of treatment.
There was supposed to be a lot of processes for one to be taken here, but considering the gravity of the individual they were bringing in– almost every procedure was skipped.
Of course, this might seem over the top for someone only considered to be a suspect. But considering Riley Ross was being suspected as Darkday, the most heinous terrorist and villain the world has ever known, this could actually be considered as mellow. If he wasn't as young as he was, then everyone would have already attempted to kill him.
Of course… that wasn't also wise considering Darkday's abnormal strength.
Darkday was supposed to also be the scariest being in the entire world. But why… why do these media people seem to have no fear?-- Bulwark thought as he looked at the almost hundreds of reporters surrounding them. For the media to already be here before them would mean that someone tipped them off.
Bulwark then turned his eyes to the front, focusing at Riley who, despite bound by chains, was still walking calmly as more than a dozen super soldiers surrounded him.
"..." If Riley Ross is truly Darkday, then wouldn't he have killed everyone here already? Or was he pretending to be compliant? If so… then isn't this the best chance to kill him?
Of course, Bulwark was well aware of the invisible armor that was always surrounding Darkday… and Riley Ross. But if Bulwark concentrated all of his power in one single attack, then there was a chance that he would be able to pierce it.
…But what if Riley Ross, despite all the similarities that Bulwark was now seeing, was not Darkday? What if he ends up killing an innocent child? But even if he wasn't Darkday… then what is one child for the chance to get rid of the monster that would destroy the world?
"..." Bulwark could only let out a small but very deep groan as the thoughts of murder entered his mind. All of these would have been resolved if Prophet just told him the truth– or just told him anything, really. The two of them promised not to hide anything from each other… and Darkday's true identity was surely something that Prophet would have told him.
"...Why couldn't you just tell me?" Bulwark then whispered very quietly as he remained staring at Riley.
Whiteking also seemed to be missing ever since Prophet died. Was he not revealing himself even as his son was walking into prison?
Just…
…what exactly is he doing right now?
***
In a room drowned with a soft and dim ambient light. The fading red smoothly reflected on Empress's dark skin, almost making it look like the setting sun– when the light perfectly met the darkness of the night.
Her eyes also reflected light, not from the fading red, but from the images of the tablet she was holding as she lay in bed. Her fingers were currently dragging and checking all of the news outlets and social media; their content, all the same.
She was about to click on another article when a faint groan suddenly whispered into her ear. And as soon as the warm breath touched her skin, she quickly threw away the tablet she was holding.
"Did… I wake you up?" Empress then whispered as her hand softly caressed the face of the man lying next to her; of course, it was Bernard.
Bernard, however, even with Empress touching his cheeks, remained unresponsive.
"It's… okay," Empress then embraced Bernard's head, burrowing it onto her bare bosom, "Let's just stay like this for as long as we can. Just rest, my love. I…
…will be the one to take care of you," Empress then whispered as she slowly drowned herself with the sheets; embracing every inch of Bernard as the blankets began to wave.
There was a loud ringing echoing throughout the room since earlier; but almost as if the two of them couldn't hear it, the ringing just continued completely ignored.
The tune was a signal for all the members of the Hope Guild to gather; but even then, the only response that Empress gave was the sound of her tongue lightly whispering.
As for Bernard– his eyes were actually looking at the signal. A few seconds after, however, he just closed his eyes and let himself be drowned by the comfortable warmth that Empress was blanketing her.
***
Back in HM Prison Leeds, Riley was still currently being bombarded by flashes of light. This time, however, his back was on a wall; his hands, holding a placard with his name on it.
"Turn to your left and point the plate at the camera!"
"..." Riley has been ignoring the voice that was screaming in the air for a couple of seconds now; his eyes, staring at the bars behind him that measured his height.
He grew taller– is what Riley was thinking right now. He was at 5'11" when he entered the Academy, but now, he stood at 6'0" or maybe even an inch more. The books he read said that most males stop growing at 17… does this mean this was his final height?
"Turn to your left and point the plate at the camera!"
The super guard once again let out a scream that reverberated throughout the entire grey room– which seemed to be exaggeratingly large just to process a single suspected criminal.
"Turn–"
The guard was about to let out another roar; before he could do so, however, Riley turned his eyes towards him.
"..." The guard slightly backed away as soon as their eyes met. Contrary to his vivid expectations, however, Riley just proceeded to follow his order and turned to the side. The guard then looked at his other colleagues, all of them wondering if the white-haired boy in front of them could really be Darkday.
They all saw the video… and everything seemed conclusive– especially the part where Whiteking himself admitted that Riley is Darkday. But with the technology today… it could also be fake.
As for Bulwark, he was still there observing the prison and Riley's every move. He was waiting for Riley to do something… but he has been casually compliant since earlier even though the process they were doing now treated him as if he was already guilty.
He wasn't even interrogated and instead just processed already. Bulwark asked if they planned to interrogate him; the prison's response?
They will do it later in a safe environment.
Safe environment? Was there something like that for a being as strong as Darkday? Bulwark had also seen the videos that everyone was talking about… and he too agrees that everything looked real.
Minutes more passed– and Riley was now brought inside some sort of room. Its walls filled entirely with glass. Some transparent and Bulwark and the others could be seen, while some completely reflected Riley's silhouette.
"Strip down!"
"..." Riley slowly turned his eyes towards where Bulwark and the others were. And judging by the distortion of the figures, the glass between them should at least be a meter thick– he would know, he had a lot of experience in dealing with glass.
Riley's eyes then turned towards the ceiling, only to see more than a dozen cameras capturing all angles of the room.
"Strip down!"
Riley did not seem to mind, however, as he slowly undressed; revealing his abnormally white skin while casually folding his clothes and placing them on the table at the side of the room.
Everyone just stared at him as he did so; most of them, squinting their eyes from the light that reflected from his skin– it didn't help that Bulwark, who was standing beside them, was also literally glowing.
"Please step on the red circle!"
"..." And without any hesitation, Riley moved towards the center of the room. And as soon as he stepped on the said circle, a violent shower instantly bombarded him. His skin and hair, however, were completely unmoving even as this torrent of water just slid across the invisible barrier that armored his silhouette.
"Please do not use your abilities!"
"No, I don't think so."
"!!!"
And finally, after hours of silence of just being dragged around, Riley opened his mouth.
Bulwark's eyebrows immediately furrowed; the golden aura that surrounded his body, becoming thicker almost by the second.
"Do not use your abilities or we will resort to using force!"
"No, I don't think so," Riley repeated his words, "This water is dirty."
"Y–"
"It's fine," Bulwark then raised his hand before any provocation could happen,
"It's alright, Riley Ross," Bulwark then let out a small sigh as he looked at Riley, "You are clean enough already. Just wear the clothing provided to you then face the wall."
"..." Riley then turned his head towards Bulwark. And after a few seconds, nodded his head and proceeded to walk back to the table. He then quickly proceeded to unfold the clothing provided to him, making sure there was no dirt sticking onto it by shaking it in the air.
"Do not use your–"
"Let him be."
"But–"
"If he is indeed Darkday… what can you even do?"
And with Bulwark's words, the guard could really only shut his mouth. His only choice was to wait until Riley was satisfied with what he was doing. But really, this was the first time he ever saw someone patting the uniform dry– after all…
…It was only a striped uniform. Its colors–
–Black and White.