"This… is the Hero Association?"
"...Yes."
Riley was currently in front of a tall building– No. Perhaps referring to it as tall was an understatement, the Hero Association towered over every other building within its vicinity. But of course, Riley has already expected it due to what the others have been calling it since earlier– The Hero Association Tower.
Riley's eyes then scanned the surrounding areas, only to see a crowd of people looking and staring at him; more than a hundred of them since the Hero Association Tower was right in the middle of the city.
Why would they even build something like this here, when it would be easily targeted by villains and whoever wanted to do so? If Riley was still donning the mantle of Darkday, then all it would take was to drop a mountain and the Hero Association would be done for.
"Are you wondering why they built it here?"
And within the whispers of the crowd, was a long and chuckling sigh as Tempo walked passed Riley; V was also beside him, seemingly trying her hardest not to cling to Riley's arm. Empress was previously with them, but as soon as she escorted Riley in front of the tower, she immediately left saying that she still had previous engagements.
"It's not just you," Tempo's sigh continued as he too, looked around the crowd of people, "Almost every super that is working as a hero is wondering the same. At least the Academy was built isolated for miles in Massachusetts. But this…
…It's right at the very heart of the US, big ol' New York."
Tempo then waved his hand as he smiled at the cameras being pointed at him. And very soon, more and more people gathered in front of the tower, instigating the guards to scatter outside in order to stop the people from bombarding the supers that wanted to register.
How could they not gather, when 2 members of the Hope Guild were currently standing in front of the tower? And since Tempo and the others didn't even announce that they would be visiting the Association, this was already a very minute number.
Soon, however, the contents of the whispers of the crowd all turned to the white-haired boy that was with V and Tempo. First, their voices held some sort of curiosity in them; followed by confusion as they all turned to look at each other and to their phones, seemingly trying to search who it was. But finally, after a few more seconds, gasps started to thunder in the air.
"That's… That's Riley Ross!"
"Riley who?"
"Whiteking's son and Ms. Phoenix's son!"
"...Whiteking and Ms. Phoenix have a child?"
"No, it's…"
Different sorts of stories littered the air, but their breaths all had one thing in common– were they finally going to see someone from the Academy take the tests of the Association?
The Hero Association was opened right on the very same day as the graduation of the students of the Mega Academy– the masses were all excited to see them take the tests, but alas, contrary to their expectations, the students were all exempted from taking the tests; after all, they were already graded by the Academy.
But Riley Ross did not graduate from the Academy, he was stripped of his status as a student when he went on a rampage because the government was holding his family hostage– their hype would have probably been just minimal if it was just that, but Riley Ross is Riley Ross.
Whiteking's adoptive son.
Ms. Phoenix's biological son.
Responsible for rescuing the shores of Hawaii with the superhero team, Baby Crew.
Responsible for minimizing the casualties in Los Angeles when the monsters appeared.
And rumored to be responsible for also stopping the entirety of England from being destroyed by killing the evil oligarch, Alistair Reuben.
A telekinetic that has enough power that he was framed as the living calamity, Darkday.
The last they heard of him, he should still be in prison. So what exactly was he doing here right now– and with members of the Hope Guild at that?
The murmurs and whispers that persisted in the air grew even more prevalent, almost creating an orchestra that could be heard from the skies of New York.
"We should probably head inside," Tempo then said as the whispers started to bombard his ears. But before he could even take a single step, however, a loud robust voice overpowered the whispers of a hundred people.
An old man stepped outside the tower; his white hair, showing his age. His face was already slightly wrinkled, but nonetheless, it was clean without any hint of facial hair besides his white eyebrows.
His walk was dignified; partner this with the tuxedo he was wearing, his presence could not be dismissed even with giants beside him.
"Tempo and V," the old man then let out a friendly smile as he approached Tempo, "It is an honor to be visited by the Hero Association's Grade-s Superheroes."
"..." Although the man's tone was friendly, V did not appreciate the words that entered her ears. What did he mean by 'the Hero Association's heroes'? He could have just mentioned that they were members of the Hope Guild; but instead, his voice and words were even emphasized as soon as he mentioned the association.
V was about to say something, but Tempo quickly blocked her path.
"Empress called me beforehand," the old man's smile did not disappear,
"She said that a new member of the Hope Guild is taking the test?" The old man then said as his eyes turned towards Riley,
"Could it be the infamous Riley Ross? I knew the Hope Guild would get their hands on you sooner or later– after all, it runs in the family."
The old man then let out a burst of small laughter. As for Riley, he was just looking at the man from head to toe; seemingly confused as to who exactly this simpleton was in front of him.
"Ah, where are my manners," the old man then noticed Riley's stares; his hand, immediately reaching towards Riley as he introduced himself,
"The name's Joe Hyden. President of the Hero Association."
"Riley Ross, former student of USMA, former prisoner of Russia Super Max Prison, and Hannah Ross's younger brother," Riley said as he only looked at Joe's hand.
"Ah yes, you don't like to be touched," Joe Hyden immediately retracted his hand as he let out another chuckle, "Now let's go inside and away from the prying eyes."
"..." He could have done that from the start, V thought. This Joe guy wanted the masses to overhear their talk. All sorts of ideas were running inside V's head as she finally followed Riley and Tempo inside the tower.
V didn't really need to take the test as she was granted an honorary rank of Grade-S along with the other members of the Hope Guild. As for Tempo, well… he was here to make sure no one does anything they would regret.
He didn't want a repeat of what happened with London– people were still finding someone to blame. Most were pointing their fingers at Alistair, but he was already dead. And so, some of them truly did blame V and the Hope Guild.
And also, Tempo was curious as to what kind of tests there actually were.
And finally, as they entered the tower, the whispers that bombarded his ears were gone. The number of stares, however, almost did not die down as everyone inside all turned to look at them.
How could they now, when 2 members of the No. 1 Superhero team in the world were suddenly within their sight?
Most of them were aspiring superheroes and idolizing the Hope Guild was basically almost a requirement.
There were those, however, that was only curious as to what the commotion was about– supers who just wanted the benefits of the registration as well as a new valid ID.
Tempo was about to look around the place, but before he could do so, Joe suddenly placed his hand on his shoulder as several… cameramen appeared in front of them.
"Let's take a photo to commemorate this moment," Joe said; his smile, not even disappering for even a second.
As for V, her eyes were already starting to switch– her annoyance and irritation, almost reaching their peak. But still, she smiled and awkwardly looked at the camera.
And perhaps amongst them, the readiest was Riley, whose hair and clothes were perfectly organized; even his eyes were already looking directly at the lens.
Several flashes of light then bombarded the group; lasting for approximately a quarter of a minute. And as soon as it was over, Joe immediately took his hand off of Tempo's shoulders and started walking away.
"I'll take my leave, then," Joe then said with a smile as he nodded towards Riley and the others, "I still have some prior meetings to attend to. I will let my secretary personally assist you while you are here…
…I really am looking forward to another Grade-S Superhero to be given birth by the Association."
And with those words, Joe left– taking with him most of the cameramen and some other associates. Leaving a woman wearing a pair of glasses; the way she carried herself, almost an archetype of what female secretaries are.
" Good afternoon," the secretary then bowed her head; the tone of her voice, almost as stoic and monotonous as Tomoe's, "My name is Jane Smith. I will–"
"Pft, yeah right."
"..."
Tempo quickly covered his mouth as his mouth blurted out his thoughts. Jane, however, only looked at him for a few moments, before turning her head towards Riley.
"Are you…
…the one taking the test?"