“W… what?”
Silvie Savelievna’s hair was of a golden brown hue, leaning towards more to the gold– similar to Mega Woman. But other than that and her powers, their similarity stops there. No one has seen Mega Woman without the mask that covered the top part of her face fully, perhaps there were records hundreds of years ago, but it’s probably long gone by now.
“You know, just because we have the same color and powers doesn’t mean we look alike,” Silvie’s sigh almost traveled throughout the entire classroom, “A quarter of this classroom has the same hair color, and there’s even one more in my group. But… thank you for comparing me to Mega Woman.”
Silvie then let out a smile, clearly satisfied with Riley’s words. After all, to have someone come up to you and say they remind you of your idol– what greater flattery could surpass it?
“No.” Riley, however, shook his head as he looked Silvie straight in the eyes, “You look like Mega Woman, I believe you might even be related to her.”
“What… no?”
“Pft,” Gary then snickered as he got in between the two, “I think Riley is just trying to woo you with flattery. I think our little Riley here has a crush on you, ooooh shit.”
“W… what?”
“Ah, I feel betrayed. I thought we had something, dear Riley,” Ben then gently laid down on Silvie and Riley’s desk, placing the back of his hand on his forehead as he let out a jesting cry. He was, however, quickly pulled away by his sister.
“Dude, stop. You’re embarrassing us in front of the elites,” Bella muttered before smirking towards Riley, “Nice one, Riley. First the instructor and now the Mega Student… if only I had the same luck with women.”
Gary, Ben, and Bella all started laughing as they all seemed to be harmonizing with each other. Silvie, on the other hand, was as red as a tomato as she covered her entire face.
“W… wait. Is that it!? Are you trying to woo me, Riley!?” She then stuttered, “I… I thought you liked Scarlet Mage? Wait… I don’t know what to do.”
Silvie then started looking all over the face, clearly bothered and frenzied by Gary’s sudden revelation. Seeing this, Gary and the others completely stopped laughing as they all stared at Silvie as if she was some lost cat.
“I am not trying to woo you, Silvie,” Riley quickly shook his head, “I only stated facts.”
“Y… you’re clearly lying! That would mean you’ve also seen Mega Woman’s face!”
“…I suppose that is what it entails, is it not?” Riley then placed his hand on his chin.
“Hey, Silvie. Relax,” Gary then raised both his hands as he let out a weak chuckle, “We were just kidding, we all know loverboy here has the hots for Scarlet Mage.”
“I don’t,” Riley once again shook his head.
“Are… you okay, Silvie?” Noticing that Silvie’s breaths still had no signs of calming down, Bella carefully placed her hand on Silvie’s shoulder to console her, “This raging laser boy is right, we’re only joking. There’s no need… to overreact.”
“R… right, sorry.”
With everyone looking at her, Silvie slowly started to tame her crazed breaths as she sat back down. And with a slight wince, she covered her head in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
“I… I don’t really socialize with people that much,” Silvie’s muffled words then whispered to Riley and the other’s ears, “I’m sorry for losing my cool.”
“Well, that means you’re human like the rest of us,” Bella raised her thumbs as she patted Silvie’s shoulder, “Look at the raging laser boy, he almost lasered everyone in the class because he wanted to win.”
“…I thought you were unconscious when that happened?”
“If my brother saw it, then I know it,” Bella then smirked at Gary, “I bet I would have probably destroyed you did something like that to me.”
“Oho,” Gary let out an amused smile, “Wanna bet, then?”
“Jesus, guys.”
However, before anything could happen between the two, Ben stood between them and pushed them away from each other, “Stop oozing too much testosterone, you’re ruining my makeup.”
“Wait, did you use my makeup again!?”
“…No,” Ben whispered before suddenly running away.
“I told you not to use my things!” Bella’s screams reverberated throughout the entire class as she quickly chased after Ben, who was heading about to leave the room.
“Lesbians shouldn’t be wearing makeup anyway!”– Was Ben’s fleeting words before he disappeared into the hallways.
“Such discrimination will not be tolerated!”– Was Bella’s fleeting words as she continued to chase her brother.
“That’s… quite a pair,” Gary once again let out an awkward chuckle as he watched as the two disappear from the classroom, “So… we still have an hour left before Spectacular Mustache Man arrives, want to go to the mall again?”
“I’d rather not,” Silvie lifted her head from her desk as she shook her head, “The students from the other class would surely challenge me again, I don’t want to deal with that while the classes are still ongoing,” she then leaned back on her desk as she let out a long and deep sigh.
“I feel you,” Gary said as he had actually also been challenged once, “Talk about a flawed system, right? You’re the one getting disturbed, but you have to pay 100 Mega Points if you refuse.”
“No, it’s perfect,” Silvie shook her head, “It lets the Academy know the true colors of their students.”
“…There’s something like that?”
Not only Gary, but the rest of them slowly started to lean their heads closer to Silvie as soon as they heard her words.
“I believe our performance in class is not enough for us to be considered a good student; we’re not just trying to become a part of the society here, but be a model for the citizens to look up to,” Silvie crossed her arms, “Giving me, the top student, unlimited funds to buy whatever I want, allowing the students to duel for money… I think all of our actions here are being graded in some way.”
“You… you think so?” Gary could not help but take in a huge gulp, “So… my mess yesterday–“
“Has probably merited you a negative grade,” Silvie then let out a wide smirk, “That’s what you get for being too greedy.”
“F… fuck me,” Gary then slowly stepped back to his seat, lifelessly falling on it as all of his breaths left his entire body. Riley, on the other hand, slightly moved his seat away from Gary. After all, he was not a homosexual.
This minute gesture, however, seemed to have been misunderstood by Silvie as she once again could not help but freeze up from Riley moving closer to her.
“T… that’s… Are you sure you are not trying to court me?” Silvie then muttered as her face once again became a tomato.
“No,” Riley quickly shook his head. Seeing this, Silvie could finally let out a breath of relief… but also a slight disappointment.
“You are my sister’s friend, Silvie,” Riley then followed, “Letting you fall in love with a monster is the worst that I could do.”
“…Bro, we know you’re edgy…” Gary, who was previously thinking about his whole existence, could not help but quietly mutter as he turned his head towards Riley, “…but this is just sad edge.”
“You’re not a monster, Riley!” Silvie once again stood up from her seat as she raised her voice, “You’re not a monster, you’re our friend, okay?”
“Yeah man, you can be autistic all you want but never be a downer.”
“I… I don’t think that’s appropriate advice.”
“You know what’s appropriate advice, though?” Gary then knocked on his desk several times, drumming it to a tempo,
“Edge Lord– Riley’s superhero name. Eh? Eh!?”
“No!” Silvie slammed her palm on her desk, “Since he chose my superhero name, I feel it’s just right that I pick his name!”
“Oho, so you’re embracing Mega Girl?”
“T… that’s…”
“So, pray tell, Mega Girl,” Gary breathed, “What name dost thou picketh for our dear Riley?”
“Uhm…” After releasing a short but harmonious hum, Silvie suddenly went quiet as she placed her hand on her chin, taking small glances towards Riley from time to time. But finally, after a few seconds, she raised a finger and stood up, “Aha!” She bellowed, “I think the name Br–“
“Halt! I demand a stoppage in giving names!”
But before Silvie could share her wonderful idea, the thick metal door of their classroom slid open, revealing a muscular, but also posh middle-aged man with a groomed mustache.
Of course, this was none other than their instructor for the day and the one that will be handling their names– Spectacular Mustache Man. The twins, Ben and Bella, were also behind him, quickly going back to their seats as soon as Spectacular Mustache Man beckoned them to do so.
“Before you finalize your names, I would like to talk to you about a specific individual,” SMM said as he tapped the tablet in his hand, and as he did so, the lights instantly dimmed. And before the students could wonder what was happening, the light that they lost was replaced by the gigantic screen in front of the class.
“That’s…”
And as soon as the images started to reflect on their eyes, the air was quickly filled by their gasps.
“This is the individual that I wanted to talk with you about– the man with the most powerful name in the world,” SMM raised his voice as he gestured to the screen, “A name so feared, that people start to run and scream just by hearing it.”
“…” While the others were clearly uncomfortable from what they were seeing, Riley, on the other hand, could not help but let out an amused but quiet mutter. Because the one currently being presented on the screen right now…
…was none other than him.