“Am I a villain!?”
“We… we demand to see the list!”
“I don’t want to be sharing a room with someone who will become a villain in the future! Why did you hide this from us!?”
“Y… yes, please make the list public!”
With the information of the Potential Villain list spreading like wildfire amongst the students, the hemispherical shape of the dome served as an amplifier to fan out their words. Those who were previously treating each other as friends were now meters apart; the students almost looked like that of a honeycomb, their gaps to each other almost equal as they tried their best to avoid one another.
“Man, everyone is on edge they might as well be Riley.”
There were still groups that were closely huddled with each other, of course– and Riley’s group was among them; peacefully sitting on the cold concrete floor.
“Do you have time to be that chill?” Hannah let out a scoff as she heard Gary’s words, “You’re probably in that fucking list.”
“What!? Why me? If there would be someone on that list it would be this guy!”
“Gary, it’s not nice to accuse someone,” Silvie let out a short but deep sigh as she shook her head.
“What? But didn’t Hannah just accuse me of–“
“It doesn’t matter whether I am on the list or not,” seeing Gary pointing at her, Tomoe only took a short glance before once again fixating her head towards Riley, “What matters now is that I am in Darkday’s list.”
“…What does that even mean, you psycho?” Hannah let out a small scoff, “And I didn’t know my brother had another friend in 1-V.”
“No!” Tomoe immediately stood up, “I… I don’t dare to claim to be Riley’s friend!”
“I… see. Our group has become full of weirdos. Anyway, I thought your instructor will be giving us news? It’s been an hour and we’re still being left in the dark about what happened.” Hannah then said as her eyes scanned the dome. There were already small fights happening, and yet none of the instructors on any other staff had responded.
“…Is it possible that many students went with the Dark Millenium?” Silvie then added as she also stood up to scan the area, “Although… we can’t really count since there’s too many of us.”
“That’s probably the case,” Gary then lazily dropped his back on the floor, “They couldn’t get me, so they probably settled with my inferiors.”
“…Yeah, that’s probably it,” Hannah let out a tiny scoff as she rolled her eyes, “In any case, we should probably find your instructor so we can–“
“I told you I am not on the Potential Villain list! I don’t even know what that is!”
“You’re lying! I saw your performance during the simulation, you laughed while accidentally killing the hostages!”
“That’s a simulation! I wouldn’t do that in real life!”
The group’s conversation was cut short as a couple of students near them started to get violent, with one summoning a bunch of insects coming out of his sleeves.
“Isn’t he… from our class?” Silvie uttered.
“I think so,” Gary said as he quickly stood up to look at the commotion, “Robert Moore… General Parasite. The one she’s fighting with is also from our class, I think. Wait… most of them are from our class.”
“I guess they gathered here since Silvie’s here,” Hannah muttered before shaking her head, “It’s not our problem, let them settle it on their own. The situation in the shelter is already going bonkers, it’s best we don’t add fuel to the fire.”
“Bu–“
“Don’t even think about it, Silv,” Hannah said before Silvie could even utter a word, “With your position as the Mega Student, the pretentious righteous motherfuckers would probably use you to rally to find out who is who.”
“But still, we just can’t sit around doing no–“
“Stop this! Why are we fighting each other!?”
And once again, before Silvie could finish her words, a loud and high-pitched voice echoed throughout the whole shelter. Gary and the others quickly looked as to who was intervening, only for their eyes to land on a pair of two humongous melons– belonging to none other than Katrina Collins of Class 1-V, aka Hurricane Katrina.
“Even… even if you think someone belongs to this stupid Potential Villain list, it doesn’t mean they’re bad people!” Katrina bellowed as she stood between General Parasite and her other classmate, “They’re just misguided! Isn’t that why we are here in the Academy!? To become the best versions of ourselves!?”
“K… Katrina,” General Parasite stuttered as he slowly retracted the insects that came out of his sleeves.
“Please, everyone. Stop fighting!”
“Very well said, girl.”
And as soon as Katrina finished her words, a calm but slightly raspy voice reverberated throughout the whole dome. They all tried to search who the voice was coming from, but before they could find the source, a huge hologram appeared in the air right in the center of the dome.
“H…hey, it’s your father.”
“Shh! That’s a secret, you fucker!”
“S… sorry,” Gary immediately covered his mouth, but not before taking a hit on the head from Hannah.
“None of you were supposed to become aware of the existence of the Potential Villain list. But what is done is done, so let me be the one to confirm it to all of you– the Potential Villain list is real.”
“W… what!?” Hearing none other than Whiteking confirming it, the students once again began to clamor. But before it could get any worse, Whiteking once again shared his words.
“But that… little girl is right; all of you are here so we could teach you how to be better– How to become a hero in the future that the you now would be proud of,” Whiteking’s hologram started to walk through the air, “Do you think that just because someone has the potential to do bad, that they can never do good? Let me tell you this…
…No one is born evil.”
“…” Riley let out a small but fettered breath as he heard his father’s words. No one… is born evil? If so, then why does someone like him exist?
“I will tell you this now, there is no reason to ostracize each other. Because if bad people are capable of doing good, the same could be said vice-versa. The way you are acting right now to your fellow students– Do you not think you would one day also be written in the Potential Villain list?”
“T… that’s…” Whiteking’s words resounded to all of the students, especially to those who were accusing others of belonging to the list; most of their heads, now looking to the ground.
“27%,” Whiteking continued, “27.4%. As of now, that is the number of students that belong to the list. The Academy is trying its best to make that 0%. Please, give us, your classmates, and yourself the chance to make that zero.”
“…”
“S… sorry, Robert,” the female student that was accusing General Parasite could not help but apologize as soon as Whiteking’s words reached her heart.
“It’s… okay, it’s my fault for being a maniac.”
“…What?”
“And now, to more concerning matters.”
It would seem that the announcements weren’t done, as Whiteking’s words once again reverberated throughout the dome; but this time, his hologram disappeared, only to be replaced by a blindfolded instructor.
“Isn’t that your instructor, Hannah banana?”
“Y… yeah,” seeing her class’ instructor suddenly showing himself, Hannah could not help but take in a nervous gulp. Even in class, Nightwalker rarely talks if he doesn’t need to– so seeing him out in the open like this… something was wrong.
“Hannah Ross–“
“!!!” Hannah’s body straightened up as she suddenly heard her name. But when she thought that she was being called, Nightwalker started mentioning other names.
“DeAndre Brown, Ryan Woods, Latisha James, and lastly Luis Hardy; you will be designated in different classes. Please wait for more information about your transfer.”
“W… what?” Hannah blinked a couple of times as she looked at Riley and the others, “What’s going on?”
And before anyone else could answer her, Whiteking once again appeared in the hologram.
“The names you have heard just now… belong to the students of Class 1-F,” Whiteking said in a weak tone, his bravado tone now completely gone as he almost stuttered his words, “They are the only students left from their class…
…the others have sadly died in the hands of the so-called terrorist group, Dark Millenium.”
“!!!”
“No… fucking way… what?” Hannah almost fell to her butt, but Riley slightly lifted her up in the air before she could do so.
It wasn’t only the remaining students of Class 1-F who were shocked, most of the students were as they all turned to look at each other. Dead? Some of them have actually died? How… did something like this happen when they literally had superheroes as their teachers?
“We… were supposed to protect you,” Whiteking continued, “The organization knew every bit of our movements, they knew all of the students and superheroes that would be present, and they even hacked into the satellite I borrowed from the government…
…But none of those are excuses as to why we failed to protect you. We are not asking for your forgiveness or requesting your trust. But what I can assure you, is this–
–A team is already being gathered to rescue your classmates that have been abducted by the Dark Millenium, and we will not rest until we do. But for now, please remain here until we sort everything out.”
And with that, the hologram shut down; the reflection of Whiteking in everyone’s eyes faded.
“They… killed my classmates?” Even with all of the people letting out gasps of shock, Hannah’s fettered whispers still reached the rest of the group, “H… how? Why?”
“Don’t be too down, Hannah,” Gary said as he let out a short but deep sigh, “Those Justice pricks belong there, right? They probably deserved it.”
“What? Do you even hear yourself? Some of those students are even younger than us,” Hannah said as she furrowed her eyebrows, “They’re dicks, but it doesn’t mean they deserve to die.”
“R… right, sorry.”
“Miss Scarlet Mage!” And as the two were talking, Silvie suddenly raised her voice as she looked at Scarlet Mage, who was currently approaching them. However, even with her loud voice, Scarlet Mage did not seem to hear her as she only called for Riley, with Tomoe following behind him.
“W… what’s with that?” Hannah said as her eyebrows furrowed even further.
“You were right, Hannah,” Silvie then said as she let out a deep breath, “There are times we need to eavesdrop.”
“What? What did you hear?”
“They… are planning to escape the shelter,” Silvie muttered as her eyes stared at the three.
“…What!? How… and why?”
“I can’t hear clearly because of all the other noise. But they are probably thinking of rescuing the other students themselves.”
“What? My brother can’t be that reckless… not to mention caring!”
“I… I can’t hear anything anymore, it feels like something is blocking–“
“It doesn’t matter!” Hannah then clicked her tongue before rushing towards Riley and the others, “I am supposed to be the reckless one! We…
…are coming with them!”