“…”
While Katrina was trying to go through the protocol that was taught to them by Nightwalker as part of the Police Force, Riley was quietly standing behind her. But it seemed somewhat counterproductive that he wasn’t doing anything, and so, by his own judgment, it was more fitting for him to be doing something.
And so…
“Did your group instigate the situation, foreign students?”
He took it upon himself to approach them so they could get their side of the story as well. And as soon as he did so, the gasps of shock whispered through the air; with the Russian students all looking at each other with their eyes wide open.
They didn’t know where to be shocked; be it Riley’s seemingly ethereal appearance, or the fact that he seemed to be able to fluently speak their language.
“You… can speak our language?” The one that had an altercation with Daniel was the first to speak up, his skin that turned to chrome was slowly turning back to normal; like scales vibrating and slowly aligning themselves into skin.
“I can,” Riley quickly answered, “But I believe I was the one who asked a question first.”
“O… Of course!” This time, a female student from the group spoke up; her mask was only a paint that covered the area around her eyes, “We were not the one that started this commotion. My friend was just asking for directions.”
With the other Russian students making way for the female student, it would seem that she held quite the authority among them, something that Riley did not miss as he nodded at the girl.
“Is there someone that could corroborate your statement, Ms…”
“Mega Girl, my superhero name is Mega Girl,” the female student then said as she also nodded towards Riley, before slightly leaning closer to him, “But you may call me Alisa.”
Hearing Alisa’s superhero name, Riley could not help but look at the girl from head to toe. Despite choosing a name like Mega Girl; she looks nothing like Mega Woman– unlike Silvie who, even with a differently styled costume, still reminded him of Mega Woman.
Alisa was not even trying, Riley thought. Her hair was brown and almost leaning to black, her suit was also black, almost like a leotard with boots that reached above her knee.
“I would prefer to call you Russian Mega Girl as there are… cameras all around us,” Riley muttered as he looked at the curious crowd surrounding them, “And is there anyone that can corroborate your story, Russian Mega–“
“T… there’s no need for that anymore, Riley.”
And before he could finish his words, Katrina approached him from behind, “Ultra Flex confessed that he was the one who started the fight as he thought the Russian students were mocking them.”
“…I see,” Riley sighed before turning his attention back to the Russian students, “This matter has been resolved, foreign students. You may go and enjoy the festivities.”
“T… that’s it?” One of the Russian students breathed out. It would seem that he wanted to say something, but Alisa stopped him from doing so, saying that they should just watch what would happen.
“I didn’t know you could speak Russian,” Katrina then quickly whispered as they make their way towards Daniel, aka Ultra Flex.
“There are a lot of things we don’t know about each other, Katrina,” Riley muttered before looking towards Daniel and his group.
“Have you been briefed as to what is going to happen to you for trying to instigate a fight with the foreign students, Ultra Flex?”
“I… I already issued him a warning, Riley,” Katrina was the one to answer, “But he doesn’t seem to want to–“
“Yeah? What’s going to happen to me, exactly?” And without any intention of hiding his hubris, Daniel stepped forward; only stopping when his and Riley’s face was only a few inches away from each other.
“You may be my rival, but it doesn’t mean you could use your authority of being in the Police Force to do whatever you want with me.”
“…Rival?” Riley blinked a couple of times as he took a few steps back to avoid making contact with Daniel’s face. He then turned his attention towards Katrina and said,
“Do you know him?”
“W… what?” Katrina stuttered, “He… is our classmate. He’s in 1-V. You’ve fought with him before?”
“I see,” Riley nodded, “I must have forgotten because of how boring it was. I apologize for not remembering you, Ultra Flex.”
“Y… you–“
“We will let you off with a warning, Ultra Flex.”
Riley did not let Daniel say a word as he gestured towards his armband that represented he was in the Police Force, “If we catch you doing this again, you will be locked up in your room for the duration of the Festival. You will also be paying a penalty of 1,500 Mega Points.”
“Then lock me the fuck up so we could settle this once and for all!”
“Ooh!”
With Daniel not stepping down and once again stomping his way towards Riley, the Oohs and Aahs of the onlookers became even stronger as they double checked if their phones were recording.
“…” Seeing this, Riley could not help but furrow his eyebrows. One of the benefits of being in the Academy was not being completely unknown to the outside world– but now, with them suddenly approving the use of smartphones, that all goes away. And considering that even the other foreign students also had their phones raised, it wasn’t only their Academy that decided it.
Perhaps the existence of the Dark Millenium only expedited something they have been planning to do all along. But what plan exactly?
Whatever it was, it was something the government could not do with Mega Woman still running around. Being paraded like monkeys was already something that Mega Woman wouldn’t approve of, so the government was really pushing the limits of what they could do right now.
Paraded like monkeys?
…Maybe that’s exactly what they were trying to do?
“Oi, you fucking autist. I am talking to you!”
“Hm?”
Riley’s thoughts were then disrupted as his view was suddenly blocked by Daniel’s hand, whose arms had already stretched a few meters. Seeing this, Riley could only let out a sigh as he turned his attention towards Daniel.
“As we have already warned you once…” Riley then said as he used two of his fingers to push away Daniel’s hand; but if one were to look closer, his fingers were not really touching Daniel’s skin, “…we are now legally allowed to use force to subdue you, Ultra Flex.”
“Just try it, you son of a bitch!” Daniel said as he retracted his hand, “I will show the whole world that I am the superior one between us!”
“G… guys!” And before anything can happen between the two, Katrina stood between them, “Why… why don’t we all just calm down? You’re embarrassing us to the other students.”
“The only one that would be embarrassed is that albino when I am done with him!”
“S… sto– Eek!”
And without even having the chance to defend herself, Katrina was pushed to the side; her yelp seemingly signalling the start of the battle between Riley and Daniel. Katrina continued to stumble on the ground, trying to regain her balance by using her abilities; but before she could even summon a single hint of wind, she felt her body being lifted up in the air.
“…Riley?” She then quickly whispered as she turned her head towards Riley, who was now several meters in the air.
“Come down here, you faggot!” Daniel roared as his hand stretched towards the sky; but alas, his elasticity seemed to have reached its limit after 50 meters.
“Pft.”
And now, with him struggling to even reach Riley; the curious gaze of the crowd turned into slight bursts of laughter. Their chuckles felt like knives piercing Daniel’s ears; but even then, he tried his hardest to stretch even further to reach his opponent.
And as for Riley? He was making sure he was only a few inches away from what Daniel could reach– giving him false hope that he could actually touch him. However, after a few more seconds, he let out a short but deep sigh before grabbing something from his pockets.
And as soon as Daniel saw what it was, his elongated arms slowly retracted. But alas, before they could return to their original length, a snap echoed throughout the air as two small skirts of wind erupted beside Riley.
A skirt of wind which unfortunate shot straight towards in between Daniel’s shoulders; instantly pinning him down to the ground.
“Grah!” He wanted to rebuke and fight back, but the only thing he could do was scream in pain as the thing embedded in both his shoulders started to bend; penetrating the ground beneath him and not allowing him to stand up.
“I would need to throw another set of cutlery again because of you, Ultra Flex.” Riley let out a deep but quiet sigh as he looked at the pair of spoon and fork embedded in Daniel’s shoulders; but from Daniel’s ears, it might as well be a mocking shout.
“You… so, you do remember me!?” Daniel then rotated his neck into a hundred and eighty degrees to look at Riley, “You… you provoked me, didn’t you!? I demand a–“
But alas, before Daniel could speak even further, a small plate suddenly covered his mouth.
“Sorry, I don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Riley then said before Daniel’s body started to float into the air. The onlookers were prepared to see the sight of blood profusely gushing from his shoulders, but there wasn’t even a drop falling, indicating that the spoon and fork were tightly stabbed through his flesh.
“Shall we go, Hurricane Katrina?”
“Y… yes, of course,” Katrina quickly fixed her costume as soon as her feet once again touched the ground. Although it was obvious, she still wanted to ask Riley if he was the one who prevented her from tumbling down. But in the end, she chose not to– as the were other questions that also wanted to burst out from her mouth.
How can he speak Russian?
Was he really just playing with Daniel?
And most importantly…
…Where was Riley hiding a plate in his outfit?
And so, just like that, the first of many troubles during the Mega Academy’s festival had been solved; also somewhat showing the prowess of USMA’s Student Police Force, using Daniel as a sacrifice as he was paraded across the Academy.
It would have been alright if he was allowed to walk on his own; but alas, with Riley the one catching him, the only thing he could do was close his eyes as he floated above the crowd in shame.
He could struggle, but the only good that will do was make himself look even more of a fool.
“…Did we just witness what we just witnessed?” Alisa, who was still standing with her group where Riley left her, could not help but blink her eyes a couple of times in awe, “These Americans…
…they’re a crazy bunch. Let’s all behave from now on.”
It wasn’t only them that shared the same sentiment, as the dispersing crowd also had the same thoughts in their minds. Well, everyone except for a group of students from Africa, who were looking at each other with their eyebrows furrowed.
“Kiama, can you check if that guy is in any of the competitions?” One of them whispered, “It seems that even here…
…We must face someone cursed by god.”
And so, with the festivities continuing with only minimum troubles, the students from the other countries have started roaming around the Academy; introducing themselves to the other students and enjoying the booths they have prepared.
“Gary!”
And in front of one of those booths, Gary was lying on the ground…
…about to die.
“We…
…we need a medic here!”