Chapter 7: Oops

“D… Riley Ross, Telekinesis.”

Hearing Riley’s monotonous voice, the other examinees quickly looked at each other.

“Ross? Is he related to the fire girl earlier?”

“Most likely, they’re just next to each other.”

“But still… why is he wearing something like that in the middle of summer?”

Even more so with them being related, the other examinees could not help but whisper to each other as Riley slowly made his way to the front. With him still wearing sunglasses, as well as his hoodie zipped all the way up to his nose– he was completely covered up.

“…I need to see your face, Mr. Riley.”

The supervisor, of course, was also slightly weirded out by Riley. She knew who the two were, as she knew the identity of their father; who would also happen to be teaching in the Academy once the school year started.

And so, even more, she had to be strict with them. There were also many other children who were the sons or daughters of other superheroes, she was told not to give them any special treatment– and she was going to do just that.

Hannah was quite an interesting case, a loose cannon that perhaps would benefit most from attending the academy. It was wise of Whiteking to hide her from the world, as her powers would surely attract the attention of the people, but mostly… the terrorists that were crawling through the depths.

She wasn’t the only pyrokinetic in the world. But she was one of the few that is still alive… or not part of an evil organization.

But to think he wasn’t only hiding one, but two supes.

She was about to make Riley take off his hoodie once again, but as soon as she rechecked his file and saw that the sun was harmful to his skin, she quickly made him stop. Riley, however, did not as he casually took off his jacket.

“!!!”

“Riley!” Hannah, who was being checked by the medics, quickly pushed them away as she rushed towards her brother.

“It’s alright, Hannah…” Riley said as he threw his hoodie and sunglasses towards her,

“…I applied sunscreen,” he said in a monotonous tone as he raised his thumb, “SPF 150.”

He did not really need to, the sun was not really harmful to his skin… at least not anymore. But to appease his sister, he still chose to apply it.

But still, Hannah continued to step towards Riley to give him back his hoodie, but before she could do so, she was pulled away by the medics who were previously checking up on her. She wanted to resist, but could not do so as she might harm the people blocking her path; and so, the only thing she could do was hope that nothing would happen to her brother.

Everyone else, however, had their eyes wide open. With the sun shining down on him, Riley looked as if he was glowing. It did not help that he was wearing a white t-shirt underneath.

“…An albino?” A whisper escaped from one of the other examinees.

“Wow, first time I am seeing one.”

“So that’s why he was fully covered up.”

Once again, the other examinees began to look at each other. Silvie was perhaps the only one who did not react that strongly, as she had already partly seen his face earlier when he was… creepily smiling at her.

But still, looking at him now, a slight interest was slowly growing inside of her. Hannah had already made her interested as soon as she showed her fiery powers. So, as her brother, she could not help but wonder just what kind of strength this Riley has– she thought as she tried her hardest not to miss even the tiniest detail.

“That’s enough, quiet down!”

The examinees’ whispers quickly dispersed as soon as the supervisor clapped her hands once more, “You can begin,” she then said as she checked on Riley.

“…Okay.”

Hearing the supervisor’s words, Riley carefully grabbed something from his pocket. And Hannah, who was still being checked by the medics, could not help but almost stumble as soon as she realized what was in Riley’s hand– his cutlery set.

“Riley Ross, Telekinesis.”

Riley once again repeated his introduction as the knife, fork, and the spoon in his hand slowly started to float in the air.

“…”

‘That’s it?’– was the collective thought of everyone there. Their breaths of disappointment quickly covered the entire field as they looked at Riley. With the way he looked, as well as the performance of his sister before him, they all thought that Riley would do something special; or at least match the intensity of his sister’s powers.

But making spoons float? Every child who has awoken with telekinetic powers could do that.

“That’s it?”

Finally, the supervisor voiced out all of their thoughts.

“I am afraid you won’t be able to pass the exam if that’s all you can do. Remember, the purpose of the Academy is to train the next superhero that would become the next Mega Woman. If this is all that you could do at your age, I am afraid that it would be impossible for you to even think of achieving that…

…and that goes for all of you,” the supervisor then said as she looked at the other remaining examinees, “If you think that–“

“Oh my god!”

Before the supervisor could finish her words, one of the examinees suddenly screamed. She was going to ask why he did so, but she didn’t have to. As soon as she moved her body, she felt a slight pain coming from her torso.

“This…” She quickly looked towards her chest, only to see something lodged into it. She then turned her head towards the cutlery that was spinning around Riley, which was now missing a piece– the spoon.

“Oh no,” Riley hummed, “I apologize. Like my sister…

…I also can’t control my power that well,” he said as he flicked his finger.

“Kh!” The supervisor could not help but slightly wince in pain as the spoon lodged in her chest began to move, shaking erratically as it was slowly being pulled away.

“S… stop,” the supervisor muttered as she grabbed the spoon, “Don’t make it any worse!”

“Sorry. It’s doing it on its own.”

“It’s not! Just stop using your powers!” The supervisor then stretched her arms to the side as she once again summoned spheres of water.

“Ah, I did it!”

However, before she could do anything with them, the spoon penetrating her chest quickly dislodged itself, causing her to take in a short but very deep breath which made the spheres of water drop and scatter on the ground.

“Medic!”

If the spoon was just a little bit to the right, then it would have definitely hit her heart. And so, as soon as she was able, she quickly called for the medics, who were able to at least quickly stop her from bleeding using their powers.

With her now away from death’s door, she quickly stood up from the ground and rushed towards Riley, who quickly hid his cutlery back in his pocket.

“Are you alright now, supervisor?”

“You…” The supervisor wanted to slap Riley’s head in. But as he said, it wasn’t truly his fault. She should have known from her sister that Riley’s powers aren’t that simple. Just from the fact that the spoon he was controlling was accidentally able to pierce her skin was enough proof that he was also hiding great strength in him.

And so, with that thought, the supervisor could only grit her teeth in frustration as she shook her head, “I’m fine. Accidents happen all the time, go back to your line.”

“Did I pass?”

“Don’t ask me that!” The supervisor raised her voice as she ordered Riley to go back to his line, “We’re going to take a few minutes break. Those who are already done, you can go ahead and take the Assessment test instead of dawdling around here.”

Hearing the supervisor’s words, the other examinees could not help but once again voice out their disappointment. They were having fun watching all sorts of other people display their powers, it was like watching an audition live… which is practically what they were doing now.

But alas, they could do nothing but disperse.

“It’s not your fault, Riley.”

Hannah walked beside her brother as soon as she was able to, “It’s that bitch’s fault for triggering us. Gather untrained children with unpredictable powers in one area, what a good idea… whoever thought of this is stupid. Stupid, I tell you, just like the government.”

“Really?” Riley looked at his sister straight in the eyes, “I think it’s quite fun.”

“Of course it is,” Hannah rolled her eyes as she hastened her steps, “From a recluse, anything would seem fun. Come, let’s just take the god damn stupid tests and get this over with.”

“…I am sorry for dragging you here, sister.”

“Psh, stop being so dramatic,” Hannah slightly trembled as she heard Riley’s words. But after a few moments, she stopped walking and turned her head towards Riley, carrying a small smile on her face, “Besides, you’re kinda right…

…It is somewhat fun, isn’t it?”