“Please be informed that the ‘Fasten your seatbelt’ sign is…”
“R… really?”
“Yes, madam.”
“But you look so handsome, I am sure girls of your age would go crazy after you. I saw this Sudanese model, her skin was so smooth and so dark that it looked almost beguiling. I almost got lost staring at her in the magazine. I bet that if you two model the same brand, it would blow up!”
“Do you really think I could be a model, madam?”
With the plane moving in the skies for more than 2 hours now, the mother found herself more and more comfortable talking to the young man beside her. He was a little stoic at times, but he always answered all of her questions without any slight hesitation.
“Of course! You seem fit as well! And with your face and your unique features, you could–“
“M… mommy…”
“It’s alright, honey. We’re not there yet.”
“H… hm.”
“S… sorry,” the mother then let out a small sigh after comforting her daughter, “I’m just blabbering my mouth, aren’t I? Here I am trying to shush my daughter when I am the one who can’t shut her mouth.”
“It’s quite alright, I enjoy our conversations, madam.”
“You can stop calling me madam, you know. I feel really old when you keep calling me that,” the mother let out an awkward chuckle, “My name’s Janice. Now I feel really stupid that we still don’t know each other’s name when I already told you my life story.”
“Very well. My name is…”
***
“After all, you are Bernard Ross’s children.”
“D… don’t you dare!”
“One of the core members of the Hope Guild…
…Whiteking.”
“T… That’s not–“
“!!!”
And before Hannah could even refute Mr. Wednesday’s words, the roaring whispers of the audience became full-fledged, unabated screams of shock.
“Whiteking’s children!? Those two!?”
“Shit… are we going to see Hope Guild in action!?”
“Is that true!? Can anyone confirm it!?”
The students, who were just previously filled with anxiety as none of them even dared to move from their spot, were now all looking at each other in disbelief as their gasps even started to merge with one another; with a handful of them even wanting to post the shocking news on social media without any hesitation; fully knowing that it wasn’t allowed.
However, before they could even open their apps, they found that they could no longer connect to the internet.
“…Good,” Whiteking looked around the faces of the students as he tapped something on the tablet attached around his arm. He and the Academy knew that the Dark Millenium already had information about him and his children, but to think they would expose it like this. “There–“
“Ah, I posted it!”
“!!!” Whiteking quickly looked at the student that shouted, only to hear another student screaming that he got back online. But that should be impossible, he thought. He shut off the towers and satellite nearest to the Academy– no one should be able to go online.
“What are all of you doing!?”
And before he could even express his shock, Silvie stood up from her seat, “We were allowed to contact the outside world, but it doesn’t mean you can share sensitive information! That’s against the–“
“It’s alright, Mega Girl,” Whiteking grabbed Silvie’s shoulder before she could continue reprimanding the other students, “The information is automatically being removed by the Government with their Auto Filter system.”
“But… but still, they–“
“And if my identity should be exposed to the world,” Whiteking then let out a sigh as he turned his attention back towards the arena, “Then so be it…
…As long as my children are safe.”
***
“…What makes you think Whiteking is our father, Mr. Fr– Mr. Wednesday?”
With the shock of the audience slowly dying down, Riley took off his sunglasses as he looked Hannah straight in the eyes,
“Did you really think that Whiteking would produce such a noisy and ill-tempered daughter?”
“…” Hannah’s eyes started to twitch upon hearing Riley’s words. She wanted to rebuke, but as soon as she remembered the dire situation they were in, the only thing she could do was furrow her eyebrows.
“I… I am afraid we know more,” Mr. Friday, who was pretending to be Mr. Wednesday by speaking through the speakers inside his helmet, almost let out a small stutter as he did not expect Riley’s words,
“But for the sake of playing fair, we will not reveal anything more. But we have a condition, we want the whole world to get to know us in our own words, turn off the filter and let the world hear us.”
“You…” Hannah wanted to say something, but her mouth was once again covered.
“Students of the Academy, future heroes. Listen to my words…” Mr. Friday did not wait for any confirmation from the Academy that they shut down their filtering system,
“…We are the Dark Millenium. Fear us, hate us, abhor us– it will not change the fact that we will bathe this world in darkness. And for those who want to join us; do not find us… as we will find you shining in the shadows we have created.”
“H… Hey!” Hannah could not help but almost tumble to the roof of the floor as Mr. Wednesday suddenly pushed her away and let her go.
“And let this be a reminder!” Mr. Wednesday then took off his jacket, fully exposing the numerous bombs that were attached around his body,
“That even death can’t stop us!” And with those words, a light tick whispered throughout the whole stadium as Mr. Wednesday seemed to have pulled something from his bomb vest.
“!!!”
“R… Riley!” And before Hannah could even think, her body already rushed towards Riley, pushing him to the ground and covering him with her entire body. She could hear the whistle deafening her ears as the bomb thundered through the air– obliterating anything within its path and completely ripping off the top floors of the building.
But surprisingly enough, she was unharmed; floating in the air along with her brother.
“You really don’t have to keep protecting me, sister,” Riley then said as he carried his sister like a princess, “I’m physically bigger than you now.”
“Riley!” Even with the embarrassing position she was in, the only thing she could do was embrace her brother; trying her best not to cry as the emotions she had been preventing with all her might from bursting out were trying to break her walls all at the same time.
“It’s alright, sister. The Dark Millenium won’t be showing themselves anytime soon…” Riley whispered so quietly that his words were being overpowered by the screams of the audience,
“…Not after today.”
***
“…Wow, you must really care for your sister.”
“I suppose you could say that, Janice. Mega Woman reminds me of her, you see. They’re both very selfless, but they want the world to perceive them as a strong wall that will never be swayed away by any storm.”
“The time is now 5:45 in the afternoon. We would be landing…”
“W… wow, I didn’t even notice the time,” Janice could not help but drink some water as she heard the young man’s words. It was quite hard to find people that she connected with, but to think this stranger would make her feel this way– like she was actually being listened to.
“Are we near, mommy!? Are we near!?”
“Y… yes, honey.”
“No! But I want to play with the angel more!” Janice’s daughter, Julie, once again started spinning on her seat; kicking it as she let out a loud cry.
“S… shhh!”
Janice could only try to calm her daughter down as she chuckled at the young man sitting beside them. “S… sorry again.”
“You don’t need to apolo– Please excuse me, Julie.”
“Hm? Is everything alright?” Julie could not help but blink a couple of times as the young man suddenly stood up from his seat.
“Yes,” the young man nodded as he excused himself, “I just have something to do before we land.”
“Oh, okay,” Janice then leaned back to her seat to allow the young man to pass. She was slightly intrigued as the young man grabbed his bag from the overhead locker, but did not really pry any further as she didn’t want to look too nosy.
“G… goodbye…
…Angel Riley!”
“He’s just going to the bathroom, hon–“
“Goodbye, Julie.”
The young man also waved his hand before he proceeded to head towards the toilet… or maybe not, as he went straight to the front of the plane.
“S… Sir, the bathrooms are that way!” One of the flight attendants quickly blocked the young man’s path as she saw him seemingly heading to the cockpit. She could not help but slightly let out a short but deep sigh; she was supposed to go on a short date after this, she didn’t need any more reasons to become even more stressed.
“I will have to ask you to–“
“I know, flight attendant,” the young man replied before he gently pushed the flight attendant to the side and placed his hand on the door of the cockpit.
“Sir! What are you–“
And before the flight attendant could say anything more, her words were suddenly cut off as the young man… pulled the entire door open.
“What’s going on!?” The first officer quickly turned around as soon as he heard the loud rumbling behind him, but before he could even see what was going on, a helmet suddenly flew towards him; his head perfectly shooting inside it.
He was about to remove it, but as soon as his hand touched the helmet, he heard a light snap… and that was it.
“M.. mayday! Mayday we are–“
The pilot in command immediately tried to radio in their situation, but before he could do so, his head suddenly twisted in a way that it shouldn’t.
The flight attendant that witnessed the whole situation unfold was frozen in place; everything was happening so fast that the only thing she could do was watch in fear as the co-pilot’s spine snapped in half and the captain’s head started spinning.
And when she was about to regain the strength to run away, her vision slightly dimmed as she felt a small pressure surrounding her head– a helmet similar to the one that the dead co-pilot was wearing.
“Please relax, flight attendant,” the young man then spoke as he approached her, “This phone is the thing you use to broadcast through the entire plane, correct?”
“Y… Yes!?” The flight attendant could only nod her now heavy head as the young man pointed towards the plane’s intercom.
“Thank you, flight attendant,” the young man then quickly grabbed the phone and let out a small… creeping smile, “Testing, testing. This is your captain speaking. Next stop…
…Mega Academy.”