“So you’re a psychopath, then. P… pft.”
“…” Riley could only stare at Mega Woman as she suddenly burst out in a chuckle; almost deafening Riley with how loud her voice was. But finally, after a few more seconds, her chuckles died down and Riley was able to answer her.
“I don’t believe I am, Mega Woman,” Riley shook his head, “I am of the impression that psychopaths tend to lie– I do not like lying if I don’t have to.”
“Because strong beings do not need to lie,” Mega Woman sighed.
“Tha–“
“Ah, tutut!” Mega Woman raised her finger, “I believe you. I’ve just been surrounded by psychopaths since they are much more common on my planet– maybe even half of them are.”
“…”
“What I can’t believe, however, is that the one terrorizing the entire world is just… a child,” Mega Woman said, her eyes as if looking through Riley’s helmet.
“!!!” Riley quickly covered his face with his hands as soon as he heard Mega Woman’s words. Mega Woman, on the other hand, only chuckled once more.
“You do not have to worry, Darkday. Unlike what the media claims, people on my planet do not have X-ray vision… I don’t have x-ray vision.”
“…” Riley could not help but let out a small breath as he lowered his hands, “…So you really are from another planet, Mega Woman?”
“Yes,” Mega Woman muttered, “What about you?”
“I’m not an alien–“
“I mean where were you born.”
“Ah,” Riley hummed, “I was born in Ohio according to my adoptive parents.”
“…” Mega Woman’s eyes widened as she heard Riley’s words; but after a few seconds, she turned her eyes towards the skies.
“…Do you know that there are satellites out there watching our every move?”
“I am aware of them, Mega Woman.”
“You don’t have to worry, though,” Mega Woman then breathed out, “I strictly told them to not try and follow me anywhere.”
And as soon as she said that, she removed her mask; her blue eyes now even more visible.
“…” Riley was slightly taken aback; almost contemplating whether or not he should remove his helmet. But of course, in the end, chose not to do so, “I am not worried, Mega Woman. They can’t follow me as well.”
“Hm, that’s true,” Mega Woman then glanced at Riley, before once again turning her eyes towards the sky, “The clouds always seem to be hovering above you. It’s like you’re moving them almost subconsciously at this point– truly suits the name they gave you, Darkday.”
“…You’re the one who gave me that name, Mega Woman.”
“Was I?” Mega Woman let out a small giggle as she sat on the ground, “You’re so young and yet so powerful…
…why didn’t you use your psychokinetic ability against me?”
“My main priority was to escape, Mega Woman,” Riley quickly answered as he too, sat on the ground, “I can’t defeat you.”
“I… see,” Mega Woman let out a sigh as she once again looked towards the skies, “Do you know that some heroes are being monitored? Most without their consent… even a handful of supervillains are actually on the government’s radar.”
“If that is so… then why have they not apprehended the other villains?” Riley slightly tilted his head to the side, “If they know where they hide, then would it not be possible to deal with them with minimal casualty?”
“Because they have their uses,” Mega Woman then turned her eyes towards Riley, “Once you grow up, you’ll understand that it is all about resources and money.”
“…”
“Mark my words, once I am gone from the picture and no one is there to keep them in check, they will start exploiting the heroes like products,” Mega Woman closed her eyes, “My world is the same, us ordinary citizens are nothing but tools.”
“You… are not ordinary, Mega Woman,” Riley then let out a small sigh as he turned his head towards Mega Woman, “You… are beautiful. Probably the most beautiful object in the world.”
“Pft,” Mega Woman quickly let out a small chuckle, glancing at Riley before looking towards the horizon, “It is truly unfortunate that you were born that way… You could have replaced me in the future.”
“Are you truly not going to arrest me today, Mega Woman?”
“As I told you, I’m just here to talk,” Mega Woman shook her head, “And if I did apprehend you, you will probably kill all your guests, right?”
“Yes.”
Mega Woman’s sighs almost echoed through the horizon, “I think I understand you now, Darkday.”
“You can kill me now. You will save a lot more lives by doing so.”
“See? You’re lying right now,” Mega Woman chuckled, “But no. I think you have a role to play in this life, Darkday. There are things out there in the universe; much scarier than anything you have ever seen. A great evil like you might be needed even more than me.”
“…I will kill millions more.”
“I will be there to stop you.”
“I will hear you scream, Mega Woman. I will kill you– you will regret this decision.”
“Well, that’s something that can’t happen,” Mega Woman then smiled at Riley, “I can’t die.”
And with those as her final words, she suddenly flew up towards the sky, leaving Riley slightly confused.
“…Oh!”
“What? What is it!? What happened next?”
Katherine’s somewhat excited voice reverberated throughout the classroom as Riley’s eyes suddenly widened.
“I forgot,” Riley then breathed out, “She… did tell me she can’t die. How could I have mistaken that for banter.”
“…” Seeing the somewhat curious look on Riley’s face, the only thing that Katherine could do was sigh, “…But to think that you talked with her for that long and no one knew; it’s quite a surprise.”
“Hm.”
“But you said that you weren’t even able to inflict even a scratch on her? When did this happen?”
“About 2 years ago, if my memory serves me correct.”
“…So you couldn’t defeat her 2 years ago,” Katherine placed her hand on her chin. If Mega Woman only killed Riley then… then she truly would have prevented a million more deaths– she probably lived in regret before getting defeated by Riley, knowing she allowed this great evil to run free.
She had the chance to do so but did not… in the end, perhaps it was arrogance that led to her defeat.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait, I have something to report regarding Silvie’s father.”
Riley was about to stand up from his seat, but Katherine blocked his path before he could do so.
“…Report.”
“He will be working as a medic in the Academy.”
“A medic?” Riley furrowed his eyebrows, “Is he a Super?”
“As far as I know, he’s not.”
“Are there any other parents that will be working for the Academy from now on?”
“Only a handful,” Katherine shook her head, “But one needs to be accredited by the government before you can work here.”
“I… see,” Riley muttered.
“Silvie… do you think she really could be Mega Woman’s daughter?”
“Maybe,” Riley then said as he stood up, “Good work, Katherine. Please continue your investigation.”
Riley was about to leave, but once again, Katherine blocked his path.
“Riley… Can we…”
“…” Riley could hear the slightly shivering tone in Katherine’s voice; her mouth opening as if the words she wanted to say were too heavy to escape from her mouth.
“Do you wish to have sexual intercourse with me again, Katherine?”
“T… That’s…”
“Then you could have just said so from the start,” Riley then let out a sigh as he sat back down in his seat, “This seems to help you more in your work, am I correct?”
“…” Katherine nodded, “But… can you… maybe…
…remove your sunglasses?”
***
“…”
Riley stepped out of the school building, his eyes looking towards the sky that was almost getting ready to darken. But still, even with the looming darkness… he once again wore his sunglasses.
He then looked towards the numerous people walking around the campus; before letting out a small breath and wearing the Police Force band on his arm. It would seem the students were slowly recovering from the incident, as he could even see some foreign students chatting with the locals.
“Time to work,” Riley then whispered. But before he could even take 3 steps, a voice called for him from behind.
“R… Riley.”
“Black Bell,” Riley then said as he turned around, “You are fine now?”
Bella was no longer in her costume, but instead on some sort of… white dress that compliments her dark skin.
“…I’ve been fine for a week now,” Bella said as she let out a small sigh, “I think the pain of not being there to help when the tragedy happened hurts me more.”
“…But you weren’t there?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Bella let out a wry chuckle, “Anyway, I’ve been waiting for you for almost 2 hours now, man. What took you so long?”
“I was exercising, Black Bell,” Riley muttered, “Did you need me for something?”
“Just… a question,” Bella then glanced at Riley several times. And seeing as he wasn’t saying anything, that was probably a sign that it was alright.
“How… did you become so strong?” Bella then asked.
Riley slightly furrowed his eyebrows as he heard the question. But after a few more seconds of looking at nowhere in particular…
“…Because of Mega Woman.”
“That’s…” Bella could only blink a couple of times from hearing his answer, “So… because you have a goal?”
“…Not really.”
“I… have goals as well,” Bella shrugged, seemingly not hearing Riley’s response as she started walking, “My brother and I actually came from a very strict fam; religious, baptist church bullshit hallelujah and all that.”
“…”
“And you can kinda already guess they didn’t approve of us since… well, I like women and my brother likes men,” Bella then slightly let out a chuckle, followed by a sniffle as she rubbed her nose, “That’s why I am wearing this shitty dress right now since they’re here, can’t escape them.”
Bella then spun around, showing the frills and silk of her white dress.
“How is this even relevant to your question?”
“…”
“…”
Bella then started to slouch as she let out a long and deep sigh, “I just wanted to say I want to be strong like you… then maybe there would be no one judging me.”
“…”
“You’re different, n… no offense. Eh, you know what I mean, man,” Bella then rolled her lips as she waved her hands, “You’re different and yet no one dares to say anything ‘coz you’re strong, man…
…If I had your strength, then maybe my mamma and pappa would be chill, you know?”
“I believe that’s wrong, Black Bell,” Riley then let out a small sigh as he shook his head, “My mother doesn’t judge me because she is a good person.”
“…Hm? What do you mean?”
“You are different from the majority, yes… But there is nothing wrong with you, Black Bell…
…You’re just surrounded by the wrong people.”
“Ho… hold up, back up a little there,” Bella then slightly took a step back as she started fanning herself,
“Shit… you keeping it real, white hair. You could be a president and I’d be voting for you. Hell, if I wasn’t a big L in the LGBT then I would probably be head over heels for you right now.”
“…Thank you, Black Bell.”
“No man, thank you,” Bella then let out a small chuckle as she subtly wiped the small tears that were trying to come out of her eyes, “You belong in the fam now, you should know that.”
Bella then raised her fist towards Riley; her face gesturing to Riley to bump it with his own fist. But alas, Riley only looked at her first before looking away.
“Y… yeah, that’s cool. We need a little practice,” Bella chuckled as she lowered her fist, “I’ll see you around, brother. Don’t go stopping some random black guy now.”
“…I won’t.”
Riley could only let out a small but deep sigh as he watched as Bella ran away. And so, finally, he could peacefully continue his patrol.
He walked around the Academy for a full hour, but oddly enough, no one seems to be causing any trouble. Perhaps the tragic events that have happened still truly lingered in their minds– sedating any need to cause problems.
And so, Riley decided to call it a night.
And just as he was about to fly away, he suddenly moved his head to the side; his body slightly tilting with it.
A giant needle then shot down from above– if he did not move his body, then it would have definitely landed on top of his head.
Riley then quickly looked up, only to see a large net threatening to cover him entirely.
“…” It instantly stopped in the air, however, as Riley raised his hand.
And soon, several steps whispered into his ear, coming from all directions and completely surrounding him. He slowly scanned the owners of the footsteps, only to see a familiar face approaching him– Jamba, the student he fought back in the Combat Tournament event.
“Well…” Riley then sighed,
“…At least you’re not random.”