Riley Ross

The Rise of the Sweet Snowy Little Baby Boy

"Sweet Snowy Little Baby Boy! Can we have a moment of your time, please?!"

"Did you save these students? Where's Megawoman?!"

"Some of your classmates told me that you fought with one of the villains to distract them?!"

What is this? Are these people… lining up to talk to me?

Riley had not even planted both his feet on the incredibly flat ground of the Phoenix Wrath, and yet dozens of reporters were already screaming at him to try and grab his attention.

If it weren't for the police who already secured and walled off the perimeter, then they would have definitely rushed at him like zombies.

The medics rushed to retrieve the rest of the remaining students from him. Riley handed them the rope from their harnesses like they were some sort of leash, but the medics shook their heads and carried them straight to the tent instead.

One of them was about to check on Riley, but he quickly leaned away.

"I am alright, Medic. I was not injured or harmed in any sort of way," he said. He didn't even wait for the paramedic to respond and walked away, but he didn't get far before being stopped by Spectacular Mustache Man.

The burly instructor crossed his arms as he looked down at him. But after a few seconds, his mustache began to curl upward along with his lips, and a healthy chuckle escaped from them.

"I have misjudged you, Riley Ross," he breathed out, nodding in approval as he tried to place his hand on Riley's shoulder, only for him to move away. Still, Spectacular Mustache Man did not seem to mind at all, and his laugh became even louder, "I thought that you would be like you know who, but it would seem you are already more of a hero than he would ever be. Good job, good job."

"I do not know what you are talking about, Mr. Spectacular Mustache Man. But thank you for the compliments."

"Ha! If only you could share your sense of humor with you know who," Spectacular Mustache Man's mustache started twitching uncontrollably as his obnoxious fit of laughter became even wilder. But then, with another breath, his laughter abruptly stopped, and his eyes were once again locked onto Riley.

"Now…" He whispered, "...We just need to work on changing your name. Names are—"

"Riley, my guy!"

Unfortunately for Spectacular Mustache Man, his speech was cut short before it could even start as Gracey pushed through the crowd, her tears already flowing down her face. If it wasn't for the new waterproof makeup she was wearing that was recommended by Hannah and the others, everyone there would have definitely seen how soft her face truly was.

"Riley!" She screamed his name again before leaping at him, practically throwing her arms around him and not caring about anyone or anything else. Spectacular Mustache Man stared at the two for a moment before smiling and once again nodding in approval and leaving the two classmates alone.

"What the fuck… what the fuck, bro…" Gracey whispered into Riley's ear, breathing down his neck and hugging him to the point his joints started to crack, "I heard you save me?! And that you… you volunteered to be taken hostage because you wanted to save me?!"

Fortunately for Gracey, Riley had already practiced putting on his telekinetic armor—if not, he would have definitely been blown away by him for even touching a single atom of his skin without permission.

"Who told you that, Gray?" Riley blinked a couple of times before his eyes landed on Tomoe. Tomoe, however, shook her head before glancing to her right… where the rest of the kidnapped students who weren't injured were gathered beneath a large tent.

"They all told me what you did, bro!" Gracey finally freed Riley and put him back down on the ground. She crouched down, grabbed both his shoulders, and looked him in the eyes.

Well, she tried to. Riley kept avoiding her gaze, causing her to move her head like some sort of owl to try and chase where Riley was looking. But after a few seconds of doing this, she just sighed and settled on just looking at his face in general.

"Thank you, Riley. I mean it."

"You do not need to thank me, Gray. I did not do it for you."

"Pfft. Stop being so shy," Gracey rolled her lips, "Non-chalant and edgy MCs are like so common nowadays that it's annoying. That's right, Riley—you give major MC vibes. Take it, that is the best compliment you will ever get from the Dragon Monarch."

"You need therapy, Gray. Perhaps I could recommend my therapist since I am about to have a session in a few days?"

"I'm serious…" Gracey sighed, shaking her head while chuckling at his words, "...I heard about everything that happened. You… you were a hero up there, Riley. And I… I fucking slept through the entire thing. Can you believe that? Ack, we could have been like a duo!"

Gracey clasped her hair back, almost pulling it as she groaned in frustration. Tomoe quickly took this chance to approach Riley, but she didn't say anything to him at all and just nodded. This, however, triggered the rest of the students who were resting on the tents to rush at Riley.

He couldn't even understand any of them as they all started talking at the same time, and if it weren't for Gracey quickly coming to his aid, he would have definitely been buried by their excitement from how small he was, physically.

"One at a time! One at a time!"

And all of this, of course, was captured by the reporters live. And of course, the citizens of the internet were quick to respond and react.

<i told you. its sweet snowy little baby boy!>

<Didn't we just register him in the registry earlier? Will this be counted in his record?>

<what do you mean we? I'm the only one who registered him>

<did megawhoppers really appear?>

<Ah! The Association counted it as his Deeds!>

<That has to be a world record???>

<did you hear that he fought against a morpher? And he lifted him up in the air?>

<Bruh. We just saw him fly down from the sky while carrying several people with his mind. His feats are insane for someone barely a teenager>

<...why is no one talking about the student who died?>

<Ah! He now has an official rank. And it went straight from F to E! They counted it!>

The Hero Association.

One would think that it would require people to take tests to be put in the Registry of Heroes, but not at all.

There are no entrance examinations, strength tests, and not even an aptitude or personality test. How and why would there be, when an individual can't actually register themselves?

After all, one is not a hero when they say they are, but when the people say they are.

It could be their friend, a stranger, or family. And after, it would get a number of votes from the masses.

Then and only then… would the name actually be put on the list for the Hero Association to review and authenticate as a candidate.

And after they review and authenticate it, the candidate would have to do something that could be considered heroic by the association's system.

It was a long and grueling process that sometimes involved a week of evaluations.

And Riley, aka Sweet Snowy Little Baby Boy, was officially registered into the system in less than a day.

Riley Ross was officially a registered hero at the age of twelve years old.

But of course, he was completely oblivious of that.

"Mr. Riley Ross."

The students who were gathered around Riley dispersed like cockroaches as soon as they heard Whiteking's voice. The only ones who stayed close to him were Gracey and Tomoe.

"Good work out there," Bernard said as he stood in front of Riley. "And not only you, but all of you—you did great despite the situation you were put in."

"And where were all of you?" Gracey stood between him and Riley; her height, almost the same as Whiteking even though she was only fourteen years old. "I heard someone from another class was brutally killed. Where were you?"

Whiteking did not really answer immediately. But after a few seconds, he took a step back and placed his hand on his chest.

"I'm sorry. And on behalf of Mega Academy, I am sorry. We promised to nurture and guide all of you, but the forces of evil prove to be… difficult. I am the one who was most at fault here—I should have anticipated something like this."

But how could you, Father? How would you even anticipate when you were already aware of it from the start? You used these poor students as bait—if I were not there, or if Megawoman did not arrive…

…Gracey and the others would still be with the Dark Millennium. What exactly were you trying to—

"I didn't anticipate it…" Whiteking raised his voice, just loud enough so that the reporters could barely hear it,

"...because I believe that there is a mole in the Academy."