Riley Ross

"A mole… in the Academy?"

"Is he saying someone in MA's working with the villains?"

"Wait, he said that?! Are you guys sure?!"

"Wait—why would he reveal that?!"

"Is it okay to report that?!"

The reporters who happened to hear what Whiteking was saying were all in a scramble as to what to do. First, as Whiteking was part of the Hope Guild, and the Hope Guild is registered as a legal power of authority by the World Government, they would intentionally be revealing state secrets if they happened to report what he just revealed.

But then again, the fact that he said it in public meant that it wasn't a secret at all.

…But what if it was?

Most of the reporters already had the information on their phones and were ready to send it to their stations, but none of them were brave enough to actually hit send or follow up on the question.

Well, there was one.

"Whiteking! Hey there, cowboy! Mind repeatin' that and maybe addin' a lil' extra—for the camera?"

Whiteking glanced back, and even Riley leaned his head to the side to look at the reporter who was brave and obnoxious enough to call his father while he was talking to someone else.

It was a woman wearing a pair of sunglasses on top of her head, her long auburn hair pulled back by them. She had on a crop top, a pair of denim pants, and boots—very atypical for a professional reporter.

"You're from ABC-ZBN." Whiteking turned toward her, and a small gasp escaped her lips as soon as he did so.

"Y-yes!" She raised her voice, fully not expecting that Whiteking would even acknowledge her presence. In truth, she wasn't even supposed to be here—the station didn't allow her to go as she was standing in for Lorraine.

But how could she even pass on this? Megawoman might not have shown herself to the public, but if she could get Whiteking on camera… then she would finally be the center of ABC-ZBN.

And when Whiteking started approaching her, she quickly searched for her things around her bag. But before she could do so, a loud rumble that caused their lungs and stomach to tremble reverberated from behind her and the rest of the reporters.

She quickly looked back, only to see the rest of the people make way for a loud motorcycle that slowly pushed through the crowd.

The woman waved her hand and nodded to the people near her, apologizing as she dismounted her bike. She removed her gloves and zipped down her leather jacket, and then removed her helmet to reveal her incredibly blonde hair.

And as soon as Kitty saw her, her lips that were curled up twitched, and the smile on her face faded away.

"Lorraine…? What are you—" Before Kitty could finish her words, she felt a shadow creep behind her—Whiteking.

"Whiteking!" Kitty gasped again before pulling out her recorder, "Are… are you willing to do an interview with me?"

"I'd prefer her." Whiteking, however, only glanced at her before pointing at Lorraine, who was tying her hair into a ponytail while pacing toward them.

"Thank you, Kitty." She said while smiling at Kitty, "I'll take it from here. You did really good."

"W-what?" Kitty's eye twitched, "But… this is my exclusive."

"I'm sorry, but no…" Lorraine sighed, placing her hand on Kitty's shoulder and gently brushing her thumb on it. She then turned to Whiteking and said, "Did you receive my message?"

"I did. Let's talk," Whiteking nodded before walking away, signaling for the police to let Lorraine pass the barricades.

"Message…?" Kitty blinked a couple of times as she watched the police open up the way for her colleague, "You… have a direct contact with Whiteking?"

Kitty didn't really know what to feel right now. At first, she thought that she was going to have an exclusive one-on-one interview with Whiteking—something that hadn't been done for more than a decade. Then, she thought this interview was going to be snatched away by her colleague. And then, it turns out, she didn't have the exclusive at all.

"How…? How do you even have—"

"What are you doing? Are you not going?"

"Huh?" Kitty narrowed her eyes as she saw Lorraine staring at her, "What do you mean?"

"What are you still doing there?" Lorraine raised an eyebrow at her, "Wake up, we don't have all day."

"You mean… I'm going with you?"

"...Duh? Come on."

"Ah! W-wait for me!"

Kitty once again scrambled to her feet, glancing at the police as they let her through the barricade. The other reporters took this chance to also sneak past security, but they were quickly blocked and pushed away.

They could really only watch in awe and envy as the people from ABC-ZBN followed behind Whiteking.

But while Kitty was making sure she didn't get left behind by Whiteking, Lorraine's eyes were busy looking everywhere. And she really only stopped when they landed on Gracey.

Lorraine quickly waved at her as soon as their eyes met, but Gracey just slightly raised her hand and awkwardly smiled at her before looking away.

"Oh?" And Riley noticed that.

"That is your mother, Gray?"

"Y-yeah…" Gracey forced out a chuckle.

"You do not seem to have a good connection with her. I am the same with Mother," Riley sighed. "It would seem we have that in common as people on the spectrum."

"Wha—for the last time, I am not on the spectrum!" Gracey gasped as she pointed at Riley, "You and I don't even act alike!"

"It is an entire spectrum, Gracey. My quirks and insufficiencies would not necessarily be the same as yours."

"You—"

"Yoohoo!"

Before Gracey could come forward and defend herself, a loud and obviously flamboyant set of steps started approaching them. Even Tomoe, who was just quietly listening on the side, couldn't help but turn her attention toward the boy—and when she noticed him dancing toward them, she quickly stood in front of Riley to block him from whatever it was.

"Ayyo, I'm glad y'all ain't hurt!"

"Do you know him?" Tomoe narrowed her already small eyes at the boy.

"He is Bella's brother, Tomoe."

"I see…" Tomoe lowered her guard, once again standing beside Riley as she watched Benjamin continue dancing, and when she saw him spinning around and pushing away everyone on his path… she once again subtly stood in front of Riley, "...He seems dangerous."

"He is just homosexual, Tomoe."

"Huh?"

"Yo!" Gracey dapped Benjamin as soon as he arrived in front of them, "What are you still doing here?"

"Whatchu mean 'what I'm doin' here'?! Bruh, I got snatched up too by them Dark Millennium peoples," Benjamin raised an eyebrow at Gracey, "We was right there together!"

"We… were?" Gracey blinked a couple of times, "I was… unconscious the entire time."

"I also didn't notice you there," Tomoe narrowed her eyes even further in suspicion.

"...I was, though?"

"He was, Tomoe." Riley stepped forward.

"Ooh, I knew my boy White got my back," Benjamin also tried dapping Riley, but he only stared at his hand. "Aight, whatever... Yo, where my sis at though? I ain't see her up there."

"She was not taken with us, Benjamin."

"W-what…? Whatchu mean?!" Benjamin gasped, "She ain't on that god damn stupid dumbass list?"

"I do not believe so, no."

Benjamin's eyes turned wide as soon as he heard Riley's words. He gasped, but only a whimper escaped his lips as he took several steps back.

"O-oh… oh no…" Benjamin clasped his head, "...She ain't gonna let this go! They gave her another bullet to use against me… Nah! Teach. Teac. Yo! Where you at?! Take me off that god damn list!"

And there, they watched as Benjamin ran away, running to one of the instructors of Mega Academy and abruptly leaving them… and leaving Tomoe perplexed.

"What… was that?" She blinked a couple of times as she glanced at Gracey.

"No idea, I've only met him once. Riley's the one who knew him from day one."

"Huh?" And once again, Tomoe was confused at Gracey's words. They've only met once, and already seem like they were close?

Just what sort of socializing skills do these people have?

"He's right, though…" Gracey also narrowed her eyes, "...What's this list even about? Are they saying we're… going to be villains?"

"It's just a list," Tomoe shrugged. "I believe it would be even weirder if they didn't have a potential villain list. It's… just a problem of transparency."

"But… I want to be a hero." Gracey's eyebrows lowered, "I mean… I can understand you, Tomoe. Since you said you didn't like Megawoman and all that, but me and Riley? Why are we here?"

"...Hmm."

"We—"

Before Gracey could finish her words, Spectacular Mustache Man approached them again.

"Are you guys okay? We're leaving before these media people get any bright ideas—your friends are also waiting for you."

"Agh… back to Mega Academy."

"Mega Academy? We're not going back to Mega Academy," Spectacular Mustache Man twirled his mustache, "We still have two days left in the trip."

"The trip will continue?" Gracey blinked a couple of times in confusion, "But… we were attacked? And… didn't someone die? Isn't that kind of… insensitive?"

Even Tomoe couldn't help but agree with her words.

"Yes," Spectacular Mustache Man closed his eyes, "If you walk a superhero's path, death is always going to be a part of your life from now on—and so would be moving on. But not yet, let us adults handle that first…

…for now, you have to finish this trip."