Riley Ross

[EMERGENCY NEWS ALERT]

Howdy, y'all! This is Kitty comin' to you live from ABC-ZBN.

Now I know what y'all are thinkin'; 'Kitty, didn't you just do the mornin' report?' And yes, I did—but wouldn't ya know it, your favorite homegirl Lorraine had herself another emergency. Mmhm. Bless her heart, but if she don't stop disappearin', she's gonna be lookin' for a new gig faster than a prairie dog in a snake pit because I am gonna take her job.

Now let's get down to the real dirt.

A super by the name of Richard Rock, or as his rowdy friends call him, 'Ricky', has gone completely off the rails, y'all. What you're seein' right here is CCTV footage from a restaurant over on Massachusetts—an establishment that's now bein' called the site of one of the most gruesome and unnecessary crime scenes we've seen all year. But, when has it ever been necessary?

Richard, who's in his late twenties and apparently been workin' there for years, snapped and went crazy' yall. He killed his boss… who, get this, was also his friend. Then turned 'round and straight-up duplicated copies of himself like a dang rabbit in heat, to take out a witness who also happens to be his friend.

But that wasn't enough for ol' Ricky. No ma'am. He walked right outta that kitchen and started slaughterin' the customers like he was killin' rats on his farm.

And it don't stop there. Four police officers who arrived on scene? Dead. Richard here duplicated himself into a dozen and killed them all.

The police are angry, y'all.

Now, law enforcement's also whisperin' that Ricky here might be tied to the Hudson Apartment Killings—y'know, the ones from earlier this week? Turns out, the victim there was his wife.

Y'all, this ain't just a man on the run. He's bein' labeled a straight-up supervillain by the netizens. The whole internet's lit up like a bonfire. But don't take my word for it—we got some exclusive footage from one of our loyal viewers. It shows Richard screamin' at officers, right before killin' them and makin' his escape."

[You don't understand! I… I'm not the villain here! That son of Bernard is he did this to me! Look at my arm! They… they had to amputate it because he crushed my hand! My wife left me because of this, and then those insurance motherfuckers refused to cover my bills for me! Do none of you understand how suffocating and unfair that is?! How I have to lose everything, and the one who did this to me is living his best life?! I am the victim here! Society is fucked! This is—]

Now honey, I ain't no therapist, but I know a delulu when I hear one. He's out here soundin' more unhinged than a screen door in a hurricane. Some folks online are sayin' it's a 'valid crashout, but most of us can tell—this is just classic 'blame everybody but yourself' villain monologue. Pathetic, y'all.

The internet's already namin' him. But I'd like to advise y'all to be careful—this one seems very mighty vengeful. And these names aren't very good. Some are callin' him Clone Crazy, Multistab, Cloudy with a chance of Richard… personally, I think Replica Ricky has a mighty fine ring to it.

But here's where it gets spicy, y'all: He's blamin' Riley Ross, the baby boy of that gazillionaire Bernard Ross. Now, unless you been livin' under a rock, you know Riley's been front and center in the super scene because of… reasons. But our sources say Riley didn't even awaken his powers the same day his hand went kaput. So what's all the finger-pointin' for, Replica Ricky?

And listen—I've seen Riley in person. Met him just earlier. Sweet as honey.

But now, onto more important news, y'all! Which also happens to involve our Sweet Snowy Little Baby Boy.

It has been over six hours since the freshmen from Mega Academy were kidnapped by the villain organization callin' themselves the Dark Millennium. Now, this ain't your run-of-the-mill evil gang. No ransom, no demands, no calls—no one knows what these child-napping evildoers want! We—wait, what? …She's where? Y'all sayin' she's actually there?! Are you sure?!

Oh my stars, we gotta go—we gotta roll out the van, now! What do ya mean no?! It's Megawoman, dammit! Don't you shush me! I bet if it were Lorraine, you people would immediately tell her to go! This is my exclusive now! You—

[We are experiencing technical difficulties. We will be back soon!]

***

And while the whole world had become chaotic with him somewhat at the center, Riley's world was completely silent. Even with the wind violently slamming into his ears and the ground thousands of feet below him, the only thing he could hear was the sound of his beating heart.

Am I… scared?

Riley thought that he had already experienced being nervous when he randomly met Megawoman on his way back to Tomoe's house, and he appreciated feeling it for the first time.

It made him feel like everyone else, like his sister… human.

But if feeling nervous was his basis of being human, then in this very moment, he was the most human he had ever been.

Megawoman, once again floating right in front of him at the worst possible moment, carrying the worst possible person she could.

A person who knew his secret.

How am I going to get out of this one? Mr. Saturday is unconscious now, but he could wake up at any moment and tell her what I told him.

I could kill him right now and stop his heart, but what if Megawoman could feel me using my power?

Is she able to do something like that? It is Megawoman, I need to be careful.

I truly have only one choice now.

Faint.

Riley briefly glanced at Megawoman before letting out a breath and letting go of the post he was holding. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to be carried by the wind.

Would you catch me, Megawoman? You could end it right now. You could end the reign of terror I would put the world in if I grow any further.

All you need to do is not catch me, and you could end this right now. Save the world, save Sister… from me. From the monster that I will become, from the monster that I already am.

I—

"Easy there, son."

Of course, you would catch me.

Riley felt himself gently being wrapped around Megawoman's arms. She was… warm. Warmer than even Hannah for some reason—was this what the world's strongest felt like?

If only you could share your warmth with me, Megawoman. Perhaps it would stop the darkness inside of me from crawling out into the light and swallowing everyone.

"You did really well, I heard from your classmates that you distracted the villains so they could try and escape?"

Even your voice is warm, Megawoman. I… do not deserve it. I—

Instead of putting him on one of the empty harnesses still hanging from her waist, Megawoman chose to carry Riley into her arms, pulling him closer to her bosoms with one arm before removing his sunglasses from his face and lightly brushing his hair.

"You even tried to save someone who tried to kill you. You don't need to worry, they're all going straight to prison after this and won't hurt you anymore. Mmirioma."

"Megawoman."

Mmirioma, Ms. October, stood next to the shattered glass as Megawoman called for her.

"I don't know what the Hope Guild and Whiteking are planning here…" The warmth in Megawoman's voice disappeared. "But a child died."

"And I am very deeply sorry for that, it wasn't supposed to happen," Mmirioma lowered her head upon talking to Megawoman.

"Well, it did. I hope whatever this is, it is worth it."

"I was tasked to infiltrate this organization when Whiteking got wind of it, Megawoman. We have reason to believe that the leader of the Dark Millennium is someone from—"

"I don't want to know," Megawoman cut Mmirioma off before she could explain. "You and the Hope Guild better be careful with Whiteking. He's a good kid, but there's darkness in him that none of you know about that you need to contain."

"I… would take note of that, Megawoman. But… are you returning?"

"No. I just heard someone calling for help, and I came. Say hi to your sister for me."

"She would appreciate that. Are there no more children on the ship?"

"No, they're all out. You can return to whatever it is you and Whiteking are playing at."

"Thank you, Megawoman. I assure you, this is—"

"I don't want to know."

And with that, Megawoman flew away from the colossal ship, gently carrying Riley in his arms while the rest of the unconscious students and Mr. Saturday dangled from the harnesses like they were hanging on a parachute.

"Children… being killed," Megawoman whispered as she slowly descended to the ground. "What's this world even turning into? This is hell."

"Has it not always been, Megawoman?"

"Oh? You're… awake?"

Uh oh. Why did I do that? I am supposed to be here to make sure Mr. Saturday stays silent, not to get your attention.