Chapter 10: Declaration of War

“Are you sure you have everything? Do you have the portable fire extinguishers ready? Did you bring enough? Did you make sure all of your clothes are fire-resistant? What about you, Riley? Did you bring the 1 gallon of sunscreen we bought you?”

“Mother, we’re moving to the Academy dorms, not another country. Besides, father will also be teaching– !!!”

Hannah’s muffled screams whispered through the air as Bernard quickly covered her mouth, not allowing her to speak any further. Another month had passed since Riley’s very successful entrance exam, and now, the Ross’s were in front of the entrance of the Academy, with Diana refusing to leave her children for almost an hour now.

“Remember what we practiced? Never, ever call me father when we are at school; whether I am in costume or not,” Bernard whispered as he glared at her daughter. Hannah, however, only slapped her father’s hand away.

“You look more suspicious doing that! I swear, how on earth have you survived this long without your secret identity getting discovered,” Hannah rolled her eyes as she rushed inside the almost 3-meter thick gate of the Academy, “I’ll meet you inside, blankface!” She then waved at Riley before disappearing into the depths of the campus.

“I’m not done, get back he–“

Before Diana could finish her words, Riley suddenly followed her sister inside; not even letting her say her farewells. The only thing Diana could do was let out a long and deep sigh as she lightly hugged her husband.

“They truly grow up so fast, don’t they?”

“They do,” Bernard quickly nodded, “Now, let’s take you home so I can return here before the entrance ceremony starts.”

“It’s not fair that I am the only one not attending the Academy!” Diana pouted, “Maybe I should also apply as a teacher?”

“…That’s not going to happen,” Bernard chuckled, “Just wait for me at home, okay? We finally have the house by ourselves after 18 long years. Maybe it’s time…

…we welcome another Ross into our family.”

***

“First of all, I would like to congratulate all of you for making it to the Academy; and secondly, I would also like to congratulate you on your first step to being an actual superhero.”

“Wake me up when the old man stops talking.”

As soon as the welcoming ceremony started, Hannah quickly moved her chair nearer to Riley’s, leaning her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes to sleep through the speech being given by the President of the Mega Academy– the superhero known as Prophet.

The Prophet is an old hero, almost as old as Mega Woman herself; besides being an active part of the government, not much is known about him. Riley had also not had the pleasure of having to encounter Prophet as Darkday, so all of his attention was currently on him.

Riley did not even notice the stares they were getting from the other students, not even from the one beside him.

“The fact that you have made it here is already an accomplishment, so I am very proud of all of you,” Prophet continued his speech; his smiles, enough to overwhelm the huge scar he had on his face, “You are the very first batch of students of America’s Mega Academy, therefore, I can’t promise that your stay here will be perfect. But what I can promise you is that once we are ready to let you go, you will come out of that gate a superhero…”

Perhaps Hannah had the right mentality, as Prophet’s speech truly did last a very long time. The excitement on the students’ faces has already died down as Prophet did not seem to have any plans to stop even after an hour of talking.

At this point, only two students were left actively listening to what he was saying– Riley and Silvie.

The former, trying to figure out Prophet, while the latter was waiting. But she did not need to wait for long, as Prophet’s speech finally came to an end.

“…And so, to fire up your competitive spirit, based solely on the entrance exam– I shall call to the stage the student we think would have the best chance to replace Mega Woman…

…Silvie Savelievna!”

The crowd quickly woke up as soon as Prophet’s claps echoed throughout the entire hall, some of them who were already in dreamland were slightly confused, but as soon as they saw someone walking to the stage, they just instinctively also clapped their hands; even Hannah was a victim of this domino effect as she clapped her hands as soon as she was woken up by it.

“W… what’s happening, Riley?” Hannah weakly muttered as she tried her best to open her eyes. Riley, however, completely ignored her as he stared emptily towards the wall on the back of the stage.

‘Best chance to replace Mega Woman?’

He repeated Prophet’s words in his mind. What did they mean by ‘replace’ Mega Woman? Was he just overthinking things, or did something happen to Mega Woman that the government wasn’t telling people?

Was it really the right decision for him to return her there? Perhaps he should have kept her with the others, or maybe just took care of her himself?

“Earth to Riley.”

Riley’s erratically moving eyes then stopped as Hannah waved her hands in front of his face, “Are you really actually in love with that Silvie girl? You do know I have her number, right? We became friends during the exams while you were being interviewed. I can give it to you if you want, what about it, eh? Eh?”

“No,” Riley just shook his head in response, “I was thinking about Mega Woman, sister.”

“…What? Since when were you a fan of her?”

“I am not. It’s just that it seems that something is wrong with h–“

Before Riley could finish his words, a high-pitched screeching noise whistled through the air, almost deafening everyone in the hall.

“S… sorry.”

It was then followed by Silvie’s something anxious voice as she tried to fiddle with the microphone in front of her. But finally, after a few more seconds, her long and deep breath reverberated through the air.

“First of all, I would like to thank the Academy for providing all of us students such a warm welcome. I am going to keep my speech short because I know all of us are excited to take our first step as students of the Academy… I know I am. So there really is only one thing I want to say to all of you…”

Silvie closed her eyes as she once again took a long and deep breath, before once again opening her mouth and scanning the fellow students in front of her.

“…I will be the one to surpass Mega Woman.”

“!!!”

Hearing Silvie’s words, not only the crowd of students, but also the faculty all shared a collective expression of awe, amusement, and irritation– creating an orchestra of gasps within the halls.

“So please, forgive me as I do my best to stay at the top. That is all I wanted to say, thank you.”

“…”

“…”

Even after the students were told that they may leave the hall to see their class assignments and designation, none of them stood up from their seats. They could once again only watch as Silvie left the hall by herself.

What she did was basically a declaration of war, and most of the crowd here that had seen her during the exhibition had already given up hope in fighting against her for the crown… However, there were some whose fires have only grown bigger as they accepted Silvie’s challenge.

“Oho, your girlfriend truly knows how to make an entrance, blankf– Riley?”

Hannah tried to nudge Riley with her elbows but almost stumbled as she found the seat next to her suddenly empty. “What the… where the fuck is that idiot?”

Hannah quickly stood up as Riley was suddenly nowhere to be found.

“Don’t tell me…

…he really did fall in love with her!?”

***

“Excuse me, ma’am. Can you tell me where the class assignments are posted?”

“Eek!”

A high-pitched shriek echoed throughout a hallway, followed by a bunch of books catapulting in the air. The owner of both quickly tried to catch the books she just threw due to her shock but found them staying afloat in the air.

“…” Even from the mask the red-haired woman was wearing, one could not help but see her eyes squinting. She then slowly turned around to see who it was that called her out of nowhere, only to see a white-haired individual widely staring at her straight in the eyes.

She once again almost jumped in fright as soon as she saw the young man, but as soon as she realized she wasn’t actually seeing a ghost, she quickly let out a short but deep sigh and calmed herself down.

“You’re student Riley Ross, right? What are you doing here?”

“I think I am lost…

…Scarlet Mage.”