Chapter 6: D… Riley

“…Happy?”

A small smile slowly crawled on the face of the supervisor as the heat that Hannah was releasing was fiery enough for it to reach her, even though she was already meters away from the flaming creature.

The flames in Hannah’s body did not really offset from her body too much, tightly wrapping her body like some sort of loose suit. However, from time to time, there were flares flailing out from her, almost like a laser or a flash of light that made the temperature rise even further.

“That’s fine, examinee Hannah Ross,” the supervisor then wrote something on her file as she finally pulled her eyes away from Hannah, “You may go back to your line, next!”

“…”

“…”

“What are you doing? Go back to your line.”

But to her surprise, Hannah did not move from her spot, still slightly hovering from the ground as the flames on her body burned even hotter, almost releasing some sort of searing noise that whispered to the ears of the other contestants.

Silvie Savelievna, who moved several steps backward because she saw Riley doing the same, finally realized why he did so.

The current examinee, Hannah Ross…

…can’t control her powers that well.

“Chill out, sis,” Hannah then turned towards the supervisor as she once again urged her to return to her line. And although her words seemed relaxed, the stress in her voice was clear for everyone to hear.

It also didn’t help that when she looked at her brother, the only thing he did was pull up his zipper even higher and tighten his hoodie while taking another few steps back.

Hannah Ross had never really once explored her power; she did enough that it was able to help her light up the stove or help her father when he needed to repair his tools with a shrink tube. There were also her slight outbursts, but other than that, she wasn’t interested enough for her to practice it religiously– after all, no one in her family other than her had superpowers.

Her mother, Diana Ross, had the strength of a gorilla, but it wasn’t really a superpower– she just became like that from the stress of having to take care of the rest of the family.

As for her father, Bernard Ross, he is also a normal human– at least the peak of what humans could achieve. Even though he was part of the most famous superhero league in the world, he didn’t have any superpowers. He was able to join it due to the masterful use of his tools, which he had also created by himself.

He was also a master of all the fighting styles and martial arts one could think of, even creating one or two of his own style. Okay, maybe his father was a bit extraordinary after all. But still, Whiteking, by definition, no matter how extraordinary, is still a normal human.

And her brother… well, no one really knew he was a Super until they just randomly told them.

“Hannah Ross, please return to your line.”

“I said chill out!”

The flames around her grew even stronger as the supervisor once again urged her to go down. With her scream, the other younger examinees could not help but slightly feel a small panic, causing some of them to let out a small gasp. But still, they did not move from their spot as they thought it would be seen as a weakness.

“…Is your sister alright?” Silvie then slightly leaned closer towards Riley.

Riley, however, instead of answering her, only stared at her straight in the eyes. If Silvie wasn’t weirded out by him before, she was now. However, Riley’s blue eyes, which were almost glowing, made it hard for Silvie to move her eyes away from him.

But finally, after a few more seconds of this awkward situation, Riley answered.

“She’s fine,” he muttered monotonously before turning his attention back to her sister, “She’s perfect.”

“…” Hearing this, Silvie slowly took a step away from Riley.

“Could it be, you are unable to control your powers?”

“I can! Just shut up!”

The supervisor then slowly approached Hannah, while still writing something down on her file.

“What… what are you doing, stay away!”

“Now I know why they chose me as the supervisor,” the supervisor then let out a long and deep sigh as she gently dropped the examinees’ files on the ground as she continued to approach Hannah,

“It’s because of you.”

“Wha–“

Before Hannah could finish her words, a light snap whispered in her ears as the supervisor suddenly clapped her hands.

The supervisor then stretched her arms to the side, and as soon as she did so, spheres of water suddenly emerged like a bubble to her sides, materializing out of nowhere. And without even any warning, she once again clapped her hands.

“!!!”

The two spheres of water, almost the size of a tank, quickly sandwiched Hannah as they merged into a one huge sphere, completely confining her inside. It was a good thing that her father had made her a suit, made from materials that were able to withstand the extreme heat and fire that her power produces. If not, then everyone would have had a clear view of her naked body as soon as the water prison confined her.

“…Interesting.”

But still, even with her whole body drowning in water, some of the flames persisted– boiling a part of the sphere. Seeing this, the supervisor slightly flicked her finger, causing the sphere of water to compress even tighter.

“…” Darkday’s eyes slightly twitched as she saw his sister struggling, gasping for air as the ball of water continued to restrict her breath; his fingers, slightly itching as he turned his attention towards the supervisor.

If he kills the supervisor here, was there a chance he might be discovered? He could probably make her head explode without even anyone noticing, but that would surely garner the attention of the higher-ups of the Academy.

A more… stealthy approach, then?

“Hm?”

The supervisor let out a small gasp of air as she felt her chest slightly tightening, her heart slowly beating in a chaotic manner. Seeing her slightly flinch, a smile could not help but slowly build up on Darkday’s face. He then took a long and deep breath as he felt the beating of the supervisor’s heart on the palm of his hand; just one grip, then her life would be over. It had been a long time since he had last taken someone’s life– 2 months, at least. His fingers were truly just shaking from the excitement.

“Please, stop this!”

But before he could psychokinetically squeeze the life out of the supervisor, a loud voice rang through his left ear, causing him to stop.

“…”

Silvie then rushed forward, patting the supervisor on the shoulder, “Please stop, miss supervisor. She’s going to drown if you do not release her soon.”

Although her words were somewhat fluent, the tiny bit of her Russian accent remained in her voice.

Weird, Riley thought. Mega Woman’s accent was completely American– was it possible this Silvie was a relative from far away? But she and Mega Woman looked too much alike for them to be distant relatives.

Perhaps Mega Woman’s husband was from Russia?

Once again, Riley found himself looking at Mega Woman Jr.

If he killed him… would she also have the same kind of immortality as Mega Woman? If she did, then that would probably prove his assumption that she was, indeed, Mega Woman’s daughter. But what if she didn’t? What if she just dies if he kills her… then she’d just die without even having the chance of getting stronger.

A flower gone too soon is just weed, Riley thought.

Riley’s eyes started to move randomly as different scenarios appeared in his mind– but after what seemed like a second, he finally reached a conclusion on how he would know who she truly was…

…He’d just ask her once he had the chance to do so.

With Silvie patting the supervisor’s shoulder, the tight feeling in her chest also gradually faded away– waking her up from the slight stupor she found herself in. She quickly released the sphere of water, causing Hannah to drop down from the air.

Hannah’s grasp for air whispered to the ears of the other examinees, causing them to wince from the cracking of her voice.

“Are you alright?” Silvie quickly rushed towards to help her, while the supervisor waved her hand, calling for the medics to come forward.

“I… I’m fine,” Hannah said as she struggled to even stand up from almost having drowned, “…Thanks.”

Silvie then had no choice but to back away as the medics came rushing in, quickly taking her away to the side. Riley was about to follow them, but Hanah quickly waved her hand and gestured to her to stay– which he did.

The other examinees could not help but whisper and murmur to each other as they watched her being taken away. They were first awed by Silvie’s display of her powers, however, with Hannah’s performance, most of it was completely burned away.

“This is what the Academy is for, children!” The supervisor then picked up the files of the examinees from the ground, patting it for any dirt, “That girl was a fine example of why it is dangerous for you to keep hiding your powers– some are too lethal to be contained.”

Hearing the supervisor’s words, some of the examinees could not help but nod in agreement; even Silvie let out a sigh as nodded. The only one that was not moving his head was Riley, whose eyes were still following his sister as she was being checked by the medics.

“Let’s move on, next!”

“…”

“Next!”

“…”

“I said next!”

“It’s your turn.”

Riley blinked a couple of times as he heard Silvie’s voice. He then looked at her, before moving his eyes to the front as he finally heard the supervisor calling for him.

“Next! Stop dawdling, you’re holding up the line!”

“D… Riley Ross, Telekinesis.”