"My name is Riley Ross."
"That's not a superhero name."
"But I am not a superhero, Ms. Pauline."
"Humor us. That..."
Riley waited for Pauline to finish her sentence, but after three seconds of silence, he turned to glance at her, only to find her completely knocked out.
"Aaand she out..." Bella sighed, exchanging a look with Hannah before they gently guided Pauline's head into Hannah's lap.
An awkward silence fell over the group after that, and Gary, of course, seized the opportunity to restart the conversation.
"What about you, senior?" He asked, clasping his hands together as he faced Katherine. "What name did you choose?"
"Me?" Katherine blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Well, I'm already registered in the Superhero Registry as Scarlet Mage."
She lifted a lock of her red hair, pinching it between her fingers like salt before letting it fall against her chest.
"Red hair, magic. It made sense. Honestly, you guys don't need to stress about your names too early. The right one usually finds you—and it'll probably change over time. I mean… I originally wanted to call myself Brightday."
She winced and hugged her arms like the memory alone gave her secondhand embarrassment.
"But once I realized I could do more than just make things sparkle, I changed it." She turned to the others with a squint. "Wait… who's your instructor again?"
"Spectacular Mustache Man."
"Ohhh," she muttered. "That tracks. Let me guess—he gave you the speech about how he got his name?"
"Pft, yeah..." Hannah snorted. "And Riley here roasted the shit out of him."
"Seriously? Damn, I wish I'd been there for that." Katherine grinned, shaking her head. "Still, if it's SMM, then yeah… you do need to come up with a name now. It's a very big deal for him."
"Wait..." Gary suddenly stood up again, his attention drifting to the corner of the cafe, "Since none of you have chosen a name yet… Let me ask her if she's chosen one. She's in our class, right?"
"Who…?" Everyone turned to follow his gaze, only to spot Tomoe sitting alone at the window, legs crossed on the stool, quietly enjoying her dessert. And it was very clear that she did not want to be approached.
But of course, Gary doesn't realize that.
"Wait, Gary. I don't think—" Hannah tried to stop him, but she couldn't move with Pauline still passed out in her lap. The rest of the group could really only watch helplessly as Gary approached the quiet girl in the corner.
"Greetings, madam. I wanted to—What the?!"
Before Gary could even finish introducing himself, a loud scraping noise cut through the air as Tomoe abruptly stood from her stool and slapped his hand away. She hadn't even touched him, yet her body flinched, and she lowered her head, her breath growing heavier by the second.
"W-whoa…" Gary quickly raised both hands, his voice softening as he saw her trembling. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—are you alright?"
Tomoe didn't respond. She just glanced at him with wide, uncertain eyes—then just bolted.
"Wait! I'm sorry!" Gary called after her, wincing as she nearly collided with a group walking into the cafe. He took a step to follow her, but froze when he recognized one of the people she'd nearly run into.
It was Bulwark. Mega Academy's headmaster.
"H-headmaster!" Gary immediately straightened his posture and performed a sharp kowtow. Bulwark gave him a brief nod before scanning the cafe. The moment his gaze passed over any table, the students there quickly looked away, trying to act casual.
Fortunately for them, Bulwark's attention didn't wander long—it landed squarely on Riley's table.
"Ah. Just the student I was looking for," he said, waving at Riley and motioning to the two people behind him to follow.
Everyone at the table stiffened. After all, Pauline was still unconscious in Hannah's lap, reeking faintly of alcohol, and no one quite knew what to do.
Fortunately, Bulwark seemed uninterested in the rest of the table. His gaze was fixed entirely on Riley.
"Mr. Riley Ross," Bulwark said, stepping closer. "Do you have a moment? I'd like to introduce you to some… special guests."
He then gestured to the two people behind him.
"Detectives Dorothy Adams and Jake Suarez. They have a few questions for you."
Oh?What's this... am I going to get caught already?
***
After half an hour of convincing Hannah not to barge into the interrogation room, Bulwark finally managed to calm her down—with one condition: she'd be allowed to watch the detectives question Riley from behind the glass.
Strangely enough, they were actually still inside the Academy.
"Why does the Academy even have a place like this, Uncle?" Hannah narrowed her eyes at Bulwark.
Bulwark didn't answer, however. He simply raised a finger to his lips, then pointed toward the glass, silently urging her to focus on the interrogation instead. Hannah looked like she still had more to say, but the questioning had already begun.
"Riley Ross," Sergeant Dorothy began as she carefully laid out a series of photos in front of Riley, "We've obtained your father's consent to speak with you, and we're allowed to show you these images."
Her eyes didn't leave Riley's face as she adjusted the photos, observing his expressions.
"You don't have to look at them if you're uncomfortable," she added gently. "We've blurred out some of the more… distressing details. First—do you recognize this man?"
Riley's eyes moved to where she was pointing.
"That is Ryan Roman, Sergeant Dorothy," he shrugged. "He told me his friends called him The Butt Ender, but in a more Australian accent. Butt Endah."
"He… was known by that, yes," Dorothy replied, suppressing a grimace. She shot a quick glare at her partner, even though he hadn't said a word or tried to stifled a laugh.
"If it's alright with you, could you walk us through how you met Ryan Roman?"
"Of course, Sergeant Dorothy," Riley nodded.
He recited the same story he'd given the park staff—that Ryan had posed as an employee and lured him into an old storage room.
"He said we were going to play hide and wank, then he turned invisible," Riley once again just shrugged.
Naturally, he omitted the part where he'd fought Roman. And he made sure not to diverge from what he had already told the people. Everything he said should line up exactly with the official report from the employees of Megaland.
"I am sorry that I do not remember much about what happened right before or after that, Sergeant Dorothy," he ended, glancing briefly at Dorothy's shoulder.
"No need to apologize," Dorothy said softly, sighing as she started removing the photos from the table. "You're doing just fine. Now, I'm going to show you a new batch. Feel free to look away if it's too much."
She began sliding the first photos back into a folder, but before she could lay out the next set, Jake reached out and blocked her hand.
"Jesus, Dors. Are we really going to show this to the kid?" He whispered, "He's been through enough."
"We've already discussed this, Suarez," Dorothy replied, brushing his hand aside. "It's our job."
Jake grimaced, but said nothing else. He simply bit down on his knuckle and stepped back.
Dorothy turned her attention to Riley once more.
"These next images are... very violent and bad, Riley. If it becomes too much, just let me know, okay? You're doing incredibly well. You're very brave." The tone of her voice was extremely gentle, and her smile even more so.
Riley nodded silently. Then, his eyes fell on the photos.
They showed Roman's mangled body. A metal pole jutted grotesquely from his mouth, his tongue split in two. His eyes were gone, and half of his face had been torn away. His limbs were twisted, shattered, or barely attached by skin.
It was horror. But as Riley stared at the photos, all he could really feel was… nostalgia.
Oh. Hello… we meet again, Ryan.
It lasted only a second, but Dorothy saw it. That smile. That flicker of something beneath his blank face. And just like that, she made a silent note in her mind.
Do you know more than you're letting on, Riley Ross?