"Uh… Hanny, who these dudes s'posed to be?"
"People from my old school. Bad news."
The group standing in front of them, ironically enough, almost mirrored their own—four girls, three boys. If Benjamin weren't still stuck in class, and with Gary now tagging along, they would have had the exact same setup.
Even the racial mix was the same—and for some reason, that pissed Bella off. Not just because it made their own group feel less special, but because of the way Hannah was acting.
They'd only known her for a little over a week, but it was already clear—there weren't many things that could shut Hannah Ross up. Seeing her quiet now, tense, speaking only with her eyes?
That was rare. Maybe even unheard of. And her eyes weren't saying anything good at all, to the point that even Riley could tell that something was wrong.
He tilted his head slightly, scanning the group in front of them before glancing at his sister's face. Her jaw was clenched. Her hands were trembling.
Is that anger, Sister? he thought. Or… is it fear? Are you afraid… of them?
Riley's gaze returned to the group. One of them—a girl—was already staring at him. And the moment their eyes met, she gasped and pointed at him with no attempt at subtlety.
"It—it's true?!" she blurted—no, bellowed, her voice echoing through the Academy's wide halls, "The trust fund baby has a freaking albino for a brother?!"
Instantly, all of their eyes turned to Riley.
"Oh, shit!"
"The freak has an even freakier sibling?!"
"Someone take a picture!"
"With what?! They confiscated our phones!"
"Stupid, that's why you should always bring a backup phone, like me."
The girl who seemed to be the leader of the group, who oddly enough had her hair in a ponytail like Hannah, pulled out a phone and quickly pointed it at Riley. But as she opened her camera app, her brows immediately rose as she saw nothing but white on her screen—she quickly looked in front of her, only for her to look up as Gary was now standing there.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you," he said, clicking his tongue several times while doing so.
Both his hands were in his pockets, his chin tilted back to make sure he was glaring down at her from the most dramatic angle possible.
"These fists of mine have killed gods and dragons, woman," he said. "Don't think I wouldn't use them to punch ugly girls. They're rated E… for ediots."
"...What?" The girl blinked. "Who even—"
And before she could finish her sentence, Gary suddenly snatched the phone from her hand.
"Hey! That's—"
"Turned to dust."
Still tilting his head back, Gary slowly clenched his fist—and with a soft crunch, the phone crumbled to powder between his fingers.
"Be honored," he said while letting the phone fall from his hands. "It's not every day someone survives the strength of the Dragon Monarch."
"You destroyed my fucking phone?!" The girl barked, stepping forward without a hint of fear.
But as she did, Bella joined in, stepping in with a sharp crack of her knuckles, locking eyes with her.
"Pshh, go cry to the school then, bitch," Bella smirked. "Let's see what they say 'bout you not handin' over your phone like everybody else di."
"Fuck you!"
"S-she's right!" Even Pauline stepped up, surprising everyone, including herself. She adjusted her glasses, standing beside Bella. "Phones aren't allowed."
"The fuck?!" Seeing people stepping forward for Hannah, the students from the other group also started joining in.
"Did anyone mention anything about a phone?"
"What the—?!"
But before anything could actually happen between the two groups of raging hormones, a blur of motion sliced through the air. The two groups instinctively parted as a shadow landed between them—a tall figure in red and gold, her arms already crossed.
"An instructor?!"
"Silvie…"
No. Not an instructor.
She had the presence of one, sure, tall, composed, and commanding. Her long blonde hair drifted behind her, caught in the wake of her sudden arrival. A thick red cape rippled around her, and a sleek red mask obscured her eyes. But the rest of her attire? Totally casual like the rest of them.
"Silvie?" Bella repeated the name. She was a student.
"This isn't any of your concern, Class Pres!" The leader of the other group bellowed.
"Hold up—y'all already picked a class prez?" Bella's eyes popped. "Why this school so damn random?"
"Heh. Fool," Gary said, covering half his face with one hand, while still patting away the dust with the other. "This is Mega Academy. Nothing here is random—everything has meaning."
"Boy, you the most random thing here," Bella shot back. "Lookin' like a tall-ass Aryan. How old even is you?"
"Fourteen."
"What?! You ain't—"
"Don't think this is over!" Before Bella and Gary could start another random conversation, Hannah's old classmates suddenly turned and fled, scattering like startled pigeons. None of them even looked back. "You're lucky the class prez is here!"
Bella looked at them in confusion at first, but Gary just smirked and covered his face again for some reason.
"As expected of random thugs," he whispered, "They all say the same cliche lines."
Bella, on the other hand, frowned.
"For real? We just lettin' them run off like that?" She ran after them, but Hannah quickly grabbed her arm.
"It's fine." Hannah exhaled, shaking her head. "The best way to deal with those assholes is to pretend they don't exist. Let's just… go to the mall. You know the way, right, V?"
"Hmm?" Victoria, who'd just been quietly lingering near Riley, blinked as she suddenly heard her name being called. She looked at Hannah for a moment before giving a small nod. "It's a bit of a walk, but there's a shuttle if you'd rather ride."
"There's a shuttle inside the school?" Bella raised a brow. "This place too damn bougie. Nah, that's it—I'm workin' for the government after I graduate. Go 'head, green eyes—show us the way."
"Green eyes…? Me? Okay." Victoria pointed at herself first, before once again nodding and stepping ahead, finally peeling away from Riley's side to guide the group, leading them in the exact opposite direction of the fleeing students.
Hannah didn't really say anything and just kept quiet, and it wasn't until Pauline subtly walked beside her that she finally reacted.
"Those people… were they troubling you in your old school?" Pauline asked.
"Don't… mind them," Hannah awkwardly forced out a chuckle, "They're just… they were my old friends. And when Steph, you know, the one who fucking copied my pony tail. When she found out that my family was… comfortable, they suddenly started treating me… well, different."
"Heh. Children could be like that," Gary joined in, "You do not have to worry, you are safe with us."
He then slowly moved between Pauline and Hannah, raising both his arms and slowly moving them over their shoulders.
"What the—?!" Hannah immediately flung his arm away, then grabbed his other arm as Pauline was too shy to do anything, "I don't care if you have super strength or whatever, I'll burn your arm if you do that again. But god, why is everyone so weird in this school? There's even that one wearing a mask."
"We—"
Before Gary could even retort, Hannah hit him on the chest.
"But thank you… for standing up to me even though we literally just met," she suddenly said, leaving Gary completely flustered and not knowing what to say.
"And guys, I'm fine… seriously," she sighed as she glanced at Pauline and Bella, before finally focusing on her brother, "I told you, Riley. Some parts of school sucks."
I get it, Sister. It is not anger or fear you were feeling, but shame. Because of them. Why? You are headstrong, you would not react like that if they only treated you differently—but, I suppose, how different? And what do you want me to do, Sister? Do you want me to do something? Should I have also done something like Ms. Bella and Mr. Gary?
I know I can do something, I want to do it. I feel it, like a thirst for water. Ever since I took Roman's life, I feel the thirst to take another life growing—but that would only upset you, Sister. You would not approve of it.
Riley glanced back to look at Hannah's old classmates, but their backs were already disappearing into the hallway. The only ones that were left there were the students who were brought by the commotion, as well as the weird masked student… who was also looking in their direction for some reason.
She didn't follow them at all, however, and only crouched down to check the broken parts of the phone. Hannah noticed Riley looking at her old classmates, and she quickly slowed her steps and calmly held his hand.
"Stop thinking about those motherfuckers, Riley." She said.
"They have sexual intercourse with their mothers, Sister?" And Riley's eyes slightly widened, showing a rare hint of emotion. And as soon as Hannah saw this, her eyes also widened, and she winced.
"Bro, you need to really amp up your therapy," she said with a groan, giving his hand a deep squeeze, "Just stop thinking about them. I just hope I never see those shits again, or atleast Steph. I hope she fucking dies in a ditch somewhere or something."
Oh? Was that… permission? You want me to do something to her, Sister? Do you want me to kill her? You do? I thought I would have to wait until someone attacked me again—but to think you, Sister, would give me permission to kill someone.
Thank you. For you, Sister. I will do it.
And so, with that thought, the group headed to the mall—completely in the dark with the sinister thoughts one of them was having.
***
Back in the House of Horrors in Megaland, the entire attraction has been completely closed off from the rest of the theme park by the police.
"Jesus… fuck. What could have done this?"