"So, how do I look?"
Stepping out from the closet, a man showed off his—quite frankly—funky appearance.
Starting from the ground up, he had pink slippers (his mothers), with plain white socks as well. Then, his pants were pure white, cotton sweatpants. For his shirt, he wore a v-neck, sleeveless blue one, a white cape (blanket) tied around his neck.
And, to top it all off,
"You look stupid," the woman clearly stated, crossing her arms with an unamused expression. Most eye-catching of all, there was a white, fuzzy unicorn-styled motorcycle helmet with a rainbow mohawk.
"Huh?! What do you mean? I think I look good, no?"
"You look like you want to kidnap children."
"No! I just want a less, well, 'scary' outfit. Last time, I wore all black, and I scarred some kid for life when I punched his abusive dad in the stomach and cracked his ribs. At least now, hopefully I'm less frightening."
"...If I was a parent, I would not let you near my child."
"...Well, it's the best I can think of, alright?"
Red as a color seemed a bit too "dark" for Riley's interests, so he'd opted for a cool blue. Not having much in the way of shoes, he figured pink slippers would put people at ease. And, of course, in stark contrast to his previously black aesthetic, he leaned into the theme of white with a cape and pants.
"Whatever. Anyways, it's night—the city needs me."
"Uh huh."
Riley clicked his tongue, opening up his window and summoning [Hanging], leaping out and flying away to fight crime throughout the night.
…
Come Monday morning, and Riley lazily walked into the entrance of the school.
Having gotten little sleep from two nights and a day of being a superhero, he was groggy and annoyed at practically everything. Kara walked behind him—separated by a distance of a few yards, the two were glamorized figures.
No, that was wrong. Rather, Kara was glamorized, seeming the "tragic beauty" archetype. Riley, meanwhile, was still riddled with the consensus that he was the one who manipulated or blackmailed her into attempting the double suicide.
"Didn't think he'd make it another week," one of the students said.
"I know, right? If I were him, I'd probably try and get her to try another one."
"At this point, I honestly kind of feel bad for him."
"Don't. He tried to kill a woman, remember?"
"...Fair."
Riley's head down, he continued walking.
These people are all valuable. I'll always love them, no matter what.
Softly holding his hands over his chest, Riley quickly heard—
"Riley!"
Spiking up, he turned around to see Nina sprinting towards him. She crashed into him, forcing him to move a bit—lest she suspect he was supernaturally strong.
"...Ow. What was that for?" Riley asked, looking her eye to eye as she smiled at him.
In their close proximity,
Oh, snap.
His face turning a light pink, he sensed warmth. For some strange reason, she seemed a lot more pretty than he'd remembered.
"You dumb-dumb, I hadn't heard from you in days! Seriously, after what happened—I was worried sick. When I came over, you weren't even home!!"
"Huh?!" Riley nearly shouted, taking a step back as his face was abrupt with confusion. "Kara didn't tell me about that—she answered the door, right?"
"No? Wait, wha?"
Balling up his fist, Riley sighed and looked away, his patience greatly muddied from his lack of sleep.
"Gosh, that girl… I thought she would've told me. Sorry, sorry—I'm fine, really."
"You sure? Let me see."
Holding his wrist, checking for self-harm wounds, she found none. Riley wasn't the type to do that to begin with, even if he couldn't heal extremely quickly, so it was quite strange. An action which made Riley's heart weaken a little.
"Goodness," Riley said, shaking his head. "I'm fine, I'm fine."
In reality, he truly was fine.
I've been feeling good the past few days. Even if I regret what I did on Saturday, I didn't exactly want to kill myself afterwards.
His thought pattern of "Suicide is the only answer," the evolution of "Suicide is a habit," had seemingly vanished.
I guess it's because I have superpowers. I'm actually dedicated to something, I actually have stuff worth fighting for. Hey, I'm doing awfully well for myself, aren't I?
Hearing murmurs around them, Riley took a glance and saw people whispering as they looked at him and Nina.
Looking down, his thumb was instinctively pressed into his skin. His breaths had become uneven, as he glanced at the girls who whispered and laughed at the two of them.
"...Hey, let's get going," Riley said, walking away and motioning his hand for Nina to follow. She began to follow, with a strange, floating noose being summoned into the world.
The girls who laughed at them had the rope tug on their ankles whilst they walked, tripping them slightly and making them stumble.
Not wanting anything more, Riley removed the noose from the world.
Letting out a laugh from his nose, he felt awfully proud of himself. In his sleep-deprived state, the ideals of justice and love weren't exactly on his mind.
"—Hey brat, heads up."
The voice of Ghira popping into his head, Riley felt a shiver go down his spine. Utilizing his sixth sense, he easily found—,
Shit!
"Hey, I gotta go!!" Riley quickly shouted. Though, a particularly bad quirk of his took place.
Having a quiet voice, Riley's throat was not used to speaking so suddenly. Therefore, Nina couldn't understand what he was saying, and he ran down the hall. She gave pursuit, amazed by his unfolding speed before her very eyes. And yet,
"Woaghk!!"
Suddenly yanked back violently, she felt a tugging on her waist. Dragged backwards by a rope, Nina was kept from the line of fire, allowing Riley to sprint out to his car.
Shit, I'd say what—10, 20 seconds? Hurry, hurryhurry!
His keys jingling, Riley unlocked the car door, searching in the back. Shifting through a bit of a mess, he found an old balaclava he'd stored since winter.
Crud, it's not gonna be all that great. Ah, whatever.
In the fall, Riley had worn a jacket to keep warm. Taking his jacket off and hoping that no one would put the pieces together, Riley put on the black balaclava and closed his car door, locking it and taking out his phone, calling Kara.
Classes are about to start. Better me than her—plus her abilities would be exposed.
"Huh?" Kara asked, having picked up the call.
"Hey, uh, there's a servant coming to the school. I'm leaving my keys, wallet and phone on the roof of my car. Just play the role of a student hiding to make sure your identity's safe. Byebye."
Hanging up, Riley put his breakable items on the roof of his car, summoning [Hanging] into the world and grabbing hold of it, taking off into the air.
Using his sixth sense—— it was not necessary.
The servant had already reached him.
Being grabbed by his slender neck, Riley was spun around multiple times mid-air, before finally,
"WOAAAHH!!"
Launched towards the school, he rotated repeatedly, smashing into the concrete right at the entrance, bouncing off the ground from the force.
His sudden stop created a loud crunch which pierced his eardrums; his instinctual thought, even if not vocalized in his head, was that of wondering which bone had been broken.
Gasping, wheezing, Riley seemed utterly pathetic. Well, not "Riley," per-se. His face covered and wearing a strange outfit, alongside the extreme situation, the people outside the school did not realize it was him.
Rolling over, trying to stand up, he healed his body, the pain slowly fading away. Then,
"URYAH!!"
Bolting towards him, the servant—a man with long black hair and a white hoodie—wound his leg back. Sending out a violent kick, the man grunted from the exertion, his shin colliding directly with Riley's side, hurtling him through the glass.
Shattering the windows, the teenager's body slid down the floor, coming to a painful halt when he crashed into a brick wall.
"Agh," he grunted, summoning [Hanging] and wrapping the entire thing around his waist, lifting him up on its own. The students, upon seeing the human rocket Riley had become, immediately booked it down the hallway, fleeing to different rooms of the school.
Of course, as a school of the modern era, the security carried guns. The servant walking inside through the open window frame he'd shattered, he continued to laugh whilst summoning a knife into the world.
"Hey, hey! Drop the knife! Put the knife—"
"KYAK!"
In an instant, the servant carried out the 21-feet rule to the extreme, blitzing the security before they could draw their guns, the servant slashed open a neck. Red smears staining the ground, glass and walls, the servant snickered, taking the gun off of the bleeding out body.
"No! You… ghk."
"I…" the servant began, breathing heavily and snickering as he turned towards Riley. "I'm gonna kill you~~!"
Smiling ear to ear, the servant drew the gun, pointing it at—,
"Ah?"
His vision had become somewhat obscured. Not with smoke, but rather, a car.
"What the?"
A relatively beat-up looking car had been summoned, instantly appearing inside the hallway of the school. Paying little mind past the initial confusion, the servant opened fire just a few shots at Riley hiding behind the car.
"Ohhh, that's what it was for," they began, tilting their head and causing their long, messy black hair to shift to the side as they looked at the bullet holes.
Riley, hiding behind the car, pressed off the ground with a small leap, landing up on the car's hood. Jumping into the air, the car then vanished, Riley unwilling to use its explosive factor inside a public area.
Comboing [Crashing] into [Falling], Riley quickly rushed down at the ground, clenching his fist and winding it back, smashing his knuckles into the servant's jaw.
A tremendous punch had been unleashed.
The sound resounding through the air of the empty school hallway, a jaw had come knocked off its hinges, teeth shooting out with spreading akin to a shotgun.
Instantly, the servant dropped to the ground, his head bashed against the floor and cracking the ground beneath. It had been an undeniably fearsome blow, the kind in which was sure to end a fight—— it had not been.
"Pain, pain, pain…"
The sensation of being sliced running across Riley's back, he leapt forward down the hallway, spilling his blood out onto the ground. Looking at the servant, whose long hair covered his face, Riley heard a laugh.
A shrill laughter echoing, a knife was raised into the air.
Dragged across his own skin, the servant panted heavily, whimpering as he squirmed. Slicing the knife across his forehead, blood spilled down his face and chin.
"It hurts… hurts, hurts… k-kegh, hehehe… tee-hee! Mommy~, i-it hurts, I want… aghh~~!"
Swaying side to side, the bleeding servant's long tongue extended out, licking up the blood on his chin and smearing it across.
Watching the abhorrent sight, Riley instinctually stepped away, unnerved by his behavior.
What's with this guy? Seriously.
Disturbed by the blatant self harm, a symptom Riley himself didn't exert, he stared in horror.
"He~ro! He~ro! The he~~ro who saves ever~y~bo~dy!"
Singing, dancing, the lunatic swung the knife around wildly. Breaking up into a fit of belly-laughter, the servant collapsed to the floor, landing on his knees. Covering his face with his hands, ending up silent from the depths of his laughter.
Taking the opportunity, Riley summoned [Hanging], wrapping it around himself and kicking off the ground. The telekinetic rope increasing his speed even more, Riley moved—
"Heroes should stay in fiction."
Breaking out from his trance, the laughing servant quickly swung his knife. With precision Riley could have never pulled off, Riley was disemboweled at high speeds.
Open, open. Sliding along the well-mopped floors which the janitor surely should be thanked for, Riley smashed into the wall with an abrupt stop, hitting his back. Pain, his inhalation caused pain as he looked down, hugging his hands over his stomach.
His eyes unflinchingly open, they stared at the blood along the ground. And, accompanying his blood, there was a dark-red, solid line. Akin to a thick rope, its fleshy texture connected to Riley's open stomach.
That… is that my…?
Inhaling, gasping at the shock, his open wound burned with intensity, something popping out. Pulling his hands away, he saw a small, ball-like flesh try to escape his body through the open wound.
"W-wai…"
Telling it to wait, his trembling fingers pushed the organ back inside his open cavity.
In doing so, the soft organ—which his mind assumed was his kidney or something similar, had been pressed against and had a small, tiny dent. Yet, with the nature of all organs, even that tiny touch was enough to send a shock of pain through the entire body.
His limbs stiffening in response, Riley whimpered, his forehead hot and sweaty. Blinking repeatedly, gritting his teeth and intermitting between rapid-fire inhales, exhales, and not breathing at all, he felt warm.
Warmth engulfed the side of his body touching the ground, his blood pooling up around his body as he writhed in agony.
The bloodied servant gently took one step after the other, reaching Riley. Looming over him, the servant began to laugh once more.
"Hiya. I'm Ted. You?"
A casual greeting thrown out only once he had already made an attempt on his life.
"Eghhgh…"
"Nice to meet you, 'egghhh.' Aaanyways—shall I move on to that other girlie? Kara, was it? Or… or maybe I should go kill the other students?"
"—Hk. W-wait! You can kill me, just don't kill—"
His foot wound back, Ted unleashed a surprisingly soft kick for a superpowered being, knocking Riley's head backwards.
"Please be quiet. Altruism isn't fun to listen to."
Grabbing Riley by the hair, Ted rushed down the hallway, arriving at the cafeteria and throwing him inside. Smashing into the ceiling before landing onto the ground, Riley tried to stand. Using his arms, resting on his knees,
I… I can't let him kill anyone. If he kills them… I won't forgive myself. Move, move! I have to move—I can't let them die!"
His vision blurred with tears, Riley struggled.
And yet,
"Ghira sent me here for a reason. —I'm your teacher. Allow me to demonstrate just how weak human beings are."
The weaklings had no right to be protected. Because human beings were so weak, it was simply in their nature to die easily.
——That was the core message Ted aimed to engrave into Riley's psyche.
…
"Tch."
Sitting in the girl's bathroom, huddled up inside one of the stalls, Kara clicked her tongue, her eyes narrowed with a lack of amusement.
Being trapped like this… it's sickening.
Not controlled via physical weakness, but rather social pressure—not wanting to reveal her true powers, Kara was counted amongst the defenseless, hiding with others as they trembled in fear.
Well, not all of them. Being teenagers, there were a good amount who were snickering in the bathroom, laughing as they filmed their reactions to the lockdown.
Still, Kara waited.
Riley said he's got it under control, right? Besides, saving a few people should improve his social standing.
Crossing her arms, Kara huffed and puffed.
Still… it feels wrong to just sit around doing fuckall. Well, even still. Riley's weak, and he needs to learn how to actually fight.
He won't get stronger if I beat every servant for him. I'll stay alert, though. If a second servant shows up—which I wouldn't put past Ghira, then I'll intervene and make it fair.
…
Attempting to stand, Riley grit his teeth.
"Stop…! PLEASE, STOP!!"
"—This further proves my point, don't~you~know~? Heroes always disappoint."
Grinning ear to ear, Ted rushed Riley down. Riley, using his legs and hands as foundation for standing, was attacked with a cleanly precise slash.
His wrist and ankles severed, he fell down and laid in a pile of his own blood. His intestines removed from his body, his organs trying to escape, his limbs mutilated so that he could not even stand, the worthless hero sunk further and further.
Covered in five or so corpses, Riley was the island in a sea of blood. Unfathomable pain unknown to almost every living being, drowning in the blood of those he was unable to protect.
Attempting to lick the sea of blood in order to regenerate, Riley's jaw was grabbed and violently jerked back, dislocating it. Unable to move his tongue without shifting his jaw even slightly, Riley stared up at Ted, who snickered.
Grabbing him by the hair, Ted wiped Riley's face against the large puddle of blood, smearing blood everywhere as Riley screamed, the slooshing of lifeblood piercing his eardrums.
"Everyone's running away. They're scared, they're afraid, they don't want to die. It's so strange—the way weaklings cling to life."
Letting go of Riley's hair, Ted sprinted to the hallway, grabbing two students. A boy and a girl, before tossing them both to the ground and stomping on their legs, snapping them in two as though they were twigs.
Dragging their paralyzed bodies over, he tossed them to the floor, looking down at Riley with a snide grin.
"...Let's see then. Watch, just understand. Human beings die easily—it's stupid to give up your life to save them, ain't it?"
Grabbing the boy, lifting him up and holding him stomach-to-stomach, both arms wrapped around his waist and his torso. Ted jammed his boot inside Riley's broken jaw, forcing his head upwards as he stared helplessly, watching it unfold.
"Watch. Take a good look at how easily they break."
Then, violently pulling him away from his own body, top to bottom—
"ARGHH, GHHLLRGHHH!!!"
His vision blurred with tears, unable to form words with his grave wounds, the useless hero vocalized every last ounce of rage and despair he possibly could.
"Stop," he wanted to beg. "Kill me instead," he wished to ask. "Do not hurt him," he desired to command.
Yet, and yet, there was the unmistakable sound of bones crunching.
Red. Red, internal flesh had been dropped to the floor, accompanied by horrified screams—that of despair, pain, and terror.
The aroma. It was a putrid scent, an abysmal one which would make any man gag.
Steaming waste, warm guts and heaps and heaps of blood.
Dropping both sides of the human body to the cafeteria floor, an abyss of blood had cemented itself.
Why, then?
His gaze faltering, Riley looked down to the floor, cutting out all senses. Shutting his eyes, he did not want to see anything. At the slightest inhale through his nose, that disgusting smell assailed his nostrils, causing an immediate gag.
Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhyWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY—
Why is this happening to me?
He did not want to think. Cut out everything. Abandon it all. Stop. Just, stop. Please, stop.
He had wanted to be a hero. A failure. Stop.
Please, just stop.
Worthless, it was all so worthless. Unbearable and unmistakably agonizing. Too horrible. Dark and edgy. Worthless.
Just, stop.