“This is…”
The others held their breaths as Riley gestured for them to step deeper into the trailer– and as they did so, their eyes quickly reflected the monitors that were plastered all over the wall; with one showing the view of Miami from above.
“What… don’t tell me… you bought a satellite!?” Hannah almost choked, “Riley this is–“
“No, sister,” Riley shook his head, “The Academy are selling these mini surveillance drones.”
Riley then waved his finger, and as he did so, four drones the size of a 50-cent coin floated towards the others’ hands. Gary immediately pressed the button on the mini device, only for his chin and nose to immediately appear in one of the monitors.
“Ack, not my angle!” Gary immediately moved the drone away, “But… to think the Academy was also selling things like this. Why… didn’t you buy anything with your unlimited points, Silv?”
“That’s… I… I didn’t check anything,” Silvie could only let out a small sigh of disappointment, “If I did I might get tempted in… using my points.”
“Ack, you could’ve bought all these cool gadgets!”
Feeling Gary’s words almost piercing deep into her bones, the only thing Silvie could do was once again sigh. Maybe she was wrong not to use her points after all– she could have used her privilege to help the people who needed it instead of just letting it rot.
But perhaps it was a good thing as well, as now that she didn’t have that privilege, she wasn’t really craving for it since she never tasted it.
“Don’t listen to the guy, Silv,” Hannah breathed out as she patted Silvie’s shoulder, “Let’s do this shit. But…
…Who is going to watch the monitors?”
“…”
“…”
“I… will do it,” Tomoe then raised her hand as she stepped forward, “I–“
“There is no need, Tomoe,”
But before she could do so, Riley waved his hand, “The drones can be connected to your phones.”
“…Really?” Hannah then quickly grabbed her phone and placed the drone on top of it. And true enough, the app for the drone immediately started downloading and syncing to her phone.
“…Cool,” Hannah muttered, “But fuck the government still. Alright, let’s do this!”
And with that, everyone got off the truck– once again taking their first steps as actual superheroes.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Silvie then blinked a couple of times as everyone was just staring at her in silence for a few moments now,
“W… what do we do now?” Silvie then stuttered.
“Why are you asking me?” Hannah shrugged, “Aren’t you the leader of the Baby Crew?”
“What? No! You’re the one that decided the name, you do it!”
“Do I look like leadership material?” Hannah let out a small scoff as he stepped away, “Let’s just do this shit without thinking too much– since this is already our district, Silvie, Tomoe, and I should just split up.”
“…Right.”
“And you two…” Hannah then turned to Riley and Gary, “You take the truck for now?”
“No!” Gary quickly crossed his arms, “I am done being cooped up in the truck! Riley and I shall walk like real men!”
“Right…” Hannah squinted her eyes as she slowly looked away, “Baby Crew, let’s go and find trouble!”
And as soon as she said that, her arms and legs were quickly engulfed in flames, before quickly shooting to the air without saying anything more.
“Y… Yeah! G… go, Baby Crew!”
“…You don’t have to force yourself, you know?” Gary’s eyes were almost dead as he watched as Silvie raised her hand in the air– her face obviously turning red by the second.
“R… right,” Silvie then whispered as she quickly flew into the air.
“…Why do they even need the drones if they could just fly and observe from abo…” Gary breathed out as his eyes landed on Tomoe… who can’t fly, “…ve.”
“…”
“…”
The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds. It was almost as if Gary could hear the drums echoing in the air like he was in some sort of sumo wrestling match. But thankfully, after a few more seconds of this weird awkwardness, Tomoe bowed her head and… walked away.
“…”
“A… alright! Shall we run to our fate, Riley– Oh fuck, you can fly! No!” Gary started to kneel on the ground, contemplating his importance in life. And while he was busy doing that, two large boxes suddenly flew out of the trailer.
How they even managed to fit there with all the other boxes was perhaps a mystery indeed.
But as soon as one of the boxes opened up, Gary, who was already rolling on the floor, could not help but turn his head and slowly stutter.
“That… this… that… That!”
That is right– the thing that Gary had been wishing for months but could not have.
“That’s the Zuzuki Hanzo GSX-R1800!” Gary then quickly somersaulted from the ground as he rushed to check on the motorcycle, “You… did you buy this for me!?”
“Yes, Gary.”
“I…” A hint of tear slowly started to appear on Gary’s eyes, “I think I love you, Riley Ross. No… no homo, of course. But… maybe just a little?”
“Please do not reproduce, Gary,” Riley breathed out as Gary suddenly tried to kiss him on the cheek.
“Pft, I can’t even if I wanted to,” Gary let out a small burst of laughter before proceeding to get on the bike.
“B… bro…” And as soon as he felt the gravity of his body mixing with the bike, he could not help but stutter; his hips… started moving in a front and backward motion.
“Perhaps I made a mistake in buying you this vehicle, Gary.”
“N… no!” Gary then quickly hugged the tank of the bike. The bike was by no means small, but with his 6’6″ stature as well as muscle mass it just seemed normal– perhaps this was the only bike that would truly fit him.
“Wait… what’s the other box?” Gary then squinted his eyes as he finally noticed there was another box.
“Mine,” Riley said as the box opened.
“T… that’s… American Scout Ninety!?” Gary took in a small gulp, “All in matte-silver!? How did you–“
“Unlimited points, Gary.”
Gary’s head started trembling; causing the bike he was riding on to also shake, “You… you know what this means!? I get to ride with a bro around the city! Let’s…
…Let’s let it rip!”
Gary’s roars were continued by the bike as he started it, gunning on the throttle as he left trails of smoke on the ground.
Warranty? What’s that?
“…” Riley could only blink his eyes a couple of times as he had a helmet with the same color as Gary’s bike in his hand. He was about to give it to Gary, but before he could do so, he was gone. And so, he just returned it to the trailer, grabbing another one.
This time it was of a gun-metal silver color– shiny enough that one could see Riley’s fractured reflections on it.
“…”
“…” Riley stared at it for a little while, before shaking his head and proceeding to make the helmet float; expertly wrapping around his head like he had been doing the same routine for years.
Riley then got on the bike and started it. However, as soon as he pressed the clutch, the bike halted.
“…”
That’s right– Riley Ross does not know how to ride a motorcycle.
And so, once again, he just slightly made it float a few centimeters from the ground as he tried to follow Gary.
***
“Hm…”
“Hmm…”
“Hmmmm…”
“Why is no one causing any trouble!? What is this!?”
Hannah was currently watching from the top of a building, checking her phone from time to time to see if the drone caught anything suspicious. But alas, even after almost an hour– nothing.
She was expecting some action since during the Rescue event, she didn’t even get any time to rest before another scream entered her ears.
But alas, it would seem that reality was often… disappointing. Of course, she should feel relieved that nothing was actually happening, but still. They were here to garner real-life experience.
Or… is this what being a hero really feels like?
Hannah then let out a small sigh as she looked over the ocean– it wasn’t half bad, she thought. It had a sense of freedom that–
“What did you say!?”
“Oh… here we go,” Hannah then stood up as she turned her eyes towards the scream that whispered into her ears, only to see what seemed to be an altercation between a bicycle rider and a car driver.
“…Fuck me,” Hannah shook her head before leaping from the building, using her fire to carefully but swiftly land between the conflict.
“Enough of this.”
“This… a super!? This is none of your concern!” The cyclist was the first to notice her.
“It actually is.”
“You… are from Mega Academy?” The cyclist then could only back away as Hannah showed the badge that was given to them by the Academy solely for this activity.
“Wait… aren’t you Whiteking’s daughter!?”
And as soon as she heard that, the only thing Hannah could do was roll her eyes, “I’m not. Either way, I don’t care why you’re fighting but you gotta stop this violence and wait for the police to show up.”
“Police…”
And as soon as the cyclist heard that, he quickly made his way to his bicycle.
“Yeah. Not today, pal.”
However, before he could even pedal away, his rear tire instantly melted as it rolled in Hannah’s palm. And finally, after a few minutes of begging and cursing, the police arrived.
It would seem the cyclist was hiding a stash of cocaine in his bag– it would seem he was working as a courier from one of the syndicates around Miami.
“Wow. Of course, he is,” Hannah shook her head in disappointment, “Gotta love Miami. I wonder…
…how the others are doing?”
“Alright! Move!”
Gary and Riley… were just riding around town.
As for Tomoe, she was walking down the streets; attracting all kinds of attention due to the white kimono she was wearing… as well as her sunglasses. She was watching the feed from her drone as she observed Hannah just in case she needed some backup.
But seeing as she resolved the situation, Tomoe quickly switched to Silvie’s view.
“This– !!!”
And without even any sign of hesitation, dark blades started to protrude from the soles of her sandals– making it easy for her to slide across the layer of ice she summoned in front of her.
***
“N… no, please… please don’t hurt me!”
In a small alleyway, a man holding an embroidered purse was currently sitting on the ground, crawling away as Silvie’s shadow slowly approached him.
“That’s not yours. Please…
…return it.”