Chapter 362: To The Academy
“Oh my god.”
“Is it just me, or is this ship getting larger?
“It doesn’t fucking matter right now.”
Hannah was the one to suggest taking it slow so that they could pull the most amount of people from all the rubble and destruction on the ground — she knew how many there would be, and yet right now, just the sheer number of people in front of her almost made her claustrophobic.
Anywhere she looked, there were people. A mezzanine even slid from the sides of the walls to create more floors, and yet that too was easily occupied. Of course, there was still a lot of space in the ship — as Gary said, it felt like it was getting bigger.
But even then, it felt suffocating. Because anywhere she looked, it was the same scenery; people injured, and some… even dying in front of her. She was initially trying to help everyone she could see, but this number… truly overwhelmed her.
“It’s… this is useless.”
“Help is never useless,” Silvie, who heard her whispers, quickly stood beside her, “No matter how little — you’re the one who said that to me.”
“…I didn’t say that.”
“Well, someone did.”
And as Silvie continued to help and tend to the injured, Hannah could really only step away while shaking her head.
She never really understood. She never understood the magnitude and weight of the damage of cities being toppled completely. She was there in the Seven Planes incident, she saw the aftermath of Toronto, she witnessed aliens razed the ground – But it’s never been millions of lives instantly being extinguished.
This… is something his brother did several times. How could someone even do something like this? And how did she not see it?
How did she not realize that she was living with someone that has done something like this? And why? For what reason?
The House of Super had a goal, no matter how fucked up. But what about her brother? What exactly did he want? She was supposed to be the only one who understood him, so why didn’t she see?
Riley has been going out killing and torturing people. She was the closest one to him and she didn’t even know. She thought that out of all the people in the world — not the doctors, not the other people in the spectrum, not even Riley himself…
…Hannah thought that she understood him the most. It was supposed to be him and her against the world, and yet she didn’t even know.
Was it her fault? Is it because of her that Darkday was given birth? What if she just treated Riley better? Was…
…she a bad sister?
“Why is a super here!?”
“…” Hannah woke up from her stupor as a loud and slightly snarly voice entered her ears, only to see a couple of people arguing and pushing each other.
“This is all you guys’ fault! We was just out here living our lives and you decided to kill us!?”
“I have nothing to do with this!”
“You… you guys see that!? The dude just pushed the hell out of me! He… he a part of them terrorist gr—”
“Hey! Relax!” Bella was the nearest one to the scene as she quickly pushed the two sides apart, before turning her attention to the one who started the mess,
“What’re you doing, bro? I’m a super too. Should I leave?” Bella said as she lightly hit the man in the stomach, causing him to slightly hurl.
“H… hey, B-Black Bell,” the man touched his stomach as he quickly backed away, “Y— you know I ain’t mean it like that, man.”
“Just chill, okay?” Bella shook her head before looking at the super, “As for you sir… I need to ask you to join the other supers.”
“But… but my family is here,” the super pleaded as he huddled with his family, “I… I’m not a terrorist, please.”
“…I know, okay?” Bella sighed, “This is only temporary, you’ll be with your family again once we get all of you to safety.”
“But—”
“Do you wanna start a riot and involve your family?” Hannah approached before the man could finish his words, “I don’t fucking care if you’re a terrorist or not. If shit starts getting wild in here, your family is the one that’s going to suffer. Now get the fuck out of here.”
“Y… yes.”
And as soon as Hannah appeared, everyone became quiet. Even the man who instigated the situation could not help but look away. After all, if there was something Nuclear Seraph was known for other than her raw power, it was her massive temper.
“Should… we really separate them?” Katrina’s voice also whispered as she approached the two, “Wouldn’t this… create even more friction with us and the civilians?”
“We have no choice,” Hannah shook her head, “We can’t afford not to be strict right now, the tension between the supers and the normies is getting high. I… just hope you’re right and that the Academy is okay.”
“It… has to be,” Katrina nodded.
“Either way, their complaints are valid,” Hannah sighed, “We don’t know who is part of the House of Super, and who is not.”
“We need to—”
“What did you say!?”
And not even a minute after they dissolved a potential fight, another one started. This time, on the side where the supers were gathered.
“I said, how are you completely unscathed!? There’s not even a dirt on you!” A female super was violently pointing her finger at another woman; her voice, enough to echo throughout the entire ship,
“There’s only one reason why you’re not even slightly injured, you were already hiding when it happened! You’re a part of that House of Super group!”
“…” Hannah and Bella, who just finished stopping a fight, could not help but just look at each other and sigh,
“You have it, or should I?”
“I’ll get—”
And before any of the two could even take a single step towards the commotion… Paragon suddenly descended from the air. They have been inside the colossal ship for hours, and yet not even once did Paragon move from his spot as the pilot; not even talking to anyone or stretching his muscles.
And so, suddenly seeing him going down; not only those that were arguing, but even those that were far from it all turned their heads towards Paragon; their whispers, starting to fill the entire ship.
“It… it’s not me!” The woman that instigated the commotion quickly backed away before once again pointing at the other female super, “She… she’s the one that—”
And before the woman could even finish her words… Paragon slapped her. And not just a normal slap, as the air around them rippled; causing the woman to fly and violently roll on the floor. The supers around her, avoiding her and not even trying to slow her down.
“…” Paragon then slowly turned his head towards the other woman; and before she could even say anything, Paragon pointed his palm at her… and with a slight flick…
…her clothes disintegrated.
“…” Everyone then avoided Paragon’s eyes as he looked at the other supers one by one; almost the same as what they did when Hannah appeared, except some of them even pretended to be asleep as they closed their eyes.
Nuclear Seraph is known for her temper. But she has never once killed anyone except Darkday. As for Paragon, they wouldn’t be surprised if he just started killing every super here that he didn’t know.
As to how he still wasn’t answering to the law, no one really knows — but right now, it didn’t really matter.
“Everyone…”
The silence that already drowned the entire ship grew even quieter as Paragon opened his mouth, “Please lower your voices and calm down. I couldn’t concentrate on Italia— I mean I couldn’t concentrate on the flight.”
“…” Hannah quickly squinted her eyes as she heard Paragon’s words, “Am… I the only one who heard him say Italian Mafia Reborn?”
Alas, no one really responded to Hannah as they all just stared at Paragon, who instead of returning to pilot the ship, walked up to Paige.
Paige has been helping the children for hours now, creating illusions to distract them from everything else. But alas, as soon as Paragon arrived, they all ran away in fright.
“Wh—” Paige wondered why all the children ran at first, but as soon as she saw Paragon, a pout quickly appeared on her face, “Look what you did! We were having fun!”
“…” Paragon didn’t really look at the children as he just whispered something to Paige, and as soon as he did so, the hole that was being used as an entry point for the refugees opened up; causing everyone to move away.
“What’s… happening?” Hannah and the others quickly ran to Paige.
“We’ve… We’ve actually arrived in the Academy,” Paige quickly replied, “And… it’s kinda being attacked by the House of Super, I think?”
“What!?” Hannah quickly looked at Paragon to confirm Paige’s words, only to see him… already jumping down the hole,
“Then why is he going alone!?” Hannah quickly rushed towards the hole– and she was right, there were all sorts of fireworks below, and a sea of golden light clearly belonging to Bulwark.
“…He said he was… kinda going to kill everyone bad?” Paige slightly shrugged; her eyes slowly looking to the side.
“…What?”
“He said just wait for him, it’s not going to take long.”
“Fuck… Baby Crew, I need you here!” Hannah then let out a roar as a wave of heat gently wafted throughout the entire ship, “And Paige…
…keep this fucking hole open!”