Chapter 676: Riley's Train Adventure

"Oh... oh, my god!"

"There are people under the bus! I... I think I saw some aliens!"

"Help them! Why are you guys just on your phones!?"

"Where did the bus even come from!?"

"What did you do!?"

"I... I suddenly lost control of the wheel, I... I didn't mean to!"

"..."

And while the chaos worsened with the growing smoke, Riley just completely ignored everyone's screams as he walked away; sighing as he shook his head. It would seem the aliens he saw were actually real.

Next time, however, he should probably confirm first before he sends a bus hurling down the street—he was supposed to be living a normal life, and normal people don't just control vehicles and ram people with them.

...Or do they?

But then again, even if the aliens are real—were they even the same species as Elder Skeem? It makes sense that a number of them would live since not everyone would be on their planet... but why would they be on Earth, the planet of the one that annihilated their people and destroyed their home?

...Or maybe they're a completely different species altogether?

"..." Riley once again let out a sigh as he shook his head. He truly was out of his depth here—aside from having a hard time differentiating what's real or not, he also had a lack of understanding of what is normal and acceptable behaviour.

Hera was right, he needed to find Paige.

Hera told him that most of them that traveled through the expanse of space together kept in touch. Tomoe, surprisingly, worked in the Mega Academy as an instructor—but according to Hera, it was more like community service and Empress forced her into the job.

Diana even found Silvie, Katherine, and Karina—but she didn't bring them back to Earth, and for some reason, she refused to say the reason why.

As for Paige, she was currently working under his mother—rebuilding the orphanage she grew up in and helping troubled supers.

"Hm..." Riley was about to fly away, but before his feet could leave the scorching and sticky ground of Los Angeles, he decided to do something he hadn't done before, after all—if he was going to lose his mind altogether, he wanted to experience new things.

Riley had gone to space, riding on ships that go in hyperspeed, and even being teleported to places far away in a blink of an eye. But what he hasn't done...

...was ride the public train alone.

And so, Riley made his way to the nearest train station. Paige's orphanage was in a different state, and it would probably take an entire day—but it didn't matter, Riley was going to experience it all.

But as he arrived at the train station, he found himself completely lost. Killing people on trains is easy, he had done it several times before—but trying to ride on it seems more complicated than he thought.

And it was chaotic. More chaotic than all the people running for their lives; at least there, there was a sense of order since they were all just running away from him. But here?

Everyone was hitting each other's shoulders and moving randomly without a care for anyone.

"..." Riley looked around for a few more minutes, before finally finding himself in front of a clerk.

"I would like a single passenger ticket to Alabama, Clerkperson."

"Sir, this is the metro trail."

"...And?"

"You would need to transfer to the Stateline. I can give you a ticket that takes you to the end of the trail, and there will be a connecting tram there that will take you to the Stateline."

"..."

"..."

"...I'll just fly."

And so, Riley's little train adventure came to an end before it could even start. He remembered Hannah taking the train when she used to go to school for normal people; as expected, her sister truly is formidable.

Looking at Earth from above, it wasn't really that much different than before—Empress did well in gently assimilating the planet with the rest of the Known Universe. They were treated as one of the Higher Races, and yet still very much friendly to visitors.

But as Riley continued to fly through the skies, a group of people suddenly emerged from the clouds and flew beside him; all of them, wearing a suit of armor similar to that of Whiteking's.

"State your name, civilian. Do you have authorization to be flying at this speed?"

"..." Riley could really only tilt his head as he heard the demands of the group. Although Riley was only flying casually; for this group to be able to intercept and even follow him was already enough to make him curious.

"Civilian, stop flying and state your name n—I apologize, you may proceed."

But alas, before Riley could even wonder what sort of group they belonged to, they all just suddenly flew away and left.

"...Weird," Riley shrugged. That has never happened before—were they some sort of new unit made by his father and Empress?

Riley didn't really think much of it. He was sure he was going to get answers if he just met up with his father; not now, however, as it was more important to meet with Paige.

And in no time at all, Riley landed in front of a large gate; with a large embossed signage that said 'Pearson's School for Gifted Supers'.

The gates and walls were thick and tall, not as towering as Mega Academy, but enough. It makes sense—the walls of Mega Academy were to keep the students safe from the outside world, but for Pearson's School, it was to keep the outside world safe from the students.

An unstable super is equivalent to a timebomb, after all.

"..." Riley then turned to look at the surveillance camera near the small door, and not even a second after doing so, the door opened for him.

He had already caught a glimpse of it from above, but inside the thick walls of the campus was a wide open field—not even a single tree. Just a sea of soft grass surrounding a single large building that didn't even have an upper floor.

And as he stepped inside, he saw several people just walking around; most of them, just whispering to themselves and minding their own business. If there weren't anyone that adopted him, would he also be like some of these people?

"Hello."

"..." There was one, however, that seemed to already be waiting for him at the other side of the door. It was a young boy, probably not older than 8.

The young boy seemed to be talking to Riley, but he was looking at something else entirely—he wasn't shy, no, as he was even inching closer to Riley without even being subtle about it.

Did... he used to be like this too?

"You... are you new here? New here?" The young boy started stuttering; his eyes, trying to glance at Riley several times, but never reaching him, "The professor said, said that there will be new friends soon."

"..."

"Friends, friends. I like friends. Are... are you going to be my friend? Are you my friend?"

"I'm not your friend," Riley said without any hesitation as he started walking away.

"Not... you're not a friend? Not a friend? But... but..." The young boy then suddenly grabbed Riley's hand,

"Aargh!" But as soon as he did so, however, he suddenly started screaming; clasping his head and curling his small body on the grass.

"What's going on!?"

"Who are you!? Are you trying to bully Peter!?"

And as soon as the young boy's screams echoed through the field, several children quickly came to his aid; moving at speeds enough to create thunder to drum in the air. The children all looked at Riley like he was some kind of scum.

"Villain, stop bullying Peter!"

"Are you ready to face justice!?"

"No. I am—"

"Shut up, evildoer!"

"Face the justice that is my fist!"

The children then suddenly flew toward Riley, rushing at him without even trying to listen to his words. One of them tried to punch Riley in the face, but Riley was able to catch it with his hand... causing the leaves beneath his feet to ripple from the shockwave.

"..." Riley squinted his eyes, not expecting that kind of strength coming from a small boy at all.

Another one then flew toward him; her eyes, glowing red as she wrapped her arms around Riley's arm to try and pry it away.

"...Weird," Riley could not help but whisper; his breath, exploding and pushing away all the children that wanted to rush him.

Riley's eyes then also turned red as he looked at the children, and as he tried to approach one of them—he realized that half of the children that were just casually loitering around the vast field were now also looking at him...

...their eyes, all glowing red.

"...Themarian clones?" Riley tilted his head to the side as the red glow in his eyes started to become more violent,

"...Interesting."