CHAPTER 130: CHAPTER 130: DARK DAYS AHEAD

[Afternoon Class]

"Alright, everyone! Settle down! I know we’ve received some horrifying news this weekend, and we do need to talk about it! And just right in time... because it’s time we talk about Vigilantes."

Spectacular Mustache Man didn’t need to tell his class to sit down and settle, no. The class of 1-V was eerily quiet—It wasn’t only them, the entire Academy was. One would think they would all be talking about the new character who just introduced himself to the world of superheroes and villains, but no.

All of them were eerily quiet, and not even a single one of them brought it up as soon as they returned to the campus.

Of course, this was quite common too. After all, new heroes and villains pop up weekly, and there wasn’t much sense in talking about them since they would all either be forgotten or just become some C-class element—but this wasn’t the reason why no one was talking about Darkday.

The reason was pressure.

The pressure they would all be facing out there in the world as soon as they graduate from the Academy. How could they not be pressured when this Darkday appeared during their generation?

And unlike most supervillains, Darkday had no remorse or rules about not killing children at all. That should’ve made him one of the worst supervillains out there right now... but he was being called a vigilante?

"I know," Spectacular Mustache Man said, sighing as he scanned his students’ faces. "I know that all of you are feeling a bit odd right now, but that’s just one of the things we have to accept here—some of you may not care about how you’re perceived by other people, and that’s good. But the truth is, once you’re out there in the real world, the perception of other people is everything, especially if you wish to become a superhero...

...we are at the mercy of our reputation."

His voice turned quiet, and he wasn’t doing his usual routine of using his mustache to raise him up in the air. He just walked, looking at the students one by one as he let out another sigh.

"Now, vigilantes." He cleared his throat, standing at the very center of the platform as he pointed at Gracey. "Baby Monarch, I’m sure you know what vigilantes are."

"...Why me?" Gracey perked up, her voice cracking as she almost forgot to deepen it.

"Because you look like you’re about to fall asleep in a couple of seconds now. Stand up."

"Wha..." She gasped, reluctantly standing up while glancing at Bella and the others. She paused for a bit before sighing and finally answering their instructor’s question.

"Vigilantes are... heroes who think the laws don’t apply to them, Sir. They are their own judge, jury, and executioner. Very much like Darkday."

"Good. Most people would berate and even abhor the existence of vigilantes." Spectacular Mustache Man motioned to Gracey to sit back down. "Most people would be quick to dismiss their actions as unnecessarily excessive—but I’m not one of those people. There are reasons vigilantes exist. It’s a distrust in the system, and a willingness to do what they think is right... and that’s what makes them dangerous. But are they, really? Unnecessary? Let’s do an experiment. If you think there’s merit in what this Darkday has done, raise your hand."

Gracey raised her hand, only to quickly lower it when she realized that there was no one else who did so. Hannah squinted at her, and Gracey winced and awkwardly looked away.

"Wh—"

Spectacular Mustache Man was about to say something, but someone else suddenly raised their hand. And this someone made Hannah’s already narrowed eyes narrow even further.

"Riley..." she loudly whispered, leaning closer to him and lightly pinching his thigh. "What are you doing?! You—"

"Oh?" Spectacular Mustache Man pointed at Riley. "I would love to hear your input on this, Sweet Snowy Little Baby Boy. Why do you think what this Darkday has done has any merit?"

Riley stood up despite his sister urging him to stay put. He glanced at Hannah and then turned his focus back to Spectacular Mustache Man.

"Because he made all of you nervous, Mr. Spectacular Mustache Man," he answered. "And because he confessed to his crimes, which made the jobs of the police easier now that they know who did them."

"Hah!" Spectacular Mustache Man’s mustache bounced, their strands gesturing to Riley to sit back down. "You’re right about that. And yes, we should all be nervous. This Darkday clearly knows what he’s doing, and he’s probably planned this for a very long time—who knows how long he has been active? Who knows how many he had already killed? As heroes, we are often hailed and praised by our... ability not to kill our enemies. By our ability to stop crimes without shedding blood, but the blood isn’t even that important. That’s just what the people see... there’s more to being a superhero than just causing your enemy to bruise and surrender. And it’s time for all of you to experience that—this week, you will be having your first mock rescue and battle operations. And rejoice, this will be quite special...

...because you will be taking it alongside the candidates for the newest member of the Hope Guild."

"...What?!"

***

At the same time, inside the FBI’s Superhuman Affairs Department, detectives Dorothy and Jake were inside a large warehouse. Both of them were holding their sixth cup of coffee, and both their bags were already hanging out of their sockets.

They already haven’t had that much sleep due to their ongoing investigations. But now, they couldn’t even spare a wink at all.

How could they, when Darkday happened?

"Damn it..." Dorothy clicked her tongue, her eyes scanning the crime scenes in front of her. The warehouse they were in was just made the other day—a warehouse solely allotted for Darkday’s crimes.

Ryan Roman’s, and Stephanie and Mark’s crime scenes were perfectly arranged and simulated in a section of the warehouse, each detail retained.

The FBI does this with each of its crime scenes to review everything they might have missed. But right now, however, Dorothy and Jake could only stare at these faux-preserved crime scenes.

And they have been staring at them for half a day now.

"Damn it..." Dorothy repeated. "If we already have a suspect, why are we even here? This should’ve been transferred to the brutes in the basement. I mean, why even recreate the crime scenes? They should just put the fucking budget on catching the guy."

"Hmm."

Jake, well, Jake was completely out of it. He couldn’t even form a proper sentence anymore from how light-headed and groggy he was feeling.

He did, however, weakly nod his head in agreement. But soon, however, he felt a jolt travel throughout his entire body when he noticed a silhouette stepping out from behind the Ryan Roman exhibit.

He held his breath, fixed his tie, and stood up straight. Dorothy raised an eyebrow at him, scowling at first. But as she looked to where he was looking, she almost dropped her coffee.

"Director!" She almost bellowed as soon as she saw the man who stepped out of the booth. The man had whites on the sides of pulled-back hair, and this gray continued across his extremely well-groomed beard.

Unlike Dorothy, Jake, and most of the people in the FBI, the director of the Superpowered Affairs department wasn’t wearing a suit and tie at all—no.

He was wearing a simple white t-shirt, jogging pants, and a pair of flip-flops.

"Dors, Jake," the director smiled at them, gently motioning for them to settle down and relax.

"Please, just call me Prophet."

"What... what brings you here?" Dorothy gulped, carefully approaching Prophet, and then looking at the notebook in his hand.

"Well, I’m the one who brought you two here." Prophet chuckled. "I hope you don’t mind the overtime."

"What...? No!" Dorothy forced out a smile, glancing at Jake, who also nodded with a wide smile on his face. "We... we love the overtime."

"Oh, that’s good." Prophet nodded. "Because I was thinking of firing the two of you if you refused. Now, then..."

Prophet turned his focus back on the crime scene, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

"...Shall we see what we have here?"

[Prophet | Hero Rank: A | Powers: Unknown. His powers were believed to be foresight, but he claims that it was the power of deduction, reasoning, and good old elbow grease at a speed a million times faster than a supercomputer.]

"I was thinking of retiring soon and enjoying my pension in the Bahamas or in the Philippines—but this should be a fun crime to solve before my retirement. Oh man, I should probably get Bernard to buy me a boat."

"Sir...?" Dorothy blinked a couple of times. "What... do you mean?"

"Oh... right, sorry." Prophet chuckled, scratching his beard as he glanced at the two detectives.

"From now on, I will be leading this investigation...

...I hope you two don’t mind."