[Howdy, y'all! I know you folks were expecting Lorraine to come back, but she has been busy running around the world to come up with even better news! As for me, well, I wanna focus on the good ol' American people! And now, I have some insider scoop for all of you. I'm sure y'all are aware of the website scattered abouts the internet. Well, guess what? My sources say that the name of a student from the USA Mega Academy has been entered into the website. Yes, you heard that right, y'all. Are we about to see Darkday again… or is something else going to happen? Well, you heard it hear first, folks—and you'll hear it again here. This is Kitty, and you are listening to ABC-ZBN news!]

"She's talking to Darkday, Berns."

"As if you didn't know that already."

Prophet was in Bernard's office, sitting at his desk with a serious expression on his face. Perhaps too serious, as he even had his hands clasped together and covering his mouth. He was about to say something else, but Bernard pulled his chair and pushed him out of it.

Bernard wasn't wearing his armor, which was now standing on its own beside the door like some sort of guard. No, it was a guard.

Bernard waved Prophet away from his desk, shooing him like a fly.

The serious expression on Prophet's face instantly disappeared, and a chuckle quickly escaped his mouth.

"I was starting to like that chair too," he said. "Maybe I should just quit my job and get a career here as a teacher. You know, make an actual difference in the world."

"You think that being a teacher here makes a difference in the world?" Bernard scoffed. And instead of sitting on the chair, he moved away from the desk and sat on the couch instead.

"Isn't that why you're here?" Prophet sat on the opposite couch, placing his feet on the table between them, which caused Bernard's eye to slightly twitch. "You're here because these children are our future?"

"Stop trying to change the topic, you little shit." Bernard scoffed once more, shaking his head before glancing at his armor. "When did you know that reporter was talking to this Darkday fellow?"

"When my detectives and I were twelve seconds away from no longer existing in Ms. Kitty's apartment." Prophet's friendly tone changed, his head gazing down. His smile, however, still lingered on his face. "He was going to kill us, Berns. I've met a lot of villains in my life, maybe more so than anyone else on this planet. And I can say, with confidence, that there's something infinitely wrong with this one."

"And you know that because he was going to kill without explanation and hesitation?" Bernard leaned forward, grunting out a breath as he looked Bernard in the eyes. "Villains like that are dime a dozen, the real ones."

"No, no…" Prophet shook his head. "Not like this one. I'm telling you, Berns. The real villains you speak of, I can at least… calculate their next moves."

"Foresee."

"Calculate."

"You can't even do factorials."

"We're not talking about my mathematical ability here," Prophet waved the topic off. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. The only thing you need to know is that this Darkday guy is… a different breed. He will keep evolving, Berns. He needs to be stopped before he does… or we are all in danger."

"We're always in danger," Bernard sighed. "It… just doesn't stop, huh? It's not even about supers. It's just… nature."

"The government wants to wash its hands of Darkday. His… stance has made it complicated for them to publicly make a move," Prophet sighed, shaking his head as he leaned back and let himself be swallowed by his seat. "They're afraid the non-super population would start their movements again if they pursue him. After all, Darkday, for now, in a way, stands up for the oppressed—and he lays out evidence too. Do you know the murder case in Indonesia? The first name that was placed on the website?"

"What about it?"

"They found the mangled body of the victim holding a flash drive with all the evidence of her… criminal activities. They're keeping it all hushed since the victim was related to some politician, but someone from their local police leaked it," Prophet said, forcing out a tiny chuckle before sighing. "And just like that, the guy has fans in the country. We've even discovered some sort of cult already building in New Orleans. What the fuck, right?"

"And now your satellites have detected him hovering above us."

"Maybe. Are we even sure that it's him? We know nothing about this guy; we know nothing about how he operates."

"Well, we know he does whatever he wants so far," Bernard chuckled. "Abducting Replica Ricky when he was already in federal custody, inside an armored van with several escorts? The guts on that one."

"And what's the Hope Guild's stance on him?" Prophet removed his legs from the table, slightly jumping up and almost leaning over the table as he looked Bernard in the eyes. "Has Ada proposed any plan to stop him?"

"He's not on our radar yet," Bernard answered without hesitation.

"Of course, he's not." Prophet sighed in disappointment. "Only the planet-threatening threats, right? The mighty Hope Guild. The only one of you who handled the affairs of us mortals quit ten years ago."

"Tempo's actually slowly coming back. But let's stop talking about this," Bernard stood up and headed toward his liquor cabinet. "You want?"

"How are you even allowed to stash alcohol here? This is a school."

"This isn't even mine," Bernard laughed as he started pouring both of them a glass. "It belongs to Shadow and Mimic."

"Shadow—right. She's also here. Has she met her grands—"

"She's avoiding him. What I am surprised about…" Bernard placed the glasses on the table. "...I did not know you were familiar with Bulwark. I haven't seen the two of you together even once, but seeing how he introduced you earlier, this is definitely not the first time the two of you are meeting."

"You really expect me to believe that you don't know that I know Bulwark? You own eighty percent of the satellites hovering around the planet."

"I own ninety-five percent. I loaned it to the World Government."

"Damn it. Fuck you."

"And no. We made a promise, right? You won't look into my future, I won't… pry into the present. And tracking—how do you know the guy who had lived in the past?"

"Are we sure he's a guy?"

"We're not even sure if he's human," Bernard clinged his glass on Prophet's, motioning for him to pick it up. "I heard he doesn't even have a reproductive organ. Is that true?"

Prophet squinted. "Why are you asking me that?"

Prophet grabbed the glass, sipping his bourbon while looking Bernard in the eyes.

"Well…" Bernard smirked. "...The FBI has files on all the superheroes, right? Especially someone as ancient as Bulwark."

"...Right."

As Prophet and Bernard's conversation began to spiral into nonsense, the students of the Academy had begun planning what to do with all of their free time. None of them was allowed to leave the Academy, but none of them complained.

After all, the Academy was a city of its own—one could even say it was even more complete than some cities. Everything you needed was here…

…and there was even a club. And right now, the Baby Crew was in front of the establishment.

"Only senior students are allowed here. You're the only one allowed."

"I'm a freshman."

"Oh. Then none of you are allowed here."

"What?!"

If it wasn't for Bella and Gracey holding her back, Hannah would have lunged toward the bouncer of the club. Silvie, who just officially joined the group hours ago, couldn't help but look at the other members of the crew.

"Are they… always like this?" she asked.

"I… guess?" Pauline awkwardly chuckled. "We haven't really been together that long. But… I guess?"

"No luck, guys." Hannah returned with Gracey and Bella, the three sighing and walking like zombies as they approached the group. "And here I thought we're gonna experience the club."

"Well… it should be illegal for minors to be in clubs, right?" Silvie scratched her chin, leaning to the side to get a glimpse of what the inside of the club looked like. "Why… is there even a club inside the campus? But then again, the Academy is actually a completely separate land from the rest of the country."

"...It is?" Gracey blinked. "Where'd you even learn that?"

"The handbook."

"Ack, it doesn't matter!" Hannah waved her hands and started walking away. "Let's just go somewhere else. Where do you want to go, Silvie? Since you're the newest one."

"I'm… just here to tag along? We can check out the—"

Before the group could leave the club, however, someone called Riley's name.

"Whitey, is that you? Riley?"

Everyone turned, only to see Hera stepping out of the club.

"What… are you and your friends doing here?" she asked. But as soon as she saw how the others were dressed up, a small smirk started to creep on her face.

"Wait… do you children want in?"