CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 176: MOLE

"I am... certain this is against the rules."

"Since when was this stickler part of your little baby crew? And no, it’s not against the rules."

The loud music made it hard to talk to each other, well, at least that was how it was supposed to be. But for some reason, even with all the noise and chaos, Hera and the Baby Crew could hear each other just fine without having to shout at all.

They were now around a booth inside the club, and all the moving lights that drowned the darkness around them caused the Baby Crew to slightly narrow their eyes.

Riley, who was actually the reason for the music not reaching their booth, looked almost like a disco ball as all the lights bounced off his white frame. He tilted his head to the side, watching the students who had just escaped puberty dancing wildly like monkeys.

He allowed some of the music into their booth, but quickly separated it again from the rest of the room when he heard all the screaming and howling.

The quiet was nice, but it almost made it easy for everyone to hear the slightly mocking chuckle seeping out from Hera’s lips.

"If it was against the rules, this stupid school wouldn’t even have made a place like this. Right?" Hera casually pointed at Silvie. "And why are you even wearing a mask over your eyes? Even during the Hope Guild trials, you had a mask over your hood. It’s... weird."

"I..." Silvie blinked a couple of times, glancing at the Baby Crew, who also looked eager to hear her reason. "...I have a bad burn on my face.’

"Huh... really?" Hera leaned closer and then traced a finger across Silvie’s cheek. Silvie gasped and then quickly leaned back, almost sandwiching herself between Pauline’s back and the couch.

"W-why are you just touching me?!"

"Your skin’s incredibly soft," Hera said, shrugging as she looked Silvie in the eyes. "Face proportions aren’t bad. You’re tall. You can be a model."

"I... just said I have a burn on my face."

"Doesn’t matter. Some people would even like that." Hera smirked and then slowly turned her head over to Gracey. "You too, giant cupcake. A lot of girls are insecure with their height. You know what, actually, all of you could work in the entertainment industry. What the hell is up with your little crew? Are you just trying to recruit all the good-looking girls?"

"I already told you that I’m a boy!" Gracey bellowed.

"I’ve seen enough prosthetics and makeup to know that you’re not. Seriously, shoulder pads?"

"You’re... a girl?" Silvie’s eyes turned wide at Gracey.

"Wh—It’s supposed to be a secret!" Gracey lightly slammed her palms on the table, causing the bottles on it to jump and almost topple. She glanced at one of the bottles that clinked. And then, without any warning, she grabbed and chugged it in one gulp. And before anyone could even react to what she did, she puked the alcohol out and spilled it on Bella’s lap.

"Sis?! Nasty!" Bella jumped up from her seat.

"Why is that so fucking bitter?!" Gracey pointed at Hera. "You guys drink this shit?!"

"...Who told you to drink it?" Hera raised an eyebrow.

"You bought it for us! And we’re minors!" Gracey jabbed her finger even straighter toward Hera. "And the new girl’s right, you’re also not allowed to drink!"

"Would you kids relax?" Hera sighed. She glanced at the rest of the Baby Crew, and they all looked stiff. Even Tomoe looked more stiff than she always was. Ironically, the only one who looked comfortable there was Riley.

"Look at our big shot celebrity right here," Hera pointed at him. "He’s chill."

"He’s always chill," Hannah waved her off before standing up and then dragging Bella, who was still wiping all the alcohol from her thighs. "Anyway, let’s go dance!"

"Girl, I ain’t got moves like my brother! No!"

"Well, I’m not gonna dance alone!" Hannah said before, also grabbing Pauline.

"M-me?!" Pauline’s eyes turned wide as she felt herself being pulled from her seat, instinctively grabbing onto V, who was just bobbing her head while watching the people dancing.

"Wh—" V couldn’t even say a word before Hannah all dragged them to the dance floor, leaving Tomoe, Gracey, Silvie, and Riley alone with Hera. Gracey narrowed her eyes at the members who were left and then quickly followed the others to the dance floor.

"You guys aren’t going to dance?" Hera smirked at the three who were left. Silvie stared at her for a moment, and she chugged an entire beer in one go before standing up.

"Woah..." Hera raised both her palms. "...Where did that come from, stickler? I thought this was against the rules?"

"You said it wasn’t," Silvie said, breathing heavily as she looked at the dance floor. "I am going to trust your word on this since you’re a senior student. As for the alcohol... it sucks. We have better beer in Russia."

"...You already drink?"

"We start early there," Silvie smirked back at her before rushing to the others and joining. Both Gracey and Bella screamed and cheered when she joined, pointing at her, while before Bella just... randomly twerked.

"What the..." Hera blinked a couple of times upon seeing that. "...You and your friends are wild. I don’t remember being like that when I was a freshman. W—"

"Don’t kid yourself. You were even wilder."

Before Hera could continue her story, Katherine arrived and caught her in her lie.

"I remember them closing this club because you almost burned it by making a molotov from one of the bottles. I also remember it took a little convincing for them to open it up again. And also...

...this is the last place I thought I would ever see you, Riley Ross."

"Because I am autistic, Katherine?"

"Okay, damn it." Katherine clicked her tongue, letting herself fall onto the couch beside Hera and sigh. "You got me there."

"Jesus, what happened to you?" Hera raised an eyebrow as Katherine rested her head on her arm. "Tired much?"

"You have no idea," Katherine rolled her eyes. "The guy the school got me sidekicking for is a fucking perv and a neo-uber. Even has the fucking tattoo of the sonnenrad on his chest. He showed me. How the fuck is someone like that registered in the Hero Registry? Fucking disgusting."

"Yo. Chill." Hera chuckled. She leaned forward, and Katherine just let her head fall and slide onto her back, not moving at all until Hera fixed her up and handed her a bottle.

"Have a beer."

"At this point, I need it in a straw," Katherine whispered, sighing loudly as she snatched the beer from her hand. She then looked at Riley and then at the glass of water in front of him. "So, how’s life treating the world’s most important children?"

"The same as everyone else, Katherine." Riley shrugged.

"Ack, I hope so. I can’t wait for you guys to have your second year and start going out there to be someone’s sidekick. Ah! I hope they don’t give you special treatment."

"I hope for that, too." Riley nodded.

"Well, we’re gonna find out in a few weeks. I think you’ll have like four or three demonstrations in the first year," Katherine shrugged and finally sat up straight. "But what the fuck is happening this year, huh? Terrorists, Darkdays, the neo-ubers getting more active... and the website? What’s up with that? The next thing you know, terrorists have infiltrated the campus."

"Psh, please. The only way a terrorist group can infiltrate this fortress is if they were already here even before Whiteking," Hera scoffed. She stayed quiet for a while, and then she, Katherine, and Tomoe looked at each other.

"...Didn’t Whiteking say there was a mole on the campus?" Katherine blinked, placing her beer back on the table. "What if they’re here?"

Hera stared at her, and then a small, tiny spurt of a chuckle escaped her lips.

"There’s no way. We have to deal with this crazy Darkday vigilante, and we also have to deal with terrorists, and then the Dark Millennium?" Hera waved her off again. "Girl, this month’s already been too exciting. I don’t wanna add more to that. Let’s just talk about little Whitey’s career here. Do you know—Huh? What’s going on?"

Before Hera could even start discussing Riley’s offers, she realized something odd about the dance floor.

No one was dancing anymore.

"Whitey, can you remove the barrier?" she asked Riley, and Riley immediately nodded and removed the bubble separating them from the rest of the club. And there, the loud music they were expecting to bombard them didn’t come at all.

Instead, there was someone speaking over the speakers.

[May we have everyone’s attention, please?]

The four immediately looked at the DJ’s booth, and there, an individual wearing a dark suit and a black helmet was holding a microphone; his other hand, gripping the DJ’s neck.

"Is that... Darkday?" Katherine asked.

Tomoe immediately looked at Riley, and Riley just... shrugged.

"It is most likely an impostor, Katherine."

"An impostor? What? How would you know—"

And then, without any warning, the Darkday in front of all of them snapped the DJ’s neck like it was nothing.

[Now that I have all of your attention...

...From now on, you are my hostages.]

"Hm..." Riley tilted his head to the side. "...Mega Academy is not safe at all."