It took almost an hour, but the gasps and utters of shock that lingered in the air finally calmed down. The whispers were still loud, but since there were thousands of them scattered in the vicinity, it was to be expected.
Once the students became more comfortable, they were asked to gather in lines so that they would be easily counted by the staff. This made the students confused, though; as they didn't really see anyone counting them.
And without even a few seconds, a man clad in white leaped on top of one of the highest debris in front of the students-- Whiteking. And as soon as the students saw him, they quickly realized why he was the one standing there, and no one else from the Academy.
"You stand before millions of dead..."
Whiteking did not even introduce himself as a part of his helmet suddenly opened up, revealing half his face from the top to the bridge of the nose; his eyes then scanned the students almost one by one, showing the regret that still lived within them.
"...Millions of lives that we-- that I failed to protect." Whiteking seemed to have some sort of voice amplifier installed in his helmet, causing his words to pierce through the ears of the students even with the calm and sorrowful tone,
"You also stand before the downfall of our Earth's greatest hero, you stand before the deaths of many more heroes. I was one of the lucky ones who survived… luck," Whiteking then let out a small scoff as he took a sneaky glance at his children, "I guess you could call it that. They are all calling it the Battle of Toronto, but it was far from a battle… I wouldn't even call it a massacre, perhaps the better term for it would be a storm-- a calamity.
The storm had already started hours before in other countries, only when it landed here did my team had the chance to tackle it. But I will tell you this now, Hope Guild was powerless before Darkday. We tried to fight, but all we did was serve as a distraction, and not even a minor one as Mega Woman and Darkday duke it out. No… we were a hindrance.
And so, instead of fighting, my team focused its efforts on saving as many people as we could, along with the help of other superheroes. But do you know how many we were able to save?"
"..."
"Less than the people standing here today."
Quiet gasps whispered in the air like a ripple as Whiteking's words traveled across. Most of them wanted to ask questions, but none dared to voice them out.
"2,974 people. We rescued 2,974 people," Whiteking then continued as he jumped down from the debris and started walking; the students created a path for him as he did so, "And after a month, they were reduced to 2,132. They died in the hospital.
2,132 people… Toronto had a population of 1.9 million. We saved 0.12% of the population, a fraction of a percent. And that was just Toronto, as of today, the confirmed death toll of what happened then has now officially reached 6.2 million; 6.2 million lives lost in a single day. Throughout history, we don't call something like that a battle, not even a war-- it was just raw calamity.
And it will happen again. When Darkday once again shows himself to the world, do not consider him a supervillain, no... Darkday is an Extinction-level event. And it is up to us…
...It is up to all of you to save the rest of the world when the time comes. So on behalf of those who went before you; I thank you… and I apologize for giving you this burden."
"..."
"..."
The students could only watch as Whiteking left, walking away towards the other instructors and staff of the Academy, who were now standing in a single line in front of them. And as soon as Whiteking stepped inside the line, they all raised their hands and saluted to the students.
It all felt surreal. The people who now saluted them were literally their heroes; some of the people standing in front of them were their inspiration as they grew up. And yet here they were, looking to them for hope. Tears began to fall from the eyes of some of the students, while some also saluted; and what fell from their eyes was the resolution overflowing from within them.
"What a good way to hype us to our deaths, as expected of the government-- the new generation will always be the one to fix things," Hannah then let out a small sigh as she looked around her, before locking her eyes on his father and shaking her head, "They're basically telling us to die for the world."
"And I would gladly do so," Silvie then said as her salute remained strong, "Many have already died, their sacrifices would be in vain if we cower from evil."
"W… when do you think Darkday will rise from the ashes again?" Gary took in a small gulp as he didn't know whether to salute or not, "I… I just hope Legends of Demonesses and Goddesses is done by that time. I… also kinda hope Mega Woman won't wake up anymore so he won't come out--"
And before Gary could finish his words, he felt the deathly stares of everyone around him. Right… Probably not a good idea to utter those words amongst the people of Mega Academy, Gary thought.
"Alright, settle down! We will be starting our first school-wide activity for today! Whatever your group you're in, stay there. An instructor would relay to you the information you need."
"Wait… we weren't just here to hear Whiteking's speech?"
"Idiot, do you think we would travel for like 7 hours just to hear a fucking speech?"
"Well, you have to admit, it was a very nice--"
"Enough, enough. Gather around." And once again, before Gary could finish his words, Scarlet Mage approached the students around their area.
"...You again?" Hannah quickly furrowed her eyebrows as she immediately stepped in front of Riley upon seeing Scarlet Mage walk towards them.
"Most of my students are here," Scarlet Mage calmly said as the students of Class 1-V started to gather around here, "I think the better question is-- You again?"
"Tch."
"You don't have to worry, it doesn't matter if you belong in another class anyway," Scarlet Mage muttered,
"It's even better since Riley is here." And with those words, Scarlet Mage turned her attention away from Hannah and faced the rest of her students.
"Alright, the activity for today is simple and all of you will get 1,000 MP by the end of it."
With the words one-thousand and MP whispering into the ears of the students; the students' eyes began to glisten. If all school-wide activities would have a reward like this, then they should start having them every day, they all thought.
"You're going to clean the city until the sun goes down, which is about 6 hours from now."
"...What?"
***
"Ack, I think I touched a dead rat!"
"...I don't think that's a fucking rat, Dragon Monarch."
"Gah, ew! Ew! Get it off, get it off!"
"That could be someone's mother! Please have some respect."
"S… sorry… But do you think it was a MILF?"
"Dragon Monarch!"
A full hour had passed since the start of their activity, and most of the students were scattered all around sectors of Toronto in huge groups, supervised by specific instructors; and obviously, the instructor in Riley's sector was none other than Scarlet Mage.
There were also other students from her class in the sector, and all of them had one thing in common as they continued to clean-- most of them were complaining non-stop.
In the first few minutes, most of them were sad, scared, and fearful of every single skull that finds its way towards them. But now that an hour had passed, most of them treated the bones as just another debris to clean. Of course, they still treated them more gently than anything else, collecting them in one single spot.
"Gah… I wish I had Riley's powers instead," Gary then let out a long and deep sigh as he looked at Riley, who was just waving his hands in the air and making everything float across him.
"Or just stop talking and work?"
"Easy for you to say! You're just burning everything into dust!" Gary once again roared as he lifted a huge chunk of debris that seemed to have come from a building, "And I don't think that's very environmentally friendly!"
"Nye, nye. Stop yapping and just work."
"T… there's no need to fight, guys," Silvie let out a sigh before her eyes glowed red, splitting different objects into pieces so that the other students would find them easier to remove.
Hearing nothing but complaints, Scarlet Mage, who was watching everything from a short distance, could not help but let out a sigh. It was nice that she was getting some rest from lecturing, but to think it would be in the middle of a graveyard.
For someone like her, who had a direct connection to the elements of the world, it felt like the land itself was crying. What happened here truly was a calamity… and seeing the one responsible for it cleaning the very same place he destroyed was a feeling that Scarlet Mage could never explain in her lifetime.
There was nothing-- Riley's heart did not fluctuate even a single bit throughout the time they were here. Even serial killers get excited when they return to the scene of the crime… but Riley? There was nothing, not even a slight change of breath.
Scarlet Mage also could not help but notice that even though Riley was wearing a white long coat, it was as bright and clean as when she first dressed him earlier. If one were to look closer, even with all the noise of dust littering the air, it was as if they were all avoiding him; like there was an invisible shield protecting him from even the smallest of matters.
Riley… was almost immaculate. It was as if the gods themselves decided to bless him with--
[Scarlet Mage. Come in, Scarlet Mage.]
"I'm here."
Scarlet Mage then strayed her eyes away from Riley as her thoughts were cut short by the sound of someone speaking through the pods in her ear.
[How many students are in your sector?]
"There's like 30 students here."
[Please give me the exact number.]
"Give me a moment," Scarlet Mage said as she closed her eyes, and as she did so, an orchestra of hearts drummed their way through her ears, "...36 students."
[Alright, thank you.]
"Wait, what's going on? Are we missing students already?"
[...No. We're just doing a headcount.]
"Didn't we just do that earlier with the satellite Whiteking borrowed?"
[The dark skies around Toronto served as some very light interference so we might have made a mistake.]
"I see. Keep me updated."
[No problem. It's just a little weird, though.]
"Hm?"
[We have 4,238 students, right?]
"Yeah, how many are missing from the count?" Scarlet Mage furrowed her eyebrows as she once again looked at the students in her sector.
[We didn't miss anyone earlier.]
"...So why are we having this conversation if we're not missing anyone?"
[That's just it, Scarlet Mage. We counted 4,253 students.]
"...What?"
[We...
...have 15 more than we should have.]
"Tha--"
*BOOM*