**Chapter 45: Objectives**
After Medana left, a group of army heroes arrived. Their tasks were simple: providing first aid to unconscious students, transporting them to the hospital, clearing the battle area, and questioning witnesses.
The rescue team didn't stay long. After learning from reporters that the Silver Knight had left, they noted it and departed.
Throughout, no one noticed the small patch of grass swaying in the wind outside the campus. By evening, as the sun set, the grass grew larger, intertwining and transforming into a human.
A girl with a plant growing on her head sat on the asphalt, exhausted and gasping. After a while, she removed the roots clinging to her hand and stood up.
"Silver Knight... a worthy rival." Venus, a unique mutant with territory-based powers, could revive from any pollen left behind. Even higher-ranked mutants could defeat Venus, but not destroy her.
However, such power comes at a cost. Venus had patches of greenish skin, a sign of chlorophyll merging with her. Each revival made her humanity fade further.
---
Lisa placed Medana on the bed in Linda's house, still in her suit. As an unmarried woman, Linda had only one bed, so Lisa and Medana shared it like family.
Linda looked at the silver warrior's suit, now blackened, and felt concerned. The bedsheet from the morning seemed scorched.
"Shouldn't we remove his armor and clean him up? It must be hard to breathe in it," Linda suggested.
Lisa smiled and scratched her head.
"I don't think we should remove his armor. he hasn't revealed his true identity."
Lisa was trying to keep Medana's secret from Linda. She feared that if Linda, who admired the Silver Knight, discovered Medana's identity, it would cause chaos. Medana, kind-hearted, wouldn't want trouble. For Lisa, Linda was like family, but it would shock her.
In Lisa's imagination, she saw a couple in a rose garden. Linda in a fairy-tale princess dress, Medana in knight armor. When the knight revealed her face, the princess cried, "Why didn't you tell me you're a girl? I've fallen for you."
Lisa shook her head at the thought. "It can't end like that," she thought, not wanting her family divided.
Linda, watching Lisa's expressions, sighed. "This girl hasn't lost her mind from the villains' attacks, has she?" she wondered.
Soon Medana groaned but didn't move. Lisa remembered, "The Silver Knight's suit is damaged. That's why she can't move."
"Where's the power source?" Linda asked.
"Look for a plug," Lisa suggested. Linda searched but found nothing. The suit used fusion energy, not electricity, so it had no plug.
Linda spotted something behind suit's head and blushed. "Isn't that where he removes his suit?" She saw a button and pressed it.
Lisa turned away, knowing what was about to happen.
With a metallic sound, the suit opened like a can, revealing a girl with silver hair lying still, like a fish out of water. Linda dropped the hood she was holding.
"What the hell..." she gasped, stepping back.
Medana's skin was red from heat, and water seeped through the suit. Linda, confused, gently tugged Medana's ear.
"Ah...sorry..." Medana pulled away, tears in her eyes.
Linda examined Medana, who wore only a soaked t-shirt. Linda leaned closer, noticing their age difference. Her European build contrasted with Medana's small frame.
"Aren't you the girl who befriended my daughter for Silver Knight? Where's the real Silver Knight?"
Lisa couldn't look at them. "Linda can't accept reality," she thought. "How could someone else take Silver Knight's place?"
"Heh... Linda, I am the real Silver Knight. Believe it or not," Medana admitted, knowing she couldn't hide anymore. Linda's eyes darkened.
"Are you mocking me?" Linda shouted, grabbing Lisa, who tried to escape. Her eyes were red with anger.
"Lisa... you knew all along, didn't you?"
"Yes... I knew," Lisa admitted, making Linda's face harden.
"If you see me as family, why didn't you tell me?" Linda's grip tightened on Lisa's shoulder. She looked at Medana with a pained expression.
Medana, already in pain from the battle, began to cry.
"Linda... it hurts... please..."
Medana's tears softened Linda's expression. "She looks so gentle up close," Linda thought, seeing Medana as an angelic figure. But then she glanced at a poster of hero and a princess kissing and hardened her heart.
"I wanted a heroic moment like in the movies. Now, it's all upside down." Linda sighed, realizing her feelings for Medana. She had admired Silver Knight's bravery and kindness, only to find her hero was a girl.
Linda sighed, released Medana, and left the room to cry alone. Medana, shivering, was left with a confused Lisa.
"I'm going to the bathroom," Medana said, trying to escape the awkward silence, but slipped.
"Oops..." she muttered, then added, "I forgot my anklets were in bad condition ."
---
Two weeks later, New York City was bustling after the super-villain attack. Medana took a break from hero work, as her costume was still damaged. Social media buzzed with concern over the Silver Knight's absence. Medana assured everyone she was fine.
Sonic Speed, head of the New York Hero Association, announced he would appoint Silver Knight to replace the deposed Laser Eyes. Medana kept her usual stance: "A real hero doesn't need a license."
After the riots, Harry from the Hero Association was injured by Elohim, a vigilante targeting evildoers. Elohim left a tape of Aizawa's confession, revealing the killings of former heroes and officials.
Upon learning about anti-heroes like Elohim, Medana mused, "So there are those who disagree with us heroes?" Their violent ways led the Hero Association to consider them villains, but they are also hunting villains sometimes.
Now, Medana ran along the road, listening to music with her phone in her shorts. Some waved, others teased her. Initially uncomfortable, she now ignored it, using running as training. The previous battle taught her that stamina was as crucial as technology. Her mutant powers had limits.
Medana stopped at a newspaper stand. Her picture was in the New York paper. One headline read, "One Man Saves the Whole School," detailing her heroic actions. Another headline surprised her: "Every boy wants to know the white-haired angel," referring to her.
"That's why there's so much attention today," she thought, cursing the journalists.
Another article mentioned Japan's top hero, Usaki, defeating a villain. Medana smiled, "Finally, I'm in the headlines with an S-rank hero."
She yelled to the shopkeeper, "Grandma, I'll take the newspaper."
Medana collected newspapers featuring her stories. With a decision in mind, she thought, "Even though I'm known now, it's not enough. I need to be a hero who can save the whole world."
---
**Suvarna**
In a small valley surrounded by hills, there was a large lake with a silver palace at its center, styled like a historic Burmese palace.
"Silver Moon Palace" was inscribed at the entrance.
Suvarna was a small domain under Taungoo Empire. Its ruler, a Duke, refrained from using gold, a royal symbol of Taungoo. So, they use Silver a lot.
At night, the palace shimmered beautifully under the moonlight. The elderly Duke listened to news from a young man.
"I report to the Duke... The Guard Commander's House announced the former Commander Hla Taung has passed away."
The Duke, seated on a teak throne adorned with a rabbit, listened. Absent were the golden symbols of royalty, replaced by the moon's symbol, a rabbit.
The Duke nodded. "I'm aging, and my peers are gone. I have no son to succeed me. Who will lead Suvarna?" The nation needed a ruler to maintain peace.
"The Duke... there is a successor." An elderly senator in red entered the palace.
"Right Wing Senator," the Duke acknowledged.
"The senator means..."
"Duke... you have a daughter, Thita, correct?"
"Yes, but she's uninterested in ruling."
"But as I mentioned, your daughter has a son with her partner."
"Ah, the boy from the West. I forgot I have a grandson."
The Duke checked his iPhone, seeing messages from his daughter which He hadn't responded.
"I haven't read her letters out of regret," the Duke laughed, while the ambassador restrained his frustration.
'The Duke... you're showing 'seen' on your phone,' the ambassador thought but didn't voice. A Duke is a Duke.
"Ah, found it. Sent ten years ago. My grandson sick and running around in the street, much like his uncle," the Duke chuckled, looking at an old picture of a chubby boy without a pant running around the street. One can see the boy's little brother swaying happily between his thighs.
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