The moment Shiller's umbrella handle touched Pamela's forehead, the rain lines outside the window abruptly halted. As the lightning illuminated Shiller's face, his enraged emotion was clearly visible in his eyes.
The curvature of the raindrops made refracted light seem blurry. Among the rippling waves, countless tiny raindrops receded upwards toward the sky. Vines and plants retreated while Catwoman had just pried open the door lock of the pickup truck and settled in the driver's seat.
The passenger door opened, and Shiller walked out of the vehicle and strode into Gotham University. At this time, the campus—Gotham's haven—lacked strict security measures, and the students and teachers inside seemed oblivious to the terrible events happening outside.
The scrape of shoes on the stairs echoed crisply. Old office doors creaked open.
Anna and Victor turned their heads to look at the dusty Shiller. Before either of them could speak, Shiller, brows furrowed, spoke, "Have you not stepped out today? ...I mean, have you left Gotham University."
"There's chaos outside. We should prepare."
"What happened again?" Anna stood up, smoothed her hair, and frowned at Shiller, "What could have happened that makes you have this expression? Is it a tsunami?"
"Oh please, a tsunami wouldn't make him look like this." Victor snorted, "If a tsunami did come, I bet he'd be calling me from the Cryogenic Lab, asking for a freeze bomb powerful enough to freeze the Pacific Ocean."
Anna seemed to have heard something. She walked to the window and parted the curtain to see chaos erupting outside the campus walls. Her expression turned solemn. Just as she was about to say something, the door was pushed open with a bang.
"Professor! It's terrible! Trouble's broken out at the Vocational College, they've started fighting…"
The three stopped abruptly. Victor took the initiative and rushed forward, "What are you talking about! How could there be a fight at the Vocational College?"
Shiller quickly donned his raincoat's hood and, holding his umbrella, said to the student, "Take us there."
"But…" The student hesitated, "Professors, perhaps you should take a gun. It's chaotic out there... someone has already fired shots, I'm afraid for you…"
Before he could finish, Anna grabbed a rifle from underneath the table. The student swallowed the rest of his sentence and turned to run outside, calling over his shoulder, "Hurry up! If it's too late, lives might be lost!"
The trio charged down the stairs and rushed to the academic building of the Vocational College. Gunshots filled the air. Victor had a sinking feeling. As they ran, he asked, "Shiller, is this the chaos you mentioned? How dare these little bastards start a gunfight in school?!"
As he spoke, Victor pulled a Freeze Gun from his coat pocket and scowled, "Whoever started this better hope I don't find out, or I will give him and his family a very... calming break."
"Have you not realized that this isn't a typical campus gunfire incident?"
The running trio stopped in front of the main gate of the Vocational College's backyard. Looking in, they could see students split into two groups armed with guns, currently in a standoff.
Being the first to rush in, Victor raged, "What the hell are you doing?! You should be in class! What are you doing here?!"
"Professor, you're finally here!" A tall male student came running over, pointing fingers at the other group, and indignantly uttered, "They shot and wounded Roll! They even tried to kill him! We all know that guns shouldn't be used within the campus, but we have to protect Roll!"
"Can't you see it? The one called Roll has gone mad!" A Black female student on the other side retorted, "He scratched my sister with his fingernails. We Fanny sisters are not to be bullied!"
"But you can't shoot him in the leg, he's the most famous fast legs of the college, aiming to be a professional sprinter. You've ruined his career!"
The dispute resumed on both sides. Thankfully, the presence of the professors prevented any further shooting. Anna lifted her gun, aimed it at the sky, and fired. The crowd instantly fell silent.
Shiller raised his voice and said, "Everybody shut up and put your guns down. Where are Roll and Fanny now?"
"Roll is in the rest room on the ground floor, and Fanny is in the classroom next door. They're both wounded, someone's treating them…"
The three professors walked into the academic building. As soon as they were inside, a scream rang out. A female student rushed out of the classroom, clutching her bleeding arm. It turned out to be Miss Goth, a student who had previously studied here. Her arm had a deep wound, which was continuously bleeding. Looking dazed and terrified, she seemed at a loss.
She snapped out of her daze and began to sob uncontrollably, stuttering, "She's gone mad! Fanny's gone mad. She tried to kill me!"
"Impossible! How could my sister..." The younger Fanny sister stepped out from the crowd and rushed to the classroom. Shiller intercepted her. The young woman bared her teeth and struggled furiously, but the next second, a dark shadow lunged at her.
"Bang!"
Shiller raised his umbrella, knocking the shadowy figure aside. Victor, holding up the Freeze Gun, took aim. With a "whoosh," an ice cone flew by, hitting the shadow's abdomen, freezing her.
The African-American girl rushed over, but she quickly realized something was wrong. She blurted out, "What happened to my sister… Why are her eyes gray??? The Fanny Family never has gray eyes!"
On top of that, my sister is a very kind-hearted person who enjoys caring for others. How could she possibly attack me?"
Anna looked at the sobbing Miss Goth, and asked, "What exactly happened? Why did she attack you and why did she go insane?"
"I don't know." Miss Goth choked back her sobs. Through her disjointed explanation, the others began to understand the situation.
Miss Goth had struggled to adapt after entering a vocational education school. Especially after learning of Lady Goth's death, causing her buffer into extreme grief, she fell ill. During that time, the eldest of the Fanny sisters cared for her.
She became an orphan with no one to rely on, her engagement called off. Afraid to live alone in the deserted and grim manor, Miss Goth acquiesced, residing in the vocational education institute.
Although Miss Goth had been raised overly privileged, and was vain and arrogant, she was still young and adaptable. After a period of communal living, she gradually adapted to the rhythm of life here and made a few friends, Fanny among them.
"Fanny... Fanny and Roll were a couple. She said she was going on a date with her boyfriend before she left. But not long after, she returned crying, a large gash on her arm…"
"I've never seen so much blood that I was scared into crying. Her younger sister overheard and took her gun went to find Roll. She put a bullet in that bastard, but Roll's brothers thought she went crazy, and a fight broke out…"
"I can't aim very well and have never been in a firefight, so I stayed here to watch over Fanny. I used the first aid kit that had been previously distributed to disinfect her wound. However, her wound swelled badly, no matter what I did, I couldn't effectively clean it…"
"Just as I was preparing to dress her wound, she suddenly let out a terrifying scream. I thought I must have hurt her, so I lessened my force, but the next second, she attacked me…"
Miss Goth continued to weep, freely. She extended her arm to expose the long gash. She mumbled, "I would not have known… her fingernails could be so sharp…"
"People in Gotham are constantly going insane. As expected, students at Gotham University are also experiencing this." Shiller turned to look at the taller male student who had spoken earlier, asking, "Has Roll been absent from school lately?"
The taller male student scratched his head, saying, "Yes. Roll was on the track and field team at Gotham University. He was very accomplished, representing Gotham in the inter-school league in Metropolis. I heard his performance wasn't bad, seems like he just returned to school yesterday…"
"He might have been infected." Shiller said softly. At that moment, a deep, pained whimper was heard from the next room, quickly followed by the sound of a gunshot.
Shiller briskly stepped to the door, flinging it open just in time to see a silhouette splayed in the middle of the lecture hall. It was a muscular male student, still clad in his track and field uniform.
He had been shot in the abdomen and was crying out in pain, roaring, "Get out! Get out of my body! Get…"
Without thinking, Victor fired the Freeze Gun, freezing him. Time seemed to solidify within the ice and his struggles and pain ceased. But right at that moment, the scratched Miss Goth screamed again.
The hallway was thrown into chaos. As Anna strode out with her gun, she turned to Shiller, saying, "I'll handle things here, you and Victor manage our defenses. I believe you will make whoever invades here pay, right?"
Shiller rubbed his wrist, revealing a cold smirk. Then, raising his umbrella, he stepped out of the lecture hall. Looking back at Victor, he said, "Gather everyone, give them Freeze Guns. If they see any crazed individual, freeze them…"
"What on earth is going on?" Victor trailing behind Shiller, asked with confusion, "Exactly why are they going crazy?"
Then, revealing a somewhat sorrowful expression, he said, "I know that Roll. Just a few days ago, the track and field coach was bragging to me about how he had discovered an extraordinarily talented sprinter, he even said Roll might be able to win the state championships…"
"And now…" Victor shook his head, saying, "Having been shot in the stomach and leg, he's lucky if he even survives. Sprinting requires a great deal of physical ability. With his injuries, it's safe to say his career is over…"
Shiller clenched his umbrella without speaking a word. Hearing the sporadic wailing from outside the school, he said, "I don't care if someone is trying to take over Gotham with some devious plot or to simply destroy it. And, I won't make any extra efforts to defend it either."
"Because I know, it doesn't need any protecting. Those who intend to harm it will soon find out what they're dealing with. I don't know how foolish they have to be wanting to attack madness itself with a madness virus."
"Although, they should not have invaded Gotham University, especially should have not hurt that student named Roll. They will pay for this."
"Why particularly Roll?" Victor looked at Shiller's expression, feeling a swell of anger underneath his calm exterior. He listened to Shiller answer with an indifferent tone:
"Because, Ivy is the Sports League."