The next day, Ryu came to school. As he walked past some students, he heard their mutters.
"Can you believe Kai and Lila are not still in school?"
The other answered, "With the news about recent abductions, alongside VIREX roaming about, I think they have gotten into trouble."
Ryu closed his eyes and thought, They are fine; only needed some time to recover.
Combat class...
Ryu folded his arms and said, "Alright, everyone come together."
But a guy murmured and said, "No, Ryu, let's try something different today." —Liam
Ryu turned towards Liam and asked, "Excuse me?"
Liam continued, "VIREX agents are all around the city. We need ability training, not manual combat."
Ryu shook his head and thought, This fool, he doesn't even know the basic ethics of abilities...
Doesn't even straighten his wrists when he wants to punch.
Ryu scratched his head in disgust and said, "I thought I made myself clear. This class is strictly a no-abilities zone."
"We use our fists alone."
A girl sighed and screamed, "Please, Ryu, we wanna see cool abilities!"
Everyone supported her and started muttering amongst themselves, "Please Ryu, let us switch it up, just this once."
Liam smiled and said, "Yeah... I mean, when we are faced with danger, they aren't going to use punches, will they? They will attack with abilities."
"Shouldn't we practice against it?"
Ryu sighed and moved towards Liam, "Okay, smarty, we will do something different."
"Out of everyone here, who do you think you can defeat in an ability combat?"
Liam shivered and thought, I have forgotten how scary Ryu is.
He broke and said, "Uhh... you." His breath was shaky.
Ryu sighed in disgust, held his hand and said, "Excluding me, idiot."
Liam huffed and laughed, "Oh... oh... right... uhmm..."
"Joan."
Joan, in shock, only blinked continuously at Liam. Ryu smiled, "Okay, let's go to the field."
Everyone started moving and murmured amongst themselves, "Woo!", "How exciting.", "This is gonna be fun."
Liam stood at the back of Ryu and asked, "Why the field?"
Ryu turned and replied to him, "Space, so you guys can fight it out."
Liam wavered, "What? But she's the strongest. There's no way..."
Ryu cut in and said, "Don't worry, I got your back." He smiled.
Stonebrook Field
Ryu patted Liam. "Just try your best, don't be nervous."
Joan folded her arms and sighed. Liam was already sweating and thought, This is what they meant when they said, think before talking.
He stared at Joan and thought, Look at her, so calm and unwavered by me. She will definitely whoop my ass.
Ryu stood and said, "Remember, just a training. Go easy on each other."
"Start."
Joan's eyes glowed green as she dashed toward Liam with increased speed.
Liam thought, Great, she has quick hit... or could it be superspeed?
His eyes glowed blue. He started charging up his hands and fired a beam toward her, but Joan smiled and dodged.
Before Liam could blast another, she punched him down. Liam huffed and fell, "See, how am I supposed to defeat an ability called superspeed?"
Joan gave him her hand and lifted him up. She smiled, "Maybe try changing your attitude."
Liam dusted himself, "Thanks."
Ryu broke in, "If you knew she could dodge your attacks, why bother firing them?"
Ryu's eyes glowed yellow.
"Watch closely. I will show you how to defeat super speed or quick strike using your ability."
Liam only thought, So he can clone abilities—interesting powers.
Ryu thought to himself, Seems I've leveled up. Cloning abilities was always what I wanted. Let's see how it works.
Joan shifted back and charged up again, but thought, Even though he's only using a cloned ability, they don't call him Shadow for nothing.
He defeated a VIREX agent. I should be very careful.
Joan flew mid-air and charged towards him. Ryu smirked and thought, They always like a dramatic jump, and all for what?
Ryu dodged her attack. Joan's face was firm. She really wanted to defeat Ryu. She lunged at him again.
But Ryu held her hand and charged up, ready to blast her.
Joan covered her face and thought, He knew I'd dodge the attack if I was far enough, that's why he brought me closer.
But Liam's ability is not strong. If I can block...
Ryu tackled her and she fell to the ground. Everyone applauded Ryu, murmuring amongst themselves, "That was amazing."
Liam huffed, "Whoa."
Ryu raised Joan up, "Are you hurt?"
Joan smiled, "Only my self-esteem. I was beaten in front of the whole class."
Ryu sighed and patted her back, "Don't think like that. You are better than that dimwit over there."
"You've got a good grasp on the basics of your ability, but your aerial attack is something to work on..."
"You spend a lot of time jumping, giving me enough time to plot your downfall."
Joan sighed, "Hmmh."
Ryu walked toward the whole class, "You all are yelling ability practice, but y'all haven't learned combat ethics yet."
"I didn't get this far just by picking ability fights and practice. It took years of training. Once you guys can learn fully these combat ethics and can apply them to your ability, you will see a huge improvement."
Liam thought, Oh.
Ryu walked toward the exit door, "So far, you guys haven't mastered those ethics. I don't want to hear anyone yapping about ability training."
"C'mon, class over, let's go." He walked away as the students cheered him.
---
AEHR (Authority for Enhanced Human Research)
The authorities came out, and the media began throwing questions.
One of the men, tired of the questions, came up to the podium and said, "Good afternoon everyone, thank you all for coming. We have heard the recent events...
By now, you already know about the recent missing citizens and deaths around...
These were done by a group of teens, scattered over the city."
"And as from today, they become our top priority."
Some of the media wavered, "But sir, what about the secret agency, VIREX? We still have no clue about them."
The man sighed and replied, tapping his fingers, "We thank you for your concern, and VIREX is still something we continue to pursue."
But another media personnel disagreed, "Sorry sir, but we are not going to accept that response. How can you guarantee that the killings will stop? The public is scared."
Another added, "And the people have been saying, it was a bad move by the authorities to reopen schools. Can you talk about that?"
The man got tired and raised his hands, "Look, the authorities are trying everything in our power to curb the killings in this country and Lingxi City. Reopening schools was to give our kids something to do rather than becoming criminals on the street. We also considered safety, and because of that, we put on heavy security around all schools."
"We can't discuss any further details. We urge you all to stay safe and report any suspicious activity. Thank you for your patience and continue to trust..."
Smash!!
The TV turned off.
Jin scoffed and said, "Scumbag. Secretly working with VIREX and they claim they are still working on them."
"Liars, all of them."
He looked at his hands, "A lot has changed since she left... Mei."
He stood up, wore his coat and left.