Riley Ross

"Mommy, mommy! Look, I can make bubbles out of nothing! Do you think I can fly if it grows any bigger?!"

"That's your snot, David. God, why don't you sleep like normal children your age?"

"Mrs. Goggins, here's your cheesesteak."

Saturday had just passed the city of New York, and most cities would be well asleep already—but not New York, never the NYC.

Some of the smaller establishments have even just opened an hour ago. There were even more people now than there were during the day—No.

For some reason, the streets were far more crowded than usual. There were no events, no holidays—nothing to explain it. Most people went about their business, a few sat on benches clearly designed to deter the homeless, and some glanced around, noticing the unusual number of pedestrians.

"Hey, watch it! I'm walkin' here!"

The crowd had grown so thick that it flooded the roads. Drivers leaned on their horns, but the blaring was swallowed by the street's constant roar, leaving the pedestrians oblivious.

An ambient noise that was soon replaced by a rumble.

"What the… stop pushing! Who…huh?" One particular set of friends was bumped by someone who didn't even bother to look at them or apologize—typical New York fashion. They were going to let it slide with just a little bit of complaint, but this was different. It was different because…

"...Didn't we just pass by that dude earlier?"

"Huh? Did we?"

"Bro… I think you're right."

"S-shit… the weed must be hitting."

"Bruh. We haven't hit yet. It—"

"Hey, watch it!"

Someone once again bumped into them before they could even process what was happening. And once again…

"What the… wasn't that the dude? Wait… wait a minute… woah…"

The stoners all huddled up and looked at all the people walking past them. They turned to each other, wiping and brushing their eyes to see if they were seeing what they were actually seeing.

"Are… you sure we haven't hit yet?"

"I'm sure."

"Then, dude… what the fuck are we seeing right now?"

They were seeing the same faces. Over, and over, and over again. And it wasn't only their group. Soon, most of the people minding their own business all noticed that they had been seeing the same person since earlier.

Well, none of them would be wrong.

The reason why there was an ungodly number of people roaming the streets… was because there weren't actually a lot of people at all.

Because most of them were clones of Replica Ricky.

And right now, all of them were marching in the same direction.

"Holy fuck! Those people are coming out of the sewers!"

And yes, some of them were coming out of the sewers.

"Wait a minute… isn't this the guy on the news?!"

"Oh my god, you're right! R-run! Everyone run! It's a supervillain!"

That was a mistake. In that single scream, panic slowly rose through the streets of New York. And with their number, there really was only one conclusion to this panic—stampede.

The people started running, some even pushing the people in front of them to get ahead. David, the little child who was getting a cheesesteak with his mother, was now on the ground being stepped on by several people.

"Stop!"

But before he could get fatally hurt, a masked man leaped onto his position and covered him on all sides from the boots and shoes stomping on him. The masked man pushed the people away, but they all just continued to run like mindless zombies.

"What the fuck is wrong with you people?!" The masked man roared, carrying the boy in his arms as he stood up. "Are you okay? Are you with someone?"

"My… my mommy…" David whimpered. "Are you… are you a superhero?"

"I am," the masked man said with a smile. "Now, let's go find your mommy. Okay?"

The masked man quickly looked around for anyone searching for a little boy… but that proved to be impossible now.

He was only on the ground for a few seconds, and yet now the only thing he could see was hundreds—no. Thousands of Replica Rickys were marching toward him.

"Shit… We need to get you out of here first!" The masked man carefully held the boy by his head. But before he could do anything, the Replica Rickys suddenly started running.

"Kh!" The masked man made sure to protect David from all the bodies slamming onto him. He kicked one of the replicas, but it didn't even care. It just stood up and continued running.

"What…" The masked man continued to shield David, "What the fuck is—"

"Riley!"

The replicas all roared before the masked man could finish his words, and they were all screaming—no. They were all chanting the same thing.

'Riley Ross.'

***

Back on the highway, Riley was floating right in front of the cops with Tomoe in his arms. Most of the officers looked confused, not knowing whether to draw their weapons on him or not. But seeing as he was carrying someone and even greeted them with a friendly wave, the leading officer ordered his men to stand down.

"Who… are you?" The lieutenant asked, carefully approaching Riley while looking at him from head to toe.

Well, he couldn't really see the bottom of Riley's feet at all. Something Replica Ricky stuck to him—the fact that he was still smaller than most adults.

And so, he made sure to slightly hover a foot from the ground, with his feet and the gap between them and the ground covered by a rotating cloud of dirt and dust.

Riley didn't answer the lieutenant at first and instead lifted Tomoe closer to him.

"Are you awake?" He whispered. It took a couple of seconds, but he felt Tomoe subtly nodding in his arm.

"Good. Then I need you to go back to the warehouse to get rid of them."

"...Okay," Tomoe whispered back, "But… are you sure you'll be okay?"

It was very faint, but Tomoe could feel it.

Riley was trembling. Or rather, his powers were. Admittedly, Riley might have used more than he needed to while chasing after the truck, and he knew it, too. He was… close to his limit.

"I don't know," he whispered, carefully planting Tomoe back on her feet. "But you need to find a way to get back to the warehouse."

"I… will," Tomoe said before stumbling back, obviously making a performance out of it. And it worked.

"We need a medic here!" The lieutenant bellowed, raising his hand and gesturing for the medic team to come. He rushed to catch Tomoe, staring at her mask at first before focusing his attention back to Riley.

"Are you two… heroes?"

"No," Riley quickly answered, his body slowly turning toward the toppled truck. He was able to detect another heartbeat there earlier—surely, it belonged to the real Ricky.

But it was gone now.

So, he either died during the crash or he managed to get away. But considering how durable Replica Ricky was, then it was probably the—

Bang!

A loud sound suddenly snapped close to Riley's ear before he could finish his thoughts. He felt his head and his entire upper body sway violently to the side, and it was followed by the sound of something metal clanking on the ground next to the cloud of dust beneath his feet.

His vision slightly blurred, and all he could hear was a sharp whistle seemingly trying to burn down his ears.

He was completely discombobulated, and everything around him doubled.

"Huh…" He whispered to himself. Several officers jumped over the barricade and started approaching him, and it took a couple of seconds for him to hear what they were saying.

"Are you okay?!"

"We need another medic here! Possible concussion!"

"I'm okay." Riley leaned away from the officer who approached him. He looked to the ground, only to see a flattened bullet being pushed by the officer's boots. He quickly brushed his hand across his helmet, and while there weren't any cracks, he could feel the area where the bullet hit.

He knew that he spent too much of his energy chasing the truck… but to think a bullet was able to pass through his telekinetic armor?

He was weaker than he thought he was.

Riley then turned his focus on the other side of the barricades, only to see the officers pinning someone down—Replica Ricky.

Well, obviously a—

Bang!

Once again, Riley's thoughts were cut off by another round being fired toward him. This time, however, it completely missed him and hit the cop right next to him.

Riley quickly pointed his palm at where the bullet came from, and managed to completely stop two bullets from hitting him… and the lieutenant next to him.

"F-fuck!" The lieutenant quickly hid behind Riley and drew his weapon.

"Thank fucking god you're here, Supe!" The lieutenant bellowed as gunfire started erupting from everywhere,

"Or this would've been a fucking suicide without a hero on our side!"

"Huh…?" Riley blinked under his helmet,

"...Hero?"