Riley Ross

"A Hero?"

There was chaos in the blockade, and the officers no longer knew who they were shooting at or who was shooting at them. The darkness didn't help.

Gunfire thundered in every direction, mingling with the screams of colleagues and friends. They were so confused to the point that they almost shot at their comrades.

"Hold your fire! Hold your fire! Just hide!" The lieutenant tried his best to be heard. But even without all the noise, his men were already in complete panic, all their training down the drain.

Of course, they'd been trained to deal with supers—but supers were incredibly unpredictable, and not to mention incredibly inherently stronger than them, no matter what they do. They were only supposed to close the road and then offer support to the superheroes who would respond to the scene.

Unfortunately for them, the superheroes were all busy doing something else.

And the only one present there…

…is me. This is awkward. They think I am a superhero. I was planning to kill all of them to pinpoint Replica Ricky's location—but now it would be too awkward to do that.

While everyone else there was busy trying to deal with Replica Ricky's confusing onslaught, Riley just hovered in the air, trying to think of ways to proceed with his current situation. The lieutenant, who was still hiding behind him, raised an eyebrow as he wondered what he was trying to do.

One of the things they were trained to do was assess what type of superhero was coming to their aid—but he had never seen Riley before in his life. Was he an elemental ty—

"May I borrow this gun?"

Riley suddenly showed a gun in his hand before the lieutenant could finish his thoughts. He stared at the Glock in his hand for a moment before looking at Riley with a confused look on his face.

"What… do you need a gun for?!" The lieutenant screamed, once again hiding behind Riley as he heard a round being fired.

"I'm trying to conserve energy. If not, that's okay—we'll all just die here."

"That… fine! I'm giving you authorization to use that firearm!" The lieutenant screamed again, "Just don't make me regret this, son! You—"

A loud bang resounded next to the lieutenant as Riley fired the gun. He gasped, quickly turning his head to where he was pointing the gun to… only to see a hole right through Replica Ricky's forehead.

The lieutenant wasn't able to exclaim his awe at his marksmanship, however, and instead gasped when he saw the man Riley just shot crumble into dust.

"Huh…" Riley whispered, slowly releasing his breath while maintaining his armor. He glanced back, and when he saw that there weren't any people there at all, he chose to focus his shield in front of him instead.

Whether Ricky intended it or not, he was forcing Riley to burn through more energy than planned.

He'd need to change tactics if he wanted to last. He had enough power left, but Ricky's stamina in using his ability clearly outmatched his.

Was it a difference in age? Or was the nature of Replica Ricky's ability allow him to create an infinite number of clones by using his clones to create the clones?

During their short fight earlier, Riley didn't feel a decrease in strength from the clones at all, no matter if they came from a replica that was made by a replica.

Well, whatever the case was… Replica Ricky had the edge in terms of sheer quantity.

The lieutenant was about to say something, but Riley fired the gun again without any warning. This time, he aimed right above someone who had his back resting on a car door.

"What the—?!" The officer quickly covered his head, shielding himself from the shards falling from the window. He was about to scream at Riley, but then felt an arm falling on his shoulder. He looked up, only to see a replica slowly crumbling from the window.

"Lieutenant," Riley said, sighing as he glanced at the man hiding behind him. "You should tell your men to start retreating; they're in the way."

"But—"

Replica Ricky appeared from the crowd again, but this time, it was the lieutenant who was able to fire a round. He hit Replica Ricky right on the chest—the hit didn't seem fatal enough, however, as Replica Ricky was still able to raise his arm and aim his gun at Riley.

But Riley hit him right on the forehead before he could fire.

"Where the fuck is he getting the weapon?!" The lieutenant roared in frustration. "He'd better be able to replicate the guns, or all of you will be suspended for not securing your firearms!"

"Why are you shooting at me?!"

And while the lieutenant was reprimanding his men, another voice completely drowned him out—no. Perhaps it was better to say voices. There were four Replica Rickys now standing on top of the police cars, all pointing at Riley.

"Shoot him! He's the real villain here! Shoot Ri—"

The four replicas were shot almost at the same time on the center of their foreheads. The lieutenant looked at Riley, and he saw him now holding two guns

"Lieutenant." Riley sighed, "Retreat. You're making my life harder."

The lieutenant glared at Riley for a moment, gritting his teeth before nodding and grabbing his radio.

"Everyone, SC 4! I repeat, SC 4!" The lieutenant leaped over the barricade and rushed back toward his car. "Take the wounded with you! Go! Go!"

Everyone rushed back to their respective vehicles, making sure not to leave anyone behind. Well, aside from the one who got shot next to Riley, who was clearly dead, judging from all the blood and brain matter scattered everywhere.

It didn't even take a minute at all, and everyone was already back inside their cars. Their tires screeched and slid as they all drove away without looking back, except for the lieutenant.

The lieutenant watched from his rearview mirrors as shadows started popping up from the scene they had just left behind—dozens upon dozens of them appearing in the span of seconds.

It was right to leave. They truly would've just been in the way.

"Shit…" He muttered, shaking his head as he turned his focus on the road ahead. "I forgot to ask for the supe's name. Fuck. The paperwork on this would be massive, there's also that pile-up on marker—Huh?"

The car started to tremble, causing the lieutenant to squint as he looked at the spilled cup of coffee on his dashboard, and the ripples that were dancing in it were getting stronger and stronger by the second.

"What the fuck's happening now?" He whispered, sucking in a deep breath as he once again looked at the rearview mirror, but the scene was too far away to see now. Before he could start guessing what was happening, however, the answer appeared right in front of him.

A large cloud was building up on the horizon and covering the entire view of the city.

"What…" The lieutenant stepped on the brakes and ordered his men to do the same. Each and every one of them stared at the building cloud as it got closer and closer, none of them even thinking of moving away, as they were just confused and mesmerized by everything that had been happening.

Well, clearly, that was a mistake.

Because soon, they saw what was causing that cloud to form, or rather… who.

"Oh… Oh shit!" The lieutenant changed gears, but he couldn't back away as there was another car behind him. The only thing he could do was watch as thousands, upon thousands of Replica Ricky stampede toward them—they had enough force to push the cars, and their sheer collective weight was almost enough to completely flatten the roofs of their cars… with them still in them.

"Shit!" The lieutenant screamed as he lay down in the seat, hoping—praying that he wouldn't die in there with the car as his coffin.

Meanwhile, back on the blockade, one of the replicas stepped forward to speak with Riley.

"I wanted to get you in the city, but this would have to do," he said, a smirk creeping on his face as he stared at Riley's dark helmet. "You see that cloud getting closer and closer to us? That's me."

"Yes, I can see that."

"You're still so fucking smug. But for how long?" Replica Ricky's lips twitched. "I know your power still has limits, Riley Ross."

"I feel like I have to tell you that I'm not Riley Ross," Riley said, sighing as he pointed his gun at a certain Replica Ricky and immediately fired at him without any warning. This Replica Ricky quickly summoned another clone to block the bullet, and then immediately ran to hide behind the other replicas—the original.

"I found you."

"Does it matter?" Another replica spoke. "I know you're getting tired, Riley Ross. I know this because someone told me what your limits are."

"Again, I'm not Riley Ross."

"But you are!" All of the Replica Rickys pointed at Riley. "And I will expose you to the world right after I kill you. I know you're near your limit. I asked them about you… And they know everything about you. About all of you. Your friends, your sister. They know everyone in the Mega Academy."

"Hmm?" Riley tilted his head,

"I'm not Riley Ross, but I am aware due to the news that there is one organization that might know all about the students of Mega Academy...

...Are you part of the Dark Millennium?"