Riley Ross

Acting? If it was acting, then why could Hera feel the fingers crawling under her skin become even wilder? They were practically trying to claw her insides now from how hard her body was reacting to Riley.

Yes—she initially thought that her body was reacting like this because of everything that has been happening. The strongest of the freshmen surrounded her, after all, and they were at each other's throats, but no.

None of the fingers that were poking her were because of them, not even a single one. All of them were because of the albino kid in front of him.

"You… do know I can tell that you're not acting, right?" she said, the color of her skin shifting from its original tan color, to gray, to blue, to silver, and then to a grayish metal color that had streaks—seemingly adjusting to whatever was about to be thrown her way.

Well, something was already thrown at her way—it was a large ship, and it rammed into her without any mercy.

If it weren't for her body adjusting to carry the weight of this large container ship, then she would've been turned into mush. But of course, that wouldn't have happened in the first place since her power was to adapt and survive—and even if it was, she had a feeling that Raphael would heal her.

All of this was just… a little bit excessive.

Riley creating an arena beneath the river, with the tall gushing water surrounding them as their wall.

Riley going out of his way to sink a large cargo ship, so that it could move through the bottom of the water to make its grand entrance and ram her.

And now, he was even wearing a captain's cap.

"Stop it with this bullshit!" Hera roared, and the hull of the ship dented and twisted before she pushed it to the side—some of the water serving as their perimeter, splashing violently like curtains bursting as the ship caused them to ripple.

"I know you actually want to hurt me!"

"Oh?" Riley tilted his head, a smile creeping onto his face as he looked at Hera's lips and shoulder. "You truly are perceptive, Hera. But I am acting, very much like how entertainment wrestlers act, I suppose—it is scripted, but the pain that would follow will very much be real. I am only following orders."

"Wh—"

Everything around Hera became slow. The little strands of invisible hair in her body started to move, alerting her to the danger around her. She glanced to the side, but there was nothing there. Still, she followed her body and ducked before diving through the wall of water in front of her.

A line instantly appeared on her neck, opening up into a pair of gills not even a millisecond after she entered the water. She quickly turned around, her new fins allowing her to do so without any problem at all.

And there, she caught sight of the hull of the ship splitting apart—right where she was previously standing.

She shifted her eyes to Riley, only to see that he was no longer standing there at all.

"Hm?!"

The water became heavy, and she felt herself being pulled and driven by the river as the arena that Riley created started to collapse. She looked up, her fingers becoming webbed as she propelled herself upward—the force enough to create bubbles and heat up the surrounding water.

She reached the surface instantly, or at least that was what was supposed to happen.

But it didn't.

Her gaze dropped, and there, she saw a hand latched onto her ankle… and from the darker parts of the water, he saw a white face carrying a smile that looked like it would rip its owner's face off. But it didn't, of course, it only twisted it.

That was the only thing Hera could see, Riley's smiling face surrounded by the darkness of water, before she felt herself being pulled deeper.

It was weird, the water shouldn't be that deep, and yet it felt like she was being pulled down into the Mariana Trench.

She had felt this before the very first time Riley used his abilities against her, but now it was literal—she was being pulled into a void.

Well, not for long. Her leg turned soft, morphing and shifting into a jelly-like tentacle that was able to slip away from Riley's grasp.

Why was he even doing all of this in the first place, when he could just as easily use his raw telekinetic ability to try and overpower her? But of course, she didn't really need an answer, she knew why—theatrics.

Riley Ross was having fun…

…but two can play at that game.

A smirk crept onto Hera's face. She stretched her arms to the side and clapped incredibly hard, causing several ripples to form across the water. The force, enough to cause the surface to violently wave even from deep down.

Riley, who was right in the direction of the blast, covered his ears from the sudden vibrations that rippled through his body. Hera didn't let up at all. Her body began to morph—almost turning into a part of the river as her silhouette slowly became transparent.

Everything around her bubbled up, and the sound within the river became even more violent to the point that all one could hear was a deafening buzz.

"I knew it!" She roared. "You're sensitive to sound! I've read it before that your kind's easily overstimulated! Do I feel sorry for saying that?! No! I'm all exclusive!"

Perhaps she was getting too excited for her own good, but she didn't care. If there was any chance to put Riley in his place, she was definitely going to—

"Shhhiiii!"

Hera gritted her teeth as she saw Riley swimming—no. Flying toward her like a drill, spinning as he shot toward her. And without even stopping, he rammed his spinning head right through where her chest should be and blew her away from the river.

Her body began to morph again into solid flesh… and Riley's head truly was squishing her breasts.

"You!" The two were in the air now, and Hera quickly grabbed Riley's shoulders to stop him from spinning. She then slightly pushed him away, before stomping him right across the face and throwing him toward the other chaotic situation—Silvie and Hannah's battle.

Riley had already recovered in the air, but he didn't stop his momentum at all. He even had a smile on his face as his trajectory changed… he was now flying toward Silvie, who was in the air, throwing cars at Hannah.

Silvie glanced at him for a moment, and when she saw his hand reach out, she immediately caught it—she spun Riley in the air and then let him go, not back to Hera… but to Hannah.

Silvie didn't even look back, and she flew toward Hera—effectively changing their opponents seamlessly.

Hannah, who saw Riley flying toward her, immediately canceled the heat surrounding her. She was, however, by no means taking it easy on Riley—no.

It was obvious from the excited smile on her face that she wanted to beat him up.

"There you are, baby brother!" She screamed, almost cackling as the ground beneath her melted away and she flew up to meet Riley. The air beneath and behind her distorted, almost serving as a cape as she locked her fists on Riley's smug face.

He wasn't actually showing any emotion on his face, but it was obvious to Hannah that he was being smug.

"You don't know how long I've waited to do this!"

Hannah pointed her palms down, and flames burst forth from her hands. She spun in the air, and the flames she was leaving behind became larger and longer—and when they were only meters away from each other, she swung her arms toward Riley.

"What the…"

Hera and Silvie, who were only about to engage in a fight, stopped before they could hit each other as everything turned bright. Even Gracey, who was facing Bella and Howlstar, flew up into the air to look.

"Hahaha!" Hannah burst out into a fit of laughter, the flames she wielded now looked like a colossal sword splitting apart the very air and space itself. "You better fucking dodge this, little kid!"

Riley, of course, had no plans of dodging at all. Instead, he even stopped in the air and held his palms close together as if he was holding a ball.

And then, with a breath, a hum began to ring in the air.

A wave, rippling and causing even the river meters away below him to dance and react.

Yes.

It was the very same move that Hera did underwater. He was able to learn it in that short amount of time, and in that hectic and chaotic situation.

But instead of compressing and vibrating water, he was trying to do it with air.

Riley's hands began to tremble, and the veins around them started to darken and etch out across his skin all the way to his neck.

The sound it made was… causing everyone who happened to be near to hold their breath.

"You are the one who should dodge, Sister."