After my match with Rias, new scenarios of hero vs. villain took place. They were all exciting to watch, well, more interesting to watch than my match. Rias and I ended our scenario very quickly. There wasn't much to watch. Anyways, I learned a lot from seeing my classmates use their quirks to the best of their abilities. Who knew what some quirks were capable of.

      A few scenarios later, Simon and his teammate were called up to face George, who had telepathy, and Adam, who can sense murderous intention. Before heading towards the building where the scenario would be conducted, Simon walked towards me first.

      "Hey, Patton," Simon said.

      "Yeah?"

      "I initially wanted to surprise you later. However, it seems that I won't be able to do that anymore."

      "Huh? What do you mean?" However, Simon had already left towards the building when I asked my question.

      Simon and his teammate, a student by the name of Kyle, I believe, were to assume the hero roles of the scenario. George and Adam had already headed inside the building to prepare for Simon and his teammate's assault.

      During the ten-minute preparatory phase, from the screens in the CCTV room, the class could see that George and Adam had already positioned themselves in hidden positions and were communicating through telepathy. On the other hand, Simon and Kyle seemed to have just spoken a few sentences before Simon started drawing something onto the side of the building while Kyle quietly stood by him. By the end of the ten minutes, Simon had drawn a ladder onto the side of the building. At this point, the entire class, including Teacher Holloway, were glued to what Simon was about to.

      The moment the horn representing the end of the ten-minute truce timer sounded, Simon proceeded to sink his hands into his painting and pulled out a ladder that barely reached the window on the second story of the building. However, after a few seconds, the ladder was still there. Ten seconds later, and it was still fine! I half expected the ladder to crumble after a few seconds as I saw happen to the bat he drew last night.

      Kyle and Simon proceeded to latch the top of the ladder to the second-story window before the two of them climbed up the ladder. Standing on the piece of railing that one could find outside a window, the two dragged the ladder up and latched the top of it to the third-story window. The two of them repeated this pattern until they reached the fourth story, where they silently opened the window and sneaked into the building.

      Looking at the CCTV monitors, George and Adam were both still waiting on the second floor and had no idea that Simon and Kyle had long since progressed past them. It also just so happened that the object the villains had to protect and the heroes had to destroy was sitting in the middle of the fourth floor, not far from the window where Simon and Kyle had just climbed through. With that, Kyle walked up to the target, a red cube, and kicked it, shattering it into dozens of small pieces.

      Immediately afterward, Teacher Holloway sounded the horn and announced that Simon and Kyle had won this scenario. George and Adam, who were still waiting for Simon and Kyle's assault, were left in a state of disbelief when they heard the announcement. They walked out of the building, oblivious to the events that had unfolded without their knowledge.

      When Simon and Kyle finally walked out of the building, I quickly walked towards Simon and gave him a fist bump.

      "Did you see that, Patton?" Simon asked me excitedly.

      "Of course, I did. How'd you do it? Weren't you still struggling to materialize your artworks last night?" I asked, still puzzled why Simon's ladder didn't melt shortly after being materialized.

      "I followed your advice last night, and it has worked wonders for me. This morning, I drew a piece while being serene, and to my delight, it fell apart in a whopping five minutes after materializing it. My longest record before that was only five seconds. I initially wanted to surprise you with my achievement later today. However, I had to showcase it early."

      "That's not a problem. I'm glad to see you make peace with your quirk."

      "Thank you such much, Patton. I couldn't have done it if not for your help last night."

      "Anytime, man. How about we go get something nice to eat after school today as a celebration?"

      "Sounds great. Meet at the north gate after school?"

      "Yeah, see you then, mate."

      Right after the two of us finished talking, Teacher Holloway announced all the results of today and proceeded to go over the performance of everyone and pointed out what they did well and what they could've done better.

      Everyone had a great time doing this event, except for George and Adam, who still felt embarrassed by the fashion they lost in. We all got to learn a lot about each other's quirks and, at the same time, made more profound connections.

      After school, I headed towards the north gate and found Simon already waiting for me there. The two of us then headed towards a convenience store near the school campus which sold some good pre-made food. We then talked until the sky became dark. We talked about life, friends, private things, quirks, and many other varied topics. It didn't matter what we were talking about. We just wanted to talk.

 

 

 

 

      Since the hero vs. villain scenarios, a few weeks had flown past. Nothing too interesting happened within those two weeks as it had mostly just been classes, training my quirk, and shooting guns at the gun range.

      One day, Teach Holloway called me to his office. I heard the teachers were doing philosophy, personality tests. Not exactly what it was, but it should be questions related to my character. Anyways, I arrived at Teacher Holloway's office before gently knocking on his door.

      "Come in," I heard Teacher Holloway and his characteristic monotone tone say.

      I proceeded to push the door open quietly and saw Teacher Holloway gesture towards me to sit in the folding chair across from him. I sat down in the folding chair, and Teacher Holloway then asked me, "How have you enjoyed being at the Goldberg Hero Academy so far?"

      "I think it's pretty good. I've had a jolly time here and made some good friends."

      Teacher Holloway then scribbled a few things on the clipboard he was holding before asking me the following question, "Are you still aiming to be a hero?"

      "Yes, I am."

      These kinds of typical questions continued for a while until Teacher Holloway put aside the clipboard then asked me more heavily, "Do criminals deserve death?"

      "I'm sorry?"

      "Should criminals live or die?"

      "Uhm… it depends?"

      "How so?"

      "I would say it depends on what the criminal did. If it's something small like a misdemeanor, then they should be let go with a simple punishment, but if they were to do something like kill tens of innocent people, then I don't feel they don't deserve to live."

      "Ok. How about a criminal who steals from a bank as an example? Should they live or die?"

      "Live."

      "A criminal who butchered a family of three?"

      "Death."

      "What about a criminal who beats a grandma half to death before running away with her purse?"

      "…I don't know."

      "Ok. Lastly, how about a criminal who did nothing wrong now but will go on to kill a bunch of innocent people later?"

      "That's unreasonable. How would you know that they'll do that later?"

      "You just know."

      "Bu—"

      "You know that they will go on to kill a bunch of people later. Do they deserve death now or later?"

      "I—uh, I'm afraid I can't answer that."

      A tense silence then followed.

      "My closest friend was killed by a villain," Teacher Holloway suddenly shared.

      "I'm sorry for your loss."

      "Don't be. It happened before you were even alive."

      "Oh."

      "He was killed by a villain who was let out of court after having butchered a family of three."

      "Huh?"

      "Immediately after being let go by the court system, the villain targeted my friend who was the one who captured him in the first place and proceeded to mangle him to death. His body was found three days later in a dumpster, completely unrecognizable. We were only able to discover that it was my friend after doing DNA testing."

      "What happened to his murderer? Is he rotting in jail now?"

      "No, to this day, he continues to wander in the free world, killing more innocent people as we speak."

      "How is that allowed? Shouldn't he be in prison for being an evil person?"

      "That's the statement of a child, and Patton, this world is a world of adults, not children."

      "I don't understand, Teacher Holloway."

      "You view the world as black and white where good is good and bad is bad. If only it were as simple as that. The world is neither white nor black but gray. Where good can be bad and bad could be good. Do you understand now?"

      "A little."

      "Don't worry. I do not expect you to understand this right now. I simply opened your eyes. Now you can see the world's true color. You may leave now."

      "Yes, Teacher Holloway."

      "Wait, take this."

      Teacher Holloway handed me a slip of paper with a phone number on it.

      "What is this?"

      "Call this number when the need ever arises. That is all. You may go now."

      "Ok. See you tomorrow, Teacher Holloway."

 

 

 

      Another few weeks had flown by, and I was currently outside of school grounds to conduct an errand. Since it was on the way, I decided to stop by the convenience store where Simon and I had eaten together and get something light to eat.

      It just so happened when I was choosing what to buy in the convenience store. I heard a young voice shout out near the cashier, "Give me the money or else I'm going to slice you up, grandpa."

      The one extorting money from the old man was a young, able-bodied man. He was wearing a hoodie and was pointing a kitchen knife towards the old man behind the counter. Just from a glance, one would know to stay away from this guy. However, the poor old man had no privilege of doing such a thing.

      With no other choice, the old man behind the cashier reluctantly handed the assailant all the money in the cashier he had worked so hard for.

      "Good decision, grandpa, any slower, and I wou—what the—!" Before the young man could finish his statement, I grabbed him by the neck and locked him in a choke, robbing him of the ability to move.

      "Call the police boss," I said to the old man, which snapped him out of his daze. Very soon, I could hear police sirens in the background gradually getting louder, and the criminal I was restraining was growing more and more restless.

      Seconds later, two police officers erupted into the convenience store and helped me put down the criminal and handcuff him upon seeing the situation at hand. After safely escorting the criminal into the back of the police vehicle, one of the police officers who helped in the subjugation approached me.

      "Hey, you!" The police officer called towards me.

      "Me?" I questioned.

      "Yeah, you."

      "Do you need anything from me, officer?"

      "Yeah, I do, but don't worry, you're not in trouble, just going through the procedure. Do you mind spending a minute or two answering some of my questions?"

      "Of course, no problem."

      "Great! First off, I need you to identify yourself."

      "My name is Patton X. Washington. I'm a first-year student of the Goldberg Hero Academy."

      "What's a student of Goldberg Hero Academy doing here this time of day?"

      "I was conducting an errand and decided to get something here since this convenience store was on the way."

      "Ok. Could you also quickly go over, from beginning to end, what happened?"

      "Yeah. As I just mentioned, I walked into the convenience store to buy something to eat. As I was choosing what to eat, I heard the aggressor demand the store owner's money, so I sneaked behind him and locked him in a chokehold before anything worse could happen, then you guys came."

      After scribbling the gust of what I said down on a notepad, the police officer tipped his hat towards me and wished me a good day. After the police officer left me, the old man then approached me with a pre-made meal in his hand.

      "Here, take this young one," the old man said with a smile.

      "No, let me pay for it."

      "That's preposterous. How can I take the money of my savior? Please take it. I insist that you do."

      "Then I must thank you, sir."

      "I should be the one thanking you." The two of us then started to laugh before leaving, having errands I needed to run.

      The next day, I was outside the school campus conducting errands again and decided to visit the old man in his convenience store. However, when I got to the convenience store, I discovered that investigation tape wrapped around the store, and there were police officers questioning people nearby.

      I happened to spot the police officer who asked me a few questions yesterday and approached him. I had a bad feeling, and I was desperate for answers.

      "Hey!" I gestured towards the police officer.

      The police officer turned around and recognized me from yesterday.

      "What's going on? Why is the old man's convenience store taped with investigation taped? Where is the old man?"

      The police officer looked at me with difficulty before telling me first to calm down. After I calmed down a little bit, the police officer revealed what had happened. Earlier today, the old man was murdered, and they were currently collecting evidence and traces of the murderer.

      "Was it the criminal from yesterday who killed the old man?" I asked coldly.

      The police officer didn't say anything, but that was all the affirmation I needed. I then turned around and walked away. The police officer then sincerely called towards me while I was walking away, "Hey, kid. Don't do something you'll regret."

      "I won't."

 

 

 

      The sun had already set, and the sky was dark. I leaned against a telephone pole as I stared at an abandoned warehouse near the city's outskirts. If one were standing in front of me, they would have noticed that my eyes were bright red and realized that I wasn't looking at the abandoned warehouse but rather the people inside the abandoned warehouse.

      I had tracked the old man's murderer the entire day and eventually found him with his buddies hiding inside their little hideout. I watched the bright red silhouettes inside the warehouse sitting in a circle, apparently drinking alcohol. Undoubtedly, the people with the old man's murderer were bound to be bad people. However, I only had one target tonight.

      I patiently waited until three in the morning when my target stepped out of the warehouse by himself to take a leak. I had already moved to the exit he was going to use with the help of my thermo-vision.

      My target, clearly intoxicated to the tits, kicked open the door before facing the wall and started to empty his bladder. He had one hand on the wall and was humming to a tune of some sort. My target was too intoxicated even to realize that someone was standing a mere few feet away from him.

      I picked up a piece of broken glass from the ground and calmly walked behind him. My target had also just zipped his pants and turned around.

      "Who—" was his last statement before a stream of crimson blood started to flow out of his neck rapidly. His dying body quickly collapsed onto the ground, and the last thing we would see before perishing into nothingness was a pair of glowing red eyes in the midnight sky staring down at him.