Cybil (2018) #projectsuper

Chapter 53: Crusing Altitude

Ryu would be the first to admit that he wasn't a morning person. In fact, for the first weeks of his time with the Guardians, Raelynn had to use a variety of alarms just to force him out of bed. While she hated those methods at the time, stepping back to look at them now, she did admire her creativity in getting it all set up every time.

That, and her patience.

He didn't need her this time, as he had been the first in Commander Luke's office that morning.

Early that morning. So early, in fact, that the sun hadn't come up.

The truth was, his mind was racing all night. He couldn't figure out what to do about his little "handgun scheme" with Corrin and Joel here, not to mention his own sister.

His original plan had been to shoot him... the man who created him.

Now that that plan had suddenly gotten a lot more impossible, he was beginning to wonder why he'd thought it up in the first place. Was he getting revenge for being made "half a person"? Was he trying to assess his own bravery, as if he needed to prove to himself that he wasn't the scared child he knew he was deep down?

"Yo... Earth to Ryu!"

Joel's call snapped him back to reality. "Uh... Yeah, what's up?"

"You, dude," he said, playfully elbowing him in the ribs. "You've been staring out into space ever since we took off!"

"Sorry...?"

"Come on, wanna play rock, paper, scissors? Our set's first to 10. I've won the last three games against these guys!" he pointed his thumb back towards the plane's other two occupants.

Raelynn shrugged her shoulders when he looked at her. "I don't know how he does it. I seriously don't know..."

Corrin, at this point in civilian clothing, looked just as confused, albeit more with a mixture of amusement.

"That kid turns everything into a competition. What exactly does this guy do, again?"

Joel looked insulted. "I'll have you know, I'm an athlete of the Digital Age."

Corrin was smiling even as he was face-palming and shaking his head. "Video games are actually considered a sport now?"

"Apparently, ESPN thinks so."

He would know, as he was actually outed as a super on ESPN for an accidental Shoryuken (a fiery one, no less) while celebrating a big win for his team in a major tournament.

Unsurprisingly, footage of that particular tournament had become pretty scarce as of late...

"Good for them," the ninja answered casually. "Maybe they can consider competitive eating a sport..."

"Well," Raelynn added in, playing with her hair. "There's that televised hot dog eating contest every 4th of July..."

"Welp, I'm totally out of the loop..."

"By the way," Ryu asked, remembering why they were up here in the first place. "Where exactly were the coordinates we plugged in heading for?"

"From the mapping of the area that the plane showed, it seems like an oasis in the middle of a desert area..." Corrin rattled off, almost as if it was nothing.

Ryu groaned, not fond of the heat.

"Cheer up, Ryu," the mostly robotic girl chirped optimistically. "At least you'll get to try out that sunscreen I bought for ya a while back."

"And if we ever get some time off to hit the beach, you'll never have to worry about getting sand in your shoes..."

Raelynn had been silently but desperately trying to dissuade the gamer from uttering the last part of that sentence, to no avail.

A wave of anger came over Ryu. His vision seemed to turn red for just a moment as he told his friend to shut up.

Usually, Joel would laugh off this kind of thing. That fact made it jarring when the normally jovial teen recoiled in his seat in actual fear.

Raelynn looked just as uncomfortable, and Corrin looked tensed up, as if sensing an enemy presence.

"What?" The boy asked upon noting this change in atmosphere. "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

Joel still looked shaken. "Y-Your eyes. They turned completely red! I thought that... that you were gonna shoot me with lasers or something..."

The other two shared affirmative nods. Ryu was bewildered at this. "What? I'd never hurt you. You may be annoying and irresponsible, but you're still my friend, dude. Besides, I can't even shoot lasers." His tone was about as calm and reassuring as he could manage. "Just... Don't make any more jabs about... This." He gestured towards his body.

Joel shakily nodded. The entire flight to their destination was uncharacteristically quiet, with the Korean gamer unable to look at his friend. Corrin shot him looks of mistrust while Raelynn looked unusually reserved.

What had happened to him in that moment of rage?