Hearing Howard's question, the entire class immediately started whispering. Steve stayed silent, looking completely relaxed. One by one, the students at the front began stating their whereabouts during the break. The woman in the suit recorded each statement on her tablet. When it was Victor's turn, he claimed he was in the restroom.
Dawn said she was on the roof lying down, and Erica explained she had gone home briefly since she lived near the school. Nyla mentioned she was studying in the crowded cafeteria, and Rex said he had been sleeping in the storage shed. Finally, it was Steve's turn.
"I was taking a walk in the park, bought a sandwich, and ate," Steve said casually.
"Alright, thank you for your cooperation," the man said once everyone had checked in.
Immediately, the classmates started pestering them with questions: what exactly happened, what kind of monster appeared, and which superhero defeated it? The two Association officials answered politely, but Howard eventually cut them off and showed them out of the room. As soon as they left, the students rushed to the windows.
Three costumed and some caped figures were standing in the front courtyard talking to security. Only Steve, Erica, Rex, Dawn, Nyla, and Victor remained in their seats, unmoving. Howard let the class look; he was busy peering out the window himself.
"Whoa... it's Lightning, Rocket Man, and Whip Blade! They're so cool," a classmate yelled.
"Yeah! Do you think they'll give out autographs?" another student asked.
Amidst the chatter, Steve just smirked. He recognized one of those three "heroes" all too well.
***
[Another Flashback]
Two days after returning home, a still-confused Steve went for a walk through the shopping district. He wanted to see the bookstore he used to visit before the "accident" that had landed him in a coma. When he arrived, everything looked exactly as he remembered.
"Hmm... it's the same. This world is the Earth I know... but Minotaurs? Monsters? Superheroes? What is all this? In my world, that stuff only exists in comics and manga... but then again, the idea of being transported to another world is also supposed to be just a story. I don't get it at all," Steve thought to himself while looking around.
As he stood there dazed, a scream pierced the air: "Kyaaaa! Run! A portal!" Chaos erupted. Steve saw people sprinting toward him. He looked up and his eyes went wide—a portal like a black hole had opened in the sky directly above the shops. Dozens of goblins riding massive dire wolves tumbled out and immediately began slaughtering anyone nearby. They were followed by several orcs—fat, lumbering brutes much larger than the ones he had seen in his previous world.
"So... the monsters are actually real in this world too," Steve muttered, stunned.
He clenched his fists, but he didn't dare act yet. He turned to run with the crowd. Suddenly, a man's voice boomed: "Get out of the way!" A streak of blue lightning shot toward Steve. Instinctively, he shielded his face with his arms, but he didn't move fast enough. "Thwack!" Something slammed into him. When he lowered his arms, he saw a man in a tight spandex suit and a mask, his body crackling with electricity, sitting on the ground in front of him.
Steve reached out to help the man up, but the "hero" slapped his hand away and stood up, glaring at him through the mask.
"I told you to move! Why were you standing in the middle of the road? It's a good thing I managed to brake, or I would've crushed you," the man snapped.
"Oh... okay, sorry," Steve replied, confused, because it felt like the man was the one who had run right into him.
"I have to save them. The name's Lightning. We'll talk later," Lightning said.
He shot off with super speed, the wind from his departure slapping Steve in the face. Steve watched Lightning engage the goblins.
"Okay... this is weird. Really weird," Steve thought.
Instead of running, Steve stayed to observe the fight. Suddenly, "bwooong," a holographic screen appeared in front of him, making him jump back in shock.
"What... what is this?" Steve wondered.
He watched as letters formed on the screen. It was the first time he saw his status. Without a word, he raised his hand. "Swooosh." A translucent, wireframe cube surrounded by a grey aura appeared in his palm.
"Whoa... I... I can still use my powers?" Steve asked, shocked.
He didn't hesitate. He did what he always did: element absorption. He touched the ground, nearby metal, the air, and a puddle of water. The elements swirled into the cube, turning it into a shimmering, multicolored battery of energy. Steve checked his dimensional box; his sword was gone, but his armor remained. He tapped "Auto Equip" on the screen. Instantly, he was clad in the knightly plate armor from the other world.
A wide grin spread across his face. He leaped high into the air and landed right in the middle of the horde Lightning was fighting. "Boom!" The shockwave sent goblins and wolves flying—and knocked Lightning onto his backside again. The hero looked up at Steve in his armor, completely baffled.
"Kiiiik!"
The goblins lunged, but Steve just raised his hand, his palm glowing with prismatic light.
"Void Energy Blast!"
A massive beam of energy swept the street, vaporizing every goblin, dire wolf, and orc in its path.
"Hey! What the hell?" Lightning yelled, shielding his eyes from the glare.
As the laser-like beam faded, the entire street and the storefronts were a smoking wreck, but not a single enemy remained. Cars were scorched and overturned. Steve looked at his hand and smiled.
"My power is exactly the same as it was when I fought the Demon King... incredible," Steve thought.
Suddenly, someone tried to punch him from behind. Steve shifted slightly, letting the blow whistle past his face. It was Lightning, looking furious and ready for a fight.
"Look at what you did! You destroyed everything!" Lightning screamed.
"The monsters had to be dealt with. I did your job for you," Steve said, his voice deepened by his armor.
"What about the civilians who might have been caught in that beam? Did you even think? You're... you're not a hero. You're a villain!" Lightning yelled, pointing a finger in Steve's face.
Seeing the man screaming at him after he'd just saved him—knowing for a fact that only monsters and cars were in that blast zone—triggered Steve's trauma. He remembered exactly what his former "friends" and lover had done to him. Without thinking, Steve's hand shot out. "Greb." He caught Lightning by the throat with incredible speed and lifted him off the ground.
"Ack!"
Lightning thrashed, unable to breathe. Consumed by rage, Steve pulled back a fist to finish him. But suddenly, "clang," a spear slammed into the ground between them, forcing Steve to jump back and drop Lightning. A girl in a mask, wearing a black outfit that looked like a cross between a nun and a magical girl, landed gracefully. She had black and white wings on her back.
"Don't just go around killing people because you feel like it," the girl said, her black-haired silhouette framing her heavy voice.
"Who are you?" Steve asked.
"He... he's a supervillain! Be careful!" Lightning wheezed, grabbing the girl's leg.
The girl looked down at Lightning with an expression of pure disgust. "Thwack!" She kicked him so hard he flew across the pavement and slumped over, unconscious.
"Hah... you're one to talk, you just took him out yourself," Steve said, annoyed.
"Shut up," the girl replied, clenching her fist and swinging at Steve.
"Blam!" Their fists collided, creating a shockwave that shattered the windows of the nearby buildings with a thunderous roar. The ground beneath them cracked. Steve studied the girl.
"What are you... some kind of anti-magical girl? This world is a joke," Steve thought.
"And what are you? A black Super Sentai? Don't mess with me," she retorted.
They traded blows again, each collision causing more destruction. Suddenly, "boom!" As they prepared to clash once more, a massive, muscular figure who looked like a cross between a demon and a dragon wearing a mask caught both of their fists. The impact of the interception was even more violent than their actual fight.