The click-clack of boots against concrete echoed throughout the dark, cold corridor.
The man wearing them walked briskly yet calmly past several cells, each housing an incredibly dangerous individual. He slowed as he reached the cell he'd been looking for.
Behind the powerful glass sat a figure shrouded in shadows.
They tilted their head up, sensing the man's presence.
"Was that your doing?" the figure asked the stranger.
There was no reply.
"You should know what I'm talking about."
Again, no answer.
The dark figure chuckled.
"Fine, then. Who are you?"
Silence.
The figure sighed. "Of course. A foolish question. Let me rephrase that: what do you want?"
There was a chuckle, and if there had been enough light, the figure would have seen the stranger smile.
What he did see were two white orbs where the eyes should have been.
Then the stranger asked a question of his own.
"Do you wish to be free?"
****
The sun shone brightly on the world below, unhindered by the few clouds drifting by.
The road below was filled with the hustle and bustle of both human and vehicle traffic.
Soon, however, the peace was cut short by the loud roar of an engine.
The powerful sound was quickly followed by the shouts of angry pedestrians.
"Watch it, you idiot!" an angry man shouted, shaking his fist at the speeding motorcycle.
Sorry! the cyclist silently apologized, maintaining his current speed.
The source of the roar was none other than the sleek, futuristic motorcycle beneath him. Its coat was a shiny silver, its body partitioned at key points to reveal glimpses of the machinery driving the powerful vehicle. It possessed slim but sturdy wheels, their rims glowing a ghostly blue.
He sped past more people, weaved through vehicles, passed beneath large floating billboards, and finally drifted up onto the ramp of the superhighway he'd been rushing to reach.
The squeal of tires filled the air as he stopped the bike at the back of an incredibly long line of vehicles.
Ugh!
He grabbed his helmet in frustration after slowing to a stop beside a large truck.
Now I'm going to be even more late!
He pulled off the helmet, letting his dark blue hair fall over his face. He pushed it back, revealing light tan skin and a face more cute than handsome. His figure was slim, and he tugged at the black tie around his neck before opening the first button of his crisp white shirt.
"The only reason I was going so fast was because this is the shortest possible route," he grumbled.
He opened the satchel hanging over his shoulder and pulled out a small black tablet and stylus.
His eyes—his most defining feature—were reflected in the dark screen. They swirled with different colours and, at certain angles, seemed to glow.
Before he could do anything, however, a large tremor shook the highway, followed by a powerful gust of wind.
"Oh, come on!" he shouted, covering his face. "What the hell is it now?!"
When he lowered his arms, his eyes widened.
A figure in black and white was flying backwards through the air.
The figure—a woman—flipped once and landed on top of the truck beside him.
"An attack at a time like this?" she groaned, scratching her short green hair. "I'm gonna be so late."
I can relate, strange flying woman, the boy thought.
He flinched as she dropped down beside him.
Then his gaze fell to her feet.
His mouth nearly dropped open.
How do you move like that in heels?!
"Hey, kid." The woman pulled off her suit jacket and draped it over her arm. "What's your name?"
The boy looked down at her, perplexed.
"I'm... Liam. Liam Paxton."
The woman smiled, nodded, and threw her jacket at him.
"Hold this for me, Liam. I'll be back shortly."
Liam caught the piece of clothing and frowned in deep confusion.
Who—?!
His jaw dropped.
Smiling, the woman tapped the screen on her black wristband. Hundreds of thread-like tendrils burst out of it and wrapped themselves around her body.
Liam nearly fell off his bike as the white blouse and black trousers hugging her body transformed into a black bodysuit lined with green. Her heels seemed to break apart, reforming into sneakers and merging with the rest of the suit.
Around her neck formed a long, green, translucent scarf that flowed as though caught in a constant breeze.
She smiled at Liam, a cheeky glint in her eyes, and winked just before a black-and-green mask covered the lower half of her face.
"S-S-S-Spirit?!" Liam stammered, incredulous.
"You know it," she chuckled and winked.
People began looking out of their cars in shock at the sudden appearance of the global star.
"Gotta go." She turned and crouched. "Be back in a flash."
Spirit blurred for a split second before disappearing, leaving behind a dark green trail.
Liam stared after her.
Spirit! The Hero with some of the best maneuverability and speed anyone could ask for! And that suit—fireproof, stab-proof, airtight, watertight, armoured...
His eyes dropped to the jacket in his hands.
Chad would flip if he was here! Oh, wait... he'd want an autograph.
Liam sighed.
I have her jacket, so that shouldn't be too hard.
A pause.
Having a little brother is stressful.
Liam's attention was suddenly drawn skyward by an incredibly loud, piercing scream.
He looked up.
His face paled in fear.
Large, bird-like creatures were circling the vicinity.
"What the devil are those?!" the driver of the truck beside Liam yelled, looking out of his window.
Only he and Liam seemed to have noticed. Most of the other people were rushing forward to get a glimpse of the fight between the Hero and the Villain.
Pteras... flying dinosaurs.
Liam shuddered.
His incredible sight allowed him to make out every detail: inky-black bodies, brown membranous wings tipped with small claws, and razor-sharp beaks attached to long-necked heads.
There were six of them.
"Today's been bullcrap!" the truck driver raged. "Horrible traffic, the sun's blazin', some bastard Villain attacks, and now monster crap? I've had enough of this!"
"U-um, s-s-sir," Liam stuttered nervously. "C-c-could you p-please c-c-calm down?"
The driver completely ignored him—or maybe he simply couldn't hear the boy over everything else.
"Here's an earful, you damn bastards!"
He slammed his hand down on his truck's horn.
"N-NO!"
Liam covered his ears, wincing in pain as the overpowering sound seemed to shake the very ground.
People turned for only a moment in annoyance.
Liam looked skyward in fear.
Pteras are attracted to loud noises!
He grabbed his hair as the circle the beasts had been drawing suddenly broke apart.
They're probably here because of that explosion!
One of the Pteras broke away from the group and dove towards the source of the sudden distraction.
It fell like a stone, and it folded its wings in to increase its momentum.
Then its beak twitched, its nostrils catching something... new.
An enticing scent had caught its attention.
And so naturally, it altered its course.
Its target?
Liam Paxton.
The boy in question froze as certain death came screaming towards him.
A Ptera dives at almost ninety-six kilometres per hour...
His body refused to move.
I'm dead.
If only my power wasn't so weak!
His eyes widened.
For a moment, the world seemed to slow down.
Liam could make out every detail on the beast's face, from its murky black eyes to its widening beak.
I'm dead.
Then, out of nowhere—
A brown-and-black blur slammed into the monster.
Liam caught a glimpse of short black hair and a blue mask before the two bodies shot over the superhighway's edge.
He turned shakily, disbelief and relief flooding his mind.
N-no way...
A moment later, a tall man flipped onto the guardrail at the edge of the highway.
He was clad in simple clothes, but his most striking feature was the dark blue mask covering his face, accentuated by a few white lines. In his hands were two bloody shortswords.
With a flick of his wrists, he sent the blood flying from the blades before sliding them into the sheaths on his back.
"A Hunter..." Liam breathed.
The Hunter turned his attention skyward.
Then Liam jumped as a smooth baritone slipped out from behind the mask.
"You okay, kid?"
Liam nodded profusely.
"Y-yes, sir! Thank you!"
The Hunter grunted, then put a hand to his ear.
"Hmm? Chalcotauri? Three herds... where?"
Liam's brain immediately supplied the information.
Chalcotauri. The Bronze Bulls. Sutai—or C-grade—individually, but Teiki, B-grade, in a herd.
"Hey, Anansi, could you repeat that?" the Hunter muttered.
Liam's eyes widened.
Then his brain caught up with the name.
ANANSI?!
The Asura-class Spider Mutant?!
Liam practically vibrated on his motorcycle.
He's a frickin' legend! Eight powerful arms, webs from his fingers, over two hundred Mo kills—
His eyes snapped back to the man standing in front of him.
Wait.
His excitement somehow doubled. Stars practically shot out of his eyes.
This guy's Rapido!
A member of the Second Hunter Division, just like Anansi! And he's even stronger than Anansi, even though they're both in the same class!
"Alright," Rapido muttered before crouching. "I'll be right with you. Just have to deal with something first."
"Um, sir?"
Rapido looked down into the eyes of the boy on the motorcycle.
The kid was holding out a small tablet and stylus, his head bowed.
Wonder what he wants.
"Yeah, kid?"
"...Could I, um... g-get your autograph?"
Rapido fell silent.
"..."
"P-please?" Liam asked, looking up.
Rapido frowned behind his mask.
What is going on? A scam? Is this a journalist in disguise? A criminal?
"Why would you want my signature?" Rapido tilted his head in genuine confusion. "I'm no Hero. I'm a Hunter."
Liam nodded emphatically.
"I know! But... um, Hunters—I'm a huge fan, and..."
He hesitated.
"You guys are my heroes."
Rapido said nothing.
For several moments, he simply stared at the boy.
The only people who seemed to have noticed his presence were Liam, a few people several meters away, and the truck driver, who had now rolled up his window.
To a Hunter—a member of a profession known to be more than a little antisocial—someone asking for an autograph was about as common as finding a needle in a haystack.
A voice came through Rapido's communicator.
'Rapido, are you on your way?'
"Relax, Anansi," Rapido sighed.
Then, to Liam:
"What's your name, kid?"
Liam blinked.
"Liam Paxton."
Rapido nodded and turned his attention back to the Pteras.
Liam slowly lowered his tablet.
"Oh... um..."
"Check the tablet, kid."
Liam looked down.
Staring up at him in a small blue scrawl were the words:
To Liam Paxton,
Rapido.
Liam's eyes widened.
When he looked up, the Hunter had vanished.
His head swiveled around until he spotted Rapido crouching atop the truck.
The boy grinned, starry-eyed.
"Thank you! H-how did you move that fast? Was that your Venma?"
Rapido paused.
"...Yeah. Sure."
Then he leapt into the air.
Liam's voice followed him.
"THANKS FOR SAVING MY LIFE! AND THANK YOU FOR THE AUTOGRAPH! AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK!"
Rapido continued upward.
Liam watched him go, determination filling his heart.
One day, I'm going to become a Hunter as powerful as you!
The boy didn't see it.
But behind his mask, Rapido was smiling.
No wonder Heroes keep doing what they do.
Rapido zoomed past the circling Pteras and slowed to a stop in midair. He glimpsed into the distance, seeing even more of the Mo approaching.
"Hey, birdbrains," he uttered as he unsheathed his shortswords.
The monsters shrieked and turned their attention towards him.
One Ptera charged.
"It's hunting time."
In an instant, Rapido stomped it into a plummet, one blade already embedded in its skull.
He sliced through the neck where it met the main body, grabbed the severed mass as he jumped, and smashed it into the head of a diving monster.
Its skull caved in.
It, its fellow carcass, and Rapido fell towards the earth.
Three of the remaining Pteras screeched and swooped into powerful dives, each aiming for the Hunter.
Completely unaware that they weren't the predators here.
Smirking beneath his mask, Rapido twisted out of the path of the first.
He kicked off one of the dead monsters, shot down towards the Ptera he'd dodged, and slammed both shortswords straight into its back.
It gave a guttural scream as blood spurted from the wounds, staining Rapido's hands and clothes.
He kicked off its body, ripping his blades free in the process, and spun as the other two neared him.
Code One: Bladed Tornado.
In a flash of brown and silver, Rapido burst upwards.
A moment later, the diving monsters separated into pieces, sliced from neck to short, clawed feet.
The approaching Pteras screamed.
Several dove to avenge their fallen brethren, plummeting like enormous black arrows towards the still-rising human.
The moment the first came within two meters of him, Rapido crossed his arms.
Final Code: Slaughterhouse.
For a moment, Rapido seemed to teleport.
As the sun bathed him in light, he set his feet down on the Ptera that should have killed him.
And smiled.
Full power.
He vanished.
A minor shockwave shook the air.
Then came a shower of red and black—blood and bodies left behind by a brown blur tearing through the flock.
Rapido slowed above the dead Pteras, arms spread wide and hair flowing in the wind.
His mask melted away, revealing bright blue eyes set in a handsome face.
He took a deep breath and stared into the clear blue sky.
Then gravity took hold.
Rapido dropped into a dive.
As his mask crawled back over his face, he pulled his arms to his sides to accelerate his fall.
He descended amongst the dead monsters, all of them heading towards a large park near the superhighway.
Rapido twisted in midair and kicked off a falling midsection. He ricocheted from one carcass to another before falling the remaining twenty-meter gap.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he tucked his body into a ball and rolled, then slid smoothly to his feet.
He immediately began walking.
Behind him, monster bodies slammed into the grass one after another.
"This is Rapido reporting," he said, putting a hand to his ear. "Requesting a Sweep. Mo subjugated west of the Benjamin Superhighway. Roughly twenty-eight Pteras, and I apologize for the mess."
The Hunter switched the communicator's channel.
"Hey, Anansi. I'm on my way."
'Took you long enough. We're on the outskirts, and more Bulls are on the way. It's strange, but that doesn't matter. How long till you get here?'
Rapido paused to do a few mental calculations.
That's roughly fifty kilometres from here...
He put a hand to his neck.
Pop.
"Be there in three minutes."