It was only when Alexander Wyvern was 7 that he first encountered demi-humans. He was a lucky child to have been born with his powers. Sadly, his mother had passed away in the same hospital that he was born in. His father, in grief, started to drink until Alexander turned 7. On his 7th birthday he jogged into his father's room in their Mansion, and there his dad was, floating in the air. Alexander clapped and laughed, "Wow, Dad, you're so cool. I want to fly like you one day," but after a few minutes something felt wrong. So little Alexander looked closer—no, he looked higher. The light in his father's eyes was gone, his mouth hung open. The strong breeze that snuck in through the window made his father dangle by the rope around his neck. It was only then that Alexander realised his dad had set off flying, never to land again.
Mr. Wyvern darted over the roofs of Javerstone towards the large explosion. Why had he suddenly gotten those thoughts of way back then? What could it mean? Why did he feel tired? Sleep—he wanted to rest, he wanted to just stop, go home, and lie down.
His eyes snapped open and he continued forward. He couldn't stop. If he gave up now, if he lazed around and slept, then he had no right to wake up and face his Master. Maybe that's why he had remembered the man who had flown and never came back down. Maybe he too would end up the same if he were to fight that person.
The sounds of screams got louder as he neared. He was wrong—that person wasn't here. That person was ruthless, but even he wouldn't do this. Mr. Wyvern's eyes scanned the area from a rooftop. The first building on his right had been blown to bits, the one right next to it was split in half, and the park in front and the buildings around had been damaged or destroyed. Fire was all around, the bodies of men, women, and children scattered about—chunks here and there, so violently dismantled it was hard to tell whose limbs belonged to whom.
A child's hand reached out from under the rubble about 20 meters away, clawing around his dying father's arm. Amongst the chaos his cough echoed through—no words, but a desperate plea for help. Mr. Wyvern's hands twitched. He could save the young lad and his father, but then he would be exposed. Even with all the screaming and running around, he would be noticed.
So what, he thought. Who am I to let his kid's father die? The words echoed in his mind: "The world doesn't need another me." His hand slowly raised as the metal around him quivered.
"THERE IS NO NEED TO FEAR!" The voice boomed over the chaos and for a few seconds everyone stopped. The Monarch landed with a great slam into the center of all the chaos, along with him the woman from the channel and another man.
"Do not worry, citizens, we are here to help. Everyone head to that building where we've stored supplies and medics," he said, pointing to a building behind him. "Leave the criminals to me," he added, eyeing the criminals on the other side. But before he could take action, a single piece of silver the size of a push pin glided past his eye. He glanced to where it came from, tense, but nothing was there. He looked to where the silver had landed and saw the boy crying over his father's dying body.
"STRETCHER NOW!" And from another building Mr. Wyvern watched as the silver slowly made its way back to him.
The Monarch then dashed forward, slamming his fist into a criminal and sending them into a wall. He grabbed another who tried to punch him and chucked him into the air, then jumped off the ground and cross-chopped him down into the dirt before propelling himself forward and kicking the last criminal across the street.
"What a scary man," Mr. Wyvern sighed, smiling to himself as he hopped off the roof in the opposite direction in search of that person.
As he landed on another rooftop, the clouds up above began to warp, covering the kingdom in a slight drizzle. As he glanced behind, he saw the fires slowly going out as the rain grew stronger. In the bottom of his vision he noticed an abandoned house with two homeless men lying in front of it. People would steer clear, but he found it strange that the men wouldn't enter the building for shelter. So he hopped down and landed in front of them, but they didn't flinch. He pushed his wet hair out of his eyes and knelt down to place his hand on one of them. No pulse.
No signs of assault or stabbing, no cuts, no bruises. He placed his hand on one of their chests. He could feel the slight traces of iron in his chest. The damage was like that of someone who lacked oxygen in the blood due to an iron deficiency, and yet this dead body had more than enough—meaning the oxygen itself in the body must have been directly affected. And only one person was known to kill in this strange yet effective way.
So he walked into the building by pushing open the boarded-off door—the metal screws easy for him to remove, of course. The floorboards creaked with each step. Not good—even a bit of sound could get him killed. So Mr. Wyvern hopped an inch off the ground and manipulated the metal soles of his boots so he could walk around an inch above the floor. Making his way down a hall, on his left was a bathroom—surprisingly clean for an abandoned building. Next was a kitchen; soup was being prepared on a functioning stove, and once again the room was strangely clean. Finally, a bedroom—and on the bed lay the body of that person.
Xander Kortez, the only man to be in the top 10 most wanted in all 7 kingdoms, one of the most feared men that the richest would pay to have hunted—even the King's Gambit despite being his home, were secretly scared of him.
Xander slowly sat up in bed, yawning as he glanced at the clock on the nightstand, then turned to Mr. Wyvern, focusing on his feet which hovered above the floor. "Nexus, Gambit, or Scales—you in any of them? Or maybe the Sins?" he asked as he climbed out of bed.
"I'd say Gambit, but not in—more so a working relationship," Mr. Wyvern said, adjusting his tie.
Xander yawned as he changed, each step he took around the room silent as he hovered slightly off the ground. "Are you here to kill me, or to make me a lab experiment?" He grabbed a bag and tossed it to Mr. Wyvern.
"No," he caught the bag with one hand. "Will this blow up if I open it? I do hope not—I quite like my arms."
Xander blinked slowly, tired. "I could've killed you before you walked in. No, it won't explode. It's rags. Toss them in the wash for me." He slipped on a white shirt and sat on the bed, scrolling through his phone.
Mr. Wyvern stood there confused, then went back into the hall and tossed the clothes into the washing machine on his left, switching it on before walking back into the room. "You're quite relaxed. I expected the most wanted man to be a bit more on guard."
"I'm tired, man. Very tired," he sighed. "So what do you want? Just know I'm not in the mood for anything big."
"How unfortunate. The favour I need is possibly the biggest thing you'll ever do."
"Then it's not happening," he plugged in his phone and switched it off, then paused. "You wouldn't happen to have electric powers."
"Metal manipulation."
"I see. Wind Manipulation here." He said, dropping his phone and floating off the bed, walking out the room slightly off the ground. "There's a guy who's looking for me. I don't really like prison, so I'll be on my way. West Kingdom seems nice."
"I'm from the west," Mr. Wyvern clasped his hands. "So how about we talk?" He smiled, taking a seat on a chair.
"Too late," he turned his head to the door. "They're here."
"Shit." Mr. Wyvern snapped his fingers and metal clasped over his mouth and warped over his skin, concealing his face as the Monarch and 4 other heroes burst through the door.
"HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" one of the heroes shouted, his hands engulfing in fire. "Don't even try to run."
"How basic," Mr. Wyvern spoke, his voice altered behind his mask. "Can you lower the heat? I'd rather not smell like a sunday roast."
Two of the heroes turned to him, now noticing his presence. "There's two of them, sir."
The Monarch stepped forward towards Xander, ignoring everyone else. "We've never met, but I've heard a lot. Turn yourself in, boy."
"No," Xander replied without waiting for more. "I have a lot I need to do, and jail would waste too much time."
"Hah," one of the heroes laughed. "With your record you'd be in the slammer till the sun explodes."
Mr. Wyvern sighed. "Can you all hurry up? We were in the middle of something important."
"Not really," Xander yawned, running his hand through his hair. "Now move it, old man. I have somewhere to be."
The Monarch tensed, his body puffing up looking stronger and bigger. "You're coming with us."
The room slowly started to get colder as the door swung open and a gust of wind blowed in, spinning around the room. Xander's hair glowed slightly as it flowed over his eyes. His clothes felt light on his body as a wind burst flew from him directly upwards, making a hole in the roof. His palms spread open and another large burst of wind came from his hands, sending him high into the sky.
The Monarch squatted down, his face darkening as the muscles on his thighs and calves tensed. Mr. Wyvern glanced up at the hole. "This will be dangerous," he said as the Monarch jumped up through the ceiling, soaring into the sky towards Xander, who came to a stop.
"Tch." Xander dashed left as the Monarch appeared next to him, punching the air and sending a blast of wind past Xanders head.
"If you won't come willingly," his fists tensed, "then I'll have to drag you in." He repeatedly punched the air, his sheer strength pushing the wind hurling towards Xander as Xander propelled himself left and right, dodging each hit and sending blades of wind as a counter after each dodge. The Monarch punched each of them down. As he fell, the Monarch kicked the air, using his immense strength to propel himself up again, keeping him stationary in the air for seconds at a time, whacking his arm behind him to create a hard force that propelled him towards Xander. In response, Xander caught his arm and spun, throwing him up into the air while stretching out his hand, willing the air above the Monarch to condense into a giant mallet made of air. As he swung his arm down, the mallet tilted and slammed down into the Monarch, sending him through a building.
Mr. Wyvern watched from a close distance atop a different building, pulling out his phone to record. "I hope you get to see this, Master," he muttered, trying to keep the camera focused on them.
He zoomed in the camera as the Monarch's body shot skyward from the rubble, clinging onto Xander, causing him to struggle against the grip.
"GET OFF OF ME!" he shouted as a burst of wind generated off his body in all directions, sending the Monarch back as well as even making Mr. Wyvern stumble from afar.
His outstretched hand aimed towards the Monarch and he clenched his fist. The Monarch froze mid-air, unable to even twitch a muscle.
"Locking the air around his opponent—he just keeps getting stronger, it seems," Mr. Wyvern put his phone in his pocket and whipped his hand towards them, sending a metal dagger past Xander, but he didn't flinch. Mr. Wyvern then tugged on the thin wire between him and the dagger, launching himself to them and pausing mid-air next to Xander.
"Not to be a buzzkill, but could you refrain from killing him?" he said, his voice amplified by the mask.
Xander raised his palm towards Mr. Wyvern and Wyvern felt a small pain in his chest. "He attacked me. Don't side with him or I'll consider you and him to be one in the same."
Mr. Wyvern sighed and tugged his finger. The blade pulled back toward Xander's throat and Xander simply caught it. "So you've made your decision to attack me."
"Ha, hell no. I just needed you to let go of my air." Mr. Wyvern zipped back, pulling what seemed to be an invisible rope like a mime. "Nice belt." The metal belt round Xander's waist yanked him towards Wyvern, causing him to drop the Monarch, making the large hero tumble down to the ground.
"I don't want to fight," Wyvren said as Xander's belt buckle melted and wrapped around his wrists, cuffing him, "but I also can't let you kill that man."
Xander, hovering opposite Wyvern, glared. "I've decided. I'm going to kill you." He flicked his fingers and the air around the cuffs spun in condensed form, cutting through the cuffs as he flew towards Mr. Wyvern, grabbing his arm and dragging him through a building.
The metal block in Mr. Wyvern's pocket melted and clawed over around his body, turning into armour. "I'm going to need you to kindly let go," he said, grabbing a metal table lamp off a desk as he was dragged through the building and turning it into a bat, aiming for Xander's head.
Xander slammed him into the ground, dodging the bat, and darted off, sighing as his phone rang. "The next time we meet, even if it's just a glance, you'll die."
Mr. Wyvern slowly sat up, ripping off his helmet and glancing up. At least no one's dead right now, he thought as he saw the Monarch's body launch out of the building again towards Xander. "This little shit." Mr. Wyvern darted after them and chucked a metal line around the Monarchs legs, yanking him back to the ground while Xander zipped through narrow alleys and vanished.
The Monarch got back up and faced Mr. Wyvern, and the other two heroes from before came to surround him as well. "Now, now, why the long faces? I just saved you from getting yourselves killed."
The Monarch's fists clenched. "You just let the most wanted man on the planet escape. You also seem to know him. You're under arrest. We're taking you in for further investigation."
As Mr. Wyvern glanced around them he realised one of the heroes was the woman he had met on the boat ride. So as quickly as he could he darted towards her. As the Monarch's hand moved up, ready to jump at him, the other hero aiming a blast, and the woman getting ready to grab him, he slid his finger across his mask, showing half his face. The woman froze—even if she didn't know him, the few seconds of memories was enough of a delay to let Mr. Wyvern jump over her, grappling onto the side of a building and dashing away as they chased him.