The first thing New Metro heard that morning wasn't birds chirping. It wasn't the coffee pot sputtering or the morning news humming on the TV.
It was a loud BOOM followed by a car alarm screaming because a fire-engulfed fist just slammed into the pavement.
Smoke rolled across the asphalt, thick with the sting of ozone.
Then—
Chhh-kkkk—shards of ice fractured down the cracked concrete, shaping a makeshift rail in its path.
A figure BLASTED across it, grinding on the rail as flames shot out of his palms, propelling him forward like a human missile.
Trio
Fire licked at his shirt; heat shimmered in his trail. A trident earring dangled from his left ear as he launched across another ice rail. He wasn't riding to school, he was tearing through the city like it had personally insulted him.
Racing down the street just behind him, a blur snapped into motion: calm. Precise. Deliberate.
Speed.
Sparks cracked across his boots, blue trail following behind him as he glided through traffic, weaving between cars like time itself had slowed down just for him.
Where Trio carved destruction in his wake, Speed moved with surgical control. They tore across the city in two wildly different styles—
One like a storm, the other like a whisper. And the finish line? The front gates of HEROVERSITY.
Holo-billboards flickered over shattered streets—New Metro waking up to another disaster commute.
As Speed threaded through every obstacle, he glanced across the street to see his older brother leaving trails of disarray behind him. Cars honking, traffic piling up, mailboxes iced over—a man scrambling to beat out the flames on his half-scorched shirt. No care. No control. Just chaos.
Speed shook his head as he slid up alongside him. "Sheesh dude, you need to chill out before you hurt somebody. Keep this up and the Core Heroes are gonna mistake you for a Villain again."
"Ahhh who cares?" Trio spat back, a defiant smirk splitting his face. "It's not like they're gonna do anything. Maybe monologue for 20 minutes before giving me some stupid speech about 'what it means to be a Hero'."
He snapped his hand forward, blasting more ice and extending the rail in front of him as he spoke. "They're a joke. Besides, it's not like I'm doing anything wrong. I'm just heading to school… like any other normal kid."
Speed took a glance over his shoulder. He saw the entire street behind them covered in a shatterstorm of burning-fire and melting-ice. He gestured his thumb behind him with a raised eyebrow. "You call that normal?"
"Calm down, I trained my Source over the summer." Trio announced, still grinding on his rail, weaving in and out of traffic. "I learned how to suppress my fire, it doesn't even burn right now. Watch!"
He flicked his hand open at Speed. Fire ignited in his palm—then he shot a blast straight at him.
Speed jerked sideways just in time. The blast shot past his face, barely skimming under his nose. It flew past and hit a stack of papers, charring the edges without setting them ablaze.
"Hey! Watch out!" Speed yelled.
"See? Not even hot." He said, flashing a careless grin. "You'd have to be weak as hell to get hurt by that."
Speed rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man. All I'm saying is you need to chill the heck out before you get us both in troubl—"
Ring. Ring.
Speed's phone buzzed in his pocket as it let off a loud ring. Speed's body stiffened mid-sprint, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Without breaking stride, he reached down and pulled his phone out. He flinched as soon as he looked at the screen. "Uh-oh… it's Mom!"
Trio's eyes went wide. He clenched his teeth; panic flared across his face. "Uhhh, well… ANSWER!"
"Nope, not answering." Speed said as he slid the phone back in his pocket, frantically shaking his head.
Trio's recoiled as his panic started to rise. "What? What are you doing?! Just answer the damn phone!"
"Mm-mm." Speed muttered, still shaking his head. "You can explain this mess to her. I'm not doing it this time."
Trio's panic flickered into a shout. "Bro, STOP! You know the next thing she's gonna do is call m-"
Riiiinnnggg.
Trio's ringtone blared in his pocket—he slowly, deliberately pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID. It read:
"Ma 🖤🙃"
He instantly shot Speed an irritated look. Speed just stared back, snickering with his hand covering his mouth. The kind of snrk only an annoying little brother could pull off.
Trio groaned under his breath.
Rrrrmm little bastard.
He clicked answer, took a deep breath, slowly put the phone to his ear, and in an instant… his demeanor changed. His back straightened, tone lightened, he forced a fake smile before cordially answering the phone. "Hello, Mother. Beautiful morning today! I'm currently on my way to school and I am a little too busy to speak at the moment. However, I will definitely be sure to give you a call back as soon as I get the chan—"
"TRIO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"
Trio visibly cringed in place as his mom's voice boomed through the phone's speaker. She yelled so loud Speed couldn't miss it. He stood with his mouth open in amusement as his brother got torn into.
She continued; even without screaming her voice cut like a knife. "You think I'm stupid, young man? I see the fire. I see the ice. You two better not be using your powers to race to school again."
"IT WAS HIS IDEA MOM!!!" Speed yelled.
"SHUT UP." Trio shouted over the chaos. He pressed the phone back to his ear. "Mom, it's not what it—"
"I don't wanna hear it," Marie cut him off.
"This is you guys first day back and you're already dragging Speed into your mess. God, you promised you'd be better this year. I trusted you! The school is giving you one last chance to get your act straight. If you get expelled now it's all over. What are you going to do, then? You are 18 years old, sir. You need to start acting like an adult and—"
"Okay! Alright, alright, I get it."
He snapped, shoulders tensing.
He motioned behind him as if she could see him. "Look, just look down the street for a second, okay? You see all that traffic? We would've been stuck on that bus for hours. I didn't want… Speed… to be late on his first day."
"NOT TRUE!" Speed shouted.
Trio pressed a finger to his lips. "SHHHHH."
The edge from Marie's voice softened. Her tone grew lighter as she tried to reason with the young Hero. "Trio, listen… I know you're better than this. You're one of the strongest young men I've ever known, and you're smarter than you give yourself credit. But look at what you've become, some kind of thug? Just ask yourself… what would your father think of you right now?"
The world froze for half a second. Trio's heart dropped to his stomach. He clenched his fist, and just for a beat, his mind drifted away from him.
Then, just as quickly, he regained focus and flashed a cocky grin. "Hm, what can I say? I learned from the best…"
He looked ahead. The Hero Academy was just a few blocks down. "Aight, I gotta go, Mom. Speak again soon okay? Love you!"
"Nuh-uh, I'm not finished talking to you yet. You better not hang up this phone young ma—"
Click.
Trio grimaced as he hung up, face tightening like he'd just sealed his own fate. He boosted forward along the ice… as if trying his hardest to outrun the past.
Speed stared in disbelief. "…Did you just hang up on her? Oh you are so dead." He chuckled, still half in shock.
"Shut it." Trio barked. "If I were you I'd focus up… it'd be pretty sad if you of all people lost a race."
Trio pointed a finger gun at Speed's feet—
Fwsh—Fwsh
He fired two sharp bursts of ice, freezing Speed's feet to the ground and locking him in place. Trio shot ahead, leaving him in the dust.
"HEY! THAT'S CHEATING!" Speed blurted out.
Trio looked back with shrugged shoulders. "Rules are made to be broken, little man. See you at school, don't be late! Hahaaa."
He charged up, threw one arm out behind him, and BLASTED forward. Flames blazed in his trail as he narrowed his eyes at HEROVERSITY.
Its gold-lined gates pulsed with Source energy, opening to a courtyard alive with motion. Bursts of light, wind, and laughter colliding in the air. Students tested their powers in every corner: a girl hovering on a pink board, a boy leaving scorched footprints as he raced with his friends. The air buzzed with energy, uniforms flashing under the morning sun.
Students noticed Trio's rapid approach—Some pointed, a few cheered , others scrambled away in fear, a few students even pulled out their phones to record.
Trio shook his head with an unamused smirk.
Hm. Of course we'd have a dumbass audience today. Well that sucks for you Speed, because they're all about to witness you los—
In that moment his thoughts were cut off by a loud—VHOOM—a concussive pulse rippled through the air.
Trio looked down. His ice rail crackled, fractured, cracked… then SHATTERED from under his feet.
He was launched through the air and hit the ground face-first, stopping inches from the gate.
Students burst into gasps and laughter around the fallen Hero—pointing, cackling. Trio groaned, pushing himself to a knee while rubbing his temple. "Ahh, dammit. What the hell?"
Then—a voice sliced through the noise as a figure strolled past him, calm and unbothered. "Too slow, dickhead."
Trio looked up. Standing tall, arms crossed, and wearing the Hero Academy jacket with smug pride was last year's #1 rookie.
Shockwave.
His posture radiated arrogance, but there was a grounded edge to him. He wasn't just confident. He was proven.
He walked by and glanced over his shoulder with a sly grin.
"Looks like I win."