"Well, well, well... look what the cat dragged in!"
William spun around quickly, only to roll his eyes when he saw who it was.
"Mason… bro, what are you doing here?"
Mason grinned widely. "I Could ask you the same thing."
William smirked. "But unlike you, it's not past my bedtime yet."
Mason's smile faded. "Damn..." he muttered, eyes dropping to the ground as he thought of a comeback.
"Umm, Mason…" William's voice cut through his thoughts.
Mason looked up to see William slowly raising his hands.
"What's wrong with you? You look like you just saw a ghost."
Just then, Mason felt something cold press against the back of his head.
"Turn around slowly."
He obeyed the voice, heart pounding. As he turned, he was met with the sight of a middle aged man—short black hair, dark brown eyes, in a trench coat, cigarette in mouth, aiming a giant silver gauntlet directly at him.
"I ain't a ghost, but I can still spook ya," the man said, exhaling smoke.
"You kids are gonna come with me. And don't try anything funny—I don't wanna walk away with blood on my hands," he added as the gauntlet crackled to life, surging with electricity.
Mason and William swallowed hard and nodded. Without a word, they followed the man.
The silence between them stretched until they reached a clearing where several black SUVs were parked. Around them stood multiple people fully geared in stealth armor.
"Mr Mayor, I found some kids on the mountain," the man said in a deep voice, dropping his cigarette to the ground and grinding it out with his boot.
A short man in a black suit stepped out of one of the SUVs.
"I told you to find the stone, Legion, NOT some kids!" Mr Mayor snapped as he strode over.
"You should be thanking me. What if one of these kids had found your precious stone? Then what?" Legion replied coolly.
Mr Mayor went silent, then sighed. "Thank you, Legion…"
He turned to face Mason and William.
"And you two are?"
"I'm Jim, and this is Paul," William said quickly, not about to give up their real names and identities.
"Very generic names. Your parents weren't very unique," Mr Mayor replied dryly.
"So, Jim, what are you doing here on Mt. Laurel? I'm sure you've been told it's off limits."
William nodded. "Yeah, we're here on a school trip, but we decided to sneak up here, y'know, scope the scenery."
Mr Mayor nodded slowly, watching them closely.
"I suppose you two haven't seen an odd-looking stone?"
They both shook their heads.
Mr Mayor sighed. "Search them—but don't harm them. And continue the search for the stone!"
Kite opened his eyes and found himself floating in mid-air, just above the ground.
"Woah!?" he exclaimed, his voice shaky from heavy breathing.
Slowly, he pivoted into an upright position.
"I'm actually floating!?" he said again, utterly awestruck.
Then, he felt a jarring sensation. Looking around in confusion, he spotted a puddle nearby and gently floated over to it.
"Woah…" Kite murmured as he gazed at his reflection.
He was wearing a "superhero"–esque suit. The color scheme was black with highlights of blue and white. On his head rested what looked like a high-tech helmet, complete with a screen interface that displayed a pair of digital eyes.
"That's… cool, I guess…" he said slowly.
"Yeah, pretty neat, right!?" a voice suddenly replied.
Kite's eyes widened. His suit had just spoken back—its interface now showing a digital mouth moving in sync with the words.
Startled, he involuntarily shot backward, faster than he anticipated, slamming into the side of a mountain.
"Oof! That must've hurt?!" the voice commented.
Kite quickly regained his composure, shaking off the shock.
"What?! How?!" he began, but the voice cut him off mid-sentence.
"Calm down, your heart rate is rising!" it said, displaying a pixelated animation of a beating heart on the helmet's screen.
"Of course my heart is racing!" Kite snapped. "Not like I just fell off a frickin' mountain after some stone pushed me off! Use your brain—or whatever you use to think with!"
He breathed heavily, the reality of the situation sinking in.
"That can all be explained if you just let me talk," the voice responded calmly.
Kite scoffed, then sighed. "Fine. Talk."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the interface lit up and a chibi version of the suit appeared on the screen.
"Hehehe, welcome human! I am Ai, pronounced like eye!" the voice said cheerfully. "I am your 'assistant'. My main role is to help you fit into your role as a Paladin of Pulsar!"
"A what?!" Kite blurted out, but before Ai could elaborate, a rustling sound came from a nearby bush.
Two teens emerged—clearly in the middle of making out. They froze the moment they spotted Kite, hovering there in his futuristic suit.
"Uhhhh… hi?" he said, giving an awkward wave.
The girl screamed, and the guy grabbed a rock, hurling it at Kite. It struck his helmet with a soft clink, doing little more than getting his attention.
"Hey! What was that for!??" Kite shouted.
The guy reached for a larger rock.
"I suggest we fly away before he throws us again," Ai said calmly.
"How do I do that?" Kite asked under his breath.
"Just push off the air, and everything else will happen," Ai explained, displaying a visual demo on the screen.
Kite gave a quick nod, then glanced back at the couple.
"Uhhh… if you're gonna do what I think you're gonna do… at least use protection!" he called out, then launched into the sky at incredible speed, leaving behind a trail of blue light.
"Woohoo!" he shouted, soaring higher and higher until he broke through the cloud line.
Above the clouds, he finally stopped and hovered.
"Man, that was… AWESOME!!" he exclaimed between breaths.
"Sure is! And that's just the basics!" Ai replied.
Kite smirked under the helmet. "Can this thing go faster?"
Ava sat on her bed, playing a game on her phone, when someone began knocking frantically on her door.
"AVA! You gotta come outside and see!!"
Still focused on her screen, Ava replied without looking up. "I'll be out in a sec!" she shouted back.
"No! Like, you gotta see this right now!"
Ava sighed, pausing her game. She got up reluctantly and made her way to the door. "This better be worth it…" she muttered as her voice trailed off. Then she opened the door—and froze.
There, painted across the sky, was a bright blue 2D "drawing" of Saturn. It looked like something from a drone exhibition—rough, but mesmerizing. The brilliant image bathed the sky in a vibrant blue light.
"Woah…" she whispered, stunned.
People began pouring out of their rooms, phones in hand, recording the phenomenon.
"How'd that even get there?!"
Then, something even stranger happened. A figure—human-like—was flying close to the drawing, trailing a stream of blue light.
"GUYS, I CAN SEE THEM!"
Everyone turned toward the voice. A girl was pointing her phone at the sky, recording. In seconds, a crowd gathered around her screen.
"No way…"
The footage was blurry, but just clear enough to show the silhouette of someone in a suit, soaring through the air. The crowd erupted in chaos. Ava didn't wait—she ran over to Kite and William's room and banged on the door, urging them to come outside.
But no response.
Then, screams from the kids grew louder as the figure in the sky began flying closer to the motel. Phones went up again, everyone recording as the glowing person streaked toward them at blinding speeds.
In an instant, the figure zoomed past overhead, leaving everyone spinning around to catch a glimpse. They watched in awe as the figure soared over the motel and toward the mountain.
Suddenly, a blinding beam of light shot up from the mountain, nearly striking the figure. Mid-air, Kite halted, scanning for the source of the blast.
A bright white glow pulsed on the mountainside, growing stronger.
"Gotcha!"
Kite dashed toward the growing light.
"Hurry up, Legion! He's approaching fast!" Mr. Mayor yelled.
But before Legion could act, Kite appeared in front of him, grabbed his gauntlet, and hurled him several meters away.
"Nice light show, but it's illegal to point lasers in the sky, y'know."
Kite's eyes scanned the crowd, eventually locking onto William and Mason. He hovered in place, until suddenly, several people in the crowd drew weapons and began firing.
Kite ducked, landed swiftly, then dashed to his friends. He grabbed them both by the arms and launched back into the air, escaping the chaos behind them.
After flying for a while, they touched down in what looked like a rural, farm-like area. Kite set William and Mason down before landing himself. As his feet hit the ground, the suit disintegrated into particles of light, revealing his normal, casual clothes. The stone—now a necklace—hung around his neck.
William stood, jaw dropped, while Mason patted himself down, making sure he was unharmed.
Kite smiled. "Nice weather, huh?"
William slowly shut his mouth. "Did you just…"
Kite nodded before William could finish.
"NO WAY?!" William began jumping up and down. "Dude!"
Kite joined in, bouncing with excitement. "Yep! I got superpowers!"
William nearly fainted. "Dudeeee! What kind of superpowers? I mean, I already saw you fly!"
Kite stopped jumping, tapping his chin. "I actually don't know. Besides super speed and strength, I didn't really have time to test it out, y'know…"
William exhaled like a huge weight had been lifted. "Great thing you can fly—because if you couldn't, you probably would've been stuck on that cliff for A WHILE!"
They both fell silent.
"Only 'cause like me and Mason were like hostages. I wouldn't just leave you like that for no reason…" Kite nodded slowly as William's voice trailed off.
"Hey, I hate to break the reunion but… WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!" Mason snapped.
"First, I get held hostage by some freak with a superpowered gauntlet, and then this freak—" He pointed at Kite, then sighed and dropped his hand, plopping down on the grass. "Listen, I'd love to explain what's going on, but I don't even fully know myself."
William and Mason both stared at him.
"What do you mean, 'You don't know'?" William asked.
"Listen. When I was on the ledge, the stone 'bonded' with me, or whatever Ai told me—"
"Who's Ai?" Mason interrupted.
Kite shot him a glare that said shut up, and Mason quickly obeyed.
"So, the stone bonded with me. Then I flew into the sky, and before Ai could tell me anything about the Paladins of Pulsar—because apparently I'm a Paladin of Pulsar—I got sidetracked and made a drawing of Saturn in the sky," Kite rambled.
"Oh yeah," William said. "That's when Legion tried shooting you outta the sky."
Kite froze. "That was Legion?!"
William shrugged. "Yeah. Just some random guy if you ask me."
Kite rolled his eyes. "Remind me to never ask you anything again. Dude, that's Legion. He's like a supervillain that Shockwave fought!"
William shrugged again. "Sounds like a bum. Matter of fact, he was a bum."
Kite and William turned to Mason, who now had his hands on his head.
"Dude, what's up with you?!" William asked.
Mason looked at him like he'd just asked the dumbest question on Earth. "That's a dumb question, but… how are we gonna get back to the motel?"
Kite tilted his head to the sky and sighed. "What's up with you now?! You can just fly us back there… right?"
Kite scratched his head. "I've been informed that the suit has a cooldown."
William facepalmed. "And how did you come to that conclusion?"
Kite tapped his temple. "Voices in my head…"
William nodded slowly. "Yeah. My friend is officially a nut job."
Kite rolled his eyes and walked over to Mason, who looked completely defeated.
"C'mon guys. I know I'm not exactly the most hopeful person, but it'll be 'fine.' We'll just walk to the motel," Kite said as he helped Mason to his feet and turned to walk away.
"Do you even know the way back?" Mason asked, brushing himself off.
"Not at all," Kite replied as he kept walking.
William patted him on the back, jogging after him. Mason followed behind.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I can buy you something to eat at the 24 Hour Mart?"