"Dude, how far did you fly us?!" William asked, sipping his slushy.
"Honestly, it's like 1am—we've been walking for hours," Mason groaned, taking a bite of his protein bar.
"I can't control how fast I fly, okay?" Kite replied. "I just do the action; how it happens isn't up to me... yet."
William sighed. "Yeah, yeah..." He paused. "So who's Ai? You still didn't explain that."
Kite pulled out his phone and checked the GPS. "He's like my personal assistant or something like that."
William nodded and took another sip.
"We're still about a kilometer from the motel," Kite added, slipping his phone back into his pocket. There was a brief moment of silence before someone spoke up.
"Yo, Kite?"
"What's up, Mason?"
Mason crumpled his wrapper and stuffed it into his pocket. "Why do you think those guys wanted your stone?"
Kite shrugged. "Beats me... maybe they knew about its power or something."
William's eyes widened. "Dudee, what if they got the info from someone else?"
Kite glanced over his shoulder. "Like someone gave them intel?"
William nodded. "Makes sense, right? I mean, how else would they know about some magical space stone?"
Kite's frown deepened. "But that means someone already knew about it. And personally if I knew about a stone that gave me superpowers, I wouldn't give that info to someone else."
Mason clutched his head. "Man, this is hurting my brain!"
William finished his slushy and tossed it in a nearby bin. "Swish," he said before continuing, "Yeah, mine too," he sighed. "I just wanna sleep."
After a few more minutes of walking, they reached the motel.
"Are those police lights?" William asked as they walked into the lot of the motel.
"Yeah, it is," Kite confirmed, turning to face them. "No word about the whole flying thing—we can't have anyone know what happened."
William nodded, but Mason asked, "Can't the police help us though? Like, track down the supervillain?"
Kite sighed. "No. What are we gonna say? 'Oh, we were just trespassing on the mountain when—'" He cut himself off. "No, that's stupid!"
Mason raised his hands. "Geez, my bad for asking."
Kite exhaled and turned back toward the motel. The other two followed, and as they neared their rooms, they saw police taping up the mountain entrance and questioning some of the people still awake.
Kite and William made it to their room, with Mason going to his own room. Kite unlocked the door, and stepped inside.
William flopped onto his bed. "Never in my life have I missed a motel bed more than now."
Kite laid down on his own bed and pulled out his phone. He noticed several notifications in his archived chats.
He first checked the class group chat. Mr. Carson had sent a message: they wouldn't be going back to the mountain tomorrow. Instead, they'd be visiting a planetarium.
Next, he checked another chat—Ava had texted: "Where are you?"
Kite sighed and replied, "Me and William were out doing 'guy' stuff."
Almost instantly, Ava responded, "Oh, well I was kind worried cause your room was empty." she said replying with a sad emoji.
"Yeah, we were just exploring, y'know. I wanted to get a scope of the town," he replied.
After a bit of back and forth, Ava eventually said goodnight, leaving Kite alone. With nothing better to do, he scrolled through Mindsphere, a social media app.
After a few minutes of mindless scrolling and chuckling at memes, a video caught his eye. It featured the red superhero William had shown him on the bus—but this video was different. It showed the masked hero saving a bullet train from derailing after an explosion took out part of the elevated track.
He watched the hero stop the train, then saw a brief interview with reporters. But what really caught Kite's attention was the suit.
"That suit…" His eyes widened at a clearer frame.
It was a sleek red and black suit—more high-tech than his—with a black helmet and a screen that displayed expressive eyes.
"That's my suit... just different colors," he muttered.
The post's caption read: "Superhero Code Red saves the train."
Kite squinted. "Code Red, huh?"
Suddenly, the stone around his neck began to hum and glow faintly.
"Oh, so now you wanna recharge?!" he exclaimed, sitting up and glancing around. William was already asleep.
He looked back at the necklace. "C'mon out Ai!"
No response.
"I know you can hear me so just—"
The stone glowed brighter.
"Kite Connors, at last we meet…"
Kite flinched, startled by the deep, ethereal voice. He looked around before focusing on the stone.
"That's the same voice I heard on the mountain... and in my dream."
The stone lit up again.
"Yes. I have been calling you."
Kite took off the necklace, letting it float.
"Who are you? What are you? And what the hell's been happening?!"
The room fell silent.
"I am Pulsar, creator of the Quasar Stone you found."
Kite pointed at it. "You mean this space rock?"
"Indeed."
"Okay, that answers two questions—you've got one left."
"As for what happened, it should be obvious."
Kite scoffed. "Yeah, it's so obvious."
"You found one of my stones—or rather, it found you." There was a pause. "Kite, you have been chosen to be a Paladin of Pulsar and the next Knight of Nexus, by the Nexus Stone."
Kite rubbed his temple. "I thought it was a Quasar Stone?"
"It is. But it holds the power of my Paladin, Nexus, hence the name."
Kite nodded slowly. "And why me? What grand purpose do I have?"
"Nexus chose you because you are worthy—because it needs a wielder."
Kite frowned. "And why does it need one? Saying I'm worthy doesn't explain anything!"
"All will be revealed in due time."
Silence fell over the room, only Kite and Williams breathing filled the room with sound.
Kite glanced at the glowing stone, then at his phone. He reopened the post about the red hero.
"Last seen in Cygnus City, huh?" he murmured, checking the GPS. "27 km away..."
He slid his phone into his pocket, grabbed the Nexus Stone out of the air, his Paladin suit formed instantly around him with a blue glow.
He walked to his duffel bag and pulled out a black hoodie, slipping it on over the suit before stepping outside.
Most of the police had left, except for a few who had been stationed nearby.
Kite quietly exited his room making sure his jacket covered the top half of his suit, as he headed for the sidewalk.
"No better place, I guess," he muttered, taking a running start, before launching himself into the air.
Kite flew up into the sky until he was a respectable distance above the ground. Then he began flying in the direction of Cygnus City
After a few minutes of quiet flying, Kite spoke up. "Ai, you there?"
The inside of his helmet lit up faintly. "I'm here. "
"What's up with the whole Paladin of Pulsar thing?"
Ai remained silent.
"You're my assistant, right? You're supposed to relay info. So... tell me."
Ai paused, then said, "I can't tell you much more than you already know. Orders from the big man."
Kite scowled beneath the mask. "Much more? So you can tell me a bit more, right?"
"Yes." Ai replied
His helmet's digital eyes narrowed. "Tell me everything."
"You are a Paladin of Pulsar, as you were told." Ai began calmly. "The Paladins were a group created by Pulsar to protect and fight evil. Long ago, some were corrupted."
"Corrupted? How?" Kite asked.
A small pixel animation appeared on the helmet screen.
"An evil force corrupted them. The Quasar Stones scattered after its defeat, however the corrupted ones remained that way."
Ai paused once more, "Now new Paladins are being chosen. Which means something is coming."
"Like what?"
A chibi version of Kite's suit shrugged on-screen.
Kite sighed—clearly he'd hit a redacted boundary.
After a while, he reached Cygnus City. He slowed and landed on a skyscraper, overlooking the bustling city below.
It was a stark contrast to Laurel Creek's calm suburban and almost naturey like feel. Cygnus City however had bright neon signs lit up the streets in all different colours. They were also packed with people and cars. And a monorail track for the bullet trains hovered over some roads.
As he stood on top of the skyscraper taking in the scene below him, something happened. Two SUV'S turned the corner sharply speeding into his view as police vehicles chased after them.
"There's more to this suit than flying, right, Ai?"
"Sure is!" Ai responding
Kite nodded as he walked forward, stopping when he reached the ledge. He stood on the ledge, then turned around before taking a deep breath. He let himself go and fell backwards off the building. His jacket flapped in the wind as he plummeted.
People on the streets gasped as they began to notice someone falling off the building, some even filming.
Just before hitting the ground, Kite flipped midair and began flying, leaving behind a blue trail of light. Cheers erupted through the streets as he flew after the SUV's.
Kite flew towards the police car and began flying next to it, and as did he gestured for them to roll down a window.
"Evenin' officers!"
"Who the hell are you?! Are you that Code Red guy?!"
Kite frowned; the suit mirrored his expression.
"Uhhh, it's complicated." He said, "So what'd they do?" he asked, pointing ahead at the SUV's.
"They stole gadgets from NovaTech Industries."
"Oooo, big boy stuff! Got it!"
He flew past the officers, dodging traffic as he made his way towards the SUV's.
"So Ai, show me what this suit can do!"
Ai showcased a small display of the suit's capabilities, by displaying a pixel animation for Kite to follow.
Kite ascended a few more meters into the sky and pointed his left arm at one SUV. His fist glowed brightly and a blue beam shot out, lifting the car as if gravity had vanished. The robbers screamed inside.
He did the same to the second vehicle. The police cars skidded to a halt as they saw both SUV's in the air.
Kite zoomed over, and removed the lug nuts from the wheels at blinding speeds, and pulled off the tires, so that once he put the cars back down, they could not escape. Once the cars were grounded, the cops arrested the thieves and recovered the stolen tech.
Just then, a white van pulled up with "Lumina News Network" on the side.
The back doors burst open. Out stepped a blonde man in what seemed to be a work tracksuit holding a big camera. And after him a stunning woman with long black hair and hazel coloured eyes in a beige blazer.
"Blake, you better get these shots right or so help me—" but she stopped herself before she could finish her own sentence.
"Yes, Sam," Blake sighed.
Kite's eyes widened as he saw who it was. "Oh my GOSH! That's Samantha Grant!! I'm gonna faint!" he thought while trying to contain his excitement.
Sam fixed her hair and blazer before standing next to Kite, "Going live in three, two, one."
"Good evening, I'm Samantha Grant from LNN, reporting live from Cygnus City after an attempted getaway following a break-in at NovaTech Industries." She turned to Kite. "I'm standing with the superhero who helped stop the criminals. Can you tell us what you saw?"
Kite froze. "I was uhhh, I was just in the area...and saw them speeding from the police...so y'know I decided to step in." Kite said, fumbling over his words.
Sam smiled and turned to the camera. "A truly courageous act. And what's your name? We haven't seen you before."
Kite smirked under the helmet; the digital eyes mirrored the look.
"Y'know, I haven't exactly thought of one." He paused, eyes glowing with confidence.
"Though, I guess you can call me… Pulsar Knight!"