There were fifty-eight seconds left on the countdown when Kai Skyline became the most searched name on Earth.
By forty-seven seconds, every major news network had interrupted its regular programming.
By thirty-nine, three of the world's largest hero organizations had released statements denying any involvement with him.
By twenty-eight, the Hero Registry's public servers crashed.
And by twenty seconds, nobody cared who Kai Skyline was anymore.
They wanted to know if they were about to watch him die.
New York City
Times Square hadn't been this quiet in years.
Thousands of people stood beneath the glowing screens, packed shoulder to shoulder. Cars had stopped moving. Taxi drivers leaned against their doors. Restaurant workers had stepped outside. Police officers who were supposed to keep pedestrians moving had stopped trying.
Every screen showed the same thing.
A military aircraft cutting through a black storm.
LIVE: OPERATION SKYFALL
KAI SKYLINE VS. YGROS
00:18
A little boy sat on his father's shoulders near the center of the crowd.
"Is he a hero?"
His father didn't answer.
"Papa?"
"I don't know."
The boy stared up at the screen.
"But he's fighting the monster."
His father looked at him.
The answer should've been easy.
Heroes fought monsters.
That was what children were taught.
That was what the posters said.
That was what the academies advertised.
But everyone knew the truth was more complicated.
Heroes had ranks.
Contracts.
Agencies.
Sponsors.
Jurisdictions.
Insurance.
Mission requirements.
Risk evaluations.
And Ygros had apparently managed to terrify all of those systems at once.
The boy pointed toward the screen.
"So he's a hero."
His father looked back up.
"…Yeah."
The countdown reached ten.
Around them, conversations died.
00:09
00:08
00:07
Then the feed froze.
A collective groan swept through Times Square.
"What happened?"
"Did they lose connection?"
"Refresh it!"
"You can't refresh a billboard, idiot!"
The image returned.
But the countdown was gone.
Instead, white text appeared.
FIELD FEED ESTABLISHING
The crowd waited.
Thousands of strangers standing together.
Nobody knew what came next.
Paris, France
René Leclerc watched the broadcast from a nearly empty training hall.
His arms were crossed.
He had been standing in the same place for eleven minutes.
Beside him, Lucie Marceau sat on a training mat with one knee raised, a bottle of water forgotten beside her.
Neither had spoken since Kai Skyline appeared on-screen.
Lucie finally broke the silence.
"Seventeen."
René didn't look at her.
"Apparently."
"They're sending a seventeen-year-old."
"Apparently."
"Alone."
René sighed.
"Lucie."
"I'm just making sure we're both seeing the same stupid thing."
That earned the smallest smile from him.
The screen changed.
A map of the Northern Rockies appeared alongside the aircraft's projected route. A massive red circle covered the engagement zone.
Lucie's smile vanished.
She had fought monsters across Europe.
She'd seen A-ranks tear through armored vehicles.
She'd watched a single monster level three blocks of Marseille before anyone managed to bring it down.
And she had enough power herself to erase a city block if she stopped caring about what happened afterward.
But the evacuation zone around Ygros was larger than some countries.
"Would you have gone?" she asked.
René's expression didn't change.
"If they asked you?"
"That's not a useful question."
"That's why I'm asking it."
René finally looked at her.
"No."
Lucie blinked.
She hadn't expected that.
René turned back toward the screen.
"Not without information."
"You've fought S-ranks."
"Exactly."
His voice was quiet.
"Which is why I know the difference between bravery and volunteering to die."
Lucie stared at Kai's image.
"So he's an idiot."
"Maybe."
"Or?"
René narrowed his eyes.
"Or somebody told him something they haven't told us."
New York
The Flag-Bearers hadn't moved.
The black screen reflected nine faces back at them.
Benny hated waiting.
He'd always hated waiting.
Waiting meant thinking, and thinking meant his brain had time to find things he didn't want to think about.
Like the fact that someone their age was currently flying toward the monster they'd decided not to fight.
He knew they'd made the right decision.
He still hated it.
Paul broke the silence.
"So…"
Nobody answered.
"So are we gonna talk about how insane this is?"
Toma groaned.
"We've been talking about it for ten minutes."
"No. We've been saying the same five things for ten minutes."
Paul started counting on his fingers.
"Who is he? Government's crazy. He's gonna die. Beth can't find him. Threya's acting weird."
Threya looked at him.
"I'm not acting weird."
Paul immediately lowered his hand.
"Four things."
Kenya snorted.
Even Threya almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the field feed connected.
Nobody smiled anymore.
The first image wasn't Kai.
It was Ygros.
And for several seconds, nobody understood what they were looking at.
The creature stood between two mountains.
Not on them.
Between them.
Its armored body rose from the valley floor, partially obscured by snow and black mist. Six enormous arms hung at its sides. Jagged plates overlapped across its chest, shoulders, and neck like natural armor.
Its head was angled downward.
Motionless.
Waiting.
The camera struggled to focus.
Every few seconds, the image distorted around Ygros's body.
Kenya's fox appeared beside her without being summoned.
Its translucent paws touched the floor.
It stared at the screen.
Then it whimpered.
Kenya looked down.
"…I've never heard you make that sound."
The fox disappeared.
Paul swallowed.
"That's not creepy at all."
Beth moved closer to the screen.
"Look at the snow."
Frank squinted.
"What about it?"
"It's not falling near him."
Everyone looked.
She was right.
Snow whipped violently across the surrounding mountains.
But around Ygros itself, there was a strange empty space.
No snow.
No debris.
Nothing.
A nearly perfect circle of stillness surrounded the creature.
Toma frowned.
"Heat?"
"No thermal bloom," Beth said.
"Wind pressure?"
"The trees aren't bending away from him."
"Then what?"
Beth didn't answer.
Because she didn't know.
That bothered her.
She hated not knowing.
Emi stood.
She moved closer until she was only a few feet from the screen.
"Six arms."
Frank glanced toward her.
"We can count."
"That's not what I'm looking at."
Emi studied Ygros.
The arms weren't hanging randomly.
Three on either side.
The upper pair slightly forward.
Middle pair relaxed.
Lower pair close to the body.
Its legs were positioned unevenly, one slightly behind the other.
Balanced.
Deliberate.
Emi's eyes narrowed.
"That's a stance."
Benny looked at her.
"What?"
"He's standing in a combat stance."
Paul stared at the screen.
"You're telling me that thing knows martial arts?"
"I'm telling you it isn't standing like an animal."
That changed the room.
Frank stepped forward.
"Monsters fight on instinct."
"Most do."
"Even intelligent ones."
"Most do," Emi repeated.
Ygros moved.
Barely.
Its head lifted.
The camera distorted.
Then every electronic device in the conference room flickered.
Once.
The lights dimmed.
Beth's tablet shut off.
Paul's phone went black.
The broadcast vanished.
Then everything returned.
Nobody spoke.
Kenya slowly picked up her headphones.
"…Yeah."
She put them around her neck.
"I officially hate this thing."
Benny didn't hear her.
He was staring at Ygros.
Because for just a second, before the feed died…
It had looked directly into the camera.
United States Hero Command
President Evelyn Cross stood behind reinforced glass.
Thirty-two people occupied the command center below her.
Military analysts.
Ability specialists.
Monster researchers.
Communications officers.
Two generals.
Three representatives from the Hero Association.
And enough computer equipment to track a war.
Nobody was talking loudly.
Nobody needed to.
Numbers moved across hundreds of screens.
KAI SKYLINE
Heart rate: 118 BPM.
Body temperature: normal.
Blood oxygen: normal.
Ability output: minimal.
Stress response: elevated.
Another section monitored the aircraft.
Altitude.
Wind speed.
Engine stability.
Distance from deployment zone.
The largest display belonged to Ygros.
Evelyn stared at it.
A researcher raised his hand.
"Madam President."
"What?"
"We lost sensor package twelve."
"What happened?"
"Unknown."
"Thirteen?"
"Still active."
"Fourteen?"
A pause.
"…No signal."
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
"Those satellites aren't in the same orbit."
"I know."
"Then how are we losing them at the same time?"
The researcher didn't answer.
A general approached.
"Cross."
Evelyn didn't look away from Ygros.
"What?"
"We can still abort."
"No."
"Kai hasn't deployed."
"No."
"We're dealing with an unknown entity, and our observation network is failing before engagement. That's exactly when you abort."
Evelyn finally turned.
"And do what?"
The general stopped.
"Ygros crossed a continent."
"Which is why we regroup."
"It destroyed everything we put in front of it."
"We haven't put everything in front of it."
"No."
Evelyn's voice hardened.
"Because half the people capable of helping refused."
The general's jaw tightened.
"Can you blame them?"
Evelyn didn't answer immediately.
"No."
That surprised him.
She looked back at the screen.
"I don't blame anyone for being afraid of that."
Ygros remained motionless.
"But fear doesn't change the situation."
Another alarm sounded.
A technician raised his voice.
"Energy fluctuation around the target!"
"How large?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"The reading isn't increasing."
Evelyn looked down.
"Then what's fluctuating?"
The technician stared at his monitor.
"The baseline."
Silence.
One of the researchers walked over.
"That's impossible."
"I know."
"What does that mean?" the general asked.
The researcher hesitated.
"It means our equipment can't decide what normal is around Ygros."
Evelyn felt something cold settle in her stomach.
That was worse than a large number.
Numbers could be planned around.
This couldn't.
Her eyes moved toward Kai's vitals.
Heart rate: 121.
Still steady.
"How is he?"
"Scared," the medic said.
Evelyn looked at him.
"He should be."
The medic glanced at another reading.
"But controlled."
Evelyn stared at Kai's camera feed.
He stood inside the aircraft with one hand gripping the black weapon case.
Seventeen years old.
Technically.
She wondered whether years spent conscious inside ice should count.
Probably.
Some days, Kai seemed seventeen.
Other days, he looked at people like he'd aged decades while nobody was watching.
The general stepped beside her.
"Does he know?"
"Know what?"
"That we don't expect him to kill it."
Evelyn was silent.
The general looked at her.
"Evelyn."
"Our objective is information, civilian protection, and if possible, forcing Ygros away from population centers."
"That's not what I asked."
She finally met his eyes.
"Kai knows what he's facing."
"No, he doesn't."
The general pointed toward the screen.
"None of us do."
Evelyn looked back at Ygros.
For once, she couldn't argue.
Somewhere in Japan
An old television sat on a wooden table.
The room around it was dark.
Rain tapped softly against the windows.
On-screen, commentators argued over Kai Skyline's identity.
One claimed he was part of an experimental American hero program.
Another believed he was an unregistered ability-user.
A third suggested the name itself was fabricated.
A man sitting in the darkness ignored all of them.
He watched Kai's hands.
Then his shoulders.
Then the way Kai shifted his weight as the aircraft moved.
The man leaned forward.
A long sword rested against the wall beside him.
His hair had begun to gray at the temples, but his body still carried the shape of someone who had spent most of his life fighting.
The world knew him as Bladeon.
S-rank hero.
Master swordsman.
He didn't care what the government called the boy.
Names were easy to fake.
Movement wasn't.
The aircraft lurched.
Kai adjusted.
Bladeon's eyes narrowed.
Again.
The aircraft tilted.
Kai's left foot moved half an inch.
Bladeon reached for the remote.
Rewind.
He watched it again.
Then again.
A woman standing near the doorway sighed.
"You've replayed that six times."
"Seven."
"That makes it better?"
"No."
He paused the footage.
Kai's body was caught mid-adjustment.
Bladeon pointed toward the screen.
"He moved before the aircraft."
The woman stared.
"So?"
"The floor shifted here."
He rewound three frames.
"Kai shifted here."
She shrugged.
"Maybe he felt the turbulence."
"No."
Bladeon leaned closer.
"He read it."
"Read an airplane?"
"He read the pilot."
The woman stared at him.
Bladeon smiled faintly.
"Interesting."
"You know him?"
"No."
"Recognize the style?"
Bladeon didn't answer.
That was the problem.
There was no style.
Not one he could identify.
Kai moved like someone who understood balance at a level that should've required decades.
But there was something unfinished about him too.
His body was trained.
Strong.
Fast.
But his center of gravity wasn't perfect.
His shoulders carried unnecessary tension.
His right knee compensated slightly whenever the aircraft dropped.
A master trapped inside an incomplete body.
That shouldn't have been possible.
"Seventeen," Bladeon muttered.
The woman folded her arms.
"What?"
"Nothing."
The live feed changed to Ygros.
Bladeon stopped smiling.
He stared for several seconds.
Then he stood.
The woman straightened.
"What is it?"
Bladeon walked toward the television.
Ygros stood between the mountains.
Still.
Patient.
Six arms.
Bladeon studied the creature's posture.
His expression slowly changed.
"No."
"What?"
He moved closer.
"That's wrong."
"What is?"
"Everything."
The woman looked between him and the screen.
"You're going to need to be more specific."
Bladeon pointed toward Ygros.
"Look at its feet."
She did.
"What about them?"
"They're planted."
"So?"
"Its shoulders are loose. Knees slightly bent. Upper arms protecting the center line. Lower arms covering its sides."
The woman's face slowly lost color.
Bladeon whispered the conclusion.
"It's trained."
New York
Emi said the same thing at almost the exact same moment.
"It's trained."
The Flag-Bearers stared at her.
Toma shook his head.
"No. Monsters don't train."
Emi didn't look away.
"That one does."
"How can you possibly know that?"
"Because I've spent my entire life holding a weapon."
She pointed at Ygros.
"Look at it."
Frank did.
This time, really looked.
Not at the armor.
Not the size.
Not the claws.
The posture.
Suddenly he saw it too.
Ygros wasn't waiting like an animal.
It was waiting like a fighter.
Paul leaned forward.
"So what does that mean?"
Emi's grip tightened around her lance.
"It means whatever Kai thinks he's dropping down there to fight…"
She paused.
"…it's probably smarter than him."
Benny's stomach tightened.
The feed switched back to the aircraft.
Kai was standing near the deployment door.
The black case was beside him.
A soldier said something.
Kai answered.
The broadcast had no audio from inside the aircraft now, probably intentionally.
Threya watched him smile.
Just slightly.
Her chest tightened again.
She knew that smile.
No.
She didn't.
She couldn't.
She leaned forward.
"Zoom in."
Beth glanced at her.
"What?"
"The screen. Zoom in."
"We don't control the broadcast."
"Right."
Threya sat back.
Stupid.
Why was she acting like this?
Kai turned slightly.
The camera caught his profile.
Nothing.
She'd never seen him before.
But then he scratched the back of his neck.
Threya froze.
A memory surfaced before she could stop it.
Akio sitting beside her at the river.
Threya yelling at him because he'd forgotten something.
Akio scratching the back of his neck.
That stupid awkward smile.
Sorry?
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
No.
Lots of people did that.
Millions of people.
It meant nothing.
"Threya?"
She looked up.
Benny was watching her.
"What?"
"You sure you're okay?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Because you look like you've seen a ghost."
She looked back at the screen.
Maybe I have.
She didn't say it.
The Aircraft
The wind outside sounded hungry.
That was the only way I could describe it.
It screamed against the aircraft, dragging metal beneath metal until the whole cargo bay groaned around me.
The older soldier stood nearby.
"Thirty seconds."
I nodded.
"Still time to change your mind."
I looked at him.
"Seriously?"
"Had to ask."
"Would you?"
"Would I what?"
"Change your mind."
He thought about it.
"Absolutely."
I laughed.
Actually laughed.
That helped.
"Good to know."
"You're seventeen. You're allowed to make one intelligent decision."
"Already used it."
"When?"
"I didn't eat the eggs they served before takeoff."
He stared at me.
Then laughed too.
For about three seconds, I wasn't Kai Skyline.
I wasn't Akio Kita.
I wasn't the son of the number one hero.
I wasn't the kid from the museum.
I was just some idiot joking with a soldier because both of us were terrified.
Then the aircraft shook.
The laughter died.
The pressure returned.
Stronger now.
I could feel Ygros.
Not like sensing magic.
Not exactly.
It felt like walking into a room and realizing someone was already standing behind you.
Every nerve in my body knew something was there.
Something huge.
Something watching.
My hand tightened around the case.
"Twenty."
The rear door mechanisms unlocked.
Cold air screamed through the seams.
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, I saw Mom.
I hadn't meant to.
Her face just appeared.
That warm smile.
The way she'd look at me whenever I'd come home scraped up from doing something stupid.
I wondered what she was doing right now.
Was she watching?
Did she know Kai Skyline was me?
No.
Of course not.
At least, I hoped not.
Because if she was watching…
I suddenly hated this broadcast.
I imagined Benny watching too.
Probably calling me an idiot without realizing who he was insulting.
That made me smile.
Then Threya appeared in my thoughts.
The smile disappeared.
Don't.
Not now.
"Fifteen seconds!"
The soldiers secured themselves.
I lifted the weapon case.
The locks clicked beneath my fingers.
I didn't open it.
Not yet.
My heart was beating harder now.
I let it.
Fear wasn't the enemy.
Panic was.
That was something training had taught me.
Fear told you there was danger.
Panic convinced you there was nothing you could do about it.
I could do something.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
God, that wasn't convincing.
I walked toward the deployment line.
Red lights flashed above me.
TEN.
The rear door began opening.
The world outside appeared.
Black clouds.
White mountains.
Lightning.
For a second, it was beautiful.
Then I saw the valley.
My breath stopped.
Ygros stood below.
Even from this altitude, I could see it.
That was wrong.
Everything about it was wrong.
Its body looked almost carved into the landscape.
Six arms.
Dark armor.
A shape too large to be alive and too still to be natural.
Then its head moved.
Up.
Toward the aircraft.
Toward me.
My blood turned cold.
No.
There was no way.
We were kilometers away.
Behind clouds.
Inside a moving aircraft.
It couldn't see me.
Ygros looked directly at me.
And smiled.
My fingers tightened around the case.
"…What the hell?"
SEVEN.
The soldier behind me shouted.
"Skyline!"
I didn't answer.
Ygros hadn't moved again.
Maybe I imagined it.
Maybe creatures like that couldn't smile.
Maybe I was already losing my mind.
Then something touched the edge of my thoughts.
Not a voice.
Not words.
Recognition.
My stomach dropped.
For the first time since accepting this mission, one thought came through completely clear.
I shouldn't be here.
FIVE.
Too late.
I stepped closer to the edge.
Wind tore through my clothes.
The mountains waited below.
Ygros waited with them.
FOUR.
I adjusted my gloves.
THREE.
The case opened.
Cold spilled across the metal floor.
The soldiers behind me gasped.
Inside rested a sword.
Pale blue.
Beautiful.
Frost crawled slowly across its sheath.
The weapon felt different here.
Awake.
Like it could sense Ygros too.
I wrapped my fingers around the hilt.
Pain immediately shot through my palm.
Not enough to make me release it.
Enough to warn me.
Easy.
I understood the sword.
That didn't mean my body could handle everything inside it.
I'd learned that lesson already.
Apparently I was about to learn it again.
TWO.
I lifted the sword.
The storm outside flashed white.
For one impossible second, Ygros vanished from the valley.
I blinked.
There.
Still standing.
Still watching.
ONE.
The light turned green.
The soldier behind me shouted:
"GO!"
I stepped off the aircraft.
And fell into the storm.
United States Hero Command
"Kai has deployed!"
The command center erupted.
"Track him!"
"Camera two active!"
"Heart rate one-forty-six!"
"Wind speed ninety-three!"
"Ygros movement?"
"None!"
Evelyn stared at the screen.
Kai disappeared into the clouds.
For two seconds, he was completely invisible.
Then another camera caught him.
A tiny human figure falling through an endless black sky.
Below him waited the First Apocalypse.
The general beside Evelyn whispered:
"God help that kid."
Nobody corrected him.
New York
Benny stood without realizing it.
Threya did too.
The other Flag-Bearers watched Kai fall.
No parachute yet.
No visible flight ability.
Just a boy.
A sword.
And thousands of feet of empty air.
Paul's mouth opened.
"…He's insane."
"No."
Everyone looked toward Benny.
Benny didn't know why he'd said it.
He stared at the falling figure.
Something in his chest hurt.
Something old.
Familiar.
He watched Kai turn his body against the wind.
Watched the way he tucked one shoulder.
The way he kept his sword close instead of extending it.
The way his left hand opened when he adjusted his balance.
Benny had seen that before.
Years ago.
Somewhere.
His heart started beating faster.
"He's…"
Threya looked at him.
"What?"
Benny couldn't finish.
Because he didn't know.
He shook his head.
"Nothing."
On-screen, Kai disappeared beneath the clouds.
The cameras followed.
Ygros slowly unfolded its six arms.
Emi's face changed.
Beth noticed.
"What?"
Emi stepped closer to the screen.
"It knows."
"What does?"
"Ygros."
Emi's eyes narrowed.
"It knows he's coming."
The room fell silent.
Far below the clouds, Ygros raised its head.
And for the first time since emerging into the modern world…
the First Apocalypse moved to meet someone.
Not an army.
Not an S-rank hero.
Not the Flag-Bearers.
A seventeen-year-old boy with a sword.
The world watched.
And Ygros waited.