“I’m going out for a run, Claire.” I said as I walked past her sitting on the couch. 

“Kay! Stay safe, kiddo!” she cheered as I slipped on my shoes and left. 

About a week had passed since I landed in Canada. The initial buzz about Claire’s potential son quickly died down, likely purposefully suppressed. I hadn’t seen anything on the news about it, nor had anyone recognized me since then, so that was my best guess. 

I jogged through the neighborhood down to the beach in order to hop on the bus. I couldn’t admit it to Claire whenever she asked, but I secretly missed New York. Vancouver was nice, but the freshness of the air and the natural scenery felt like something I didn’t deserve. I wasn’t comfortable unless I was surrounded by concrete. The familiarity of the city centers in Vancouver relieved some of the homesickness that plagued me.

I found myself jogging through the city, past the mall and through downtown until I reached Canada Place. The salty smell of the ocean filled my nose as I leaned against the guardrail, sighing. No matter what I did to kill time, my mind would always wander back to those same negative thoughts. It certainly didn’t help that it felt like something was physically weighing down on my heart, making every breath feel like a labor. 

“Mommy, that boy is crying.” A little girl tugged on her mom’s blouse, pointing at me. 

I blushed from head to toe, quickly wiping my eyes with my sleeve. They were completely dry, which I wasn’t sure if I should have been happy about. Before I could collect myself, a massive horn blared in the distance. It was a horrible, guttural sound that roused a primal fear in me, which meant that it served its purpose. It was a sound I only vaguely remember hearing once when I was young: the Monster Alert System. 

The horn of the monster alert system meant that the detected monster was at least Category 4, maybe even Category 5, or even worse, a Named Monster. I thought back to what I learned at the academy. I was never particularly interested in monster studies, but I knew every aspiring hero needed to at least know the basics. 

Monsters were grouped into five categories based on their size. A Category 1 monster was relatively harmless, only being up to 3 meters tall. They were only dangerous when part of a pack or a swarm, otherwise the average person with a little self-defense training would be able to take one down with their gift. It wouldn’t be uncommon to see at least one every day, while swarm attacks happened maybe once a month.

Category 2 and 3 monsters, however, were more dangerous. They grew up to 10 and 30 meters respectively and would cause much more destruction. Apparently, Category 3 monsters would also occasionally have fire-breathing capabilities. According to my teachers, they would appear twice a week or once a month for Category 3s.

Finally, the threat I was hoping would emerge was a Category 4 monster, otherwise it would be a Category 5 one or worse, a Named Monster. Category 4 monsters were usually accompanied by a few Category 3 monsters or Category 1 and 2 swarms and they could grow up to 100 meters, although anything bigger would be considered a Category 5. 

“Please, please don’t be a Category 5,” I prayed as I sprinted towards the city, away from the water. My hopes weren’t high, however, because I suddenly remembered that monsters that emerged from the sea were usually massive, especially on the West Coast. 

“Attention. Help is on the way. Please remain calm, heroes have already been deployed. The detected threat is a Category U sea monster with a windstorm gift. Do not seek shelter above ground. I repeat, do not seek shelter above ground.” 

Great. That was just my luck, wasn’t it? Out of the three categories that it could have been, it just had to be the worst of the three options. It was a Named Monster, or Unique Monster, depending on how fancy you wanted to be. That meant that it was in the same group as the legendary monsters cemented in history, Fenrir and Jormungandr. I laughed scornfully. Even creatures that weren’t human had gifts.

I slipped my phone out of my pocket, struggling to unlock it as I continued sprinting. My heart pounded with a combination of fear and exhaustion as I called Claire. 

“Atty?” Claire said. “Why’re you calling? Did ya need something?” 

I tried to explain what was going on, but my voice refused to work. All of the words I wanted to say got trapped against each other in my throat. All I managed to squeak out was a few terrified voice cracks. I didn’t understand why I was so terrified. It wasn’t the first time I had been in a monster attack. In fact, I had participated in a few evacuation operations back at the Academy. 

“Aunt. Help.” 

Claire was silent for a moment. “Got it,” was all she said before she hung up.

A deafening roar came from behind me, along with blaring car alarms and the sound of explosions. The force of the roar was enough to physically knock me off balance, causing me to skid across the pavement. 

My breath quickened and my chest tightened.

Do not look back, Atlas. Whatever you do, do not look back.

“Mommy! Get up, get up!” the crying voice of a child screamed. 

Despite every cell in my body screaming at me to not look back, to get up and keep running, the weight pulling on my heart told me that I would regret it forever if I didn’t turn around. Suddenly rejuvenated, I turned around and sprinted towards the girl’s voice, frantically looking around to find her. 

My eyes first settled on the massive Godzilla-looking creature that was beginning to make its way onto land, grabbing onto the roof of the Canada Place building and tearing it down. I froze in fear once again before being dragged back to reality by something in my chest telling me to find the girl. 

She was kneeled next to her mom, who was buried under a few large chunks of concrete. Her legs were definitely crushed, but she was still conscious. With gritted teeth and blood dripping down her face, she assured her daughter that everything was going to be fine. 

A sense of deja vu suddenly washed over me. This was too similar to the scene I watched play out in my dreams over and over again. My worst nightmare was taking its place in reality. A person buried under rubble, begging for someone to help their loved one. I knew that if I let either one of them die, I would never be able to live with myself.

I quickly grabbed a rod of metal lying in the street, using it as a lever to lift one of the bigger pieces of concrete off her legs. The woman shrieked in pain, keeping her mouth shut as if she didn’t want her daughter to hear. A massive footstep resonated through the earth. The monster was approaching. 

“Take my daughter and run!” the woman pleaded.

“Mommy, no!” the girl protested. 

“I won’t leave you.” 

I worked as fast as I could, straining myself until I managed to shift every last piece to somewhere she could crawl out from under. The woman used her arms to claw her way out, but another problem arose. Her legs were broken. 

“Go!” she pleaded, her voice breaking. 

I ignored her, hoisting her over my shoulder with a grunt. At this point, a few evacuation and rescue heroes had arrived, but we were far too close to the monster for them to consider approaching us. Instead, they shouted instructions at me to run towards them as fast as I could. I wasn’t sure if it was the fear-fueled adrenaline, but with every command they yelled, I just grew angrier and angrier. What did they think I was trying to do? Walk at a leisurely pace? I was definitely stronger than the average twelve year old, but I wasn’t about to sprint full speed while carrying an adult woman on my shoulder, much less holding the hand of a child as well.

“Atlas!” Claire exclaimed as she landed in front of me.

“Oh, thank god you’re here, Claire.” I sighed as I tried to pass the woman onto her. “Help me get these two to safety.”

“Absolutely not, Atlas. I’m here for you. Drop her and let’s go!”

“What? No! I’m not leaving them!”

“Yes you are, Atlas! I’m not a hero anymore. You’re my priority! Drop them and let me get you to safety, then you can worry about other people! Now!” Claire’s expression was fierce. 

Wind howled around us as the monster approached. The sky was completely covered in storm clouds now, and vortexes of freezing air swirled everywhere. Buildings had their roofs violently stolen from them, joining the cyclones of debris forming in the air. The monster was above us now, and it had spotted us. 

“Take them and go or else I’m not moving!”

I unloaded the woman off my shoulder and thrusted her into Claire’s arms, shoving her backwards. Claire caught her reflexively. I all but threw the little girl at her as well, screaming at her to go. Claire pursed her lips before glaring at me and flying the pair to safety. Before she took off, she left two of her feathers with me. 

“I’m only doing this because there’s no time to argue,” she said. “Do not die.”

The creature roared, bringing down its foot. I dived out of the way, rolling into a somersault to minimize the impact. The only thing I could do now was sprint and pray that I survived. 

“It’s Novaflare!” I heard someone cry out. “We’re saved!” 

Above me, the bright figure of the fire hero flashed blue as he rammed into the monster’s neck, pushing it back. He flew around the creature, blasting it with blue flames as it snarled in frustration. Its focus was no longer on me. I was safe. 

“Get everyone out of here!” Novaflare screamed to the evacuation heroes. 

A hero with a portal gift opened three pink portals for people to run through. Thousands of people stampeded through the portals, which were each only a few meters in diameter. Among the other heroes, a few of them were forming groups to escort larger groups of people, while others were carrying individuals away from the scene. 

When I saw the crowds of people under the protection of the heroes, the tension I was carrying released all at once. I collapsed to my knees, my legs turning into jelly. The only thing I could hear was the pounding of my heart and my heavy breathing and the vague sound of someone calling my name. 

“Atlas!” Claire’s voice snapped me out of my trance. “Run!”

She was flying at me with her hand outstretched, as if I was in immediate danger. But that wasn’t possible. Novaflare, the globally ranked number two hero, was fighting the creature off. I was sure I was safe. 

She grabbed my collar as she rocketed past me, pulling me out of the way of being crushed. The creature roared in indignance as it indiscriminately fired more wind blasts. Novaflare cursed as he attempted to torch the monster, using both of his hands to create a larger beam of concentrated fire. 

“That monster is targeting you, Atlas. I saw it searching for you, before locking onto you. I’m taking you out of here. We’ll talk about that stupid stunt you pulled after.” Claire hissed. 

“Why hasn’t Novaflare torched it already? What do you mean it’s after me?” I screamed.

“Novaflare can’t use his full power when there are people nearby.”

A massive winged figure hovered above the two of us, illuminated by the brilliance of Novaflare’s fire. 

“Hey Atlas,” Father said. “How’s Canada treating you?”