“Toma, wake-up call!”

The voice came out of nowhere like a siren in his skull.

“What the heck?! Where am I?! Who's yelling in my ear?!”

Arlen’s sleepy face peeked into view. “It was Inspector Carter—he just woke me up.”

“Good morning, Toma!” came Carter’s cheery voice.

Toma blinked at both of them, still half-dreaming. “Arlen? Inspector Carter? What are you doing in my room this early in the morning?”

“He has a spare key to all our rooms. Woke me up too.”

Toma sat bolt upright. “What? You too?! But it’s still pitch black outside—what time even is it?”

“It’s five in the morning.”

“WHAT?! Why the hell are you breaking into my room and waking me up at 5 a.m.?!”

“To start training on time,” Carter said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Now get cleaned up—I’ll handle breakfast!”

Toma groaned but dragged himself toward the bathroom.

***

Fifteen minutes later, he emerged, hair damp and eyes still adjusting to the light.

“Finally!” Carter waved him over. “Breakfast is ready!”

Toma’s stomach growled in betrayal. “I’m coming, I’m starving.”

He sat down and stared into the bowl placed in front of him. “What... is this gray goo? It doesn’t look very appealing…”

“Don’t judge food by its appearance—it can still be delicious!” Carter chimed in.

“But seriously, what is it?”

“Mostly bananas, eggs, and protein powder.”

“I don’t even own any protein powder.”

“I brought it,” Carter grinned. “Made the whole thing myself.”

“You ate this too, Arlen?”

“Yeah,” Arlen shrugged. “It’s actually good. Just try at least one spoonful.”

Toma sighed, closed his eyes, and took the plunge.

A moment later, his eyes shot open. “Whoa—Inspector Carter, this is really good!”

“Exactly! But don't eat it too quickly,” Carter laughed. 

“It’s great! It’s heavenly!”

“You already finished it?” Arlen blinked.

***

Once breakfast was demolished, they headed out. Down the elevator, through the lobby, and out onto the quiet city streets.

“Your task is simple,” Carter announced. “Keep up with me. But I’ll be speeding up as we go.”

Without another word, he jumped onto the roof of a house and took off like a bullet, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Toma’s eyes widened. “He’s jumping like some rooftop ninja—how high can he leap?!”

“Let’s go!” Arlen said, and they took off after him.

They raced behind him, chasing his silhouette across the rooftops.

“We’re doing pretty well, huh?” Toma called out. “I think we can handle this!”

“Time to speed things up,” came Carter’s voice from above.

And suddenly, he ran straight up the side of a nearby skyscraper.

Both boys stopped dead in their tracks.

“WHAT THE HELL?! He just ran up a 200-meter building?!”

Toma panicked. “How the hell are we supposed to follow that?!”

“Use your Blue Nova energy!” Arlen shouted, already backing up. “Put your hands behind you and blast upward! I’ll use my fire too!”

Toma swallowed his fear. “Alright. Let’s do this!”

Blue light flared from his palms as he rocketed upward.

Shit—this is so high! Don’t fall, don’t fall… just look forward!

The building loomed all around them like a tower in the sky. Wind rushed past. His legs trembled—but somehow, he kept rising.

Arlen’s voice came through the wind. “Just keep going! Focus on the goal!”

And with one final burst of energy, they made it—feet landing hard on the rooftop edge.

Inspector Carter was already there, arms folded.

“Not bad,” he said with a grin. “But if that’s your best trick, you’ll never catch up.”

Toma caught his breath. “How does he do that? He’s not even using the same technique.”

“You think your powers can only come out of your hands?” Carter smirked. “Every part of your body should be alive with it!”

He stepped back... then leapt straight into the air.

"How are we supposed to jump from here?" Arlen’s voice wavered slightly.

"I don’t know — we can’t see the ground because of the clouds below. But let’s try it like skydivers!"

"But we don’t have parachutes… We could die!"

"Then Inspector Carter will catch us. But remember what he said — our entire body needs to feel the power… So I say we try channeling the energy into our legs!"

"Alright, let’s do it!"

With that, they jumped.

"This is insane!" Toma yelled as the wind howled around them.

"Yeah, but Toma, stay focused!"

"Okay!"

I’m almost at the ground. I just need to channel the energy into my legs...!
It flows easily into my hands, like turning on a faucet and letting water pour out… but I need to open that faucet for my whole body. Let the energy flood through me!
No — I’m already so close to the ground! It’s too late! I have to succeed! A blue beam of light has to surge through my entire body!

And then—they hit.

"Whoa. Didn’t realize we were getting meteor strikes today too," Carter muttered, standing casually as two enormous craters burst open in the middle of the road.

In one lay Toma. In the other, Arlen.

"Arlen, we did it!"

"Yeah, we actually made it!"

"You guys completely destroyed the road!" Carter stepped forward with a raised eyebrow. "I didn’t think you’d even break through the concrete like that when you landed."

"We didn’t think so either! But more importantly, we managed to let the energy flow through our whole bodies!"

"Well done, Toma and Arlen! But this is a highway — it can’t stay like this. I’ll call the police. Could you two stop that car coming toward us?"

"Sure!"

But before either of them could move, a car came barreling toward them at full speed, horn blaring furiously — and the driver clearly hadn’t expected two boys and a pair of craters blocking the road.

"Hey! Are you guys bandits or something? Why are you blocking the road?" The driver’s voice rang out, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry, sir — you can’t go any further," Toma said firmly, stepping forward. "There was an explosion, and the road’s impassable. Could you wait here for the police and warn any other drivers who come this way?"

"Of course! But what happened here?"

"There’s no time to explain!" Carter interrupted. "The police will be here in ten minutes. Now come on, boys — let’s move!"