"It's time."
A figure stepped from the alley's shadows. The figure was tall and athletic; the city's lights softened the seams of his suit. His mask hid everything but his eyes, which gleamed as if he already knew what tomorrow's headlines would be.
Tonight, the city would meet the hero Nova.
"After training secretly for years, my debut as a hero will definitely shock the hero association. My rise is inevitable!" Nova's voice rumbled with a voice changer.
His true identity was Edward Smith. He was a college student and secretly a mutant. He first became aware of his superpower during puberty.
Not only did he have to deal with the troubles that every kid had, but because of his mutation, his puberty brought super-powered problems. He really struggled back then to hide his secret.
At the time, mutants were ostracized by society, and conspiracies that the government was capturing mutants for experiments were rampant. So, he didn't hesitate to hide his identity as a mutant.
However, with the formation of the Hero Association and the emergence of mutants who helped protect the world, humanity was slowly changing the world's perspective.
He didn't want to hide anymore. So, he decided to become a hero.
Today was going to be his first day, well, more accurately, his first night, but who was counting?
Edward took a deep breath and looked at the sky. His unique outfit attracted bystander attention, but when they saw his body start to levitate, they freaked out and ran away.
"Nova!" Edward shouted, and his body flashed with a bright light.
Before he could blink, the city had become a sandbox beneath his feet.
When you are tens of miles in the sky, even the skyscrapers looked small, much less people who looked like ants.
"I really can't get enough of this feeling." Nova thought to himself and sat down in mid-air.
This was his superpower, he called Nova. He could levitate and fly at extreme speeds after shouting his slogan.
It took him months before he finally got good enough to make sure he didn't accidentally leave Earth's atmosphere. He had almost died hundreds of times.
"So who needs saving in my neighborhood?" Nova wondered and took out a pair of binoculars he had tied to his pocket.
His superpower didn't give him better vision, so when he was this high up, he needed something to see what was happening.
"Yes, a robbery. Hehehe, dummy, I was waiting for someone like you. Today isn't your lucky day." Nova said with excited eyes.
He stood up and got into a superhero pose he had practiced beforehand.
"Nova!"
With a flash of bright light, Nova flew towards the robbery at mind-boggling speeds. In a second, he reached them.
"Freeze!" Nova's voice cracked through the voice changer, harsher than he expected.
"Mind your own business, pal, if you know what's good for you!" The pale-faced criminal said in an intimidating voice.
He pressed his gun to his victim's throat and turned around to keep them as a hostage.
But when he noticed Nova hovering above, he stared down at him with cold eyes. His eyes widened with panic.
"Who are you! Leave before she meets her maker!"
Nova snorted at the man's threat. How could he be threatened so easily?
"Since you don't know who I am, I'll tell you. I am Nova. The hero protects the innocent." Edward explained calmly.
"I don't give a shit who you are. If you want this girl to live, you will leave."
"Sigh, ignorance is truly blessed." Edward sighed softly, his arms crossed over his chest in a cool fashion.
He said the line he had been practicing for days for this moment.
"Do you know what I am?"
"Do you know what mutants are? What can we do?"
"Have you heard of the mutants that can travel at speeds faster than the eye can see? What about those who managed to defy the laws of space and travel wherever they desired?"
"Tell me, facing those mutants. What is faster? A bullet or...me." Edward's eyes flashed.
"Nova," He said softly.
His body unleashed a blinding light, and before the criminal and his victim could react, they were separated.
Edward held the criminal by the throat as he twirled the gun with his fingers. The long days of practice had borne fruit.
The criminal shook in fear as he surrendered. Edward accepted his surrender and knocked the criminal out.
"Miss, are you okay?" Edward asked with smiling eyes.
He looked at the first person he saved. She looked to be a bit older than him, probably in her late twenties. From the way she was dressed, she had clearly come from work.
The young woman recovered from her shock and quickly stood up.
"Thank you so much! I almost died without your help." Fear flashed across the woman's eyes, recalling the cold metal at her neck.
"No need to thank me.
He was about to make his extraordinary departure when he suddenly felt everything shaking. Whether it was the ground or air, it was trembling as if it were experiencing an earthquake.
"What's going on?" The businesswoman asked with fright.
The earthquake was quickly intensifying, making it difficult for her to stand.
Edward was confused as well. He tried to steady himself using his superpower, but the increasing shaking in the air was throwing him off balance.
"You should get back home," Nova warned the businesswoman and planned to leave.
But before he left, he heard a blood-curdling scream.
It seemed to come from the criminal who had been there earlier. When Edward turned around, his pupils widened from shock.
"Aahh! Help me!"
White, translucent arms poured out — dozens of them, slick and boneless, wrapping around the man's body. His scream cut through the night as the arms dragged him toward a tear in space that seemed to lead to another world.
It was a world filled with nothing but thick white fog and faceless figures. The faceless figures reached through the space and tried to pull the criminal into their world.
"AAAAAH!" The businesswoman screamed and fell to the ground in horror.
After Edward got over his shock, he didn't hesitate to save the criminal. He rushed over and grabbed the outstretched hand of the criminals.
"How are they so strong!?" Edward thought to himself with utter shock.
He didn't have super strength, but he had been training his body for years. Yet he could even pull the criminal out. Instead, he was being pulled along.
"Should I use Nova?"
This thought crossed Edward's mind, causing him to hesitate. He was worried that if he used Nova, he would pull out the criminal. Instead, he would tear off his arm.
This hesitation proved to be deadly.
As they sensed another prey, the faceless figures grabbed onto Edward. Their translucent pale arms stretched unnaturally long.
First, they grabbed Edward's arm, then his legs, then his chest, and even tried to catch his head.
Realizing that if he didn't act now, he would also get dragged in, Edward no longer hesitated.
"Nova!"
Blinding light burst from Edward as he rapidly fled away.
"Huh!?" Edward's heart lurched.
He didn't go as far as he wanted. He only managed to fly a dozen feet away before he came to a stop. Not only that, the faceless figures' arms were still on him.
They seem to be able to stretch forever.
"Ah!" The criminal's blood-curdling scream filled the night as he was dragged into the fog world. The faceless figures rushed towards him like sharks smelling blood.
They tore him apart.
"Shit!" Edward cursed under his breath as even more arms grabbed onto him.
"Nova!"
This time, he managed to escape a shorter distance.
"Nova!"
Edward felt as if he was going to die. His entire body was aching from pain as if his muscles were being torn.
This was the consequence of using his superpower multiple times in a short time.
Edward didn't hesitate to try to use his superpower again. If he didn't, he would be dragged into the hole and torn apart.
But each time he used Nova, he traveled a shorter distance, and more arms grabbed a hold of him.
So many arms were grabbing him now that even with each activation of Nova, he was still getting closer.
Desperate to escape, Edward turned to the businesswoman he had saved.
"Help me!" Edward's voice broke — not the heroic command he'd imagined, but a raw, human plea.
The woman froze, then shook her head, whispering something he couldn't hear before running.
Edward watched her escape and felt despair in his heart.
He was just about to get dragged into the hole. He was going to die if someone didn't help him.
Unfortunately, no one was coming.
He wasn't the only one in trouble. The entire world was experiencing different horrors.
Other superheroes found themselves barely managing to survive against monsters that mysteriously appeared when thick white fog poured into the city.
"Nova! Nova! Nova! Nova!"
Although Edward knew that using his superpower was only a matter of time before the inevitable, he still desperately used it. Even when he felt as if his body was going to explode from overuse, he continued!
What was the point of stopping if he was going to die the moment he stopped?
Unfortunately, the inevitable eventually arrived.
Edward was pulled into the hole that seemed to lead to another world. He felt as if his body was drenched in cold water.
He couldn't see anything through the white fog, but he felt his body being torn apart.
"Nova! Nova! Nova!"
Even as he was being torn apart, Edward continued to use his power, feeling as if he were going insane.
Eventually, he felt free.
His vision rose into the sky. He escaped the fog and saw that it was like a white sea. Endless white fog that stretched on forever.
He couldn't help but feel glad he escaped, but he felt unprecedentedly weak.
Before Edward could celebrate or figure out how to escape from this world, a mysterious, powerful force pulled him along. He couldn't resist it and watched as the fog sea grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared on the horizon.
But Edward wasn't happy. Whatever was pulling him seemed even stronger than those monsters.
How was he going to survive this time?
Before Edward could continue with his thoughts, he felt even weaker, as if he was losing his strength. But the mysterious force changed direction and shot towards a distant house.
As they got closer, Edward saw what the house looked like. It was in a decrepit state. Wooden boards covered the windows, mysterious patterns painted the walls, and strange statues of beautiful giants littered the area.
Before Edward could think anymore, he felt even weaker. He could barely keep himself away as he used all his remaining energy not to fall asleep. Fearing that once he did, he would never wake up.
But eventually, he couldn't keep it up any longer and lost consciousness.