Under the brilliant light of the sun, in the the heart of the Eastern Kingdom, a 17 year old boy ran through the streets of his city, he ran up skyscrapers, ran across the river, over and under building here and there down and up any alley he could find, for today was his one day of freedom, today was the day, he would run.
This boy's name was Kawata Noboru, Prince of the East, the third and most important son of the king, and his power was none other than super speed. The prince, a monarch of motion, his speed unparalleled even to his superiors.
As such, he was deemed to be the heir to the throne. Once his father passed or gave up the crown, he would be the next ruler, and as such he had to train day and night, as the king mustn't be able to be beaten by just anyone.
Noboru glides up across the steel frames of Nexus Tower, the largest government organisation in all seven continents, and inside a man in a grey suit in the meeting room at the top of building, holding a singular cupcake with a single birthday candle as he stares out the window bored and tired.
As he stood up and looked out the window, he could see the red blur that was the Prince, running up the building in a blitz until he passed the boardroom window and reached the top of the roof, then jumped back away from the building, leaning back and spreading his arms as if about to take off as he slowly falls back gracefully and grabs a old cable, using it like a vine to swing across the side of the building, then running back down it at horrifying speeds until he was gone.
The man in grey stood there. Most would be shocked to see the Prince scale a building and swing around it, but for him, this was a normal yearly tradition. So the man in grey headed for the door that led to the roof, as every year the Prince would scale the building on the man's birthday and leave him a gift before he left in some death-defying way.
And down on the ground, running through the streets, the Prince embraced the fresh air, then headed to the castle.
It was a large castle. The four towers in each corner could themselves be classed as skyscrapers in the most literal sense of the word. The main walls of the castle were hardened and reinforced with both steel and precious gems that made them stand out from the more modern look of the city, while not looking completely out of place or out of time. The path up to the castle itself was a spectacle to most: trimmed grass and bushes guided the path past fountains running with clean, crystal water where koi fish would jump around and swim. Gold-plated birdhouses sat on the large oak trees that surrounded the path as its own barrier, separate from the actual wired fence.
Noboru, while running, slides under the gates, skidding as he wall-runs over the castle wall. The security was not weak; the Prince was simply too fast for the guards to notice, but not his family, as his dad sat in Noboru's room, leaning back, waiting for his son to return.
But he didn't. He knew if he returned now his dad would give him royal decrees and he'd be stuck with work for a while.
Only two roads away, the top of a building blew to bits. Debris rained down as smoke filled the sky, attempting to black out the sun. Alarms rang, and the nation's first responders were on the way. The "Monarch," a hero to all kids worldwide, simple name and simple style, his power was super strength. A simple power, just like him, and yet to the world he was the greatest, and he had arrived on scene.
His legs tensed and the muscles on his calves vibrated as he crouched, then leapt into the air with great force, soaring the height of the building. With a single drawback of his arm and a messy punch toward the building, the force he generated caused the wind to ripple and the fire to disperse into nothing, and a path was parted in the sky through the clouds in the shape of his fist as he landed on the building, grabbing civilians, while other civilians who had powers aided him by keeping people calm and/or stabilising what was left of the building until more heroes could arrive.
And from atop one of the castle's four towers in the distance, Noboru stood with a grin on his face. The number one hero was right there saving people, and he needed help. Noboru couldn't stop his excitement as he vanished and ran, a blur to everyone else, soaring through the streets and up the degrading building, and he was there, standing opposite the Monarch with a smile on his face. At first, the Monarch looked at him with no expression, then laughed.
"You here to help, boy!" his voice boomed. And Noboru couldn't stop shaking. This was basically the Monarch asking for help—his help.
With a small salute, "Yes sir!"
The Monarch cast his arm out over the group of people. "Get everyone out quick and safe." He smirked as he jumped off the building, landed on the ground, and gripped the side of it, supporting its entire weight with just his own strength.
That was all Noboru needed to hear before he grabbed the first person's arm and adjusted his hand behind their head so they wouldn't lose it as he blitzed down the side of the building, then left the man outside as he scaled it once again to grab the next person. And like that, he went back and forth up and down the building, bringing people down with him as the Monarch held up the building with no struggle.
Not even a minute passed before Noboru scaled the building one last time to see only a family of four left. This was it. After he saved them, he'd have officially helped a real hero on the job, and the kingdom's number one at that. He sprinted forward and grabbed two of the four and vanished, then appeared back to find now only one.
"HELP, MY DAUGHTER FELL!" the mother's scream didn't even register by the time Noboru was at full power, sprinting to the edge of the building and leaping off. For once in his life, everything seemed to move in slow motion as he free-fell toward the little girl below him. But what now? Even if he did catch her, he had no way of surviving this fall, and yet he did not think this. The only thing on his mind was reaching that little girl. He stretched his arm out as the wind pushed against his face, and he barely managed to grab the little girl's arm, curling into a ball around her, hoping his body would cushion the fall and let her survive, even though he knew that was not possible from this height.
The world sped up again as he drew closer to the ground. Tears formed in his eyes as he realised this was the end. For once in his life, he wished he was faster. Maybe then he could've gotten them off the building before the girl had fallen.
Down below, the Monarch watched. He knew he could jump and catch them, but he had no idea if that girl had powers since she was so young. Even if he did catch them, the counterforce from gravity could kill her. His legs tensed as the other side of the building leaned. No matter how strong he was, it was impossible for him to grab both sides of the building and hold them upright.
As Noboru neared the ground, his heart exhilarated, each beat getting faster. His eyes began to glow a bit, and when the Monarch saw this, his eyes glimmered with hope. The number one hero saw hope in a boy who seemed to be doomed, because the Monarch was one of the few who knew what was about to happen.
But before it could—before this miracle could take place—Noboru's body froze in the air, suspended thirty feet off the ground with the crying girl in his arms. He looked around to see a boy who looked about his age, his clenched hand toward him, panting and looking like he was about to faint. Then he passed out, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and the boy crumpled to the floor. Noboru's body continued its journey to the ground, but this time the speed was far slower, enough that the Monarch could catch him without harming the little girl.
They stood there as the building collapsed behind them, the screams of the mother barely audible as she fell through the building and was crushed by the weight of it. Her ring was flung into the air, landing right in front of them and rolling to her husband's feet—the husband who had just seen his daughter get saved and his wife die.
Noboru sat on the ground, the light drained from his eyes. As the little girl ran to her dad, ambulances drove away anyone who had gotten injured. A support team hauled parts of the fallen building away to make space for a helicopter to land. Its propellers slowed as it neared the ground until it landed and the sound stopped. No one paid attention to it apart from the Monarch, who straightened himself and turned serious as the man in the grey suit stepped out.
"Good work." That was all he had planned to say. It was, of course, a crime for a person who was not registered as a, hero to save people from high-stakes scenarios like this, but when he looked at the Prince, he said nothing.
"This boy was exceptional." The Monarch's voice came out firm and focused. This was not just a statement or praise; it was a fact. "How come he wasn't in last year's hero exam, or the year before that?"
The man in grey coughed into his hand. "Well, he is the son of His Majesty, and royals can't be heroes. Their training is purely self-defence to save themselves in case trouble occurs near them—"
The Monarch cut him off. "Such a stupid rule. Someone as skilled as him isn't allowed to be a hero? He jumped off that building knowing he'd die, but did it for the sake of a child he probably won't even encounter again. He is hero material. I say let him attend. If Spitfire and Scarlet were here, they would agree that this boy is both skilled and pure-hearted."
The man in grey sighed. He knew the Monarch was right about Noboru. He also knew that having the top three all vote on something was equal to the king himself voting, meaning it was now his c,hoice since the government's vote fell right under the king and the top three.
He pinche,d the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "Listen, I personally wouldn't mind, but the king would be up my ass for a while about this, and I can't have him learn about… you know."
"I'll help you with Javerstone if you side with us on this." That was enough to make the man in grey flinch. It would be a huge risk to have a royal hero, but the matter in Javerstone was something even he couldn't deny was far more concerning—a matter that only a few in this world could solve, and the Monarch was one of them.
"You'll take responsibility for Javerstone and him then, since it was your deal. For Javerstone, do NOT kill him. For the kid." He glanced at Noboru, still staring into nothing. "Take him to the agency in the North Kingdom. His father will just find reasons to have him removed from the course here. So take the kid north, where his dad has no authority."
The Monarch smirked and picked up Noboru, tossing him onto his shoulder. "I'll return him stronger than possible. Did you know, before that random guy stopped him from falling… the kid almost hit ascension?" The man in grey's eyes widened, but before he could stop the Monarch to ask more, the Monarch had already jumped, soaring through the sky, jumping from building to building, heading cross-continent to the Northern Kingdom.
***
When Noboru finally snapped out of it, all he could see were buildings blitzing by him as he hung over the shoulder of the Monarch like luggage. His eyes adjusted to the speed naturally as he turned his head left and right, taking in the breeze.
"You awake, young hero!" the Monarch's voice boomed through the air currents, loud and clear. "We're heading to a training camp in the north so you can train. Don't worry about your father; he has no jurisdiction there." For a good minute, Noboru was stunned. The last thing he remembered was the fall, and then everything went blank before he was near the ground, and now he was being dragged off to a different kingdom to be trained by his kingdom's number one. This was more or less what he would call a dream come true, and yet it was all so strange—a dream he never thought could be real was now laid in front of him, so simple and easy to take, so he did.
He jumped off the Monarch and clung onto a wall, then ran along it, using his speed to balance himself and propel him from building to building, keeping pace with the Monarch.
"Yes!" the Monarch's voice boomed. "You should be able to do at least this much if you're to be trained by me." The words echoed in Noboru's head. The Monarch had just said loud and clear that he'd teach him.
The border that separated the North and East came into view. Just how long had the Monarch been carrying him for them to already be this close? He didn't actually care; the fact this was even happening was still clogging his mind as he ran through the city, keeping up with the Monarch.
"Once there, you will be paired up with two other people, most likely northern residents, unless there are also some foreign students left. Remember to work with them well, since a good part of the evaluation on whether you pass or not will be decided by whether the examiners think you're stable enough to be out in the world working alongside others."
Noboru just kept quiet. It didn't matter to him what he had to do as long as he got to keep this chance.
"For our first lesson," the Monarch announced while still hopping from building to building, "I will teach you the aspect of being a hero."
"Yes sir!" Noboru saluted as he backflipped onto the next building and propelled himself off.
The Monarch smirked. "Okay, firstly, as heroes we follow a different currency system to everyone else. Normally, it would be that two Bronze Nox are equivalent to one Silver Nox, and three of those are equivalent to one Gold Nox. However, for us heroes, we use these." He held up his wrist, showing a diamond wristband mid-leap. "These bands come in four ranks: diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald. The higher the band you have, the better free stuff you get, to put it simply, the best of the best need top medical and tactical equipment reserved for them, and so on."
That made sense to Noboru. Since only the best were sent on missions where they could actually die, they would need the best equipment to prevent it. No point giving high-powered equipment to someone dealing with a street thug.
For the next few hours, Noboru was taught everything he needed to know before entering the north. Despite taking multiple breaks to catch his breath and rest, he managed to make it to the north safely by midnight.
The cool breeze entered his lungs as they passed the border. The Monarch just flashed his wristband and they were let in without hesitation, making their way to a rural city, since luckily the training zone wasn't in the main city, sparing them a good few hours of running.