The door to Hayato's room burst open with a loud bang.
"Shit, it's already too late!" he muttered, fighting with the knot of his tie while running toward the front entrance.
His mother was waiting in the dining room, calm, with the newspaper open and a cup of coffee in her hand.
"Good morning to you too, sleepyhead," she commented without looking up.
The TV, turned on with the sound muted, showed the ruins of an attack on the city of Tokyo and a Liberty Corp soldier who seemed to be explaining the situation.
"Your father left early," she added, without taking her attention off the newspaper. "And the next train leaves in five minutes."
"Five…? Damn it!"
Hayato slung his backpack over his shoulder, ready to leave for class.
"Be careful, okay? The attacks have been more frequent this week..."
"Yeah, yeah… the usual," he replied without paying much attention.
He was already at the door when she lifted her face to look at him.
"Hayato..."
He stopped for a moment.
"Yeah, Mom?"
"Nothing. Just… come back early."
"Sure, Mom."
"That boy..." she murmured.
Hayato rushed down the building stairs, his backpack hanging from one shoulder.
When he reached the street, he could see how people walked like a huge swarm of ants.
And, as crazy as it sounded, he wasn't worried about being late; what really made him anxious was the crowd of people.
"Too many people… I'd better forget about the train," he muttered.
The noise of the city suffocated him.
Tokyo at rush hour was a sea of people, and every face, every shove, was a reminder that he didn't want to live there.
When he reached the public bicycle station, he slid his student card through the panel. The Liberty Corp logo blinked on the glass with a soft sound.
"Authorized user, have a productive day."
"Yeah, sure… productive," he whispered with a dry smile.
He began to pedal calmly while the wind brushed his face as he rode along the bike lane, and for a moment, he felt something close to peace.
Hayato looked up at the sky. He remembered that in the news he had seen some Duals flying.
"Duals… huh?" he muttered while waiting for the light to change.
He looked toward a holographic billboard covering the front of a building. On it, a female voice repeated Liberty's slogan while a squad of soldiers marched forward leaving the trail of the American flag.
"Protecting humanity."
"Sounds exaggerated..." he whispered.
"I understand that the invaders are dangerous, but… the Duals? Couldn't they be part of the solution?"
"Are they really as bad as the Americans say?"
The bike lane light turned green and he continued on his way, lost in his thoughts.
Having powers seemed like something magical, almost straight out of manga or anime. Something that really existed in the world. But having soldiers chasing you like a criminal… that wasn't so encouraging.
That was when he heard a sharp sound, like turbines. He was sure it wasn't a commercial airplane.
"What… is that?" he muttered, looking up.
A white line crossed the sky, followed by a metallic noise.
The anti-invader alarm began to sound in every street at the same time, and his phone started vibrating in his pocket.
"An attack? Again? Right in the middle of the city?"
People began to panic… screams, running, cars slamming their brakes.
The buildings activated their defensive energy barriers, and people began rushing inside them seeking shelter from the danger that was coming.
Hayato started looking for a place to hide in the middle of the confusion. The wind lashed his face and the noise became unbearable.
In a fraction of a second he heard a nearby whistle and understood it was already too late.
A missile fell near him.
The explosion lifted him off the ground and threw him several meters into an overturned car.
"Cof… cof…"
He leaned against the vehicle, trying to stand up. A line of blood began to slide down his forehead.
The sound of alarms mixed with screams and gunfire.
He tried to see what was happening in that place that had turned into a battlefield, but the smoke and the shock of the explosion were taking their toll on him.
High above he could make out a group of Liberty soldiers chasing what seemed to be a female figure wrapped in golden light.
"What… the hell…?" he whispered before losing his balance.
He placed a hand on his chest and his worst fear became reality. The missile's shrapnel had hit him and, little by little, he was losing blood from his chest…
"Aaah...! cough!... cough!"
"Oh, pal… I almost feel sorry for you…"
Hayato searched for the source, but he didn't know where that mocking voice was coming from.
"Who… said that?" he murmured, his throat burning from dust and blood.
He forced his eyes through the smoke, the shadows, and the flashes of fire, until he managed to see her… a young woman with golden hair, shining armor, and white wings cutting through the sky.
"Is that… an angel? Am I… dying?" he whispered.
For an instant, their eyes met.
"How pathetic…" the voice laughed, mocking, inside his head. "You're about to die and you're still thinking about a girl."
"That voice again…" Hayato gasped.
As he fell to the ground, he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away.
"Pull the trigger…" the voice whispered. "And let me take control."
"Trigger…? Control…?" his voice faded with every word. "What… are you… talking about…?"
His hand trembled, rising as if by instinct. His fingers curled, imitating the trigger of an invisible gun.
"Shoot!" the voice ordered.
His body obeyed.
The nonexistent "click" of the trigger seemed to split the world in two.
Hayato collapsed onto the asphalt.
And then he felt it.
His heart pounded once, twice, three times, with the force of something trying to get out. A hot, electric energy ran through every fiber of his body.
Before losing consciousness, he heard one last word echo in his mind…
"SHOWTIME!"