Chapter 1
.THE HERO WHO COULDN’T STOP RUNNING
Chapter 1 — The Blue Light
Fourteen-year-old Veyorean had always been fast.
Not normal fast.
Really fast.
At school, he could cross the football field before most students had even started running. His friends joked that he had a hidden engine inside his shoes.
But Veyron knew the truth.
He wasn't special.
At least, he didn't think he was.
One evening, while returning home, Veyron noticed something strange in the sky.
A blue streak flashed between the clouds.
Then—
BOOOOM!
Something crashed into an abandoned construction site.
Veyron stopped.
Smoke rose from behind the broken walls.
"That wasn't thunder," he whispered.
He carefully entered the site.
In the middle of the dirt was a small metallic object.
It looked like a piece of a spacecraft.
Blue lines glowed across its surface.
Veyron reached toward it.
The moment his fingers touched the metal—
ZAP!
Blue energy rushed through his body.
He fell backward.
For several seconds, everything went silent.
Then he heard something.
THUMP.
His heartbeat.
THUMP.
But it sounded incredibly loud.
Veyron stood.
"Am I okay?"
He looked down at his hands.
Tiny blue sparks were moving between his fingers.
"What... is this?"
Suddenly, a truck horn blasted from the road.
Veyron turned.
A truck was heading directly toward a little boy who had wandered into the street.
There was no time to think.
Veyron ran.
WHOOSH!
The world changed.
The truck seemed to move like it was barely crawling.
Veyron reached the boy, grabbed him, and carried him safely to the pavement.
He stopped.
Dust floated through the air.
The boy stared at him.
Veyron stared at the truck.
"How did I..."
He looked at his legs.
Blue energy was glowing around them.
Then the metallic object behind him suddenly activated.
A holographic message appeared.
«ENERGY SYSTEM ONLINE.»
Veyron's eyes widened.
Another message appeared.
«HOST COMPATIBILITY: 99.8%»
Then:
«WARNING: OTHER SYSTEMS HAVE DETECTED YOU.»
Veyron's smile disappeared.
"Other systems?"
Far above the city, something opened its eyes.
A machine had detected the energy signal.
And whoever controlled that machine had been waiting for someone like Veyron.
For years.
---
Chapter 2 — The First Suit
Veyron returned to the construction site.
The metallic object was still there.
When he touched it again, it unfolded.
Pieces of advanced material flew into the air.
They wrapped around his arms, legs, chest and back.
CLICK.
CLICK.
CLICK.
Within seconds, Veyron was wearing a sleek blue-and-black suit.
A visor formed over his eyes.
He looked at his reflection in a piece of broken glass.
"Okay..."
He smiled.
"This is officially the strangest day of my life."
The suit displayed information across his visor.
SPEED: 680 KM/H
REACTION TIME: 0.03 SECONDS
ENERGY LEVEL: 87%
JUMP CAPACITY: 42 METRES
Veyron stared.
"Forty-two metres?!"
He jumped.
BOOM!
He shot upward.
"AAAAAAAA!"
He landed on top of a nearby building.
He looked down.
Then laughed.
"I can fly—"
He stepped forward.
"—wait."
He dropped.
"AAAAAAAH!"
At the last moment, the suit released energy from his boots.
WHOOSH!
He landed safely.
Veyron stood up.
"Okay. Not flying."
He looked at his boots.
"More like extremely aggressive jumping."
Then his visor flashed red.
INCOMING THREAT.
Veyron looked toward the city.
A huge black machine was moving between the buildings.
It had four mechanical legs and a glowing red eye.
People began running.
Veyron clenched his fists.
He could run away.
Nobody knew who he was.
Nobody expected him to fight.
But then he remembered the boy from the road.
Veyron lowered his visor.
"No."
He sprinted forward.
WHOOSH!
The blue hero disappeared into the night.
And for the first time, the city saw him.
A blue streak.
A flash of light.
A hero.
limit.
