The forest was quiet, bathed in the golden light of dusk. Tall trees swayed gently, their leaves whispering in the breeze. A warm, nostalgic air hung over the place
"Lance! Stacey!"
Kai's voice echoed through the trees as he ran, his boots crunching on fallen leaves. His heart pounded, not from fear, but from excitement. They had to be here. He could almost hear their laughter just ahead.
Then he saw them.
Lance stood with his back turned, his blond hair catching the sunlight. Stacey was beside him, her brown hair tied in its usual messy ponytail. Relief flooded Kai's chest.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for—
The moment his hand touched Lance's shoulder, the forest burned away.
The sky split open, plunging everything into darkness. The trees blackened and curled, the air filling with the stench of burning flesh. The warmth was gone replaced by a suffocating heat, a sea of fire roaring around them.
And then… they turned around.
Once bright and full of life, Lance's face was now a ruin of melted skin, his blue eyes staring from behind patches of scorched flesh. His lips peeled back in a grotesque smile.
"You called for us?"
His voice was wrong cracked, wet, like a corpse forcing words.
Stacey lifted her head. Half of her face was gone, Her remaining eye locked onto Kai, dripping with betrayal.
"You were supposed to save us."
Kai stumbled back, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"No—no, I tried! I—"
Lance's burned hand shot out, gripping Kai's wrist. "LIAR."
The word seared into him, worse than any flame.The fire roared louder, their faces twisting further, their voices merging into a chorus of accusation
"You let us die."
"You failed us."
"You killed us."
Kai woke up screaming.
His body was drenched in sweat, the sheets clinging to him like a second skin. The remnants of the nightmare still clawed at his mind. Lance's melted face, Stacey's hollow whisper, the fire that had swallowed them whole.
He sucked in a sharp breath, forcing himself back to reality.
To his left, a dark-skinned young boy in a black hoodie lounged in a chair, lazily plucking grapes from the complimentary fruit basket beside him and to his right, a young girl with pale white skin in a white hoodie sat on a chair lazily sleeping her head against the wall.
Daniel tossed another grape into his mouth, chewing with deliberate slowness before speaking.
"Who's Lance? Your boyfriend?"
Kai's expression twisted from distress to flat annoyance. His injuries kept him pinned to the bed, leaving him no choice but to glare.
Ignoring the question, Kai gritted his teeth. "Where are we?"
"The medic."
The answer didn't come from Daniel. Instead, a shadow at his feet rippled—then stretched. From the darkness emerged a tall man with long black hair and tired, unimpressed eyes. Mr. Jeffery. He held a stack of papers in one hand, his expression sharp enough to cut steel.
"Didn't I tell you,"
He began, voice dangerously calm, "that you were only supposed to patrol the area? And yet, you got into three unnecessary fights. Three."
A heavy pause.
"These don't even count as real missions," Jeffery continued, flicking the papers in his grip. "You were meant to observe. Report. Not throw yourself into every skirmish you stumbled across. Are you so desperate to hit a hundred missions that you'd risk your life for this?"
Kai bristled. "They weren't needless. One was helping an old lady get her stolen bag back. Another was stopping a dealer from pushing his junk. The third—"
Mr Jeffery abruptly cut off Kai's words not giving him any more time to defend himself.
"And all of them could've been handled properly if you'd just called it in. Did you even consider collateral damage? Civilians caught in the crossfire? Heroes think before they act."
His gaze flicked to Daniel, then to Mira who was still asleep in her chair, oblivious to the lecture.
"This applies to both of you. Until you learn to work as a team, you'll never be heroes."
With that, he tore the mission reports clean in half.
The sound was like a gunshot in the quiet room.
Kai's jaw tightened. Daniel stiffened. Even Mira stirred slightly, as if sensing the sudden tension.
Jeffery exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"In case it wasn't obvious, the 'hundred missions' remark was sarcasm."
His voice dropped, colder now. "If one of you acts out, you all face consequences. That's how a team works. You don't let each other fail."
He let the shredded papers flutter to the floor.
"So either start acting like partners—or get used to staying benched."
Then, as abruptly as he'd arrived, Jeffery stepped back into the shadows and vanished.Leaving the room in a deafening silence...
until suddenly a small noise came from Mira's chair. She shifted, blinking sleepily as she rubbed her eyes. One of the torn papers had landed in her lap. She picked it up, squinting at it in confusion.
"...Eggs... milk... bread...?"
Daniel and Kai both turned to stare at her. Mira held up the scrap, her voice slow with drowsy realization.
"...Did Mr. Jeffery just tear up his grocery list?"
A beat of silence. Then—
From somewhere down the hall, a distant but furious shout echoed
"DAMMIT."
***
After some time, Mr. Jeffery stood outside with Mira, Daniel, and Kai. The earlier tension had faded, and now it was time to refocus.
Mr. Jeffery let out a slow breath before speaking.
"Alright. Today was your first mission day at Gateway. Here, we prioritize hero work just as much as education. People's goals change you might want one thing now, but life doesn't always stick to the plan."
He paused, glancing at the sky as if weighing his next words.
"Normally, missions are on Tuesdays. Mondays are for classes just sitting in, learning whatever's thrown at you. Today was an exception."
A dry chuckle came out of Mr jefferys mouth before he spoke continued.
"And before you ask no, we don't have enough teachers. But we make it work."
Mira raised her hand, though she didn't wait for permission to speak.
"You said these lessons are for people who might change their paths. But what if I'm sure I only want to be a licensed hero? Why waste time on anything else?"
Mr. Jeffery's expression didn't shift, but his voice carried a quiet heaviness.
"Good question. Here's the ugly truth: The world isn't fair. High-Tier heroes are the ones on billboards, in ads, the faces of brands. Mid-Tiers get scraps of recognition if they're lucky. But a Low-Tier?"
He shrugged. "You could save a hundred lives and still be a footnote."
A beat of silence. The air felt heavier.
"If you're not a High-Tier hell, even if you're just a Mid-Tier your chances of real success are slim. Some heroes quit not because they're weak, but because the world refuses to see them."
His gaze sharpened. "That's why we push education. Because someday, you might need a backup plan."
Mira's fists clenched. The injustice burned, but the logic was undeniable.
Daniel turned his head slightly taking a glimpse of Mira's sad expression before turning back to Mr Jeffery. Daniel, who had been silent, finally spoke up.
"So the system's rigged. Why even let Non-High-Tiers into the hero course?"
Mr. Jeffery's lips twitched something almost like a smile.
"Funny enough, though, there's a Low-Tier ranked number 23 worldwide. His power? He turns into a chair. But the guy's got charm, and personality people love him. So he's proof that it's not just about power. It's about how the world sees you."
"That's why Gateway is open to everyone, Gateway believes that everyone is great and everyone can get a chance to become a hero"
He paused before speaking again
But for every one of him, there are a thousand Low-Tiers who never get noticed. Heroes are government-funded. Some are literally raised for it trained, polished, and marketed. Public recognition determines your value. There's an unofficial ranking, and unless you're exceptional in some way, you're fighting an uphill battle."
A beeping sound came from Mr jeffery's watch, 5pm it was time to go home
"Anyways you three don't think too deeply about it I'm sure you 3 are going to be amazing hero's despite your lack of chemistry to begin with I'm sure you will grow and become something great you got your homeroom teacher rooting for you"
Mr Jeffery took a step into his own shadow, his foot sinking in
"Your next mission's tomorrow, so don't screw it up."
And with that, he then fully jumped into the shadow, being fully engulfed in it. He had left the scene, leaving the three to ponder on his words of wisdom.
Kai grimaced, putting his hands in his pockets. He proceeded to walk away, muttering a single "whatever" under his breath before walking away. Daniel and Mira stared at each other for a few seconds, then they each said their goodbyes and left.
Sometime later, Daniel pondered his own thoughts. Is it even possible to become a hero? Yeah, of course - there's a hero whose power was to turn into a chair, for crying out loud...
But Daniel didn't have any power. Any power of any kind. Not only did that make him physically weaker than everybody else, but if there was even the smallest chance of him becoming a full-on licensed hero, he lacked the charm and definitely the looks...
Daniel's fist closed at the thought about his looks.
'To hell with this why is life so unfair!'
After some time, Daniel had finally arrived at his house. His house was located in a quiet, peaceful neighborhood. The house was a small, charming white house with a black rooftop. It was two stories tall and had just enough space to fit a couple of bedrooms.
The house had three small steps leading up to the front door, accompanied by a small garden to the side.
Daniel took a few steps and went to the small garden. He then dug into the soil and pulled out a key. Wiping off the dirt, he used the key to unlock the door and entered the house.
The lights were off, showing obvious signs of someone not being home. In front of him was his fridge, and on the fridge was a sticky note. Approaching the fridge and taking off the note, it read
"Sorry honey, going to be a long day of work today. You won't see me until later tonight. I left some lasagna in the fridge - I even made it into the shape of that show you really like. Love you dear, and see you soon."There was a badly drawn winky face emoji next to the note.
He soon put the note aside and opened the fridge, pulling out the lasagna meticulously shaped like Princess Paws, complete with the mascot's round head, perky ears, and iconic black-dot eyes though the melted cheese had blurred one slightly.With a shrug, he cut off one of its ears, heated up his meal, and enjoyed his oddly adorable dinner.
After consuming his meal, Daniel walked toward his house's stairs and moved to his bedroom. Going through the door, the room was filled with posters of a white cat with a magical wand. There were shelves of books of the same white cat and small action figures of the cat with small black dots as its eyes. On one of the posters was a name written on it called "Princess Paws and the Aura Beasts."
Removing his shoes and changing into a set of blue pajamas with the same cat on it, Daniel quickly rested his head on his bed, thinking of the events that transpired today. He remembered arriving to school late and seeing Kai for the first time. He remembered getting beaten up by two Mid-Tier children, then getting saved by Mira.
But most importantly he remembered seeing how Kai fought during each interaction with another person on Kai's level. An up-close fight between Mid Tiers and Kai won all three of them and it was all thanks to his fighting style
'Butsu Dzemoto, huh...'
Daniel got off his bed and stood up, putting himself in a fighting pose. He then proceeded to raise one leg up and put himself in the Butsu Dzemoto stance.... or at least tried to
With a heavy sigh and a bit of hesitation, he kicked the air, swiping with speed as he tried to replicate Kai's kick from before. But as he swiped the air...
He connected his shin to one of his shelves, sending a jolting pain through his body. Daniel kneeled down, groaning from the pain before thinking to himself:
'This is going to take a lot of work.'