May 31st, 2018. 4:10 PM.

  A crowd of people cheer while sitting from the bleachers on a high school football field, countless rows of chairs lined up on the field as a graduation ceremony is happening. The students feel a rushing wave of emotions, euphoria and nostalgia colliding from the exhilaration of accomplishment as the anticipation of new beginnings begins to well. Knowing the bittersweet realization that a familiar chapter of their lives are coming to a close, their pride being tempered by the awareness that the comfortable routine of their high school lives are soon to be replaced by the uncharted territory of adulthood. All, but for one student, a slim-muscular man with long, spiked hair going down to his neck, and eyes as blue as diamond. He groans out of boredom, his head gazing up as it leans back, his arms crossed as his right foot taps in a fast rhythm, losing patience as he waits for his name to be called.

  A student sitting next to him takes notice. He looks over, making sure to speak low enough to not interrupt the ceremony. “You alright, man? You seem nervous.” The student whispered.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine, just a bit irritated with how long this is taking. Nothin’ crazy.” The bored student answered, tilting his head toward him, his voice sounding raspy, yet relaxed. He finds an opportunity to help the ceremony feel faster through talking to the student. “How ‘bout you though? You excited?” He asked casually.

  “Yeah! A bit nervous, but I’m just excited to get out of here.” He responds, enthused. The bored student smiled slightly; “I can see why. This place kinda sucks.” The enthused student snickers a wee bit; “Yeah.”

  Twenty minutes pass, the bored student sleeps as he leans back in his chair. The principal finally calls his name in the mic; “Elio King!”

  Upon hearing his name, Elio jolted awake and hopped off his chair to walk on stage, students cheered and shouted his name. He grimaced when some girls cheered too loudly, his ear hurting from their pitch. He puts his hand up to it for a second before moving his hand down. Elio walks up to the stage and receives his diploma, he shakes the principal’s hand firmly. “Congratulations.” The principal smiled proudly.

  “Thanks!” Elio nodded, returning the enthusiasm. The principal breaks the handshake, Elio then walks back to his seat.

  * * *

  May 31st, 2018. 4:40 PM.

  Ten minutes pass as the ceremony finally comes to a close, all the students throw their caps in the air and everyone’s friends and relatives step onto the field to congratulate them. Elio, on the other hand, simply takes off running at high speed while holding his diploma. He hurdles over the school’s front gate before dashing through the city, passing a sign that says ‘Gull’s Bay Outskirts.’ He rushes upwards toward a small area in the mountainside of the city of Gull’s Bay. Elio jumps through some trees in a forest before diving for the ground, upon landing, he somersaults and stands up, ending up on a large, secluded field surrounded by trees, as well as there being a large cottage on the other side of the field.

  “Alright, time to get down to business!” Elio pops his neck and walks inside the cottage, despite its dingy appearance on the outside, the interior is clean all around and well-kept. "Reggie, I'm back!" He called. No reaction is given; "Reggie?" He asked as he peaked into a different room, only to find nothing. "Where is that boy? Oh well, I'm sure he's fine."

  He takes off his cap and gown, setting them on the floor, underneath his gown, he wears a red formal suit with a grey shirt underneath. He walks over to a coffee table, where a large leather camping backpack is resting, having already been packed up. A pair of visor sunglasses with black rims and a blue lens sits on top of the backpack as well, Elio puts them on his face, he then grabs and puts his backpack on, making his way walking out the door.

  He looks back at the cottage, smiling; “Well, this is it.” Elio makes his way out of the woods and heads back to downtown Gull’s Bay.

  * * *

  Elio stops by at a flower shop and buys a bouquet of orange roses. He leaves the shop and stops at a cemetery, walking toward a headstone, he stops in front of it before crouching over and setting down the bouquet, he then stands up straight. In a soft voice, he speaks to the grave; “Hey, Alice, it’s me. I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I’ll be heading out now, and that I wanted to say goodbye. Even after two years, I still think about you all the time. Hopefully we can meet each other again someday.”

  He turns around and begins to walk away, as he does, a large, hairy cat with green fur, blue paw pads and ears, and dark eyes is walking on the wall of the cemetery. It spots Elio and immediately runs up to him; “Elio! I’ve been looking all over for you!” The cat shouted with excitement.

  Elio’s tone of voice quickly shifts from soft and sensitive to one of excitement; “Reggie! There you are!” Elio holds his arm, letting Reggie jump up. He perches onto Elio's shoulder. “I told you that I’d meet you back at the house after graduation.” Elio said as he began to stroke Reggie’s chin.

  “I know, but I decided I’d go hunting while I wait. I lost track of the time though.” Reggie purred. "Eh, doesn’t really matter. We’re both here, so we can head out now.” Elio replied before walking out of the cemetery.

  * * *

  Several minutes pass and they eventually reach a tall building, Elio and Reggie both look up at it. Elio glanced over; “Well, here we are. Ready to become superheroes, buddy?” “You bet!” Reggie nodded. Elio nods back and walks inside the building.

  Elio approaches the front desk, the receptionist looks up at him, she smiles; “Hi, welcome! How can I help you?”

  Elio places his diploma down on the counter. “Hi, I’m here to take the superhero recruitment exams. I called in yesterday, name’s Elio King. Oh, and my cat’s here for the same reason.” He points his thumb at Reggie, who holds out his paw to say hello.

  “Aww, he’s so cute!” She responds as she’s typing out on her keyboard, she then looks at the monitor. “Alright, here you are. Elio King. Height is 5’11, brown hair, blue eyes, weight is 187 pounds, and I can see you have a diploma.” Elio nods; “Yep! That’s me!”

  The receptionist does some computer work, she then stares at Elio; “Alright, you’re all registered to take the exams…” She hands him a card to allow him to take the test, she continues; “...though I have to warn you that with how difficult and long the tests are, you might not have enough time to finish them as the exams are over by 8 pm. And it’s 5:10 right now, so I hope you’re able to finish by then. FYI, you're not allowed to take the exams a second time if you fail.” She warns.

  Elio takes the card; “Got it! I’ll be sure to finish before then. Oh, and before I go over to where the exams are taken, where should I leave my backpack?” “Oh, you can just set it down. Someone will come to keep it safe in a locker.” She answered.

  “Alright, cool.” He replied as he started taking off a strap. Reggie hops onto the counter so Elio can take the strap off his other shoulder, he then sets the backpack on the floor. “Ok, Reggie! Let’s get going!” Elio ordered as he began to walk toward the first testing area. “Right!” Reggie replied, catching up by leaping from the counter and perching on his shoulder again. The receptionist is caught in a daze, not knowing if she just heard Reggie speak or if her mind was playing tricks on her.

  The two make their way out back and spot an instructor, the instructor hears the door close and looks at them with his arms crossed. “Hmm? Oh, I didn’t think there would be any other people taking the test today. No matter, go to that starting line over there. I’ll tell you when to start, then you must finish the obstacle course. You get ten minutes. If you don’t, go back to the start and try again. The course is half a mile in distance.” He explained.

  “Right!” Elio nodded as he and Reggie made their way to the starting line. Reggie hops off of Elio’s shoulder and stretches while Elio pops his neck and swings his arms to loosen them up.

  The timer is set up on a giant panel that can be seen anywhere on the course, the instructor starts the timer. "Goodbye," he said calmly.

  Immediately, the two rush after hearing him. The first obstacle loomed ahead, a series of towering walls of over fifty feet meant to test both strength and agility. Without hesitation, Elio sprints toward the barriers, his legs shooting him upward with ludicrous precision. He scales each wall, showing off his athleticism as he clears the first set with ease. Reggie finishes in unison as he simply just runs up each wall, thanks to his amazing agility.

  As they move along, the next obstacle in front of them is a rope climb that leads to a cargo net suspended high above the ground. Reggie jumps and clings onto Elio’s blazer as Elio leaps forward, gripping the coarse rope, he swings forward before pulling down in order to leap higher, gripping the rope once more and ascending swiftly, his muscle fibers working in tandem to pull him upwards. Reaching the top, Reggie hops off and goes on ahead as Elio flips onto the net. The two navigate the intricate web of ropes as though they were spiders. The instructor, upon spectating, raises an eyebrow at their efficiency, as the course demands not just physical prowess, but strategic thinking.

  The terrain shifts to muddy trenches, demanding a combination of agility and endurance. Elio plows through the muck with unwavering confidence, his fancy getup stained horribly, but his focus unfazed. The rhythmic pounding of his shoes against the soft earth echoes as he and Reggie approach a set of monkey bars, a deceptively simple challenge that tests grip strength and coordination.

  Elio grabs onto Reggie with one arm and uses his other to grab the bar, to swing, he lets go of the bar while performing a 180 degree twist flip, while upside down, he grabs the bar by using his leg. Elio then keeps swapping between his free hand and his foot in order to cross the set of bars, the instructor marvels the unorthodox, animalistic approach. The ground beneath them appears like a blur as Elio traverses the monkey bars.

  As they cross, Elio lets go of Reggie as they continue dashing, the climax of the course approaches, that being an imposing wall known for its sheer height and formidable ascent of over a hundred feet. Undeterred, Elio eyes the obstacle, a determined glint from his visor appears. Without hesitation, they sprint toward the wall, channeling their raw skill. In a display of animalistic craze, Elio executes a wall run on all fours alongside Reggie, both of them reaching the top in seconds. Elio grabs onto Reggie as he uses his free hand and his foot on the same side to slide down the wall, the two land and make a mad dash for the end of the course, crossing the finish line.

  “Woo! Nice hustle, Reggie!” Elio shouted. "Thanks, you did great too!" Reggie replied, violently shaking the mud off his fur as Elio stretches.

  The instructor runs around the outside of the course, reaching them. “I’m amazed! Every other person taking the tests today, they were nowhere near as fast as you two! The fastest previously was almost seven minutes, yet here you two completed it in under three!”

  Reggie sits down and licks his paw; “What can I say besides we’re just like that?” He smugly replied.

  The instructor goes back to acting more professional. “Well, since you two are finished with the first part of the test, you’re free to either take a break, or go straight to the second phase of the exam. The second phase is in the garage behind this door.” He explains as he opens the doorway. “We’ll just get straight into it.” Elio answered. As he and Reggie step through the doorway, they’re greeted with an interior reminiscent of that of a fighting gym. A large, spacious training area with padded mats, mirrored walls, and even various weapons meant for weapon-styled martial arts, such as Shinai. “So… who’s my opponent?” Elio asked as he crossed his arms.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The instructor simply gestures his arm toward a line of training dummies, as he gestures, all the dummies eyes open up, shining red, revealing that they’re robots. “They will be your opponents. These combat robots are programmed to utilize vast kinds of martial arts. The goal for this test is to simply work your way up from one robot to fighting all five at once. Beat them all and you get to move onto the final part of the exam.” He explains.

  “Would it be cool if I could just skip ahead and fight all five of them? If the goal is to beat all of them at once, I might as well save what little time I have by fighting the whole batch.” Elio explained as he took off each glove by gently biting one of the fingers and moving his hand away. The instructor shrugged; “If you wish, it's not recommended, but I'm not here to stop you, they are. Whenever you’re ready, you can start. And feel free to choose whatever weapon you like.”

  Elio steps up and lightly pounds his fists together; “I appreciate it, but I'm good with just myself.” He cockishly responds, smirking. Elio looks down at Reggie; “I’ll go first, Reggie. So you sit back, relax, and watch a master show how it’s done.” “Ok.” Reggie yawned as he replied. He sits down and scratches his head. Elio looks at the robots and holds one fist out. “Bring it!” He shouted. The instructor steps off the mat and activates the robots, all of them locking onto Elio.

  “Begin!” The instructor called.

  The first robot attacks by swiping a bokken diagonally. Elio swiftly evades the strike by performing a backflip, jumping over the swipe, he converts and counters by spinning on the ball of his foot and landing a spin kick hard enough to knock the robot down. Two robots simultaneously lunge toward him, but Elio blocks their strikes by catching their weapons with each hand, only to then pull the weapons in his direction, knocking both of them down by clotheslining both of them on the head. He sees the fourth robot’s approach, he gets on his hands and starts spinning, using his momentum to land multiple spinning kicks on the robot, sending it hurling toward the floor as well. Elio spots the last robot attempting to swing down on him with a club, but Elio dodges the strike by diving toward the floor, rolling to the side and jumping up off the floor to perform another spin kick, this time, striking it in the neck and sending it to the ground.

  Elio pops his shoulder; “Alright, where do I go for the last part of the test?” He asked casually. The instructor simply points to a door; “Go through that door. It’ll take you back around to the entrance of this place. The receptionist will explain the last test.” He explained.

  Elio replied; “Cool!” He then looks at Reggie; “I’ll wait for you there, ok, Reggie?” “Yeah, sounds good.” Reggie waves his paw.

  Elio makes his way back to the lobby. “Hey, I’m back!” He spoke with enthusiasm as he puts his hands on the counter in front of the receptionist. “Oh, welcome back! That was fast! I’m guessing you’re ready to take the final test?” She asked. “Yeah! Oh, and the cat will be back here in a bit.” Elio replied.

  The receptionist nods; “Got it. Oh, and by the way, I don’t want to sound crazy, but does that cat talk? Like it actually knows how to speak English?” She asked, a bit worried that she said something stupid. “That’s right!” Elio answered, assuring her. The receptionist takes a deep breath, feeling relieved that it wasn't just her. She looks at Elio; “I’m curious, how does he know how to talk?” She asked curiously.

  “Oh, that?” Elio responded, showing excitement out of a love for science. “Cats have over sixty different pitches for different kinds of meows they can make. Reggie's smart enough to where he learned how to mimic verbal communication through using his larynx to convert different pitches per meow, making it sound as though he’s speaking our language. When in reality, he’s actually just meowing really weirdly.”

  The receptionist is stunned. “That’s… really cool, actually! I’ve never heard of an animal smart enough to comprehend verbal communication before.” Reggie suddenly appears as he hops on the counter; “Oh, speak of the devil! Hey Reggie, I was just waiting on you! So, how’d it go?” Elio asked, smiling.

  Reggie yawns; “It was easy, no trouble. Anyway, when’s the last test starting? I’m hungry and I wanna finish as soon as possible.”

  The receptionist reaches into a drawer. “Right, hold on,” she grabs a small, circular device from the drawer and hands it to Elio. “What’s this?” Elio asked, looking at it from other angles.

  “It’s a radar for the final test. It’s a mix between the previous two trials. Those markings you see on that radar, the ones that are blinking, those are targets, which are only within the boundaries of Gull’s Bay. To get a target, you need to find and beat your target in a one-on-one. If you can take out five in total, you’ll have passed. The systems here record each target captured through whichever radar is pressed on the target. You can’t share targets, nor can you go after ones that have been captured. If you see any ‘X’ markings on your radar, that means that it’s been captured.” She explains.

  “Wait, we can’t go after ones that have been captured, nor can we share targets? Are you saying this test is a free-for-all?” Elio tilts his head. The receptionist nods; “Yes, it’s a free-for-all. The Superhero Branch is very serious on who they recruit, they prefer the quality over quantity. So there’s a limited amount, meaning not everyone can pass, as they want to find the people who have what it takes, rather than those who just have potential.” She explained.

  Immediately after hearing her explain why it’s a free-for-all and that there’s only such a short amount of targets, Elio and Reggie’s hairs spike up in surprise. “We gotta hightail it, Reggie!” Elio shouted worriedly as he began to rush out of the building.

  Reggie runs out the building alongside him, both panicked as neither of them were aware of it being a free-for-all. Reggie looked up at Elio as they sprint; “How many targets are there? There needs to be at least ten open targets, that way we both get five each in order to pass!” He shouted.

  “I don’t know, but I pray to God there’s enough!” Elio yelled back as he scrolls out a bit, he counts quietly in his head, muttering. “Wait! There’s eleven that haven’t been captured! They’re in different coordinates of the city, but they’re there! If we’re quick about it, we can take turns with each one we find. I’ll let you get the first one!” “Right!” Reggie nodded as the two booked it.

  * * *

  May 31st, 2018. 5:30 pm

  Time passes, Elio had just taken down his fourth target in the streets of downtown Gull's Bay, leaving both him and Reggie at one more to go. “Hell yeah! We only got one more to go, then we’re home free! And with over two hours to spare!” Elio said with excitement. He then takes a look at the radar.

  “So, where’s my last target?” Reggie asked eagerly, ready to get his side of the test over with. Elio stares at the radar; “The hell…?” Elio muttered in confusion.

  Reggie takes notice and perches onto Elio to look at the radar. “What’s up?” “The radar… there’s only one target left when there should have been three.” Elio explained, still dumbfounded.

  Reggie’s ears fold back; “What?! Do you mean someone already took two of them?! How are we supposed to pass now if there’s only one left?!” He asks back, matching his shock and confusion. “Well this blows!” Elio says as he scrolls around the map of Gull’s Bay. “There’s literally nothing else that can be done!” Upon hearing this, Reggie slumps forward, disappointed by the revelation.

  “Darn…” Reggie exhales. Elio takes a deep breath and starts walking, as he exhales, he tries to keep an optimistic tone. “Let’s just get something to eat, and we can try to find a workaround. There has to be SOMETHING that can be done.” He suggests.

  Reggie exhales pathetically as he slumps forward even more; “Well, I am pretty hungry, so I can go for some. More importantly, I hope you’re at least right about the workaround idea.” He responded. Elio nods in response as he walks.

  * * *

  The two stand at a pier, Elio is leaning back on the fence of the dock while looking at the waves and eating a bacon cheeseburger, while Reggie is sitting on his hind legs on top of a dining table, having eaten five orders of mussels and clams, currently plowing through the sixth order of them. Reggie looks at Elio as he finishes devouring his food, he then perches onto the fence. “Yes, I’m going to finish it.” Elio said, chuckling a little bit. “What? No, I was gonna ask if you’ve thought of any ideas yet.” Reggie replied.

  “Oh, no, still no ideas…” Elio frowned slightly, looking back at the sea. “Darn, that’s a shame.” Reggie puts his head down, he then turns his gaze over to the sea, admiring the view as well. “Well, at least we have this nice view.” Reggie says, trying to stay optimistic.

  Elio takes a bite of his burger before chugging it down with some soda. “That’s true. It’s gorgeous out today, especially with the orange sky.” Reggie tilts his head; “Orange? Oh right, I forgot, you can see more colors than I can. I just see a greyish-yellow sky.”

  “Huh, you know, I’ve always been interested in how different species perceive colors.” Elio responds. Reggie nods; “Yeah. It’s why words such as ‘red’, ‘orange’, ‘brown’, and ‘purple’ always make me so confused as it gets my head spinning, just trying to imagine what they look like.” He explained.

  Elio laughs upon hearing that; “I can imagine! I feel the same way, but that's only with ultraviolet. Though, it's not really a color, it's electromagnetic radiation in a range of energies that’s higher than visible light, which makes UV invisible to the human eye. Though a lot of species can process them, like birds.” He explained.

  Reggie puts his paw over his head and mutters; “Shut up, that’s only hurting my brain the more I try to fathom it.” Elio taps Reggie on the head. “My bad, but yeah, it’s pretty weird trying to process it. Besides, there’s always going to be other animals that see less color than you, so just live with the ones you can see. Alright?”

  Reggie licks his paw; “Yeah. At least in favor of not seeing as many colors, and oh, hey, a dolphin just jumped out of the water.” Reggie says, getting distracted.

  Elio looks back toward the sea. "A dolphin? Where? I didn't see any- oh, yeah, I forgot. Your species has... six fovea, so you can see even further and better than both people and eagles. So how far was that dolphin, like six miles?" He asked.

  "Yeah. It's pretty great being able to see so much and so well." Reggie replies.

  “Yeah… Oh wait! I just got an idea, Reggie!” Elio raised his voice optimistically. Reggie’s ears perk up as he looks at him. “What’s up? Did you figure out a solution to our problem?”

  “Possibly! I'm grasping at straws, but this could still work!” Elio replied as he raised his finger. He hands the rest of his burger to Reggie. Elio takes his phone out and starts searching something up, he then shows it to Reggie, an article about drug deals. “Trivia question, Reggie. Why are there drug dealers from Latin America traveling by sea in order to transport drugs into California?” As he asks, Reggie is already finished with the rest of the burger, he then looks up and answers. “Uh… isn’t it because the president is trying to close the American borders?”

  “Exactly right, Reggie! So, if they’re trying to transport them here by sea, then what we need to do is use your amazing eyesight to spot them out at sea! That way, we can rent a speedboat, go wherever they are, knock their shit, bring them back, and hopefully, they’ll give us compensation and let us be registered superheroes!” He explained. Reggie’s eyes widened. Elio puts his phone in his pocket and reaches into his wallet; “Don’t worry, I got some quarters in here, so we can use one of those telescopes to help you see even further!”

  Elio puts the quarters in a slot and taps the telescope; “Alright, Reggie! It’s all yours, do your thing!”

  “Thanks!” Reggie replied as he put his eye close to it. As he gazes around the splashing waves and seagulls flying around, he spots a seagull flying lower to the water, but not in a diving position, instead, its wings are spread out, as though it were planning to land somewhere.

  He follows the seagull and notices an island that was revealed, through it, a mist surrounding the lower part of the island as there’s a large mass sticking out from the center. Palm trees gently sway as they peek out from the mist in the coastal breeze. Reggie discerns intricate details, such as a pristine shoreline, golden sands kissed by the azure waves, and lush green vegetation covering the center of the island. The seagulls soaring above, their wings casting shadows on the landscape. Reggie’s almost in awe by the scenery, but as he gazes toward it, he spots something on the mountain of the island.

  The craggy peak rumbles the terrain, as the ground trembles beneath. A massive fracture line carves its way through the giant rock, revealing a luminous, metallic glow within. With an otherworldly grace, the mountain began to split apart, revealing a colossal, metallic structure emerging from its depths. The metallic behemoth rises like a colossal sentinel, unfurling itself from the confines of the mountain’s rocky embrace. Gleaming in an ethereal light, the structure lays in stark contrast to the rugged trees that are standing up. “Elio, I know I’m supposed to be on the lookout for drug dealers, but what I’m seeing is unreal!”

  Elio raised an eyebrow. “What is it?” He asked. “This island that I found, the mountain split apart and something that looks like a giant metallic ship came out! It has a weird look to it, like a whale! The front of the ship has the meticulous curvature and soft contours of a whale’s head!” As Reggie explained in shock.

  Elio leaned in, curious. “A whale? Hold on, let me look something up, I swear, I've heard of something like that before…” Elio takes out his phone and types in "metal ship that looks like whale." As he searches, he finds a picture of an image with that exact description that Reggie gave him. He shows the photo to him; “Did it look like this by any chance?!”Reggie eyes the photo, he then double takes by looking at the island through the telescope before looking back at the picture. His ears perk up; “Yes! That’s exactly what I’m seeing! Why?! Is it something important?!” He asks loudly.

  Elio smiles widely and picks him up by the arms. “Reggie, you just saved our asses! We don't need this radar anymore! I already found our target! What you saw belongs to a dangerous criminal organization that even Five-Star Heroes don’t want to deal with, known as ‘The Sky Pirates!'" He explained, excited. Reggie’s jaw opens; “I’m listening.”

  Elio sets him down and looks at the sea; “We’re gonna take down their leader, Gendross!” Reggie looks up at Elio. Elio jumps up onto the pier’s railing, he gestures for Reggie to hop on. Reggie perches onto his shoulder, Elio smiles as Reggie purrs. Elio then clears his throat “So, that island's where our next target is. That's fine by me, taking down a real criminal sounds a lot cooler than fighting fake ones!"

  Elio then turns around and jumps off the railing, Reggie clinging on tight to his blazer. "Let's get going!"