There was a surprising amount of crazy people in this university for Heroes.

Case in point, Azam Batma. I could only describe him as a massive slab of scales that was born hating me. He was one of the few people I had to look up to properly see. Oh, and he attacked me out of nowhere.

We were standing in the plain on the other side of the bridge mansion. A sea of people surrounded us. A sea of people I flew towards with Azam’s punch. Someone managed to catch me.

“The hell’s wrong with you!?” I stood up straighter. I still didn’t have any gloves. Apparently they were going to give them to me alongside my costume. And my hands itched.

For a brief moment, I wasn’t looking at Azam. I was looking at someone just as massive. Mimas. One of them at least. Wheezing breaths and the stink of death overpowered all my senses.

My fingers cracked as I flexed them. Finally, something to kill and not feel bad about.

A hand on my shoulder stopped me. It was cold. Everything around me suddenly got colder. Like autumn became winter. A comforting winter. I turned to the hand. Blue eyes looked back at me. Blue eyes and black hair with blue streaks.

Birgit. And I realised what had happened. Azam was Azam again and I was a hero-to-be. A college student. Not a failed hero. Not Charles’ assassin.

Ahmed and Ivan stepped in between us. They appeared out of nowhere. A buffer between me and Azam. A buffer that was probably needed right about now.

Murmurs from the crowd. Why did he have to be here? There were a lot of things that made someone unfit to be a hero. Azam had pretty much all of them on hold.

I didn’t say anything. Not anything I wanted to at least. Azam shouldn’t remember me. Not after Charles messed with everyone’s minds. So I had to act like I didn’t know him either.

But why would he attack me out of the blue?

“My name is Azam,” he said. “I’ve heard about you, Alexander Adamos. Looked you up. You fought with Alpha Surge. I saw him fly toward you. Like he knew you. I don’t know how or why.

“So I looked you up. You were less than mediocre. And one day, out of nowhere, Birgit’s spending more and more time with you, you start excelling. It’s just all a bit suspicious. I can feel it in my core, Adamos. And I don’t like you.”

“Azam!” Birgit’s voice. She stepped in front of me too. “Leave. Now.”

And he did. With a scoff and a nod to her. Everyone got back to their business, and Ivan and Ahmed came straight to us.

“I’m sorry about him,” said Birgit. “He’s a bonehead from my Mansion. I don’t know what got into him, though.”

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“Charles’ powers aren’t as strong as they were when he was younger.” I looked around, making sure nobody was listening. “He wiped people’s memories but–clearly–he didn’t wipe everything. We all managed to reunite.”

“So you’d met Azam?” asked Birgit. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it wasn’t important. He’d looked down on me a bit. We had a tense training session together. That was it.”

Still, if Azam was able to piece so much together, then who knew what others could do. Suddenly I thought of Sadid. He’d fought against us with Sofia. Told some lies that made me out as a villain.

What if he’d remembered them? A thousand what-ifs, all centred around my life here in Atlantis. Around everything Charles had changed. But, hopefully, it wouldn’t change anything about our plan.

It was all in the tournament. Jensen had given us a clue. It was now up to us to figure it out.

For now, I just looked around. They’d told all of us sophomores to gather around our mansion. The one with the most free area around it. Some sort of announcement. If I had to guess, I’d say it had to do

“You alright, Alex?” I heard Ahmed ask.

“I think he’s just having difficulty breathing,” said Ivan. “Air pressure is low all the way up there.”

“Really?” I said as deadpan as I could. “Tall jokes? I thought you had more material in you.”

“Sometimes the classics work best.”

“Maybe a giant’s sense of humour just doesn’t match our puny human jokes.”

“Et tu, Birgit?”

We all laughed at the little exchange–even Ahmed. It felt nice to have this-this normalcy after everything. Like a break. Or the calm before the storm as the pessimistic voice in my head insisted on calling it.

A flash of light. Everything was drowned out by glowing red and gold. An overwhelming sensation that died down not a full moment later.

And Professor Mystic was floating above us all. His cape was floating in the wind and golden symbols were glowing on his arms.

“I despise speeches,” he said, looking down at us. “It’s my job to give them, but I can’t help but feel pretentious whenever I do. I do not hide that fact. A hero is supposed to be open and honest.

“But a hero is also supposed to be human. Live and laugh. And cry. And so much more. Because the moment we lose our humanity is the moment we start down a road that we cannot come back from. Bottom line. Secret identities. You’ll all be teleported in secret areas across the island. And when you’re done I’ll bring you back. The rest will be explained by the people there.”

Murmurs all around us. Excited ones this time, not like before. And I couldn’t deny the excitement bubbling up inside me too. Everything started feeling more real. Even through all the danger, this was amazing.

Ivan’s hand slapped my shoulder.

“Secret identities? Did I hear that right? Or did I hallucinate?”

“Secret identities!” The fanboy was bubbling out. “I can’t even describe how awesome that is!”

“Oh, you just figured that out?” said Ahmed.

“Don’t bother,” giggled Birgit. “We lost them the second the phrase secret identities were uttered.”

Professor Mystic raised his hands. The golden symbols got more and more intense.

“This is the last time I see you as mere students. With your names and identities out in the open like this. Starting tomorrow, all of you will be covered in your identities. By the time of the tournament, you’ll be clad in your suits. Wr brxu dvvljqhg urrp!”

Another blinding glow. And Moros was about to be reborn.