The car is missing, and he has not called me back yet. Is he in the inner city? Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

Loter clutched the edge of the rarely used workbench while strenuously and nervously breathing.

His eyes turned wet with a faint redness. The garage's petroleum smell had Loter snorting. He knitted his brows, restraining his tears from seeping out of his eyes.

Then, Loter's fingers penetrated through the workbench. Wood chips burst upward and gave Loter a small nick on his cheek. As Loter drew back his hand, the chunk of the workbench he just held dropped to the floor. The nick was recovered right after.

Can I? I do have an ordering power, so maybe I can save him myself? Am I really strong enough? No, no, no. That does not matter. Dad told me to help people, and now he is in danger, so my ability should not be a concern. It is an ordering power that I have. I can save him. I will save him, but what about—

"Hey, the TV said the invasion is not extending out of the inner city. I am going to take a nap now. Don't bother me, alright?" Loter's mother yelled through the wall, clearing out Loter's last worry.

He immediately rushed out of the duplex. The lawn was green, the houses were still, and the road was as empty as it could it.

Alright, how do I get there? Oh, fuck. I don't have a car, and no taxi goes into invaded areas. Ahhhh, I will just run.

Loter bounced once or twice on the black asphalt road and sprinted forward. Although he was never an athletic person, he had learned about swinging hands to increase one's speed. Hence, he began vigorously paddling his arms to and fro. He knew he was most likely not doing it correctly. Yet, he had no concern as long as it could increase his chance of saving his father.

Soon, he sensed the soreness in his shoulders and upper arms. He wanted to stop. He would have if he were in a PE class. Yet, he had gone too far. There was no option for stopping. He had to keep running, even if his thighs ached and his knees went numb.

There was a sharp pain in his lungs and heart that made every breath of air piercingly cold. His sweat rained down his head and every other part of his body. His wet curtain of hair adhered to his forehead. Two patches stuck at the corners of his eyes, guiding the salty sweat into them.

On the brink of exhaustion and physical discomfort, Loter felt a wind. It was not the hefty gale of air resistance but a cooling breeze that washed off the illness in his muscles. Loter could no longer feel his body. He knew he was moving his limbs, but he sensed no weight or resistance on his way.

Power Activation: [unknown]

Before Loter noticed, everything on the two sides of the road was flying out of his sight. He was as fast as a dashing car. The suburban houses and their yards soon disappeared from his peripheral vision. The metal forest of the urban area surrounded him. Thus, he stopped.

Not a pedestrian was on the street. Only empty vehicles were parked on the road or at the sides. The invasion happened in the central part of the city. Most of the police force and the local superheroes were probably there.

Granted, Kniton may not be there. He could be anywhere. Loter only realized that right now.

Fuck, how do I find my father? Why have I never thought about it? Now, what can I—

Disrupting Loter's thought, the roar of an explosion came from atop. Loter looked up. The top part of a seven-story office building burned with a giant hole beneath the roof. A human-shaped figure, a tiny spot compared to the hole, jumped off the building, landing several dozen or so meters away from Loter. The tiled street busted from the landing. Dust floated in the air.

"What?" Loter shouted while covering his eyes from the wave of dusty air.

As the dirty haze dissipated, the figure became clear. It was a large, tanned man with a white rag as his coat and a pair of black shorts that was thrice wider than Loter's. His heavy fists alone were bigger than Loter's head. The curly mane on his head was long enough to touch his own waist. There was no sign of training or exercise on the man's round belly. He was just an obese giant.

The bare appearance of the giant aroused the fright within Loter. Subconsciously, Loter shifted his feet backward.

Scratching his naked chin, the gigantic man locked his green eyes on the little teenager. "Huh? Why aren't you hiding, kid?"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Why is he asking me that? Is he a superhero? But he just exploded a building.

"I need to go find my dad. He is probably in the invaded area," Loter responded cautiously without leaking too much information.

"Hm, you know his location?"

"No, but I will find a way."

"Huh… Don't all parents have some kind of app to share locations so they know you aren't in a strip club or something?"

"Wait." Loter immediately pulled out his phone.

"Have a nice day."

Oh yeah, "Find Me." I have this app… Let's see… My father is currently at Wingman's Candy Shop. Okay, I can get there in no time.

Loter shoved his phone back into his pocket. The man just wobbled back toward the office building.

"Wait again," Loter called, "why did you just blow a hole in that building?"

"That's the headquarters of MintPulse. I was hired to sabotage their business."

"Is that legal?"

"Hm! Of course not."

"Well, then." Loter awkwardly paused for a second and exclaimed without much strength in his voice, "I can't let you continue."

"Uh, you are a superhero?" The giant man turned back at Loter while scratching his hairy head.

"I will be one, and I'm going to stop you here."

"Don't you need to save your father?"

"He told me I need to help people."

"Hm," the man looked aside and scratched his chin for a moment. He said, "Don't worry about here. No one's in this building."

He has a point. I am in a hurry to save my father. If no one is inside, it is probably not too bad. Alright, I will just have to let it slide.

"Just don't hurt anyone."

"Copy that, captain."

Loter began running again. His arms and legs swung as hard as possible. After several dozen meters, his newly gained power activated again. He dashed toward the candy store like a racing star. Within minutes, he saw a police car beside the road and two traffic barriers blocking his way. The officer inside the vehicle came out as Loter approached from afar.

"Stop right there. Every superhero needs to display their hero license."

I don't have a license or time for this. Sorry, officer. I will come to you after my dad is safe.

Loter charged through the gap between the traffic barriers, accidentally kicking them aside. He could hear the officer shouting into his walkie-talkie. Of course, he neglected him.

Loter also ignored all the roaming centipede monsters and their leftovers as he rushed by. There was no point saving corpses, anyway. He just kept running.

The Wingman's Candy Shop was just five streets away. He would be there in no time.

I can actually save my father! I am almost there.

A faint smile emerged on Loter's face. The excitement of finally implementing his father's teaching stacked on an early relief as if he had already reunited with his living father.

He even fantasized about how he would heroically beat the monsters. His smile widened. The sadness of being dumped was literally just last night. Now, Loter was about to meet the first peak of his life.

A crossroad was before him, and behind its corner was the shop. Loter had checked Kniton's location several times on his way. He was right there. He was right behind the corner.

Loter darted through the junction and spotted the enormous centipede-like monster sucking on an immobile human body.

That can't be.

Loter, with his fantasy faltering and quivering by the brink of a cliff, dashed forward in a straight line. The creature raised its head and quickly slithered out of the way.

Loter Spawman halted in front of Kniton Spawman. Loter stopped before the corpse that was opened from the midriff. Kniton had his limbs naturally extending outward like one would when taking a nap on a grassy hill. Else than his messy mustache, there was no stress on his face. His lips curled neither up nor down; his eyebrows were free from any scowl, glower, and frown; his eyes pointed directly at the cloudy yet vast sky.

Then, the monster attacked, lunging forward. Its two protruding fangs stabbed into Loter's right waist. Its weight pushed him through the glass showcase, shoving him into the candy store. Loter smashed into a row of shelves, breaking several and toppling a few others. His left shoulder was dislocated, having borne the brunt of the impact.

Frailly, Loter lay on the wreckage of shelves, the fangs still in his waist. The monster opened its mouth. Its two fangs pulled outward in opposite directions. Loter's dizziness was wiped out as the sharp edge of the fangs pressed on his flesh and sliced his abdomen open.

"Ahhhh—" Loter screamed and swallowed his groan back in immediately. The monster drew its head back and jabbed again toward Loter's lacerated stomach.

This is how it killed my father. It cut his belly open and ate his organs. Fuck, fuck it. It has to pay. It has to pay for killing my father.

Loter reached out his functioning right hand and held the monster back by the maxilla(upper jaw). The tips of its fangs clapped repeatedly as the situation fell into a deadlock. Despite the extreme pain in his abdomen, Loter withstood the monster.

Quickly. Isn't healing a part of my superpower? Quickly, heal my left arm. Heal it. Heal it now.

Loter focused all his attention on his numbed left arm, imagining using it again. He needed this arm now. He could not hold much longer with only one hand. He clenched his teeth while suspending his breath just to move his left arm again.

Yet, there was no miracle. He panted with his mouth open. The defense eventually loosened. The clapping fangs came closer and closer as Loter's vision blurred.

Am I going to die here? I don't want to die here. I want to be a hero and help people, just like how my father taught me. I want to avenge him. I won't disappoint him… I will last least leave a mark on you before I die.

With his last burst of strength, Loter strengthened his grip on the monster's jaw. His fingers pierced through the crab-like shell, crushing half of the monster's head. He even tore it off as the monster quickly pulled back and hit the ceiling.