Class dismissed early so after school, I decided to spend the rest of my day wandering around. You know, actually explore New York for once.
I never really had the chance since we moved here. There was unpacking. Then school started right away. Then the whole giant lizard incident that put me in the hospital for a week. Not exactly ideal circumstances for sightseeing.
So yeah. Time to actually see what this city was about.
I texted Mom to let her know I'd be out for a bit. She replied almost immediately with a "Be careful" and "Call me if you need anything."
I started walking with no real destination in mind. Just followed wherever my feet took me.
People walked past me, everyone in their own world. Headphones in. Eyes on their phones. Nobody paying attention to anyone else.
That's what I liked about big cities. You could just disappear into the crowd. Be invisible.
It was nice.
Made me think about Dad. How he'd always wanted to move to a city. He grew up in Kansas his whole life, same as me. But he used to talk about living somewhere bigger. Somewhere with more opportunities, more things to see and do.
Well. Here I was. In one of the biggest cities in the world.
I just wish he was here to see it with me.
I shook my head. No point dwelling on that. He was gone. Nothing I could do about it.
I pulled out my phone and checked the map. I'd wandered pretty far from home. About twenty minutes on foot.
It was still early, and I had no plans to go home yet.
There was a park up ahead. Nothing huge, just a small neighborhood park with some benches and a playground. A few kids were running around, while their parents watching from the sidelines.
I sat down on an empty bench and just watched for a bit.
Then I heard it.
That sound. Like jet engines roaring overhead, but smoother.
I looked up just in time to see a streak of red and gold shoot across the sky.
Iron Man.
Holy shit.
I saw him on TV. Heard about him on the news years ago. Tony Stark, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, all that stuff.
Three years ago he got kidnapped during a trip to Afghanistan. Everyone thought he was dead. Took a month before they found him. Then when he came back, he shut down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division. Just like that. The reason? He saw how dangerous his weapons had become. How they were being used to hurt people instead of protect them.
That was big news. Even in Kansas, everyone was talking about it. A weapons manufacturer shutting down their main business? That was insane. The stocks tanked. People lost their minds.
But then he built the armor. The Iron Man suit. And suddenly it all made sense.
I remember geeking out about it back then. Dad and I watched the news coverage together. Tony Stark flying around in a suit of armor, fighting terrorists, saving people. It was like something out of a comic book, except it was real.
A few other people in the park noticed too. Pointing up. Taking out their phones to record. One kid shouted "Iron Man!" jumping up and down with excitement.
Then boom!
Something exploded.
What the fuck.
I jerked my head around, trying to locate the explosion. Smoke was rising from somewhere downtown. Maybe three blocks away? Four? Hard to tell from here.
It was not just one explosion. Multiple. Buildings were burning. And there was something else. Something in the sky.
A hole.
No, not a hole. A portal. A swirling vortex of blue energy hanging in the air above the city like some kind of sci-fi nightmare.
And things were coming through it.
Flying thing. Lots of them. Pouring out of that portal like ants from a disturbed nest.
They were heading toward the ground. Toward the buildings. Toward people.
What the actual hell was happening?
Humanoid figures running down the street about three blocks away. But they weren't human. Not even close. They had this weird reptilian look to them. Gray-green skin. Ridged faces. And they were wearing armor. Dark plating with glowing blue energy cores, carrying weapons that looked like something out of a video game.
Alien soldiers.
Holy shit. Those were aliens.
There had to be a dozen of them just in my line of sight. Smashing through storefronts. Blasting cars with those energy weapons. People were screaming. Running. Trying to get away as these things tore through the street like they owned it.
One of them jumped onto a parked car and let out this horrible shrieking sound. Like metal scraping against metal mixed with something organic and wrong.
My brain couldn't process what I was seeing. Aliens? In New York?
The parents in the park were already grabbing their kids, shouting at them to run. People were pulling out phones, either to call 911 or record everything. One woman was just standing there frozen, staring at the chaos.
I stood up from the bench, my heart hammering in my chest.
Iron Man was already changing direction. I could see him in the sky, banking hard and flying back toward the invasion. His repulsors flared brighter as he picked up speed. He wasn't alone either. I caught a glimpse of something else flying. Someone in a red cape. And was that a guy with a shield?
One of the alien soldiers spotted them. It pointed up with its weapon and fired. A blue energy blast shot into the sky. Missed. But more of them were looking up now. Targeting the heroes.
Then they scattered. Moving fast. Way faster than they should've been able to move in that bulky armor.
And few of them broke away from the group.
Running straight toward the park.
Straight toward us.
"Run!" someone screamed.
People scattered. Parents grabbed their kids and bolted. The woman who'd been frozen finally snapped out of it and took off.
But the aliens were faster. I could see it. They were closing the gap fast. The people wouldn't be able to get away in time.
I clenched my fist. This was it.
This was what I'd been waiting for, wasn't it? A chance to actually do something. To be a hero.
Or was I about to get myself killed?
No. It didn't matter. People were about to die and I couldn't just stand there doing nothing.
Grand Chariot materialized in my hand. Then I drove it into the ground.
Within an instant, the armor covered my whole body.
Just hoped no one saw the transformation in all this chaos. No time to worry about it now.
I launched forward. Toward the lead alien, closing the distance fast.
It saw me coming. Raised its weapon. Some kind of energy rifle with a glowing blue core.
Oh shit.
It fired. A blue energy blast screamed toward me.
I threw myself to the side on instinct. My body responded faster than I expected. The armor made me more agile, more faster. The blast went wide, scorching the grass where I'd been a second ago.
I slammed into the alien full force.
The impact was brutal. Like hitting a brick wall at full speed. We went down together, tumbling across the grass in a tangle of limbs and metal. The alien was heavier than it looked. Stronger too.
It grabbed my arm with both hands and tried to flip me. We rolled. Once. Twice. I ended up on my back with this thing on top of me.
Its face was inches from my visor. Gray-green skin. Black eyes with no pupils. Rows of sharp, jagged teeth. It opened its mouth and shrieked right in my face.
God it was so ugly.
I punched it.
The armor enhanced the blow. My fist connected with its jaw and I felt something crack under my knuckles. Not my hand. Its face.
The alien's head snapped to the side. It stumbled back, dazed.
I scrambled to my feet, breathing hard.
Two more were coming. Fast and weapons raised and already charging up for shots.
I launched myself at the nearest one before it could fire. Didn't give it time to aim. Just tackled it from the side like a linebacker.
We went down together in a heap. It tried to bring its weapon around. I grabbed the barrel and shoved it away, then punched the alien in the face. Once. Twice. Three times.
The armor made each hit devastating. The alien's helmet cracked. Then shattered. It stopped moving.
Holy shit. Did I just kill it?
No time to think about that.
A blast hit my back.
The impact threw me forward. I stumbled, catching myself before I face planted into the dirt. The shields on my shoulders had absorbed most of it. The holographic panels flared bright blue, dispersing the energy in ripples of light. But the hit still rattled me.
I spun around.
The third alien was advancing. Weapon already charging for another shot. The blue core pulsed faster.
I had maybe two seconds before it fired again.
I shot upward. Fast. Too fast. I overcompensated and nearly flipped backward. My stomach lurched. The ground spun below me. I windmilled my arms, trying to stabilize.
Come on. Focus. You practiced this.
I steadied myself about twenty feet up. The alien tracked me with its weapon, turning in a slow circle to keep me in its sights.
I took a breath.
Then I dove. Straight down. Like a missile.
The alien fired. But I was moving too fast. The blast went wide by several feet.
I hit it like a meteor.
The impact drove the alien into the concrete sidewalk. The ground cracked beneath us. Spiderweb fractures spreading out in all directions. The alien's armor crumpled. Its weapon skittered away across the pavement.
It didn't get back up.
I stood there, breathing hard inside the helmet. My heart was hammering. My hands were shaking.
Three aliens down.
Holy shit. I actually did it. I fought them and won.
Then I heard more screaming.
I looked up. There were more aliens. A lot more. Spreading through the streets like a swarm. And those flying whale things in the sky were dropping more soldiers. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.
The portal above Manhattan kept spewing out reinforcements. The sky was full of them now.
I looked back at the park. The people I'd saved were gone. Already fled to safety. Or at least I hoped they had.
More aliens were coming down the street.
This wasn't going to be easy.
But I couldn't run. There were people behind me. Families. Kids. If I ran, these things would go after them.
So I stood my ground.
Look, I wasn't trying to be some kind of hero. I wasn't out here thinking I was Superman or Captain America. But I had these powers now. This armor. These abilities. And people were about to die right in front of me.
What was I supposed to do? Just walk away? Pretend I didn't see it happening?
Yeah, right.
Maybe this was why I got the system in the first place. Why I got Grand Chariot on day one instead of just another box of soda. Maybe this moment right here was exactly what I was meant for.
Or maybe I was just making up reasons to feel better about throwing myself into danger.
Either way, didn't matter.
I took a deep breath. Steadied myself.
More aliens were coming.They saw me standing there over the bodies of their friends.
Alright.
Bring it on.