My Official Debut as a Hero
Meet Cute with Debbie Grayson â€ïž
Oh, and the Guardians of the Globe are here, too. Yippee.
NOTE: Had a bit of a fever while writing this so Iâm sorry if itâs a bit jumbled :(
You were trying very hard to look normal.
It was a conscious effort in every step you took. Your shoulders were slightly hunched forward, your stride shortened just enough to feel unnatural, your posture carefully adjusted to shrink yourself down into something more⊠ordinary. It went against every instinct your body seemed to have now.
Standing straight felt right.
Moving efficiently felt right.
Taking up space felt right.
So, of course, you did the opposite.
Your fingers tensed slightly around the handle of the briefcase as you walked with the steady flow of pedestrians. No one paid you much attention, which you clung to like a lifeline. A few passing glances here and there, nothing lingering, nothing suspicious.
You adjusted the glasses perched precariously on your noseâ purely decorative and completely unnecessary. (Your eyesight was better than perfect, you noted bitterly. A hell of a lot better than your eyesight back home.) You resisted the urge to straighten up again.
This was the plan. Blend in.
Go to work like a completely average person who definitely did not have enough strength to level a building if you sneezed wrong.
Your mind snagged, unhelpfully, on the briefcase.
More specifically, what was inside it.
Even now, just thinking about it sent a strange, giddy thrill through your chest. Something bright and unreal that clashed violently with the low, constant anxiety simmering underneath everything else. It felt ridiculous to care about something like that right now, and yetâ
Itâs an actual superhero suit.
The thought refused to go away.
You forced yourself to look ahead instead, focusing on the street, the people, the rhythm of the city around you. Cars passed. Conversations overlapped. Somewhere nearby, a phone rang and you had to actively not focus on it when your hearing tried latching on to the sound.
Normal, you needed to act normal.
And something tells you eavesdropping on some random stranger will blow this whole undercover operation sky high.
Your breath came out slow and controlled as you grounded yourself in the moment. Just get to work. That was the goal. One normal task. One thing you could do without breaking anything, without drawing attention, withoutâ
A soft ding cut cleanly through your thoughts.
Your grip on the briefcase tightened until the sound of creaking metal echoed above the bustling city life.
Just one moment is all you want from this fucking, stupid ass Systemâ!
The interface appeared in front of your vision again, semi-transparent but impossible to ignore. It slotted itself neatly into your line of sight like it had every right to be there.
[TIME LIMITED QUEST DETECTED]
Your stomach sank as you kept going, your pace only faltering slightly before you forced it back into rhythm. No one else reacted. No one else could see it.
The thought was more troubling than it should be, meant you were truly alone with this fucking thing.
You already have to make it to work on time and now itâs trying to dump another quest on you!
[EMERGENCY QUEST: CIVILIAN PROTECTION]
Location: Downtown Chicago
This quest has a threat level and youâre supposed to deal with it?! You donât even know how to fly! This thing is trying to get you killedâ!
Description: A hostile entity has emerged. Immediate intervention required.
WARNING: If no action is taken, response time from local heroes will be insufficient.
Multiple Civilian Fatalities
You could physically feel your pulse spike, the words hitting harder than you wanted them to. If you didnât act, those peopleâŠ
[DO YOU ACCEPT THIS QUEST?]
You didnât ask for this, you thought that stupid dream was just a dream.
Your hand lingers where the screen had been, fingers suspended in empty air as if the choice might still be undone. Below, the sidewalk blurs beneath your gaze. The weight of what youâve just agreed to settles in your chest, heavy and unrelenting.
Tears sting at the corners of your eyes, threatening to spill, but you force them back, jaw tightening as you swallow hard.
Intervene and reduce casualties (0/1)
Delay threat until additional support arrives (0/1)
Your thoughts stumbled over the number, trying to process it, to make it mean something other than not enough time.
Threat Identified: Fire-Breathing Kaiju-Class Entity
Your breath caught sharply as your gaze snapped upward, scanning the skyline without thinking.
It didnât take long to find it.
Smoke curled into the sky in thick, dark plumes, rising fast enough to be unmistakable. Even from the distance, you could hear somethingâ low, angry, rumbling in a way that made your chest feel tight.
A roar followed, faint but distinct.
Youâre so fucking dead.
âThatâs not small. Thatâs not manageable. Thatâs not something I can justâ handle!â
A large part of you wanted to quit, throw in the towel and wait for The Guardians to deal with it. Thatâs their job, isnât it?!
Big bad shows up, they defeat it. Simple. Easy.
âResponse time will be insufficientâ
The Systemâs words pressed back in, cold and unyielding.
âNo. Theyâll make it.â
You knew how often âtoo lateâ happened in this world. You knew how fragile that gap between arrival and aftermath could be.
Another roar, louder this time. And beneath itâ
Close enough that your enhanced hearing picked it up whether you wanted it to or not.
âI canât fight that.â
The thought came fast and sharp, cutting through everything else.
âI donât know how to fight anything, and thisâ this is a Kaiju. This is city-level destruction!â
The people around you finally took notice of the calamity happening only a few blocks away. Hushed murmurs and anxious whispers muddled your thoughts, preventing you from just thinking.
Ducking into the nearest alleyway, the latch of the briefcase snaps open before you fully register the decision.
It falls open in your hands, and there it was.
For a moment, everything else faded again. Not completely, the world wasnât so kind, but enough for your brain to latch onto something simpler. Something easier to process.
The suit lay folded with impossible precision, the colors richer up closeâdeep, almost luminous red paired with a bold, clean blue. The fabric was something between cloth and armorâ smooth and seamless, like it had been designed to move with you rather than against you. A gold belt wrapped around the middle of the suit, the front of the belt forming a shallow âVâ shape. Gold cuffs sit near the bottom of the case, looking like theyâre patiently waiting for you to put them on.
Your breath hitches for half a second.
âOh, this isâ this is actually happening.â
Another explosion cracks through the air, sharp and immediate.
Reality snaps back into place as a grimace pulls at your face.
âRight. People are actively in danger. Focus.â
Your hand shoots forward, grabbing the suit without hesitation this time.
The world warps around you as you step out of sight between one blink and the next. Motion comes instinctively, faster than thought, faster than panic, your body moving in a blur as you change in seconds. The suit settles against your skin like it has always belonged there.
âand immediately hesitated.
There was no tutorial for this.
No instructions, no âpress X to flyâ, no helpful little System prompt explaining how you were supposed to launch yourself into the sky without turning into a human missile.
Your gaze flicked upward, then back to the ground.
âDo I jump? Do Iâ lean? Is this a thinking thing? A muscle thing? Oh my god, what if I justâ faceplant into a building?!â
âOkay,â you muttered under your breath, more to yourself than anything. âWeâre committing.â
You pushed off the ground.
The pavement exploded beneath your feet with a sharp crack, sending fragments of concrete outward as you shot upward.
âŠAnd immediately lost control.
The city dropped away too fast, the sky rushing up to meet you. Your body tilted sideways, momentum dragging you into an unintentional spin as your arms flailed for balance.
âTHIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!â
Wind tore past your ears, loud and disorienting, your stomach lurching as your sense of direction completely abandons you. Up didnât feel like up. Down didnât feel like down. Everything was justâ
Your body jerked in the opposite direction, sending you into a sharp, uneven arc across the sky.
You sent a silent plea to whatever would listen that the people below wouldnât look up. Thatâd be so fucking embarrassing.
âOkayâ okay, no, this is fine, this is just likeâ like learning to ride a bike⊠if the bike was several hundred feet in the air and could kill you instantlyââ
You narrowly avoid grazing your back against the pointy top of a skyscraper.
âSuperman makes this look so fucking easyâ wait! SUPERMAN!â
You manage to flip over onto your stomach and stretch your arms forward, your hands curling into fists.
Your limbs stopped flailing as much. Your center of gravity settled. The rushing sensation of falling smoothed into something steadier, something controlled. The air no longer felt like something you were fighting against, but something you were moving through.
A bright, surprised laugh rends itself free from your throat.
Your body knew what to do.
You leaned forward slightly, and instead of spiralingâ
Clean, direct, intentional.
You tilted your right arm and your trajectory shifted smoothly. No jerking, no panic, just⊠motion.
âIâm flying,â you said under your breath.
The fear didnât disappear, but it changedâ morphed into something brighter, threaded with something dangerously close to exhilaration.
The city stretched beneath you now, no longer a blur but something you could track. You dared to dip closer, enough to see a child look up at you with wide eyes.
Your focus snapped back into place.
There was still a giant fire-breathing problem waiting for you.
Your body reacted before you could second guess it, angling forward as you acceleratedâ faster now, smoother, the air cracking faintly around you as you cut through it.
[TIME SENSITIVE QUEST: ACTIVATED]
The closer you got, the clearer it became.
People runningâ no, scramblingâ through debris-strewn streets.
And towering above it allâ
âFuck me gently with a chainsawâ how the fuck am I supposed to fight that?!â
The creature roared, the sound vibrating through the air and straight into your chest as it stepped forward.
One massive foot liftingâ
Toward a figure frozen in the street.
A woman standing just outside a damaged storefront, one hand still clutching a fallen purse, her body locked in place as if her brain hadnât caught up to the reality unfolding in front of her.
âSheâs not running.â
The realization hit hard and fast.
âWhy isnât she movingââ
Your body reacted before your thoughts could finish forming.
The air screamed past your ears as you angled downwards, the ground rushing up in a blur. For half a second, you thought youâd miscalculatedâ too much speed, wrong angleâ
âAdjustâadjustâ!â
You twisted midair, one arm shooting forward as you closed the distance in an instant.
Your hand caught the woman around the waist.
Momentum carried you both.
You hit the ground, your boots carving into the pavement as you fought to slow down without turning it into something worse. Your free hand slammed down, cracking the asphalt as you forced yourself to stop behind a partially collapsed car.
The Kaijuâs foot slammed down where the woman had been standing.
The impact shook the street.
For a moment, everything went quiet.
Your heart pounded in your ears.
The woman in your arms was still.
âOkayâ okay! Good!â
You loosened your grip immediately, carefullyâcarefullyâsetting her down.
Sheâs⊠wearing a familiar green shirtâŠ
âYouâre okay,â you said quickly, voice steadier than you felt. âDeep, slow breaths, maâam. Everything will be fine.â
The woman blinked up at you, still clearly processing what the hell just happened.
Her gaze flicked past your shoulder toward the destruction, then back again, confusion and shock warring across her face.
âCan you move?â You asked, already scanning the street for the next threat.
âOkay, good. You need to get back,â you said, gesturing quickly toward the safer end of the street. âAway from the main road. Stay behind cover if you can.â
The woman hesitated, just for a secondâ like she wanted to say something more.
Then another roar tore through the air.
You exhaled sharply, your shoulders dropping just a fraction.
âGreat. First save: successful. Didnât drop her. Didnât break anything. We are thriving.â
You tried to shake the feeling of familiarity that the woman instilled in you. There was no way you knew herâ
The Kaiju did not hesitate once it locked onto you.
Its massive head turned with a low, grinding motion, embers spilling from its jaw as it exhaled heat in uneven bursts. Up close, it was worseâ its sheer size warped perspective, each step shaking the ground hard enough that you could feel it reverberate up through your legs even while hovering.
âShit⊠thatâs bigger in person. Thatâs significantly bigger in person.â
It roared, the sound loud enough to rattle your bones.
You flinchedâ but didnât move back.
âRight. Itâs a big target. A really big, very angry target. Youâve seen this before. Kind of. On a screen. Which is not the same thing. Not even a little bit the same thing.â
The Kaiju stepped forward, claws tearing into the asphalt as it advanced. A car crumpled under its weight like paper, alarms blaring uselessly as flames licked up the sides of nearby buildings.
Too many people were still in the open.
You darted downward, grabbing two civilians at a time, relocating them behind debris, behind walls, anywhere that looked even remotely safer. Your movements were fast now, less frantic than before, though still far from polished.
âNone of you have any self-preservation skills whatsoeverâ why are you just standing around, waiting to be stomped to death?!â
A sharp bark cut through the chaos.
Your head snapped to the side.
Thereâ a small dog stood stubbornly in the middle of the street, paws planted, ears pinned back as the Kaijuâs shadow swallowed it whole.
âOf course thereâs a dog, and of course itâs not moving. Why would it move? That would be too easyâ!â
The creatures foot lifted.
You didnât have time to reach it.
Your lungs pulled in a sharp breath on instinct, something cold blooming deep in your chest. It was a strange sensationâ like inhaling winter itselfâ and when you exhaled, the air that left wasnât normal.
A controlled stream of frost spread across the pavement beneath the dog, coating the ground in a thin sheet of ice. The dog yelped as its paws slipped out from under it, sliding backward just in time for the Kaijuâs foot to slam down right where it had been standing.
ââŠHoly shit, that actually worked.â
The Kaiju turned toward you again, slower this time, its attention sharpening.
Youâd officially annoyed it.
âGreat,â you muttered. âLove that for me.â
You reacted on instinct, shooting forward to meet it instead of backing away. Your fist connected with the side of its jaw in a solid, ringing impact that sent a visible ripple through its massive frame.
The force shocked you more than it did the creature.
Directly toward an office building.
You moved instantly, disappearing from in front of it and reappearing beneath its collapsing weight. Your arms shot upward, bracing against its body as it came down.
The impact drove you into the pavement, cracks spiderwebbing beneath your feet as the sheer weight pressed down.
It was heavy, overwhelmingly so.
For a split second, panic flared.
âI cannot hold this, I absolutely cannotââ
But your body didnât give out.
Your teeth clenched as you adjusted your footing, forcing your legs to stabilize, pushing upward with everything you had. Muscles you hadnât known you possessed strained, but they responded, rising to meet the demand like they had been waiting for it.
The Kaijuâs descent slowed.
Hovering just inches from crushing the building behind you.
Glass rattled above your head and you glanced up.
Rows of office workers pressed against the windows, staring down at you in stunned silence.
For a brief, completely surreal moment, you raised your voice.
âAreâ Are you guys okay up there?â
A few nods. Someone raised a trembling hand in a thumbs up.
âOkay! Stay back from the windows,â you called, before shifting your focus back to the much larger problem currently trying to crush you.
With a sharp exhale, you pushed.
âShit, that was a bit too much force!â
The Kaijuâs body tilted away from the building, its weight redistributing as you directed it off balance. It stumbled sideways, regaining its footing with an angry roar that shook the air.
You dropped back, breathing harder now.
âWell, at least now I know I can become breathless. Thatâs kinda interestingââ
You barely had time to rest before something slammed into your peripheral vision.
The Kaijuâs tail whipped through a nearby hotdog stand, reducing it to splintered wood and twisted metal. The impact sent debris flying outward in wide arcâ
Your eyes tracked it instantly.
Trajectory. Speed. Spreadâ
Standing in the open, completely unaware.
Facing the wrong direction.
âHow the fuck are you this oblivious?!â
There was no time to think.
The world blurred as you crossed the distance in less than a second, appearing behind the girl just as debris reached her.
One arm wrapped firmly across the childâs chest, pulling her back against you.
Your other hand came up immediately, cradling the back of the girls head and pressing it down to her chest.
âDonât look,â you said quickly, your voice low but urgent.
Then you turned your bodyâ
Positioning yourself between the girl and the incoming debris.
The impact came a heartbeat later.
Glass shattered against your back. Metal fragments struck your shoulders and scattered harmlessly, clattering to the ground around you. The force pushed you forward half a step, but you didnât budge beyond that.
The girl flinched in your arms, clutching onto you.
Thatâs the only thought anchoring you as your breathing comes in uneven bursts, your chest tight, your pulse too fast.
[QUEST COMPLETE: CIVILIAN PROTECTION]
The screen slams into your vision so suddenly you flinch, eyes widening.
Itâs brighter this time. Louder. More⊠alive.
+Hero Identity Credibility
Skill Unlocked: Minor Regeneration (LV1)
Your brain⊠doesnât catch up.
Your grip tightens slightly around the girl without you meaning to, and she lets out a small whimper. You immediately loosen, swallowing hard.
âSorryâ sorry, Iâm sorry,â you whisper, voice shaky.
But your attention drifts back to the screen almost immediately, your brows knitting together in confusion.
None of this had been mentioned before. The System never said anything about skills, or stat points, or⊠anything beyond completing the task. It told you to save people.
So why does it feel like youâve just been handed something far more complicated than what you agreed to?
Before you can fully process it, a strange warmth begins to spread through your body. It starts in your chest, subtle and almost easy to miss, before slowly radiating outward in steady, controlled waves. You freeze as the sensation builds, your breath catching as you wait for pain that never comes. Instead, the ache in your muscles dulls. The sting of cuts and bruises fades into something distant, manageable, like your body is quietly repairing itself without your permission.
Your lips part slightly as you try to make sense of it. Your gaze flicks back to the words hovering in front of you.
The name settles uneasily in your mind. You stare at it as though it might offer an explanation if you look long enough, but it remains exactly what it isâ an answer without context. A rule you were never taught. A reward you were never told existed.
Another crash echoes through the city, louder this time, and your head snaps up instinctively. The mission. You completed it. That realization lands a split second before the next one follows.
Your stomach drops as the thought fully settles in. You hadnât really considered what that would mean. In your mind, it had always been vagueâsome distant group stepping in once things got too big for you to handle. You assumed it would be a handful of local heroes, people used to cleanup and evacuation, not the kind who headline disasters like this.
You were never supposed to be seen.
You were just supposed to help.
Another impact ripples through the street, and this time you turn toward it without hesitation. What you see makes your breath catch.
They arrive all at once, not as scattered individuals but as a coordinated force. Figures move through the air with impossible speed, some flying, others launching from building to building with precision that speaks of long-practiced teamwork. Even from a distance, thereâs a presence to themâ something unmistakable.
Recognition hits you almost immediately.
The colors. The formations. The sheer scale of their response.
The Guardians of the Globe.
The realization sends a sharp wave of panic through your chest. Your grip on the girl tightens again, though this time youâre careful, pulling her closer more out of instinct than necessity.
These arenât just heroes. Theyâre the heroes. The ones people rely on when things are at their worst.
Which means they might see you.
Your thoughts begin to spiral before you can stop them. What if they already have? What if theyâre wondering who you are, why youâre here, how you were involved? What if they start asking questions you donât know how to answer?
Your gaze flickers briefly back to the fading blue screen still hovering faintly in your vision.
What if they know you donât belong?
The possibility sends a fresh spike of anxiety through you. You take a small step back without realizing it, then another, your body already trying to retreat from a situation you were never meant to be part of.
You shouldnât be here. You shouldnât be anywhere near them.
One of the Guardians lands nearby with a force that you feel more than hear, the impact sending a rush of displaced air through the street. The wind tugs at your clothes and hair, making you instinctively lower your head as if that alone might make you less noticeable.
Your heart pounds loudly in your ears, each beat faster than the last as you try to make yourself smaller, quieterâ just another civilian in the aftermath.
(Hopefully they think the costume is just some cosplay instead of, yâknow, real.)
Just someone who doesnât matter.
The voice is close. Too close.
Your entire body goes rigid as the single word cuts cleanly through the noise around you. Your breath catches, and for a moment, you donât move at all. Then, slowly, almost reluctantly, you begin to turn your head.
It becomes immediately clear that you werenât as unnoticed as you thought, because The Immortal is standing a short distance away, looking directly at you.
âGod, just strike me down right here.â
Up close, heâs⊠overwhelming. Not in the loud, explosive way the battle behind him is, but in something steadier, heavier.
Like the kind of presence that doesnât need to announce itself to be felt.
His attention is fixed on youâ not in suspicion, oddly enoughâ but in sharp, assessing focus, like heâs already trying to piece together where you fit into everything that just happened.
Your thoughts immediately trip over themselves.
Why is he looking at you?
Your arms shift instinctively, and thatâs when it hits youâ youâre still holding the girl.
âOhâ,â the realization comes out under your breath as you quickly crouch, carefully setting her back on her feet. âYouâre okay,â you add softly, your voice gentler now, trying to reassure her despite the lingering tremor in it. âYouâre safe.â
Your hands pull back, hovering uncertainly in the space between you, unsure where to go now that theyâre no longer shielding her.
The girl doesnât move away.
Her small hands clutch tightly at the front of your suit, her wide eyes flicking past you toward the distant chaos before returning to your face. Thereâs hesitation thereâ uncertainty, fear that hasnât quite caught up with the fact that sheâs no longer in immediate danger.
You feel it immediately, that quiet, fragile dependence, and it makes something in your chest tighten.
âItâs okay,â you murmur again, softer this time, though youâre not entirely sure if youâre reassuring her or yourself.
She hesitates for one more second before stepping forward instead of away, her arms wrapping around your middle in a quick, tight hug.
Itâs briefâ just a momentâ but itâs enough to catch you completely off guard. Slowly, almost cautiously, you return the gesture, one hand coming to rest lightly against her back as you hold her there.
âThank you,â she mumbles against you, her voice small but certain.
The words hit harder than you expect.
Your throat tightens slightly, and for a second, you donât trust yourself to speak. When she pulls back, itâs on her own terms this time, her grip loosening as she takes a small step away from you. She gives you one last lookâlike sheâs committing your face to memoryâ before finally turning and hurrying toward the nearby group of civilians.
You watch her go a little longer than necessary, just to make sure she actually gets there, that someone else reaches her, that sheâs truly out of danger.
Only then do you remember.
Slowly, your attention drags back up.
Your shoulders stiffen as your gaze lifts, only to falter again under the weight of The Immortalâs attention. You straighten a little too quickly, your posture awkward as your hands curl at your sides before you consciously still them.
âFantastic start, really intelligent.â
You manage to glance up at him for a split second before looking away again. Thereâs something about the way he watches you that makes it hard to hold eye contactâ not because it feels hostile, but because it feels like heâs noticing too much.
Behind him, the sounds of the battle continueâ distant impacts, a roar that shakes the airâ but his focus doesnât shift.
âYou got civilians out,â he says, his voice even, steady. âThat was the priority.â
You blink, caught slightly off guard by the simplicity of it. It isnât a question, and it isnât exactly praise. Itâs just a statement. Acknowledgment.
âIâyeah,â you reply, your voice quieter than you mean it to be. âI was just nearby, and Iââ
You stop yourself before you can spiral into rambling. Your thoughts scramble, trying to land on something normal, something that wonât invite more questions.
âI just helped where I could.â
It sounds thinner than youâd like.
Your heart is still racing, your mind still running too fast. You can feel it creeping back inâ that sharp awareness that youâre standing in front of someone who knows this world far better than you do. Someone who might notice things you donât even realize youâre giving away.
Like the way your gaze flickers ever so slightly to the side, toward something that isnât there anymore.
The System screen has faded, but the awareness of it hasnât.
You force yourself to stay still.
Across from you, The Immortal studies you for another moment, his expression unreadable but not unkind. Thereâs a pause, brief but deliberate, like heâs deciding how far to push.
Then his posture shifts, just slightly.
âYouâre not hurt?â he asks.
The question is simpler than you expect, grounded in something immediate and real.
You hesitate for a fraction of a second, your mind flashing back to the warmth that spread through you, the way your injuries dulled and faded under something you still donât understand.
âIâm⊠okay,â you answer slowly. Itâs true, in a way that still feels strange.
Your fingers twitch faintly at your side.
His gaze lingers, like heâs weighing that answer, but he doesnât press.
Behind him, the battle sounds more controlled nowâless chaotic, more contained. The kind of shift that tells you the situation is being handled.
Which means youâre no longer needed.
The realization settles awkwardly in your chest.
You shift your weight slightly, the urge to step back creeping in again. To leave before more questions come. Before you say something wrong. Beforeâ
âStay with the evacuation groups,â he says, cutting cleanly through your thoughts. His tone isnât harsh, but it carries quiet authority. âMed teams will be moving in. If you can still help, help there.â
You nod quickly. âRight. Yeah. I can do that.â
A task. Something clear. Something safe.
You latch onto it immediately.
For a brief second, his expression softensâ just slightlyâ before his attention shifts back toward the fight. He turns, already preparing to rejoin it.
âYou did good,â he adds, almost as an afterthought.
The words land heavier than you expect.
And then heâs gone, moving with sudden speed back into the battle, leaving you standing there as the noise of the world rushes back in around you.
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