This is from a new project I’m working on that’s much different from my normal work. Being a big fan of comic book characters and superheroes, I thought I’d try my hand in writing a story based on just that. This is still a work in progress, but nonetheless, enjoy this excerpt.
Being from the south, Will had morals and values that made him second guess other’s mistakes. Never a smoker or heavy drinker, he lived a vanilla life compared to people that he grew up with. The day that he knew that his life changed, he stood in front of a police officer and staring down the barrel the officer’s service weapon. After the first shot fired, Will knew his life was over. It was like a gnat brushing up against his forehead. The .40 caliber S & W round glanced off Will’s green, silver, and gold helmet like it was cotton.
The same officer fired five more shots at Will before he realized his guy was ineffective versus the six-foot-tall armored self-described firefighter. Afraid of the armored man because of the feat he had just witnessed, the officer frantically called for backup. For nearly three months, Will listened to police radio scanners to see if he could help a situation using his newfound abilities. On this night, Will was out for a nightly run when he was a car down a twenty-foot ravine in the countryside around his home.
It didn’t take long for Will to figure out he needed to action as he quickly transformed into his green and white armor with the gold and silver breastplate equipped with the helmet that featured technology only written in sci-fi movies and books. Infrared scanners and life scanners were the first items made available to Will inside his helmet upon his transformation, where he noticed that there was an unconscious woman trapped inside the car. Before jumping into action, the police officer that first responded to the scene noticed the armored Will and ordered him to stay back.
Prior to Will resigning from his well-paying job managing a retail store, Will used his newfound abilities to sprint the fifteen miles back and forth to work every day in his armor. Because he ran so quickly and never stopped or even clearly photographed, Will became the talk of the Tri-county area as motorist would see a blur blow past them on the roads. It wasn’t until the day that Will crashed into a deer while running home from work before people got a good glimpse of the other worldly armor that Will donned.
People referred to Will as the big green metal man before the night that officer fired six shots at him after rescuing the young Hispanic woman trapped in her car. Jumping into action down the ravine, Will used his super strength to lift and flip the car over as it should normally rest on the ground. Will would then use his saber, in which it measured 18 inches long from tip to pommel, to slice open the car like a tin can to get the young woman, Anastasia, out of her car. Bleeding and unconscious, Will noted Anastasia’s injuries were not life threatening, according to Will’s helmet.
“I said get down!” The police officer yelled following Will placing Anastasia on the ground at the top of the road near the police officer’s cruiser following his leap up the ravine.
“This young woman needs medical attention. She’s alive but not well,” Will said before noticing the officer and his weapon drawn on him.
“Get down, green man, or I will shoot!” The officer yelled.
“Dude, I just helped you save this woman’s life. Put your gun down and call in an ambulance,” Will said. “There’s a gas leak on the car. I think I can stop it.”
“You asked for it!” The officer yelled again before firing his first of six shots.
After realizing that his armor was bulletproof, Will approached the officer who quickly grabbed his baton. It only took one swing and connection for Will to realize that he was impervious to blunt force and gunshots. When the baton connected to Will’s left arm, it snapped into two pieces, leaving both Will and the office puzzled.
“I am not your enemy, sir. Now stop attacking me,” Will calmly stated while standing in front of the officer.
“You’re under arrest!” The officer yelled.
“For what?” Will quickly asked.
“For disobeying an officer and…”
“Not dying when you shot me six times. Dude, give me a break,” Will said while still standing in front of the officer before he began a slight retreat. “Again, I’m a friend. You can’t arrest me for helping you save a life. Your body cam and your dashcam are both on. So, you can’t smear my name. That lady needs medical attention and you need a hazmat team out here for that gasoline leaking out of the car. I was going to stop it, but you’re being to hostile.”
Before the officer could say anything else, Will ran off. The armor he wore protected him in more ways than one. He knew that it amplified his natural abilities, but he wasn’t sure whatever else it did. When he ran into the deer on his way home, he actually ran through the deer like a hot knife through warm butter. Although the accident was rather gruesome, Will felt nothing. Will ran to his home neighborhood before transforming back to his unarmored self near the mailboxes of his community. From there, he ran the quarter mile back to his house in a slight sprint before retiring for the night.
After grabbing a sip of water and going to his garage to start his 3 AM workout, Will turned his police radio scanner back on to listen out for any more troubles in the area. What he heard was an APB for his alter ego, the green metal man. All Will could think about was the bullets fired by the police officer. The first bullet that crashed into his helmet was scary and infuriating. As a person standing in front of another person, he never thought he would smell the burn of gunpowder mixing with a lead bullet. Although Will was uninjured in the altercation, the mental scars formed.
Will was never fond of guns. He wasn’t afraid of guns. He just didn’t like guns. When his grandfather gave him his first knife at ten, Will took a liking to bladed weapons. After getting shot multiple times while in his armored form, Will couldn’t get his mind off the sounds of the gunshots ringing in his ears. His anger had him focusing on three workouts that he performed in a rotation: bench press, power snatch, and front squats. Before he knew it, he spent over two hours bench pressing over 400 pounds without stopping.
That was his life when working out. When working out, Will never tired out. Although his armor gave him extraordinary abilities such as enhanced speed and strength, his body changed when he gained his abilities. Being able to lift 400 pounds was impossible for Will just a year ago, but he’s unsure of his limits. His body seemed to eliminate the excessive build-up of fatigue-producing chemicals in his muscles, making his endurance immeasurable. Being a person who hated running because of the fatigue he would experience, Will started running to start his efforts to lose weight shortly after gaining his abilities. Running around his neighborhood, he noticed that he did not get fatigued while jogging for just over an hour.
Be A Man Universe 