It was a bird. No. It was a plane. No. It was a 300 foot tall monster. No.

The camera moved, from thing to thing. There was a guy in the sky in golden armor with a lion-shaped face. He had a six foot long black long sword, and he was crashing downwards along the side of the other thing, dragging it. Along the thing’s side. And then there was the thing. It looked like a poor man’s Godzilla.

It was smaller. But still huge. And it wasn’t a mutant. The guy on the ground carrying the camera was the mutant. He had summoned the monster because he was a fanboy. A kaiju fanboy. Which is a giant monster franchise in Japan.

The guy in golden armor, dragging the giant black and gold sword down the side of his Godzilla creation was also a fanboy, but of a different genre.

Tetsuya Shinbo, AKA Shard, Currently dressed for success as Golden Knight GARO, was a Tokusatsu fanboy. Tokusatsu is a genre that is all about super heroes and special effects. He was cosplaying a Tokusatsu hero... which is basically like a power ranger, except his was in golden lion armor. And better.

The guy in the armor knew the guy with the camera had caused all the trouble. He was working on solving it! Damn guy, summoning monsters so he could record the monster battles and post them on Viewtube. This was the second one this week!!! And it was Tuesday!! Shin needed to nip him in the bud. Like the monster, which he had just flown into the sky to cut... and was now stabbing, in the bud.

The fight had been brutal and he’d been trying to keep the destruction to a minimal amount. He’d flown around on a triangle platform, gotten swallowed for a bit, ew escaped. Pried jaws loose. The people on the scene, and the people of Viewtube would have gotten quite the show. And the OP of the videos would be getting arrested.

The final stab did it, though. Nipped it in the bud. In the butt. The tail flopped down impotently. The monster screamed. It turned to dust as it toppled down... HP reduced to Zero.

The Asian landed on one knee next to the man with the camera, one hand in front of him for support. His lion head rose slowly, eyes focused on him. He growled, and picked up his sword.

”First Rodan, now Godzilla. What next, Morty?! MECHA GODZILLA! It won’t do, Morty. It won’t do! I don’t think I can cut that...” The Asian ranted, ranted. He was mad.

It was an absolute wonder no one had gotten hurt yet. Thankfully when giant monsters appear in New York, people tend to go elsewhere like good little sheep. Taxi drivers turn around and take a detour. And traffic was already slow enough a little extra stopping didn’t change much. Honestly, a lot of folks probably didn’t even notice the difference.

”Oh good.” Shard said, as he turned to see the approaching police officers. ”Your adoring audience awaits. Take him away for autographs, boys. And keep him off the streets please. I’m tired of slaying horrors. At least it wasn’t a Six Hundred Foot tall naked woman this time, Morty. You’ll get your account banned if you post that crap again.”

The police took the little brown-haired man away, leaving him to fume in golden armor and plan the rest of his day. What do you even do after you kill Godzilla?

When you lived in New York for a number of years, you learned unusual things were bound to happen. A morning commute could be inturrupted by a bear robbing a hotdog stand, or your coffee could be out of stock due to a summoner mutant with a caffeine fix. Mal never minded much because any of these instances meant he had the chance to see something amazing. His own imagination never compared to the wonders his mutant neighbors generated.

On this particular day, Mal was having a late start when he strolled toward the store, coffee tumbler in hand. A sudden rumble threw him sideways, and his eyes widened as a giant monster came into view. Well, it was probably safer to start running with the other padestrians (that was generally the rule when Godzilla started targeting your city), but Mal knew there would be benefits to staying. Namely, he could finally see a mutant hero in action!

This was the chance he had been waiting for!

Dropping off his tumbler in a nearby coffee shop (Fran would ask him for allll the details later!), he started sprinting closer to the fight, throwing on a thick vest with the words “writer” blazing across the chest. He had a cell phone, a record button for all his verbal notes, and an amazing health insurance plan should he fail to move out of the way in time.

Holy.... Tokusatsu.

Maybe he wasn’t the only fanboy in the area!

Mal slowed only for a second, trying to talk into his phone amidst pants. ”The jaws of the beast come down with a mighty snap! The hero has vanished from view. He, actually, I think he may have been swallowed. I am holding formation a block away in the event my mutant subject does not, oh wait, he proved to be more than a match for the beast and breaks free of the mighty monsters maw!” Oh, that was a great line! He would have to save that for the next chapter of Mighty Moon.

”Despite great size and determination, it appears our lizard overlord was no match for the mighty man in the, uh-“ he would have to think of some better descriptors for the mutant, as it were. Americans seemed to balk when thrown Japanese terminology. Code names, those always drew better responses. Mal was considering the options as he walked forward, hoping to greet the victorious mutant.

”The Geometric Garo? No, same problem, need a more relatable term. The Flying Fanboy? Promising, but does not describe the outfit. The Awesome Otaku? I don’t think that even describes him. Uh, sir! Sir! Do you happen to have a code name?” Mal called out, finally sporting the mutant dealing with law enforcement. Perfect! Maybe he could secure an interview for his blog!

Did Tetsuya Shinbo like paparazzi, or did he not? There he was, covered in the rapidly evaporating ectoplasmic residue of monster spit, and a member of the free press was bugging him.

He wasn’t sure what brought on the mild irritation? Must’ve been the spit. That’s an irritant. And Morty, again. Driving him crazy. Plus, he was tired. It had been a hard battle.

Usually, he didn’t mind talking to reporters or getting his picture taken. Despite literally transforming into some of the most garish, “Notice me!” costumes of the genre, he really wasn’t a narcissist. Or maybe he was, but only on his terms. Is that how narcissists operate?

But he could, at the very least be polite and answer a simple question. And get out of this costume.

”My codename is Shard.” He said distractedly. Inside his head, went the rapid calculations.

A moment later, the shards composing the shard armor all flew away to vanish... plopping monster spit remnants on the pavement where they stopped. Underneath the armor, he’d been wearing a light brown coat, blue jeans, and a vintage black Super Mario Sunshine t-shirt.

The brown coat had been too warm under the armor, so his cheeks were flushed in addition to him feeling a bit sweaty from being a super hero. Maybe that also had contributed to the briefness of his tone. But armor gone, he felt worlds better and suddenly a lot more capable of dealing with a fairly basic social interaction.

”People also call me Shin. Or Tetsuya Shinbo. The X-men aren’t super big on codenames.” Or at least, he never was. ”You?” He read the name off the vest ”Mr. Writer.”

Probably NOT his actual name but he could joke, and get! Some people do what they do because of their name. Baking Bakers, represent.

He leaned forward slightly, using the six foot GARO sword like a cane. He’d kept that.

When Mal caught up to his target, he appeared to have poor timing. The mutant was covered in goo, had just survived a battle, and honestly, probably wanted a shower. Well, Mal would want a shower if he had just found a giant monster with his awesome super powers. But Mal, sadly, did not have powers, he did not fight a monster, and did not (currently) need a shower. The run wasn’t that bad, after all.

When the code name was given, however, Mal was delighted. ”Shard! How fitting! I assume that’s referencing to the constructs you have created? What are they made of, if you mind me asking? Are you an energy based mutation? Secret dimension? Transformation? Sorry, I get a little excited talking to your kind sometimes.” he forced himself to remain calm, and control his inner nerd.

”Most people call me Mal. I am a web novelist, and I’ve been trying to get more inspiration for my latest series. I’ve come to appreciate just how unique and fascinating mutant abilities are over the years. The writer vest is just helpful so I don’t get targeted by quite as many wayward attacks. You would be surprised how many people will leave you alone when they realize you’re just part of the press.” he shrugged.

”Actually, I think you’re the first X-men I’ve had the chance to interview! I’ve heard about your deeds in the city though. Have you been with them long?” he stepped out of the way as law enforcement started their cleanup rounds, letting the two of them talk.

He assumed the name had to do with the power. And that put him ahead of many others who didn’t get the naming scheme thing.

”You assume right.” He said mildly.

More questions followed. It was overwhelming, but he soldiered on.

”It’s mind-based. Tiny psychic barriers that look like shards of broken glass.” He tried to explain. ”I build with ‘em. And cut with ‘em. And fly.”

Really, he should have just summed it up the way he usually did. “I have diamond-hard, razor sharp triangular psychic barriers. I use them to make tight pants.” But he hadn’t felt the need to be cheeky that day.

Mr. Writer was the one they called... Mal. Mal was Latin for bad. He sure hoped the man wasn’t secretly a villain, using a false identity to lure him into a fake sense of security while he probed him for information on his powers which he could utilize to get the best of him. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, that happens quite a bit.

If Mal’s identity were meant to avoid suspicion, however, he was failing at being innocuous. He just sounded like a fanboy. Shin knew all about fanboys.

If he looked at him like the sort of person one ran into at comic conventions, that made this entire conversation easier. Fine. He would stop being an uptight super hero guy and just assume at any moment this grown man would tackle hug him in what the early 2000s people called a “glomp.” And that was just fine.

”Mutant powers are fascinating!” Shin agreed. ”And yeah, the press can get away with a lot more than, say, someone in a suit and tie. Or a brown coat.”

So he was the first one this guy had interviewed. He smiled at the rabid fanboy. ”That’s pretty cool! Joined some time in early 2000-something. Hey do you want a selfie? Also, how cool was that giant monster? Pain in the ass to fight but even I’m a little bit of a fanboy when it comes to nerdy stuff like giant monsters and robots... and getting to show off.”

Malcolm listened and tried to control his enthusiasm. Mind-based psychic shards of glass? That was some deliciously unique power scheme! He found himself writing down notes for future wonderings. It was best not to unleash these things all at once, but he didn’t want to forget any. The technical details were things many mutants didn’t want to reveal anyway. If you started asking how many things they could create, or how strong they were, that tended to ring “super villain” even if you didn’t intend to.

”I saw the flying! That must take so much concentration! Do you have to like, focus on all the shards at once or is it like a mech suit that combines and once it does it reacts as one unit? I’m assuming the second or you have to be insanely smart. Well, I mean, you probably still are insanely smart, if it is mental based construction. That’s a lot of math...” Mal considered and was glad he did not have to do that much math on a daily basis.

There was a slow change in his companions reactions, as if the inner geek was finally breaking through. Mal knee he couldn’t be that bad if he had such an amazing suit he used to fight monsters with! And yes, someone in a brown coat. Mal grinned at the comment. ”Hey, people in brown coats have been some of the best damn heroes I’ve ever met.” no need to elaborate, you either for it or you didn’t.

”seriously, a selfie? My followers would love that! I’m telling you, they get the biggest kick seeing you guys in action. It’s hard to be a writer when real life has become so amazingly exciting on its own!” he got his phone out, waiting for Shin before snapping one. When they were done posing, he gushed a little about the fight.

”Man I remember the first time some of those early TV shows came to the states. Giant robots have always been like, amazing to imagine. Sooo much crazier in real life. Did the monster really eat you? Doesn’t that hurt? Or is it like being trapped in a locker and you just want to find the door knob as fast as possible.... uh, door handle? I need to revise that metaphor...” he considered to himself.

Did he focus on them all at once, or was it a whole is stronger than the sum of its parts sort of thing?

”Little of column A, little of column B. Honestly, I don’t think about it too hard. The math eyes and the mind kind of compensate for the complexities.” He answered truthfully.

It did take focus, but with enough practice even flying around suspended by the literal seat of your pants could come naturally.

He gestured at his eyes. ”These babies are like calculators mixed with perfect depth and angle perception. I have to study all the math beforehand, but then it’s near-instant. Which is... neat! And my eyes constantly calculate distances. So I kind of hate jiggly things. Can’t do Jello.”

He so very rarely got to talk shop. It was kind of fun. Once he got started, it was hard to stop. ”I have to plot out the entire construct before I create it. At least, the first time. Get all the measurements down because shards are razor sharp and I’m wearing them. Got to do this thing with rounded geometry. After that, practice makes perfect!”

He didn’t talk about his Henshin growth, or how he could summon an entire set of armor all at once, or else build it up over time. People didn’t need to know every detail, and that was the sort of shop talk that exposed weaknesses. Mal was eating up all the little details already, anyways!

—

Mal was over the moon about the potential selfie. They took a quick selfie. Shin smiled big, and held up a peace sign. V for victory! Can anyone say cheese?

Mal and Shin could. For sure.

Then Mal talked happily about the fight.

‘Yeah,’ Shin had confirmed. It had eaten him. That had been a bit gross and scary. Like a locker, actually! What with being trapped in a suit of armor inside something big and strong. Kind of hot and clammy, actually. Especially with the brown coat on underneath.

The door handle had been his sword!

He hadn’t had room to make a horse and summon an even bigger sword or else they’d have charged it from the ground. But hey, taking out the monster from above had worked alright.

”Boar crashing down the mountain, you know?” he said. Big strikes from on high.

”Haven’t run into Setsuna in a while, or else you’d have had real giant robots. Kid naps, he makes a Gundam. He is the Gundam, yeah?” He ranted.

Kid hadn’t really had any sleepwalking Gundam construct accidents lately though. What was he now, 20? Maybe he’d outgrown the phase.

Now he felt old. It had been like ten years since Kealey and the Giant Bulbasaur.

Malcolm listened as Shard explained his powers in detail. There was so much to process about that and honestly, so much to geek out about. Eye calculators. Brain calculators. And hating jello. "That sounds like a lot to handle at once. I tried taking an art class in school and I failed in every way possible when it came to perspective. I mean, that's different, but it was the only example I could think of. I have zero experience with any type of depth calculation. Although I guess maybe a fishman might know that? Back home there were enough of those, but I don't see many people fishing in New York."

He realized he had gone on a tangent and quickly collected himself. "Ah, sorry about that. And I don't think I was in the city for any real robots. I grew up in Canada where things were, frankly, much less eventful. But I've seen so many photos of past fights. If you had to pick one battle you liked best, what would it be?" Mal waited eagerly for an answer, his notepad forgotten by now. There was a point he stopped being a writer, and just became a nerd. This was evidently that point.

"Have you ever worn your suit out just for fun? I mean, I go to conventions every year and I would totally use that to my own advantage. It would save so much money buying EVA foam and sculpting. Although, I guess your brain is still sculpting in a way?" building his costumes was plenty of fun, but it was time consuming in the long run.

If it sounded like a lot to handle all at once, that’s because it was. Shin nodded at the comment.

As far as fishermen in New York went, he had no idea. He’d fought a man who thought he was from Atlantis, but that was as far as his knowledge of fish men went.

Mal was from Canada? Wasn’t there a special Canadian X-men team they had over there? He didn’t know enough to say. As for his favorite fight—

The Asian held his chin thoughtfully. Considered for a moment, then said ”Don’t know if it counts, since it wasn’t a real fight. No one was in danger. Nobody got hurt. Except some girl who got hit with a fish. And there was no major pressure. But— the mansion once held a giant Pokémon tournament where mutants used their powers to mimic Pokémon. And I made a Porygon with my brain. And Ghost was a Gastly. And we fought.” Yep. And that was his favorite fight.

”I spent a lot of time creating the skin and frame for the porygon in my mind. Did a lot of math and drafting. It can fly. And I still summon him to take me places, from time to time. And that’s my favorite fight.”

Ooh, had he ever worn his suit out for fun? Heh... well. He purposefully did not reminisce about any costumes Kealey had designed, or his first usage of Shard armor or his fancy coat. Technically, that had not been out. That had been in.

”Sure.” He said. ”From time to time. But I never do conventions. Don’t really like the new anime... and the wife doesn’t like big crowds all that much.”

It is boring going by yourself to conventions, when you could be going with someone else.

Malcolm listened with interest at the story of a Pokemon battle using powers. That...was one of the coolest things he had ever heard, honestly. "Man, I would kill to see something like that in real life. I mean, I've seen a few fights just living in the city, but if there were actual tournaments where mutants could just spar, that would be amazing to watch. I figure it would probably be like, regulated though."

There were ethics involved anytime mutants used their powers just for fun. Some agencies thought it was misuse of power, some just equated it to high school sports competitions. Why wouldn't someone spar just for the heck of it, to test their own abilities? Writers had competitions all the time, right?

Right!

"I don't watch a lot of anime, but some of the cons around here are just fandom related. If I had to say I was particular to any sort of fandom it would probably be in the sci-fi genre. Something about westerns in space just speaks to me."

Regulated?

”Yeah... or highly illegal.” The Asian toyed with his collar.

Mutant brawls. Tournaments. It was a cool idea, in theory. But he’d been to a mutant fight club. Participated. Seen a big man do something deadly violent to someone else while a bony lady in a prom dress stood in the background, unimpressed. He had fought that big man, too... and a golden naked man.

The golden naked man had a Midas touch and could now fly. Mutants make no sense.

He didn’t talk about how cool a tournament like the ones from numerous anime would be. Like his own personal favorite, yu yu hakusho. Because let’s be realistic here, if you got several strong mutants together and told them to fight, you would not get nice little organized teams full of ninja and yo-yo boys. You would get chaos. Or the X men vs the Order. Gang violence. Pandemonium.

”A mutant tournament would be cool, though.” He added wistfully, in spite of his cool logic. ”Maybe we could set one up at the mansion and use the Danger room. A real tenkaichi budakai .”

Strongest under the heavens...

Shin smiled at the random talk of fandoms.

”I like Tokusatsu and junk. Space stuff is pretty cool though. If my wife weren’t an empath who feels emotions of people around her, we might go to more conventions. But it isn’t much fun to go alone.”

He shrugged one shoulder. ”Maybe I could tag along with you some time and you could take me to your leader.” He faked an alien voice with a smug smile. ”Probably pretty shiny.”

Malcolm made a mental note of the illegal part of an underground mutant fight club. If that went into a future novel, he would have to establish just how risky the situation was, and perhaps that was what made it so iconic for the good characters to participate. Dangerous and illegal? Why would a good guy ever be part of something like that! Was there a secret mission? Were they there as a ploy? Malcolm would need to think more about that.

Malcolm let his attention return to what Shard was saying, eyes lighting up a bit. "There is a Danger Room? That sounds shiny! Is it like, electronic? Robotic? Does it shoot lasers at you? If you get hurt do you stay hurt when you leave?"[/color] He couldn't stop all the questions that time. It was much too exciting.

"Being an empath would make attending a comicon hard, I imagine. As much as I'd like to talk for the emotional stability of my fellow nerds, we do come from a rather, socially awkward line. There would be a lot of nervous energy in the room."[/color] Malcolm himself had plenty of confidence, but he knew he was not the norm. In fact, through much of his childhood his parents felt he was a bit broken because he lacked the ability to feel down. He was just...up. Like, all the time. Life just had so much for him to feel curious about and pursue.

"And it would be so cool if you came sometime! I get extra passes a lot as a panelist, and being able to have someone to join me would make it eventful. My own costumes would not be as cool as yours, but I do have a Battle Troop armor that I've been working on. I wore it for the Space Battles premier the other day and plan to wear it again. Just needs some more improvements to be worth it." He knew this upcoming event Booker was probably bringing a friend, which would use up the tickets he had. But next time, maybe he could bring Shard! That would be a pretty epic thing to do. Hopefully it wasn't too far away.

>> "There is a Danger Room? That sounds shiny! Is it like, electronic? Robotic? Does it shoot lasers at you? If you get hurt do you stay hurt when you leave?" Mal asked.

”Yes, and yes. It’s sort of...” He waved a hand, palm down. Bobbed it back and forth like balancing a scale. ”Does whatever it wants. Not very balanced. Illusions, bending reality, laser deathbots. I once filled it entirely with tennis balls by mistake. Me and a cat lady were trying to see who had the bestest dog. Results were... inconclusive. All dogs are good boys.” Or girls.

That had been fun. He still had no clue how the DR worked. It basically did everything. And changed every other Tuesday depending on who was using it.

”We like to joke it’s got a bunch of reality manipulators locked in its basement.” he laughed.

—

The Asian nodded at Mal and his comment about empathy and socially awkward people. Yeppp.

But a convention could be fun if he went with someone.

”I think that could be interesting. Going to see panels. Maybe if it were the right type, they might even invite me. Think I heard some whispering about something a few months down the line... kids at the mansion were talking...”

If they had X men at a panel, it would be pretty fun. Answering questions, a lot like this. Maybe they’d even have Mal to report. Or, as he had said, as an expert panelist. And they could compete with the cosplay too, he supposed.

”Goof troop armor?” he asked. ”Haven’t heard of battle troops.”

The danger room sounded absolutely fascinating. Malcolm was already hoping he would one day get the opportunity to see in in person. Reality bending? Illusions? Real lasers? How could all of that be in one room?! He probably looked like an owl because his eyes got wide like saucers, and he whistled low. "Shiny! I would have a hard time walking out of someplace like that, I would want to see everything it could do. I mean, I love science, but I also think one of the coolest things about mutations is their ability to generate their own rules. I've seen mutations that follow all normal physics while also watching mutants walk down the street with permanent flames. To which, I wanted to question the energy source to always having flames that aren't burning their clothing and...I digress."

He put his hands in his pocket, forcing himself to resume a more normal train of thought, not fanboying like crazy. "And yes, all dogs are good boys. Right now I only have a cat though, because landlady. She gave me a good deal on the place if I let a few of her kittens stay with me. The cats are nice though, when they aren't walking across my keyboard."

Sometimes Malcolm talked and seemed to forget he needed to breathe in the middle of his sentences. It was easy to get lost on a tangent, especially when someone seemed to share at least a little of his interests. When the topic of comicon came up, it was even harder to be normal. Especially when panels were mentioned. "I actually am scheduled for a con coming up, and last I heard they were still looking for panelists! I could see if they could use you? It would get you a way into the con and something to do! Heck, it would be great to have a heroes input on some of the topics!"

He got all excited about the danger room, and Shin could not help but grin. Yeah, it was amazing. As were mutants.

He could digress all day.

”I have known men that see and channel ghosts, and a woman who was a ghost. And red giants with tails, who split themselves into a series of brothers somehow... and a unicorn man. Really, with mutants anything is possible.” he said.

He didn’t comment on the cats. His pet had grown old and moved on long ago. He missed the husky. But such is life. Thor had lived his best life.

On the topic of the convention, Mal wanted to hook him up. He opened his mouth to say something, then a sudden beeping caught his attention. His X-communicator, in his pocket.

”Yeah,” He said, pulling out the comm. ”Contact the mansion. That would be awesome. Maybe some of the other people would be interested in going, too. Hold on a second!”

He turned off to one side and listened to the x communicator for a few seconds. Nodded. Frowned. Nodded again. Laughed. Said ‘Yeah, sure. I’ll be there in a minute. Thanks!’ Then, he hung up. He turned back towards Mal.

”So. You’ll never believe this but I am needed down town. An angry teenager is blaming his acne on a chocolatier and blew up a classy chocolates place. There is chocolate everywhere and he is controlling the sea.” He paused for a second, then grinned at him. ”Want to come and watch?”

He was already imagining a motorcycle with a sidecar.