Steel-Girl: rebooted 2024/25

Chapter 1

My alarm blares, as I quickly wake up. I rush to my feet. Crap crap crap. That was my get out the door alarm. Guess I slept through the first 3.
I throw on a clean shirt and jeans, putting my hair up, in a ponytail before I put on socks and shoes, grabbing my backpack and phone, before I run downstairs.
“Whoah, someone's late.” Mom says.
I quickly run out the door, putting in an ear bud, about to head to the bus stop. Mom walks out, keys in hand.
“You already missed it. Hop in.” She says, getting into the car, and starting the engine. I hop in the passenger seat, as she turns on the radio.
“Why didn't you wake me up?” I ask.
“Well I figured you wanted to stay home anyway, being your birthday and all.” She says.
“The Paladin makes another quick save, in what many people are calling the Return of Heroes. It's been 15 years since the Alliances and Steel-Man’s Deaths, marking what many called the End of Heroes, but recently, The Paladin has shown up, many people are questioning if this will be the return of heroes.” The radio host says.
“Now I don't know about you, but 1 superhero appearing does not look like a Rise of Heroes. We still have yet to get a statement, or even a picture of The Paladin, but many, many witnesses can attest to his existence.” The host adds. Mom changes the station quickly after.
We pull into the driveway, getting there before even the bus does.
We are let in, people chill near the lockers, as I spot them.
“Hey Nat!! Happy birthday!!” Ava says, running up, Mia chasing not too far behind.
Ava lightly nudges me, standing beside me
“So, what are you gonna do for your birthday?” Mia asks.
“Probably just gonna head to that new pizza place. I heard some good things.” I say.
“Oo, did you guys hear about the Recent Paladin save? Apparently he took down WindTwist!” I say, excitedly, pulling up a grainy, blurry picture of a green figure, punching WindTwist.
“Isn't WindTwist like 60 years old or something?” Ava asks.
“63. Steel-Man fought him September 23rd 1995, if I read correctly.” I say.
“Jesus, you just have that memorized?” Mia says.
“Uh yeah? He was one of the strongest superheroes to exist! He took down villains that no one else could!” I say.
“You are such a fangirl. In my opinion he's an overpowered boy scout who never had to worry about getting hurt.” Mia says, shaking her head.
“Okay then, who's your favorite superhero? Since you think Steel-Man was so corny.” I say.
“ShadowStorm.” She says.
“That dark edgy guy? The one that worked with Steel-Man before he joined The Alliance?” Ava asks.
“Uh yeah? He took care of business. He didn't take shit from anyone, broke bones and kicked ass.” She says.
“He killed like 10 guys because they happened to work for a bad guy. Mia most of those guys he killed didn't even know they were working for a villain.” Ava says.
“They were in his way.” She says.
“And were killed because the company they worked for was owned by a secret super villain. Emphasis on the secret.” Ava rebuttals.
“Should've done their research.” Mia says.
“Those were people with lives, who were killed because ShadowStorm wanted their boss, who no one except ShadowStorm knew was a villain. A hero shouldn't kill people, they're supposed to be role models, inspirations. He didn't even give them a chance to surrender.” I say, getting a little annoyed.
“Sometimes doing the right thing involves getting your hands dirty. When you're a vet, sometimes the best thing is to put down the dog with rabies before it can infect and hurt any others.” Mia says.
“Those weren't dogs he killed. Honestly I have no idea how Steel-Man could work with him.” I say.
Mia and I are best friends. She's known me for most of my life. But this is the one thing we can never agree on. Superheroes.
The bell rings, as class starts. Classes go by, slow and boring. I sit in class, as the light above me starts flickering. After school I walk home, a loud piercing noise rings through my ears, as I quickly cover them. I look around, looking for what could have caused it, but find nothing around here. The noise slowly fades, as I continue walking, cautiously. I pull out my phone, but it very quickly powers off, seemingly dying.
Great. Totally not weird at all.
I keep walking, stopping at a crosswalk. The green light starts flickering, seemingly losing power. What is up with all the technology going waywire today? The light flickers to red, as I am able to cross. At least it's Friday. Don't have to do anything tomorrow. I yawn, feeling tired.
I walk into the house, and head upstairs, feeling really tired.
I plug in my phone, and flop onto the bed, my eyes flutter before closing, sleep getting harder and harder to fight. My vision fades to black.
______________________________________

I'm flying through space, the stars and planets zoom past, as I soar. I look through the window, into the vast space.
I catch my reflection.
A- a baby? Why am I a baby?
The blanket has Steel-Man’s symbol on it, a lightning bolt shaped S. Wh-what is going on? The pod I'm in, approaches Earth, before crashing down in the middle of seemingly nowhere, the vast empty sand stretches out.
A car drives towards me, well not me, I think. I don't remember this.
A woman steps out from the car, gasping at the alien pod, as it opens up. She looks familiar.
She scoops me up, cradling me.
“Oh Cam, it's a baby!” She says.
“Honey, it came from space.” A man says, walking up, cautiously.
“It's a baby. Maybe it's a sign?” She says.
“Hon, we can't just replace her.” He says.
“I'm not saying we should. But maybe we lost her for a reason. Maybe this is the child we were meant to raise.” She says.
He sighs, looking at the pod.
“Okay, but we should probably not just leave the Alien pod in the middle of the desert.” He says, trying to lift the pod.
A bright light flies towards us, heading right towards us. I shoot awake, and look at the clock. It's 12:00 PM!? Jesus, I slept a lot more than normal. I sit up, and try to open the door. Wood snaps, metal groans, screws snap, as the door comes clean off.
“What the fuck!!!” I exclaim, holding the broken door in one hand, as if it weighs nothing.
“Nat are you okay?” Mom yells from downstairs.
“Uhh, just uhhh, stepped on a thumbtack, don't worry!” I say.
“Oh, hold on, I'll take a look at it. How deep did it go?” She asks. The fridge door slams closed, the sound ringing through my ears like a massive boom. I double over, covering my ears from the noise.
Mom quickly runs up. Her heart beats quicker, as she takes a deep breath.
Her eyes widen at the sight of the broken door, before she looks down, takes a deep breath, and looks back up at me. Her breathing starts to slow down a bit, her heart still beats fast.
“We need to talk.” She says.