Gear Crash

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kyle winced.

"Don't move" Said the doctor. "This will hurt even more if I miss the first shot." She inserted a long needle into his arm, filled with some gooey yellow liquid, and injected it into his bicep. The shock was immediate, and Kyle tried to pull his arm back. The doctor, with surprising strength and speed, grabbed his arm and held him down.

"What did I tell you?" She complained. "This should help a little with the pulled muscle. As long as you don't stay too active, it shouldn't be any major cause. Stay away from canoeing accidents, and if it hurts about a week from now, come back." The doctor smiled.

"Thanks a lot." Kyle said, then left the office. He walked out the door, into the bright sun. It was another day in New Maryland.

It was year 2089. Technology was advanced beyond comprehension, and artificially intelligent robots had been invented. Medicine was almost perfected, with a cure for cancer, AIDS, and basically any disease you could think of. Yet they couldn't figure out that Kyle's injuries were more than canoeing accidents.

Simon joined him at his shoulder. "How'd your little experiment go?" Simon had been his best friend since they were three; they had done everything together.

"Considering the fact that I just walked out of the Doctor's office, how do you think it went?"

"Not so good, huh?"

"I guess you could say that." Kyle sighed. It had been his fifth attempt at created what he called his "Exo-Suit". It wasn't the most creative name, but after two hours on Google looking for synonyms of legendary, it was the best that he could come up with.

"See, I really don't understand your obsessions with that stupid suit of yours. What is it even supposed to do?" Simon asked.

"Why don't you come with me, and I'll show you firsthand?"

Simon snorted. "The last time I went with you on one of your experiments, I had my eyebrows burned off. That was your self-created microwave toaster. If anything, that little suit of yours will break my arms and legs."

"Just come on, it'll be fun." Kyle cajoled.

"Fine, but if that thing starts self-destructing, I'm running and leaving you behind."

Kyle grinned. This was going to be a lot of fun.

They stepped into Simon's car, a red pickup truck. Simon had earned his license only three weeks ago, and was lording it over Kyle ever since.

"You know where the lab is, right?" Kyle inquired.

"I'm not sure it can be considered a lab. Aren't labs supposed to yield results?" Simon quipped.

"Shut up and drive." Kyle retorted. Simon only nodded his head in response, and hit the gas. As they drove onto the highway, Kyle looked out the window. Simon had no idea what his suit was going to be used for, and he would like to keep it that way, but if he found out what the suit actually did, Kyle would have to find a cover-up story. No, it was for the best that Kyle pretended that the suit was merely used for scientific purposes, such as cleaning rocks and dissecting frogs.

They pulled up to Kyle's "Lab", a dumpy old shed in the middle of the woods. "This place sucks." Simon said. "You could probably spiff it up with a bit of wallpaper, or a least a bathroom that actually functions. Is that a portapotty over there?"

"Shut up and walk." Kyle lead Simon into the shed, where he inserted the key into the lock. The door opened, and they headed inside.

Kyle flipped a switch. Above their heads, a large set of industrial-grade light screens flickered, then stayed on. The illuminated room revealed a large room, at least forty by forty yards. There was a large set of tables in front of them - wood tables, shiny with polish - and on the tables, there lay buckets of assorted mechanical parts, such as screws and doorknobs. The walls were covered with blueprints, neatly pinned in rows along the width of the wall. Simon glanced at one. From his limited understanding of engineering, he could tell that it was a plan for some kind of salt-to-freshwater converter. "I take it back," Simon said. "This place is way too modern for me. Aren't labs supposed to have, like, test tubes full of deformed babies or something?"

"You, my friend, watch way too much Cronenberg." Kyle replied. The pair walked up to a small redwood closet in the front of the room. Kyle swung one of the doors open. Simon gawked. Inside, there was an Iron-Man looking suit, something that looked extremely dangerous. The suit was painted rose-gold, with black markings over the back. There were black stripes neatly running down the suit's arms. However, there seemed to be something missing. Kyle pulled out a large white orb from his pocket. "This goes in the hole in the center. You wanna do the honors?"

"If this blows me up, there's gonna be hell to pay" Simon grumbled, and pushed the orb into the suit. Immediately, lights started flashing on the suit, and it parted in half, revealing the inside. There was a mass complexity of wires dangling all over, with just enough space for someone to squeeze in. Kyle stepped into the suit, feeling completely nervous. If Simon was right, and the suit self-destructed, then they would both be too dead to enjoy the benefit of it.

The suit closed over his head. Kyle blinked twice. The inside lit up, and flashing strobe lights danced upon his eyes. "Woah," Kyle said.

"How does it feel?" asked Simon. "It looks really tight in there."

"Tight is a good word for it." Kyle stood up. The suit was at least seven feet tall, and he towered over the fairly short Simon.

"There is no way that thing is just for dissecting frogs." Simon said.

"I believe that there is no such thing as overdoing something." Kyle said, as he took a few unsteady steps. "This suit is pretty clumsy. Let's take it outside so we can see how the jetpack works."

"You did not install a jetpack on the suit." Simon shook his head in disbelief. "How did you get a jetpack, and why didn't you get me one? On second thought, I really don't know. Or care. As long as I get a spin in the suit."

They headed outside, into the back of the lab. There was a small woods, with a road running through it. Kyle looked around. There was no one around, except for a young lady strolling down the path. She appeared to have a black and blue fedora on. Kyle grinned. "Ok, you might want to step back for this."
"Step back for wha..." Simon's question was cut short by a loud burst of fire, as Kyle shot into the air. Simon and the passerby watched in awe as Kyle did a couple flips in midair, twisting and spinning. "I think your suit's a lot better in the air than on the ground!" Simon yelled.

"I could tell that on my own, thanks!" Kyle yelled back. The passerby opened her mouth to speak. Suddenly, a motorcycle came roaring by. A man hopped off, his face hidden by a black helmet, grabbed her, and stole her strapped purse. The passerby shrieked. Simon grabbed the man, pulling him onto the ground. They began to wrestle.

"Do something!" Simon yelled to Kyle, as the man broke free and ran towards his motorcycle. Kyle turned midair, but it was too late. The man was speeding away. Simon moaned in defeat. Suddenly, Kyle shot something out of the right arm of the suit, hitting the man's motorcycle.

"Missed me!" The man yelled triumphantly, as he kicked the motorcycle up to third gear.

"If you say so," said Kyle. Simon and the passerby watched in shock as the man's motorcycle melted into a puddle of water. Kyle then promptly tied a pair of handcuffs around the man, and deactivated his suit.

As the bundle of gears powered down, the thief stared in shock at the puddle of what used to be his motorcycle. His mouth hung wide open in what seemed to be sheer terror. 

"Let's get this guy locked up." Kyle said, as he grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him towards his car, waiting a couple yards away. "Come on, Simon."

"Wait!" called the passerby. "I never got your name!" She ran up to him and shook his hand.

"I'm Kyle. Nice to meet you."

"Thanks for what happened back there. I owe you one." said the passerby. "My name's Sophia." Simon ran up to the duo, and glanced over at the thief. 

"You guys can do nice nice later. Let's lock this guy up before he somehow gets away. Superhero monologues never go well." Kyle smiled. 

"Okay, first, I'm not a superhero, second, it's not a monologue if I'm talking to..."

Cutting Kyle off, Simon grabbed his arm and tugged him to his car, along with the thief. Sophia waved them goodbye as the two boys drove off, leaving a large cloud of dust behind them.

"Step one is complete" She muttered, smiling mysteriously.