It was a normal day in New York City, until the unthinkable happened. I remember that the sky suddenly opened up, a kind of torn canvas could be witnessed. From the wound between the stars, an endless horde emerged, a nightmare of steel and alien flesh: the Chitauris. Their invasion was a storm of chaos and destruction, a relentless swarm descending upon the tall skyscrapers as if by the fury of a vengeful god.
Each of the Chitaruri ships was dark and ominous, gliding through the air and shooting energy bolts that shredded steel and concrete like paper. I remember the terrified faces of the people, people were caught in a cross between awe and terror, running in all directions as the thunder of falling buildings echoed in the background while the deafening roar of the invasion stifled their screams.
The Chitauri warriors were relentless, marching over the land like a tidal wave of darkness, empty eyes and glowing reflections of an intelligence devoid of all empathy as they destroyed the city. The city, once a pillar not only of America but of the world, now reduced to rubble and ashes. Humanity seemed to have lost all hope.
Yet, amidst all the destruction, hope burned like a dying candle. On the horizon darkened by dust and flames, a resistance emerged. Heroes rose up to fight the darkness, defying fate with determination and courage. The battle for New York, the battle for humanity itself, had begun, and in all the disaster, it hung by a thread on the edge of the abyss.
But you already know that, not here what we are going to tell is the story of how I became the greatest hero, at least I think so, technically there is no official ranking but if there were, I'm sure I would be in the top ....i think.
But well enough of interruptions let's get back to the story. In order to narrate things well you need a beginning and my beginning starts long before that so let's start again....
(2010)
The story begins with an orphan, I never knew my parents and lived most of my life in the orphanage for as long as I can remember. I was never convinced by any of the people who wanted to adopt me, after all I was very young and thought I didn't need anyone.
Then going to school, being expelled from it for misbehavior and getting into fights, then being transferred to another and being expelled again, my caretaker scolding me for not thinking about my future all the time and one day finally getting tired and resigning herself to the fact that when I turned 18 I would stop being her problem and start being the government's problem.
And so it was, as soon as I turned 18 I was kicked out of the orphanage, there was no speech, no last words, not even a goodbye, she knew that I didn't care about anything she had to say to me anyway so without warning, I left with the few belongings I had.
Getting a job to make ends meet was a complicated task, even more so considering I hadn't even finished high school, however I finally got one, a job as a delivery boy in a pizza place, after all driving was one of the few things if not the only thing I was good at.
The pay wasn't great but it was at least enough to rent a place in Harlem. Oh I forgot to mention, I live in the Big Apple, however, life in the Big Apple is not so glamorous unless you have money and are resigned to just living with what you have.
Everything was going well until one day....
I parked the bike next to the shop, I only have one order left to finish for the day and I'll be done. "(Sigh) Oh well another day, another dollar."
The local was no big deal, it was your typical New York pizza place, it was called Tito's Pizza, which was run by Tito himself, a descendant of Italian immigrants, I had no problem with him, he was nice as long as you did your job well and he didn't say anything if you were a little late, a decent guy in short.
As I opened the door to the shop I was greeted by Tito himself, with a box of Pizza in his hands.
"Johnny my boy here you are, I need you to carry this urgent order, finish this and I'll release you for the day." Said a Tito with a face that revealed he had had a busy day as he handed me the box with a piece of paper.
"On the paper is the address Johhny, in boca al lupo." Which I guess meant good luck, I'm still having trouble understanding his Italian expressions.
"Ok boss, I'm on it." I said as I prepared to leave again.
Once I put the box in the backpack on the bike, I set out to see the address the pizza was destined for.
"Ok let's see, 177ª Bleecker Street eh, well here we go." I said as I started the bike and headed to a place that I didn't know at the time but would change my entire destiny.
The ride was pretty smooth for rush hour in the city, so it didn't take long to get to the destination. There I was greeted by the sight of a mansion that looked a bit old.
Without thinking too much I took the box out of my backpack and rang the doorbell, to which I waited 1,2,5,10,20... nothing, so I went back to ring again and this time I heard footsteps as if someone was coming down some stairs and heading for the door.
The door was opened for me by an adult male of medium-tall stature, who appeared to have an athletic, muscular build. He had dark skin tone, brown eyes and short dark hair, however what really caught my attention at that moment is how he seemed to give off a sort of aura of authority.
"Hello, how can I help you?" as if by automatic I responded.
"I came to deliver this, I think it's extra pepperoni." I said showing him the pizza to which he without changing his expression replied.
"No one ordered pizza here." Instantly an expression of confusion adorned my face, must have been a prank call?
"Are you sure?" I asked with a tone of doubt.
"I am, now if that's all I'm going to ask you to please leave this property." He said already grabbing the door handle, however before he closes it a shout of "WAIT" could be heard coming from the stairs, which made us turn our gazes to a man of average height, with a build that appeared to be more stocky and with Asian like features.
"Thank you for bringing her, how much I owe you." The stocky man said quickly, as he appeared to reach for his wallet.
"Wong, you ordered this?" Donnatello asked, haha I just came with that one. Seriously between the green robe and his seriousness, it's definitely Donatello.
"Yes, I did, now can you pay for it, I think I left my wallet at Kaaabin, at the cabin, how distracted I am." Said with an uncomfortable smile the apparently named Wong as he took the pizza away.
Leaving the 2 of us alone again in a somewhat awkward silence, to which the man just sighed and said.
"Ok, wait here, I'll get your money." He said as he left and leaving the door ajar, so out of curiosity I wanted to see a little of what was inside and to the eye it was quite peculiar, there were several pictures and display cases with objects and in the center of it going up the stairs was a large circular window with a weird symbol.
"What is all this?" I whispered under my breath, it looked like an antique store but without the selling junk part, all this for some reason that I can't explain seemed real and among all the things something caught my attention.
In a kind of showcase there was a strange pendant, it was golden in color and had an oval shape. In the center of the amulet, the center of the pendant even had a design similar to an eye. So I approached it for a closer look.
Being able to appreciate it more closely now, the medallion possessed intricate engravings and details that gave it a mystical and ancient look. At that moment, the medallion out of nowhere opened, revealing a green light that illuminated the room for a second, looking at it closely it seemed to be some kind of precious stone, quickly and verifying that there was no one around, I took it.
As soon as my finger touched the stone, I felt a kind of energy running through my body. It hurt and a lot, I only felt pain while images assaulted my senses, is that Tony Stark? Who is that redhead? And that blond? A city in ruins, a war and the silhouette of a giant, no, a titan.
Without even understanding what I was seeing, in that instant I lost consciousness.