Iron Dragon
Chapter 1
"What, give me a break!" Issei complained to his father.
"Come on dad, I just finished college" Issei said. Issei Hyoudou age fifteen, was a genius with an almost unheard of 200-point IQ who had just finished his education at MIT with a master's in engineering.
"We know that sweetheart, but your fifteen and you've never made any real friends" His mother said.
"I've been busy, and I had plenty of friends at MIT" Issei said.
"We mean friends your own age" His mother said.
"Friends my own age are dumb" He huffed.
"Then how about finding a girlfriend?" His father asked.
"We do want grandchildren" His mother said.
"Mom!" Issei said blushing.
"Please just give it a try. Go to school, be with kids your own age, chase girls" His father said.
"Be a kid for a few years" His mother said in that sweet way that brooked no argument. So Issei found himself registered to go to Kohou academy a former all girls school that became co-ed.
"I think mom and dad are pushing this girlfriend thing a little hard" Issei thought as he walked from his two-story house to the empty building he had bought. Along with being a child prodigy Issei was also extremely wealthy due to a number of inventions he had developed and patented and thanks to his parent's thoughtfulness and care had invested and grown it into a rather sizable fortune. Beyond easing the usual financial struggles of a middle-class family, they had refused to take any more of his wealth than what they absolutely. His father enjoyed his job and the feeling of supporting his family and his mother was fine with the position they were in.
"If there's a major emergency then we'll use your money, until then, it's yours" his mother had told him.
"I know you need it to fund your little, projects" She told him with a knowing look. Issei laughed as he put his hand on the biometric scanner of his own design and entered the building, the automatic lights coming on.
"Lain, you awake?" He asked.
"For you Issei, always" His AI said materializing into a plain but still cute brunette formed by the holographic projectors he had also designed and installed into the floor's ceilings and walls. If Issei had a type of girl he liked it was a girl like lain, cute, mousey but sweet, smart, and willing to call him on his BS when he needed it. That fact that she was completely ripped off from the main character of his favorite anime was something he wasn't too proud to admit.
"So, my parents are sending me back to high school" he told her as he called up a holographic interface and brought up his latest project. A metal tube rose from the floor and opened to reveal the gold and red armor he had built almost from scratch. Along with being a genius Issei was an Otaku with an obsession for both American Comics, anime and Manga. He loved reading about superheroes such as Superman, Batman, spider-man, all of them, but his inspiration had been the real life legend Iron Man. Tony Stark, a genius billionaire who had used his intelligence and money to make him a superhero had sparked something in Issei when he was twelve and just entering MIT. By that time the Avengers along with many other superheroes had vanished from the world, all of them gone in a single day, with only memories from people who had seen them and comic books, the records of their exploits. With his fortune he had built his own lab after graduating in this very building, installing Lain, who he had built from the ground up. He had also kind of started viewing her as his girlfriend, which he was proud to admit much to Lains dismay, and with her help had started to build his first Iron Man armor. With the current technology he jumped past all the prototypes and earlier models of the comics and was currently working on his own version of the Modular armor, his MK1.
"I can't believe you actually made it" Lain said.
"hey, I made you" Issei said.
"I'm special" Lain pouted cutely.
"Yes, you are" Issei said running a diagnostic.
"Maybe you can find a real girlfriend?" Lain asked sarcastically.
"Why when I have you?" Issei asked smiling at her and causing her to blush.
"I'm going to martialize you one day, you have my word on that" Issei said and she sighed.
"Looks like it's finally ready" Issei said as the pieces of the armor opened. Issei stepped forward and turning stepped into the armor which closed around him, fitting him like a glove. The helmet closed and the HUD loaded as the armor booted to life, a picture of his surroundings being projected into his eyes. Issei felt power flow through the armor as the clamps holding it disengaged and he stepped forward the titanium nanocarbon metal light as a feather. He looked down at one gauntleted hand and clenched it into a fist as data and readings flashed across the screen in the helmet.
"So far so good" Issei said.
"All readings are nominal" Lain said into his ear.
"Then let's take her for a spin" Issei said as a hole opened in the roof.
"And you said a door in the ceiling was a bad idea" Issei told lain and heard her snort. He felt a slight rumble in his feet as the repulsors in his boots activated and he felt himself lift off the ground. With a shout of excitement, he shot through the hole in the roof and into the sky. He felt the G-forces inside the armor though thanks to the stabilizers and cushioning it wasn't as bad as it would have been. He wove through the sky, the armors control so finely tuned that it almost read his mind on where he wanted to go.
"this is amazing. It actually works" Issei said.
"Of course, it works, you built it" Lain said as he saw Kahu city streak by beneath him.
"This is amazing" he said as he saw the monorail beneath him. He dove out of the sky and flew alongside the train and looked to the side as people stared out the window at him. He gave a small salute before pulling back into the sky and flying home. Lowering back through the roof he landed and put the armor back into its cradle where the pieces opened up allowing him to step out.
"I can say that the first test flight of my Iron Man MK1 armor is a complete success" Issei said.
"Now all you need is a supervillain to fight" Lain said.
"Maybe start with some normal crimes" He said when his phone rang.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Issei where are you, it's getting late" His mother asked.
"I'm in my lab" He said.
"Okay, just make sure you get some sleep" His mother said resigned.
"I promise" he said and hung up.
"Okay, lets get started on upgrading this baby, and maybe start on the next one" Issei said. The next thing he knew it his phone was ringing.
"Hello?" Issei asked.
"Issei it's morning" His mother scolded him.
"really?" He asked.
"Stop playing in your lab and come to breakfast" She said. As soon as Issei stepped through the door his mother met him with a scowl.
"This is why you need a girlfriend, so you don't spend all your time cooped up in your lab" She scolded him.
"You won't believe what I've made. Half the stuff I invented just to run it will change the world" He told her excited.
"that's nice dear, now come eat breakfast" She said. After he ate, Issei bathed then returned to his lab, got back into the armor and went out for another flight.
"Lain tap into the police scanner" He ordered and heard the chatter come through the speakers.
"there's a highspeed chase in progress" Lain said and a map came up on his HUD, and Issei adjusted to follow it. His vision telescoped to see a small car roaring down the street.
"Okay, lets be heroes" He said diving down and landing on the street in front of the car as it barreled toward him. He braced himself as the car hit him and he caught it, lifting it off the street, wheels spinning and slammed it down on the street, the wheels collapsing and the car dying. Issei took to the skies as the police pulled up.
"That was awesome" Issei said.
"There's a bank robbery" Lain said and the map popped up again and he landed in front of the bank.
"Hey guys, looking for an early withdrawal?" Issei asked stepping into the bank. The masked robbers turned and looked at him for moment before they opened fire on him with their handguns.
"It's times like these I'm glad Japan has such tough gun laws" He said as the pistols bullets bounced off the titanium of his armor until they were empty.
"My turn" Issei said as he activated the repulsors in his gloves and achieving the targeting resolution on his HUD shot two of the men and then the third.
"I think I could get used to this" Issei told Lain as he took to the skies.
"You seem to be having fun" Lain said as he returned to his lab. He returned home to dinner to see his mother glaring at him and his father looking worried.
"What's up?" Issei asked.
"Would you mind explaining this?" She asked turning on the T.V. to show the news.
"The mysterious new Iron Man not only stopped a high-speed pursuit in its tracks but also stopped a bank robbery"The news caster said.
"It looks to me like someone has read too many American Comics" the male announcer said.
"Someone who's been able to build a working suit of armor" The woman said.
"Or maybe it's a new government weapon?" The male responded as his mother muted the T.V.
"I assume this is what you've been working on?" She demanded.
"Please don't be mad. It's so cool, it works just like the armor from the comics, and the old days better even" Issei said.
"He could have a worse role model than Tony Stark" His dad said and Issei was thankful his father was almost as big a comic book nerd as he was as well as being old enough to remember the original iron man.
"I'm in no danger, I promise" He said grabbing his mothers' hands"
"I can't stop you. Just please be careful." She said.
"Promise" He said. The last few weeks of summer he modified the armor until it could compress down into the size and appearance of a satchel with the same weight so he could carry it anywhere.
"Are you really going to take it to school?" Lain asked
"Of course not, but when we visit grandma, or I have to go on a school trip I want to be able to take it with me" He said.
"I can't believe I'm going to school, again" He said.
"Japans labor laws prohibit you from actually working at your age" Lain said.
"And what is my current balance?" Issei asked.
"Over two hundred million dollars" Lain said as he put down the micro welder and sighed.
"Maybe mom and dad are right. I never did get to make friends my own age, not after elementary school at least" He said.
"I just don't know how to be a "normal" kid" He told her.
"I'm sure you can do it. You can do anything you put your mind too" She said smiling.
"Thanks" Issei said a feeling of warmth surging through him.
"There are times a really wish you were real. I'll make you real one day." He thought at her. All too soon the first day of school arrive and Issei found himself standing in the front gate of Kohou university.
"here I go. The first day of Japanese Highschool" He thought. He walked into his classroom and sat down at his assigned seat between a bald-headed boy in front of him and a bespectacled boy behind him.
"High. I'm Issei Hyoudou" He introduced himself.
"I'm Matsuda, that's Motohama" The bald boy introduced himself and gestured the glasses wearing boy.
"So, you new to the area?" Motohama asked
"Yeah, just moved back here from the states" Issei said.
"Really, you lived abroad?" Matsuda asked.
"that's kind of cool" Motohama said.
"I guess" Issei said.
"So, Hyoudou, living abroad, what kind of foreign women did you meet?" Motohama asked.
"Excuse me?" Issei asked.
"You know. I hear American Women are particularly friendly" The bespectacled boy leered and Issei just stared at him dumbfounded.
"Yeah, big boobed lusty blondes who are down for anything" Matsuda shouted out and Issei felt his heart plummet into the floor as their classmates began whispering. As soon as the homeroom teacher entered the room Issei got up and walked up to him.
"Sensei, may I be assigned another seat, the guy's I'm sitting between are a couple of creeps" Issei said.
"I'm sorry but your assigned seat is your assigned seat" He said. Sighing Issei walked back to his seat plopped down and ignored the two boys after that, taking out his notebook and half listening to the teachers lecture while he scribbled down ideas for new inventions and improvements to his armor. As soon as lunch came around, he was out of his seat and out the door to go eat on the roof, anything to get away from the two boys. As he made his way to the roof, he encountered a crowed of students and in the middle of them was a beautiful girl with long red hair and a figure that should be anatomically impossible on a girl her age. Issei watched quietly as they passed then went to the roof where he ate his lunch and thought over new designs. After lunch he again half listened to the teachers lecture as he thought over ways to improve his armor.
"Hyoudou-Kun could you please solve the problem?" The math teacher asked. Issei looked up at the teacher beckoning him so he got up walked up to the board and quickly solved the advanced equation that had been put up on the board before sitting down as his classmates murmured.
"How was school dear?" his mother asked when he got home.
"Not bad. I got seated next to a couple of perverted creeps but other than that it was…. fun" He said.
"Well, you can't help it. Sometimes you get stuck with people like that" His father said.
"Oh really Mr. I wanted a Harem when I was young" His mother teased, and his father blushed.
"Just try not to let them be a bad influence on you" His mother advised.
"Don't worry about that" Issei said assuring her that he would have as little interaction with them as possible. Over the next few weeks he got to know his classmates and began making a few friends, though not with the perverted duo as they were known. One in particular was a boy from another class, Yuuto Kiba who he met on the roof while he was having lunch.
"Sorry I didn't think anyone else came up here" Issei said when he saw the blonde boy in his usual spot.
"Don't worry about it" Kiba said smiling.
"Mind if I eat with you?" Issie asked.
"Not at all" Kiba said.
"I'm Issei Hyoudou by the way" he introduced himself.
"Yuuto Kiba" The boy responded.
"Nice to meet you" Issei said holding out his hand which earned a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry, I just got back from the states" Issei said.
"No need to apologize" Kiba said taking his hand.
"So, what were you doing abroad?" Kiba asked.
"Studying at MIT" Issei said causing Kiba to choke on his drink.
"Whoa, you okay?" Issei asked patting the boy on the back.
"Yes, your answer just surprised me" Kiba said.
"Yeah, I graduated last year, and my parents didn't want me to be a NEET, so they enrolled me here to make friends and have fun" Issei said.
"So, what may I ask did you study?" Kiba asked.
"I have a master's in engineering and a minor in programming" Issei replied.
"Maybe you should think about joining the engineering club, or the computer club?" Kiba advised.
"Maybe, I've been thinking about it" Issei said as the bell rung. After that Issei and Kiba hung out every day on the roof, eating lunch and chatting. It turned out Kiba came up to the roof to get away from the flock of girls that were always chasing him.
"I don't want to hurt any feelings, but it gets to be a bit much sometimes" Kiba said.
"Yeah, I come up here to get away from the two scumbags I'm stuck between in my class" Issei said as they heard a commotion down on the ground and looking down saw the perverted duo running from a bunch of girls holding wooden swords.
"Speaking of which" Issei said.
Issei also improved his armor and how to use it, and also improved his lab, installing a fabrication system to produce replacement parts and materials as needed, and also started developing some of the other models from the comics, as well as a few he had come up with himself.
"It's hard to be original when Stan Lee came up with most of the good armors already, or rather recorded what Tony Stark built" Issei said as he checked the armors circuitry.
"I'm sure you'll think of something, you always do" Lain said. Along with working on his armor, Issei also thought of ways to incorporate the technology he had to make the armor into ways to improve humanity, particularly the Arc Reactor tech.
"How are you doing shopping the arc reactor around?" Issei asked Lain.
"I have some good bites." Lain said.
"Make sure that whoever buy's it won't kill it. I want it out there" Issei reiterated.
"you ever think of actually starting a company and I don't know, hiring someone to help run it?" Lain asked.
"Why when I have you?" He asked.
"I'm an A.I., a good one, but I have my limits" Lain said.
"Then I'll program those limits out of you" Issei said and saw her puff her cheeks out while blushing.
"I don't want to start a company, at least not yet. What would I even call it?" Issei asked as she continued to glare.
"But I'll think about it" He said causing Lain to smile.