"Chime,"
"Thank you, come again!"
Rex stepped out of the clothing store in the eastern district's shopping area, looking relaxed. He glanced at the bag he was carrying, then looked at his hand, clenching it into a fist and opening it again.
"After hearing those two creatures talking on the roof, I finally understand why my body hasn't aged even as the years go by. It looks like the heritage from my father and mother in Arendel carried over to this world... ugh... why did I go and say I was a god? But it's the truth; my parents in Arendel were a god and goddess... what can I do? Thinking back on how loudly I declared it that night, I'm actually embarrassing myself... damn it," Rex muttered in his head.
As he walked past a fairly wide but dead-end alleyway between buildings, "Don't... that's the money to pay my dad's debt... ah," Rex heard a voice from deep inside the alley. Out of curiosity, he peeked in. He saw a group of men in tattered clothes, looking like vagrants who clearly came from the slums in the west, surrounding a teenage boy. The boy looked to be about seventeen—Rex's own age—and had fallen to his knees, clutching his stomach in pain. One man still hadn't pulled back his fist, having seemingly just punched the teenager.
Rex shrugged his shoulders and kept walking, feeling like it was none of his business, but "thud," he stopped in his tracks. Now the teenager was sprawled out on the ground with a boot print on his face. The boy actually had a stocky, muscular build and a slightly arrogant face, though right now he was filled with terror and pain.
"Whew... there's always something," Rex muttered, his mind torn between helping or staying indifferent.
Ultimately, the sense of justice in his heart won out. Rex turned around and walked toward the group of ragged men. He saw another man kicking the teenager, but then he heard them shouting.
"You brat... because of what your old man did, my wife ended up in his hands and I lost my job... now die! Your dad isn't part of the elite anymore; he's just trash like us. Feel this!" said one man who looked stressed out, like he hadn't slept in days.
"Exactly! Your dad was the one who sold my kid to the elites to be their toy just because I couldn't pay my debt. Now feel what happens when you can't pay yours. Just die!" another man added, looking like he was on the verge of tears.
Hearing the men scream, Rex stopped walking. Compared to them, the teenager looked much neater, even if he was dirty, while his attackers wore office clothes that were filthy and torn to shreds.
"Weren't you the one who beat up my son because you wanted his girlfriend? Don't think just because you were elite you can do whatever you want. This is what happens when the world turns upside down. Die!" another man yelled while kicking the teenager in the stomach.
Seeing all of this, Rex finally turned away and abandoned his plan to help the boy. He walked back out of the alley and onto the sidewalk toward his house. But after only a few steps, the city alarm blared loudly, followed by several fighter jets flying outside the dome. Rex stopped instantly. Then, the city announcement rang out:
"Emergency. Three giant Cyclopes are heading toward the city from the west. Residents are urged to head to shelters in an orderly fashion. Do not panic; follow the directions of the officers in your area."
Rex glanced at the bag he was carrying. He turned back and saw the group of men from the slums running out of the alley. Rex ran into the alley and saw the teenager lying unconscious on the ground. He walked over to the boy and checked on him.
"Good, he's out cold."
Rex opened his bag and pulled out the clothes he had just bought. It turned out he had purchased a tight, black spandex jumpsuit. His face turned red just looking at it.
"Why the hell did I buy something as embarrassing as this... ah... whatever," Rex thought to himself.
He took off his clothes and pulled on the tight jumpsuit. After folding his original clothes and stuffing them back into the bag, he stretched out his hand. A gray vortex opened up. He reached inside and pulled out a set of armor. He put on his black and gold upper-body plate, complete with shoulder guards, gold bracers, and waist-to-thigh armor finished with a gold belt and gold iron boots. But when he saw the helmet, he threw it back into the vortex—which was his dimensional storage—along with his bag of clothes.
"Hmm... what should I use to cover my face?" he asked himself.
He looked around and saw a pair of sunglasses lying next to the unconscious teenager. Without a second thought, he crouched down and grabbed them. He put them on, and just like that, he became the knight he had been back in Arendel.
"Luckily I still have my armor... it's just the jumpsuit that's embarrassing... alright, let's go."
"Boom!"
Rex took off with a burst of speed that created a sonic boom. He flew across the dome toward the city exit at high speed.
***
Meanwhile, in the ruins of a metropolitan city where skyscrapers still stood half-collapsed and swallowed by wild vegetation, asphalt roads as wide as highways sliced through the center, reclaimed by nature. Rusted car wrecks sat at the edges of the streets, buried under vines. Several tanks and soldiers were busy firing with magic rounds at three cyclopes —each half the size of the standing skyscrapers—who were marching forward while swatting away fire from helicopters and fighter jets circling them.
"Blam,"
A fighter jet fired its missile, infused with the element of fire, and hit the arm of the middle cyclops that had a straight horn on its forehead. A ring of fire followed the explosion, launching spears of flame into its head. "Graaaah," the cyclops roared loudly because its face had been hit. It lashed out its arm while clutching its face with the other hand, and "blam," a passing jet exploded instantly. Another cyclops climbed a building and snatched a helicopter, stuffing it into its mouth.
"No!" the pilot and the soldiers inside screamed.
"Blam,"
The helicopter exploded inside the cyclops's mouth. The creature didn't seem to feel a thing even as smoke billowed from its maw; it simply tossed the burning wreckage toward the tanks on the highway that were firing at it.
"Fall back... fall back!" the commander shouted.
The three tanks retreated, and "blam," the helicopter crashed right in front of them and exploded. Soldiers scrambled behind the tanks for cover.
"Damn it... at this rate, they're going to reach the city," one soldier said.
"Hold the line... they cannot reach the city!" the commander yelled.
In the middle of their panic, suddenly, "WOOOSHSHHH," a gray comet streaked past them and "Boom!" the comet slammed hard into the lead cyclops. "Graaaah," the cyclops fell flat on its back. The comet zipped away again, spiraling upward before diving toward the cyclops on the road that was watching its comrade fall. "Shiiing," the comet suddenly dropped, slicing right through the monster. Without even a chance to scream, the cyclops's body was cut cleanly from its head to its crotch, the two halves falling apart.
The soldiers watching were wide-eyed in disbelief. The comet was actually a man wearing black and gold armor, with two large saber-like blades made of light glowing in his hands. "Graaaah," the fallen cyclops started to get back up, but the armored man jumped and spun, and the monster's head instantly hit the ground. The man then turned his gaze upward toward the cyclops still clinging to the building. "Boom!" he shot off like a comet, performed a mid-air somersault, and kicked the cyclops in the face with both feet. "Gaaaaaaah," the creature plummeted.
But before it hit the ground, the comet dived toward it and fired several giant spears of light. They pierced through the cyclops's stomach at a single point, creating a massive hole. The comet flew right through the opening, passing through the monster's body to land on the ground first. The force of his landing shattered the already broken asphalt into a crater. The cyclops slammed into the crater and stopped moving.
Several soldiers jumped into their armored vehicles and drove to the edge of the pit. They got out and looked down, stunned to see the armored man sitting cross-legged and relaxed on top of the dead cyclops. He was resting his chin on his hand, looking like he was deep in thought. Then, the man noticed the soldiers and stood up. "Boom!" he shot off again like a comet, flying back toward the city.
"Huh... who... who was that?" one soldier asked, confused.
"I don't know... I've never seen anything like that before," another replied.
"Seriously... that was incredible," the first soldier said, watching the comet as it streaked far into the distance.
***
A few moments later, at the apartment, "click," Rex—who had already changed back into his gray hoodie—stepped inside. He immediately caught the scent of cooking from within. He walked through the small hallway and opened the door.
"I'm home... whoaaah,"
Rex jumped back. Rose and Ruby were standing right in front of the door. Both were wearing aprons, but they didn't have a single stitch of clothing on underneath, leaving their bodies clearly exposed amidst the savory aroma of the food. Rose was holding a soup ladle and Ruby was holding a frying pan, showing they had been cooking and had been waiting for him the moment they heard the door.
"Welcome home, my husband. Do you want to eat first, take a bath first... or have me?" they both asked at the same time with sweet smiles.
"Huh... what?" Rex froze, completely caught off guard and at a loss for words as his face suddenly turned bright red at the sight in front of him.