Chương 5: Tin Can in the Sky

By noon, the two decided to head back home, but as they were about to reach the subway, they both heard a loud sound above, and looking up, they spotted a figure flying extremely fast in the air. Everyone around had the exact same reaction as the two of them; some of them already had their phones out as someone exclaimed, "It's Iron Man!" Sure enough, flying through the sky of New York was perhaps the most famous superhero at the time, Iron Man.

Meanwhile, Mason looked at the rapidly fading suit of armor with a pensive face. Although some details like where exactly Kamar-Taj was had faded away, even with his improved memory, he still distinctly remembered the more important elements, such as how Iron Man appeared in the MCU. This was actually the reason as to why Mason believed this world to be a mix between the MCU and the comics, as Iron Man's introduction was basically the same as the first Iron Man movie.

However, there were some other elements that did not match, hence his confusion regarding the timeline. For example, the existence of mutants. Still, Mason had learned not to care so much about which version he was in exactly, because he realized it did not really matter. Although knowledge was good, his presence was bound to change things, and he did not want to limit himself out of fear of disrupting the timeline. Hell, he fully intended on fucking up the timeline.

Mason was not the only one feeling complicated emotions at the sight of Iron Man, however. Turning to look at his elder sister, who was still staring at the sky with a lost expression, he whispered, "You okay?" This brought Elena out of her thoughts as she looked back at Mason, who was slightly shorter than her, and smiled, "I'm fine, it's just… well, you know. Him." Mason nodded knowingly, and the two walked away.

Both because of the encounter and because they were tired, the pair of siblings did not speak much on the way back, so Mason spent most of his time on his different social media accounts. They were mostly empty, which was a relief. This body's past was bad enough already; he did not need it to be spread all over the internet. Once the pair got back home, the mood visibly lifted as they had lunch with their parents, during which Elena did not stop complimenting Mason about the morning.

Mason could see what she was doing, trying to boost his morale so he would go back running, and although he would have done so anyway, it made him feel warm in his chest, so he decided to play the part and act somewhat embarrassed. Once lunch was over, as Mason prepared to head back to the city, he heard a knock on his door, and he saw a teenage girl's head peek through. She had obviously just woken up, as she rubbed her eyes and asked with a yawn, "Are you going out?"

Smiling, Mason replied, "Hello to you too, Audrey. How late did you stay up last night?" She waved him off, grumbling, "Why do you care. So, are you going out?" Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Mason rolled his eyes at his younger sister's antics and nodded, "Do you need anything?"

"I ordered a headset, so if you could go pick it up…" Mason got up, shrugging, "If you want, but I'll probably only be back by the evening." She once again waved him off, "It's fine, I only need it for tonight. Just be back before 9. Thanks!" And with that, she was gone. Following that, Mason did not linger for long as he left, heading back to the center of the city, Manhattan.

Although it wasn't the only place where there were martial arts dojos, it was still the place where there was the highest concentration of them. As expected, it took Mason the whole afternoon, but he did eventually manage to visit all of them, and he was not disappointed. He had applied to 10 of them, and although he would have liked to get more of them, he unfortunately did not have infinite time. Moreover, some dojos clashed in his schedule, forcing him to drop some.

His decision might seem rash, but Mason had pretty unique circumstances. To start off, he had all of his time available to him, having just graduated from high school. His previous self had already made it clear, whether it be by his mediocre grades or overall lack of motivation, that he wouldn't follow up to college, and had managed to earn himself the rest of the summer holidays as free time, meaning Mason would only have to find a job by September, which was three months away.

And even then, it wasn't like Mason really needed the money, as his parents were loaded. He was pretty sure that if he proved himself to be in better shape, both physically and more importantly psychologically, he would be able to get away with remaining jobless. It would not be ideal for his parents, but if he really needed to, he could probably get away with it. Not that he intended to be a disappointment.

Of course, to the average person, the main problem would most certainly be the workload, as simply learning a single discipline, even with all the free time in the world, was tedious, not to mention ten. But again, if there was something Mason did not lack, it was will. Compared to the past 18 years, it was nothing. Moreover, it wasn't for any stupid reason such as vanity, but for both his and the world's sake. If he wanted both to survive, then this was necessary. Of course, Mason's strong ego also helped.

Lastly, Mason did not have to worry about overloading himself, as while his grasp on Chi was rudimentary at best, it still appeared clearly to him that circulating it through his body allowed for a better regeneration than simply time. It was not like Mason wanted to become a master in all martial arts in the world either. He was good, but he was no genius martial artist either, not that he knew of at least. What he really sought was something that would help him evolve his mastery of Chi.

As for the dojos themselves, Mason had chosen them with two categories in mind. The first category was the combat-focused ones, which were solely about learning to fight. They were an MMA Gym, Krav Maga, Jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and some good old boxing. But since he wasn't doing this solely to learn to better fight, Mason had picked the remaining five not necessarily for the martial prowess mastery over them offered, but more so because they focused more on spirituality.

Those would be Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Qigong, Bafaquan and Xingyiquan. These were all Chinese martial arts, which fell under the category of 'internal martial arts', which were basically all supposed to be involved with Chi. They were harder to find in New York, but Mason had managed, although he had to plan his weekly schedule mostly around these five. And so, with everything planned, all that was left for Mason to do was to set his plan in motion.

However, as Mason was returning home from his busy day, he received an unexpected call. Seeing who the caller was, a smile wormed its way onto Mason's face as he answered, "I must say, out of all our classmates, I didn't expect you to be the first one to contact me after our graduation, Minx." The person on the other side chuckled, "And you're the only one who gets to call me that, so I guess we're both pretty unique." Recognizing the girl's familiar spunk, Mason asked, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Can't I call you to check up on you?" Minx had hesitated just long enough to tell Mason this was bullshit, although he knew it already. Still, he humored her and said, "Well, if you must know, I am working on bettering myself. What about you? How's your business doing?" Although he sounded innocent, Mason knew exactly why she was calling him. And sure enough, Minx remained silent for a while before admitting, "I didn't remember you being this persistent. But fine, I called because I needed help."

To better understand this conversation, it was important to know that Minx had opened a tattoo salon. It was quite the ambitious project, most of her friends had told her. As for the others, they didn't bother with niceties and directly told her it was foolish to open a tattoo salon on her own right after graduation.

"So, how can I help you?" Minx sounded a little embarrassed, especially since they had not really spoken much in recent times, but she still made her request, "My salon will open next month, and I could use some help on opening day."