2 2. Alex Cohen

It had been 23 years since the discovery of Armor and mankind had come far technology wise, ranging from teleporters, fully immersive video games, energy weapons and even clean energy. Once humans and the Grek had come to a truce they flourished, and armor became commonplace with people. They were used in everyday life from construction work, moving, cooking, and of course military force.

Most families present their children with their armor for their 15th birthday. Usually these pieces can range anywhere from a basic metal glove all the way to a full chest piece all depending on how much a family is willing to spend. Sadly this usually also shows how far someone can go in the world, as the smaller the armor the weaker the user. This was basic knowledge of this world and unfortunately was just the truth as well. Out of desperation most people joined the Terran Force which served as the Earth's military. They had a large monopoly on armor pieces and used this to strong-arm the poor into working for them by dangling this power in front of them.

All of this played through Alex's mind as he sat in the back of the bus as it slowly rolled through the gates to the Temple of Power...he had turned 15 2 years ago and was given armor by his parents who didn't have any armor themselves but scrimped and saved as much as they could to hopefully set him up with a good future. However fate decided otherwise for young Alex, on the day of his birthday his parents gave him his armor just a small metal glove that went up this wrist. With much excitement he went to put it on but something happened that had not ever been seen since the discovery of Armor. It wouldn't bond with Alex, and with much dismay his parents exchanged it out for another piece, but nothing would bond. Alex became infamous for being known as so weak that even armor wanted nothing to do him. One fateful day on his way back from a doctor's visit his parents set up to figure out if something was wrong with Alex physically, they were hit by oncoming traffic. A man had fallen asleep at the wheel. Only Alex survived.

Not only was Alex tired of the constant bullying these past few years but the last day of shool right before he was free from this nightmare school he was being forced to go learn about something he could never use, so what was the point, he would think to himself.

"Alex!" Tannenbaum shouted snapping Alex out of his thoughts. "Come on! Everybody else is off the bus except you!" With a loud groan Alex got up. "I'm coming!" as he hauled himself out of his seat. As he stepped off the bus the fog from the morning was beginning to lift as the afternoon sunlight began to break through the cloud. In front of the class stood the Temple. As much as he hated to admit it, Alex was a little intimidated by it. He was standing there gawking at the temple when he suddenly felt a hard smack on the back of his head. Rubbing the sore spot, Alex saw who did it-his personal antagonist Riley. His rich parents were able to buy him a full leg piece of armor, and to him at least, that made him king.

" 'Bout time you got off the bus, loser." said Riley with a smirk on his face. "That's enough, Mr. Pasnel!" Shouted an annoyed Tannenbaum. "We are here as guests and we will be on our best behaviors. Is that understood?" His growling voice demanded attention.

With his time in the military, Tannenbaum made a name for himself as a captain and with his armor being a full arm and chest piece, his power was not to be trifled with. Alex was pretty grateful to have him as the only teacher who actually cared about him, Armor or not. When Tannenbaum spoke, people listened. "Now , let's all go in. They're waiting to give us a tour, and remember, don't touch anything! Especially when we go through the Power Gate!"