I walked down the bustling streets of New York, heading to a Subway restaurant. Now, I know most superhero stories don't start out this way. Some start out with a rich boy walking down an alleyway with his parents, bearing witness as they are shot and killed right in front of him. Others may start with an alien being sent here, to earth, from a distant planet in a faraway galaxy. Mine starts with a Subway restaurant.

It was a cool, winter morning. 8 A.M., in fact, so I really wasn't hungry for a sandwich. I wasn't even interested in actual breakfast, someone wanted me to meet them there for a job interview. I had been fired from my old job as an accountant due to a mishap with a bottle of ketchup and the boss' new suit. I was determined to get this job, and in order to do that I was bent on staying away from any condiment of any kind.

When I arrived at the restaurant, unsurprisingly it wasn't very busy at all. Although that might be kind of an understatement. I looked around for someone in a business suit, or holding some papers, or literally anything that indicated they might be there to interview someone; but the place was.. completely empty. I walked over to the front desk. I noticed there were no cashiers so I tried to get a good look at the kitchens, but it didn't seem that anyone was even working at all. As I turned around to leave, thinking maybe I made a mistake with the directions or something, there was a bright flash of light and the entire restaurant lit up.

After a few minutes, the light dissipated, but I was no longer in the Subway Restaurant. I found myself in a dark, but spacious room. There was a very wide window in the shape of a visor behind me that was illuminating the room; although just barely so. From the hollow clanking sounds my feet made as I turned around, I guessed the room was mostly made of metal. Looking out the window I saw nothing but... space. I turned back around and peered into the darkness, and to my surprise I could just barely make out a burly, towering figure.

"Hello?" I called out. "Where am I? Are you the person I'm supposed to be meeting with?"

The figure remained silent. I wasn't really sure where this was going but as far as I could tell, I was stranded somewhere very far from home and had no way of getting back. Impatiently, I called out again.

"Okay... I know you brought me here for some reason. I'm not sure what standing there silently really accomplishes in this situation, but I'd really like to get back to where I'm from. You could at least tell me if this is a hostage situation or something."

Suddenly, what seemed to be a 50-foot TV screen (Don't ask me how I knew the exact length, I was an accountant so I'm good with math and stuff like that, alright?) on the opposite side of the room came to life. On it, I saw an elderly man with sunglasses and a business suit. His hands were folded neatly in front of him, and he spoke in a gruff voice.

"Chiron Kleinman." The man uttered my name and I swear I felt my blood run cold. On the "application" I filled out, I hadn't ever been required to enter my name. I know that was shady but I was desperate, alright? Anyway, the man continued with his monologue.

"In the mythology of Ancient Greece, one of Earth's oldest civilizations, Chiron was said to be a great teacher. He taught many people that would go on to become legends... or Champions, even. Achilles, the nearly-invincible warrior. Theseus, the man who defeated the legendary Minotaur. He even had a hand in training Heracles, the strongest man on Earth. According to those myths, anyway. He also possessed many skills and talents; being a Centaur he was quite strong and fast. Not to mention, his foster father was Apollo who was a master of archery, music, medicine... among other things, and passed all these skills onto him. Chiron was indeed a 'true' Champion."

I listened to all of this intently, not really sure what the man was getting at. "Well... That's fascinating I suppose but that has nothing to do with me... I'm a normal, everyday man from Sacramento, I mostly just came to New York for work. Which, I'm guessing I'm not even on Earth anymore so I would like to get back. Besides, those are just Myths, it's not like the real Chiron ever really existed."

Up to this point the man had been regarding me with a steely, cold expression, so I was taken aback when his face broke into a look of slight amusement. "Even if that is true, there is no reason he can't inspire one more person, or 'Hero' if you will." He began looking at me somewhat expectantly.

"Hero? Me?" I asked, now more confused than ever. "When did I sign up to become a hero? I thought I was applying for the janitorial position at the new pet shop that just opened up?"

"Well... let me start from the beginning. Since the very early days of human civilization, an extraordinary being from your race has been appointed to be the diplomat, defender and overall "Champion" of this general sector of the galaxy. We would like that to be you, as our previous Champion is no longer around."

I was understandably dumbfounded. "B-but, me? Why me? And what do you mean 'extraordinary being'?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Well, your predecessor could transform into a Gorilla. It was a simple ability, but she used it very well. Her 'codename' was Diamondback. She was very bright, spent years of her life developing a serum that could morph her into one of the creatures so she could better understand them. Unfortunately, when she decided to go public with all that she'd learned, the government forced her to shut down her research, declaring it unethical. That is around the time we decided to pick her up and put her talents to great use. And as for why we've selected you, she gave us clear instructions as to how she wants her successor elected and we wish to honor them. But I'm afraid I can't tell you any more than that until you are 'ready'."

I pause for a minute, to take everything in. I wasn't sure how I could live up to someone like that... I figured, at least she could turn into an animal that was stronger than 20 muscular humans put together. I had no powers at all. The man waited patiently as I worked out some kind of answer. Finally, I spoke. "What... would you have me do?"

"She wanted you to live up to your namesake. She wanted you to be the best Champion we'd ever have, the best champion in the universe in fact... and she had a plan. You must recruit people from earth that can help you keep peace, and train them to use their abilities for the good of our universe. Of course, we will train you first with everything at our disposal, and help you become the person she wanted you to be. But the rest, you must do yourself."

"I accept, then. I guess it's better than being a janitor... But why would you go to all this trouble for her? And how do I even start?"

"She did a lot of good for the universe. She unified entire galaxies, fought off many intergalactic warlords and their armies too in some cases. Not to mention how much she sacrificed just to save a planet that had forsaken her. This is the least we could do. Now, as for how you start..."

The figure who had been standing in the corner of the room walked up to me, and I could finally make him out. Or at least, I think it was a "him"... his left cheek was seemingly made of metal, and he had a glowing red left eye. He must have been at least 8 feet tall, and had a wide, bulky build. His right arm was very muscular, it was greenish with thick dark blue veins visibly running down them. His right hand was full of scars, and had menacing claws sprouting from the tips of each finger tip. It was still a little hard to make out what his other arm looked like, but it seemed to reflect some of the light from the giant screen so I assumed it was probably robotic, like his eye. He also seemed to have a tail, that was wrapped around his leg. There was a stinger at the end, which looked extremely menacing.

He extended his left arm, and appeared to be holding a little clipboard. There was a single page, but on it there was only a giant square-shaped area. "Put your hand here.", The cyborg-mutant man commanded. I did as I was told, and as soon as I did, the page lit up and I felt streaks of white-hot energy shooting up through my body. Instinctively, I recoiled back, and as soon as my hand left the page the pain stopped and the light faded away.

The man on the screen spoke once more. "Now your DNA is bound to us by contract. Until you are no longer fit to serve, you are our Champion. If you wish to back out this is your only chance to do so... after the next step there is truly no going back."

"What's the next step?" I asked warily.

"As mentioned before, your predecessor was very brilliant. She knew you didn't have superpowers, or at least couldn't use any superpowers at the time we appointed you. So she spent the last few years of her life building a device to help you along.", He motioned toward the left side of the room, where there was a chamber-like device hooked up to a control panel directly in front of it via thick black wires. He continued, "Step inside that and it will bring your innate abilities to life... although it is a bit of a process. You will be in there for several years as your body will need to adjust to any enhancements. Not to mention that it also mentally trains you to actually utilize your abilities, and that training will be continued physically by the man standing next to you when you are ready to emerge. You may ask any other questions you have, and if you still don't want to back out you may enter the chamber."

"Well.. I do have one, who is that man?" I asked, gesturing toward him.

"That is Behemoth, your first recruit should you decide to continue with this. I'll let him explain the rest to you when he sees fit." Behemoth nodded and waved slightly, acknowledging me and the introduction.

"Ah... I see." I had to take a few minutes to think. I'd be losing several years of my life... but the payoff didn't seem so bad, all things considered. I never thought I'd actually do anything great in life. I figured I'd get a steady job, and a family if I was lucky. But apart from that I figured I'd just be some kind of corporate scumbag until I died... I went to the Subway because I wanted a temporary job until that happened. This life they were offering me seemed a lot more fulfilling than what I had planned, but I still wasn't sure if I was really up to the task. After a few more minutes of silently pondering, I decided there was only one way to find out.

I walked over to the chamber, and climbed inside. Behemoth came over and shut the door, through the glass I watched him go to the control panel and start tapping away on the keyboard. As he did this, I couldn't help thinking about how crazy my morning had been. I'd been heading to a simple job interview, but here I was gaining superpowers and getting prepared for protecting the whole galaxy. Suddenly, the chamber shook, and sparks flew as it began to power on. It vibrated and I saw a bright light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, and then the tunnel expanded and I was seeing billions of tiny lights in a massive black blanket. I could barely feel my body anymore, I felt like I existed as one of those trillions of stars.

My body shuddered and suddenly I felt the temperature inside the chamber begin to plummet. The tiny lights started to grow bigger until there wasn't much darkness in between them at all. The last thing I heard before everything went completely white was the muffled voice of the man on the TV saying

"Project Starlight i...of...cially u.. de ..way...".