"Wait, you seriously think you could beat me at your prime, how?"
"Look with my skills and experience and my suit with the additional power known as prep time, I would beat you."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh god, not this crap again."
It was the day after the series of tests yesterday. Once I got back home, Gavin told me not to eat much for dinner and skip breakfast the next day. So here I am right now, debating with Gavin while ignoring the pang of hunger on my stomach. I can hear it begging for any kind of food and water. I shoved that in the back of my mind, right now I need to explain to this senile old man that you can't just beat me with prep time.
"Listen, just because you are prepared doesn't mean you can actually do the real thing! I mean, why do you think parents are miserable sometimes?"
"Listen, with the resources, I have and since you fight like a bum, there is a chance that I could win." Gavin explains, his eyes leaving the rode occasionally to give me a victorious look.
"You said you couldn't beat Atlas and you claimed I should've beaten him easier than what actually happened."
"If I was in my prime, I would no-diff him!"
We argued until we reached the airfield hanger. Gavin sets down the equipment while I change into a new suit. It was a one-piece pure black tight-fitting suit. According to Gavin, this suit can take on extreme temperatures and is very durable. He had one like this when he was younger.
Where did he get this from to fit my small size? Apparently, he has a friend from the government, the caller that asked for his help which I overheard. Also this friend of his also is aware of my existence, not my identity, but knows about Gavin and I's connection and our plan for the future. I was a little pissed, that someone knows about me and the fact he is dumping all this stuff on me in one car ride. Though Gavin seems to trust him.
So I suppose, I'll give this friend of his the benefit of the doubt, for now. Though I got to say, this new black suit felt oddly comfortable. Usually when I wear tight clothes they often make me itch, espcially down there, but this one is actually much more comfortable that the Big Justice hoodie I used. I could already think of all of the possible costumes.
"Hurry up, kid!" I heard Gavin shout.
"Yeah, yeah!" I quickly sped back to him.
Gavin drew another line again and handed me the AR wear, which made me raise a brow.
"I thought we're done with the tests?"
Gavin turns to me. "Just one more time, I need to make sure I'm right."
I blinked. What does he mean by that? Well, whatever, I shrugged and walked inside the circle preparing to take off.
"Same rules?"
"Yup." He quickly answers, going behind his laptop to type
I took a deep breath looking at the sky, tensing my legs ready to take off. The only thing I need to do is wait for his signal.
"Go!"
As soon as he said that, I flew into the air. But almost instantly I felt something incredibly wrong. I was slower. Far much slower than I was yesterday? I almost stopped by the sheer wrongness of it, but I kept going.
Eventually reaching the moon before I flew back to Earth, landing back to the circle, breathing heavily. I wasn't this out of breath yesterday, earlier! What's going on!? I got up and walked over to Gavin, he didn't seem surprised by the fact that I was noticeably slower than last time.
"Your speed reaches about two point eight-five percent the speed of light compared to yesterday's thirty percent of the speed of light."
My cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Muttering an apology which earned a chuckle from the man.
"Relax, it's not your fault, it's most likely your weakness."
"My weakness?"
"Yes. I'll tell you more about it later, I need further testing." Gavin scratches his goatee, seemingly lost in thought, before his eyes widen slightly.
"I need you to fly full speed, around the base as long as you can. Can you do that?"
I was still confused as what's happening. But I decided to do as he says. And so I soar to the air at full speed. Each minute, I felt weaker and slow. I shake my head, forcing my body to continue to fly.
By the time it reaches half-an-hour, I start to get dizzy. I tried to ignore it and continue flying but suddenly, I found myself falling. I blinked, trying to force my body to levitate or soar to the sky like I always do! But for some odd reason I can't seem to fly. I screamed as my body rapidly descended, I don't know why I'm screaming.
I should survive the fall, right? Sure I can't fly for some reason, but if I could survive a nuke to the face a fall like this means nothing! Then why does my brain scream at me that we were about to die? I felt warm arms around my form. It was Gavin, who leaped high in the air to catch me.
He used his body to shield mine as we crashed to the ground. We groaned in unison, but I forced myself to get up to look at him.
"Crap, are you okay!?"
He didn't seem to be badly hurt, but I can't really tell. He gave me a toothy grin.
"Don't sweat it, I'm fine." He grunted, getting up and showcasing his lack of injuries.
I breathe a sigh of relief that I didn't get my Godfather killed. Still, what the heck just happened? I look at my hands, utterly bewildered. Why couldn't I fly all of a sudden? I narrowed my gaze to the sky, tensing my legs ready to shoot to the sky.
Though instead of that happening, I only jumped a little bit off the ground. I was so surprised that I stumbled, when my feet met the earth. I looked at my hands again, trying to summon the red electricity, but nothing came. My heart hammered, where had my powers gone? Did I lose them!?
A gentle, but firm hand grabs my shoulder. Gavin looks at me with a calm expression.
"Relax kid, it's okay. Let's grab some sandwiches."
I wanted to protest, I mean, I think I just lost my powers. But the gurgling in my stomach made me close my mouth. Maybe I'm just hungry and that's what's making me weak as my powers won't work. We walked back to the pickup truck, grabbing ham sandwiches made by Gavin, before we sat down to the floor. I greedily took a bite out of my sandwith.
I'll admit it was kind of mid. But when you're hungry even celery seems appetizing. It didn't take long for me to finish it, though I was still pretty hungry, I feel a lot better now.
"Alright, why don't you try using your powers again." Gavin suddenly said, looking at me intensely for some reason while biting his sandwich.
I did what I was told and tried to spart the red electricity on my hands. And as easy as breathing, the crimson lighting danced around my hand. And for good measure, I leveated off the ground earning a sigh of relief from myself. While I didn't have powers for a very long time, it would be depressing for me to suddenly lose them.
"This confirms it."
I looked at Gavin confused. "Huh?"
"Atlas never stood a chance with yesterday's stats and the bomb would stun you, but ultimately not harm you. At least not to the extent of exposing your muscles."
"Then, why?" I asked.
"You see, my devices are able to detect an unknown energy, radiating off you. When you entered the base, the energy inside you was high, but each soldier you put outside and rescued a civilian at super speed. There was a noticeable drop in your energy." He explains.
"By the time you fought Atlas it was decreasing at a rapid rate. What I'm saying is each time you use your powers the energy within you that is responsible for your super powers gets lower, that is why you had so much trouble with Atlas and why you were slower than yesterday."
I gaped at him, looking at my hand. "But, I never had that problem before though, I never noticed this 'Energy' of mine dropping. And why would I suddenly gain my powers again."
He points at my stomach. "You ate."
"Huh?"
"The reason you didn't encounter this problem is because you ate food. It seems eating food and absorbing their calories fuels your energy. Your power is like a car and the food is gasoline. I'm guessing you didn't eat much before you fought Atlas."
I scratched my head embarrassed. "Y-yeah, I was so nervous, I figured I would skip breakfast."
Gavin chuckles. "If you had eaten your food like normal, maybe dealing with him wouldn't be as hard as before."
His laugh dies down, his joyful face is replaced with a serious one that makes me straighten up my posture and pay attention.
"This is a problem, while you are certainly the strongest, a drawn out battle can make even the most no-diff fights turn into hard ones. You would have to constantly eat a supply of food if you were to go out being a superhero."
"Yeah, I guess."
I couldn't stop staring at my hands. When I fell down, unable to fly, I felt so vulnerable. A feeling I thought I would never have again after gaining my powers. But now, to think I have such a large weakness that people could potentially exploit for the future. An unpleasant feeling crawled in my stomach.
My musings were cut with Gavin ruffling my hair. "Would you stop doing that!"
I pushed his hand off, giving me a glare, which he paid no mind to. "Come on, break is over, it's time to actually learn to control your strength."
Gavin and I got up, before we could do anything, I asked him a question.
"Why can't I just not eat, wouldn't it make me accidentally hurt somebody?"
Gavin looks at me like I grew a third head. "You want to starve yourself?"
I opened my mouth before tightly shutting it. He got me there. I'd rather not skip breakfast and not eat for a couple hours. It was freaking torture.
"Besides, you might need your full strength at a moment's notice but you're too hungry to do anything, trust me. This is worth it."
I sighed. "Alright, what kind of training is it?"