I grabbed the last egg in the air, but as soon as it made contact with my hands, it shattered completely, leaving my hand covered with its remains. My face quickly turned to one of discussion, and I flicked my fingers to remove the slimy substance.
"Freaking, gross!"
It had been a day since Gavin introduced me to a training method that would make me learn to control my powers. Gavin would throw multiple eggs in the air, and I would have to catch them before I hit the ground, while making sure they don't get crushed by my overwhelming strength. According to him, this training could also provide me with some experience whenever I need to save multiple falling people. After that, he leaves me alone to train, while I throw the eggs myself and try to catch them. The result is being covered in egg fluid.
Gavin wanted me to keep on training, but he had a shop to tend to, as well as his own training to do, and so I found myself alone on top of a random mountain in Alaska. I have several baskets of eggs on the ground, ready to be thrown. So far, I haven't made much progress. Each time I would try to catch even one egg, it shattered from my grip or, if I'm lucky, cracked it a little.
"This is so hard..." I groaned.
I was covered in egg liquid making the black space suit I wore yesterday smell like a bootyhole. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. I quickly flew into space, making the egg liquid freeze up, and I then descended at a rapid rate. The heat reduces anything on me aside from my suit into atoms. After slowly dropping to the ground, I was all clean again. Though I'm still very much annoyed, I haven't made any progress just yet.
I dropped down, grabbing my lunchbag, which contains a banana, a sandwich and an apple. After learning my fatal weakness from yesterday and that dream last night where I suddenly lost my powers in a bad time, which left me as a red paint to the ground, I made sure to always carry food with me. I took a large bite of my banana before my phone suddenly rang. It was nice of Gavin to upgrade my phone, so it could be able to call long distances and in places where there is no signal.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me." The familiar voice of Gavin says on the phone.
"How's your egg training going?" I noticed that he was breathing a little heavy.
"Terrible. What about your results?"
"Fine for the most part, my muscles feel like they're on fire! I'm really out of shape."
Gavin laughs slightly. At least he's doing better than me. I mean, the only thing I've been doing is being covered in sticky fluids.
"Are you sure this training is gonna work? All I'm doing, I feel like, is making me smell bad."
I could feel his eyes roll despite not seeing them in person. "Don't be like that, keep working on it, you'll get the results. Besides, would you rather starve yourself?"
My brow furrowed in a grimace. "No..."
I say dejectedly. I was utterly depressed. I had thought, as soon as I declared my goal to Gavin, I would instantly go to the field and start to do superhero stuff. Instead, I find myself here, about to be covered with more egg fluids. Though I suppose it is worth it, I don't want another repeat with Emily's father. Emily...
Once I reveal myself to the world, without a doubt, she would try to get back at me for revenge. She may not seem the type, but I did hurt her dad pretty badly. I may have to fight her, my first friend. I remembered how I nearly killed her father and the damage I did to Atlas. And I can't help but think of seeing her in that state.
Utterly beaten and broken by my hands.
"Ben? What's wrong?" Gavin's worried voice cut my thoughts off.
I intensely debated with myself whether or not to tell him about Emily. I haven't told her about my relationship with her or her identity. In fact, he doesn't know if she had powers. Apparently, the camera that viewed the incident was destroyed when Emily freaked out and tried to harm me. Everyone thought that I broke the camera.
And Gavin didn't ask any questions about that day, which I appreciate. If I tell him, Emily might get in trouble. After all, a robber with telekinetic powers is dangerous, possibly even a bigger threat than Atlas. Even if I tried to persuade him, I could see Gavin calling in a SWAT team or the military to deal with her, and I couldn't just let that happen! Emily and her father may have attempted to rob someone, maybe it's just bias, but she seemed like a good person. At least someone a lot better than that maniac scum Atlas.
I took a deep breath. "No, it's nothing, just frustration, that's all."
I heard him hum in acknowledgement, I'm not sure he believes me. Gavin seemed like a smart guy who could see through my lie. Thankfully, he didn't say anything, or he actually believed me. Either way, that's a win for me.
"Gotta call you back, got to resume training," I say before finishing my banana.
"Alright, stay safe."
"I will."
My finger inches for the end call button, only for Gavin to speak up again.
"Make sure you eat correctly!"
"Got it."
"Make sure you don't get spotted by anyone, you don't exactly have a mask!"
"Okay, I get it. I think I have it handled."
"You think? Ben, this is serious, you to-"
"Okay, I've got to go now, thank you!" I ended the call before he yaps another syllable.
I sighed again, ruffling my black hair. I know he means well, but I have it handled! I mean, I haven't been caught yet, and the only reason Gavin figured out who I am was because he knows me personally and deduced I was the one behind Big Justice through some careless crap I did. I paused, thinking back on the name. I'm still not feeling it from that name.
I got to think of something better. I used my super speed to finish my lunch in a short span of time before looking at the eggs. My face turned to a grimace, not because I was gonna get covered by more egg yolk, that's a minor inconvenience at best. What bothered me was the potential fight that was going to happen between me and Emily. What am I going to do?
I don't hurt her, but at the same time, I can't just let her do as she pleases with me. I gently grabbed the egg, but even then, a large crack formed all over the shell. If fighting her is inevitable, then I have to make sure I don't accidentally kill her! I crack my neck, grabbing several eggs before flinging them in the air.
"Let's do this!" I say before flying forward to catch them.
RED
4 Days Later...
JUSTICE
I yawned, earning Gavin's attention, who was driving us back to his hangar. He gives me a concerned look, though I could detect mischief in his eyes.
"Didn't get much sleep, maybe you should stop browsing on those sites, they're not good for you."
I gave him a confused look; his statement escaped me, but a few seconds later, it clicked. Almost instantly, my face grew hot in embarrassment.
"W-what, no way was I doing that! I was training."
Gavin snorts. "Yeah, training, your-"
"Oh, wow look we're here!" I said quickly, pointing at the hanger.
To get to this place, you have to pass by a lock gate, which automatically opens after a couple of seconds, where you have to drive about a few kilometres in a forest (There is a small road there) and then once you get through that, voila! You are now here. I got out of the car and stretched. Gavin dropped supplies on his trunk.
"Did you eat enough?"
I nod. "Yeah, because this time I didn't skip breakfast."
"Good." Gavin sets down the table as well as his laptop, while I quickly change into the black tight suit.
I looked at myself, and this suit was incredible. I went to the moon to relax and sometimes watch the sun. Each time I head to Earth, fire is wrapped around my body, but my outfit doesn't leave a scratch on it.
"Hey, Gavin."
"Hm?"
"Is this suit customizable? I really like it, it would look cool as a super suit if it wasn't all black and boring."
Gavin raises a brow. "Why don't you just wear that as it is? It's pretty good for stealth and to blend in the shadows."
He then pauses before slapping his head.
"Then again, making it all black and boring means it's going to be hard to sell merch about you. So I guess, we'll need an eye-catching look..."
Gavin looks at me critically. "What did you say your hero name is?"
"Big Justice."
"...That's a trash name."
My head dropped. "I know..."
"Okay, it's not a terrible name, but that sounds like a cheesy 80s wrestler name rather than a superhero. Like, it does not have the same effect when you hear Superman or All Might. And I'm 90% sure someone else who had that name."
"It's the best name I came up with." I weakly say, sulking.
Gavin groaned, shaking his head. "We'll cross that bridge later, for now, we get on with the tests today."
Tests? As in multiple of them? I was about to ask Gavin, but he had already set up a basket of eggs on the table, ready to throw them. He didn't even allow me the luxury to prepare myself before he started flinging them in the air. Forcing me to react quickly,
I grabbed the first two eggs, but it was difficult to find the others with just my eyes. With how randomly Gavin threw them, not to mention their small size, it was difficult to use sight. Thankfully, I got something for the job: Mind's Eye. While it's a lot better at tracking people's silhouettes, I figured if I focus on certain objects, they become almost highlighted. Better hurry up quickly, several of them are only mere inches from the ground.
I hurriedly swooped in to catch the falling eggs. But there is a lot more, Gavin was chucking them rapidly at a machine gun rate. He may not be as fast as me, but if some other person looked at him right, he would be nothing more than a blur of motion. I clicked my tongue as I moved my body faster, catching multiple eggs.
I ran out of space quickly, forcing me to put the eggs in a safe place near Gavin before I went after the rest. After more than a hundred eggs were thrown and saved, the barrage finally stopped. Now I can finally take a little breather, I wasn't completely wiped out, though it wasn't a walk in the park. Gavin looked at the piled eggs, critically making sure none of them were cracked or broken. Gavin looks over me, a serious look on his face.
Oh crap, I failed didn't I? His stern expression made me look down in shame. Even after not sleeping for a couple of days, doing nothing but this, it still wasn't enough.
"Congratulations, you passed!"
"Huh?" I said dumbly.
Gavin snorted, but I wasn't impressed. Butthole, getting me worked up over nothing. Aside from Gavin's little troll, I was glad that I was finally able to control my strength or at least enough to not instantly kill someone. Maybe I could hang out with Athena again, I owe her that much after avoiding her since the incident. Gavin pats me on the back, and then we start to eat our lunch.
After finishing, Gavin gets up and gestures to follow him. I did what I was told, watching him from the back. I just realized that Gavin got a little bigger. Muscle-wise, he must be working hard to gain that much muscle over a week. Or maybe super soldiers are built differently.
Now that I think about it, how does one become a super soldier? Is the procedure just injecting a serum into your body, like the Emperor-whatever Atlas used? My musing was cut off when Gavin stopped in his tracks before turning to face me. The hairs on my neck stand up when I see his expression. No longer was he just an old man who sometimes jokes.
No, the person in front of me is a soldier, and he was glaring at me like I was an enemy. Gavin got into a fighting stance, which made me pale and sick.
"H-hey, this isn't funny, what are you-."
"Fight me."
My eyes widen in disbelief before shaking my head violently.
"No! What's gotten into you!?"
Gavin didn't say anything for several moments, he opened his mouth to speak.
"This is your final test: defeat me, and if you do, I will 100% help your desire to be a hero. Fail and refuse, never speak to me again."
I gulped. He's serious. He actually wants me to fight him. Is this fight supposed to mean anything? He knows that I physically dominate him in every category, no question. Even with his training, he should still be massively weaker than I.
Especially since I just ate, meaning I should be in full power or at least close to it. Gavin's eyes shone with resolve.
"You want to be a superhero, right? Is this still a game to you?"
I remained silent, swallowing a lump in my throat.
"If you won't come, I guess I'll take the first move!"
Gavin charges at me, my arms goes up to guard my head.