You know, seeing a man as big as a bull, with muscles that are even harder than rock, running at you with the intent to hurt is very scary. Especially since you know the person. I thought Atlas charging at me was frightening. Is Gavin doing the same thing? I'm lucky I took a dump beforehand.
I leaped away just before Gavin jumped into the air and slammed his fist to the ground. Gavin wasn't yet, he grabbed the pieces of the ground he broke and started throwing them at me. I instinctively raise my arms to block my face. The rocks shattered when they made contact with my body, barely even hurting. Why would he throw rocks, knowing it wouldn't-
"Oof!"
Gavin used the rocks as a diversion and tackled me in the air. Once we were on the ground, he tried to bash my face in, but I slipped away. Gavin glared at me fiercely.
"You keep running away, does your desire to be a hero really that weak?!"
He runs to me to deliver multiple jabs and haymakers, all of them easily dodged.
"What's the point of this fight!?"
Gavin cocks back a punch, I moved to evade it, but I felt a blow to my stomach. He kicked me in the stomach instead of launching that hook at me. It was a fake-out! It wasn't too painful, but he got me good. Gavin then delivered a nasty combo: a palm strike to the face, a kick to the ribs, then another kick from the other side.
He finished his chained attacks by spinning and delivering a kick aimed at my stomach, which sent me skidding a couple of meters away. I felt those attacks, they were certainly stronger than Atlas' before he took the serum. Another left hook, but he quickly switched his other hand, but I evaded the blow by jumping into the air before levitating.
"The point of this fight?" He asked, repeating my words.
"This is exactly the point!"
"What?" I asked, utterly at a loss for what he meant.
"Remember when the bomb nearly hit Toronto, it would have never been 'Nearly' had you fought with the intent to fight at the beggining!."
"B-but I stopped the bomb."
"True, but you got lucky. But if you can't fight someone who threatens the fate of an entire city, what hope do you have of stopping robberies?"
He slammed his fist down, which created cracks and small pieces of concrete. He grabs those destroyed smaller rocks to try to snipe me.
"Murder! Assault! And all those other crimes, committed by people, if you can't stomach hurting even those that commit evil, what kind of a hero are you!?"
I was stunned by his words. I didn't even bother dodging the rocks aimed at me. He was right, I didn't bother fighting back at Atlas until close to the end. And I would've continued that. Meaning my inaction and refusal to fight can lead to other people getting hurt.
It nearly happened back with Atlas and the nuke! Gavin, he's trying to test out my will. If I could stomach harming others in order to save people. I thought back to Emily's father. Can I actually take that potentially happening again, can I bear the guilt and shame? No, I won't let that happen again.
I felt the red electricity wrap itself around my body, its warmth covering me like a blanket. Gavin is right, for me to stop against violence, I have to be violent myself. Because sometimes, people refuse to listen to words, sometimes, action is the only thing they will listen to. I grit my teeth and fly towards Gavin, his eyes widened, barely dodging as I charge at him. I skidded my momentum using the floor, and once I stopped, I immediately rushed to Gavin.
He tried to counter my rush with a right hook, but I sidestepped out of the way. I raised my arm and first aimed at his face. But I hesitated. I was punished instantly with Gavin giving me a roundhouse kick to the head before delivering a series of punches to my body.
"You're still hesitating!"
His punches, while not hurting that much, I would be lying if I said it wasn't mildly unpleasant. I ducked down from a jab, his abdomen exposed. But if I hit him there, wouldn't that hurt him? No, I got to fight for real; otherwise, if this fight gets long enough, he might actually get a real chance of beating me. I cocked my arm, and slammed it in Gavin's stomach.
"Grk!?"
The blow made him skid to the floor, though to Gavin's credit, he instantly recovered, delivering a kick to the chin. Before spinning in the air, before delivering a back kick to my face. I felt dazed from the blow, crap his attacks are starting to hurt, which means my energy is dropping. Soon, I won't have enough to beat him. I flew back to gain some distance.
I took a deep breath before rushing towards Gavin, and he did the same. Gavin was about to throw a punch, but as soon as I saw that, my eyes burned, and two beams of light came out. Gavin's face was one of surprise, and he just barely blocked the eye beam attack by using his arm to block. I used his surprise to get close to him, delivering a couple of haymakers to the jaw. Before I shoved him away using my shock attack. He skidded to the ground, groaning.
His hand, where he blocked my laser eye, was burned severely, and he looked ready to collapse. I have won. I reach a hand towards him, which he accepts, getting him back to his seat.
"Sorry about..." I wince looking at his burned arm, his eyes follow mine, and he barks a laugh.
"Don't worry about that, you got me good!"
His grin faltered when he saw my distressed face.
"It's okay, really. I may not heal as fast as you, but don't underestimate super soldiers, just give it a week or two and it will be completely healed!"
I let out a quiet breath of relief. I thought I just permanently scarred my mentor / Godfather.
"I'm the one who should be apologizing for all the yelling." His eyes briefly turned sombre, then he let out a tired sigh.
"I was like you once. Naively, I was often raised that hurting others, even if it's warranted, is wrong. By the time I went to the military, my hesitation to fire at the enemy nearly cost my closest friend's life. If he weren't such a stubborn dude, he would have died because of me."
Gavin looks at me with a sad expression. "I don't want you to experience that as well. Regardless of my intentions, I went too far."
I shook my head. "No, you were right. If I hadn't fought you, I would still be hesitating to fight. This isn't a kid's show, I can't convince criminals with words, I have to fight."
I look at my hands before clenching them. I can't afford to hesitate anymore, or else people will get hurt. I felt a soft hand ruffling my hair.
"Come on, let's go back to the shop. I need to patch this up after all."
RED
A Bit Later...
JUSTICE
"Crimson Justice Man?"
"Too wordy." Gavin drawled.
"Mr. Justice?"
"Taken."
We were back at the shop. I was helping him stock all the supplies because he told me to, and also because I feel guilty for injuring his dominant arm. Gavin wore a compression bandage to prevent the area from being affected by bacteria, though he claims bacteria are nothing to him, since his immune system is far stronger than most humans, despite his old age. He just covered it to prevent the customer from asking questions or fainting from the grizzly sight. Gavin looks pretty well off for someone who had a third-degree burn all over his dominant arm.
Since there weren't any customers at the moment, we're just bouncing name ideas.
"I like the 'Justice' part of the name. Why don't we just replace the 'Big'?"
"With what?" I question, meanwhile, putting clothes in the hanger.
"I don't know, like Super, Ultimate, or Red?"
"Red?"
"Yeah, Red Justice! Hm, not too bad. At least better than the name you came up with!"
Red Justice, huh? I could see the potential in a name like that. I don't recall anyone having that kind of name, I mean, the hoodie I used was red plus red is my favorite color. And also all my energy attacks like my eye beam and shock attack are colored red.
"Okay, I guess I'm Red Justice."
"Okay, now that we covered your name, what about your hero suit? Actually, never mind, I have something in mind..." He grins mischievously.
"Before you do something you regret, I just want to remind you that I'm ten years old. I dont want to see my costume having any tight speedo or anything weird. Oh and give me a cape."
Gavin gives me a look as if asking if I was crazy. "You know, capes don't do anything aside from being cool."
"That's exactly why I want to have a cape, besides, think of all the Red Justice figurines and merch you could sell~" I sang, which Gavin immediately nodded in agreement.
"Excellent argument, I approve!"
RED
A Week Later...
JUSTICE
It was morning, and I was walking towards Gavin's shop. I didn't have an eventful week; it was boring. Now that I no longer need to train, I just spend the time chatting with Emily or playing with my sister and my parents. Speaking of, the egg training was incredibly worth it.
No longer do I have to fear accidentally hurting them with my immense strength. It was great being able to connect with my family again. Though I spend more time with them this week, I still often visit Gavin, helping out with placing merchandise and other stuff. Also, he seems to be right about super soldiers having immersive healing. By the time of the fifth day after our fight, his arm healed almost completely.
Now he called me back to the shop for something important. I was curious to see the closed sign, when usually, he would be open nearly all day. I went inside where Gavin was waiting for me, an excited grin was plastered on his face.
"What, something happened?"
"Yup!" He says enthusiastically.
Gavin brought me back down to the basement and opened the door. I instantly spotted it. It was in a glass display, a mannequin was wearing it, but I knew it was mine. The costume was colored white. Though certain parts of it were bright red.
The combat boots, the outside boxers that pay homage to Superman, the red fingerless gloves are red, but the finger weren't exposed, only part of the white of the suit. Then there was the red cape, majestic and soft, yet strong. It was held together by two black circles on the shoulders. There is also a bit of black, such as the symbol and the outline of the gloves and boxers. Speaking of the symbol, it was on the chest just like my previous hoodie costume. Though unlike the crude circle and letters, the circle was perfectly round and inside were the letters R and J.
"It's amazing..." I say breathlessly.
"Yeah, that suit is special. It's made of the same tough material as the black suit you wore on training, except it's more durable and could withstand harsher environments."
I also noticed that the mannequin's face was wearing the SEE goggles, except this time, the lenses were colored. I turned to look at the smirking Gavin. I raised a shaking finger at the display.
"Sure you can, kid."
As soon as those words escaped those lips, I used my super speed to open the display case and ripped the costume off the mannequin. There was a zipper behind the suit, allowing me to put it on. As soon as I put it on, I felt good wearing it. It feels like a second skin, yet I feel so protected. I lastly put on the SEE goggles, once again I could see more clearly, and each time I focused on an object, it gave me details.
While the AR wear wasn't terrible, I certainly missed wearing this. Though it was different, this SEE goggles HUD system seems cleaner and more organized than the previous one I used.
"It's a new model that's why." Gavin chimes in, the grin never leaving his face.
I looked around me. It was the perfect size for me, it was certainly a lot better than the hoodie I used previously. I looked at Gavin.
"T-thank you..." I say, utterly out of breath from the excitement.
"Don't just thank me, thank my friend, he's the one who put it all together, I just happened to help a little bit in the design process."
Well, I'm certainly going to thank your friend and also apologize for not trusting him in the first place. I rub against my cape, utterly giddy.
"Want to test it out?" I stopped what I was doing and stared at Gavin with wide eyes.
"You mean..."
"It's time to make your debut."
"N-now?"
"Why not? You have nothing better to do right now?"
I didn't say anything at first. I rushed in to embrace Gavin, who seemed stunned for a little bit before he returned the hug. I removed myself before giving him a wide grin and another 'Thank You' before I rushed out of the building and flew to the sky. I can hear my cape flapping in the wind. For some reason, this suit made flying feel even better, somehow!
"Hey, kid, do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear!" I say stop my flight.
"Okay, are you all set?"
"I'm ready!"
"All right, go kick some butt, kid!"
I burst out laughing, I couldn't help it, I was so happy. I soared in the air, flying like I just don't care, before I darted in a random direction. Flying to scout for any crime. Evil must be aware that a superhero is born and his name is...
"Red Justice is here to save the day!"