I was soaring high in the sky; it was a warm day in the fall, the best kind of weather. Enjoying the wind blowing in my face. I looked down to find dozens of crowds cheering for me. Everyone is happy, safe and sound. The buildings are repaired as if nothing had happened.
I couldn't help but smile and wave at them. I felt content, satisfied, and the people were happy, safe, no robots or terrorists threatening to bomb the city or something. which makes me happy. That's all that matters to me. This was truly the perfect day.
Then I felt a raindrop from my forehead. I squinted my eyes. That's strange...
It felt weird, though. The liquid felt thicker, and it wasn't just that; the sky darkened all of a sudden. Hesitantly, I reached for my forehead and wiped the wetness off. I then stared at my fingers poking from my fingerless gloves and then...red. Not my suit, but on my fingers there was this red smear....
Before I could realize what this was. More followed; it dripped from the sky into the buildings and into my body. To my horror, the liquid was blood. I fought the urge to scream or empty the contents of my stomach, instead I stood firm. I don't know what's going on, but the people-
There is no one there...
Alive that is...
The city is in ruins, and fire spreads everywhere. I saw mountains of corpses. It towers over even some of the skyscrapers. To my further horror, it wasn't just adult people, but children and pets piled up in that grotesque form of a hill. Actually, no, after blinking a couple of times, there were some alive. They were standing on the rooftop of skyscrapers, all of them drenched in red liquid from the bloody rain.
Unfortunately, they didn't look happy to see me. They stared at me with an accusatory look. Not saying anything. Then all of them, in unison, start pointing at me. My breathing becomes erratic as hot tears escape from my eyes. I tried closing them to block their hateful stares, but I find I can't.
At this point, my entire body is caked in blood. I shook as I gripped my hair tightly. I deeply inhaled before I let out an ear-piercing shriek.
—
My eyes opened, I felt hot, and my breathing was erratic. I forced myself to calm down; after all, it wasn't a big deal. It's just a dream, one that seems to recur. Still, at the end of the day, it's just a dream; it can't hurt you. At least that's what I repeat to myself.
I stared at the ceiling. My body felt like it weighed the same as the planet. My eyes burned, desperately wanting to close and fall into slumber. But I didn't allow myself to. My head shifted slightly to see it's four in the morning. Wordlessly, I levitate off my bed and into my washroom, turning the lights on.
My feet touched the ground, and I pressed my hands on the marble sink, staring at my glaring reflection. My eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles under them. My hair, which was always wild except now, is unkept, almost wild-looking. Not too different from a lion's mane.
God, I wanted to punch my reflection...
I tried to wash my face to erase the tired look on my face, however, I still look like I was raised in the woods. I released a heavy sigh. The cold water drips off my chin as I smooth my hair from frustration. I moved to my bed and unceremoniously dropped down face-first. I stayed in that position for quite a bit before turning my head and pulling out my phone from my pocket.
Replaying today's news on YouTube.
"It has been a full month since the terrorist attack happened." The female reporter said into the mic.
I turned my head on the other side, not wanting to watch. Instead, I listened.
"Twenty-five lives have been taken and seventy-three injured. Not just that, many have lost their homes and way of life due to the invasion of the robots." She continued.
October passed without incident. You know, fall is my favourite season. It's not too hot and not too cold either. And the leaves and their vibrant colours are a sight to behold. It doesn't help that Halloween is my favourite event all year. Which makes October my favourite month. Too bad, it will forever stain my memory.
"The destruction, the randomness of it. Truly, this is a tragedy only rivalled by certain ones. While we rebuild, let's not forget the people who suffered the tragedy and the ones who left without seeing their city rebuilt."
That's all I did in the past month. Helping with the tragedy. After everyone is evacuated and the dust settles, life must go on, but how do you come back after a massive event? The first thing you do is pick up the pieces and try to fix it. Construction workers and architects, even Emily, are working nonstop to rebuild homes and businesses. Thankfully, the American Monarch gave a massive amount of funds to repay the damage they caused, so no dime is spent from Canada's side.
As for me, I did my best. Helping construction workers with taking apart all the buildings and grabbing all the large equipment nearby. Even using my new billion dollars to fund people who got messed up with the tragedy. It's the least I can do; it's all my fault after all. Do you know the worst part about it?
They thank me. They smiled and joked around. Calling me the 'Hero' who saved all of Toronto. I felt bile rise in my throat every time they said that to me. I wanted to tell them everything, that I was the one who caused this entire mess. I got scared, though.
I didn't know what would happen if I told them the truth. Gavin and Jason advised me to do so. So, I stayed quiet, flashing pearly whites as I died inside, over and over. I placed my hands and rubbed them on my face as I got off my bed. Turning my phone off.
Obviously, with that dream and the fact I didn't want to...Ben Armstrong didn't sleep tonight.
RED
A Few Hours Later...
JUSTICE
Here's a thing I learned about my powers. My body no longer needing sleep was wrong. Don't get the wrong idea, I could stay up for long periods of time. The longest is about three days. However, each moment, I felt more tired as the day passed.
My head feels like it's about to explode, and I feel like my bones are about to snap just standing up. I was resistant to sleep, not immune. With me, not having a good sleep schedule on account of me, staying up all night to help the city with repairs, to the point Gavin showed up in his Scarlet Knight armour and demanded I go home. I was both annoyed by the memory and the fact that my eyes felt tired, but not sleepy.
So when I went downstairs, Mom was cooking scrambled eggs and bacon. Athena is humming to herself, finishing up the remains of her food while Dad sips his coffee, staring at the TV screen. As for Poochie, he's just lying on his small bed chomping on an orange ball. Mom turns to greet me, but pauses. Probably because I looked like someone had dumped feces on my food.
"Not a good sleep, I'm assuming?" Mom said. "Are you okay?"
I rubbed my eyes. Trying my best to look casual.
"Peachy."
"Well, breakfast is ready, I'm just cooking extra since your dad wants to achieve the so-called 'Dad bod'." She says, trying not to laugh as mom gestures her head to dad, who looks at her with an annoyed look.
"Hey! I still look good for being thirty-five."
"Oh, yes. By forty, you would look like a bowling ball with limbs." Mom counters with a sly smile.
Dad huffs, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. As my folks bantered playfully, I dropped my butt into my seat and started eating. It's pretty good as per usual. Mom always makes the best scrambled eggs. Not my favourite, certainly a top ten though.
I watched the news with dad, thankfully it wasn't about the Toronto incident. I didn't need to hear for the eight-hundredth time. I swear these news stations will milk anything, even if it's tragic, to boost their watch time. However, they were talking about another incident. There was a violent attack in Vancouver.
There was a festival in a small community. However, a random drunk driver tore past the barricades and into the crowd of people. Two people died and a lot more were injured. I tightened my fists when I realized this had happened yesterday, when I was active. How did such an event get through my watch?
I'm wasting time here; I need to go. I quickly ate my breakfast and stretched. It's a Saturday, so I don't need to worry about school.
"Welp, see you guys later. I'm heading to Gavin's." I was about to move to the front door, but my dad stopped me.
"Whoa, relax, Ben. What's the rush?"
"I just want to hang out with Gavin, and I kind of want to work."
Dad frowned. And I felt mom's silhouette from behind me put her fists into her hips.
"Don't get me wrong. I like you're hanging with your godfather, but you pretty much go to his shop all the time. After school, you go practically every day."
I looked away, feeling guilty. Neglecting everyone in this house was unpleasant.
"I hope you're not too 'Cool' to hang around your parents, are you?" Says Mom, getting into my sight with a raised brow.
"No, it's not that. It's just that I want to be with Gavin today."
Dad rubs his chin. Seemingly lost in thought. I avoided eye contact, probably making me look even more guilty.
"Why don't you just stay here? I mean, it feels like years since you just stayed home and played with Athena and Poochie." Mom says.
"That's..." I tried to say it, but the words got caught in my throat.
I guess it has been a while since I properly spent time with my family. It's strange, really. I didn't have friends other than my sister and dog, so I played with them a lot. I didn't like to go outside other than to walk to clear my head. I never really thought that these past months, other than sleeping, I'm rarely home.
Something I never thought I would see coming last year. I...I guess I do miss that life. When everything is so stress-free and chill. My eyes briefly turned to the TV screen, the reporter finishing up her last few words concerning the tragedy. I frowned deeply.
Athena got off her seat and hugged. "Oh, please, stay, Benny, pretty please!" She begged, putting on a sad puppy face.
I was normally weak, too. I nearly folded until my eyes turned to the screen again. Another piece of news, this time they're talking about some kind of drunk driver accident on a highway.
"Sorry, Tina. I have to go."
Athena's lips quivered and moved back. "What about Sunday?"
"I'll try," I say.
I turned to look at my parents. Mom looked disappointed, looking more aged, however nodded at me. Dad just gives me a look, not of anger or anything like that. It's that expression that says 'Be Careful, Son'. I left the house, releasing a sigh. I rubbed my face, annoyed and feeling incredibly guilty.
I just stood there. Feeling like a failure. No, I am a failure. Both as a son, brother and superhero.
You know, sometimes, I just wish I could tell them about Red Justice. Maybe that way, it'll be easier for me to feel less guilty about ditching them. They know how important he is, especially right now, when Toronto is still in the process of rebuilding. I snuck into the side of the house, where I tapped my smartwatch. My suit popped out, and I quickly changed into it.
As soon as my visor snapped closed. I jumped into the sky and darted in the direction of the city.