I sat on the roof of a building watching the city. Yesterday, Emily came to the shop and announced her desire to help me. I was a little disappointed that Emily wouldn't join me as a superhero, but then again, things have been quiet for Toronto lately. There was little excitement aside from drivers accidentally bumping into each other. I looked around before spotting an old woman who was trying to cross an intersection, albeit very slowly.
I could see she's taking great effort to move quickly before the lights turned green for the cars she's blocking. I flew to the old lady and gently picked her up, before slowly dropping her to the other side, just before the light turned green and cars sped past us. The lady smiled at me.
"Thank you very much, sonny."
I smiled back. "It's no trouble, I'm here to help."
The old lady laughs a little. "I'll be honest, I thought you were up to no good, my son thinks you want to take over the world and make yourself a harem."
"Harem?"
"I'll tell you when you're older."
"Ask your folks when you're older."
Gavin and the old lady say in unison. I internally snorted. That just made me want to look it up myself. Before anything else was said, I sensed someone approaching us, limping. I turned my head to face a man with a beard that looked like he hadn't shaved for years, dirty, ripped clothing and thinner than a pencil. His eyes told a story, though, one of pain and hopelessness.
He averts his gaze, looking embarrassed.
"Spare some change, please?"
The old lady's smile drops to a sad frown. "Oh, you poor man..."
She hastily opens her purse to retrieve our wallet, fishing out a fifty-dollar bill and giving it to the man whose eyes went wide.
"A-are you-thank you!" His eyes shone; it seemed he wasn't expecting to be given any money.
"Grab yourself some food or anything you need, dear."
The man's eyes were watery, and with a thankful nod, he scurried off quickly. I just sat there stunned and unsure of what I felt. I knew I felt bad, but at the same time, I felt helpless for some reason. I was reminded that homelessness was a thing, and it's something not even the Red Justice himself could do anything about.
"It's a shame, isn't it?" The old lady said.
I bit my lip before releasing a tired sigh.
"Yeah."
I knew there were homeless people, but I averted my gaze. Even when patrolling as Red Justice, the best thing I could do was point them to the nearest shelter.
"It's frustrating, isn't it?"
"Huh?" I looked at the old woman who smiled bitterly.
"I could tell you want to help, right? But you know there is nothing you could do."
I blinked. "Yeah, how did you know?"
She chuckles. "I could see in your eyes, sonny. You're a good person. But..."
She shifted her gaze to the ground, looking older suddenly. "With today's increasing taxes, everything being expensive, it's easy to be in that same situation as that man, and there are many more like him in Ontario, sadly. Truly, what horrid times we are living in."
I wanted to say something, but frustration only fueled me. I had these powers, so it was pretty frustrating to be unable to help someone in need. I thought about Emily. I wonder if she didn't have her powers, would she be like that person, would she end up begging in the street at night in the cold where she has no home to keep herself warm? The very thought of that pissed me off, especially because it's happening to a lot of people right now all over the globe.
"Ben, look out!" Gavin shouted, making me go alert.
My Mind's Eye kicked in. It showed me the silhouette of a car, going dangerously fast and coming towards us! I quickly grabbed onto the old woman and floated up just before a black pick-up truck zoomed past where we used to be. I looked at the speeding car, and behind the vehicle was a bunch of guys wearing ski masks, wielding guns. Multiple police cars were chasing them, though they were quickly losing ground.
I drop back down and look at the old woman with worry. "Are you okay, ma'am?"
"I'm good, now show those no-gooders what to do!"
I flashed a grin, and I'm off. What a cool lady. It didn't take long for me on top of the men, upon closer look, they had duffle bags filled with money, and right now they were shooting the cops with their pistols and hunting rifles.
"Damn, how did they manage to rob a bank under my nose? I thought the SEE goggles system was flawless!" I exclaimed.
"Of course it's not perfect. The system can track any crime happening or reported, but with how many people prank call the police, sending in junk data as well as the number of people's phones disrupting the connection, it is not going to be in top shape!" Gavin explains.
"Anyway, at least you could finally do something interesting!"
"How do I stop them!?"
I must have been screaming too loud because one of them looked up in the air and saw me flying on top of them. He shouted something in a different language getting his friends' attention before they started firing bullets at me. Of course any bullets that managed to land bounced harmlessly. It was honestly annoying, but at least the cops can breathe easier now that they aren't potentially eating lead in the face.
"Any ideas how I could stop them? Maybe I could get in the way-"
"Don't do that unless you want to kill them, just damage the engine or the wheels."
My eyes look at the wheels. I took a deep breath and flew to the side of the car, ignoring the shouts of the robbers as they continued to shoot bullets at me. My visor opened, allowing me to shoot my optic blasts at the wheel. It didn't take long for the wheel to start to melt. I stopped blasting it before turning my head to face another wheel and then doing the same thing. I turned to the other side and did the same to the other wheels, ignoring the panic shouts of the robbers. The melted wheels made them get slower and slower, not helped by me going in front and starting to apply pressure on the bumper.
Eventually, the truck came to a full stop. The wheels no longer turned, and the engine smoked from my applying force on the bumper. The criminals hastily got out of the car and began to shoot at me. I rolled my eyes at their attempt. I caught the bullets that zoomed past me to protect any people who were unlucky enough to be caught by stray bullets.
Eventually, their pistols clicked empty. Some of them backed away, afraid, while some looked aggravated. I blinked as one of them screamed at the top of their lungs and lunged at me. He had a nightstick in his hand and swung it, hitting my jaw, but all it did was bend the weapon.
"Dude...what do you think was going to happen?" I say, before I 'Lightly' shoved him.
But to normal people, my strength caused him to fly back to one of his fellow robbers, sending them tumbling to the ground like bowling pins. The three that fell groaned in pain. Then, to my absolute confusion, the others, who saw what happened, thought it was a bright idea to fight me. One robber started to spam Spartan kicks at my chest, not even budging me. The second got behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck to choke me, while the last robber kicked me in the ribs.
Meanwhile, I just stood there, mouth agape. This went on for more than a few moments. By that time, cops arrived and trained their guns at me and the robbers. I could see a couple of officers barely contain their laughter as they watched the robbers pointlessly try to hurt me. I rolled my eyes, and one second of red lightning wrapped around my body; the three robbers fell to the ground unconscious.
"And this is why you don't drop out of school." I tutted.
The cops moved and started to cuff the robbers, their eyes trailed at me wearily, but none made the move to arrest me. One of the cops, older and not wearing a proper police uniform, instead wearing a suit, the only way I knew he was an officer was the golden badge on his right breast. He had a yellow mustache and short blonde hair. He was a little older than my dad and his body wasn't as big as Gavin's, but he was certainly intimidating. He was looking at me with a stoic expression, though his eyes seemed hard.
I curled a brow.
"Hi?"
He straightened up. "I would like to thank you today, Red Justice. If it weren't for you, many people would've gotten more hurt."
I blushed at his compliment, a sheepish smile formed on my lips, and I rubbed the back of my head. I think that was the first time a cop ever complimented me.
"No, it's cool. I'm happy to help."
He nods before his expression hardens once more. "Don't misunderstand Red Justice, you are still a criminal in the eyes of the force and government, we'll look away just this once, but next time...we will catch you."
Aw man, I thought I was going to have my first cop fan....
"Ooh, things are getting spicy, a new rival?"
I ignored the old man, and a smug grin appeared on my lips.
"You can try."
We both stared at each other dramatically, neither of us backing down. Though me and Officer Blonde's stare-down was cut off by a robber, the one who tried to hit me with a nightstick started to shout at me.
"School!? Please, unlike you, we didn't have the opportunity to do so! Don't mock me, you spoiled brat!"
The robber was struggling against the officers to be put in the car, his brown eyes looking at me with contempt and...envy? Eventually, the officers managed to stuff him in the car along with the rest of his pals.
"What was that about?" I muttered no in particular.
"That man was Carmen Kal." Officer Blonde said.
I turned to him with a confused look, and he clarified.
"I read his file, abused and abandoned by his mother and then had to care for his sick father. Carmen Kal didn't have any options to go to school, and in this day of age, it was hard to find a job, so he had little choicebut to turn to a life of crime." He explains.
My jaw hangs open. So that's why he got pissed when I said that. Guilt filled my heart, and I looked down in shame.
"Don't feel too bad. At the end of the day, he's a criminal and hurt people, even if I could understand why he's doing this somewhat."
"But...it's unfair and it didn't have to be this way..."
A memory replayed in his head, one of Emily arguing with her parents:
"I just wanted to be a normal girl! I'm tired of living like this, I'm tired of other kids making fun of the way I dress! I don't want anything fancy, I just want to have a normal life in a middle-class life with my family..."
A tired breath was released by Officer Blonde.
"Yeah, but this is the reality we live in. You can go now to Red Justice, we'll take it from here."
He gave me one more look before joining his fellow police officers. I wanted to say something, but I found I was unable to find my words. And so I just flew high to the sky, looking down at Toronto with a mix of emotions. Emotions that I was unsure how to call, but the closest thing I was feeling was conflicted and frustration.
"Are you okay?" Gavin chimes in.
"I just, I thought..." I paused, allowing myself to relax before I started to speak more normally.
"I didn't think there were a bunch of problems that I couldn't solve with my powers."
I looked at my fist, where red lightning formed before vanishing. "I thought with these powers, I can pretty much help anyone in need."
"Like that cop said, it's unfair, but this is the reality we live in. It's something not even you could change; it's difficult. Impossible even."
Is it really? Are problems like homelessness and struggling to attain money and education impossible things to fix? I suddenly felt so helpless and very small. I felt drained of energy despite my CE being nearly eighty percent.
"Why don't you go back and rest?" Gavin said.
"It's been a long day, you deserve it."
"Y-yeah."
I turned around and flew in the direction of the shop. My heart still grew heavy with guilt and shame.
RED
In the sky...
JUSTICE
Arc crossed his arms as his Falcon X-47 automatically drove him in the air to his destination. His men and the others have already formed camps and prepped themselves to get to the bases where the cores are being held. Silver should be almost done with his mission of retrieving that person from the maximum prison in America. It should be easy for him.
As for Droid, no doubt excited for the next stage of the plan. He was vocal about his doubts about this Red Justice being a threat to their operation, but he knew that this boy might become the biggest obstacle to their goal. And since this Red Justice possessed a new model SEE goggle, he had a feeling of who was backing him up. And knowing Jason might contact them, it was better to know what he's capable of. Who knows?
Perhaps, Red Justice might be convinced to stay out of the way or he might just be too weak, so Arc to go in for the kill. Either way, Arc will soon meet the dubbed 'The Crimson Angel'.