"What, that psycho is out!?" I exclaimed, alarmed that the guy who nearly nuked Toronto is free.
"How, I thought the mother-ahem, butthole was kept in maximum security!" Gavin adds.
This was bad, while I wasn't 100% at power when I fought him, he was still a very dangerous and skilled opponent. If my Cosmic Energy were a little lower, Toronto might be nothing more than rubble.
"He was broken free by one of Arc's top generals, the Silver Marksman," Jason answers
"Who?" I raised a brow.
Before Jason could answer, Gavin started talking.
"Silver Marksman, or just Silver, used to be one of America's top assassins, a cyborg like Arc, though I heard he barely had any enhancements."
"Right, his tech isn't as heavy as Arc's. Though still incredibly dangerous. Regardless, the two both escaped and flew a jet to Russia.
"I'll see you in Russia then, Red Justice," I remembered Arc saying before I flew to save those civilians.
What's so special about that country? What did Arc like about it there? Because it was cold? I doubt that guy was there to make snowmen. I wanted to ask what's so special about Russia, but I kept my mouth shut. I'll probably get my answer soon.
"But we'll get back to those two later, right now, some background."
Jason taps the keyboard, changing the screen to show a photo of Arc alongside a guy and what looks to be a robotic knight. Arc had his face completely revealed; he was bald and had a full, thick beard. He looked at the camera with that expressionless look on his face. I hated the way he looked. That condescending stare made me want to punch his face. I remembered his whole speech about destroying the world government to help people, but no, he probably will do it for selfish reasons.
I mean, what kind of person preaches about saving the common man and homelessness when he's blowing up apartments and putting people who had nothing to do with anything at risk? I forcibly calmed myself, relaxed Ben Armstorng, we'll get our run back soon. My attention shifts to the other two beside him. The most normal-looking guy was a man with dark skin, black hair tied into a short ponytail. He had a puffy black beard, and he was wearing a brown coat and underneath was a black military armor.
Overall, he looks normal, if you ignore that his left eye has something round covering it, I assume it could be an artificial eye or something. And on his right hand, well, there wasn't any hand, not made of flesh anyway. His right hand looks like a metallic skeleton, not too different from the Terminator from the movies. Still, he looks downright normal compared to the guy on the other side. I don't know if it's a guy or a girl, I'm going to assume it's a guy from the way its artificial metallic body is shaped.
He looks like what would happen if you fuse modern technology to a knight's armour. His armour was colored silver, with some parts of it being dark grey. He looks more armoured than Atlas, and that's saying something. His helmet or his face is why he kind of looks like a knight. His eye holes are horizontal and connected, not separate.
And on his mouth, he had those lines, you know, those holes on a knight's helmet to make them breathe or something, this guy has it. The only thing that can be sort of organic about this guy is the glowing red eyes that glared through his eye holes and into the camera. He gives me chills looking at him.
"You see, a couple of years ago, Arc, along with a large number of soldiers under his command, disappeared without a trace, until they popped back up this year. Arc is creating a new organization called the New World Order, or NWO for short."
Another tabbed pop-up in the corner of the screen shows a drawing of a fiery bird devouring a smaller bird that looks like an eagle.
"A bird?" I asked, and Jason shook his head.
"No, a Phoenix. A being that could be resurrected when death happens upon it, a rebirth if you will." Gavin answers.
Jason nods before continuing. "At first, they were just a freelance mercenary group, a big one. The American government hated Arc's new independence, but they couldn't really do anything since no one was strong enough to oppose him. But, then it happened."
Gavin's frown deepens. "The Creatio Incident…"
"Creatio?" I repeated before my memory triggered, recalling about he had mentioned nearly a month ago.
"Isn't that base where Atlas raided, where he took the Emperor Serum and the nuke?"
"That's right, but the Titans weren't alone in their raid. You see, there are two bases in Creatio, the main one, which Atlas raided, had limited security and weapons due to it being created for research and testing purposes, not combat, but the other base, only five hundred meters away, is where the big guns are held. Try to raid Creatio, they'll send in the best squad with a crap ton of mechs and super weapons."
"Then how did Atlas beat them, if they're that good?"
"He didn't, NWO did."
Gavin glared while I gasped. I remembered briefly about their phone call conversation before, when I was Big Justice and fresh off nearly killing a man.
"We didn't know at the time, but after tests came in, it's most certainly them. It seems they were in alliance, Atlas will have the nuke and the serum while NWO gets the core."
Gavin's face scrunched up in confusion.
"Core? Core for what?"
Jason, at the moment, seemed uncomfortable; he swallowed before speaking.
"It's for the new SURVIVOR-"
"WHAT!?" Gavin shot up in his seat, making me jump.
Jason, to his credit, seemed mostly unfazed, although a little rattled by Gavin's outburst.
"They seriously built a new one!? After everything that happened! What the hell, Jason!?"
"Don't look at me, by the time I was Monarch, the project for Version 4 had been almost completed."
Gavin huffs in disbelief, rubbing his forehead, while I was stuck, utterly confused about what a SURVIVOR is. Why is it in all capital letters? I cleared my throat.
"What's a SURVIVOR?"
Both of them were silent, clearly not wanting to delve into the information, but with a deep sigh of resignation, Gavin spoke.
"After the Monarchs were established, everybody got their hands on a nuclear weapon and fearing that one of them might one day be stabbed in the back, all of the biggest and richest countries at the time joined together. It would have been great seeing everyone get along and make something." Gavin gives out a bitter chuckle.
"That's quickly ruined because they build something that surpasses nuclear weapons and even survives it. The SURVIVOR, a large machine meant to be piloted by one person. Have you seen Gundam, Ben?"
"No?"
Gavin grunts. "Casual. Anyways, it's a machine that could withstand nuclear bombs and have weapons that would make rockets look like fireworks, even today, the technology would still be considered impressive, that is how powerful the machine was. Too bad it was hijacked by a Nazi spy."
"Nazis? But I thought they all got imprisoned or died in World War Two?"
"Maybe a good lot of them, but there were survivors eager for revenge," Jason explains.
"So anyways…" Gavin started, causing me to focus on him.
"My squad and I beat the first SURVIVOR. It was difficult, but we made it through. But then, once again, the world government created another one, better and stronger in every way, but it was A.I controlled it, and it went absolutely crazy; it nearly ended the world, but we beat it. But then again, they didn't last time and made a third one!" Gavin tosses his arms in the air.
It wasn't just him now; I could see Jason getting frustrated by the story, too.
"This time, a terrorist got in and tried to rule the world with a machine. This time it wasn't so easy, SURVIVOR Version 3 as a tank, no one could damage the robot. The only reason we won is that we forced it to run out of power. And I thought it would be the end of machines, but that isn't the case, isn't it!"
The tense air made us all silent, both adults looked ready to lose their cool, but after taking deep breaths, they returned to normal.
"Truly foolish. But moving on, since this Version 4 is more powerful, it requires a monstrous power to turn it on. America and Russia agreed they would be the ones hiding the cores. According to the notes, there are six in total, and NWO got half of them; that's why they're heading to America."
I felt my throat dry. I think I would cook according to my age. Not only do I have to take care of that psycho, but I also have to fight multiple strong villains to save the world.
"H-how powerful is Version 4?"
"...Think of all the powerful atomic and hydrogen bombs there are in the world and all the other rocket missiles and every weapon ever conceived. That amount of firepower drops in this machine…and it wouldn't scratch it."
"W-what?" I say, suddenly out of the air.
That can't be true, right? I don't even know if I could even survive that! I looked at Gavin, who grimaced.
"T-that's just hype, r-right? There is no way it could actually survive that amount of power."
Jason seems unsure; he seems to ponder my words.
"Maybe, but my sources claimed that they ran simulations and shot a smaller prototype in space and dropped a powerful bomb nearly rivalling the Tsar Bomba and like I said not even a scratch."
"Well, what does it look like?" Gavin asked.
"I don't know, we sent materials and one of our best people made it, but the American and Russian Monarchs are very secretive about their appearance and weapons, much to other countries' annoyance. What little I know of its equipment is just a better version of Version 3."
Jason looks at my increasingly pale face, making him rub his forehead before giving me a sympathetic look.
"Look, I know relying on a ten-year-old like you is truly messed up, if I had it my way, I would have sent myself and Gavin out there, but Arc and his army are powerful for even us. You're the only one who could stop them. But if you refuse, I'll understand and be on my way-"
"Wait!" I immediately said.
"I…I'm not going to lie, this is scary, and I prefer to stay at home to read, but if Arc is really going to snuff out a lot of soldiers and even civilians in his war? Then I got to stop him."
"Kid…" Gavin says softly.
Jason had the most smuggest grin ever put in a Royal Road or wherever readers are reading this story.
"I think you're insane."
Okay, wow, a completely unnecessary insult.
"But, you've got a good heart. Alright then, you guys will be going to Russia next week, as for me…"
He gets up, fixing his tie and a grimace is plastered on his face.
"I have to deal with politics and those annoying idiots…"
Jason gave us a salute before going towards the door, but before I could leave, I stopped him.
"Wait, why am I just going now?"
"Are you serious, Ben? First of all, this mission would probably take multiple days or at least more than a day. How are you going to explain that to your parents?" Gavin said.
"W-well…"
"It's fine, Ben. The NWO are currently recovering after the barrage of attacks from all governments after they transported the cores and the SURVIVOR to Russia. It would take them a while before they could mobilize again." Jason added.
"But, it wouldn't be a good opportunity to attack them, they'll be vulnerable!"
"Nice plan, but now you have to deal with Arc, his generals, plus Atlas and his entire army. Do you think you can take them by yourself, knowing you have a limit?"
I stayed silent.
"Listen." Gavin got out of his seat and dropped to his knees, and put a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"I get you want to take care of this problem quickly, but you're not ready yet, just be patient."
I opened my mouth to argue, but imagining myself taking on a large group of people, that is said to be even more dangerous than Atlas's. Speaking of, he's on a team along with Arc, who put me in the ring along with his two other generals, I know nothing about, but have a feeling they're going to be more than just a pain in the butt.
"Yeah…" I said in defeat.
"Alright, I'll leave you two alone for some rest." Jason gives us one final nod before opening the door and going out of sight.
I turned to Gavin.
"So, what will we do all week before we go to Russia?"
Gavin gives me a blank look.
"Skip dinner and breakfast."
"...Oh man."