We find ourselves returning to Gavin's private hangar. I felt my stomach grumble as I flew around the base, watching my Cosmic Energy percentage drop. What a fantastic morning I have today, first waking up too early, while my stomach cried out for food. I ignored it, crying inside as I watched the family consume bacon and eggs in front of me. Later, Gavin picked me up to go here, and now here I am feeling weaker and weaker as the percentage drops.
I slowly descended, breathing lightly as my face was wet with sweat.
[CE : 0%]
I took off my SEE goggles and put them down on a table. My gaze shifted to Gavin's truck, where he was stretching. I walked up to him, wiping the sweat off my face.
"Alright, I'm done. What's next? How am I going to train my body without my powers?"
He said on the drive on the way here, I was going to train, after all my performance against Arc was less than satisfactory, he told me that if I could barely take him on, his army would be another story. I don't want to train, I'm not like other kids who go insane, if my teachers say Phys Ed is cancelled. But, I suppose preparing my body and getting stronger will help me out tremendously.
"You don't need your powers," Gavin said, cracking his neck, which made me tilt my head in confusion.
"You seem to be under the assumption I'll be training you physically?"
I nodded my head, and in response, Gavin shook his.
"But then what's the point of training if I'm not working out?"
"Your power isn't a problem; in fact, you have a lot of it. But there is a problem with how you wield it."
"What do you mean?"
"...Tell me when you fought Atlas, me and then Arc, what is the most recurring thing?"
I hummed, putting a hand on my chin, narrowing my eyes as I replayed every major battle I was in aside from my fight with Emily.
"Uh, you're all super soldiers?"
"No?"
"You're all old men?"
"No, well, yes, but actually no."
I clicked my tongue as I massaged my head, thinking of the answer. Finally, after a couple of minutes of drawing in blanks, I hear Gavin sigh and answer for me.
"You're stronger than us."
"Huh?"
"You're stronger than Atlas, when you fought him, you're stronger than me, and while Arc is strong in his own right, you are still stronger than him. And yet, two of those fights you were getting put through the ringer, why is that?"
This time, the answer came to me quickly.
"Because they are more experienced and skilled."
"Exactly, Atlas and Arc can keep up with your overwhelming strength with their skills, combat tactics and experience they learned in battle."
Yeah. I'm not arguing with that. While those two may be psychos, I can respect them for keeping up with me. I remembered how Atlas intercepted me during our fight, and recently, Arc completely outclassed me hand-to-hand.
"That is why we're going to increase special skills instead of training your powers." Said Gavin.
Still, I was unconvinced. "Yeah, you're right about me not having much fighting techniques and stuff, but wouldn't physically training me to get stronger give me a bigger edge than just you know learning how to punch better?"
"I get you, but the problem with physically training you is that it would take too long for you to actually become any significantly stronger. It takes months and even years for a person to increase their strength by even five percent. We simply don't have the time."
"But-"
"Besides, how are we going to put pressure on you anyway? We don't exactly have dumbbells weighing fifty tons, and even that's something you could easily lift! We don't have the right equipment for you, but with fighting techniques that are much easier to digest."
He's got a point there. I suppose gaining that six-pack is still a long way off. Speaking of hand-to-hand combat, I was a little excited. My father always watches those old Bruce Lee films and other action films that involve fighting and action. I was always mesmerized by their fluent and sharp movements; it was like a deadly form of dance.
Gavin rolled his shoulders before he started bouncing and then started to shadowbox. Without my super reflex, his fist and arms seem to vanish. Seeing him like this made me pump.
"Alright, so what am I going to learn? A secret deadly martial art that immobilizes my foes, or maybe something that involves hitting pressure points?"
Gavin shook his head as she continued to shadowbox.
"Neither, we don't have time to teach you high-level martial art techniques. But I can teach you the basics, all right, put him up."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Put your hands up, we're going to spar." He says as a matter of factly, he raised his arms to guard his head, looking at me like I was prey.
I paled and instinctively put my hands up. "W-wait, but you're obviously going to win-"
"It's not about winning." Gavin cut me off.
"It's about learning now, sparring is one of the fastest ways to learn combat. Now come to me, or are you scared?"
I knew he was egging me to come in aggressively, I could see it from my mile away. And honestly, he was right, I'm scared. I fought Gavin before, but I had my powers to shield me, but now, I was as strong as any ten-year-old kid. Still doing nothing won't get anyone anywhere, I might as well humour him. I took a deep breath before I ran up to him, fist cocked, ready to fly at him.
Since he was so much bigger than I, I had no choice but to aim for his kneecaps. I threw a punch, but as I did, he bounced away easily. My missed punch made me stumble a little. I recovered a little rattled, but I still charged, letting out a barrage of haymakers at Gavin, who nimbly evaded my blows. I was starting to get frustrated, especially when he flashed that condescending smile.
I fake I was about to punch him and he totally fell for it, he moved out of the way, but I used my other arm to try to hit him, this time he didn't dodge instead batting my arm away before an explosion of pain hit my face and I was sent to the air before I crashed to the floor.
"Oww..." I groaned.
I get up while nursing my nose. "That hurt! That's child abuse, you old fart!"
Gavin just snorts. "Don't be a baby, you're fine. Are you seriously letting one punch knock you down?"
I gritted my teeth and growled, getting up and trying to land some hits at him, faster this time. Still, it didn't change a thing; he was still evading easily while I was getting tired.
"You're relying on haymakers too much! Use you're legs and other moves, you're too predictable!"
He brought his leg up and kicked in the chest, and I was sent to the floor again. I groaned as I struggled up.
"And keep your guard up. That's one of your weak points. You are too reliant on your durability and healing factor to save you, so you have to block or dodge."
I managed to somehow stand on my two feet, clutching my chest.
"Remember getting damaged and using you're powers recklessly waste Cosmic Energy, learn both of these things."
"O-ok." I managed to say before charging in.
RED
30 Minutes Later...
JUSTICE
I pant like a dog staring at the sky, the blazing sun shining on me. I was covered in sweat and lying on the ground. My wrist was bruised from blocking Gavin's punches, which felt like sledgehammers. Speaking of, he sat beside me, handing me water, which instantly made me get up and start drinking the liquid. I gasped as I released my lips from the bottle, the heavenly water cooling down my hot body.
"T-thanks."
"You're welcome, you've improved a little bit, at least you're not standing around waiting for your face to be punched."
We didn't say anything after that; we just enjoyed the cool wind. I let out a relaxed sigh as the cold air hitting my sweaty, hot skin felt good. After a minute or two of silence, I spoke up.
"So, am I going out in the field after this?"
"Nope, we're staying here training, I think Canada can live without Red Justice for a week. We'll go if there is an emergency."
My mood drops at his words. No Red Justice for a week? That made me unsure of his plans, like I understand where he's coming from. I needed to train to be good enough to take on Arc and his army. There could be people who need him right now.
I opened my mouth to say something, but one serious look from Gavin, and I immediately gave up on convincing him. I didn't like it, but I guess the city is fine for the time being; it's not like I'll be gone forever. Once I deal with his whole fiasco, it will be back to regular Red Justice adventures. Would I return, though? This isn't like Atlas and his goons; this is a whole different level threat entirely.
And speaking of Atlas, he is there too! Could I beat the New World Order, and if I failed at stopping them from activating the SURVIVOR, could I really beat something that not even all the weapons in the world could scratch? It seems impossible.
"You're thinking about Arc and the new SURVIVOR, right?" Gavin suddenly says, causing me to jump.
"You knew?"
"I could see in your face. I told you, don't look at all the bad possibilities that could happen; instead, focus on the things that will make you succeed."
"I'm trying, but it just seems impossible."
This earned me a chuckle from him.
"Kid, that word should have no meaning to you. You are impossible, you could beat Arc and his goon squad."
I snort. "Easier said than done. But, you're right."
I stood up, dusting myself, I cracked my neck. "Let's get back to training."
Gavin grins. "That's the spirit!"
RED
Somewhere Across The World...
JUSTICE
Arc got off his jet. Usually, this is the part where his soldiers greeted him with a salute, but they were tired, hungry, and some others were helping each other patch out their wounds.
"Another attack, what happened?" He mutters
Droid and Silver walked up to him. "Those damned Russians keep sending their fodder against us, despite them losing tons of men and resources."
Spat Droid.
"How many did we lose?"
"Nothing too bad. What about you, did you kill the boy?"
Arc shakes his head. "No, it seems we vastly underestimated him. I even offered an alliance, but I got shot down."
As he said those words, someone's chuckle cut off the group. Droid rolled his eyes, clenching his fist in anger. Arc meanwhile stood calm as they were approached by a large man wearing simple military slacks. That greasy brown hair...no doubt this person is-
"Seriously, you couldn't even kill a kid? How the mighty Arc has fallen." Atlas chuckles again.
Droid marched to him, his red eyes glaring at the super soldier.
"Watch your tongue, if I had my way, you would still rot in prison."
"Please, I would've escaped eventually, I didn't need your organization's help."
Droid looks like he was about to lose it, but the calm hand from Silver eases the metal man somewhat. Atlas shot him a cocky look before turning to Arc, who doesn't seem impressed.
"I still can't believe you lost a child." Atlas's smug smile grew even wider as Arc's eyebrow twitched.
"Funny, I remember him beating you, too. At least I got away, instead of needing others to bail him out."
Atlas frowns, and he grunts before crossing his arms.
"So why did you break me out? I can't imagine you did because you enjoy my presence."
"You're right, I didn't. You fought Red Justice before, and that makes you valuable. After all, he's coming here to stop us."
Droid and Silver look tense. While Atlas seemed eager for the young hero to come ready for his payback for earlier.
"When?" Atlas said in a tone full of bloodlust and sadism.
"Don't know, but he'll come soon. No doubt Jason has made contact with him, especially if I'm correct about Gavin backing Red Justice up."
This earned shocked looks from them. "What, he's backing out of that thing!?"
"Most likely, it would explain how he got SEE goggles while also not being connected by the government. Either way, Red Justice is coming, so all of you should be prepared."
Atlas savagely grins, his knuckles begging to hit Red Justice.
Silver Marksman looks composed but grimaces.
The droid looks angry as usual, thinking about ways to defeat the new threat.
Arc closes his eyes before opening them, his eyes now burning with determination. They'll succeed no matter what.