I regained consciousness, but I didn't open my eyes. My body felt heavy, really heavy. Like a blue whale pinning me down. It wasn't just that I couldn't feel some of my limbs, mainly my right arm and leg. I opened my eyes to see a cracked ceiling. Am I back at the base? Why, what happened?
My Mind's Eye came to flick, though it was weird; the silhouettes were blurry, out of focus. One strange silhouette walked, and to my vision, it was Gavin. He looked rattled, and sweat covered his entire face. His eyes widened before letting out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god." He whispered.
"Gavin?" I said, surprised at the lack of power in my voice.
I forced my body to get up, making the sheet fall away from my form, revealing my body to me. I was naked, but that wasn't what freaked me out; my torso was covered with huge, deep burns and exposed muscle. Alarmed, I flung the sheet away to reveal the state I was in. My legs were charred and exposed bone, my right arm only had a bit of meat in it, the rest was all just my arm's skeleton.
My mouth went wide as a saucer, and then, with shaking hands, I touched my face. My left face felt normal, but on the other side, it was rough, and when I tried to close my eyes, I found that I wasn't able to close my left eye. I immediately got off the couch.
"Ben-" Gavin starts to say, but I shove him off, forcing my numb and damaged legs to the bathroom.
I never went to the bathroom; it was full of mold, grass and spiders. But right, I didn't even push the door to see myself in the mirror. I flinched seeing the monster in the reflection. 25% on the left side looked like my normal face, though I was missing some hair, while the other…well, have you seen The Dark Knight, one of my Dad's favourite movies? And while I don't know the actor of the villain's name, all I remember is that his face looked gnarly.
And honestly, he might look even more charming than he is right now, cause at least he wasn't showing nearly his entire skull. I found myself breathing hard, clutching my chest, but I was suddenly enveloped with warmth as Gavin hugged behind.
"It's okay, you're okay."
Tears spilled from my cheeks. As I clench my teeth. And we lay there for several minutes. Later, I was sitting on a chair wearing a basic black shirt and red shorts. Gavin was cooking something. All I know is it smells really good. I look at my skeletal hands, and I can see muscles slowly forming around my bony fingers. It's disturbing, though oddly satisfying as well.
Still, why am I not screaming? I'd imagine in a state like this, I would be in an intense amount of pain.
"Painkillers." Said Gavin, not turning to me, and instead continued to stir.
"Huh?"
"I gave you a lot of painkillers; otherwise, you will probably start causing a mess."
"True. But what happened? How did it get like this? And where's Jason?"
He freezes. "You don't remember?"
I didn't say anything. Instead, my brain fires, trying to recall what happened. I was fighting Silver Marksman and the other SURVIVORS. I managed to destroy the machines, but then he hugged me before a bright light. My eyes widened.
"An explosion?"
"Right. Silver's heart was made out of a core similar to the SV3 and 4. Though smaller and has less energy, it is still far more powerful than any nuclear bomb ever created. In fact, half of the rain forest is vaporized, the only thing that's good news is that you survived, and the explosion didn't have any radiation or else the entire ecosystem would have been destroyed."
I look at my damaged form. "How did I survive? Sure, that would have just rattled me if I had more than half of my CE, but I barely had any left, only 5% maybe even lower."
"You almost didn't, when we found you at the center of the blast-" He cuts himself off.
It's almost like he didn't want to recall what happened.
"If you think you'll look bad now, then you have no idea how bad your state was. We both thought you had died, Ben. But somehow you were still barely alive. When we brought it back, we couldn't shove food or drink inside your mouth since a good chunk of your internal organs, including your stomach, had melted."
"Then how did-"
I paused, my eyes trailing to the beaten couch. On the side, multiple car batteries were thrown to the side.
"Thankfully, by chance, we discovered a new ability of yours. While you were doing hero work, Jason and I got to talking, theorizing how powers work. And one of our theories is that you could possibly absorb energy from sources. I noticed, you can use your powers longer during the day than at night, implying that you can absorb radiation from the sun."
He turns around, looking at me seriously with crossed arms. "That's why we electrified you with car batteries. It didn't fill your CE as much as one candy bar, and you were screaming a lot uncontrollably when you regenerated your vocal chords. It's not a good alternative to food, but it looks like electricity might be useful, especially when your stomach is gone."
Well, I guess that's good to know. So I could absorb some energy and fuel my CE. Though from what he's saying, getting hit by electricity is still painful. Yeah, I'm sticking to food; it's not worth it, especially if it doesn't fill my CE very well. Speaking of food, Gavin grabbed the large plate and plopped it down.
Almost instantly, I felt my stomach and tongue begging me to eat. In front of me was a massive feast-worthy plate, enough to satiate an entire family. Here was a large plate of fried rice. Another plate was a severed pinball stabbed by sticks containing roasted pork.
Then on the other side was my favourite meal, Palabok, the best Filipino dish in the world! Another plate was a large amount of beef stew. Finishing it off was a large cold ice mug containing soda. I smacked my lips as the beast within my abdomen grew, demanding I feast. I looked at Gavin, who rolled his eyes.
"It's all good, Ben, I already ate. Have it all, you earned it."
Almost instantly, I grabbed the fried rice, scooping up a large portion before putting it in my mouth. My eyes shot open as the powerful flavours clashed inside my tongue. It's awesome, no, it's fantastic! And I would say that a thousand times!
This was awesome! I disregard any thoughts about Arc, mission, Red Justice, everything. All that matters right now is the thing filling up my mouth! I swallowed and devoured some more.
With each bite, I could see in the corner of my vision that my wounds on my hands started to fade away as if it was never there. I looked at Gavin and gave him a thumbs up; he smiled.
"You don't need to respond, just enjoy your meal. I just need to tell you some more information."
I nodded and continued devouring. I finished my fried rice, taking a large gulp from my soda before moving on.
"You were out for about four hours; it's nearly morning. Jason's drone is flying around trying to find the base after we made sure you were stable, though we haven't found it yet."
He pauses to let out a yawn. I just noticed the dark circles in his eyes. He clearly wasn't sleeping properly. I felt bad for him; it has been a roller coaster of emotions with this whole operation. First, I saw a lot of dead bodies, then I saw that disgusting image of Atlas' muscles tearing themselves apart, and finally, I was almost dying. Crackers, I just realized that despite my invincible body, I nearly died twice in one summer.
Holy, I almost don't know what to do about the struggle I will inevitably face in one year.
"You're folks, wondering how the trip to Russia is so far. I had to show a realistic animation video of you hanging around the playground, while you were on the couch, nearly dead."
I swallowed my food and was about to say something, but Gavin raised his hand, stopping me.
"Just relax, I know what you're about to say, that you chose this. But that doesn't change the fact that as a Godfather and as a human being trusted by Aya and Marvin Armstrong, I failed."
Things were silent between us. I looked down at my hot Palabok and began to eat slowly this time. Gavin gets up to his seat.
"I'll be on my computer, if you need me."
He didn't give me a chance to say anything; he walked to his PC, typing a few buttons, before sitting down on a beaten-up office chair. I frowned. I do feel bad, especially since I'm so stubborn. But I can't allow myself to get hurt; I'm the only one who can stop them. As good as Gavin is, he can't regenerate. The fights I've had so far are far more intense than my sparring session with Gavin, who wasn't holding back.
He wanted to be useful, other than barking orders in a safe place, while I'm the one on the field. I wanted to try to keep reassuring them that it's okay, that I'll be fine. Physically, I'm good. I feel pretty much normal. All of my wounds and even my hair returned to normal, emotionally and mentally, though? I shivered, remembering the intense heat and power from the explosion when SM exploded himself.
I was so close to dying, and if I didn't have the ability to heal from broken bones in less than a second, I would have been dead. Thank God for healing factors. However, there was something else that bothered me about the event, mainly the Silver Marksman. He didn't even hesitate; he blew himself up, which nearly killed me. He really believes Arc's plan is the only way for the world to progress.
If I, too, had a plan, would SM retreat or even join me? I frowned as I chewed. I hated it, I hated the fact that I realized that Arc may have a point. Not to kill all Government officials and slaughter countless soldiers and innocents for a world peace plan. Instead, the very world talks about.
One full of rot and corruption. I remembered countless homeless people. I've heard the number of people is rising quickly due to a lot of factors such as inflation, space and population. It wasn't just them; it's the everyday middle-class citizens being screwed over by large corporations. The justice system is giving diabolical criminals short sentences to wreak havoc.
It becomes a pattern; the people we trust to give us stability are acting as tyrants or incompetent people fattening up their wallets. If I didn't have food in my mouth, I would be gritting my teeth hard enough to break. Do I agree that the world needs changing?
Heck yeah, I do! But do I agree with how he's doing it? Never will I agree to it. At least he had a plan.
Without that, I'll only save individual people and nations, which isn't bad, but I need to be beyond that if I want to save the world. Regardless, I may not have anything now, but I won't let Arc achieve his goal. I ate more quickly now, and after five minutes, I sighed as I lay in my chair, satisfied. All the food from earlier is nothing but tiny crumbs on the plate. I got up, stretched, enjoying my recovered body.
Gavin turns his head toward me. "You finished? Good timing, Jason's found the last base, your suit is in the washroom-"
Before he finished I zoomed inside the bathroom, where hanging on a screw was my Red Justice suit. Though it has seen better days. I still have to give it props; it didn't get vaporized in the explosion, but the suit was still heavily damaged. There were a lot of tears in the suit, small but noticeable. The largest tear was the emblem; the 'J' top half was missing.
Lastly, there were black ash spots that dirtied the white part, but overall, the suit was in one piece. But the cape was torn, now only reaching upper hips, no longer at my back calf. I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. I don't look too bad. I walked outside the bathroom, where Gavin tossed something at me, which I easily grabbed. It was a new SEE Goggles, I put it on and cracked my neck.
"I'm ready."
Gavin nods. "The coordinates are already on your goggles. Just be safe, Ben."
"I'll…try." I can't promise I won't get hurt, but I'll come back in one piece.
Gavin still looks worried but nonetheless gives me a thumbs up. I turned around before zooming past the door and the waterfall flying high to the sky before flying to my destination.