"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?"
Mom suddenly said, causing me to flinch. Athena had already finished her breakfast and was now playing with Poochie. Dad had already left home to head to work, and now the only people at the table were my Mom and me. I swallowed the cereal still in my mouth before smiling.
"No, it's nothing, just thinking about what I will do today since I won't be going to Gavin's shop today."
My Mom smiled. "It's nice you two are getting along. You spent pretty much all summer there! While I'm a little sad you haven't been hanging around with your family."
She pouts. Something that usually makes me cringe, stop acting like you're still a child, woman! Still, she's right; I haven't been spending time with them. After becoming Red Justice, I've been preoccupied with helping people. His heart felt like it was about to break every time his little sister or dog tried to play with him, only for him to deny them. Poochie was a dog, so while he whimpered slightly, playing with his chew toy or sleeping seemed to calm him.
Athena, on the other hand, would frown or make a sad face. Often, she tries to laugh it out or tell me it's okay, but I could tell it's really bothering her. Maybe I should go hang out with them again after this whole thing blows over. I finished my breakfast, I told Mom that I was going to hang around the park and left the house, immediately heading straight to the shop. Last night, before I fell asleep, Gavin messaged me about my gear being hidden outside the shop next to the back door. I went to the spot he told me, and there it was, a plain cardboard box stuffed near the door.
Opening it revealed it to be the old black suit I wore before my Red Justice costume. Aside from that, there weren't any SEE goggles or any of my usual gadgets. I frowned. I'm really going to fight Gavin for real, huh? If he wants to prove that I could handle myself, I'll do it. With my four brand new special attacks, I could beat him.
I put it on, grunting as the tight yet durable suit clung to my skin. It wasn't as comfortable as the Red Justice suit, but it's fine. The only problem that I have is that I don't have a utility belt to hold my food or SEE goggles to see my percentage. Why didn't he give them to me? Maybe it's so I could fight much harder, due to not knowing my Cosmic Energy level and not having the ability to replenish it?
I don't know, but regardless, I have to make do with what I have. I flew to the sky and the direction of the military hangar. I was nearly there before my Mind's eye caught something approaching me from down below. Looking down, I see three rockets about the size of an adult chasing me. I moved to the side to evade it, only for the three of them to follow me.
My eyes became hot as I shot my optic blasts at the three missiles, causing them to explode. Bits of shrapnel hit me, but I ignored them and looked down. Below on the ground, looking at me was Gavin. He was, for some reason, looking straight ahead. He was wearing his usual tight black shirt and white jogging pants. I would have thought he would wear more armour during our battle.
I dropped down, crashing to the floor, which made it crack. I glared at Gavin, who was just standing still, looking at me with a blank expression.
"What's up, Gavin? Did you miss your meds?" I mocked to get a rise out of him, but he remained expressionless as if he didn't hear me.
The way his eyes looked dead, it was as if he wasn't looking at me at all. I quickly sped up to get to his face, ready to block any counterattacks and yet again, he didn't move. Actually, my Mind's Eye for some reason is showing me a weird view, usually they give me a person's silhouette while darkening and making non-living things see through, like walls or floor. But now I can't feel Gavin's silhouette. Hesitantly, I touched his face, only for my hand to pass through.
"Wha-!?" A hologram!?
Then I noticed something in my mind's eye that I realized was now there. About a couple of blocks away, there was a vehicle there and inside it was a silhouette of a person. I move around, fake Gavin to look at the car, which turns out to be not a car because it was a TANK. I only had moments to react as the tank fired something at me. I barely had time to jump away as the ground below me exploded, destroying fake Gavin. The tank moved, deploying machine guns and missiles at me. The bullets bounced harmlessly, but had to avoid the missiles. They followed me just like back at the sky, I gritted my teeth as I looked at the tank.
It wasn't anything I've seen in the movies; this one looks advanced, less blocky and more sleek in design. It fired another shot at me with a cannon, which made me fly up into the sky, and again I was forced to use my laser eyes to slice through the rockets. I clicked my tongue. This isn't going anywhere. I have to go in there before I waste any more of my energy. I got to get close without having to get caught by that cannon. It's time to unleash one of my special attacks.
The cannon was still pointing at me. I quickly flew to the side to get the side view of it. I raised one hand to the air, fingers pointed to the sky, before bringing it down.
"Cleave Breaker!"
An invisible force moved in the air quickly before hitting the cannon, which resulted in it being split apart. I smirked, seeing my handiwork. The Cleave Breaker, by moving my hands in a slicing motion at high speed, I could create an 'Air Blade' that could cut anything within a certain range. Due to it being just air, it's completely invisible to the eye unless you have an ability like my Mind's Eye. I made it completely by accident when I was doing a karate chop to experiment with a super move.
The attack itself isn't as fast as my optic blasts, but good luck dodging something you can't see. I could totally see Gavin's face inside the tank, one of bewilderment and confusion. I could work with that. Now that his main weapon had been compromised, I roared as I flew straight to the tank. I rammed it at high speed, causing a dent and making the multiple-ton vehicle roll over several times. After the fifth roll, the beaten tank started to smoke.
My eyes widened, no feeling of instant regret for my actions. Gavin is still inside. What was I thinking going roughly on him? I moved to get him out of the tank only for the roof to be popped open. Out there, getting up and standing dramatically was Gavin. But it wasn't the old man from the store, the cringeworthy old fart who loves anime and manga way too much; instead, I was facing a soldier. He was wearing a black version of the SEE goggles, wearing a bulkier version of my black suit. It was sleeveless, only covering his torso.
On his right breast, there was a simple drawing of the face of an animal, probably a wolf or a similar animal. It bared its teeth at me, ready to pounce. And lastly, he wore large, bulky metallic gauntlets. He jumps down, not saying anything as he stares at me down. I gulped, trying to regain control of my breathing and beating heart.
"What are you, an anime character? Quit stalling and let's do this!"
Even though I said that in a joking manner, my body was tense, ready for any attack that would come. Again, Gavin didn't say anything and instead walked forward, slowly at first; it didn't take long for him to start sprinting. His hand cocked back, and I quickly realized what he was doing. Trying to provoke a counter, I see.
I won't fall for it, I'll match his attack with my own! Like him, I started sprinting my hands cocked back, too. Once we were in range, we threw our fists at each other. Our fists were about to collide, but Gavin shifted his arm to hit me in the face. And it hurts, an explosion of pain greets me when his fist smashed into my nose.
I was an idiot! He wasn't baiting me for a counter; he was baiting me to attack back! Since he's bigger than me, his punches reach more than my smaller arms. He grabbed my thrusted arm, keeping me in place while unleashing a series of combos at my face.
An elbow to the jaw.
A right book at the temple.
Then a backfist in the cheek.
He repeated this combo several times, and I finally had enough of catching his fist. I glared at Gavin, whose face remained neutral though visibly straining to get out of my grip. I use my leg for a low kick, which connected, making him lose stability and focus, allowing me to push his fist away and rip my other arm free before delivering two straight punches in the chest. I was about to hit him a third time, but I got too greedy, and Gavin punched me with a body blow to the ribs. I yelped from the pain, causing me to drop my guard.
"Crap!" I ducked as Gavin threw a haymaker in the face. I barely dodged it.
If that had connected, that would have hurt a lot! I clenched my fist before I jumped up and threw a punch straight in the air, which landed on his jaw. The force caused him to fly in the air. I immediately chased after him, grabbing his leg before throwing him to the ground, but to my frustration, he landed gracefully. I could tell that the punch to the jaw wasn't fun for him. I could see a small trail of blood on his lips, which he wiped off.
Instantly, I felt bad. Not only did I punch an old man hard, but I also punched my godfather. Once again, the memory of Emily's father flashed in my brain, but with one deep breath and clenched my fist, I disregarded those feelings. This is a fight, a fight with a veteran fighter who is probably thinking of ways to knock a tooth out. I can't afford to lose focus; besides, Gavin will just bark at me for acting this way.
Okay, Red Justice thinks, what should we do to beat Gavin? From our brief exchange, Gavin was a monster in hand-to-hand. Our sparring sessions were clearly a joke to his true skills. Even with my physical advantage, Gavin's combat prowess makes it so; it would be a waste of energy taking him on directly without using my other special attacks. While I could use that, doing this early might not be so good.
I have to soften him up a little bit. I could feel his eyes boring into me. A close-range brawl would just be a waste of energy, so long range to decrease his stamina would do. Once he's tired, I could unleash my two special attacks!
"Cleave Breaker!"
I swung my arms, creating multiple invisible air blades going in his direction. Gavin starts running around, barely avoiding the invisible blades cutting at the ground. He couldn't see it, so he's just running around hoping that none would land. After a minute of doing this, it wasn't going anywhere and so I stopped my barrage and fired my laser beams. To my surprise, Gavin's gauntlets deployed a shield which blocks my blasts.
He was getting pushed back, but no significant damage was happening. I tried to amp up the intensity, though it was fruitless; I was just wasting my energy. Suddenly, Gavin grabbed something from his utility belt and placed the barrel outside of his shield. A handgun? What is that going to do?
He fired, the bullet hitting me in the chest, causing me to gasp. Immediately stop firing my optic blast to feel my chest. While it didn't hurt, I certainly felt that it felt like someone had just poked me hard. I looked back at Gavin, whose shield retracted back to its gauntlet. On the other hand, there is a unique type of pistol I've never seen before.
"What the heck was that!?" I exclaimed.
Gavin's response was to shoot more bullets at me. I evaded them with ease. They may not cause any pain, but they are very uncomfortable, and I don't want to waste any more CE than I already have.
"You know, I'm starting to hate this silent treatment!" I sliced the air multiple times, forcing Gavin to jump multiple times.
"Like, what's up? Cat got your tongue?"
Gavin remained silent, reaching for something in his belt to pull out a rectangular object before chucking it at me. Upon closer look, there was a circle in the middle, which was blinking red. I watched enough movies to know that this thing is going to explode. I drew my hand back and slapped the object away, and not a second later, it exploded. I looked back at Gavin, ready to taunt him again, but I had to quickly react when a metallic claw came at me.
Behind the claw was thin black wire. I quickly intercepted it before the thing could hit my face. I blinked, inspecting the gadget. What was this thing? Then suddenly, Gavin's silhouette started to fly towards me, and my eyes widened to look at him. He was holding his arm in the air, while coming out of his gauntlet was the wire attached to the metal claw; it was a freaking grappling hook!
It didn't take long for him to reach me, and stupidly, I stood there in shock. He launched a massive right hook aimed at my jaw before tackling me, which resulted in us crashing to the ground. Well, he was fine since he pretty much used my body as a cushion.
"I'm calling Children Services..." I groaned, only to be met by a stomp from Gavin's foot, knocking the wind out of me.
He lifted his foot again, but I wasn't going to let him stomp me the second time. I pushed myself off the floor, going behind his back at his high-speed before delivering a side kick to his behind. I heard him grunt and stumble before he spun around, performing a spinning back heel kick, which I blocked. I grit my teeth, feeling the power. I pushed his leg away, rushing in to grab his SEE goggles. His eyes widened from my move before scrunching in pain as I punched him in the cheek, sending him tumbling to the ground a few feet away from me.
I lightly panted. My gas wasn't empty, but I would be flying if I wasn't a little winded. I was hoping my attack would send him to the floor to regain my breath for a bit. That hope was quickly dashed with Gavin getting up, though not without stumbling, and he glared at me.
"Ready to give up, old man, and don't just give me the silent treatment, you know I'm going to win."
He grunts. "Idiot."
I frowned. "I didn't mean to answer you with that."
"You're a fool, you're treating me like I'm Godfather, don't think that, treat me like a real opponent. Treat me like someone from the New World Order."
His eyes were sharp; he wasn't looking at me like I was his godson or a kid; he was looking at me like I was an enemy. Even when Gavin was stern, he never gave me this kind of look. It gave me chills and caused me to gulp.
"After all, if I weren't supporting you, I would have joined Arc."
My eyes widened, my lips quivered before I tightly pushed them together.
"Yeah, sure, buddy," I say sarcastically.
Gavin didn't say anything; instead, he brought his fists to collide with each other, and suddenly, blue electricity began to violently wrap around his gauntlets. He took a deep inhale before loudly exhaling and going into a boxer's fighting stance. I clicked my tongue, so this is how he wanted to play it. That's fine, I felt my arms filled with warmth, then red lightning made out of Cosmic Energy started to appear around my hands. We glared at each other, painterly waiting for each other's next move.
We are about to reach the climax of our battle.