I was in my room, scrolling through text on Discord. On my desk, my laptop showcased the News, broadcasting footage as well as some interviews of today's earlier incident. Reporters discuss the thrilling fight between Red Justice and the robber, whom the people nicknamed Kinetic as a pun for Telekinetic. Anyways, they interviewed people who watched from the sky as Red Justice and Kinetic fought. They even talk about the fact that I lost her.
The interviewer then criticized me for today's event, saying I was cocky and too careless. Even the truck driver from earlier started to shout how much money he would lose as a result of damaging his means of making a living. I should be angry at their slander, but I agreed. I should have done better and fought Emily, even if she is my friend. Speaking of, Emily, I re-read our text conversation a few minutes prior.
[BigRedJ] : Hey, Emi, can we talk?
[Emi] : yeah, need something B?
[BigRedJ] : Is it cool for you if we hang out, like IRL? I mean we haven't really seen each other since the library.
[Emi] : true...
[Emi] : but im not comfortable with you going to my house yet
[BigRedJ] : Oh, that's fine. We could go somewhere else, any suggestions?
The last text I got from her was ten minutes ago. So I'm just sitting here, anxiously waiting for a reply. It's funny, I never thought I would be anxious about a girl at my current age, though the context was a little different from those cheesy teen romance comedy movies. For one, a wrong sentence might just devolve into a full-on war between Red Justice and Kinetic. I just sighed and swept up my hair.
Feeling the guilt inside me overwhelms me. First, my poor performance earlier, then not telling about Emily's identity with Gavin and finally Emily herself. What should I do? Naturally, I should do the lawful thing and expose her to Gavin and the cops, which would lead to her arrest. But just because it is something pretty much everyone would do doesn't make it right.
Emily is a good person, I know that! But could I just allow her to get away with stealing the bank? I don't know what I would gain by meeting with her, but I just...I'm unsure how to move forward. Turning her in or exposing her doesn't feel right to me. Dang it!
Why does the first supervillain I have to fight as Red Justice is revealed to be my first friend? It was like a sick joke created by some mad god above. My phone's notification sound filled my ears, causing me to read the new message below rapidly.
[Emi] : sure, giga burger sound good???
RED
The Next Day...At Giga Burgers
JUSTICE
Emily and sighed as we sat our butts in the comfy leather seat. Giga Burgers truly have the best comfortable seats in all of the fast food world; their milkshakes and burgers are to die for. My relaxed smile dropped a little, and my eyes widened. On Emily's tray were two large Giga Titan Burgers, with large fries to the side, three Giga chicken nuggets and finally a large strawberry milkshake to top it all off.
"That's all for you?" I asked before smacking my mouth shut.
One thing, my Dad and Gavin repeated randomly for some reason, was to never say anything regarding a woman's weight or what she's eating. But to my surprise, Emily smiled, nodding, not even taking her eyes off her food. Huh, maybe they were just joking about that fact because Emily isn't bothered.
"Yeah, I never ordered anything this much before and wanted to indulge a little."
That was all she said before she started eating like it was the first meal she had a meal in a year. It was truly a sight to see, I never thought a girl would eat more boyishly than boys. I awkwardly nimble my Giga small-sized Burger. After only two minutes had passed, she finished one of her burgers, and she sighed happily before realizing I was still here, gaping at her. Emily straightened up and cleared her throat, her expression turning back to her usual emotionless stare.
"So, what's up with you lately?"
I froze up, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. "I-uh, I just read some Manga back at home."
I prayed that she would buy it. Emily narrows her eyes, causing me to be still as a statue, and cold sweat appears on my brow. To my relief, a small smile crept onto her face.
"I see, you've the truth. Now you know that Manga is superior to novels in every way."
She closes her eyes and nods. Emily had the expression of a proud parent or a teacher.
"I-I, well, wouldn't go that far..."
Emily frowns but then shrugs. "You will see the truth eventually."
"Right..."
Emily started eating once again, and I was left utterly stumped at what to say next. This wasn't the direction of the conversation I wanted to go, but wait, where did I want this conversation to go? I wanted to talk to her about Red Justice and Kinetic fighting, but could I ask her that? What if I accidentally expose myself? Emily / Kinetic hates me, no doubt she would attack me, right now and here.
I can't risk it, especially since there were a lot of people in Giga Burger today. Not only would my identity be revealed to everyone, but it could also put multiple lives in danger. It's the worst-case scenario. Okay, Ben, let's relax and focus. Don't focus on all of the bad possibilities and focus on succeeding.
The reason why we wanted to talk to her is her motives and possibly to stop Emily without hurting her or putting her behind bars.
"So, Emily..."
"Hm?"
"What do you think of all this Red Justice and Kinetic business?"
Emily swallowed her food before responding. "I don't care very much about the News, but I think both of them should be behind bars."
This surprised me. Both of them, including Kinetic, are also known as her.
"Why?"
"Why, not? One is an egotistic Superman knock-off who thinks he can do no wrong, and the other is a criminal who robs banks who happens to have superpowers."
That Superman comment hurt my soul, but does she believe in that? Should she go to jail for her actions? Or maybe this was something she says to cover up the fact that she's Kinetic.
"What about you? What do you think about them?"
I jumped slightly, not expecting my question to be thrown back at me.
"W-well, I'm not sure, since I don't care very much about superheroes, and so I'm not sure how to feel about Red Justice. As for Kinetic, well, I'm not sure either."
Emily hummed in acknowledgement before returning to eat. I wanted to hit myself. So far, there is nothing that could point me to her motivations. She says she should be arrested, but that could be used as a cover! I'm not really sure what she wants!
"Hey," Emily says, cutting off my thoughts.
"You seem distracted, are you okay?"
I laughed nervously, she noticed, huh.
"No, it's nothing..."
"Doesn't seem like anything."
Her blue eyes stared at me, making me gulp. What do I say to her?
"I-"
Then an idea popped into my head.
"I'm just wondering what to do..."
Emily tilted her head quizzically.
"Well, I have a friend at school. You see, they've been doing a lot of bad stuff they hadn't been doing before. And I wanted him to stop, but at the time, I didn't want to get my friend in trouble. What should I do?"
Emily placed her hand on her chin for a bit before responding.
"I think you should confront him or tell an adult, regardless."
"But-"
"I know that you don't want him to get in trouble, but if you are his friend, you should do what you have to do before it's too late for him."
I paused, mulling her words in my head. I clench my fist before realizing them, I took a deep breath, smiling at her.
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."
We talked a little more about random stuff as we ate our food before we said our farewell. Emily and I waved goodbye, watching her as she walked away. And then out of my sight.
"Sorry, Emily."
I ran to a secluded spot, where no one could see, before I started to vibrate super quickly, leaving me invisible. It didn't take long for me to spot and then follow her, making sure to be a good distance away. Eventually, I found Emily looking at a rundown building. I would've thought it was long abandoned if it wasn't for the fact that Emily entered with a key. My eyes widened as I stared at the structure. Was this her home?
It couldn't be right? Regardless, I quietly followed her, going up the rotting wooden stairs before reaching a dusty door and opening it. I quickly squeezed in before she shut it. My mouth dropped as I saw the home before me, if you could even call it that. Every part of the house was covered in mould or dust. Can someone really live in these kinds of conditions?
Not only did the structure look bad, but the stuff they own isn't any better; their TV was a few generations behind, the couch looks deflated like a popped balloon, and their kitchen looks kind of revolting. Honestly, eating in here would be impossible. Let alone living here.
"Emily."
My eyes shifted to the owner of the voice. There, sitting on the deflated couch, was a skinny man with black hair and blue eyes. Sitting next to him was a short asian woman who appeared to be pregnant. The blue-eyed man had bandages wrapped around his head. Could that be...
"Dad? They discharged you?"
The man nods. No doubt, this was the person I attacked weeks ago. He looks okay to my relief, but that bandage that wrapped around his head made my heart quiver with guilt.
"That's great...but why are you both..."
Emily's dad looked stern while her mother seemed sad. Her dad took a deep breath before talking.
"Emily, I need you to return the money you stole from the bank."
Emily widened, "What, why!?"
"This is wrong, what you did was wrong-"
"So, stealing and threatening people is better!?" Emily cried out.
It was utterly bizarre seeing the usually composed Emily so shaken. It made me want to get out of here, but I stood in place.
"It's not better, but we have no choice, I do it so we can get by. You stole too much and nearly hurt people with your powers."
Emily's face flashes with regret before hiding it with her angry look.
"Maybe, but aren't you glad mom and you could finally eat and afford things? Come on, Dad, for the first time, we finally have the option to control our lives instead of suffering like this?"
Emily's dad softened his frown. "I won't deny that having this much money isn't unpleasant, but I don't want it if it's stolen. Listen, Emily, I steal and threaten, but I hate myself for doing it, I hate having to ditch Highschool and now can't find a job. I just...don't want you to end up like me..."
"Dad..."
"Please return the money, Emily, and I want to stop trying to go after Red Justice."
Emily's face regained its fury once my hero name escaped his lips.
"He hurt you! And because of him, we could barely afford to pay rent. If it wasn't for the money we got, we would be kicked out of our home!"
"I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt me. And I know we're struggling, but I don't want my daughter to grow up a criminal or a murderer."
Emily greets with her teeth, blue eyes glowing. Small stuff, such as pans and knives, floated in the air, but her parents didn't seem fazed at all. She gritted her teeth.
"Emily, return the money, even if we accepted it, it would be far too suspicious for us to gain this kind of wealth in such a short span of time. I'll keep looking for more jobs and try to...earn some in more illegal ways, but please don't end up a crook like me."
Emily gritted her teeth, tears now fallen from her eyes.
"Do you think I want to do this? Do you think I wanted these powers?"
"Emily?"
"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..."
The stuff floating around Emily fell down gently. Her blue eyes no longer glowed, but were a mess of tears.
"I-I don't want to return the money. But just let me have it for a few days, and I'll return what I have left."
Emily rushed to a door and slammed it shut. I guess it was her room or something, so I turned towards the couple. Emily's dad gripped his face while his wife put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"You should go and comfort Miki, not me."
"Jacob..." Miki says.
Emily's dad or Jacob shakes his head. "Don't worry about me, she needs you more than me."
Miki seemed hesitant but nodded. Going to the room where Emily went. As for Jacob, he lets out a deep sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose and sitting down on the couch. Once he removed his hand, I nearly gasped; his face had fallen into despair. His face embodies the term 'Given up'.
It was truly a disturbing sight to see. I didn't want to be here anymore, and so I opened the door and gently closed it, and then quickly left the building before I shot up in the air to fly. By then, I stop my vibration, leaving me visible. My thoughts are filled with guilt and pity. I looked at the setting sun before I straightened up.
I can't afford to wallow in misery; I have to take action. And after everything, I think I know what to do.