My vision was shaky, my ears were ringing, and my body felt heavier than an elephant. I look at the disgusting bile with a sour expression before slowly getting up, averting my gaze from the grotesque corpse.
"Red, are you okay!?" Gavin's voice cut through the ringing.
Eventually, the noise faded, allowing me to hear him better. I swallowed as I watched my trembling hands.
"D-Did I-, did-"
"Ben, no, that was not your fault. Calm down, calm down." Gavin repeated, but it was barely working. I paced around, my breathing erratic.
Did I just kill Atlas? It may have been him who inserted the syringe, but I could have stopped him. An immense amount of guilt filled me; it was too much. He may be a terrible person, but I didn't want to kill him!
"Listen, Ben, very carefully." Gavin starts in a calmer tone.
"In this kind of situation, sometimes this happens: an enemy will overestimate their abilities and get themselves killed. But do not feel you are responsible for his death. Atlas chose to inject himself more despite the consequences."
Gavin is right, I know he's right. Logically, I did no wrong; Atlas chose to inject himself until his body couldn't take it anymore. And yet guilt still dwelled on my heart. I just can't help but feel that this would've been avoided if I had done better. I can still hear Gavin talk, repeating that it wasn't my fault. But then, suddenly, his radio turned to static, which forced me to get it together, temporarily forgetting what happened.
"Gavin? Come in, Gavin!?"
The radio was still messed up, but after a few moments of static, it faded, and a new voice emerged from the speaker.
"I see, you've handled the SURVIVOR V3 and Atlas, impressive."
I gasped at that voice. It's Arc's. Realizing I was speaking to the man responsible for all this mess, I clenched my fist hard and my teeth ground at each other.
"You..." I said with Venom.
"Why are you talking to me?"
"I simply wanted to speak to you."
"Too bad. Piss off."
"And too bad for you, you won't be able to use your SEE Goggles property until I'm finished with you."
I clicked my tongue, and he was right. All the diagrams from my visor are messed up, full of glitches and odd random numbers. There is no way for me to communicate with Gavin. That means I don't know where our hideout is, so I could restock on some food, which I sorely need. I have no choice but to play ball.
"Fine, what do you want?"
"Like I said, I only wish to speak."
I huffed. "You seem to have a lot of time on your hands. Why did you raid the bases already?"
"No, we're still preparing. But we have located the other bases and soon will take the cores; we already have the first one."
More bad news. So I was right, there was really a core on the bottom floor of that large building. That means he's got one-third of the cores, while I'm exhausted fighting the SV3 and Atlas.
"Anyways, I've been thinking about the first time we fought, and I got curious. Why do you want to be a hero?"
I raised a brow at the madman's odd question. What is the point of all this?
"Is that really any of your business? All you need to know whatever my other motives are, they are more noble than whatever you think you're doing. I've told you want to take out the entire Government and replace it with you being the leader. You're not doing this because you care about the world's suffering; all you care about is being on top of it!"
Now thinking about it made me sick. How many innocent people's bodies are because of his ego? How dare this old bastard pretend to be self-righteous when, in the end, he's only seeking the betterment of himself?
"Is that what you think? That I'm doing all this to become the king of the world."
"Yes," I replied with no hesitation.
"I guess, I can't fault you for thinking that way. And you're right in a way. A good number of innocent people died for my cause and dream. Even the soldiers I commanded, a lot of them passed away." Arc had a sombre tone in his voice, like he was sad.
I tightened my fist even further. To hell with that, he knew that people would get hurt for his goal and still did it regardless. Don't give me that guilt crap nonsense. I wanted to shout at him, but before I could, Arc spoke first.
"Though you are naive, you think that I truly did all these plans and everything just to stand above everything. I truly believe that my plan to destroy the current society we live in is the best hope for humanity."
I scowled and scoffed. "Really? Oh, awesome, you achieved world peace after murdering millions. How heroic of you! I'm inspired!"
"Heroic? Being a hero has nothing to do with it. No, this is a sacrifice, something you don't understand. To change the world, you sometimes have to sacrifice people and even your humanity."
"You're wrong."
"Am I? Take a good look at the current state of the world. Do you know why there hasn't been a World War 3 yet? Because your generation has been provided with knowledge of the true horrors of war, back then, people were begging to take arms against their country's enemies. But now your generation often rightfully clowns foolish politicians for starting wars they didn't want. Do you think without the bloodshed of those soldiers, you would be ignorant and continue to romanticize the battlefield."
"..."
"Another example would have the prideful Japan had surrendered had the bombs not been involved? Many people died, but the war and bloodshed would have continued. An evil act for a brighter future."
"I-..." I tried to say something, but faltered.
Arc continued to speak.
"The world Government turned its back on the people long ago. Increasing inflation because of their incompetence. Idiotic leaders declaring war when their people wanted no part in fighting. A Government that appeases corporations rather than the average family. It's rotten to the core, full of greedy fools. It's a cancer that needs to be removed, even if it's without anesthesia."
I shake my head. "Still, it's wrong and evil. What happened to Japan was a tragedy. You don't need to repeat your actions!"
I argued, but I heard Arc sigh from the other side.
"Then what would you do if you were in my place? How would you create a better world for a country without getting your hands dirty? And don't give me the magic of love and friendship crap, that will never change the world, it's impossible."
My cheeks grew hot, and I started to speak without thinking. "I would...I would..."
I wanted to say something, but I just couldn't find the right words to say. Can't I really think of any other solution other than his!
"And that's proof of your incompetence. Your 'Heroism' thus far is only preserving the status quo, but unfortunately, everyday life is garbage; you just make it slightly bearable. But you never really push for true change."
I was mad, both by Arc and myself, for being unable to say anything to argue his worldview. I believed that by being kind, I thought I could change the world. If what he's saying is true, then have I just been screwing around and playing hero instead of being one? No, he's the bad guy here, not me. I refuse to believe that is the only way to fix the world.
"W-Well, at least I didn't help Atlas steal a bomb to destroy all of Toronto, what was the point of that!?"
"Atlas was an idiot. Only caring about fame and recognition, I allowed him to blow up Toronto, while the media and the military are taking care of him. My army and I would quietly sail to Russia's shores without problem. But because you stopped the tragedy, I lost many of my men and took a week to bring ourselves to fighting shape once more."
"That's your fault. Stop pretending to be a hero-"
"Again, you're being naive. Being a hero is something I gave up a long time ago. I'm aware that what I'm doing is evil, and a lot of lives will be lost because of me. But at least it's for a goal for the greater good. You, on the other hand, will continue to play superhero while the world continues to burn."
I bit my lip enough to draw blood. It was so tempting to grab my SEE Goggles and smash them to the ground.
"You couldn't even kill a piece of crap like Atlas. A hero must always sacrifice something, even their morality, for the greater good. You can't even do that. I'm not a hero, but at least I'm not playing as one. Red Justice, you are NOT a hero."
I was silent, but my blood was boiling. I wanted nothing more than to knock a tooth loose from this guy's face. But a part of me questions if he was right. If I'm really just playing around like I did back when I called myself Big Justice. I didn't want him to be right, and yet I couldn't find the answer to his question.
If I were in his place and wanted to change the world, what would I do?
"I've said my piece. I'll see you soon, Red Justice." And the radio went dead, silent as the corpse a few feet away from me.