I blew out my candles, and I looked up to see my family, Gavin, and Emily's family clapping.
"Happy Birthday!" They both say in unison.
I blushed, rubbing my head. It's been a full week since my battle with the SV4. Gavin, Emily and I spent two days resting or rather chilling, in Russia. Emily could always fly home, so we didn't need to worry about telling her parents anything. I returned home five days ago, and today, September 1st, we celebrated my birthday.
My entire family, Gavin and Emily and her family, as well as a couple of my relatives of mine, are at my birthday party. After the traumatizing experience that is the SURVIVOR incident, this is a nice change of pace. I hadn't been Red Justice for that much, only going on patrol for a couple of hours each day. I would have spent more time being a hero if it weren't for the fact of Gavin forcing me to relax for a little while.
And I got to say, it's a nice feeling like a normal kid again, somewhat. The only thing I needed to worry about was school coming in about a couple of days. But other than that, I have no worries. Though it made me feel guilty, remembering my last conversation with Noah before he passed away. I promised him to be a better hero, to pave the way for a better tomorrow, and here I am sitting down enjoying myself while some poor guy is probably getting mugged in the street.
It made me feel anxious, and I couldn't enjoy my birthday party as much a year ago. There were just so many thoughts and other things I was worried about. My relatives have already left, while my folks and Emily's are talking. Mom was especially giddy seeing the new addition to the Shinichi family. Megumi Shinichi, Emily's sister, who was born a week ago, during my fight with the SV4.
I talked with Emily for a little while. Before she and her family said their goodbyes.
"Welp, I gotta head back. I'll see you guys." Said Gavin, grunting as he got up from the couch.
"Oh, can I come?" I asked quickly, as I finished putting my cake-stained plate in the dishwasher.
"Ben, it's nearly midnight! I know you're 11 years old now, but you're still too young to go out this late!" My mother voiced, from the couch sitting next to my dad, who was playing with Athena.
Poochie looked up from his bed at my Mom's shout before dropping his head back to sleep. "Oh, it's fine, Aya. He's tougher than he looks."
I grinned at him. "Yeah, what he said."
Mom was deliberating whether or not I could join Gavin. Eventually, she released a sigh.
"Go on then, but don't be late or I'll smack your bum, even if it's your birthday!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Gavin and I left the house, and we wordlessly walked to his shop. Gavin made a small grunt as he leaped high enough to sit on the roof of his building, while I casually levitated and sat down next to him. We didn't say anything; we were looking at the night stars shining down on us.
"So, what's up?" Asked Gavin.
Straight to the point, eh? All right, then.
"Gavin…I just want to-"
"Apologize for Noah, right?"
I blinked, took the words right out of my mouth. After the incident, I told him what happened to Noah, our brief fight and conversation before he passed away. We didn't speak about him for the entire week, only right now am I bringing him up. Gavin shakes his head.
"Like he said, you don't have to apologize for anything."
"But, I-"
"Listen, Ben. You may not have been able to save Noah physically, but you saved his soul for just a couple of moments. Noah Ashwin walked the Earth again. Sure, I would have loved to talk to him even just for a second, but it's fine."
Huh, I never looked at it that way. That did make the guilt less suffocating, but it's still there.
"But what do you really want to talk about?"
Again, he surprised me. Is he an Esper, too, and has the ability to read my mind or something? I nodded.
"Yeah, I told you about it, right. Noah's dream is being given to me. And I know you told me to relax, but I can't seem to be able to."
Gavin nods. "I get that, but you're making the same mistake he did. Not only did he suffer tragedy after tragedy, but one of his problems was that he didn't allow himself to be human, at least not until he met his lover." He looks at me with a serious expression.
"You're still a kid, you may be the hero that could achieve the impossible, but remember to slow down, otherwise you'll burn yourself out, okay?"
I nod, despite not fully getting it. We stared at the stars silently, but in my head and my heart. It was loud, both wanted Noah's-no my dream to come to fruition, a world better for everyone. It will come true, because even if it's impossible. I can achieve it because I, too, am impossible.
RED
Somewhere Else…
JUSTICE
"Atlas is dead through pushing himself, the Silver Marksman blowing himself to smithereens, Droid captured and being detained in a maximum security prison with the latest tech." Jason, otherwise known as the Canada Monarch.
Multiple Monrach sighed in relief. Glad the threat is over. Now they can return to their regular duties.
"Are we seriously ignoring the elephant in the room?" The American Monarch suddenly said, earning everyone's attention.
"What are you talking about now? You're damned traitors have been taking care, what is it now?" Demanded the Russian Monarch.
America scoffed, offended for not seeing the problem.
"Are we ignoring The Walking Supernova in the room?"
All of them remained silent, suddenly remembering that mankind's deadliest weapon had been absolutely destroyed by that being known as Red Justice.
"May I remind you that it's been reported that Red Justice travelled around the Earth 300 times in five seconds. That is about 8 times the speed of light. And had the attack potency powerful enough to destroy a machine that ends all life on the planet."
Yes, that powerful feat of speed that should have been impossible. Not only that, the energy from their scanners told them that the energy in Red Justice's body was producing supernova tiers of energy. Thus, the moniker, The Walking Supernova.
"Fellow Monarchs, our greatest weapon has failed, and now this…being is just running around on our planet doing god knows what!" Said America.
"What do you propose then?" China asked.
"Now that NWO is out of the way, we can focus on him. Now we have combined all our resources and research to capture Red Justice."
Jason clicked his tongue. "Are you out of your mind? He saved the Monarch's even if he didn't know about us. And yet you want to capture him?"
Despite not seeing their face, he could see the glare.
"You are the one who is lacking brains, Canada. He may have solved our problem, but now he's a bigger problem, a powerful, unknown creature that just destroyed humanity's greatest weapon. Even the Esper and Moonlight World are concerned, demanding his capture."
Russia grunts. "As much as I hate those damned freaks, they do make a point. Red Justice must be captured. I don't care what his intention is; he's making us look incompetent, not to mention his battle created scars in my lands…and I did not forget about making contact with him without permission, Canada…" He growled menacingly.
Jason rolls his eyes behind the monitor. This guy really needs to get humbled.
"Then we all agree that Red Justice is someone that we need to capture," America asked the others, rather gleefully
All the other Monarchs voiced their agreement, leaving Jason to click his tongue in frustration, mentally apologizing to Ben. He's gotta warn him, the entire world is gunning for him, not just from the Monarchs, but from the world of the supernatural. They're watching, eager to strike down The Walking Supernova.