I opened the front door and kicked off my shoes. The house smelled like lemon cleaner and laundry detergent — Mom must’ve gone on one of her cleaning sprees again. Athena, in the living room, waved at me with a toothy smile before returning to play with her dolls. Poochie, on the other hand, rushed up, wagging his tail and panting.

  “Hey, what’s up, Poochie? Have you already taken me for a walk?”

  He barked, and I smiled, rubbing his head.

  “Ben? That you?” Mom called from the kitchen.

  She came into view. Her auburn hair was a mess, and she was holding a broom.

  “Hey, how’s school?”

  “It’s fine,” I said quickly.

  She frowned, not liking the answer. “That doesn't tell me anything.”

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes or sigh. I didn’t need her chewing me out — I was about to head out on patrol and probably meet Gavin to talk Squad Nova strategy.

  “You know, same old thing. Lessons, lectures, homework. The usual.”

  My mom raised an eyebrow but didn’t push. She shrugged and went back to the kitchen. I hurried up the stairs to my room and changed into something more comfortable. I might not sweat much thanks to my powers, but school clothes still felt gross after a day. I swapped into a plain shirt and joggers — faster, lighter, easier to move in. I’d probably strip again later to put on the suit.

  I was halfway down the stairs when Mom reappeared, wiping her hands on a cloth. She’d tied her hair into a bun, somehow managing it despite its shortness.

  “You just got home,” she said. “And you’re already heading out?”

  “I was hoping you could stay a little,” she added, surprising me.

  She tried to hide it, but I didn’t need any superpowers to know she was disappointed — sad, even, about my leaving. I looked away. If I looked at her, I’d stay, and Toronto needed Red Justice. My family could manage without me for a few hours.

  “Sorry, I’m going to Gavin’s. We’ve got stuff to do — sell some merch and other weird stuff in his shop.”

  She looked at me for a long moment, then nodded and gave a small smile before resuming her cleaning, noticeably slower. Glancing past her, I saw Athena on the carpet, giggling as Poochie rolled onto his back. The dog’s fluffy paws waved in the air while she rubbed his belly; his tail smacked the floor like a drum. Athena looked so carefree.

  It felt wrong, though, not being part of that little scene. When I wasn’t reading or chilling, I’d be playing with them or talking books with Mom. If Dad didn’t have work, we’d probably go to the mall and hang out — a normal evening, a normal family.

  Things I would do before I got my powers. A part of my brain told me to slow down and allow myself to just rest. I’ve pretty much done Red Justice activities every day. Why can’t I just take the day off? Gavin’s been telling me to chill out, too.

  Then I remembered my promise to Noah, the burning buildings, criminals, and disasters. I let out a shaky sigh. There’s no rest for the wicked — which apparently includes heroes.

  “All right, I’m going to go now. I’ll see you.”

  “Okay. Just don’t be too late,” Mom said, glancing at me.

  Athena looked up. “Bye, Benny!” Poochie barked like he was saying it too. I forced a small smile, swallowing the guilt that felt like a punch from the SV4. I opened the door — and blinked in surprise at the person about to knock.

  “Uh, Jimmy, what are you doing here?”

  He blinked, cleared his throat, and tried to look casual despite seeming rattled. His backpack was slung over one shoulder; he wore that sweater like always, even in this weather. His face looked neutral, but his eyes kept flicking away from mine.

  He scratched his cheek. “Project. Habitat project. Thought we could… work on it.”

  Now? At all times? We’d already done plenty — in fact, we’re more than halfway done. Most groups are just starting.

  “I was actually heading out. We can just do it tomorrow, yeah?”

  He nodded once. “Oh. Okay,” he said, dejected, and looked at the floor.

  But he didn’t move. His fingers curled tighter around the bag strap and he started shaking a little. He looked normal on the surface — casual — but it felt like a mask. Am I going crazy, or is Jimmy Bullard nervous? No. It’s more than that. He looks scared.

  “Actually…” I gestured inside my house. “We could work on it. It's not like I have anything important to do.”

  I cringed at how lame that sounded, like I’d swallowed a celery stick.

  “Come on in.”

  Relief flashed in his eyes. I stepped aside, and he walked in quietly, like he didn’t want to disturb the air itself.

  Mom peeked from the living room. “Oh? Friend from school?”

  I almost laughed, but a sigh escaped instead. “A classmate. We’re going to work on our project.”

  “What about Gavin?”

  “It’s fine. I’ll message him — I can’t come.”

  Jimmy pulled his shoes off and set them neatly. He slouched a little and kept his gaze fixed to the ground, trying to look as non-threatening and small as possible. I stared. Never thought I’d see Jimmy Bullard acting like a delicate flower.

  He tried to meet my mom’s eyes, then looked away. A small hand waved.

  “Good afternoon, ma’am. I’m Jimmy Bullard, Ben’s partner for our habitat research project.”

  Mom smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you, Jimmy.”

  Athena popped up from the floor, tilting her head in curiosity. “Benny, who’s that?”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Mom explained that Jimmy was my classmate. Jimmy drifted closer, hesitant, and Poochie trotted over, sniffing him.

  “…You have a dog?”

  Jimmy slowly crouched down like he was approaching a wild animal, then gently scratched behind Poochie’s ear. Poochie immediately melted, tail wagging like crazy. My eyes widened a little. Poochie already likes him? It’s not that Poochie hates strangers, but like me, unless he knows you and you spend a lot of time with him, he’s going to ignore you and pretend you don’t exist.

  Jimmy gave the smallest smile. Not a smirk. Not smug. Just… soft.

  “He’s a good dog,” Jimmy murmured, rubbing his fluffy head. “Bichon, right?”

  Mom looked impressed. “You know dogs?”

  “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I like them.”

  Poochie rolled over, fully surrendering to belly rubs. And Jimmy actually laughed. A small one, but real. He looked like your average kid. Did I accidentally die? Like, I ran out of energy and fell to my death, and this is some weird trippy afterlife?

  Eventually, we went to my room. Poochie whined a little, wanting more belly rubs, but a hot dog from Athena made him forget about Jimmy. Speaking of Jimmy, when he entered my room, he shelled up again, trying to look small. I stared at him. He really does look like a normal kid, minus the fact that he’s quite tall.

  I didn’t realize I’d been staring until he looked at me with a curious expression. “So… are we going to do our project or—”

  I blinked, mentally slapping myself awake. “Yeah, right, okay.”

  We sat and worked. I used my laptop, typing furiously, making sure I don’t plagiarize anything. I also messaged Gavin to tell him Red Justice wouldn’t be out tonight. Meanwhile, Jimmy sat on my bed with his older laptop, typing his part. Sometimes we bounced ideas back and forth.

  I know I said it before, but Jimmy really knows his stuff when it comes to animals and ecosystems. It was professional at first—more like co-workers getting a job done than two kids chit-chatting. And I was fine with that—until my mouth flew open.

  “…You know a lot about this.”

  I saw him shrug in the corner of my eye. “Not really.”

  “No, really. You sound like one of those nature documentary voices.” I cleared my throat and gave myself a mock-deep voice. “Ah, yes: Jimmy Bullard and Ben Armstrong type in their laptops, hurriedly typing away their project to prevent failure… such is the way of school life.”

  That earned the tiniest huff of amusement from him. “Shut up, dork.”

  I spun slightly in my chair to face him. “How do you even know this stuff? You don’t look like the ‘animal facts’ type.”

  He froze, eyes on the screen, never meeting mine. I was about to apologize and drop it, but then-

  “My mom gave me a book when I was little.”

  I blinked. “A school book?”

  He shook his head. “A children’s book. Animal biology and habitats. Lots of pictures.”

  He stopped typing for a moment. “She used to read it to me before bed. Every night.”

  That’s actually pretty sweet. I could vaguely recall my mother reading stories to me. I especially liked the Hercules myths. Not the one from the cartoons, but the mythological one. Wait a minute, did Jimmy just say 'Used To'? A part of me wanted to ask, but the smarter side thankfully won, and I stayed silent.

  “I liked how everything connected,” he continued. “Food chains, ecosystems… how every animal had a role.”

  He gave a small shrug.

  “Made the world feel… organized, I guess. It feels like there’s a system out there outside the chaos that is humanity.”

  “That’s kinda cool,” I admitted. “Most books I get are urban fantasy novels.”

  And suddenly we stopped talking about our project. Suddenly, we were two kids discussing dumb stuff about whether a T. rex could beat a Spinosaurus in a fight. He would tease me, and I would tease him, but it didn’t devolve into a fight.

  “All I’m saying is that Spino literally has better arms compared to whatever those things you call arms are that are stuck on the T. rex.”

  “First of all, how dare you. And second, a T. rex’s bulky structure would not—”

  A sound in the quiet room was enough to cut him off. Even I flinched a little. He froze. Not just a pause, but his whole body locked up, as if he had just realized he was suddenly in a dangerous situation.

  My heart froze as I stared at his pale face. He looked like he had just watched a scary horror film or witnessed something awful, which was bizarre because the sound wasn’t anything spooky…

  It was just his phone ringing.

  He quickly fished out his phone and answered, placing it against his ear.

  Jimmy swallowed, then spoke.

  “…Hello?”

  I couldn’t hear the words from the other side clearly, but I didn’t need to. The volume was loud enough that faint, angry shouting leaked through the speaker. Muffled. Harsh. Fast.

  Whoever was on the other line was clearly not happy. I didn’t know what was going on, but I stood for some reason, clenching my fist, feeling worried for some odd reason. Then, after a couple of minutes, Jimmy’s form deflated like a balloon. He slumped on my bed, his fearful expression changing into one of tiredness and acceptance.

  “…Yes, sir.”

  A long pause.

  “…I’ll come home now.”

  The call ended.

  Everything was quiet, and it wasn’t just quiet—it was tense. Like the air was so thick you could cut it with a plastic knife.

  Jimmy stared at his phone for a second before forcing a breath and stuffing it into his pocket. He stood up too quickly.

  “Sorry,” he said, not meeting my eyes. “My dad needs me home.”

  “What, now? It’s only been almost an hour.”

  “It’s fine, we’ll do it tomorrow.”

  He started gathering his stuff way too fast. He was moving like he was trying to defuse a bomb or like a hurricane was coming his way. His face seemed serious, but in my gut I knew he was afraid. But afraid of what? All that happened was his dad called him.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “That didn’t sound like nothing.”

  He slung his bag over his shoulder and turned for the door.

  Without thinking, I grabbed his sleeve. “Jimmy, wait—”

  The fabric pulled up. And I saw them. Bruises. It was much more brutal and a lot worse than what I saw a couple of days earlier.

  There were a dozen of them. What did he do, fall or something? My grip loosened as I swallowed a lump in my throat. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Then he yanked his arm back hard and shoved me away. Not enough to hurt, just enough to create distance.

  He glared at me, but it felt wrong. It felt like a mask, as if he were just pretending. His brows furrowed, and he bared his teeth at me. But it was his eyes that told the true story of fear and helplessness.

  “Mind your own business.” His voice was full of anger, and yet it cracked.

  He turned and walked out quickly. No goodbye. No slam of the door. Just fast footsteps down the hall. A few seconds later, I heard the front door open and close.

  I stood there like an idiot for a couple more minutes before I allowed myself to move. My thoughts went back to those bruises and Jimmy’s meek, helpless face. I moved to my laptop, closed the tab for my project, and instead launched Discord and put Gavin on a screen call.

  “Yo, Ben, how’s—” Gavin started with his usual grin, but then it dropped.

  It must have been because of how pale my face looked. Gavin’s expression shifted, turning into a compassionate yet serious look. It’s always amazing how he could look like your average try-hard grandpa one second and then like a Super Soldier who’s seen way too much the next.

  “Are you okay? What happened?”

  I stuttered a lot, but I ended up telling him everything. Jimmy, the bruises, and finally the phone call. I didn’t spare a detail, even talking about the stupid conversation we had about dinosaurs. Gavin’s face became even more grim, and it wasn’t just that—there was anger there too. It surprised me so much that I half-expected him to punch the screen.

  “Ben. Don’t do anything stupid, and this is just a theory, so don’t start pointing fingers just yet… But I believe your friend is being abused by his father.”

  RED

  Nova Mansion

  JUSTICE

  “Squad Nova, the time has come. In about eighteen hours, Operation Scarlet Fall will begin. Your ride to Canada is already set up. I hope you are trained and prepared,” said Nine.

  Four blue-armoured Super Soldiers stepped forward, staring ahead with straightened posture. Michael, also known as Fighter, wore sleek power armour. The undersuit was colored black and looked durable, but it was nothing compared to the blue metal plates that covered nearly his entire body. His helmet completely covered his face. He didn’t seem to have eyes or a face, just a smooth sheet of bluish glass.

  It was the SEE Helmet, the next generation of the SEE Goggles. Better, more adaptive, and much faster in computing than the original. On the helmet’s side pieces, there were “horns” sticking out, but they were actually antennas used for communication.

  As for Ricardo, also known as Paladin, his armour looked similar to his leader’s, only bulkier, with the shoulder pieces thicker and more reinforced. Meanwhile, Arti, also known as Mage, had a sleeker version of Fighter’s armour. Her SEE Helmet vaguely showed her face underneath the visor. Lastly, Gabe, or Ranger, wore armour that looked the closest to a Fighter’s, only slightly smaller and more streamlined.

  The time had finally come for Squad Nova to fight Red Justice, to earn valuable combat data and, if possible, capture him alive.