My arms were crossed, looking at the floor. Gavin was sitting in his gamer chair with crossed arms, glaring at me.

  "You realize you nearly jeopardized the mission, right?"

  Mission? Is that what this is? My face scowled, but Gavin's glare instantly made me look away with guilt.

  "No, not a mission, but it was a rescue and you, the superhero, nearly ruined everything." Said Gavin as he leaned back in his chair.

  "If you had attacked Thomas Bullard, cops would be called, and they would side with the civilian rather than the vigilante. Your rep with the public and the cops is improving, but do not misunderstand, if they can, they will arrest you."

  I stayed quiet, my arms no longer crossed, instead they hung at my side. My hard expression shifted into a regretful look. I shyly looked at Gavin, whose glare was less stern but still fierce.

  "I get it, but if I have to sacrifice my reputation to save Jimmy-"

  "You're missing the point, Ben. Let's forget the fact that reputation and the Red Justice image are very important, allowing the public to somewhat protect you from any government interference and an easier rescue. Nevermind that, what you nearly did is nearly expose Red Justice as Ben Armstrong."

  Ah, yes, right. I wasn't wearing my Red Justice suit. And honestly, even if I was, the fact that Ben Armstrong was in the house moments earlier, someone with sense could put two and two together. And under no circumstances will my identity be exposed. Especially when the whole criminal world and the government put me on top of their hit list.

  My family would never have a moment of peace once it was revealed.

  "I'm sorry."

  Gavin looked at me for a long moment before relaxing, releasing a tired sigh.

  "You really have to think, Ben. But you learned your lesson enough about that. We need to focus on Thomas Bullard."

  I felt a spike of adrenaline when Gavin mentioned him. I clench my jaw, truly, only Atlas and now this scum have me worked up to this extent. But I forced myself to calm down, crashing out and throwing a tantrum won't help Jimmy.

  "What's the plan?"

  "I wanna hear yours first."

  I pointed at myself awkwardly. Gavin rolled his eyes.

  "Yes, dummy, I mean you."

  I rubbed my chin. How would I stop Jimmy's scum of a dad from hurting him? Obviously, violence is out of the question. If I try to bring a recording device with myself present, Thomas will most certainly act like a normal father during my stay. Sure, he seemed rather cold to Jimmy even when I was present, but I doubt the court will see that as 'Abuse'. Gavin or Jason has droids; maybe they could sneak one into the house?

  I opened my mouth to say something, but once I thought about it more, that option also became dead in the water. Placing cameras in a household that isn't yours is morally questionable, and while I was willing to do it, the court is likely to take a hesitant view of this, maybe even outright refuse to use it as evidence. After all, with the rise of AI, fakes and better video editing. Relying on a single video as our Hail Mary is weak, especially since our only option of sending it to the cops is anonymous. Not to mention, if we do that and if that fails, Thomas will no doubt hurt Jimmy more because of the incident.

  I grit my teeth before suddenly blurting out.

  "Intimidation?"

  "Oh, that's a great idea!"

  I blinked. "It is?"

  "Of course not!" Gavin shook his head. "If you intimidate him as Red Justice, that makes him desperate and desperate people do stupid stuff. Stupid stuff leads to people getting hurt, especially Jimmy. We have no idea what he's capable of. If he could hurt his child, he could probably...you know what."

  A chill crawled from my spine. The mental image was unpleasant. I looked away as I bit my lip.

  "Yeah, fair point," I grumbled.

  Gavin shakes his head. "You really need to work on your common sense."

  "Then what do you propose we do then?"

  "What do you think, we call child services?"

  "That's it?"

  "Pretty much. They're the heroes in this kind of thing; we'll just tip them anonymously. Then they'll get that punk, unless Thomas is an extremely good actor and..." He cuts himself off, rubbing his beard.

  "What?"

  "There is a possibility that Jimmy might vouch for Thomas."

  I blinked before scoffing at such an option. Jimmy vouching for Thomas after he just hit him? Yeah, very likely. There is absolutely no way Jimmy would defend that butthole; the fact that Gavin could even suggest it is insulting. I was about to voice these thoughts until Gavin's PC monitor shifted into a red colour. My eyes shot open.

  Gavin didn't hesitate and turned around and started typing furiously. The sound of keys clacking sounded like a machine gun. Gavin then stood up, and I rushed to his side. A series of numbers and texts appeared on the screen. I knew what the red screen meant; there is a national emergency that threatens a great number of lives. It was built on his PC a few days after my debut as Red Justice.

  But it never activated, until now...

  "Ben," He said quietly, but with a grave voice.

  My stomach dropped. "What is it?"

  He enlarged the screen. Satellite maps. Oceanic readings. Red warning markers blinking across the Pacific. There were signs and symbols that I had no idea about, but I knew that it didn't sound good.

  "There's been a megathrust quake under the Pacific plate. Recently. Very recent."

  He typed a few more commands. A simulation window popped up.

  A towering blue wall appeared on the model, racing toward a digital coastline. My eyes widened.

  "What is that..?"

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "...A tsunami, the second biggest one. Roughly fifteen hundred feet."

  I stared at him. Before slapping myself, I moved across, grabbed my Red Justice costume and put it on quickly as Gavin continued to talk.

  "It's heading for Tokyo, Japan."

  "How much time do I have left!?" I say as I pull my boots.

  "First impact in a couple of minutes. Maybe less depending on coastal variance!"

  "More than enough time for me then!"

  I got up and slapped on my SEE Goggles, catching chocolate bars and other candy Gavin tossed to me. I shouted a thanks before rushing out of Gavin's shop, flying high into the air. Before leaning forward to fly to Japan. My SEE Goggles are showing me the way.

  It didn't take long for me to reach Japan, only a few seconds. I winced a little as my brain felt a small piercing pain. I could feel dozens of Japanese citizens' silhouettes. I'm not surprised, Tokyo is vastly a bigger place than Toronto. Especially when everyone is moving around.

  Alarms blared as everyone rushed to get out of the city. Far ahead to the sea, there was a large blue wall of water, easily dwarfing any skyscraper I've seen in Toronto. It's ridiculous. My SEE Goggles tells me I have about a couple of minutes before it hits the city.

  [Tsunami Size - 1500 Feet]

  [Estimation of Injuries and Deaths- Unknown]

  [RECALIBRATING...]

  [Estimation of Injuries and Deaths- Tens Of Millions]

  I grit my teeth as I read the words on my HUD. I zoomed past the city before descending, my feet skidding on the sand only a few steps away from the ocean. Even from miles away, I could feel the vibration through the air. This was bad in biblical proportions. I didn't need my SEE Goggles to know that the lives taken by this mega tsunami would be far more than if the nuke that Atlas used actually hit Toronto.

  It's honestly mind-boggling how many lives will be lost. I need to help, immediately.

  "What's the plan!?" I shout.

  "Alright, listen carefully. Tsunamis are about energy and volume, not just height. We reduce those, we save lives."

  "What do I do!?"

  "Option one," Gavin said, tone sharpening. "High-speed skimming. Fly low across the surface in long passes. Push water sideways. Spread the mass out."

  I see spreading energy to decrease the amount of damage.

  "Option two — interference. You make counter-waves. Fast oscillating dives, rhythmic impacts. Mess up its structure."

  "And three?" I pressed.

  My anxiety rose as the tsunami got closer and closer. I instinctively started alleviating the air, clenching my fist with gritted teeth.

  "Atmospheric pressure control. Fly tight circles above the crest. Force downdrafts. Flatten the top."

  "Are these options safe for marine wildlife?"

  "...Yeah," Gavin admitted. "Are you thinking about the fish right now?"

  "They didn't do anything wrong..." I murmured.

  "Alright, get to it!"

  I nodded, before looking at my hud to check on my Cosmic Energy level. I had about 74% of the CE. That should be more than enough, or at least I'm hoping that I have enough energy. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my ears.

  Okay. Don't think about the size. Think about the steps. There is no time to be nervous; you have to focus! I took a deep breath before I shot downward until I was just a few feet above the water's surface. The wind screamed past my visor.

  Method one. Displacement.

  I leaned forward and accelerated. The ocean blurred beneath me as I skimmed the surface at ridiculous speeds. I wasn't sure what I was doing was right, but Gavin didn't say anything, so I must be doing something right.

  My passage carved long trenches into the water, shoving massive amounts sideways. Each pass peeled volume off the tsunami like shaving layers from a giant snowball. I did this for several seconds before Gavin chimed in:

  "Good!" Gavin said. "You're bleeding mass. Go to phase two!"

  Method two. Interference.

  I shot upward, then dove. I slammed down into the water ahead of the wave — not full force, just enough to send a massive counter-surge outward. The impact created a spreading swell that collided with the tsunami's base. Dive. Impact. Rise.

  I don't know how many times I repeated this process.

  [CE : 42%]

  I clicked my tongue internally. My Cosmic Energy is dropping quickly from moving this kind of level; still, the once-smooth wall now churns chaotically, energy knocking against itself instead of moving cleanly toward shore. In other words, it's far weaker than its original form. I flew away from the water, grabbing a wrapped chocolate bar as I stared at the still huge wave.

  The wave was now divided into smaller waves. Still dangerous, but not a city-destroying level. I took a bite and shoved the whole chocolate bar inside my mouth.

  "Final method, kid!" Gavin urged through the earpiece.

  Method three. Pressure control.

  I began circling fast. Really fast. The spinning created a forced downdraft, pushing air pressure downward onto the wave. The crest started flattening. I could feel my heart beating fast, and I could feel my lungs burning from the physical activity. Even for me, this wasn't easy.

  Come on... come on...!

  I pushed harder, and through my Mind's Eye I could see the towering wall slowly shrinking. Not gone fully, but dropping more and more. Still, I continued to push myself until the waves finally crashed into the city; it was going to flood the city. Sure, it wasn't going to flatten Tokyo, but no way am I allowing it to be flooded, especially since I haven't visited Japan yet, and always wanted to go on vacation here, and I'm not going to use a diving suit to explore the city.

  I wiped the sweat and water off my forehead before I moved forward. Using small shockwaves from my punches, which pushed the water back. By the time I pushed the last drop of water back to its rightful place, I was covered in water sweat, and I was breathing hard. I slowly descended and fell to my knees. After a few moments of trying to catch my breath, I flew up to get a better view of Tokyo, the alarms no longer blaring and Japanese citizens were still trying to evacuate.

  But a huge number of them also stopped looking around in confusion; some were on their phones. Probably watching the news, most likely about me. Because there was a news chopper circling where I was. I could see the large camera pointing at me. My SEE Goggles HUD suddenly created a small screen in the left corner.

  It showed a Japanese news anchor talking, while on his side, he showcased the view of me levitating in the air while I was catching my breath. Welp, I got to make my debut in Japan somewhat memorable, sure, saving the entirety of Tokyo is something worth remembering, but panting like a dog doesn't make me look cool. So I straightened up, facing straight at the camera, before grinning widely, and bringing my right arm in front to show a peace sign.

  "Well, that's kind of cheesy."

  "Oh, put a sock in it," I said, still grinning.

  I dropped my peace sign and looked around. There was still some damage from the waves crashed. Some lights, small houses nearby, got damaged, and I felt a pang of guilt.

  "Is there anything else? Anyone hurt?"

  "Some, I'm reviewing some footage from the cameras I hacked. A lot of the citizens were rushing to evacuate, which led to some injuries."

  "Show me the location," I say, cracking my neck. "I'll take them to a nearby hospital."

  "Got you, give me a second."

  After several seconds. My HUD showed me several locations of hospitals, injured people and several other things that people need help with. I took a deep breath, as I thought about Jimmy and now this, truly, there is no rest for the good. Hopefully, this won't take too long. I don't want my folks to worry about me. I shot forward, taking a bite of a soggy candy bar, which refilled my energy.

  RED

  A Forest Near Toronto...

  JUSTICE

  Squad Nova was set up in a forest along with a dozen Combat Bots and Drones. About twenty each. They weren't very strong, but they should be able to wear down Red Justice even a little bit. As for the four members of the squad. All of them were sitting down, silently. Their SEE Helmet was watching a Japanese news station.

  Unexpectedly, one of the large tsunamis suddenly formed. It's said that the cause of it was plate shifting and several other things that created a mega tsunami. All of them believe that the beloved city of Tokyo will be wiped off the map, that is, until a certain red-caped superhero comes. Single-handedly, he managed to minimize the tsunami to the point that it's only a threat to a single house.

  Even then, they watched as Red Justice pushed the water back to the ocean. They watch as this young boy pants hard, before flying up and flashing a peace sign. He didn't even leave Tokyo, as later, he could be spotted through social media helping injured evacuating civilians and bringing them to hospitals. No doubt, if Red Justice hadn't stepped in, Tokyo would be just a memory.

  "Woah and we're supposed to fight him?" Ranger joked, though his voice was shaky.

  Fighter didn't say anything. Instead, he clenched his fist. But Paladin spoke what he wanted to say.

  "Are we really going to hunt down a person who just saved millions of people?"

  The other members of Squad Nova stayed quiet before Mage finally spoke up.

  "We have orders...regardless of what we feel, we have to follow them."

  "She's right." Fighter says. "It doesn't matter if we're bringing in Hitler or Jesus Christ; we follow our orders. Like good soldiers."

  The four of them became quiet and didn't speak after that. All they need to do right now is for Red Justice to finish his business with Japan, and once he's there. He will face Squad Nova.