In a battle of superhumans, you can pretty much expect random bullcrap to happen. Like someone using trees or people as nunchucks. An 11-year-old boy is fighting four adults with high-tech futuristic suits. Things just happened. And while I haven't been in a lot of fights at least compared to veterans like Gavin and Noah, I know enough it's not normal for a normal van speeding in the middle of nowhere in a forest.

  Soon, I didn't need Mind's Eye to sense it as everyone could hear its engine. Then it appeared. A random white van is speeding toward us. At first, I assumed it was more backup for Squad Nova; however, one look from them and judging by their body language, they are dumbfounded. The van sped up, driving past me and going towards the Super Soldiers and Squad Nova, who now seemed tense and ready to fight. But suddenly, something popped out of the roof of the vehicle.

  They were pretty big, tall and heavily armoured. They glided in the air before gracefully landing beside me. As for the van, Paladin walked forward and stopped it with one hand before grabbing the bumper tightly, flinging it behind him and out of the fight. I looked at the newcomer much more closely. Like Squad Nova, this person is wearing some kind of power armour.

  Dark Silver plating was layered thick across his chest, shoulders, and thighs. The shoulders were massive, not like Paladin's, but certainly a contender. Then there was his helmet, his visor a deep red and covering nearly his whole face. He had these two sharp antenna things at the side, similar to Fighter's. Some red lines in his armour seemed to glow red.

  Behind and the one that got my attention is the cape behind him. Like mine, only a darker shade of colour.

  "Uh, excuse me, but who the heck are you?"

  His head tilts, facing me. Before once again looking straight at the confused and wary Super Soldiers. Then fishing something from behind him, only to pull out...is that a chocolate bar? Out of nowhere, he tossed me the chocolate before walking towards the Super Soldiers menacingly.

  I blinked, looking at the snack. Why does he? Wait, does he know about my Cosmic Energy burnout!? But, how?

  And who?

  Three of them moved away from the large group to face the newcomer. All of them brandished their electric batons as they sped up, rushing towards the metal guy, who continued to walk like it was just a casual stroll.

  "Look out!" I was about to move in, but to everyone's surprise.

  Despite wearing an armour that seems heavy to move, he gracefully ducks under a swing. Grabbing their arm before disarming them and using their baton against them. Knocking two back with one swing before kicking the last one back. Though the Super Soldier anticipated and barely blocked the kick with his baton and tried to attack back, unfortunately for him. The metal man grabbed his scarlet cape, which detached from his hold, flinging to the poor soldier's head, blinding him.

  Before he could rip it off his face, it was too late. Using the butt of the baton, the third soldier was knocked out cold. My mouth agape. I knew those movements, after sparring with him for a week, I could see how he flawlessly moved without much energy. That level of performance and mastery, not to mention the way he uses his cape...I only know one person that possessed such a skill.

  "Gavin?" I whispered.

  As if hearing me, the metal guy turned his head to look at me. I could have sworn behind his helmet, I could detect that obnoxious knowing smirk of his. Oh my god, it's really him. Gavin, in a new power armour, turned to face the threat, and instead of walking slowly to look cool, he started running at them. He grabbed his cape, returning it to his rightful place.

  Fighter tried to move, but dropped to his knees, clearly still not fully recovered from being smashed to the ground. His teammates moved to support him while the other Super Soldiers rushed in. Two Super Soldiers rushed him head-on, batons raised. Gavin slipped inside the swing and drove a short right hook. Gavin then delivered two straight jabs before kicking him away, knocking the soldier back into the others.

  Then another tried an overhand swing. Blocked, before his arm twisted, allowing Gavin to deliver a sidekick that I knew shattered the poor dude's ribs. Gavin moved like a rapier. Deadly and precise. It wasn't like my rough street brawler fighting style at all. It's like watching Jackie Chan all over again.

  Gavin stumbled when he got hit by a katana slash from a soldier, though the armour protected him. Gavin then stepped back, and all of a sudden, his armour let out a thick smoke. Like it's literally coming out of the small edges of the armour. It didn't take long for the area to be covered in smoke. I could still view the fight thanks to Mind's Eye.

  While the soldier's vision was compromised, Gavin took advantage of the chaos. Gavin pivoted on his lead foot and unleashed a snapping Taekwondo roundhouse. The soldier spun sideways and hit the ground without ceremony. And then fired a spinning back kick straight into another poor soul's abdomen.

  "Hey, get your head out of the clouds, I'm here to help you, not do your job for you!" I hear Gavin through my earpiece.

  I could hear him grunt and a lot of loud crashing noises.

  "Gavin, I-"

  "I know you have a lot of questions, but now's not the time. And don't call me Gavin when we're out there in the field, call me...The Scarlet Knight."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Wow. What a cheesy name. But, regardless, he's right. I can't afford to just stand there looking stupid. I quickly devoured my chocolate bar, which led to my CE rising to 35%. Not a lot, though better than earlier. Gavin or Scarlet Knight has knocked down all of the Super Soldiers who groaned at the grass.

  It's clear, though, that it took a lot for Scarlet. His chest was rising, falling, and his legs were wobbly. Then Paladin finally moved in, throwing a right hook, forcing Scarlet on the backfoot. Scarlet flipped and moved back from the aggressive Super Soldier.

  "Leave him alone!" I shouted as I fired twin beams at Paladin, who barely blocked them with his hand.

  This left him, with Scarlet's leg colliding with his head. Scarlet was unleashing a deadly barrage of kicks. But then Ranger moved in, trying to hit him with an electrified baton, but Gavin grabbed his arm and flipped him over.

  "Owwy." Croaked Ranger.

  Scarlet is about to do a follow-up attack, but then Fighter and Paladin move. Too bad for them, I body checked Paladin, before rushing at Fighter who blocked my barrage of punches with his shield. While Fighter was distracted by me, Scarlet moved in, his fist sparking with blue electricity before throwing a rib shot. Fighter screamed out in pain and tried to get revenge by doing a sweep kick, only for Gavin to back away, but he was hit anyway when Mage snuck behind with an electrified baton, hitting him in the scalp. My face grew furious and I was about to move in on Mage only for Paladin to tackle me out of nowhere, pinning me down.

  He started to spam hammer fist, while I was on the ground, completely at his mercy. He roared, pulling back again, his fist high in the air, ready to break my guard. I then pressed my palms against his abdomen and fired my cosmic lightning, which shocked his body before it launched him away from me. While still in the air, I jumped up grabbing his foot, and then I brought him down to the earth, hard. I yelled when Mage threw bombs at my back.

  A bit more than just pissed. Still clutching Paladin's leg, I begin to spin him around before letting him go. Her comrade's body smashed into her, knocking them over. I turned to see Scarlet now having a metal staff as he parried and countered, Fighter's and Ranger's baton swings.

  [CE : 23%]

  More than enough. I rushed and performed a flying knee straight into Ranger's back. Gotta deal with the weaker dude out of the two before the stronger one, right? Ranger yelped, which earned Fighter's attention. Big mistake, though, as this gives Gavin a free haymaker on the face.

  I disregarded that. Scarlet Knight can take off by himself. I'll deal with Ranger, who managed to get up with wobbly legs, before letting out a battle cry and then trying to hit me with a large number of swings. All of them were decently easy to evade. Unlike Fighter or Paladin, he was neither fast nor very strong, relatively speaking.

  "Say, goodnight!"

  "Oh, go fu-"

  I slammed my fist on his face, cracking his helmet and sending his body tumbling to the grass.

  "Languge! There's a kid in front of you!" I taunted, but I'm pretty sure he didn't hear that since he's kind of knocked out.

  I then turned around to see Gavin fighting Fighter. He had ditched his staff and returned to hand-to-hand combat instead. Despite all the injuries and battle damage I gave him earlier, Fighter moved as if nothing happened. He really is tough and the leader of Squad Nova. Fighter blocked an elbow and shoved Gavin back with a shield bash that actually forced him to slide a few feet across the grass.

  "Surprise, mothertrucker!"

  His head whipped to face me, barely blocking a flying elbow.

  "Oof." Embarrassingly, I got caught off guard when he suddenly moved to headbutt me in the mouth.

  He was about to follow up while I was vulnerable, but Scarlet already moved. Gavin slipped right, baiting the swing. I recovered quickly and dashed to the left. I drove a low kick into Fighter's thigh, and at the same time Gavin hammered a hook into his ribs. The double impact twisted Fighter's torso awkwardly.

  "Gugh!?"

  Yeah, I could tell that it didn't feel too good. We continued our assault. Gavin slammed his elbow on his visor, while I kneed his rib. Then we followed up with both of us hitting him in the abdomen. Despite our blows, Fighter was still standing.

  Hurt, but still in his two legs. Respect. Fighter stumbled, barely catching himself.

  He roared and threw a wild swing at Scarlet. Which connects, sending the Scarlet Knight stumbling back. He tried to do the same to me, but I caught his baton, ripping it away before firing my optic blasts right into his visor. Which made him yell in pain and take a couple of steps back. Red lightning surged down my arm, and I ducked low.

  "Arrivederci."

  I then sprang up, landing a devastating uppercut on his chest, sending him flying into the sky. My body, strained from all the battles, made me drop to my knees, but I forced myself up to jump and grab Fighter mid-air before descending down gently. Fighter was knocked out cold or at least too injured to move a muscle. I carefully place him in the grass before taking a couple of steps back, before my legs finally give out. My butt met the ground as I let out deep breaths, and sweat covered my entire face.

  [CE : 13%]

  Whew, that was close. My Mind's Eye scanned the area, and all the Super Soldiers and members of Squad Nova were knocked out cold. The other choppers from earlier left the area. I felt Scarlet Knight walking up to me and messing with my hair.

  "You did well, Red."

  I smiled at him, feeling a warmth in my chest. Finally, not only will I receive a billion dollars to fund my goal. But now, it's over. Those butthole Monarchs, except Jason, can finally get off his case and leave me alone. At least in this country. At last, I think I can relax now.

  RED

  Mission Control Room In The USA...

  JUSTICE

  Mr. Nine chewed on his cheek in irritation, watching the large screen which showcased Squad Nova's point of view, all of them knocked into the dirt. Squad Nova, along with the help of the other Super Soldiers and waves of robots to burn Red Justice's stamina reserves were actually doing pretty well. Judging from their SEE Helmets camera, it showed Red Justice's breathing hard and from the X-ray, his healing factor repairing his damaged tissues and bones slowed down significantly. It seems reducing his stamina also decreases his ability to perform. That's good to know.

  Nine firmly believed they would have a good chance of securing him or at least damage him enough to send in another wave to capture him. But now, a newcomer, sporting some kind of power armour he's never seen before, aided Red Justice in defeating one of the best squads that America has ever produced. It was incredibly irritating. Whoever this person is, knows how to fight, and their technology and power armour matches and maybe even surpasses the armour that Squad Nova is wearing. He released a sigh before looking over all of the other Mission Control Agents scrambling and typing away.

  "Enough." He said that was enough to get everyone's attention. "We haven't lost yet. Activate protocol Scorpion King."

  This made every agent flinch, looking at each other uneasily before finally getting to work, typing away to activate the machine along with its lesser brethren. Nine fought the urge to smirk. With those two fresh out of a gruelling battle, they wouldn't be able to handle this one, and even if they recovered, it would be hard to fight when civilians are involved.