Chapter 22: Infamaity
Mira was crying into Jason's chest as she held him tightly, like he would disappear if she let go. She pulled back a few seconds later and put her hands on his face to make sure he was really there before a relieved smile spread across her face.
"I saw the news, and I thought you were gone. What would I have done without you?"
Jason shook his head.
"I'm not going anywhere, mum. I'm right here. Come on, stop crying. You're too beautiful to cry."
Mira felt a laugh escape her lips. She tried cleaning her eyes as her smile spread wider before she suddenly went limp in Jason's hands. Jason's brow furrowed, and fear filled his heart as he shook his mother slightly.
"Mum...? Mum!"
"Mr. Jason, wait! Hold on, she only passed out!"
The doctor quickly stopped Jason from shaking his mother too much. The doctor was surprised that it took this long for Mira to pass out. After the fall she had, she was supposed to have passed out a long time ago.
Jason looked into the doctor's eyes to make sure that he wasn't lying, and he listened quietly until he heard his mother's heart beating steadily before he released a relieved sigh.
Jason lay his mother down on the bed gently before he turned to the doctor.
"What happened to her?"
The doctor was holding a clipboard in his hand and he looked through it while explaining things to Jason.
"Your mother fainted after hearing about your entrapment in the Gate. She suffered a major concussion from the fall, and she'll need some rest in order to heal. But other than that, there aren't any health complications with her. She should be fine in a day or two."
Jason ran a hand through his hair and sighed before nodding.
"Okay... okay, good. Thank you, doctor. For helping her."
The doctor smiled.
"Not at all, it's my job. But, I am curious. I heard on the news that you were dragged into a Red Gate that opened up. How is it that you're standing in front of me now? Did you Awaken by any chance?"
Jason nodded absentmindedly at the question, and the doctor's eyes lit up in surprise before he exclaimed.
"Wonderful! You look to be in your early twenties! I didn't think it was possible for people to awaken past the age of sixteen! This will be quite the discussion in the forums for the next few years! Do you mind if I take a picture? My colleagues won't believe I ran into you this suddenly!"
Jason really didn't want to take a picture. He wasn't a fan of social media, and having his picture taken by strangers always grated on his nerves.
But the man had helped his mother, so Jason decided that this was the least he could do for him. Jason nodded, and the doctor happily brought out a phone and took a selfie of them both.
The doctor looked at the picture and nodded gladly before he told Jason that he would be back later to check on his mother again. As the doctor was leaving the room, Jason spoke up.
"By the way, I'm only eighteen."
The doctor stopped in shock and turned to glance at Jason again. He took in Jason's mature build, as well as his musculature and mature-looking face, and he felt completely shocked. Jason looked like a young man of twenty-three rather than an eighteen-year-old!
The doctor quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry about that, you just don't look that young. It was my mistake."
Jason said that it was fine, and the doctor smiled once more before finally leaving.
Once he was gone, Jason turned to look at his mum with a softer gaze. Jason put his hand on his face and tried to calm himself. He had been bombarded by thoughts of losing his mother all this time, so his relief at that moment wasn't small.
Jason moved toward the bed and helped his mother lie properly before covering her up with the blanket. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, and he smiled when his mother's face brightened up.
Jason then moved over to the chairs at the side and plopped himself down on it, and he simply watched his mother's chest rise and fall.
'I need to protect her. I can't let anything happen to her.'
This thought passed through Jason's mind, and all the monsters within Jason's Legion seemed to perk up as they heard their King's thoughts.
[We will protect the King's mother!]
A singular thought passed through Jason's mind as all his Legion expressed their agreement in unison. The Legion were currently within the Alternate Dimension, and Jason could still feel their thoughts and intentions as if they were right in front of him, Only a thought would be enough to bring them back to this world.
Mira was just a regular human, and Jason couldn't risk losing her, especially now that things were getting more complicated in his life. Jason squeezed his hand into a fist and made a resolution at that moment.
He was going to work harder than ever before to make sure that nothing happened to his mother. He would give her a better life than she could have ever dreamed of.
——
[And in tonight's news, there had been reports that a new Superhuman has awakened in the city of Riverdale right here in America. The incident began when a Red Gate appeared at the intersection between Fifth and Third Avenue. The Red Gate unfortunately claimed four people during its emergence before it would be quarantined and sealed off from the public, but the reports at the scene reported finding a phone which allowed us to identify one of the people claimed as Jason Marc.]
[The Red Gate's contract was handed to the Hornet Guild, led by the B Rank Madam Rose, but before they could go in, there was an altercation that led to a confrontation between Madam Rose and the now-identified Gina Fey, a C rank superhuman of little renown. The confrontation seemed to be escalating until the Red Gate went into its second phase of closure, signaling that someone had killed the main Boss. The person in question happened to be the very victim who was taken in, Jason Marc.]
[From the reports, we see that there were no other superhumans who exited the gate after him, leading us to believe that he alone was responsible for closing the Red Gate. If this is true, then it is possible that we are witnessing the emergence of the first ever A Rank Awakener in the world.]
[As of now, the SMD has refused to give a statement about the incidents, and our men on the ground have tracked Jason Marc to the General City Hospital where his mother, Mira Marc, is being held for unknown reasons. We'll get more news to you as it unfolds. Until then, this has been Rosa Nunez from ABC News.]
——
"You said he did what?"
A middle-aged man walked down the hallway of the Superhuman Management Department building with a frown on his face. Behind him, his secretary followed quickly while answering.
"He left the scene and headed towards the hospital, sir. There are agents on the ground waiting for your orders."
"Did anyone approach him yet?"
"Not yet, sir. We had a military personnel meet with him, but he brushed her off. We're assuming he will be a difficult person to deal with."
The man nodded as he began making his way out of the office. He was one of the high-ranking members of the SMD in charge of handling the superhumans in Riverdale, and though he would normally never go to meet with a superhuman personally, he decided that it was necessary to meet with Jason after hearing what happened at the Red Gate.
It wasn't every day that someone awakened as an A Rank and cleared out a Red Gate on their first day as a superhuman.
"Tell the agents to hold their ground. No one is to approach him until I give the go-ahead. Get a contract and schedule a Rank Test for the closest available date. Did you get all that?"
The man turned to his secretary, and she quickly typed something out on her pad before nodding to him.
"Yes, sir. I'll have it all prepared before you return."
"Good."
The man got in his car and they drove off to the General Hospital.