7 A Hero's Birth

The Engineer brought Justin down an elevator into a wide underground cave built under the Underground's headquarters. As he led Justin through, the detective could see all kinds of tech lining the various tables and walls throughout. Justin even spotted the telltale wheels of some giant armored vehicle in a corner.

"This is where I work" Engineer said, "All my best gadgets and gizmos are built and stored here until a hero needs them."

"So, you're a support hero" Justin deduced.

Engineer nodded. "Precisely. Now, let's see what I can do for you."

The Engineer looked him over, studying him for a few moments and muttering to himself before finally walking over to a set of suitcases, reading the labels on each one. Finally, he shouted, "Aha! Here we are!" before pulling one of the cases out and placing it on a nearby desk and opening it. Justin peeked over his shoulder to see a set of armor inside a foam mold.

Engineer took out a shoulder pad and held it up for Justin to see. "It's a material of my own invention, it has the flexibility of Kevlar cloth but the durability of industrial steel. I use it for a lot of the heroes' outfits.

Justin immediately thought back to the Phoenix, how he was covered in an orange armor that was seemingly heatproof. If this was the same material, Justin knew that he was in good shape.

Engineer noticed Justin's observant expression and chuckled. "Impressive, ain't it?"

"It really is" Justin replied as multiple ideas formed into his head.

Engineer got a glint in his eyes and smiled. "I know that look. What are you thinking?"

Justin explained his ideas for various gadgets as well as a design idea for his suit, which he promptly drew out on a nearby piece of paper. Taking the paper, Engineer looked at it for a few moments before his smile grew wider.

"I like the way you think, kid!" he marveled.

"So, you can do it?" Justin hopefully asked.

Engineer hefted a wrench. "Kid, they don't call me the Engineer for nothin! You go one and meet ol' Razor for your training. I'll get this worked up in a jiffy."

Justin nodded his thanks before turning around and heading for the training room, following the Engineer's instructions.

…

A few minutes, later, Justin and Razor stood on opposite ends of the training floor facing each other. The room was relatively empty and almost resembled a gymnasium, with light strips marking the practice floor. Phoenix watched from the sidelines, casually leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Alright" Razor said as he paced his side of the floor, "I'm familiar with the training you were given in the police academy. You are able to fight up to 8 men; I can teach you to bring down eight hundred. You can disappear with a disguise, but I can show you to be truly invisible."

That last part caught Justin's interest. "Invisible?"

Razor continued. "A true warrior always has his surroundings in mind and can use them to his advantage. This is something I specialize in, and it is something I will impart to you."

Justin decided to agree to this, but he wasn't expecting Razor's training to be as butal as what he faced. Not only did Justin find himself face down on the ground in the following sparring matches, but he also found that he wasn't as nimble as the ninja hero. He slowly began to improve, but it was getting a little frustrating for the Powerless detective.

Phoenix approached Razor during a break when Angel summoned Justin to talk with her.

"You think you're going a little hard on him?" Phoenix asked, "He's not like the rest of us."

"Do you think that our enemies care?" Razor bluntly replied, "He needs to be prepared, and we're short on time as is."

Phoenix knew he had a point, but he began to think of better ways to train Justin; hopefully he could think of a way to help him improve faster.

Meanwhile, Angel led Justin, who was carrying an ice pack on his head, to the living room from before and showed the news feed on the television. It showed a camera feed of multiple cops investigating on the docks, where multiple broken boards, spots of blood, and a dented lamppost could be seen. The caption on the bottom read: Top Detective Mysteriously Disappears During Murder Investigation.

"Missing?" Justin marveled.

Angel nodded. "Personally, I would like to keep it that way for now. Until we're ready to expose the true criminals, we can't risk having you return to your old job. Whoever killed Aqua was obviously in league with the Meta-Beast. He'll get suspicious if you retuned alive from an attack."

Justin saw the truth in these words. "I guess you're right. Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"No, but it was the more important." Angel replied, gesturing for Justin to sit down, "As you know, our nicknames are part of our identity as heroes. Since you are going to become one of us, it's only fitting you get to pick your own."

Justin actually didn't need to think long; he had had one picked ever since he was a child, and it was a name similar to one of his favorite heroes.

"Night Reaper" he said.

Angel raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. You're paying homage to Grim Reaper, I assume?"

Justin nodded. "He was one of my favorites growing up. He didn't take anyone's crap, he just got down to business. Something I personally would like to do."

Angel pursed her lips. "Well, if you insist. You know, I knew Reaper too, actually, before he moved on to a different city."

Justin lit up inside. "What was he like?"

Angel replied bluntly, "He was a lot to deal with. No sense of humor at all. Add the fact that his power lets him disintegrate anything he touches and you got yourself a real grumpy piece of work for a team member."

"Oh" Justin said, deflating.

"He wasn't all bad though, in fact he was everything you said he was." Angel continued, "I could trust him to pull through in a fight."

She then decided to get back to the topic at hand. "So, Night Reaper. You're sure that will be your codename?"

"Absolutely" Justin replied, without hesitation. This caused Angel to smile.

"Confident" she observed, "I like that."

Just then, the door to the room opened as Phoenix walked thorugh.

"Well?" he asked.

"He's chosen his codename" Angel replied, "Night Reaper."

Phoenix shuddered, "Brings back memories of ol' Grim back in the day." He quickly recomposed himself, "Well, anyways, Justin, I think I have an idea to help with your training. Follow me!"

Justin followed the fiery hero back into the training room.

"Now, you gotta cut Razor some slack" Phoenix began, "I know he's been a bit rough with you, but we are short on time, and you need to be prepared for what we are facing. What he didn't take into account is that you don't have the physical prowess that we do, so we can't train you the way we train ourselves."

Justin became confused. "Then how do you plan on training me?"

Phoenix walked over to a machine at the other end of the room. Strangely enough, Justin recognized it as a tennis ball shooter.

"Your skills are good and you're learning Razor's fighting styles really well" Phoenix told the detective, "However, your strength and reflexes need some work. I think this should help some."

Justin was confused. "And how exactly-?"

Before he could answer, Phoenix launched a ball from the machine that hit Justin square in the face, knocking him to the ground. Justin groaned in pain as Phoenix's face appeared over his.

Phoenix chuckled before saying. "That's how."

All Justin could get out was, "Oooohhhh….."

Despite getting knocked down by the tennis ball, Phoenix's method of training was actually much more doable and reminded Justin of the methods he had been taught at the Police Academy, just on a more heightened level. Razor argued against it here and there, but soon came to realize that, much to his own surprise, it was working. After a few days, Justin was able to deflect multiple tennis balls with his arms, and even became more agile, allowing him to keep up with Razor during their sparring matches. After a week of training, Engineer alerted Angel to inform Justin; the suit was ready.

A short time later, Justin appeared from the elevator, walking into Engineer's underground lab, where the hero himself was waiting for him, an excited gleam in his eyes. Once Justin arrived, Engineer led him past a few work tables and arriving at a tall, silver, cylinder-shaped container.

"The designs were easy once I got the measurements laid out" Engineer said, "It's all there, just as you wanted."

To prove this, Engineer hit a button on his metal gauntlet, and the cylinder opened with a hiss to reveal the suit within. It was a black fabric under a set of black armor made from the material Engineer had showed off earlier. An orange glow in certain areas showed the energy stored within. The gauntlets had spikes protruding from the forearms. The helmet was the real showstopper: a silver face plate resembling a sort of mix between a knight and a ninja. A downward angling visor for the eyes glowed orange; there was no visible mouth opening. To top it all off, a graceful, black cape hung from the shoulders.

Engineer patted the suit with pride. "Well, kid, whatya think?"

Justin couldn't help but smile. "Perfect."

Engineer chuckled. "I told you I'd get it done. Oh, and your special toys are on the table right there."

Justin followed where the hero was pointing, and his mouth gaped in astonishment to see a work table lined with shurikens, grapple guns, explosives, all kinds of tools.

Walking over, Justin picked up one of the shurikens, one with a yellow center, and twirled it around.

"You may find some of them interesting…" Engineer said with a wink. Curious, Justin walked over to a line of targets and, taking aim, threw the weapon. The second it hit; the target burst into flames.

Engineer laughed to see Justin's shocked expression. "And that's not even the most dangerous one! The red ones explode, the green ones deploy acid, the black ones are normal, and the blue ones electrocute."

It was no surprise that Justin was thoroughly impressed with it all, but he didn't have time to revel in his amazement as Razor and Angel ran out from the elevator, stopping behind him.

Angel noticed the suit and whistled in admiration. "You've done it again, Engineer."

"I may be old, but I got plenty o' skill" Engineer said with a laugh.

"Anyways" Razor cut in, "Justin, something new has come up in the city. With the combined approval of Phoenix and Angel, you are ready to truly begin."

Justin smiled at that statement; it was his time to rise.

Angel sensed his excitement and smiled, placing her hands on her hips. "Suit up and meet us in the living room. We'll get you up to speed there."

With that, she and Razor left for the elevator as Engineer helped Justin suit up, and within a few minutes, he was ready.

The Night Reaper was finally born.