Supreme's face went from stoic to a slight grin.
"Also there's video evidence of you being in Central City about 30 minutes ago. No one's going to believe that you flew over to the Block and killed their strongest S+ rank in this amount of time. There are maybe 4 people on the planet that have any clue how fast you really are. Even the rest of the Circle don't know. Do you know what that means?"
"..."
Supreme took Kai's wrist using an admin override to reformat the operating system of their holo-devices to the last backup. This erased everything on their devices from the last 24 hours.
"It means that you just got revenge for all those innocent people. It also means there's no way to connect it to you and there's something I need to tell you."
"What's that Uncle Mark?"
Supreme pulled Kai into an embrace hugging his small frame tightly.
"Thank you! I've wanted to kill that bastard for years, but if I did it could start a war. So Kai, thank you."
Supreme let go of Kai and floated back a couple meters.
"Kai a lot has happened while you boys were on the field trip. Many people died and we will probably be at war soon. As you already know aliens will be coming to our planet soon. Most of your life has been one where killing people wasn"t something you had to worry about. That is all about to change."
Kai's eyes went wide in shock.
"BUT WE'RE ABOUT TO GET INVADED BY ALIENS! Shouldn't we all work together to stop them?"
Supreme looked into Kai's eyes.
"Honestly most countries are working with various groups of aliens. Even the Circle has been contacted. The ones who contacted us have offered their protection in exchange for our help in protecting the US from the other invaders as well as joining their empire after the trial."
Kai was silent for a moment.
"So they are our allies?"
Supreme smiled.
"Yes essentially. However as it stands now the other aliens are manipulating the other countries to attack us so we'll be vulnerable to occupation so they can take more slaves and take over our territory. Do you know what that means Kai?"
Kai rubbed his chin in thought.
"It means the trial has basically already started, the aliens just haven't arrived yet. It also means a lot of people are probably going to die…"
Supreme put his hand on Kai's shoulder.
"It means you are going to have to kill people to survive. You will also have to kill to prevent innocent people from dying. I'll help you though. It's not pretty, but it's the cards we've been dealt. Sometimes the strong have to kill the strong to protect the weak. Kai you are one of the strong so during your life you will have to kill people sometimes or many innocent people will die instead. Do you understand? "
Kai stared at the sea below, closing his eyes. He sent his senses out across the world. He could see the people suffering from the attacks that took place. The screams of agony from the injured, the crying of people as they looked at the bodies of their loved ones, the torn and shredded bodies of nearly a billion people who had been killed over the past few days, and the scores of so called heroes readying and preparing themselves for the battles to come were all sensed by this youngster.
"Uncle Mark. Why does it have to be like this?"
Supreme stood for a moment looking at the sky.
"Kai… The universe is cruel so sometimes we have to be cruel to survive in it. The trick is not to become a monster that slaughters without reason and to protect the innocent when we can."
Kai looked up at Supreme.
"Why don't we just always protect everyone if we're strong?"
Supreme grinned and shook his head as he looked back at Kai.
"If you save all the mice the cats will starve. So we can't just step in without viewing the big picture. Sometimes suffering is necessary for things to function without collapsing. Sometimes you have to kill so you and others can live."
Kai sighed.
"I think I understand Uncle Mark. How can you get used to it though?"
Supreme's eyes narrowed.
"Practice... You'll get better at killing. We will be fighting for the survival of everyone in the US, maybe the world. We will be killing people. The only way to avoid it will be to hide. Can you hide knowing that it will just result in more people dying? Could you live with yourself knowing all those people could live if you just killed the people that wanted to kill them?"
Vector looked at Supreme with resolution in his eyes.
"No… I don't think I could."
Supreme looked to the west.
"When we get back, I'll be training you for what's coming. It will be… harsh. This is war, there's nothing pretty about it. There's just blood, death, and if we're lucky, survival."
Kai looked at Supreme's back.
"What about school?"
Supreme looked back at Kai.
"I'll be pulling you and John out of school for a couple weeks to prepare the both of you. After that you'll be attending school like normal unless we need to pull you out of class in case of an emergency.
"Now let's get back to Central City. Keep pace with me though. I still need to fill you in on some of the particulars of what happened while you were on the field trip."
('Now don't freak out. This is telepathy. It'll be easier for me to talk to you while we fly like this.')
('I won't sir.')
('Wait… You already know how to use telepathy?')
('Yes sir, John and I have been using it for around six months now.')
'Why does that surprise everyone? It wasn't even that hard to figure out.'
('John too? Well, you two were always quick to catch on to stuff. We can talk about that later though. For now, let's start heading back.')
Supreme started flying east.
Vector scratched his head, then followed Supreme.
'Well that went differently than I thought it would.'
Vector and Supreme flew back towards Central City as Supreme filled Vector in on what had happened around the world while the field trip took place.
Over the next two weeks Supreme officially adopted Kai, pulled both boys out of school temporarily, and put them through a grueling crash course in combat tactics.
The Circle held a private memorial service for Mai. Of course there was a public service, but it was also a memorial for all those who had died in the jelly wave as well as the attack on the Chicago Academy.
During this time the world governments remained silent as tensions boiled between the various nations.