After Damian was sent to Red River, Stan Edgar called the rest of the Payback members without Soldier Boy.
Everyone was present at the meeting to talk about Soldier Boy. Soldier Boy has a terrible personality, he doesn't get along well with his teammates, and nobody likes him, but he had one good quality... loyalty.
Stan Edgar made an agreement with the Russians to sell Soldier Boy to them. Stan was planning to sell Soldier Boy for a chump change by using his teammates.
Everyone agreed to the proposal. They knocked out Soldier Boy, and he was then traded to the Russians, where he'll be experimented on for the next few decades.
Vought released the news that Soldier Boy fought the Germans with his superhero team by his side. They said he fought for liberty and justice until he sacrificed his life to save America from a nuclear power meltdown.
Meanwhile, at Red River Institute.
Damian turned 8, and he didn't know it was his birth month. He doesn't know how old he is.
Damian appears to be a 10-year-old, and he looks the oldest in the orphanage. There were 8 kids in the orphanage, excluding him. The oldest was 7 years old, while the youngest was 2 years old.
There were 5 boys and 4 girls.
The oldest's name is David. He was brought to the orphanage by his grandparents at the age of 5. David could see the markings in people. That's what he told Damian.
He said that when he was 4, he told his dad that his markings were not the same as his but matched his neighbour's. His dad didn't understand what he was talking about.
Damian understood immediately what he was talking about but said nothing. David's father came home one night and started arguing with David's mother. They got into a heated argument, and the next day, David never saw his mother again.
His father took him to stay with his wife's parents and left him there afterwards. He stayed with them for a few months before his grandparents sent him to Red River.
Every kid at Red River Institute has an ability. David could see DNA. A 6-year-old girl named Olivia, whose ability is teleportation, and a 6-year-old boy named Ethan, whose ability is to control water (Hydrokinesis). A 5-year-old boy named Ezra, whose ability is to manipulate gravity around him, but he can't control it, and a 4-year-old girl named Maya, whose ability is healing.
A 4-year-old boy named Ken, whose ability is telekinesis, and a 4-year-old girl named Selina, whose ability is to control plants. A 3-year-old girl named Sarah, whose ability is to create wax from her body, and a 2-year-old named Ava, who emits an aura that causes plants to wither and people near her to fear her or feel uncomfortable.
Nobody would play with Ava because of the aura. Her parents abandoned her at the orphanage in a box a year ago when her power activated, and they became afraid of her. The caretaker is scared of her. She sends people to give her food and check on her regularly, but they never do afterwards.
Damian noticed something when he used Bio-Vision to look at the kids. They had an unusual liquid in their bodies that transformed their cells. He looked at the caretakers and found out they didn't have that liquid in their bodies except for the kids, which meant only those with abilities had it.
A year passed while Damian was staying at the orphanage, and he's 9 years old now. Damian got along with everyone, especially the kids at Red River. Everyone calls him "Bro," and Ava calls him "Big Brother" because he's the only one who plays with her.
Ava's aura doesn't affect Damian, and Damian doesn't know why he's not affected by it. Everyone steps back when Ava gets close to Damian.
Selina doesn't like Ava because her plants wither when Ava is near her. Sarah can get within 5 meters of Ava, while others can't get within 10 meters. Damian doesn't know why Sarah can get that close but didn't investigate the matter and just let it go.
Some time later, Damian was sitting by himself juggling balls when energy formed in his hands, and he didn't know what it was. Ava got behind him, and Damian blasted Ava with the energy, but nothing happened.
Damian freaked out but saw that Ava was fine and felt relieved. He sat down with Ava, and David came over to play. David didn't notice Ava sitting next to Damian, and Damian became surprised by the situation.
David got close to Ava without being afraid or stepping back. David noticed Ava and stepped back by himself, not out of fear but out of habit.
Ava was happy that someone other than Damian got close to her. Ava played with everyone that day.
It was the best day for Ava.
The following day, everyone began to fear Ava yet again. Ava became sad that day and didn't talk to anyone.
Damian played with that energy again. The energy appeared to form a gray-white sphere the size of a tennis ball. Damian was surprised by it and smiled.
Damian went to Ava and blasted her with the energy. She felt something hit her, then turned around to look at Damian. She ran toward him and hugged him.
Damian used his Bio-Vision to check Ava and realised the unusual liquid in her body had halted after Ava was hit with the blast.
Damian went to the other kids and blasted them with the energy, except Olivia. Nobody knew where she was. Their abilities didn't work afterwards, and everyone managed to play without their abilities that day.
The following day, their abilities returned, and Damian realised he could stop the abilities.
Damian's speed increased from Mach 0.5–0.9 to Mach 1.2–1.6 (412 m/s–549 m/s) when he turned 9. His speed increases with his body's physique since he's currently 4'5" tall.
While hugging Ava, Damian realised he could remove, edit, or copy Ava's abilities. He edited Ava's ability by making it active instead of passive.
Ava could consciously turn off her aura if she wanted to.