Chapter 8
The Overlooking View
(Part 2)
Murphy's Residence - July 2095 –
I woke up with a slight headache, which made me let out a disgruntled groan. My eyes slowly adjusted to a ceiling that I recognized.
Sigh…Hello, boring white ceiling. I greeted the ceiling as I closed my eyes for a second. And then I began to see flashes of red, a dark and decrepit sidewalk, and the face of a blonde girl whose skull was crack and her brain, or what remained of it, glistened brightly.
"Augh!" I quickly jumped from my bed and ran towards the bathroom across from my room. My bathroom was filled with the horrendous sound of me belching as I vomited my dinner to the toilet. I now finally remembered what happened last night.
I went to the Sunnyshade Apartment Building to investigate and I witnessed the death of a teenage girl. After that, I quickly called the police and reported the incident. And then…those shadows.
"What the hell were those shadows?" I asked myself as I slumped down on the door of my bathroom.
Those shadows last night – there were seven of them, and they were all floating without much effort in the air. I did not know what they were, but I did know that they must have a connection to this strange series of suicides.
What's more, I could dare say that they might be the ones behind this.
"If they are behind this…should I go to the police?" But I do not think police would arrest shadows and I don't think they would believe me. I thought hard and I quickly dismissed the idea of telling what I saw to the police. What I saw might confuse them more and I might disrupt their own investigation.
'What will you do then, Marky? Are you going to catch the killer then?' I suddenly remembered the words of Touko again as I stood up and walked to the sink. My tired and frowning face looked back at me as a thought began to form in my mind.
This situation was too complex for the police to handle. I mean, how could they catch a group of people who were all made of shadows? And that left me with one option.
"If they are the ones behind those series of suicides, then I must stop them." The depressive frown on my face had changed. A look of determination was now looking at me as a feeling that I was very familiar with filled my chest.
This feeling was a heavy one, and yet it pushed me whenever I donned my superhero mask and whenever I flew up to the air.
This feeling…was my desire to save people, and I was just glad that it was back and fueling the fire inside of me.
-The Hollowed Shrine—
With my mind locked on my decision to catch the culprit, I immediately went to Touko. I found the woman on her desk as usual, listening to the news on the T.V. The death of the fifth suicide jumper was on it as the authorities had finally identified her.
The girl's name was Mia Kim-Sung, a South Korean girl who immigrated to the U.S. five years ago. She was a high school student of a private international school. The girl was a valedictorian and she was set to receive many awards at her graduation next week.
But she would never receive them. Because I saw, and reported, her death.
"Mia Kim-Sung…" I read the name under my breath as I watched two couples walk out of the police station on the T.V. Both looked haggard from crying, and it made my chest sink as sadness made home inside of me.
"So, by your look, you want to stop the culprit, am I right?" I diverted my attention to Touko. A smug, yet mystifying grin was on her face while her left fingers clasped around her lit cigarette.
"Yes." I said without any hesitation. "I don't like this, Touko. Those punks are still out there, and they could strike tonight…Those shadows are a menace."
"Ok, I like your determination. You are going back to your 'superhero' roots." Touko paused and puffed up some smoke before she asked me again. "And how will you take them down?"
I froze in my spot as I realized something. Those seven shadows looked menacing to me, and they had killed five people with it. But how exactly did they do it? I did not know. They might have a hidden ability that might hurt me.
"I—" I spoke, but stuttered, completely lost, "I have no idea."
"May I suggest for you to investigate the building first, so that you might get clues as to how the culprit operates?"
Yeah, I'm getting on that. "You're right. I will go there and investigate first." I said as I stood up and picked up my black jacket, walking towards the door.
"You're getting better, Markus." I paused by the door and glanced back at Touko again. The woman was now leaning on her chair, her smile curved into a proudful one. I knew what her praise meant and I returned it with a humbled, reassuring reply.
"I am not yet there, Touko. But I am progressing, and it's all thanks to you." I opened the door of her office and walked outside.
-Third POV—
Touko silently sat on her chair as she heard the receding footstep of the youngling Viltrumite, and just as silence finally settled in, she let out a tired sigh.
"Yes, Marky, you're getting there…" she said. Her smile disappeared and her face returned to an expressionless one. "But I really wonder, Marky. You are a good person. You are indeed a good superhero…but again, this world doesn't need superheroes."
She stood up and puffed her cigarette as she walked towards the window, looking outside. It was already midday, but the sky above was grey because of the heavy clouds. It was clear that rain would come tonight and it would be a torrential one.
"This world is cruel and the people are incorrigible and vile. You may continue saving them, but from time to time, you must always ask yourself this question." She paused as her gaze deepened more.
"Marky, does this world truly deserve to be saved by you. Is humanity, even with their cruelty, worthy receiving your kindness and benevolence?"
-Sunnyshade Apartment Building—
I arrived at the accursed building and landed on its shadows. The building before me was an abandoned one. Its frame was already decaying from neglect and nature was slowly reclaiming it. The horrible state of the superstructure gave me a cold chill that ran down in my spine, even though it was midday and the hot summer sun was still up.
Silence enveloped me as I began to walk and look around.
"How did those shadows kill those girls?" I asked to no one as I looked at the building. My eyes observed the rotten structure as my mind created many scenarios about the culprits' modus operandi.
'Drugs? They might've drugged them first and then lured them to the edge. Or is it something-'
*THUD*
I paused as my ears caught the sound of a thud and my eyes widened in terror. I was very familiar with that sound. I had heard it last night – from the fifth suicide jumper.
"No—not again!" I quickly looked to my left and ran towards the source of the sound. The sound came from the top of the stairs that led to the entrance of the building, I quickly hovered up the steps and stopped dead in my tracks.
A girl was on the ground, laying beside a weird dried-up fountain. Her skin was Caucasian and she was wearing a high school uniform. And she must have hit the ground with her head first because most of the upper part of her head was nothing but a bloodied lump of flesh. Her skull was completely gone and what remained of her head was her lower jaw.
"Shit-!" I cursed as I couldn't believe what had just happened. I just witnessed another jumper —the sixth suicide jumper – again.
'Hahahaha'
I froze as my ears caught a low, but very distinct chuckle. The chuckle was soft and it belonged to a young adult man. I looked in front and saw the broken and battered doors of the buildings. The darkness within seemed to be calling me and I only responded by clenching my fist.
"You're going down." I said as I realized something else. Not only did I witness another suicide of an innocent high-school girl, I also witnessed a murder.
And the murderer had just laughed at me.
-Unknown Floor – Sunnyshade Apartment Building-
I didn't know what floor I was on, but I did know I was high enough for a normal human being to die if they jumped off the edge. I walked off of the stairs and started trekking along an abandoned corridor. The walls were already cracked and could crumble any minute. The lights above were all shattered and off. My only light source was the small window at the end of the hall.
"Where the hell are you…?" I growled in anger as I clutched my head. Right now, not only was I pissed, but my head was also in pain. The reason was because my ears were currently filled with that young man's laughter.
Ever since I entered this building, his laughter echoed softly, but as I ascended to the high floors, the laughter grew more.
I did not know how he was doing it. His laughter seemed to bounce through the ruined walls.
'Hahahaha…hahahahaha…HAHAHAHAHA!'
"Shut up!"
I finally snapped and swung my fist back. The action had a wind strong enough to knock out the door on my right, revealing the dirty room inside.
Silence had quickly enveloped me and it made me sigh in relief. The irritating laughter was gone.
Thank God it's gone. I thought as I relished the disappearance of the voice before I turned around.
"PEEK-A-BOO!"
The peace was short lived as my eyes came face to face with a man in front of me. He was the same height as me and he was wearing a black hoodie that partially concealed his face. The man was a black man with a lanky frame, but the most noticeable feature was his eyes.
His eyes shone bright, like it was made of colorful jewels…almost like mine.
"Wha—" My reaction came too late, and without my knowing, my hand suddenly moved by its own accord and enclosed around my neck. It then began to tighten as it began to choke me.
"AAGH!" I tried to scream, but my throat only croaked out as my hand, which I had apparently lost control of, tightened more. I struggled and moved inside the room, only to trip on something, which made me fall to my back.
Shit—how? Why can't I move my hand!? My mind ran in panic as I lost air.
"Heh, I've been targeting high school girls for a month. Maybe its time for me to change my preferred target, right?" I glanced to my right and saw the man again. This time he was standing above me, his lips curved up into a wide happy smile while his eyes looked down at me like I was his prey.
No, I am his prey, and this man was behind the killings. But how exactly did he do it, and why the fuck do I have no control of my hand!?
"You must be thinking, 'why can't I control your hand?' Simple, it's all thanks to my newly found power!" He squatted down, moving his bejeweled eyes closer, making me observed it more. "Thanks to that man, I can kill any privileged people! These Mystic Eyes of Shadow Manipulation is truly cool!"
Mystic eyes…of Shadow Manipulation!? As soon as he said that, everything clicked into place. How those girls committed suicide without any reason – the answer was simple. This man had manipulated their shadows so he could walk and jump them to their deaths. And it was all thanks to his Mystic Eyes.
My-Mystic Eyes? Who would have thought that I would meet one! I thought to my bizarre luck. According to Touko, it was rare for a person or a mage to have Mystic Eyes, let alone meet one, since it was a mutation that occurred in the magic circuit. However, it was also possible to gain one through surgical implant, just like my Mystic Eyes.
"You—'ll pay for what you've done-!" I struggled to say those words before I spun and jumped up.
The man was thrown to the wall as I regained my standing. I then tried to charge towards him, but he quickly stood up as well and flashed his eyes. My eyes quickly caught a glimpse of his shadow snaking towards mine and it locked both of my legs. I couldn't move anymore as he hijacked the control of my lower limbs.
"Fuck!"
"Now, now, I can't let you stop my fun." He snickered as his Mystic Eyes blinked many times.
I quickly looked around, trying to see what I could throw at him or even hurt him with, but I couldn't find anything.
Fuck…what should I do?! I thought in terror as I glanced down. And then an idea hit me. My eyes shifted down towards my hand and I concluded what I must do so it would stop strangling me.
"Da-mn, it!" And with nothing but desperation, I activated my eyes. Lines shone brightly at my left forearm which I speedily trailed with my right hand.
*CRACK* A sickening crunch of my left limb's bones echoed through the room and I felt my hand loosen its grip around my neck.
"What!?" Now it was the man's turn to be shocked, but I didn't mind him too much. Instead, I slammed my right fist on the floor. Since he got my legs' shadow, I might free it by destroying the floor that I was standing on.
And it worked. The floor collapsed as I flew back and dashed out of the building.
I heaved my breath, watching as the side of the building dropped to the ground below. Finally, I was out of that man's grasp. Now all I needed to do was to capture him. I shifted my eyes back to the place I previously was. The man was still there, standing by the doorway, his face still plastering a grin filled with evil.
"Oh~ you can fly, huh. That's cool." He said as he eyed me more with so much inhumane interest. "Wait a second…you're Kid-Invincible!" Suddenly, his faced shifted into a recognizing one as he realized who I was.
"Yeah. I was once Kid-Invincible." I said as I pointed a finger at him. "And I'm going to stop you."
"No, you will not. It's just that it's so nice to see my target in front of me."
Target? "What do you mean by that?" I growled as the man giggled, which made me snap. "Stop laughing and answer me!"
The man stopped and cast his devilish grin at me again. "You're kind of popular, Sir Kid-Invincible. You've many fans who want to mess you up, including me, Johnny Handy!"
Johnny Handy – so that's his name. I saved his name in the back of my mind as I spoke to him. "Well, Johnny, since you know who I was before…then you know I can defeat you, right?" I said to him again with a warning tone, but the man shrugged it off.
"And you won't…because unlike you, I've shadows to cover me up!" He replied to me with so much happiness before his eyes lit up again. The shadows beneath his feet slithered and quickly covered him up. Before I could move, the shadows disappeared together with him.
"Fuck-!"
"I'll see you tomorrow night on the Overlooking View, Mr Kiddie Invincible! Because if you don't show up, I'll murder more people!" His voice echoed throughout the walls again, making me flinch, and then silenced enveloped me.
-Touko's Workshop – The Hollowed Shrine-
"Whoa…so you were forced to bust your arm, huh. He really took this round from you." Touko said with a slight hint of wonderment. It made me frown. It looked like she was praising the killer more rather worrying about my current situation.
"Yeah." However, I only murmured in bitterness. I was not in the mood to argue.
After the ordeal, and a lot of minutes to convince myself that I lost this round, I flew back to the woman's workshop. Touko immediately ushered me in, but not without making amused remarks about my injuries. Clearly, the woman's morality was far from a normal one.
We went to second floor, where her workshop lies, and thus, I was now sitting in front of her working table with my upper left limb inserted into a box with a plaster inside. She told me that it would realign my forearm back and it required me to sit on this chair for a couple of hours.
"Normally, I don't realign broken bones, but since Viltrumites have very fast healing abilities, I thought that this would be appropriate."
"Yeah, so, uh, how many hours again before this process ends?"
"With your Viltrumities abilities, and my magecraft assisting on connecting your bones, I say four hours."
"Four hours!" I exclaimed as my I gulped down and shifted my nervous eyes to sides of her workshop.
I would gladly spend four hours inside her workshop, but I could not because her fucking spare dolls were hanging on the sides of her room. Their bodies were all porcelain white, but since all of them were life size, they all looked like they were real humans hanging by a thread. And what's more, their fucking eyes were moving.
And all of them were staring at me.
Shit, I fucking hate this room. I cursed mentally as Touko giggled. The woman was completely relishing my terrified reaction.
-Touko's Office-
After four terrifying hours of sitting in a room filled with dolls who only stared at me, I finally plopped down on the sofa bed inside Touko's office. The night was already deep outside and the streets were silent. The people were now inside their homes, preparing to sleep and for tomorrow's activities.
"Good thing you Viltrumites have good healing abilities, Marky." Touko remarked as she sat on edge of her table with a cigarette between her fingers. "Now, don't remove the cast until tomorrow morning. I guarantee that your arm will be good as new tomorrow."
I looked down at my left arm covered in an arm sling. The pain was gone and I could feel that my bones were repairing.
"Thanks, Touko." I thanked her and hung my head back before I let out a heavy sigh. Today was very bad for me. I almost got choked to death by a psycho, whose name was Johnny Handy, who had Mystic Eyes that could manipulate shadows.
I'm perfectly aware that Viltrumites are a very powerful alien species that can destroy planets within months. That's the reason why I was so brave and chased the culprit alone. I thought I could defeat him with my own sheer strength.
But my encounter with Johnny Handy had destroyed my assumption. He had won over me and it made me realize how stupid and reckless I am.
The universe was vast and there could be many unknown powers out there that could easily end Viltrumites. I should have been more careful with my life because that's what Molly and Terra would want me to do.
"I should've been more careful. Molly might be scolding me in the afterlife and Terra would be furious if she saw me in this state right now. Both of them wouldn't want me getting hurt."
"True." Touko bluntly answered as she walked towards her mini kitchen and opened her mini fridge. "But at least you have a name, right? So, it's worth it in the end."
She closed the fridge and put down a small ice cream on the coffee table in front of me. The ice cream was a high-end brand and its flavor was mango and sunflower seeds.
"Ice Cream? And why Mango and Sunflower seeds?"
"The flavors remind me of your costume. Yellow, Blue, and Black, am I right?"
I did not reply as my mind wandered to the past. I missed my costume. It gave me strength before, but I would never wear it again. The sun had already destroyed it and I did not think I had the right to wear it anymore because it was based on my second father's costume.
"Yes." I feel tired. I stood up, took the ice scream, and began to walk away. I did not feel like staying with Touko any longer. She had done a lot for me today. "Thanks for the ice cream, Touko."
"I'm so glad that you're making the right choice, Marky." I paused by the door and glanced behind me. Touko's grin widened into a proudful one before she crossed her arms over her chest. "Being a hero is a tough job. I thought you were gonna quit after your encounter today, but I was wrong."
"Thanks, Touko…but I'm not there yet." I said in a humbled, but gloomy manner.
"I know. But you are getting there."
I did not reply to her words. I only opened the door and walked outside. However, just as I closed the door, I caught a glimpse of her face again. Her grin had shifted into a solemn smile, which told me that she was truly hoping and anticipating my recovery.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Invincible and Garden of Sinners. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, and events that appeared here are all fictional. If one exist in real life then its purely coincidental.
Special thanks to Pure Red Crane for beta-reading.
Hehehe, I love making this chapter because I could get to create my own version of Mystic Eye's. I made Marky lose this round becuase I want him to feel vulnerable. You see, Viltrumites are strong alien species and yet many species exist that could defeat them. I want to position humans with abilities like Mystic Eyes to be one of those species that could hurt or defeat Viltrumites and viola, this chapter.
Well then, if you like this fanfic please like and leave some reviews, I do hope that I entertained you with my story. Stay safe everyone and have a happy Lenten Season.
