— Lucan Johnson —

He flew high into the air, followed by Nolan, who was accompanying him for…some reason.

They were searching for Darius, trying to figure out where he had blasted himself off. Lucan had lost sight of him when he had made it through the clouds, and now both adults couldn't tell where the boy was.

"So, are we going to talk about this?" Nolan asked, his arms crossed as he looked at Lucan.

Lucan didn't answer. Instead, he continued looking for his son, trying his best to find him.

"Answer me, Lucan." Nolan continued, his tone growing deeper. Again, Lucan ignored him and focused on the task at hand. The last thing Lucan wanted to do right now was talk about obligations.

"Lucan!" Nolan shouted, flying in front of the large, dark-skinned man and holding him by the collar of his tropical shirt.

"Not now!" Lucan roared back, anger all too present on his face as he looked at the man he has known for thousands of years.

Nolan frowned, unhappy with Lucan's blatant disregard for his duties, but Lucan couldn't care less, not right now.

Darius had awakened his powers, and soon, things would change. On the positive side of things, Darius already knew the true nature of Viltrum, so things would be much simpler, however on the negative side, they couldn't keep stalling for time anymore. To go without reporting this good news to Viltrum would be blatant treachery to the Viltrum Empire, and both Lucan and Nolan were not traitors.

And they'd kill anyone who told them otherwise.

"We'll talk about this later…" Nolan glared at Lucan, and he returned it with even more heat.

Just moments ago, the father of two was having a peaceful time with his family, so peaceful that he had put all Viltrum duties into the back of his mind—why…why did today have to be the day his son awakened his power?!

Lucan shook his head and flew higher, Nolan splitting up from him to continue their search. They needed to find the boy and once things cooled off, they'd prepare him for what was to come—to fulfill his duties.

— Darius Johnson —

I flew downward at great speed, the rush of wind in my ears and the thrill of freedom in my heart. The wind was getting into my eyes, but I couldn't care less.

This is amazing!

Once I finally relaxed and let myself go, trusting my body to take me where I needed, this whole flying thing became ten times easier.

I continued flying down, and finally, I made it through the clouds and spotted the cruise ship that had stopped moving. If they've stopped the ship, they're probably losing their minds.

I am not looking forward to seeing my mother, so I decided to savor this moment of freedom, knowing it might be my last before I end up grounded forever.

I sped up, going downward, and then slowed just as I was about to reach the water. I went underneath the ocean waves and looked at the deep ocean for the first time in my life. I was always fascinated by things in the water, especially in my last life, and I'd be a liar if I said I didn't intend to learn some of the deep sea's secrets.

Though, I could probably ask Aquarus and his people about that.

Seeing some small fish swimming around, I looked at my clenched fist and wondered how strong I was now. I didn't feel inherently different, but in my mind, I felt like I could chuck a person into Space.

I attempted to swim as fast as I could and blurred through the ocean, moving faster than I expected and nearly killing the fish I intended to catch up to.

I need to figure out this strength I now possess, but that can come later. I should probably get back to the ship before I make things worse.

I turned around, and my eyes widened underneath the water as I looked toward the ship.

Is that a person in the water?!

— Miranda Johnson (Minutes Earlier) —

Miranda watched as her husband, and Nolan flew high into the air in search of her oldest son. She interlocked her hands and closed her eyes, beginning to pray to Christ in Heaven that her son would return to her safely.

She hadn't known for a fact that the boy would ever unlock his powers; after all, her husband said it was likely that he would, but he was never certain. Deep down, she knew one day he would.

She just hadn't expected it would be like this.

Tears fell out of her eyes at the thought that her son may have blasted himself into the Vacuum of Space or ended up falling far away and…

Her heart hurt to think of the result. She didn't know how durable a newly awakened Viltrumite was, but she knew from Lucan that they were nowhere near the level of her husband and Nolan.

Choked sobs escaped her lips as she dropped to her knees and began to break down. She felt a hand on her left shoulder and then another on her right. She looked at both sides to see Polly and Debbie both giving her understanding looks before wrapping their arms around her in a big, comforting hug.

"Hey, mom, I saw Darius!" Mark shouted while standing next to the barrier. He pointed toward the wide blue ocean. All the adults shot up, running toward Mark and Eve, the latter girl not seeming to have seen her son.

"Where is he, Mark?!" Miranda asked as she ran over as fast as she could. She reached the two and looked over the railing but saw nothing.

"He went under; I can get him!" Mark shouted, placing both hands on the railing and jumping into the air.

"NO!" Debbie shouted in surprise and fear, but it was too late.

SPLASH*

"MARK!" Debbie shouted as she grabbed the railing and prepared to jump over in order to save her son. However, Josef with his superior speed caught Debbie and held her back, not allowing her to pursue the boy.

"Let me go!" Debbie shouted, struggling in his grip, but he wouldn't let go.

"I'll go!" Eve insisted, floating into the air, but her hand was grabbed by her mother.

SPLASH*

A figure emerged from the water, flying into the air just in front of them.

It was Darius, and he was carrying an overly excited Mark.

"Wow, we're flying! This is so cool!" Mark vibrated with joy.

"Damn right, I've never felt this free!" Darius laughed, landing on the deck and putting Mark down.

"Darius!" "Mark!" Both mothers shouted, running over to their sons and pulling them into tight embraces as if they'd lose the boys forever if they let go.

"I'm fine, Mom. I awakened my powers, all is-"

"That doesn't make you invincible!" Miranda cut him off, all her newfound relief quickly turning into the righteous anger of a worried mother.

"Mom, all I did was fly-"

"And you nearly scared all of us half to death!" She shot back, not missing a beat, making the boy look away ashamedly.

"D-Darius…" She said slowly. "I thought I-" She couldn't even get the words out. With a shake of her head, her face morphed into one of a scolding parent. "I hope you enjoyed that freedom because it's the last bit you'll have for the rest of your lifetime young man! You're grounded!"

"...Mom, Viltrumites live for thousands of years…"

"Then you'll be grounded for thousands of years!" She argued back. "Maybe then you'll learn your lesson."

"Yikes."

Everyone looked up to see Nolan and Lucan floating back down, with the former having chuckled at the punishment.

— Darius Johnson —

"We lost you, boy." My dad said with a small smile. I couldn't tell if he was upset about that fact, or proud, but I assume the latter.

"I was testing my powers." I admitted, rubbing the back of my head nervously.

"It's understandable. Trust me, I've seen Viltrumites do dumber things in my lifetime, and you're still a newborn baby compared to them." He chuckled, stepping forward and rubbing my head. "I'm glad you've finally been awarded your heritage."

"You shouldn't be glad…" My mother said, her arms crossed as she looked at both of us. "He spooked us all with that!"

"And it was out of his control." Lucan reasoned. "How are you going to blame the boy for suddenly awakening powers that make him stronger than most others on the planet, and wanting to test them for a few minutes?"

My mother frowned deeply at his words, and I gave my Dad a thankful look for sparing me from the wrath of an angry mother.

"And what's got you so upset?" Nolan asked, looking toward Debbie who was tugging on Mark's ear while glaring at him.

"Oh, I don't know…How about your son swan diving off the ship to find Darius."

Nolan blinked at that, then looked at Mark.

"You did that?" He asked with no visible emotion other than surprise.

Mark hesitated, tapping his fingers together before nodding. Nolan stepped forward and looked at Mark for a few moments before scooping him up in a tight hug.

"Would you look at that, my boy has some balls!"

"Nolan!" Debbie stared at the man in shock.

"What?" he asked. "When have you ever seen our boy do something like that? See Mark, you have the makings of a true Viltrumite. You help other people, or in our case, worlds, when they are in need."

"Obviously not a true Viltrumite if he hasn't awakened his powers like someone." My Father chuckled, placing a hand on my head. "Looks like we've learned who has the superior genes today once and for all."

Nolan's smile turned into a deep glare at Lucan, and he put down Mark. The Strongest Hero on Earth prepared to walk away, but not before looking at his boy one last time.

"Prove him wrong, Mark." And with those words, Nolan left, and Debbie quickly followed after him, likely to chastise him for his blatant disregard of Mark's health.

"He can't accept the truth; that's a shame." Lucan laughed before giving me a light punch on the shoulder. "Now that you have your powers; we'll begin training you in experienced combat tomorrow. This Cruise isn't the greatest location for such training, so we'll find a nice island where we can really duke things out."

My eyes practically sparkled at the chance to test my new powers, and I rapidly nodded.

"Bet!"

My father looked at my mother who was still glaring at him and he walked away, gesturing for her to follow. She gave me a long look that said 'We'll talk later' before grabbing little Omar from Olga and heading after my dad.

"Congrats, kiddo," Josef said, offering me a handshake which I accepted. "Perhaps we'll be working together in the future?"

"You know it." I grinned, and the man nodded, wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulder and heading below deck, leaving Eve, Mark, Brandyworth, Polly, and I.

"Can you take me flying?!" Mark questioned with stars in his eyes, completely writing off his mother's concern from earlier.

"I'm gonna be honest; I don't think that'd be a good idea right now. Maybe when I get a better hang of it, and your mom is actually okay with that." I waved him off, not wanting to get into more trouble than I already was.

"Aw." Mark pouted.

"Don't be upset, Mark, this is great!" Eve twirled around before pointing at me. "You're super strong now and have flying powers, right?" I nodded. "Then you can totally become a hero now, and we can work together like before! Just now, you'll be with me!"

My mouth opened in surprise, not because I could be a hero and help people with Eve by my side, but because of how happy she was about it.

I gave the girl a soft smile and nodded again.

"Right, we'll make this world a better place together."

— Chapter End —

Beta Reader: Basilisk Dragonboy1

Author's Note: I know I was supposed to post a Vegeta or Spider chap, but I have reached a point in Solace that I find so fun writing that I need to ride this wave while I have it. The next thing I post will definitely 100% be Vegeta or Spider, one after the other before I post another Solace chapter, but with how many chapters of Solace I've written recently, I gotta release one now.