"Mark was always fond of his dad when he learned that he was Omni-Man. Protecting the innocent and meeting people would risk their lives to protect the world they were living in, it changed on the day when Nolan revealed the truth about why he was keeping the Earth from destroying itself. He made sure that it was ready to be a part of the Viltrumite Empire that he was devoted to, only to have been stopped by Mark when he had his son's blood on his hands. Having been seen as a threat by Cecil, Mark wouldn't expect him to think he was like Nolan and would make the Earth his. But it didn't matter since Cecil already had people who would do anything to keep everyone safe, even if it meant working for dangerous criminals."

GDA Headquarters-White Room

Unaware of what was happening within the building. A fight was brewing within Cecil's white room as Invincible's mind had just imploded by what the director kept hidden from him and everyone else by having the same undead cyborgs he battled back at the university as well as watching his friend's boyfriend becoming one of these monstrosities.

"DA Sinclair. You have the same fucking madman who turned innocent people into cyborgs?!"

He accused Cecil of recruiting the inventor into GDA in what appeared to be an attempt to create a new line of reanimen as well as an army that appeared designed with the sole purpose of fighting Mark. The old man said nothing but had Snide chuckling in his place since the boy wasn't thinking about why Cecil brought Sinclair in.

"Can you blame him? He's already seen how far you're willing to go in protecting these humans. But he also knows that you're just as dangerous as Omni-Man. Why shouldn't he turn something into a weapon."

Snide answered his response toward having Sinclair working with Cecil since his soldiers were the only ones who were capable of fighting Mark at a standstill as well as ready if Nolan returned to Earth.

"Sinclair is an asset that can be used for the betterment of everyone. The reanimen are deceased soldiers that Nolan killed when he showed his real self, we made sure none of them were civilians."

Explaining what the difference was between the people Sinclair used on campus and the ones Mark was looking at. The Viltrumite hybrid didn't care since there was a difference between recruiting people who deserved redemption and the ones who didn't care for it.

"And do their families know that they're working for you? That you're having them fight the same person who killed them in the first place?!"

Mark yelled at Cecil and walked up to him before being stopped by one of the cyborgs. Taking a moment to pause, he looked over at Cecil and could see that while he wasn't showing any emotions on his face, there was fear in his eyes.

"Mark, go home. You need to calm down."

He advised the young man to leave since he was injured and not thinking straight. Removing his arm away from the cyborg, he looked back at Snide who stood there waiting to see if he'd take Cecil's offer and head home. With what he'd witnessed and unable to keep quiet, Mark remained in the same spot and glared at Cecil for keeping him in the dark.

"The only thing I'm doing is telling everyone about this black op bullshit you've been running and having Snide with you."

Telling the director what he planned on doing and telling the others about what Cecil was hiding from the Guardians and Fury's team. The response from Mark made the reanimen stand near where the doorway was to keep him from leaving. Getting the notion of Cecil wanting him to not tell anyone, Invincible clinched his fists feeling like he was going have to fight his way out of the room.

"Looks like he isn't listening. It seems that Mark can't trust anyone now, can't he?"

Snide mocks Cecil for keeping him in the dark and not being truthful about the secrets he kept from him. The director didn't know what Mark would do as the reanimen made their way toward him to pressure the Viltrumite to not go through with his plan. Unable to control himself, Mark punches a reanimen's head clean off resulting in the others reacting toward the attack. Cecil watched how Mark was ripping through the cyborgs with ease like Nolan did when he killed the original Guardians team.

"Stand down and we can talk about this."

He offered a resolution in handling the issue but to no avail, the reanimen continued to attack Mark with no signs of stopping despite having their limbs ripped off their bodies. Having destroyed the last cyborg with his bare hands, Mark was breathing heavily and looked at Cecil as if he had anything in store to keep him from leaving and exposing his secret.

"Is that all you got?"

Commenting if these were the only reanimen that were around Cecil and Snide. The old man let out a sigh at him not wanting to say that as the room's color changed within a second from white to red with another secret that Mark didn't see coming. He was surrounded by a squad of reanimen that appeared bigger than the ones Mark had just destroyed.

"Don't make me do something you'll regret."

Cecil warned Mark not to fight anymore and to let things as they are with him outnumbered by the cyborg soldiers. Noticing Cecil going to the corner of his jacket, he was going for an object which meant he was calling in reserved reanimen in case this group was taken out. Deciding to prevent him from calling anymore in, only for Cecil pulls out a small device and presses the button that causes Invincible to collapse to the ground as there is a high-pitched sound ringing in his ears.

"That high-pitched sound that's going through your brain? It's a device we had implanted after your skirmish back in Atlantis, the device can make the same sound that can make you unable to move."

Explaining how during the times when Mark was injured and had his wounds treated, he had a device planted in him to keep him from going rogue. Continuing to watch Mark yell in pain, Cecil lets go of the button allowing the young man to regain his senses.

"You planted a weapon in me?"

Mark asked in fear of how the one person he believed could see him as a hero than his father betrayed him. While it sounded cruel for Cecil to hear him say it, the director knew what he was doing as well as why he did it.

"With how powerful you are and going through these machines. You bet your ass I did."

Responding toward giving him a microscopic implant that would render him useless if he decided to turn against him or even the planet. With how his brain was buzzing and unable to focus, Mark took off from the red room and went into the air to get away from Cecil as far as possible.

"Can't wait to see how he'll tell the others about this secret you've been keeping quiet."

Snide told Cecil that if Mark was going somewhere that would offer him protection and help him remove the device from his head, it be the guardians as well as Robot's technology that could help him remove the implant. Cecil said nothing but teleported himself out of the room to try and get to the guardians before Invincible did so he could avoid a scene from happening, all in the while was Snide enjoying the betrayal that was happening in front of him as well as what it'll do to the heroes once Mark tells them on how the GDA director operates.

Later-Guardians of the Globe Base

It had taken several hours for them to clean up the mess and fill in the holes that Meteor's insects had left open, the team had managed to do it but was able to return to base to keep an eye out if there was any criminal activity happening while they were captured. The ones to make it back were Rudy, Amanda, Eve, Shape Smith, Rex, and Bulletproof. They had brought along Fury, Wrench, and Poisandra since they didn't want to be around the aliens they'd captured who were now helping out Immortal and the other heroes.

"It must be biting your asses that the same people you hunted across space are now being fond over by Immortal and the other heroes. Kind of makes you look like dicks if you stayed behind and brought up how they were criminals."

Bulletproof called at the trio who were contemplating what they'd just seen to thinking if Cecil was behind it. Fury didn't respond to the comment as he gripped his sword on how they lived in fear of being sent back to prison to fix a mistake he seemed to have taken care of.

"It's more complicated than that since most of them were responsible for various crimes such as raising an insect army, draining blood, and going after the rarest animals across the galaxy."

Wrench summarized what made the aliens criminals and what made Sledge interested in going after them. Not taking the situation seriously, Rex walked over with several beers to help them feel relaxed about not being eaten.

"Let's worry about that later. For right now, I think the best thing we need to do is turn on the tunes. Celebrate another escape from death and enjoy whatever time we have before some other bullshit happens."

Suggesting making the best of what they had for themselves since the time they were abducted, anything could have happened that would involve supervillains committing crimes to a natural disaster happening. Surprised to hear him being optimistic for them and helping out, Poisandra was the first to grab a beer and drink it in one gulp since she was still shaken up about Cecil keeping him in the dark.

"I might need a few more of these if I'm going go back to smiling."

She asked of Rex as she'd never expected to ask something from the same guy who cheated on Eve with Duplikate. Deciding to grab some beverages, they heard a sonic boom happening from above, and suddenly an object crashed into the base. They saw through the smoke was Invincible who was covered in reanimen blood and unable to control his movement.

"Rudy. I need help, Cecil planted a weapon in my head. You have to get it out."

He pleaded to Rudy which caught him by surprise with how scared he appeared and told them how Cecil was responsible for his condition. Wrench went over to see if he could do it while Poisandra checked to see if he was bleeding, Fury was the only one who didn't help out since it might be a scheme. Before any of the guardians could help him, they saw Cecil teleporting in behind the team which caught them by surprise.

"Everyone step back. This is between me and the kid."

Informing them about how it involved only them made the guardians confused about what was going on. The alien hunters didn't know what to do or who to trust with how fast things were happening, Mark stepped away from Wrench and Poisandra who was still petrified about the device that was in his head.

"It involves this room because of Cecil recruiting murderers. He has Snide leading DA Sinclair's reanimen because he's afraid of me! He thinks I'm going become my father, but I'm not!"

Announcing the secret Cecil kept from everyone which shocked each of them since they read about the mad doctor that turned university students into cyborgs. Along with fighting Snide who was hellbent on killing them in an attempt to get revenge on Sledge. The more he saw Mark continue to go unstable, the more it showed that he was going lose it and attack again.

"Fury. I need you to take him to the GDA, now."

Cecil told Fury about bringing him in if he and the others wanted to continue being out in public. The guardians looked at the red lion to see if he'd follow the director's orders and bring the young man in, Fury's response was walking toward Invincible with his sword going in front of the frightened Viltrumite and pointing it at Cecil.

"Why don't you do it yourself? Asshole."

Responding to Cecil's command about bringing Mark to him, Wrench and Poisandra took out their weapons to protect Mark from the director. Getting frustrated at their resistance, Cecil had no choice but to press the button again to keep Mark from escaping. Everyone watched in horror at how Invincible was on the ground gripping the side of his head from the implant in his head before the aliens could attack Cecil to make him stop using the device. Several reanimen teleported inside of the base to hold the three at bay while going after Invincible.

"Holy shit, he is telling the truth."

Amanda spoke out seeing how Cecil had recruited a mad scientist in making cyborgs for him. Deciding to not stand around and let reanimen harm the four, the guardians rushed in to stop them as they reacted toward the six heroes as combative threats.

"All of you sit the fuck down!"

Cecil shouted them to back away since the reanimen wouldn't stop until the enemy was taken down. Continuing to feel the sound increasing in his brain and his body shutting down, Mark watched everyone standing against Cecil and the reanimen in an attempt to help him out. The fight went on with no sign of ending as Rex looked over at Cecil to see him holding the trigger that kept Invincible from getting back up. Grabbing a rock from the ground and charging it with energy, he hurls it toward Cecil's hand and destroys the device while injuring the director at the same time.

"It's a dead man's switch. It's going keep going until it kills him, we need to either block the signal or destroy the implant."

Robot responded toward Rex's attempt to save Mark as they watched Invincible continue to yell in pain while being assaulted by the reanimen. Fury saw the boy on the ground and being punched numerous times before slicing several in hand before taking the punches for him. Feeling each attack hitting his back, the red alien focused on what Rudy said and placed both of his hands on Invincible's head.

"Consider this payback for lying to us."

He told Mark before sending out a charge of electricity in an attempt to destroy the implant. Continuing to electrocute his brain and taking the reanimen's attacks, they each were experiencing different pains before the sound being made in Mark's head went off and caused Fury to collapse on the ground. Taking the moment to his advantage, Invincible lets out a battle cry and starts to destroy the reanimen around him and the guardians. In a matter of seconds, the battle had ended with Invincible standing in the middle covered in blood and huffing at what he'd just done.

"You arrogant little asshole. I'm doing what it takes to look after the planet, especially after how this is what your dad did to the original guardians. Don't think that your threats will make me stop what I'll do for the safety of the public."

Cecil responded toward the reanimen massacre he'd witnessed and called out how he was just like Nolan. Mark was about to slam him against the wall for thinking he was like his dad, only to be beaten by Poisandra who speed slammed him against the wall and raised him to show he wasn't the one in control.

"Mark. Is one of us and will look after him like Sledge promised you when you gave him the job. So if you try and go after him or even his family, he won't be the one to kill you. It'll be me."

She threatened him as the promise Poisandra made caused her look to change from a positive look to an angered one as the pink started to fade into magenta. Seeing the life almost leaving his eyes, Poisandra lets go as she notices the sudden change in her costume and walks away from him. Deciding to help them out, Rudy walked over to assist Invincible in removing the implant and see if Fury needed his injuries looked at. Leaving the rest of the guardians unsure of how to handle the news about what Cecil meant in doing whatever it took to protect people, even if it meant threatening people who trusted him.

Later-Guardians Base

Having been informed of what had happened and seeing the aftermath of their headquarters being destroyed. Immortal kept his thoughts to himself while the others felt conflicted about what they saw and had to witness the length of what Cecil would go to keep everyone safe.

"I can't believe that after all that fighting. Cecil still thinks we're going say nothing and ignore what Invincible said was true?"

Shrinking Rae called out on the same man their working for to forget about calling in dead soldiers to drag the frightened hero back to GDA headquarters. It was one thing in wanting to defuse the situation, it was another when it came to proving Invincible right and bringing in the reanimen that showed that Sinclair was working for Cecil.

"You'll feel better after some honest work."

Samson responded to what Rae had which made no sense due to how it didn't relate to what she'd just said. Hearing the comment left Rex to drop the broom to the ground which caught the attention of everyone who already knew Rex was going respond to that comment.

"Honest work? Mark came in here scared out of his mind and chased by Cecil's fucked cyborgs to keep him quiet after telling us he has Snide with him. The same guy I remember kicking all of our asses at the Iron Mile."

He brought up how the same alien that was able to bring out tentacles and humiliated them was with Cecil and could bring him out if Invincible or any one of them got out of line. Each of them hadn't forgotten how dangerous the alien was by himself, now he has connections to someone who can give him an army if he gets bored working for Cecil.

"He should have known better than to go off by himself. Mark was stubborn and got the lesson of what happens when you mess around."

Immortal spoke out about how Invincible never thinks about the consequences and gets hurt in the process. This was one of the times that proved his point in not thinking he'd get out of this without learning a lesson.

"And what about the rest of us? What if we one day act up? Is going kill us and replace us with the reanimen?"

Amanda responded about how Cecil could replace them in a heartbeat about how they were expendable after seeing the recruits he had under his control. This sparked a debate amongst everyone if what the director did was right or if he shouldn't be trusted. Immortal watched how the team continued to yell at one another to see who was right, all the while remembering the trauma that Nolan put him and his old team through. Just as the argument continued, Immortal lost control of himself and got angry.

"For the love of god, everyone shut up!"

Demanding everyone to stop their arguing which caught them by surprise at how he lost control of his emotions. They were shocked at how he told them to be quiet since it didn't matter to him nor should it matter to the team.

"We are the Guardians! We protect the Earth from threats that can destroy humanity. Yes, there are hardships. Yes, there are things we have to do to get the job done. If none of you like it, then get out!"

He offered them the choice of either staying on the team and getting past what Cecil had done to protect the public. Having seen how ignorant the veteran superhero was acting and not seeing Cecil wasn't to be trusted, Rex was the one to resign as he showed everyone his guardian's ID badge.

"If protecting the world from threats include our friends who've shown us that they're with us. Then I'd rather go out on my own than be on the same team with an old man who's still pissed at being killed by the guy's dad, twice. So you can take your sanctimonious, bootlicking, hypocritical, prick's bullshit. And shove it up your ass!"

Responding to the suggestion before destroying his badge and heading out to the door where he waited to see if anyone would follow him. The only ones to join Rex were Rae, Amanda, Rudy, and Bulletproof who chose to leave because he couldn't trust anyone who turned on him in an instant. Immortal was left with Kate, Samson, and Shape Smith since the two had their reasons for staying with the guardians while Kate believed what Cecil did was necessary. The room fell silent about the team splitting up since it meant they were down their smartest and strongest members, as well as thinking if what they did was right.

Later

Two hours had passed since half of the guardians disbanded from the rest after arguing if Cecil and the GDA could be trusted. The remaining members were able to fix the damages that happened within in base as well as the monitor, near the entrance were Black Samson and Rudy who were talking to themselves since it be difficult on how they would be working separately.

"Are you sure about this choice? Because from how you were looking at Amanda, I know there's something else."

Samson asked about how Rudy had another motivation in leaving the guardians besides seeing Cecil was distrustful and unable to figure out what else he was hiding. Looking over to the monitor to see Cecil coming and being informed about what happened, Rudy knew what he was doing was right.

"Invincible is the strongest hero on the planet. And while his methods are questionable, there be a day when I'll ask him for help."

Responding that while he was brilliant and could figure out anything within seconds, he didn't have the strength and power to keep everything safe. Deciding to leave it at that, the two said their fair wells before seeing Rudy off to the elevator where he'd exit the base and regroup with the others. Now having to deal with Cecil, Samson walked back to regroup with the remaining team to see how Cecil could fix their team.

"We can start for tryouts in the weeks to come. But with only four members left on the guardians, I have another suggestion."

Cecil informed them about having an alternate plan then bringing in new members and having the guardians use reanimen as extra muscle. The four saw a shadow appearing from the wall to show Darkwing as well as Snide with the rest of the aliens that worked under Cecil. Samson and Kate felt tense when they saw the ammonite alien standing there with his own team.

"Before we start thinking we can't be trusted. Let me say this, I came to this planet because the universe is dangerous. And there are a lot of bad people who don't give a shit about this planet, which is why I want to protect it. Because I have nowhere else to go."

Snide informed them about how this was the one planet he could call home and avoid the trouble that might be after him. The Immortal looked at the others seeing how they weren't fond of him and walked toward the group to show he wouldn't allow any of them to mess with what was left of the Guardians.

"I don't know you. But if you go out of line, I'll personally drop you to the ground. As for Darkwing? I knew him when he was Night Boy, I'm glad he's taking up the mantle."

Responding to how he'd done things in the past that were wrong and would take a while to make amends. Immortal saw there was a chance for him to make it up with doing time on the team, he shook Darkwing's hand while the others decided to talk amongst the others to get to know them better. Cecil on the other hand kept quiet to see how this could help the guardians become aware that while there were criminals responsible for various crimes, they could change and use their talents to keep everyone safe. He also looked at Snide to see if he was telling the truth about how the universe would one day come to Earth with the desire to either take it or destroy it, meaning he needed to use everything in his power to keep their world safe from either Viltrumites or something worse.